Daily Prelims Notes 23 February 2024

February 23, 2024
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

23 February 2024

Table Of Contents

1. 40 spotted deer translocated within Karnataka marking a new era in wildlife management

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

The Sri Chamarajendra Zoo of Mysuru has undertaken a significant wildlife conservation effort by translocating 40 spotted deer from Ittigagud in Mysuru to the Pansoli range in the Kali Tiger Reserve, Dandeli, Uttara Kannada district.

Details:

This operation marks a pioneering achievement in South India, especially given the scale and success of the translocation, which saw no fatalities or significant stress among the animals.
The initiative, led by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), aims to address the issue of excessive breeding of herbivores in captivity by relocating them to natural habitats where they can roam freely and maintain ecological balance.
The Kali Tiger Reserve was chosen due to its low prey-density and the opportunity for herbivores to thrive, contributing to the ecosystem’s health.
Concerns were raised about the potential transmission of pathogens from captive-bred animals to wildlife.

Spotted deer:

The chital or cheetal (Axis axis), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent.
It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777.
It is sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and antlers are present only on males.
The upper parts are golden to rufous, completely covered in white spots. The abdomen, rump, throat, insides of legs, ears, and tail are all white. The antlers, three-pronged, are nearly 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long.

Places in news:

Sri Chamarajendra Zoo of Mysuru, Karnataka
Kali Tiger Reserve, Dandeli, Uttara Kannada district of Krnataka-
- The park is a habitat of Bengal tigers, black panthers and Indian elephants, amongst other distinctive fauna. The Kali River flows through the tiger reserve and is the lifeline of the ecosystem and hence the name.
- In December 2015, Dandeli Anshi Tiger reserve was renamed to Kali Tiger Reserve.

2. HC says animals shouldn’t be named after God, urges Bengal govt to change names of lioness ‘Sita’ and lion ‘Akbar’

Subject: Environment

Section: Environmental Laws

Context:

The Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court has advised the West Bengal government to consider renaming a lioness and lion named ‘Sita’ and ‘Akbar’ at the Siliguri zoo, as it is inappropriate to name animals after revered figures such as gods, mythological heroes, freedom fighters, or Nobel laureates.

More in the news:

The court has allowed the petitioners to reclassify their writ petition as a public interest litigation (PIL), emphasizing the need to respect religious sentiments and the secular nature of the state.
The state counsel mentioned that the naming occurred in Tripura, with the responsibility lying with the Tripura Zoo authorities.
The West Bengal Forest Department clarified that the lion and lioness, named ‘Ram‘ and ‘Sita’ in official records, were transferred from Tripura’s Sepahijala Zoo to Siliguri zoo as part of an animal exchange program.

Guidelines for exchange or transfer of animals between Zoos:

The Zoo owners and Zoo managers have to respond to the need for conservation of various species of wild animals and contribute to it by way of donating and loaning or giving in exchange of some other species, the single/ unpaired and surplus animals of endangered species for the conservation programmes identified by the Central Zoo Authority.
Central Zoo Authority will take every care that all the Zoos are benefited from the exchange programme.

Rules:

The Member Secretary may issue approval of Central Zoo Authority for exchange proposal involving the wild animal species/individuals not part of the approved Coordinated Conservation Breeding Programme, if satisfying the guidelines.
All the exchange proposals of wild animal species/ individuals between Indian Zoos forming part of approved Coordinated Conservation Breeding Programme will be placed in the Technical Committee for approval.
All the exchange proposals between Indian and Foreign Zoos will be decided by the Central Zoo Authority as per recommendations made by the Technical Committee.
In urgent cases and where the meeting of the Technical Committee or/and Central Zoo Authority is not likely to be held immediately, the Member Secretary may issue the approval of Central Zoo Authority for such exchange proposals which satisfy the guidelines with the approval of the Chairman, Technical Committee and/or Chairman, Central Zoo Authority respectively as the case may be. However, ex-post-facto approval will be taken from Technical Committee and/or the Central Zoo Authority (as the case may be) will be taken for all such proposals in the next Meeting.
Schedule 3 (9) of Rule 10 under Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009 (Amendment) Rules, 2013 which reads as “Any decision of the Central Zoo Authority about any animal being sent to a particular Zoo for augmenting the number of founder animals for the conservation breeding programme of the species shall be binding on the concerned Zoo.” will any means be implemented once issued by the Central Zoo Authority.

Places in news:

Sepahijala Zoo– Tripura
Siliguri Zoo– West Bengal

Source: IE

3. Surrogacy rules changed, couples with medical condition can use donor gametes

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Biotechnology

Context:

The Centre has amended the surrogacy rules 2022 to allow married couples with a medical condition to use a donor’s egg or sperm.

More on news:

The District Medical Board certifies the need for a donor gamete. Single women (widow or divorcee) must use self-eggs and donor sperm.
The amendment came after the Supreme Court last year received petitions from women across the country after it allowed a woman with a rare congenital disorder to avail surrogacy with a donor egg.
The Centre had in March 2023 issued a notification banning donor gametes for couples intending to undergo surrogacy.
Form 2 (Consent of the Surrogate Mother and Agreement for Surrogacy) of the Surrogacy Rules read with Rule 7 was amended on March 14, 2023 to stipulate that donor eggs could not be used for gestational surrogacy of an intending couple.

About Surrogacy:

Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman (the surrogate) agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple (the intended parent/s).
A surrogate, sometimes also called a gestational carrier, is a woman who conceives, carries and gives birth to a child for another person or couple (intended parent/s).

Various Conditions in Surrogacy:

In case when the District Medical Board certifies that either husband or wife constituting the intending couple suffers from a medical condition necessitating use of donor gamete, then surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed.
The surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed subject to the condition that the child to be born through surrogacy must have at least one gamete from the intending couple.
This means if both the partners have medical problems or are unable to have their own gametes they cannot opt for surrogacy.
Single women (widow or divorcee) undergoing surrogacy must use self-eggs and donor sperm to avail surrogacy procedures.

Types of Surrogacy:

Altruistic Surrogacy:

It involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.

Commercial Surrogacy:

It includes surrogacy or its related procedures undertaken for a monetary benefit or reward (in cash or kind) exceeding the basic medical expenses and insurance coverage.

Provisions of Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021:

Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, a woman who is a widow or a divorcee between the age of 35 to 45 years or a couple, defined as a legally married woman and man, can avail of surrogacy if they have a medical condition necessitating this option.
The intended couple shall be a legally married Indian man and woman, the man shall be between the ages of 26-55 years and the woman shall be between the ages of 25-50 years, and shall not have any previous biological, adopted, or surrogate child.
It also bans commercial surrogacy, which is punishable with a jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakhs.
The law allows only altruistic surrogacy where no money exchanges hands and where a surrogate mother is genetically related to those seeking a child.

4. In a first, CERN scientists carry out laser cooling of Positronium

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Space technology

Context:

An international team of physicists from the Anti-hydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEgIS) collaboration has achieved a breakthrough by demonstrating the laser cooling of Positronium.

More on news:

Physicists representing 19 European and one India research groups announced this scientific achievement.
The experiment was performed at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, more popularly known as CERN, in Geneva.
This is an important precursor experiment to the formation of antiHydrogen and the measurement of Earth’s gravitational acceleration on antihydrogen in the AEgIS experiment.

Timeline:

It was formally accepted as a scientific experiment by CERN in 2008.
The setting up of the AEgIS experiment, its construction and commissioning continued through 2012 – 2016.
This comprised designing of the complex particle traps used to confine antiparticles, antiprotons and positrons.
In 2018, AEgIS became the first in the world to demonstrate the pulsed production of antihydrogen atoms.

About Positronium:

Positronium, comprising a bound electron ( e- ) and positron ( e+ ), is a fundamental atomic system.
Due to its very short life, it annihilates with a half life of 142 nano-seconds.
Its mass is twice the electron mass and enjoys the unique distinction of being a pure leptonic atom.
This hydrogen-like system, with halved frequencies for excitation, makes it a great contender for attempting laser cooling and thereby performing tests of fundamental theories in physics.
Experimentalists achieved laser cooling of Positronium atoms initially from ~380 Kelvin to ~170 Kelvin, and demonstrated the cooling in one dimension using a 70-nanosecond pulse of the alexandrite-based laser system.
This experiment will pave the way for performing spectroscopic comparisons required for the Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), the study of the light and its interaction with charged matter, and a possible degenerate gas of Positronium down the road.

Benefits of the Experiment:

According to CERN, the new scientific development will allow high-precision measurements of the properties and gravitational behavior of this exotic but simple matter–antimatter system, which could reveal newer physics.
It also allows the production of a positronium Bose–Einstein condensate, in which all constituents occupy the same quantum state.

About CERN:

European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) is the world’s largest nuclear and particle physics laboratory.
It is situated in the North West suburbs of Geneva on the France-Swiss Border.
It has 22 member states, four associate member states (including India and Pakistan) and three International Organisations have observer status.
CERN operates the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.
It is associated with the discovery of the Higgs Boson which is popularly known as the God particle.
Indian scientists have been active in construction of the LHC in the areas of design, development and supply of hardware accelerator components, software development and deployment in the machine.
They also had played a significant role in the CMS (Compact Muon Experiment), one of the two large experiments that led to the discovery of the God particle.

5. In 2023, India hit target towards eliminating Kala Azar, first time

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Health

Context :

Data from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme showed that there were 595 cases and four deaths of Kala Azar reported nationwide last year compared to 891 cases and three deaths in 2022.

More on news:

Kala Azar is the second deadliest parasitic disease after malaria in the country.
India has achieved the target of reporting less than one case per 10,000 population across all blocks in 2023.
Data from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme showed that there were 595 cases and four deaths of Kala Azar reported nationwide last year compared to 891 cases and three deaths in 2022.
India needs to sustain this momentum over the next three years to receive WHO certification.
India’s initial target year for Kala Azar elimination was 2010, which was later extended to 2015, 2017, and then 2020.
Elimination for Kala Azar is defined as no block in the country reporting more than one case per 10,000 people.
In October 2023, Bangladesh became the first country in the world to be officially validated by the WHO for eliminating Kala Azar as a public health problem.
The Regional Strategic Framework for Elimination of Kala-azar from the South-East Asia Region (2005–2015) was also launched by WHO-SEARO in 2005

About Kala Azar:

Kala Azar (or visceral leishmaniasis) is a parasitic infection transmitted by sandflies. It causes fever, weight loss, spleen and liver enlargement.
It is characterized by irregular bouts of fever, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anemia.
Most cases occur in Brazil, east Africa and India.
Kala-azar is a treatable and curable disease, which requires an immunocompetent system.
If left untreated, it can be fatal in 95% of cases.
In India, there were 633 blocks, mainly in four states Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, where the disease was endemic.
PKDL or Post Kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis, is a well-recognised complication which causes scaly skin patches and nodular lesions in people who have been apparently cured of Kala Azar up to two years of the initial infection.
Leishmania-HIV co-infection refers to the People living with HIV and who are infected with leishmaniasis have high chances of developing the full-blown disease, high relapse and mortality rates.
Patients only need an IV drip of the medicine, which takes about two hours, for the infection to be cured.

There are 3 main forms of the disease:

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, is fatal if left untreated in over 95% of cases. It is characterized by irregular bouts of fever, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anemia.
- Most cases occur in Brazil, east Africa and India.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common form and causes skin lesions, mainly ulcers, on exposed parts of the body. These can leave life-long scars and cause serious disability or stigma.
Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis leads to partial or total destruction of mucous membranes of the nose, mouth and throat.

6. Job on inflation front not over, last mile of disinflation can be sticky: Das in MPC minutes

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context:

The RBI Governor wrote that the current setting of monetary policy is moving in the right direction, with growth holding firm and inflation trending down to the target.

More on news:

Most of the members believed that though consumer price-based inflation (CPI) has eased from the heightened levels seen last summer, uncertainty over food price remains a major concern for headline inflation.
Of the six members of the rate-setting panel, five voted to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent and to maintain a status quo on the policy stance of withdrawal of accommodation.
Headline inflation rose from 4.9 per cent in October to 5.7 per cent in December, even as core inflation (CPI inflation excluding food and fuel) softened to a four-year low of 3.8 per cent.
Food price uncertainty remains a major source of volatility for headline inflation outlook.

About Disinflation:

Disinflation is a situation of decrease in the rate of inflation over successive time periods.
It is simply the slowing of inflation.
Central banks will fight disinflation by expanding its monetary policy and lowering interest rates.

About Headline Inflation:

Headline Inflation refers to the complete inflation figure including all goods and services within the consumer price index basket.
It encompasses all items, including those that are highly volatile, such as food and energy.

7. Payments banks may seek RBI nod for small-value Fixed deposits

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context:

Payments banks (PBs) may approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow them to take small-value fixed as well as recurring deposits, in addition to these , also for small-ticket loans to individuals and micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).

Reason:

Garnering low-cost savings bank (SB) deposits is proving an uphill task given the high-interest rates being offered by commercial banks on term deposits.
Small-ticket loans can enhance their viability.

Why scope of activities enhancement is needed:

As five out of the 11 applicants who were given in-principal approval to start a PB in 2015, either not commencing operations or voluntarily giving up their certificate of registration.

PBs-vertically differentiated banks:

Now, only six PBs — Airtel Payments Bank, Fino Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank, Jio Payments Bank, NSDL Payments Bank, and Paytm PB — are operational.
Out of these six, the RBI has imposed severe restrictions on Paytm PB-
Due to “persistent non-compliances” and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank.
Fino PB has applied to the RBI to convert into a small finance bank.

Current deposit scenarios:

Commercial banks low-cost CASA (current account, savings account) deposits have come down over the last few quarters.

Reason : As customers prefer investment in fixed deposits, non-convertible debentures, mutual funds, equities, etc.–which offer better returns.

Given this situation, there is no way PBs can stop the decline in their savings bank (SB) deposits.

Solution:

The way to stop deposit outflow is to allow us to offer FDs and recurring deposits (RDs).
Allow PBs to offer small-ticket loans in select segments, such as individuals and MSEs—which will fetch a higher yield on advances and will help in servicing high-cost FDs and RDs.

Structural solution: Up the cap

These vertically differentiated banks (which are focused on small savings and payments/remittance services) also want the RBI to increase the maximum end-of-day balance a customer can maintain with them from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh in sync with the increase in deposit insurance cover.

Significance of PBs:

PBs provide payments and remittance services to the migrant labour workforce, low-income households, small businesses, other unorganised sector entities, and other users.

Other Features of PBs:

These banks can only accept demand deposits (current account and savings bank account/CASA) with a maximum balance of ₹2 lakh per individual customer.
They cannot undertake lending activities but distribute financial products like mutual fund units and insurance products, etc., and
Act as business correspondents of another bank.

Current deposit status of PBs:

As per RBI Data-

As of March 2023, the six operational PBs collectively had deposits (predominantly SB deposits) and investments (mostly in government securities) aggregating ₹12,174 crore (₹7,829 crore as of March 2022) and ₹12,064 crore (₹9,937 crore), respectively.
Five PBs were profitable in 2022-23.

8. Are Interpol’s notices being politically exploited?

Subject: IR

Section: Int organisation

Interpol:

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) comprises 194 member countries was established in 1923.

It does not work under UN.
It has enjoyed a special role–that of Permanent Observer at the United Nations – since 1996.
It is headquartered at Lyon, France.

Role:

As an information-sharing network to enable national police forces to combat transnational crimes.

Four Global Programmes of Interpol:

What are the concerns:

About the misuse of Interpol’s notice system, especially the issuance of blue corner notices (less scrutinised than their red corner notices).
Critics argument:
Countries often exploit existing protocols to target political refugees and dissidents.
While efforts have been made to address this.
But still questions remain about striking a balance between facilitating police cooperation and preventing misuse of this powerful tool.

What is a “blue corner” notice?

There are seven types of notices issued by Interpol — Red Notice, Yellow Notice, Blue Notice, Black Notice, Green Notice, Orange Notice, and Purple Notice.

A blue corner notice (or an “enquiry notice”) allows police forces in member states to share critical crime-related information such as obtaining a person’s criminal record, and location and, having his or her identity verified among others. Example: In January 2020, Interpol issued a blue corner notice to help locate fugitive self-styled godman Nithyananda.

How does “blue corner” notice differ from a “red corner” notice?

What is a red corner notice?

A red corner notice is issued by a member state to arrest a wanted criminal through extradition or any other similar lawful action.
Such notices are issued against persons wanted by national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or a court decision. The country issuing the request need not be the home country of the fugitive.
Interpol acts even on the request of a country where the alleged crime has been committed.

Differences:

While blue corner notices are issued prior to the filing of criminal charges, red corner notices generally follow criminal convictions.

Impact of notices:

The concerned individual can be stopped and arrested while travelling through a member state.
There will also be other detrimental consequences such as the closure of bank accounts.

Discretionary in nature:

However, Interpol cannot compel law enforcement authorities in any country to arrest the subject of a red corner notice as the exercise of such powers is entirely discretionary.

Case study:

In 2018, a red corner notice was issued against fugitive billionaire Nirav Modi in relation to the Punjab National Bank scam.
However, in October 2022, Interpol rejected a second request by India to issue such a notice against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, whom the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has listed as a “terrorist.”

Reason by Interpol:

India has failed to provide sufficient information to support its case and that his activities have a “clear political dimension.”

Is the notice system prone to misuse?

Rule: Interpol’s Constitution explicitly forbids any activities of a political character.

However, Interpol failed to enforce the above rule as highlighted below:

As accusation by activists:

It is directed at Russia, which has repeatedly issued notices and diffusions for the arrest of Kremlin opponents, a political character activity .
Data: According to the U.S. rights organisation Freedom House, Russia is responsible for 38% of all public red notices.
Accusation by International human rights groups:
Against China, Iran, Turkey, and Tunisia etc. of abusing the agency’s notice system for authoritarian ends i.e. again a political character activity.

Response of accusation by Interpol:

Interpol toughened the oversight of its red notice system.

Still vulnerabilities remain:

According to experts vulnerabilities remain in Blue notices issuances.

Reason: Blue notices are less likely to be reviewed before publication.

Impact: As per the agency’s data that blue notices have roughly doubled in number over the past decade.

Reaction of countries :

But countries like Turkey argue that such restraint in the issuance of notices hampers police cooperation and that the West should not interfere with their internal affairs.

9. Real interest rate of 2% risks impairing growth: MPC’s Varma

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Interest rate concept:

Interest rates represent the cost of borrowing or the return on saving, expressed as a percentage of the total amount of a loan or investment.

Nominal Interest Rate = Real Interest Rate + Projected Rate of Inflation
A nominal interest rate refers to the total of the real interest rate plus a projected rate of inflation.
A real interest rate provides the actual return on a loan (to the lender) and on a bond (to the investor).
Nominal interest rates can indicate current market and economic conditions while real interest rates represent the purchasing power of investors.

Context:

Varma at MPC:

If the potential growth rate of the economy is close to 8%, then the economy is not at risk of overheating in 2024-25.
A real interest rate of 1-1.5% would then be sufficient to glide inflation to the target of 4%.
A real interest rate of 2% creates the very real risk of turning growth pessimism into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Potential growth rate:
Potential growth is the rate of growth that an economy can sustain over the medium term without generating excess inflation.

Monetary policy committee (MPC):

Origin: Under Section 45ZB of the amended (in 2016) RBI Act, 1934, central government is empowered to constitute a six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
Objective: Further, Section 45ZB lays down that “the Monetary Policy Committee shall determine the Policy Rate required to achieve the inflation target”.
The decision of the Monetary Policy Committee shall be binding on the Bank.
Composition: Section 45ZB says the MPC shall consist of 6 members:
RBI Governor as its ex officio chairperson
Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy
An officer of the Bank to be nominated by the Central Board

Three persons to be appointed by the central government.

Criteria:

This category of appointments must be from persons of ability, integrity and standing, having knowledge and experience in the field of economics or banking or finance or monetary policy.

Dual objective of MPC :

Inflation
Growth

RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra said:

Monetary policy must remain restrictive and maintain downward pressure on inflation while minimising the output costs of disinflation.
Private consumption, which accounts for 57% of GDP, is languishing under the strain of still elevated food inflation particularly in rural areas.
Inflation has to be restrained to its target for growth to be inclusive and sustained.
The outlook for the Indian economy remained highly sensitive to inflation risks: High inflation erodes purchasing power, especially for those least protected against the higher costs of essentials like food.
It is only when inflation subsides and stays close to the target lastingly that policy restraint can be eased.
Restoring price stability is beneficial for all.