Daily Prelims Notes 25 April 2021

April 25, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

25 April 2021

Table Of Contents

1. NATIONAL PENSION SYSTEM

Subject: Economy

Context:

Concept:

Started as the New Pension Scheme for government employees in 2004 under a new regulator called the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the National Pension System (NPS) has been open for individuals from all walks of life to participate.
The law regulating the NPS allows members to withdraw just 60% of their accumulated savings at the time of retirement. With the remaining 40%, it is mandatory to buy an annuity product that provides a fixed monthly income to retirees till their demise.
Members who accumulate up to ₹2 lakh in their NPS account at the time of retirement are exempted from the mandatory annuitization, and can withdraw the full amount.

What overhaul is the PFRDA planning?

Last week, PFRDA chairman said this limit will soon be revised to ₹5 lakh.
Separately, the regulator has decided that the annuity purchase stipulation for 40% of members’ retirement corpus should be dropped altogether. Legislative amendments to this effect are being worked out for Parliament’s approval.

2. RBI TO ISSUE CYBERSECURITY NORMS

Subject: Economy

Context : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon issue cybersecurity norms for payment service providers (PSPs), following a series of data breaches faced by operators including Mobikwik and payment aggregator JusPay.

Concept:

While the standards for fintech-driven payment services providers will be similar to cyber hygiene norms issued recently for banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), the RBI is quite clear that firms will have to do more than observe the minimum standards to ensure safety as digital transactions gain further traction.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) had laid down a framework for a more even distribution of share of third-party app providers in the UPI system.

NPCI

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems under the ownership of Reserve Bank of India in India.
Founded in: 2008.
Headquarters: Mumbai.

3. MOXIE

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Recently, NASA has announced that a device aboard the rover under Perseverance Mission was able to produce oxygen from the thin Martian atmosphere for the first time.

Concept:

Production of oxygen by Perseverance Mission

The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) produced 5 grams of oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, enough for an astronaut to breathe for 10 minutes.
On Mars, carbon dioxide makes up ~96% of the gas in the planet’s atmosphere while the Oxygen is only 0.13%, compared to 21% in Earth’s atmosphere.
It is similar to a tree on Earth i.e. MOXIE inhales carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen.
MOXIE separates oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide molecules in order to produce oxygen.
It does so by using heat at a temperature of around 800 degrees Celsius, and in the process also produces carbon monoxide as a waste product, which it releases in the Martian atmosphere.

4. UNICORN

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Scientists have discovered what may be the smallest-known black hole in the Milky Way galaxy and the closest to our solar system.

Concept:

Nicknamed ‘Unicorn’ the researchers said the black hole is roughly three times the mass of our Sun, testing the lower limits of size for these extraordinarily dense objects.
A luminous red giant star orbits with the black hole in a so-called binary star system named V723 Mon.
The black hole is located about 1,500 light years – the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km) – from Earth. While it may be the closest one to us, it is still far away. By way of comparison, the closest star to our solar system, Proxima Centauri, is 4 light years away.
Black holes like this one form when massive stars die and their cores collapse.
The study is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

5. OXYGEN CONCENTRATORS

Subject: Science & tech

Context: With oxygen cylinders in short supply across several states, the Oxygen concentrator is among the most sought after devices for oxygen therapy, especially among patients in home isolation and for hospitals running out of oxygen.

Concept:

An oxygen concentrator is a medical device that concentrates oxygen from ambient air.
Atmospheric air has about 78 per cent nitrogen and 21 per cent oxygen, with other gases making up the remaining 1 per cent.
The oxygen concentrator takes in this air, filters it through a sieve, releases the nitrogen back into the air, and works on the remaining oxygen.
This oxygen, compressed and dispensed through a cannula, is 90-95 per cent pure. A pressure valve in concentrators helps regulate supply, ranging from 1-10 litres per minute.
According to a 2015 report by the WHO, concentrators are designed for continuous operation and can produce oxygen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for up to 5 years or more.

6. REPRODUCTIVE NUMBER

Subject: Science & tech

Context: On reproduction metric, Covid can be spreading faster in UP, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Concept:

The R-naught, or R0, is a virus’s basic reproductive number — an epidemiologic metric used to describe the contagiousness of infectious agents.
At its simplest, the basic reproductive number can show us how worried we should be about infection
If the R0 is above one, each case is expected to infect at least one other person on average, and the virus is likely to keep spreading.
If it’s less than one, a group of infected people are less likely to spread the infection.
The national average for the R-value, or reproduction number, one of the parameters of Covid-19 transmission, is 1.32, indicating that one infected person spreads the virus to more than one but less than two people.

7. PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION ACT

Subject: Legislations

Context: CBI registers FIR against former Maha home minister Anil Deshmukh under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Concept:

The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to combat corruption in government agencies and public sector businesses in India.
The Central and the State Government is empowered to appoint Special Judges to try the following offences:

Any offence punishable under this Act.

Any conspiracy to commit or any attempt to commit or any abetment of any of the offences specified under the Act.

A Special Judge, while trying any offence punishable under the Act, shall exercise all powers and functions exercised by a District Judge under the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance,1944

The following are the offences under the PCA along with their punishments:-

Taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act, and if the public servant is found guilty shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall be not less than 6 months extendable up to 5 years and shall also be liable to fine.
Taking gratification in order to influence public servant, by corrupt or illegal means, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than three years extendable up to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
Taking gratification, for exercise of personal influence with public servant shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than six months extendable up to five years and shall also be liable to fine.
Any public servant, who commits criminal misconduct shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than one year extendable up to 7 years and shall also be liable to fine

Investigation shall be done by a police officer not below the rank of:

In case of Delhi, of an Inspector of Police.
In metropolitan areas, of an Assistant Commissioner of Police.
Elsewhere, of a Deputy Superintendent of Police or an officer of equivalent rank shall investigate any offence punishable under this Act without the order of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a magistrate of first class, or make any arrest therefore without a warrant.

2018 amendments to the act:

Giving bribe is a specific and a direct offence.
Those convicted of taking bribes can be imprisoned for three to seven years besides being fined.
It makes a provision for providing protection to ‘coerced’ (forced to pay a bribe) bribe-givers if the matter is reported to the concerned law enforcement agencies within a week.
It redefines criminal misconduct and will now only cover misappropriation of property and possession of disproportionate assets.
It proposes a ‘shield’ for government servants, including those retired, from prosecution by making it mandatory for investigating agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation to take prior approval from a competent authority before conducting an enquiry against them.
However, it states that such permissions shall not be necessary for cases involving the arrest of a person on the spot on the charge of accepting or attempting to accept any undue advantage for himself or for any other person.
In any corruption case against a public servant, the factor of “undue advantage” will have to be established.
The trial in cases pertaining to the exchange of bribes and corruption should be completed within two years. Further, even after reasoned delays, the trial cannot exceed four years.
It covers bribe-giving commercial organisations to be liable for punishment or prosecution. However, charitable institutions have been left out of its ambit.
It provides powers and procedures for the attachment and forfeiture of a corruption-accused public servant’s property.

8. SPACE X CREW DRAGON CAPSULE

Subject: Science & tech

Context: SpaceX launches its third astronaut crew, the first on a used Crew Dragon capsule.

Concept:

SpaceX launched its third crew of astronauts to the International Space Station early Friday morning, reusing a Crew Dragon space capsule to fly humans for the first time.
The mission, dubbed Crew-2, is the latest flight under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will add four more astronauts to the orbital space station.

Crew Dragon:

It is a part of the Dragon 2, a class of reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX.
It is the fifth class of US spacecraft to take human beings into orbit, after the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.
The rocket, named Falcon 9, which carried the spaceship into the orbit, was also built by SpaceX.
It is done under the Demo-2 Mission of NASA and SpaceX.

Crew-2 Mission

It is a part of collaboration between NASA and SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Program.
It is the second crew rotation of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the first with international partners.

Commercial Crew Program

Its main objective is to make access to space easier in terms of its cost, so that cargo and crew can be easily transported to and from the ISS, enabling greater scientific research.
The NASA plans to lower its costs by sharing them with commercial partners such as Boeing and SpaceX through Commercial Crew Program.
It gives the companies incentive to design and build the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS).
NASA can focus on building spacecraft and rockets meant for deep space exploration missions.

9. ASEAN EMERGENCY SUMMIT

Subject : International Relations

Context : ASEAN leaders demand immediate end to ‘unacceptable’ killings in Myanmar, following emergency summit.

Concept :

At the meeting in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also told Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing that they wanted a commitment from the military chief to restrain his security forces, and for the release of political prisoners.
What’s resulted is a “five-point consensus”, including calls to: end violence immediately; begin dialogue between opposing groups; create an ASEAN chair to facilitate dialogue; give more humanitarian assistance; and allow the ASEAN chair to visit Myanmar.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation.
It was established on 8th August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Ten Members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Chairmanship: It rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.
ASEAN countries have a total population of 650 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 2.8 trillion. It is India’s 4th largest trading partner with about USD 86.9 billion in trade.
The group has played a central role in Asian economic integration, signing six free-trade agreements with other regional economies and helping spearhead negotiations for what could be the world’s largest free trade pact.

10. EXERCISE VARUNA – 2021

Subject : Defence

Context : The 19th edition of the Indian and French Navy bilateral exercise ‘VARUNA-2021’ is scheduled to be conducted in the Arabian Sea from 25th to 27th April 2021.

Concept :

From the Indian Navy’s side, guided missile stealth destroyer INS Kolkata, guided missile frigates INS Tarkash and INS Talwar, Fleet Support Ship INS Deepak, with Seaking 42B and Chetak integral helicopters, a Kalvari class submarine and P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft, will participate in the exercise.
VARUNA-21 highlights growing bonhomie and showcases increased levels of synergy, coordination and inter-operability between the two friendly navies.