Daily Prelims Notes 26 November 2021

November 26, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

26 November 2021

Table Of Contents

1. Criminalization of Politics

Subject – Polity

Context – Will you ban convicts from polls, SC asks Govt

Concept –

The criminalization of politics means the participation of criminals in politics which includes that criminals can contest in the elections and get elected as members of the Parliament and the State legislature.
It takes place primarily due to the nexus between politicians and criminals.
Indian Constitution does not specify as to what disqualifies a person from contesting elections for the Parliament, Legislative assembly or any other legislature.
The Representation of Peoples Act 1951 mentions the criteria for disqualifying a person for contesting an election of the legislature.
- Section 8 of the act, i.e. disqualification on conviction for certain offences, according to which an individual punished with a jail term of more than two years cannot stand in an election for six years after the jail term has ended.
- Even if a person is on bail after the conviction and his appeal is pending for disposal, he is disqualified from contesting an election.
- The law does not bar individuals who have criminal cases pending against them from contesting elections therefore the disqualification of candidates with criminal cases depends on their conviction in these cases.

2. Vembanad Lake

Subject – Environment

Context – Maradu: Lapses in removal of demolition debris raised

Concept –

Vembanad, also known as Punnamada is the longest lake in India, as well as the largest lake in the state of Kerala.
It is the second largest Ramsar site in India only after the Sunderbans in West Bengal.

Spanning several districts in the state of Kerala, it is known as Vembanadu Lake in Kottayam, Vaikom, Changanassery, Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha, Punnappra, Kuttanadu and Kochi Lake in Kochi.

Kuttanad, also known as The Rice Bowl of Kerala, has the lowest altitude in India, and is also one of the few places in world where cultivation takes place below sea level. Kuttanad lies on the southern portion of Vembanad.

The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is conducted in a portion of the lake.

The lake has its source in four rivers, Meenachil, Achankovil, Pampa and Manimala.

It is separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow barrier island and is a popular backwater stretch in Kerala.

The Government of India has identified the Vembanad wetland under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme.

In 2019, Willingdon Island, a seaport located in the city of Kochi, was carved out of Vembanad Lake.

One of the most outstanding features of this lake is the 1252 m long saltwater barrier, Thanneermukkom, which was built to stop saltwater intrusion into Kuttanad.

3. Farmers and Essential commodities Act

Context: Farmers of Marathwada growing pulses are not even able to get the minimum support price ₹6,300 per quintal this season, all due to the stock limit imposed on all pulses under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and the import by the government.

Background:

The pulses inflation rate was 18.34 per cent in October 2020. This forced government to take pre-emptive and proactive measures. As a result, prices have started coming down. The government last week announced that the retail prices of pulses were substantially stabilized in the past five months, from June 2021. Prices of Gram, Tur, Urad, and Moong have either declined or remained stable in comparison with last year.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for pulses has also seen a consistent decline during the last five months, from 10.01 per cent in June to 5.42 per cent in October. Stability in the retail prices of pulses has been achieved on account of pre-emptive and proactive measures taken by the government such as taking import of Tur, Urad, and Moong.

Why farmers are upset?

Import of pulses led to sudden collapse of prices, thus farmers had to bear the cost. Farmers alleged that every time there is the possibility of farmers getting a higher price for the produce, the government goes for imports, and prices in the market collapse. This is because farmers have any other option than to sell our produce at a lower price as we don’t have the capacity to store the produce.
Even when we have a bumper harvest, we face a similar situation. We all bring produce to the market at the same time. Neither we nor traders have storage capacity beyond a limit and we sell the produce at a price where even production cost is not recovered.

Essential Commodities Act and Farmers

It goes back to war-time shortages and Defence of India Act of 1939. When World War II was over, there was no possible justification for that particular Defence of India Act, and it was repealed. However, there was justification for government control over “essential” commodities, “essential” being defined as necessary and indispensable. Accordingly, there was first an Ordinance and then an Act in 1946, Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act.
The Preamble and title indicated this was meant to be temporary, for a limited period. Meanwhile, we had the Constitution, and under Article 269, the Union government had powers to enact laws for items on State List, as if they were on the Concurrent List. But only for five years “from the commencement of the Constitution”. That took us to 1955, and we can skip details of how Entry 33 in the Concurrent List was amended so that ECA permanently entered statute books.

What constitutes Essential Item?

In 1973, a Planning Commission “Committee on Essential Commodities and Articles of Mass Consumption” concluded that the following were essential items—cereals; pulses; sugar, gur and khandsari; edible oils and vanaspati; milk, eggs and fish; common clothing; standard footwear; kerosene oil and domestic fuels; common drugs and medicines; bicycles, bicycle tyres and tubes; matches, dry cells and hurricane lanterns; soaps and detergents; textbooks and stationery.
Over time, in addition to those listed by Planning Commission, the essential products list included aluminium, art silk textiles, cement, cinema carbon, coarse grains, coconut husks, coir retting, cold storages, collieries, copper, cotton, drugs, dry batteries, electrical appliances, electrical cables and wires, ethyl alcohol, fertilisers, food-grains, fruit, furnace oil, electric lamps, diesel oil, household electrical appliances, cars, maize, insecticides, iron and steel, jute and jute textiles, kerosene, linoleum, LPG, lubricating oils and grease, meat, molasses, mustard oil, newsprint, oil pressure stoves, paper, paraffin wax, petroleum products, plants, fruits and seeds, pulses and edible oils, groundnut oil, rice, salt, sugar and sugarcane, synthetic rubber, tea, textiles, tractors, two-wheelers, tyres and tubes, vegetable oil, wheat.
ECA has a schedule (Section 2) of what is “essential”, and if an item is in that schedule, it is axiomatically “essential”. Before liberalisation, there were around 80 Union government-level orders and around 150 state government-level orders, decreeing various items as “essential”.
The progressive tightening of ECA manifested itself through more and more items being added to the schedule. In addition, offences were made non-bailable, and there were special courts. Hoarding has a negative nuance attached to it, though hoarders often perform a useful function of reducing price volatility. In contrast, black marketing has a uniformly negative nuance. But black markets exist only when there is a shortage.
The ECA is an act which was established to ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which if obstructed owing to hoarding or black-marketing would affect the normal life of the people.
The ECA was enacted in 1955. This includes foodstuff, drugs, fuel (petroleum products) etc.

History of ECA

It has since been used by the Government to regulate the production, supply and distribution of a whole host of commodities it declares ‘essential’ in order to make them available to consumers at fair prices.
Additionally, the government can also fix the maximum retail price (MRP) of any packaged product that it declares an “essential commodity”.
The list of items under the Act includes drugs, fertilizers, Food items, pulses and edible oils, and petroleum and petroleum products.
The Centre can include new commodities as and when the need arises, and takes them off the list once the situation improves.

How ECA works?

If the Centre finds that a certain commodity is in short supply and its price is spiking, it can notify stock-holding limits on it for a specified period.
The States act on this notification to specify limits and take steps to ensure that these are adhered to.
Anybody trading or dealing in the commodity, be it wholesalers, retailers or even importers are prevented from stockpiling it beyond a certain quantity.
A State can, however, choose not to impose any restrictions. But once it does, traders have to immediately sell into the market any stocks held beyond the mandated quantity.
This improves supplies and brings down prices. As not all shopkeepers and traders comply, State agencies conduct raids to get everyone to toe the line and the errant are punished.
The excess stocks are auctioned or sold through fair price shops.
Ex: The Union Government has brought masks and hand-sanitisers under the ECA to make sure that these products, key for preventing the spread of Covid-19 infection, are available to people at the right price and in the right quality

For Food Items:

Based on the deliberations, Government takes various measures from time to time to stabilize prices of essential food items which, inter-alia, include appropriately utilizing trade and fiscal policy instruments like import duty.
The govt. can impose stock limits and advise State for effective action against hoarders & black marketers etc. to regulate domestic availability and moderate prices.
The government utilizes the buffer of agri-horticultural commodities like pulses, onion, etc. built under Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) to help moderate the volatility in prices.

New Farms Laws:

The new farm law on the Essential Commodities Act had proposed to remove cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. The move was aimed to remove fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in their business operations. The government reasoned that The freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute and supply will lead to the harnessing economies of scale and attract private sector/foreign direct investment into agriculture sector.
According to the government, while India has become surplus in most agri-commodities, farmers have been unable to get better prices due to the lack of investment in cold storage, warehouses, processing, and export as the entrepreneurial spirit gets dampened due to the Essential Commodities Act

4. Food safety regulator FSSAI has sought public comments on draft regulation

Context: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) order mandating non-GM origin and GM-free certification for import of 24 identified food crops, including apples, pineapples and wheat, and has argued that this was impeding joint efforts to increase market access for agricultural items

Concept: The FSSAI published an order specifying that every consignment of 24 identified food products need to be accompanied by a non-GM-origin-cum-GM-free certificate issued by competent national authority of the exporting country.

Regulation of GM crops

In India, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)is the apex body that allows for commercial release of GM crops.
Use of the unapproved GM variant can attract a jail term of 5 years and fine of Rs. 1 lakh under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The task of regulating GMO levels in imported consumables was initially with the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC).
Its role was diluted with the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006and FSSAI was asked to take over approvals of imported goods.
These Rules are implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Department of Biotechnology and State Governments though six competent authorities.
. India is a signatory to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB), however, the definition of modern biotechnology, as in CPB is yet to be adopted in the national regulations.
The task of regulating GMO levels in imported consumables was initially with the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union environment ministry.
Its role in this was diluted with the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and FSSAI was asked to take over approvals of imported goods.

Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures

The agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS) under WTO, provides guidelines for member countries to adopt measures related to food safety and animal and plant health from various biosafety risks arising from trade.
These risks are usually related to pests and diseases and may come from risks arising from additives, toxins and contaminants in food and feed.

5. New variant B.1.1.529

Context: A new variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 — called B.1.1.529 — has been identified in South Africa, with officials there saying it’s of concern. Fears a new strain could fuel outbreaks in many countries,

Concept:

1.1.529 carries a high number of mutations in its spike protein, which plays a key role in the virus’ entry into cells in the body. The beta variant, a mutation identified last year in South Africa, also may have come from an HIV-infected person.
Viruses mutate all the time, with the changes sometimes making the virus weaker or sometimes making it more adept at evading antibodies and infecting humans.
The WHO called a meeting on Friday to discuss B.1.1.529 and decide if it will be officially designated a variant of interest or concern. If it does, it will receive a Greek letter name under the WHO naming scheme, likely the letter “nu.

Mutations

The DNA sequence is specific to each organism. It can sometimes undergo changes in its base-pairs sequence. It is termed as a mutation.
A mutation may lead to changes in proteins translated by the DNA. Usually, the cells can recognize any damage caused by mutation and repair it before it becomes permanent.

Types of Mutations

Silent mutation

It refers to any change in the sequence of DNA, which has no further impact on the amino acid sequence in a protein or in the functions performed by a protein. There is no phenotypic indicator of mutation.
Nonsense mutation
When due to a point mutation there is change in the sequence of base pair leading to stop codon. It results in a shortened or non-functional protein.

Missense mutation

A missense mutation is a result of point mutation leading to change in the codon, which then codes for another amino acid.

Causes:

Most of the mutations occur when the DNA fails to copy accurately. All these mutations lead to evolution. During cell division, the DNA makes a copy of its own. Sometimes, the copy of the DNA is not perfect and this slight difference is called a mutation.
When the DNA is exposed to certain chemicals or radiations, it causes the DNA to break down. The ultraviolet radiations cause the thymine dimers to break resulting in a mutated DNA.

Negative effects:

Genetic disorders can be caused by the mutation of one or more genes. Cystic fibrosis is one such genetic disorder caused by the mutation in one or more genes.
Cancer is another disease caused by the mutation in genes that regulate the cell cycle.

6. Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day

Context: Black Friday this year falls on November 26, a day after Thanksgiving, which is the day when many online and offline retailers launch the “Black Friday” sales that offer products at discounted prices to consumers.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a day that has been observed in the US since October 3, 1789 when President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789, as an official holiday of “sincere and humble thanks”.
There is no evidence from before 1951 of Black Friday referring to the day following Thanksgiving
President Abraham Lincoln made the traditional Thanksgiving celebration a nationwide holiday in 1863 since when it has been commemorated each year on the fourth Thursday of November.

Black Friday

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries defines ‘Black Friday’ as “the day after Thanksgiving in the US, the first day of traditional Christmas shopping, when stores have special offers to attract consumers”.
Black Friday as a symbol of over-consumption that makes people buy products that are not needed, adding to waste generation and the subsequent carbon footprint.
In the 1960s police officers complained about one Friday when the streets were congested and clogged with traffic. They called it “Black Friday”. Alternatively, it is believed to symbolise the US gold market crash of 1869.

7. Deposit insurance

Context: The Reserve Bank of India, in its draft scheme of amalgamation of the bank with Unity Small Finance Bank Ltd (USFB), has placed multiple restrictions on access to deposits beyond Rs 5 lakh that depositors can receive from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

What is the scheme?

The scheme of arrangement states that depositors of PMC Bank will receive up to Rs 5 lakh (depending upon the balance in their account) from DICGC in accordance with the rules. However, those with higher deposits in PMC Bank will face restrictions. Retail depositors will have access to additional amounts up to Rs 50,000 at the end of two years from the appointed date, up to Rs 1 lakh at the end of the third year, up to Rs 3 lakh after four years, and up to Rs 5.5 lakh after five years.

What are the restrictions on interest?

After March 31, 2021, interest shall not accrue on any interest-bearing deposit with the transferor bank for five years. In respect of balance in any current account or any other non-interest bearing account, no interest shall be payable. An interest of 2.75% per year shall be paid on retail deposits of the transferor bank, which shall remain outstanding after five years from the appointed date.

What happens to other deposits?

From the appointed date, 80% of the uninsured deposits outstanding to the credit of each institutional depositor of the transferor bank shall be converted into Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Shares (PNCPS) of USFB with a dividend of 1% per annum payable annually. At the end of 10 years, the transferee bank may consider additional benefits for such PNCPS holders, either in the form of a step-up in coupon rate or a call option, after getting RBI approval.
The remaining 20% of the institutional deposits will be converted into equity warrants of USFB at a price of Rs 1 per warrant. These will further be converted into equity shares of USFB at the time of the Initial Public Offer.
In respect of every other liability of the transferor bank, USFB shall pay only the principal amounts, as and when due, to the creditors in terms of agreements entered between them prior to the appointed date.

Steps taken by RBI:

The RBI issued ‘All Inclusive Directions’ to the bank under Section 35A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949) to protect the interest of the depositors.
It also superseded the bank’s board of directors and can appoint an administrator in its place. RBI then decided to prepare a scheme of amalgamation.
Unlike equity and bond investors, bank depositors enjoy the highest levels of safety on their funds.

Deposit Insurance:

In the unlikely event of a bank failing, a depositor can claim a maximum Rs 5 lakh per account as insurance cover. The cover is provided by the DICGC.
Depositors with more than Rs 5 lakh have no legal recourse to recover funds if a bank collapses.

What kind of deposits is insured?

Deposits in public and private sector banks, local area banks, small finance banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks, Indian branches of foreign banks and payments banks are all insured by the DICGC. The premium is paid by banks to the DICGC, and is not to be passed on to depositors. Banks currently pay a minimum of 12 paise on every Rs 100 worth deposits to the DICGC as premium for the insurance cover.

Last year, the government raised the insurance amount to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh.

8. Strategic reserves

Context: India’s move to release 5 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves as part of a coordinated challenge led by the US against the OPEC+ producers’ cartel’s move to curb output.

Background:

It is part of a concerted effort ( USA, China, EU , Britain , India )to negate upward pressure on crude prices from OPEC+ — a 13-country grouping of oil exporters that has been joined since 2016 by 10 others led by Russia to decide production quotas — keeping supply below demand, even though the action is largely symbolic in nature. India has called for an increase in the supply by OPEC+ at multiple international forums and in bilateral talks with oil producing countries. India argues that high crude oil prices are impacting the post-Covid economic recovery, especially in the developing countries. It is the first time that New Delhi would be dipping into its reserves to leverage it as a geopolitical tool

India’s strategic reserves are the effort of a broader plan to build an emergency stockpile with millions of barrels of crude oil, on the lines of the reserves that the US and its Western allies set up after the first oil crisis of 1973-74. These can be used in situation which include any natural calamity or unforeseen global event leading to an abnormal increase in prices.

More about Strategic reserves: DPN Oct

9. UN LDCs Status

Context: The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a historic resolution to graduate three nations, including Bangladesh and Nepal, from the least developed country (LDC) category to the developing country grouping, a major milestone demonstrating the countries’ significant development progress.

Concept:

The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution at its 76th session. The three countries that got clearance for graduation are Bangladesh, Nepal and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

The three countries will graduate from the LDC category after an exceptionally extended preparatory period of five years (the standard period is of three years) to enable them to prepare for graduation while planning for a post-COVID-19 recovery and implementing policies and strategies to reverse the economic and social damage incurred by the COVID-19 shock,

Bangladesh is now scheduled to officially become a developing country in 2026 as the U.N. committee recommended that the country should get five years, to prepare for the transition .All the three eligibility criteria for graduation involving per capita income, human assets index (HAI), and economic and environmental vulnerability index (EVI).

Nepal’s inclusion in the LDC status took place in 1971.

LDCs Status

Since 1971, the United Nations has recognized least developed countries (LDCs) as a category of States that are deemed highly disadvantaged in their development process, for structural, historical and also geographical reasons.

LDCs face more than other countries the risk of deeper poverty and remaining in a situation of underdevelopment. More than 75 per cent of the LDCs’ population still live in poverty.

These countries are also characterized by their vulnerability to external economic shocks, natural and man-made disasters and communicable diseases. As such, the LDCs are in need of the highest degree of attention from the international community.

Currently, the 46 LDCs comprise around 880 million people, 12 percent of the world population, which face severe structural impediments to growth. However, the LDCs account for less than 2 percent of world GDP and around 1 percent of world trade.

Four United Nations Conferences on the LDCs were held in: 1981, 1990, 2001 and 2011. The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries adopted the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 – the so-called Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA).

LDCs are those that suffer from severe structural impediments to achieve sustainable development.
Currently, there are 46 countries on the LDC list, according to the U.N. Committee for Development Policy (CDP).
According to the U.N., per capita income of $1,230 is one of the requirements for transitioning into a developing nation.

Membership is revised every three years based on

Per Capita Income (GDP plus net income received from overseas)
Human assets (level of population undernourished, under-five mortality rate, gross secondary enrolment ratio and adult literacy rate)
Economic vulnerability (such as population, remoteness, merchandise export concentration, natural disasters, instability of agriculture production, and instability of goods and services exports, among other factors).

By periodically identifying LDCs and highlighting their structural problems, the United Nations gives a strong signal to the international community to the need of special concessions in support of LDCs.

Concessions associated with LDC status include benefits in the areas of:

Development financing, notably grants and loans from donors and financial institutions.
Multilateral trading system, such as preferential market access and special treatments.
Technical assistance, notably, toward trade mainstreaming (Enhanced Integrated Framework)

In past, six countries have graduated from LDC status: Botswana in 1994, Cape Verde in 2007, Maldives in 2011, Samoa in 2014, Equatorial Guinea in 2017, and Vanuatu in 2020.

UNCTAD extends to all graduating countries a range of services aimed at supporting their progress toward graduation from LDC status. These include preparing vulnerability profiles of countries with the challenges of graduation, supporting them in their preparation for a smooth transition to post-LDC life.

UNCTAD also assists ex-LDC in their quest for continued socio-economic progress, notably, toward enhanced economic specialization

10. Timbuktu

Context: International Criminal Court appeals judges have cut by two years the sentence of an Islamic radical who pleaded guilty to overseeing the destruction of historic mausoleums in the Malian desert city of Timbuktu, the court announced Thursday.

Concept:

Timbuktu, French Tombouctou, city in the western African country of Mali

It is located on the southern edge of the Sahara, about 8 miles (13 km) north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali.

It is located on the southern tip of the Sahara desert where there is nothing but thousands of miles of barren desert to its north.

Al-Qaida-linked rebels occupied the fabled Saharan city of Timbuktu in 2012 and enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law under which they destroyed the historic mud-brick tombs they considered idolatrous.

Al Mahdi was leader of one of the “morality brigades” set up by Timbuktu’s new rulers.

International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC), located in The Hague, is the court of last resort for prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
It is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
Its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002.
Funding: Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

Composition and voting power:

The Court’s management oversight and legislative body, the Assembly of States Parties, consists of one representative from each state party.
Each state party has one vote and “every effort” has to be made to reach decisions by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, decisions are made by vote.
The Assembly is presided over by a president and two vice-presidents, who are elected by the members to three-year terms.

Criticisms:

It does not have the capacity to arrest suspects and depends on member states for their cooperation.
Critics of the Court argue that there are insufficient checks and balances on the authority of the ICC prosecutor and judges and insufficient protection against politicized prosecutions or other abuses.
The ICC has been accused of bias and as being a tool of Western imperialism, only punishing leaders from small, weak states while ignoring crimes committed by richer and more powerful states.
ICC cannot mount successful cases without state cooperation is problematic for several reasons. It means that the ICC acts inconsistently in its selection of cases, is prevented from taking on hard cases and loses legitimacy.