Daily Prelims Notes 29 January 2024

Daily Prelims Notes

29 January 2024

Table Of Contents

1. Delhi High Court reaffirmed the ban on ‘sapinda’ marriages
2. A conch shell to trumpet a new note at Beating Retreat
3. FPI disclosure norms deadline extended: Why is SEBI seeking investor data?
4. 17th Lok Sabha may enter history with least number of lapsed bills
5. El Nino: Malawi’s harvest of maize – its staple food – may fall by 22.5% this year
6. INSAT­-3DS satellite sent to launch port in Sriharikota
7. The genomic revolution promises to transform cancer care
8. What are the RBI’s guidelines on State ‘guarantees’?
9. What is end-to-end encryption and how does it secure information?

1. Delhi High Court reaffirmed the ban on ‘sapinda’ marriages

Subject: Polity

Section: Judiciary

Context:

• Delhi High Court this week rejected a plea regarding constitutionality of Section 5(v) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA), which prohibits marriage between two Hindus if they are “sapindas” of each other.

More on news:

• The court said that, If the choice of a partner in a marriage is left unregulated, incestuous relationships may gain legitimacy.
• If a marriage is found to violate Section 5(v) for being a sapinda marriage, and there is no established custom that allows such a practice, it will be declared void.
• This would mean that the marriage was invalid from the very beginning, and will be treated as though it never took place.

What is a sapinda marriage?

• A sapinda marriage is one between individuals who are related to each other within a certain degree of closeness.
• Sapinda relationships for the purposes of the Hindu Marriage Act(HMA) are defined in Section 3 of the Act.

Provisions of Hindu Marriage Act:

• According to Section 3(f)(ii) of HMA, “Two persons are said to be sapindas of each other if one is a lineal ascendant of the other within the limits of sapinda relationship, or if they have a common lineal ascendant who is within the limits of sapinda relationship with reference to each of them”.
• Under the provisions of the HMA, on the mother’s side, a Hindu individual cannot marry anyone who is within three generations of them in the “line of ascent”.
• On the father’s side, this prohibition applies to anyone within five generations of the individual.
• In practice, this means that on their mother’s side, an individual cannot marry their sibling (first generation), their parents (second generation), their grandparents (third generation), or an individual who shares this ancestry within three generations.
• On their father’s side, this prohibition would extend up to their grandparents’ grandparents, and anyone who shares this ancestry within five generations.

About customs which permits sapinda marriages:

• The definition of the word “custom” is provided in Section 3(a) of the HMA. 
• It states that a custom has to be “continuously and uniformly observed for a long time”.
• It should have gained enough legitimacy among Hindus in a local area, tribe, group, or family, such that it has obtained “the force of law”.

Are marriages similar to sapinda marriages allowed in other countries?

• In several European countries, the laws on relationships that are considered incestuous are less stringent than in India.
• In France, the crime of incest was abolished under the Penal Code of 1810, so long as the marriage was between consenting adults.
• The Republic of Ireland recognised same-sex marriages in 2015, but the law on incest has not been updated to include individuals in same-sex relationships.
• Under Italian law incest is a crime only if it causes a “public scandal”.
• In the United States, incestuous marriages are banned in all 50 states, though incestuous relationships between consenting adults are allowed in New Jersey and Rhode Island.

2. A conch shell to trumpet a new note at Beating Retreat

Subject: History

Section: Art and Culture

Context:

• For the first time, the ceremonial musical parade at Beating Retreat will begin with a massed band’s ‘Shankhnaad’ tune.

More on news:

• The Beating Retreat ceremony at the Vijay Chowk that marks the end of Republic Day celebrations will this time see a new note being trumpeted at the musical parade.
• On the Republic day parade, many female artistes were playing Indian musical instruments like Conch, Nadaswaram and Nagada.
• The principal conductor of the ceremony will be Lt Col Vimal Joshi.

Desi beats 

• Over the last few years, the Beating Retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk has been seeing a shift in beat with more Indian tunes played, pushing out the colonial martial music and Christian hymns like ‘Abide With Me’.
• This year the music bands of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) like the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
• Among the rousing numbers played by the pipes and drums bands will be ‘Veer Bharat’, ‘Sangam Dur’, ‘Deshon ka Sartaj Bharat’, ‘Bhagirathi’, and ‘Arjuna’.
• The CAPF bands will play ‘Bharat Ke Jawan’ and ‘Vijay Bharat’ among others.
• ‘Tiger Hill’, ‘Rejoice in Raisina’, and ‘Swadeshi’ are a few of the tunes to be played by the band of the IAF.
• The Indian Navy band will enthrall the crowd with melodious notes of ‘INS Vikrant’, ‘Mission Chandrayaan’, ‘Jai Bharati’ and ‘Hum Tayyar Hain’.

Patriotic pitch

• Raising the patriotic pitch further will be the Indian Army band’s numbers like ‘Faulad Ka Jigar’, ‘Agniveer’, ‘Kargil 1999’ and ‘Taqat Watan’ .
• The crescendo will come when the Massed Bands then play popular favorites like ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon’ and ‘Drummers Call’. 
• Finally, the event will climax on the note of ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’.

About Beating Retreat:

• Beating retreat in India officially denotes the end of Republic Day festivities.
• It is conducted on the evening of 29 Januarye. the third day after the Republic Day and is organized by Section D of the Ministry of Defence.
• It is performed by the bands of the three wings of the military, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, and pipe bands from the Army, plus from 2016 a massed formation of bands of the Central Armed Police Forces and the Delhi Police.
• The ceremony was started in 1955 and has been a hallmark of Republic Day celebrations ever since.
• Brig Bewoor and Maj Roberts of Ceremonial and Welfare Directorate of Indian Army conceived the first Beating Retreat in India.
• Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating to 17th-century England and was first used to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle.

3. FPI disclosure norms deadline extended: Why is SEBI seeking investor data?

Subject: Economy

Section: Capital Market

Context:

• Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who are mandated to liquidate their holdings as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) January-end deadline, will get seven months more to provide additional disclosures.

More on news:

• In August last year, the markets regulator had asked FPIs, who were holding more than 50 per cent of their equity AUM in a single corporate group or with an overall holding in Indian equity markets of over Rs 25,000 crore, to disclose granular details of all entities holding any ownership, economic interest, or exercising control in the FPI.
• The norms were announced to prevent the possible round-tripping by certain promoters using the FPI route.

Why has SEBI asked FPIs to provide additional disclosures?

• In its August circular, Sebi said certain FPIs are holding  a concentrated portion of their equity portfolio in a single investee company/ corporate group.
• Such concentrated investments could be used  to circumvent regulatory requirements  such as that of disclosures under Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers Regulations, 2011 (SAST Regulations) or maintaining Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) in the listed company.

What additional details are required from FPIs?

• Sebi said granular details of all entities holding any ownership, economic interest, or exercising control in the FPI will have to be provided by FPIs.
• While economic interest means returns from the investments made by the FPI, ownership interest means ownership of shares or capital of the entity or entitlement to derive profits from the activity of the entity.

Are all FPIs required to provide additional disclosures?

• Sebi has said FPIs holding more than 50 per cent of their Indian equity assets under management (AUM) in a single Indian corporate group or holding over Rs 25,000 crore of equity AUM in the Indian markets are required to disclose details.

Which FPIs are exempted from making additional disclosure?

• FPIs who are sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), listed companies on certain global exchanges, public retail funds, and other regulated pooled investment vehicles with diversified global holdings, are exempted from making enhanced disclosures.

What is Press Note 3?

• During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government amended the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy through a Press Note 3 (2020) on April 17, 2020.
• The amendments were said to have been made to check opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of stressed Indian companies at a cheaper valuation.

About Foreign Portfolio Investments(FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment(FDI):

Foreign Portfolio Investments(FPI)

• Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) refers to investing in the financial assets of a foreign country, such as stocks or bonds available on an exchange.
• This type of investment is at times viewed less favorably than direct investment because portfolio investments can be sold off quickly and are at times seen as short-term attempts to make money, rather than a long-term investment in the economy.
• Portfolio investments typically have a shorter time frame for investment return than direct investments.

Foreign Direct Investment(FDI)

• FDI is the process whereby residents of one country (the home country) acquire ownership of assets for the purpose of controlling the production, distribution and other activities of a firm in another country (the host country).
• It is different from Foreign Portfolio Investment where the foreign entity merely buys stocks and bonds of a company. FPI does not provide the investor with control over the business.
• Flows of FDI comprise capital provided (either directly or through other related enterprises) by a foreign direct investor to an enterprise.
• FDI has three components,, equity capital, reinvested earnings and intra-company loans.
• Equity capital is the foreign direct investor’s purchase of shares of an enterprise in a country other than its own.
• Reinvested earnings comprise the direct investors’ share (in proportion to direct equity participation) of earnings not distributed as dividends by affiliates, or earnings not remitted to the direct investor. Such retained profits by affiliates are reinvested.
• Intra-company loans or intra-company debt transactions refer to short- or long-term borrowing and lending of funds between direct investors (or enterprises) and affiliate enterprises.

4. 17th Lok Sabha may enter history with least number of lapsed bills

Subject: Polity

Section: Parliament

Context:

• The 17thLok Sabha may end with a unique distinction in terms of the number of bills lapsed. Going by the current trend, it could be in the low single digit.

More on news:

• As the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha approaches on January 31, the number of pending bills was just five.
• According to the data provided by the Lok Sabha, these include
  • The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill, 
  • The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 
  • The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 
  • The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill and 
  • The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill.
• Even if one of them is not taken up during the budget session, the number of bills lapsed will just be five, which is the lowest so far.
• The tenure of 17th Lok Sabha is ending on June 16.

Constitutional provisions:

• Articles 109 and 117 of the Constitution deals with respect to Money Bills and other financial Bills.
• A Bill may originate in either House (Lok Sabha or House of People and Rajya Sabha or House of States) of Parliament.
• A Bill shall not be deemed to have been passed by the Houses of Parliament unless it has been agreed to by both Houses, either without amendment or with such amendments only as are agreed to by both Houses.

About Lapse of a parliamentary bill:

• A Bill pending in Parliament shall not lapse by reason of the prorogation of the Houses.
• A Bill pending in the Council of States which has not been passed by the House of the People shall not lapse on a dissolution of the House of the People.
• A Bill which is pending in the House of the People, or which having been passed by the House of the People is pending in the Council of States, shall subject to the provisions of Article 108, lapse on a dissolution of the House of the People.
• A bill pending in Lok Sabha lapses on dissolution of the house.
• A bill passed by Lok Sabha but pending in Rajya Sabha lapses.
• A bill passed by both the house but pending for assent of the president does not lapse
• A bill passed by both the Houses but returned by the president for reconsideration of houses does not lapse.

5. El Nino: Malawi’s harvest of maize – its staple food – may fall by 22.5% this year

Subject: Geography

Section: Climatology

Context:

• Maize is a critical staple in southern Africa, particularly in Malawi, where it accounts for two-thirds of the national calorie intake.

Details of the study:

• The study focuses on the impact of El Nino, an abnormal warming in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, on maize production in Malawi.
• Using historical crop data and records of El Nino events since the 1980s, the researchers found that two-thirds of El Nino events correlate with a significant reduction in maize harvests, averaging a 22.5% decrease.
• Such a decline in maize production can lead to severe consequences, including widespread reliance on food aid, disruptions in maize markets, and economic challenges for both rural and urban households.
• The study suggests implementing social protection programs, such as cash transfers or government food aid and advises policymakers to prepare for El Nino impacts by importing maize and seeking international assistance.
• The researchers also recommend policies to help farmers install irrigation systems and diversify their income sources beyond traditional farming.
• The current El Nino, predicted to be one of the strongest in 40 years, is occurring alongside a strong Indian Ocean Dipole, another climate event that can exacerbate El Nino’s effects.

Can Malawi’s farmers prevent devastating losses?

• Some mitigation strategies include planting with the earliest effective rains, growing early maturing crops, implementing farming techniques to enhance water infiltration into the soil (such as digging small holes near crops), cultivating more drought-resistant crops, and using organic manure to improve soil moisture retention.
• However, these measures might not be sufficient.
  • While importing maize from neighbouring countries is a common solution, poor harvests across the entire region could limit the availability of maize for both informal and formal cross-border trade.

The urgent steps that the government can take in response to the potential impacts of El Nino on agriculture and the economy include:

1. The government should include impoverished urban populations in social protection programs. While cash transfers can be beneficial, they must be managed carefully to avoid exacerbating food shortages and increasing prices due to higher demand and limited supply.
2. Policymakers need to closely monitor the impacts of El Nino and be prepared to respond quickly and effectively as the situation evolves.
3. The government should make arrangements in advance to import maize swiftly in case of a domestic shortfall, thereby ensuring food availability.
4. Given Malawi’s challenging macroeconomic and fiscal situation, international support may be necessary to finance food imports.

El-Nino events:

• El Nino refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific. It is associated with high pressure in the western Pacific. El Nino adversely impacts the Indian monsoons and hence, agriculture in India.

Impact of El Nino:

• Impact on Ocean: El Nino impacts ocean temperatures, the speed and strength of ocean currents, the health of coastal fisheries, and local weather from Australia to South America and beyond.
• Increased Rainfall: Convection above warmer surface waters brings increased precipitation.
  • Rainfall increases drastically in South America, contributing to coastal flooding and erosion.
• Diseases caused by Floods and Droughts: Diseases thrive in communities devastated by natural hazards such as floods or drought.
  • El Nino-related flooding is associated with increases in cholera, dengue, and malaria in some parts of the world, while drought can lead to wildfires that create respiratory problems.

Source: DTE

6. INSAT­-3DS satellite sent to launch port in Sriharikota

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Space tech

Context:

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that the INSAT-3DS satellite has been flagged off to the launch port at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in  Sriharikota.

About INSAT-3DS

• INSAT-3DS is a user-funded meteorological satellite developed by ISRO.
• It’s designed to maintain and improve upon the services provided by existing satellites.
• It utilizes ISRO’s I-2k bus platform and weighs 2,275 kg.
• The project is a collaboration with the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• The satellite features advanced payloads for meteorological observations, communication, data relay, and search and rescue.
• Its capabilities include improved weather forecasting and distress signal relaying globally.

7. The genomic revolution promises to transform cancer care

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Biotech

Context:

• Recent UK research with 13,800 cancer patients showed genomic integration with clinical data can identify new cancer targets, guiding treatment strategies and highlighting inherited risks.
• NHS explores genomic medicine integration in cancer care, some trusts use preemptive sequencing.

Key Terms

Genome Sequencing:

• Genome sequencing is the process of determining the complete DNA sequence of an organism’s genome. It involves reading the order of nucleotides (A, T, C, and G) in DNA strands, providing insights into genetic variations and potential disease risks.

Oncology

• Oncology is the branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer. Oncologists study the causes and progression of cancer, develop treatment plans such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, and work towards improving patient outcomes.

Insights from study:

• Whole-Genome Sequencing: Central to the transformation of cancer care is whole-genome sequencing, enabling the comprehensive analysis of an individual’s DNA in a single test.
• Cancer Burden: With cancer becoming a significant global health concern, initiatives like the Cancer Genome Atlas aim to understand the molecular basis of cancer, leading to the development of precision oncology therapies.
• Precision Oncology: Molecular tests determine eligibility for precision oncology therapies, with genomic medicine showing potential to revolutionize cancer treatment by customizing therapies based on genomic data.

Acid rain has its origins in fossil fuels

Origins of Acid Rain:

• Acid rain results from the combustion of fossil fuels containing sulphur, releasing sulphur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, particularly from vehicles and power plants.
• Natural sources like volcanic eruptions and lightning also contribute to SO2 and NOx emissions, but urban areas rely heavily on fossil fuels, exacerbating the issue.

Formation and Effects:

• SO2 and NOx react with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to form sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and nitric acid (HNO3), leading to acid rain, snow, and fog with a pH around 4.2-4.4.
• Acid precipitation can harm aquatic life by rendering water bodies inhospitable and disrupt soil bacteria, impacting ecosystems and forests.

Mitigation Efforts:

• Coal power plants have reduced SO2 emissions significantly using flue-gas desulphurisation, while international collaborations like the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) aim to minimize acid rain’s environmental impact.

8. What are the RBI’s guidelines on State ‘guarantees’?

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context:

• A working group constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made certain recommendations to address issues relating to guarantees extended by State governments.

More About News:

• The working group prescribed a uniform reporting framework for the guarantees extended (by State governments) and a uniform guarantee ceiling.
• As per the RBI, the implementation is “expected to facilitate better fiscal management by State governments.”

What Constitutes a ‘Guarantee’?

• A ‘guarantee’ is a legal obligation for a State to make payments and protect an investor/lender from the risk of default by a borrower.
• As per the Indian Contracts Act, 1872, it is a contract to “perform the promise, or discharge the liability, of a third person in case of his default”.
• The contract involves three parties: the principal debtor, creditor, and surety.
• The entity to whom the guarantee is given is the ‘creditor’,
• Defaulting entity on whose behalf the guarantee is given is called the ‘principal debtor’.
• The entity giving the guarantee (State governments in this context) is called the ‘surety’.

What is the Purpose of a ‘Guarantee’?

• Primarily, guarantees are resorted to in three scenarios at the State level:
  • First, where a sovereign guarantee is a precondition for concessional loans from bilateral or multilateral agencies (to public sector enterprises);
  • Second, to improve viability of projects or activities with the potential to provide significant social and economic benefits;
  • Third, to enable public sector enterprises to raise resources at lower interest charges or on more favorable terms.
• State governments are often required to sanction, and issue guarantees, on behalf of State-owned enterprises, cooperative institutions, urban local bodies and/or other State-governed entities, to respective lenders.
• The latter could be commercial banks or other financial institutions. In return, the entities are required to pay a guarantee commission or fee to the governments.
• The RBI working group’s report notes that one of the reasons why the instrument has been widely used may be that an upfront cash payment is usually not required in case of guarantees.

Major Recommendations Made by the RBI’s Working Group w.r.t. Guarantees:

• Definition of Guarantee:
  • The Working Group has suggested that the term ‘guarantee’ should be used in a broader sense and include all instruments.
  • Further, it must make any distinction between conditional or unconditional, or financial or performance guarantees in order to assess the fiscal risk.
  • These are contingent liabilities that may crystallise later— in other words, present a potential risk in the future.
• Guidelines for According Guarantees:
  • The Working Group has recommended that government guarantees should not be used to obtain finance through State-owned entities.
  • Additionally, they should not be allowed to create direct liability/de-facto liability on the State.
  • It further recommends adherence to Government of India guidelines stipulating that guarantee be given only for the principal amount and normal interest component of the underlying loan.
  • Furthermore, they must not be extended for external commercial borrowings, must not be extended for more than 80% of the project loan.
  • Also, they must not be provided to private sector companies and institutions.
  • Finally, appropriate preconditions such as period of guarantee must be specified.
• Risk Determination, Fees, Ceiling:
  • The Group suggested that States assign appropriate risk weights before extending guarantees. The categorisation could be high, medium or low risk.
  • These must also consider past record of defaults. They must also disclose the methodology of assigning.
  • The report argues that should a guarantee be required to be invoked; it could lead to significant fiscal stress on the state government.
  • To manage the potential stress, it proposes a ceiling at 5% of Revenue Receipts or 0.5% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) — whichever is less.
• Disclosures & Honoring Commitments:
  • The Working Group has recommended that the RBI may consider advising banks/NBFCs to disclose the credit extended to State-owned entities, backed by State-government guarantees.
  • It has also sought a proper database capturing all extended guarantees, suggesting that a unit may be set up at the State level to track the same – alongside its compilation and consolidation.
  • W.r.t. honoring commitments, the report recognises that delays may affect the sanctity of issued guarantees. Thus, it can result in reputational risk as well as legal risk for the State government.
  • The report seeks that States must be wary before extending any fresh finance to entities that have failed in honoring commitments before.

9. What is end-to-end encryption and how does it secure information?

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Awareness in IT

What is Encryption:

• Encryption serves as a method to safeguard data against unauthorized access or manipulation.
• It functions by converting the data into a confidential code that only the designated recipient can decode. This proves beneficial in numerous scenarios, including securing online correspondence, safeguarding sensitive data, and authenticating digital identities.

Types Of Encryption 

• Symmetric: This method employs a single key for both encryption and decryption. In symmetric encryption, the key utilized to encode data is identical to the one needed for decoding it.
• Asymmetric: Asymmetric encryption relies on a pair of keys- a public key and a private key. The public key can be distributed openly, whereas the private key must remain confidential.

End to End Encryption:

• The concept of encryption typically pertains to safeguarding stored data, whereas end-to-end encryption ensures the protection of data during its transmission between locations, particularly in scenarios involving rapid information exchange.
• In an application equipped with end-to-end encryption (E2EE), only the individuals at each end—namely, the sender and recipient—have the ability to access exchanged messages.

What are the issues with End-to-end encryption (E2E)?

• Compromised endpoints: If either endpoint has been compromised, an attacker may be able to see a message before it is encrypted or after it is decrypted. Attackers could also retrieve keys from compromised endpoints.
• Too much privacy: Government and law enforcement agencies express concern that end-to-end encryption can protect people sharing illicit content because service providers are unable to provide law enforcement with access to the content.