Daily Prelims Notes 29 June 2021

June 29, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

29 June 2021

Table Of Contents

Subject : International Events

Context : US government released an unclassified report that concerns the assessment of the threat posed by unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) — known in popular culture as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) — and the progress that the Department of Defense (DoD) Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) has made in understanding this threat.

Concept :

The report, which is largely inconclusive, looks at instances of apparent UFO sightings noticed between November 2004 and March 2021. While there is no evidence that the sightings were UFOs, there is no other explanation either for what these sightings were.

What is a UFO ?

A UFO is an Unidentified Flying Object that cannot immediately be identified or explained.
The term is widely used for making claims about sighting an extraterrestrial spacecraft i.e. a spacecraft that does not belong to Earth and humans.

World UFO Day

World UFO Day is an awareness day celebrated by UFO enthusiasts to educate people about the ‘undisputed evidence’ that UFOs are real and to get governments de-classify files about UFO sightings.
Some celebrate the day on June 24 which is the date that aviator Kenneth Arnold reported a UFO sighting for the first time in the United States.
Some others observe the day on July 2 which is the day when the supposed Roswell UFO crash took place in 1947.

Roswell UFO incident

In July 1947, a crash took place near Roswell in New Mexico which led to the speculation that the object was a “flying disc”.
The United States Army Air Forces, however, later said that it was just a weather balloon which crashed.
The curiosity around the incident only bolstered and led to exhaustive investigations by enthusiasts who believed that the US military was trying to cover up the incident.
In turn, the conspiracy theories around an ‘alien spacecraft’ crashing near Roswell met with an equally thorough counter of claims debunking speculations.

Kenneth Arnold’s UFO sightings

Kenneth Arnold was an American aviator who claimed to have seen nine objects flying in a tandem which could not be identified, while he was flying his aircraft near Mount Rainier, Washington on June 24, 1947.
Arnold’s claim is widely regarded as the first to have sparked theories around alien objects on Earth.
The US Air Force formally listed the Arnold case as a ‘mirage’. Arnold had described the shape of the object as “flat like a pie pan” or “saucer-like” which led media to coin the term “flying saucer” and “flying disc”. By 1977, Kenneth claimed that they “have 15 million witnesses…who have seen something.”

2. Chinese vaccine CoronaVac found safe, effective in kids, adolescents

Subject : Science & tech

Context : Trials of the Chinese vaccine CoronaVac, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal, have found it is safe and provokes a strong antibody response among children and adolescents aged 3-17.

Concept :

The randomised controlled trial covered 550 young people. More than 96% of children and adolescents who received two doses of the vaccine, manufactured by Sinovac, developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Most adverse reactions were mild or moderate, with pain at the injection site the most commonly reported symptom.
The authors conducted a randomised, double-blind, controlled phase 1/2 clinical trial between October and December 2020. The vaccine or a control was given by intramuscular injection in two doses (1.5 or 3 micrograms).

CoronaVac

CoronaVac or Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine is an inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccine. It was developed by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech.
Phase III clinical trial for this vaccine was carried in Chile, Brazil, Indonesia, Philippines, and Turkey. It does not need to be frozen.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on June 1, 2021, gave its approval for China’s second COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac-CoronaVac for emergency use.
Earlier in May 2021, the WHO had approved China’s COVID-19 vaccine Sinopharm.

3. Co-operative banks must put in place an outsourcing policy : RBI

Subject : Economy

Context : RBI said that the board and CEO along with the Senior Management shall be ultimately responsible for outsourcing operations and for managing risks inherent in such outsourcing relationships.

Concept :

The Reserve bank of India on Monday asked cooperative banks to ensure that the outsourcing policy does not diminish its ability to fulfill its obligations to customers and RBI.
RBI said that the policy should also not impede effective supervision by RBI or National Bank for Agriculture and Development (NABARD).
The policy also requires banks to put in place criteria for selection of such activities as well as service providers, parameters for defining material outsourcing based on the broad criteria, a delegation of authority depending on risks and materiality, and systems to monitor and review the operations of these activities.

Co-operative Banking

A Co-operative bank is a financial entity which belongs to its members, who are at the same time the owners and the customers of their bank. It is distinct from commercial banks.
They are broadly classified into Urban and Rural co-operative banks based on their region of operation.
They are registered under the Co-operative Societies Act of the State concerned or under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002.
The Co-operative banks are also governed by the

Banking Regulations Act, 1949.

Banking Laws (Co-operative Societies) Act, 1955.

Features of Co-operative Banks:

Customer Owned Entities: Co-operative bank members are both customer and owner of the bank.
Democratic Member Control: These banks are owned and controlled by the members, who democratically elect a board of directors. Members usually have equal voting rights, according to the cooperative principle of “one person, one vote”.
Profit Allocation: A significant part of the yearly profit, benefits or surplus is usually allocated to constitute reserves and a part of this profit can also be distributed to the co-operative members, with legal and statutory limitations.
Financial Inclusion: They have played a significant role in the financial inclusion of unbanked rural masses. They provide cheap credit to masses in rural areas.

4. India must first decode impact of EU Green pass

Subject : International Relations

Context : India needs to first ascertain the implication of the ‘EU Green Pass’ on Indian travellers before taking up the matter with the bloc, as many European countries have their own ‘vaccine passport’ mechanism in place, based on vaccines listed by the World Health Organisation, said a source tracking the development.

Concept :

The digital “vaccine passport” recognises the Vaxzevria version of the AstraZeneca vaccine that is produced in the UK and Europe, and approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, is not yet recognised by the EMA.
India will take up the issue of approval of the Serum Institute of India’s Covishield vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) with the European Union during discussions between Indian and EU officials on the margins of the G20 meeting in Italy on Tuesday.
Those vaccinated with Covishield, the version of the AstraZeneca vaccine being manufactured in India by SII, are not eligible for the EU Digital Covid certificate or “green pass”.

EU Digital Covid certificate or “green pass”

The digital document will contain a QR code and can be carried on a mobile phone.
It is an immunity document to ease travel within and to the 27-member bloc. It will be in place by July 1.
It has deliberately not been called a “vaccine passport” because some member states felt that would discriminate against those who had not yet been offered a shot.
All EU citizens or third-country nationals who are legally staying in the EU will be able to use these digital certificates and thereby will be exempted from free movement restrictions.

5. Meme Stocks

Subject : Economics

Context :Meme stocks, what many believed was a pandemic-induced diversion, seems to be staying on as a trend. Beginning with AMC Entertainment, GameStop and Blackberry, the list of meme stocks keeps on growing.

Concept :

The term ‘meme stocks’ refers to under-the-radar stocks listed in the US market, usually without fundamentals, that suddenly catch the fancy of individual investors or day traders because they’re the subject of social media attention.
Meme stocks usually start to rise as retail investors gang up on forums such as Reddit to thwart big guys such as hedge funds with short (sell) positions and buy them just for the fun of it.
But such stocks, once they get going, can acquire a momentum of their own that defies all known metrics of valuation.
Such stocks have seen huge gains, sometimes 50-100 per cent in a day, after day traders, inspired by discussions on message boards such as Reddit, started buying them in a coordinated manner.
This has caught out short sellers such as large hedge funds such as Melvin Capital and White Square Capital.
Short sellers make losses when a stock price rises (they’ve sold the stock without owning it) and have to buy more stock to cover their positions. This propels prices even higher.

6. Modi has paid homage to Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

Subject : History

Context : The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid homage to Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay on his Jayanti.

Concept :

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee or Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838 – 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet and journalist.
He is known as SahityaSamrat (Emperor of Literature) in Bengali. He wrote fourteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treatises in Bengali.
He also received the title of Rai Bahadur in 1891.
One of his brothers, Sanjib Chandra Chattopadhyay was also a novelist and is known for his book “Palamau”.

Literary career

Chattopadhyay’s earliest publications were in Ishwar Chandra Gupta’s weekly newspaper Sangbad Prabhakar.
Durgeshnandini (Daughter of the Feudal Lord) is a Bengali historical romance novel written by Indian writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1865. Durgeshnandini is the first Bengali novel written by him as well as the first major Bengali novel in the history of Bengali literature.
Anandamath is a Bengali fiction, written by him and published in 1882. It is inspired by and set in the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion in the late 18th century. VandeMataram as the Motherland was published in this novel.
VandeMataram (also pronounced BandeMataram) is a Bengali poem, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee , originally in Sanskrit, in 1870s, which he included in his 1882 novel Anandamath.

7. Government ready with Action Plan to make India Aatmanirbhar in Rock Phosphate- the key raw material of DAP and NPK Fertlisers

Subject : Economy

Context : In order to improve the availability of phosphaticfertilisers (DAP and NPK) and to reduce the dependence on imports, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers chaired a meeting

Concept :

Rock phosphates or phosphorites are sedimentary phosphatic deposits comprising fine-grained mixture of various calcium phosphates, most important being hydroxylapatite, carbonateapatite, fluorapatite and their solid solutions.
About 80% phosphate production in the world is derived from phosphate rocks (phosphorite)
Rock Phosphate is the key raw material for DAP and NPK fertilisers and India is 90% dependent on imports.
Of the total reserves/resources, 34% are in Jharkhand, 31% in Rajasthan, 19% in Madhya Pradesh, 8% in Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand each , respectively. Meagre quantities of resources are also located in Gujarat and Meghalaya.

8. Delta Plus is a Variant of Concern

Subject : Science & tech

Context : Addressing at the 29th Group of Ministers meeting, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that Delta plus is a variant of concern and special surveillance is being done in the 12 States wherein these variants have been detected.

Concept :

Variants of Interest (VoI) and Variants of Concern (VoC)

When the mutations happen – if there is any previous association with any other similar variant which is felt to have an impact on public health – then it becomes a Variant under Investigation.
Once genetic markers are identified which can have association with receptor binding domain or which have an implication on antibodies or neutralizing assays, we start calling them as Variants of Interest.
The moment we get evidence for increased transmission through field-site and clinical correlations, it becomes a Variant of Concern.

Variants of concern are those that have one or more of the following characteristics:

Increased transmissibility
Change in virulence/ disease presentation
Evading the diagnostics, drugs and vaccines
The 1st Variant of Concern was announced by the UK where it was found. Currently there are four variants of concern identified by the scientists – Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

Delta Plus variant

Delta Plus or AY.1 is one of the emerging variants of Delta or B.1.617.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The new variant is characterized by the acquisition of K417N mutation, said Vinod Scaria, clinician and scientist, Delhi’s CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB).
The mutant K417N is found in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. The spike protein enables the entry of the virus into the human cells.
So far, 63 genomes of Delta (B.1.617.2) with the new K417N mutation have been detected on the global science initiative GISAID, as per Public Health England.
In its latest report, as of June 7, the Delta plus variant was found in six genomes from India.
The variant frequency for K417N mutation is not much in India as of now. The sequences are mostly from Asia, America, and Europe.

9. Financial Relief Package for 2nd Wave of COVID 19 Pandemic

Subject : Economy

Context : Union Finance Minister announced a slew of measures to provide relief to diverse sectors affected by the 2nd wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

Concept :

Finance Minister announced a relief package of Rs 6,28,993 crore to support Indian economy in fight against COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 17 measures amounting to Rs. 6,28,993 crore were announced.
These included two measures announced earlier, i.e. the additional Subsidy for DAP & P&K fertilizers, and extension of Pradhan MantriGaribKalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) from May to November, 2021.
She announced Rs. 1.1 lakh crore Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID affected sectors. Of them Rs. 50 thousand crore will be for health sector. The scheme is aimed at upscaling medical infrastructure targetting unreserved areas.
She also announced Rs. 1.5 lakh crore for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, ECLGS which was launched as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Package in May, 2020.
She announced Creadit Guarantee Scheme which is a new scheme to facilitate loans to 25 lakh people through Micro Finance Institutions, MFI.
The guarantee will be provided to Scheduled Commercial Banks for loans to new or existing NBFC- MFIs for on lending upto Rs. 1.25 lakh to about 25 lakh to small borrowers.

10. Farming Black Kadaknath brings cheers to Odisha families in dark COVID 19 times

Subject : Economy

Context : The Kadaknath, the black, protein-rich breed of chicken from Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh, is changing lives of people in Odisha for the better in these dark days of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The fear of COVID-19 has made many in the state eat the meat of Kadaknath to increase their immunity.

Concept :

Kadaknath chicken

Kadaknath chicken breed is unique for its black colour due to its black-feathers.
Its black colour stems from the deposition of melanin pigment.
This breed of chicken is popular for its adaptability and flavourful good-tasting black meat, which is believed to have medicinal properties.
It is native tribal districts of Jhabua, Alirajpur and parts of Dhar in Madhya Pradesh.
Kadaknath chicken contains 25-27% of protein in comparison with other breeds of chickens that contain 18% protein.
It is also known for its high iron content.
It has fat and cholesterol content lower compared with other chicken breeds.
Due to this special characteristics, Kadaknath chicken’s chicks and eggs are sold at much higher rate than other varieties of chicken.
This chicken breed is very popular among local tribal people mainly due to its adaptability to the local environment, disease resistance, meat quality, texture and flavour.
It has been granted GI tag. The GI tag will ensure that no one else can use name Kadaknath Chicken while selling any other black chicken.

11. Halti , Malta , Philippines , South Sudan put In FATF ‘increased monitoring’ list

Subject : International Organisations

Context : Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has added four more countries — Haiti, Malta, the Philippines and South Sudan — to the list of ‘jurisdiction under increased monitoring’ for strategic deficiencies.

Concept :

Lists under FATF:

Grey List: Countries that are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list (or ‘Jurisdictions under increased monitoring’).
This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.
Black List: Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) are put in the blacklist. These countries support terror funding and money laundering activities.
The FATF revises the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries. As of this year, there are only two countries on the FATF’s black list – North Korea and Iran.

12. Exercise Sea Breeze 2021

Subject : International Relations

Context :Recently, the Exercise Sea Breeze 2021 has kicked off at Black Sea.

Concept :

About Exercise Sea Breeze 2021

It is an annual exercise started in 1997.
The 2021 edition of Exercise Sea Breeze is being led by the United States and Ukraine.
The exercise involves sea, land, and air components.
It has the largest number of participating nations in the exercise’s history with 32 countries from six continents.
The participants are Albania, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Morocco, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Significance of Exercise Sea Breeze

It provides the opportunity for personnel of participating nations to engage in realistic maritime training to build experience and teamwork and strengthen their interoperability.
It will focus on multiple warfare areas including amphibious warfare, land maneuver warfare, diving operations, maritime interdiction operations, air defense etc.
It brings most Black Sea nations and NATO Allies and partners together to train and operate with NATO members in the pursuit of building increased capability.

13. Extension of Tenure for Attorney General of India

Subject : Polity

Context : Recently, the central government is set to notify the reappointment of Senior Advocate K KVenugopal as Attorney General of India for a period of one more year.

Concept :

Article 76 of the Constitution of India provides for the office of the Attorney General for India.
He is the highest law officer in the country.

Appointment and Term of Attorney General of India

He is appointed by the president.
He must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court.
It implies that he must be a citizen of India and he must have been a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist.
The term of office of the AG is not fixed by the Constitution.
The Constitution does not contain the procedure and grounds for his removal.
He holds office during the pleasure of the president which means that he may be removed by the president at any time.
He resigns when the government (council of ministers) resigns or is replaced, as he is appointed on its advice.

Duties and Functions of Attorney General of India

To give advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters, which are referred to him by the president;
To perform such other duties of a legal character which are assigned to him by the president; and
To discharge the functions conferred on him by the Constitution or any other law

The president has assigned the following duties to the AG:

To appear on behalf of the Government of India in all cases in the Supreme Court in which the Government of India is concerned.
To represent the Government of India in any reference made by the president to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.
To appear (when required by the Government of India) in any high court in any case in which the Government of India is concerned.

Rights and Limitations of Attorney General of India

The Attorney General has the right of audience in all courts in the territory of India in the performance of his official duties.
He has the right to speak and to take part in the proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament or their joint sitting and any committee of the Parliament of which he may be named a member, but without a right to vote.
He enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a Member of Parliament.
The limitations are placed on the Attorney General in order to avoid any complication and conflict of duty:
He should not advise or hold a brief against the Government of India.
He should not advise or hold a brief in cases in which he is called upon to advise or appear for the Government of India.
He should not defend accused persons in criminal prosecutions without the permission of the Government of India.
He should not accept appointment as a director in any company or corporation without the permission of the Government of India.