Daily Prelims Notes 29 October 2020
- October 29, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Table Of Contents
Subject : Polity
Context: Chief Election Commissioner has said that all standards of procedure were followed at phase 1 assembly elections in bihar.
Concept :
- The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.
- The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
- Part XV of the Indian constitution deals with elections, and establishes a commission for these matters.
- Article 324 to 329 of the constitution deals with powers, function, tenure, eligibility, etc of the commission and the member
Structure of the commission
- The commission consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
- The secretariat of the commission is located in New Delhi.
- At the state level election commission is helped by Chief Electoral Officer who is an IAS rank Officer.
- The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
- They have a fixed tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
- They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
- The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a Supreme Court judge for by Parliament.
Procedure of Removal
- Judges of High Courts and Supreme Court, CEC, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) may be Removed from office through a motion adopted by Parliament on grounds of ‘Proven misbehaviour or incapacity’.
- Removal requires special majority of 2/3rd members present and voting supported by more than 50% of the total strength of the house.
- The Constitution does not use the word ‘impeachment’, for the removal of the judges, CAG, CEC.
- The term ‘Impeachment’ is only used for removing the President which requires the special majority of 2/3rd members of the total strength of both the houses which is not used elsewhere.
Functions
- Election Commission of India superintendents, direct and control the entire process of conducting elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.
- The most important function of the commission is to decide the election schedules for the conduct of periodic and timely elections, whether general or bye-elections.
- It prepares electoral roll, issues Electronic Photo Identity Card (EPIC).
- It decides on the location polling stations, assignment of voters to the polling stations, location of counting centres, arrangements to be made in and around polling stations and counting centres and all allied matters.
- It grants recognition to political parties & allot election symbols to them along with settling disputes related to it.
- The Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post election disqualification of sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures.
- It issues the Model Code of Conduct in election for political parties and candidates so that the no one indulges in unfair practice or there is no arbitrary abuse of powers by those in power.
- It sets limits of campaign expenditure per candidate to all the political parties, and also monitors the same.
2. NGT
Subject: Polity
Context: NGT has formed a joint panel to evaluate the integrated storm water basin at kovalam river basin.
Concept:
- It is a specialised body set up under the National Green Tribunal Act (2010) for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
- With the establishment of the NGT, India became the third country in the world to set up a specialised environmental tribunal, only after Australia and New Zealand, and the first developing country to do so.
- NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
- The NGT has five places of sittings, New Delhi is the Principal place of sitting and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four.
Structure of NGT
- The Tribunal comprises of the Chairperson, the Judicial Members and Expert Members. They shall hold office for term of five years and are not eligible for reappointment.
- The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government in consultation with Chief Justice of India (CJI). A selection committee would be formed for this purpose.
Powers & Jurisdiction
- The Tribunal has jurisdiction over all civil cases involving substantial question relating to environment (including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment).
- Being a statutory adjudicatory body like Courts, apart from original jurisdiction side on filing of an application, NGT also has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeal as a Court (Tribunal).
- The Tribunal is not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, but shall be guided by principles of ‘natural justice’.
- While passing any order/decision/ award, it shall apply the principles of sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle.
- An order/decision/award of Tribunal is executable as a decree of a civil court.
- The NGT Act also provides a procedure for a penalty for non compliance.
- An appeal against order/decision/ award of the NGT lies to the Supreme Court, generally within ninety days from the date of communication.
- The NGT deals with civil cases under the seven laws related to the environment, these include:
- The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974,
- The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977,
- The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,
- The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,
- The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,
- The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and
- The Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
- Any violation pertaining to these laws or any decision taken by the Government under these laws can be challenged before the NGT.
3. ASER
Subject : Education
Context : Annual State of Education Report (ASER) survey wavw 1 was conducted recently .
Concept :
- This is an annual survey that aims to provide reliable estimates of children’s enrolment and basic learning levels for each district and state in India.
- ASER has been conducted every year since 2005 in all rural districts of India.
- It is the largest citizen-led survey in India.
- It is also the only annual source of information on children’s learning outcomes available in India today.
- Unlike most other large-scale learning assessments, ASER is a household-based rather than school-based survey.
- This design enables all children to be included – those who have never been to school or have dropped out, as well as those who are in government schools, private schools, religious schools or anywhere else.
- The ASER 2020 Wave 1 survey focuses on the following key questions regarding provision of, access to, engagement with, and challenges concerning remote learning during school closures
Major Findings :
- About 20% of rural children have no textbooks at home.
- About one in three rural children had done no learning activity at all.
- About two in three had no learning materials or activity given by their school that week.
- Only one in ten had access to live online classes. It’s not always about technology.
4. EOS-01
Subject : Space Technology
Context : India would launch its latest earth observation satellite EOS-01 and nine international customer spacecraft onboard its PSLV-C49 rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota.
Concept :
This is the first launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation since the COVID-19-induced lockdown came into force in March.
- EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
- The customer satellites are being launched under commercial agreement with New Space India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space.
Earth Observation Satellites
- These satellites are used for observing the earth’s surface and as a result they are often termed geographical satellites. India’s IRS and RESOURCESAT are part of this.
- The data is used for several applications covering agriculture, water resources, urban development, mineral prospecting, environment, forestry, drought and flood forecasting, ocean resources and disaster management.
- Using these satellites it is possible to see many features that are not obvious from the earth’s surface, or even at the altitudes at which aircraft fly.
- Using these earth observation satellites many geographical features have become obvious and they have even been used in mineral search and exploitation.
5. IPO
Subject : Security Market
Context : SEBI chief has said that U.S. investors want more reforms in IPO rules.
Concept :
Initial Public Offering
- IPO is the selling of securities to the public in the primary market.
- Primary market deals with new securities being issued for the first time. It is also known as the new issues market.
- It is different from secondary market where existing securities are bought and sold. It is also known as the stock market or stock exchange.
- It is when an unlisted company makes either a fresh issue of securities or an offer for sale of its existing securities or both for the first time to the public.
- Unlisted companies are companies that are not listed on the stock exchange.
- It is generally used by new and medium-sized firms that are looking for funds to grow and expand their business.
6. VITAMIN D
Subject : Science & technology
Context : Study finds that 80 percent of the COVID patients deficient in Vitamin D.
Concept :
- Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin which is naturally present in very few foods like fatty fish, and fish liver oils, beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks.
- It is also produced endogenously when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis.
- The sunlight triggers a chemical reaction to a cholesterol-based molecule, and converts it into calcidiol in the liver and into calcitriol in the kidney.
- These molecules technically called 25-OHD are physiologically active.
Role:
- Vitamin D maintains adequate calcium and phosphate concentrations in blood. It prevents weakening of bones.
- Vitamin D has other roles in the body, including cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function, and reduction of inflammation.
Effects of Deficiency:
- Rickets in children and osteomalacia (softening of bones) in adults.
- Bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen (Effects of deficiency).
- Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.
- Bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen (osteoporosis) Vitamin D.
7. GIFT CITY
Subject : Economy
Context: The United Kingdom has entered into a strategic partnership to develop India’s fledgling international financial services centre GIFT City.
Concept:
- GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City), located in Gandhinagar is India’s first International Financial Services Centre.
International Financial Service Centre (IFSC)
- An IFSC enables bringing back the financial services and transactions that are currently carried out in offshore financial centres by Indian corporate entities and overseas branches/subsidiaries of Financial Institutions (such as banks, insurance companies, etc.) to India.
- It offers a business and regulatory environment that is comparable to other leading international financial centres in the world like London and Singapore.
- IFSCs are intended to provide Indian corporates with easier access to global financial markets, and to complement and promote further development of financial markets in India.
Functions:
- The authority will regulate financial products such as securities, deposits or contracts of insurance, financial services, and financial institutions which have been previously approved by any appropriate regulator such as Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) etc., in an IFSC.
- It will also regulate any other financial products, financial services, or financial institutions in an IFSC, which may be notified by the central government.
- It may also recommend to the central government any other financial products, financial services, or financial institutions, which may be permitted in an IFSC.
Members:
- The International Financial Services Centres Authority will consist of nine members, appointed by the central government.
- They will include chairperson of the authority, a member each from the RBI, SEBI, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA); and two members from the Ministry of Finance. In addition, two other members will be appointed on the recommendation of a Selection Committee.
- All members of the IFSC Authority will have a term of three years, subject to reappointment.
Possible Benefits:
- The banking, capital markets and insurance sectors in IFSC which are regulated by multiple regulators – the RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI will be unified under the IFSC authority.
- The single window regulatory institution would accelerate the development of India’s first IFSC at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.
- Both national and international institutions dealing with international financial services would utilise the IFSC platform for inbound and outbound investments with improved ease of doing business, thereby making GIFT IFSC a global financial hub.
8. Vande Bharat
Context:
The seventh phase of the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) set to begin from October 29.
Concept:
- The Mission was launched on May 7 to evacuate Indian citizens stranded abroad after the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns across the world. Considered one of the largest evacuations of civilians by a country, it involved repatriations by air, land and sea.
- Apart from bringing Indian citizens back to the country, the Mission consisted of facilitating travel to people who want leave India on account of nationality, residency or work commitments.
- According to the Ministry of Civil AviationAs of October 26, more than 20 lakh people availed travel arranged by the Mission.
- Most of the home-comings were by air.
- The airlifting was supported by ships under Operation SamudraSetu, conducted by the Indian Navy, which carried back 3,987 people.
- A further 1, 75,501 people were evacuated by land.
- The mission surpassed India’s large-scale airlifting of 1,10,000 people in 1990, at the onset of the Gulf War
Countries involved
- Overseas Indians from as many as 93 countries have availed repatriation through the VBM
- The government has entered into special travel arrangements called ‘air travel bubbles’ with 18 different countries.
- Most Indians returning home were from the United Arab Emirates, with more than 4.5 lakh repatriations, followed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with 1.63 lakh and 1.04 lakh respectively.
- Outside the Gulf region, The US accounts for the most, 77305 people, and the United Kingdom, 39141.
Context:
The Reserve Bank of India’s study on state governments’ finances, released recently indicates that gross fiscal deficits (GFDs) of state governments are set to double in 2020-21. As per the report, COVID has led to the precarious position of state finances.
Concept:
Fiscal deficit:
The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government is termed as fiscal deficit. It is an indication of the total borrowings needed by the government.
Scissor Effect:
- The report focuses on the operation of ‘scissor effects’.
- It is the loss of revenues due to demand slowdown, coupled with higher expenditure associated with the pandemic.
- According to the report the duration of stress on state finances will likely be contingent upon factors such as the lockdown tenure and the risk of new waves of infection.
- The quality of spending and the credibility of state budgets will assume critical importance.
Increasing fiscal deficit:
- In 2020-21, about half the states have budgeted the GFD-to-GSDP (gross state domestic product) ratio at or above the 3% threshold.
- States are grappling with the pandemic with constrained fiscal space.
- In terms of primary balances, most states are incurring primary deficits in 2019-20, as against primary surpluses at the onset of the global financial crisis,
What will be the impact on states?
Reduced Tax revenues:
Tax revenue will decrease because of
- Inter-linkages between growth and tax revenues
- Tax revenues fall faster than GDP when growth is negative
- Pandemic-related spending (health) are likely to keep these expenditures high, prolonging the ‘scissor effects’.
- In this situation state governments may have to face the tough choice of putting investment projects on hold, but, given the multiplier associated with capital spending, this will inevitably entail growth losses in a vicious cycle.
- States’ debt is set to rise, and if it is not accompanied by an acceleration in growth, fiscal sustainability will become a big problem