Daily Prelims Notes 3 January 2021

January 3, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes 3 January 2021 By Santosh Sir

Table of Contents

1. Expert panel clears first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech and Biosafety level

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: A day after restricted emergency approval for Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured under license in India by the Serum Institute of India, similar approval has been granted to Covaxin, first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech.

Concept:

COVAXIN is India’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech.
It is developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Virology (NIV).
It is being developed in Bharat Biotech’s BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) high containment facility.
BSL-levels from 1 to 4 are a series of protection for carrying out industrial and scientific processes (particularly in medical fields) requiring elevated temperature and pressure in biological labs.
These levels are designated based on the agents or organisms that are being researched or worked on in any given laboratory setting. BSL-1 is lowest safety level and BSL-4 is highest biosafety level.
These biosafety levels are determined by:
- Risks related to containment
- Severity of infection
- Transmissibility
- Nature of the work conducted
- Origin of the microbe
- Agent in question
- Route of exposure

2. Tide–Rainfall flood quotient

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay team devised a new metric to understand if a coastal city is more prone to floods caused by tidal events or extreme rainfall.

Concept:

It formulates metrics based on the rainfall data, tidal data, and topography of the region.
It was based on study of data from flood-prone coastal regions – Mithi riverCatchment in Mumbai, Jagatsinghpur District in Odisha, and Greater Chennai Corporation in Tamil Nadu.
It helped classify these regions into ‘storm tide dominated’ or ‘pluvial (rainfall) dominated’ regions.

Mithi catchment: Storm tide dominated flood
Jagatsinghpur: “Pluvial dominate” as High rainfall inundated several areas in the central region and the flatness of the terrain prevented easy drainage of the floodwater into the Bay of Bengal
Chennai: “Pluvial dominated” as Rainfall was cause in Northern and central region and storm tide as cause in eastern coastal region

Significance of metric:

Better flood risk management system in long term planning for disaster preparedness. Ex- 1) Storm-dominated Mithi catchment can see plan for as closure dams, tide breakers, and storm surge barriers at appropriate locations. 2) “Pluvial dominated” region can see structural measures such as rainwater storage structures, lakes, and detention basins should be prioritised in the flood management plans

3. Klein tunnelling

Subject: Science and technology

Context: Researchers have shown in the lab evidence for the nearly century old proposition that relativistic particles can penetrate a barrier with 100% transmission.

Concept:

Relativistic particle is particles which moves with the speed of speed comparable to the light or kinetic energies are comparable with the product of their masses m and the square of the velocity of light, or mc2 (mc square).
As long as gravitational effects can be ignored, which is true so long as gravitational potential energy differences are small compared with mc2, the effects of Einstein’s general theory of relativity may be safely ignored.
Klein tunnelling is based on the Klein paradox which says that if potential is of the order of the electron massor rest mass energy(V ~ mc^2) the barrier becomes nearly transparent (It is unlike the phenomenon of electron barrier when a barrier is met).

Significance of Klein tunnelling:

Revolutionise electronics industry: Possibility of developing graphene-based field-effect transistors for high-frequency applications
Significantly boost development in quantum mechanics as well as basic sciences
Applications in on-chip logic devices, acoustic signal processing and sound energy harvesting

4. Agriculture: Division of power between states and the Centre by the Constitution

Subject: Polity/Indian Constitution

Context: India has been witnessing a month-long farmers’ protest over three farm acts passed by the Parliament. One of the issues in whole saga has been “agriculture” as a subject which is majorly in states subject list is being encroached by the Centre.

Concept:

The Constitution under article 246 divides subject in three lists:

1) Union list with exclusive power of legislation to the Parliament. Ex- Defence, Citizenship etc.

2)State list: Exclusive power to the state legislatures in normal circumstances (Exception examples are like Emergency). Ex- Policing, Public order etc.

3) Concurrent List: Both can make laws with the Parliament having overriding power. Ex- Education

4) Residuary list: Any subject not in above list to be legislated by the Parliament.

Agriculture subjects under state list:

Entry 14: Agriculture, including agricultural education and research, protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases energy;

Entry 18: Rights in or over land, land tenures, rents, transfer agricultural land, agricultural loans, etc.

Entry 26: Trade and commerce within the State subject to the provisions of entry 33 of List III or concurrent list (Trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of … b) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils)

Entry28: Markets and fairs

Entry 30: Money-lending and money-lenders;

Entry 45: Land revenue, land records, etc.)

Entry 46: Taxes on agricultural income

Entry 47: Succession of agricultural land

Entry 48: Estate duty in respect of agricultural land

Entry52: Taxes on the entry of goods in to a local area for consumption, use or Sale therein

Concurrent List:

Entry 6 mentions transfer of property other than agricultural land;

Entry7 is about various contracts not relating to agricultural land; and

Entry 41 deals with evacuee property, including agricultural land.

Parliament enacted law for contract farming, inter-state commerce as in farm laws under the entry 33 of the concurrent list:

Trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of … b) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils)

The committees headed by Ashok Dalwai and Ramesh Chand recommended that ‘agricultural market’ be entered in the Concurrent List.

5. D Voters

Subject: Indian Polity

Context: A group of 100 volunteers from various fields have teamed up with lawyers to arm economically and educationally weak people with knowledge about their rights against victimisation in Assam as many have been categorised as “D Voters” or default voters.

Concept:

D Voters is a category of voters in Assam whose citizenship has been doubtful (due to lack of citizenship credentials in form of supporting documents) or is under dispute.
Foreigner Tribunal set up under Foreigner Tribunals order 1964 determines once status as D voters and such persons can’t hold voter I-card.
Category was introduced in 1997 when the Election Commission of India (ECI) was revising the state’s voter list in the wake of huge immigration from Bangladesh.
While ‘D’ voters continue to remain on Assam’s electoral roll, they cannot vote in an election unless their case is decided by a Foreigners’ Tribunal.

6. Ramateertham temple

Subject: Art and Culture

Context: Ramateertham temple in Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh turned into a political war zone over vandalism of idol of Ram.

Concept:

It is a 16^th century temple of Lord Rama with Lakshman and Sita in “silver Kavachas”.
Apart from this place is also known as an ancient archaeological site tracing routes to both Jain and Buddhists.
Jain structure is primarily natural caves with slab sculptures set in them.
Black granite hill structure called Bodhikonda has both Buddhist and Jain structure.
The site is currently under maintenance with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

7. Deeporbeel

Subject: Environment

Context: Community fishing has been banned in Deeporbeel as the only Ramsar site in Assam shrank by 35% from 1991 level.

Concept:

DeeporBeel, a freshwater lake on the south-western edge of Guwahati, was designated a Ramsar site in 2002 for sustaining a range of aquatic life forms besides sustaining 219 species of birds.
It sustains a major population of wild elephants from the adjoining Rani Reserve Forest and DeeporBeel Wildlife Sanctuary.
Why it is shrinking?

Wetland losing connectivity with the small local rivers like Kalmoni, Khonajan and Basistha flowing through Moral Bharalu channel.
Expansion of the city and encroachment upon natural channel
Community fishing has impacted its ecosystem.

Ramsar sites:

A Ramsar site is a wetland designated to be of international importance under the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea
Aim of Ramsar sites is to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits
With Tso Kar Wetland Complex in Ladakh as 42^nd Ramsar site in India, it has highest number of Ramsar sites in South Asia.

8. Woolly rhino

Subject: Environment

Context: Preserved carcass of an Ice Age-era woolly rhino has been unearthed as a result of melting permafrost.

Concept:

Recent years have seen major discoveries of the remains of mammoths, woolly rhinos, foal, several puppies and cave-lion cubs in parts of Siberia. Such discoveries are becoming too frequent as a result of global warming melting permafrost across Arctic.
It is an extinct species of rhinoceros found in fossil deposits of the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs (5.3 million to 11,700 years ago) in Europe, North Africa, and Asia.
It is estimated it became extinct at the end of most recent ice age.
It was also present in more temperate, non-glacial regions, where it inhabited grasslands.
Evidence so far suggest that they were not hunted to extinction by human beings, rather climate change was the cause.

9. TELE LAW INITIATIVE

Subject: Polity

Concept:

Tele-Law programme was launched by the Ministry of Law and Justice in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched in 2017 to address cases at pre–litigation stage.
It is a service that uses video conferencing facilities and telephone services to connect lawyers to litigants who need legal advice. This service aims to reach out to the needy especially the marginalized and disadvantaged.
Common Service Centres: Under this programme, smart technology of video conferencing, telephone/instant calling facilities available at the vast network of Common Service Centres at the Panchayat level are used to connect the indigent, down-trodden, vulnerable, unreached groups and communities with the Panel Lawyers for seeking timely and valuable legal advice.
Benefits: Tele Law service enables anyone to seek legal advice without wasting precious time and money. The service is free for those who are eligible for free legal Aid as mentioned under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987. For all others a nominal fee is charged.
According to a recent report titled ‘Quality of Legal Representation: An Empirical Analysis of Free Legal Aid Services in India’, the majority of the people who are entitled to the free legal aid system see the service as an option only when they cannot afford a private lawyer.
It can be noted that this initiative is in line with Sustainable Development Goal-16, which seeks to “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act

In 1987, the Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act was enacted to give free and competent legal services to the poor and paved the way for the constitution of National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) and other legal service institutions at the State, district and taluka level.
Free legal services under LSA Act are available to a person belonging to Schedule Tribe and Schedule Caste, woman, child, victim of human trafficking, differently abled person, industrial workman, and person in custody in a protective home and the poor.

Constitutional Provision

Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides that State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disability.
Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before the law and a legal system which promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all.

10. INVISIBLE DISABILITIES

Subject : Social Issue

Concept :

Invisible conditions are more difficult to detect by medical doctors. Many such conditions go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed.
The stigma surrounding a chronic disease or disorder and the realisation that a seemingly healthy child is having a condition which affects functional efficiency throughout life, may in many cases compel parents to conceal the disability in social settings.

Common Invisible Disabilities:

Some of the most common invisible disabilities in which people appear healthy and in control of their lives and bodies are:
Minimal brain injury and developmental cognitive disorders which interfere with memory, motor skills planning, organisational abilities, cognition and communication. Children may find it difficult to perform higher level of academics, planning, and as adults they may make ‘mistakes’ in tasks which involve precision and multi-step processes such as digital transactions.
Outwardly, they appear clumsy, distracted and disorganised.
Learning Disabilities: Neurological disorders resulting in impairment in reading (dyslexia) writing (dysgraphia) or mathematics (dyscalculia), commonly associated with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity disorder.
Appearance: Lazy, distracted, intentionally avoiding work.
Autism Spectrum Disorders: Neurodevelopmental disorders beginning early in childhood and severely affecting the ability to communicate, learn social skills and social interaction, associated with rigid and repetitive behaviours.
Appearance: Rude, undisciplined, fussy, stubborn, avoiding instructions, and not cooperating.
Chronic diseases such as certain renal disorders as also Fibromyalgia which is a chronic rheumatic condition that causes widespread pain and throughout the soft tissue in the body, accompanied by fatigue.
Appearance will be lazy and constantly avoiding work.
Depression: Mental health and mood disorders involving persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness and loss of interest strong enough to affect normal functioning; commonly associated with anxiety disorders causing persistent feelings of worry and fear.
Outwardly appearance: Being unnecessarily sensitive, exerting oneself to become cheerful and trying to adjust.
Sensory Disorders: Children who have sensory issues may have an aversion to anything that triggers their senses, such as light, sound, touch, taste, or smell. Common symptoms of sensory processing issues may include avoidance or hyperactivity.
They will appear too fussy, not cooperating, need for stem discipline.

11. DEEP SEA SUBMARINE RESCUE SYSTEM

Subject: Defence

Concept:

The Indian Navy has formally inducted its first Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) System at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
DSRV is used to rescue crew members stranded in submarines that get disabled. The Indian Navy joins a select group of naval forces in the world that boasts of this niche capability.
The DSRV can be operated at a depth of 650 meters and can hold around 15 people.
The Indian Navy in March 2016 had commissioned two DSRVs, the second will deployed at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.
The induction of the DSRV marks the culmination of years of effort of the Indian Navy in acquiring this niche submarine rescue capability.

Need for DSRV System

The Indian Navy currently operates submarines of the Sindhughosh, Shishumar, Kalvari Classes as well as nuclear powered submarines.
The operating medium and the nature of operations undertaken by submarines expose them to high degree of inherent risk.
In such an eventuality, traditional methods of search and rescue at sea are ineffective for a disabled submarine.
To overcome this capability gap the Navy has acquired a third generation, advanced Submarine Rescue System considering of a Non-tethered Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) and its associated equipment.

Significance

The Indian Navy’s DSRV System is considered to be the most advanced system currently in operation globally for its capability of undertaking rescue from a disabled Submarine upto 650 m depth.
It is operated by a crew of three, can rescue 14 personnel from a disabled Submarine at one time and can operate in extreme sea conditions (sea state 6).

12. FAME INDIA SCHEME

Subject : Economy

Concept :

FAME India is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan. Main thrust of FAME is to encourage electric vehicles by providing subsidies.
The FAME India Scheme is aimed at incentivising all vehicle segments.

Two phases of the scheme:

Phase I: started in 2015 and was completed on 31st March, 2019
Phase II: started from April, 2019, will be completed by 31st March, 2022
The scheme covers Hybrid & Electric technologies like Mild Hybrid, Strong Hybrid, Plug in Hybrid & Battery Electric Vehicles.
Monitoring Authority: Department of Heavy Industries, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
Fame India Scheme has four focus Areas:

Technology development

Demand Creation

Pilot Projects

Charging Infrastructure

Objectives of FAME Scheme:

Encourage faster adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles by way of offering upfront Incentive on purchase of Electric vehicles.
Establish a necessary charging Infrastructure for electric vehicles.
To address the issue of environmental pollution and fuel security.

Salient Features of Phase II:

Emphasis on electrification of the public transportation that includes shared transport.
This phase aims to support, through subsidies, approximately 7000 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3 Wheelers, 55000 e-4 Wheeler Passenger Cars and 10 lakh e-2 Wheelers.
In 3-Wheel (W) and 4-Wheel (W) segment incentives will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or registered for commercial purposes.
In the 2-Wheel (W) segment, the focus will be on the private vehicles.
To encourage advanced technologies, the benefits of incentives will be extended to only those vehicles which are fitted with advanced batteries like a Lithium Ion battery and other new technology batteries.
The scheme proposes for establishment of charging infrastructure, whereby about 2700 charging stations will be established in metros, other million plus cities, smart cities and cities of Hilly states across the country so that there will be availability of at least one charging station in a grid of 3 km x 3 km.
Establishment of Charging stations are also proposed on major highways connecting major city clusters.
On such highways, charging stations will be established on both sides of the road at an interval of about 25 km each.

13. IMPRESS SCHEME

Subject: Governance

Concept:

The Government of India had sanctioned the scheme “Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS)” at a total cost of Rs. 414 Cr for implementation up to 31.03.2021.

Highlights of the Scheme:

1500 research projects will be awarded for 2 years to support the social science research in the higher educational and to enable research to guide policy making.
Indian Council of Social Science and Research (ICSSR) is the implementing agency of the scheme.

Objectives of the Scheme:

To identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance and society.
To ensure selection of projects through a transparent, competitive process on online mode.
To provide opportunity for social science researchers in any institution in the country, including all Universities (Centre and State), private institutions with 12(B) status conferred by UGC.
ICSSR funded/recognized research institutes will also be eligible to submit research proposals on the given themes and sub-themes.

ICSSR

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was established in the year of 1969 by the Government of India to promote research in social sciences in the country.

HEFA

Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) is a joint venture of MHRD Government of India and Canara Bank with an agreed equity participation in the ratio of 91% and 9% respectively.
It is for financing creation of capital assets in premier educational institutions in India as part of rising 2022.
HEFA’s scope is greatly expanded to cover school education, educational institutes under Ministry of Health, etc.
HEFA is registered under Section 8 [Not-for-Profit] under the Companies Act 2013 as a Union Govt company and as Non-deposit taking NBFC (NBFC-ND-Type II) with RBI.

14. ASIATIC LION CONSERVATION PROJECT

Subject: Environment

Concept:

Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” has been launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change(MoEFCC).
MoEFCC has approved the project for three financial years from 2018 to 2021.
The Asiatic Lion. endemic to Gir landscape of Gujarat is one of the 21 critically endangered species identified by the Ministry for taking up recovery programmes.
The project envisages scientific management with the involvement of communities in coordination with multi-sectoral agencies for disease control and veterinary care for overall conservation of Asiatic lion.
This project has “Species Conservation over a large landscape” approach.

Large Landscape Conservation

Large landscape conservation is an approach to conservation and management that focuses on actions that are taken across large areas, such as entire watersheds. Large landscape conservation generally involves many forest divisions, government agencies, and conservation organizations.
As Asiatic Lions are found only in the Gir Landscape, this project will focus on conservation efforts of Asiatic Lions over whole Gir Range.
Modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is proposed in the conservation, protection and development efforts of the Greater Gir Region. Additional ICT will include the following:
GPS Based Tracking like Surveillance Tracking Animal Tracking and Vehicle Tracking
Automated Sensor Grid like Magnetic Sensors, Movement Sensors, and Infra-red heat sensors
Night vision capability enhancement
GIS-based real-time monitoring, analysis and report generation.

Asiatic lion (Pantheraleopersica)

Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions.
Males have only moderate mane growth at the top of the head so that their ears are always visible.
The most striking morphological character, which is always seen in Asiatic lions, and rarely in African lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin running along its belly.
Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: Schedule 1
CITES : Appendix I
IUCN Red List: Endangered
Asiatic lions were once distributed to the state of West Bengal in east and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, in central India.
At present Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is the only abode of the Asiatic lion.

15. SWACHH SURVEKSHAN 2020

Subject: Governance

Concept :

SwachhSurvekshan 2020 report has been launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
It is the fifth edition of the annual cleanliness urban survey conducted by the MoHUA. It is one of the world’s largest sanitation surveys.

Key Points

This year the Ministry has released rankings based on the categorisation of cities on population, instead of releasing overall rankings.
The categories based on population were introduced in 2019 for the first time but the exact groupings have been changed this year.

Major Categories and Rankings:

Cities with a population of more than 10 lakh:

Indore was ranked first, securing the rank for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Surat and Navi Mumbai.

All the National Capital Region (NCR) cities, Greater Mumbai, Bruhat Bengaluru, Amritsar, Kota, Chennai, etc. have performed poorly.

Patna with the rank 47, is at the bottom of the list.

Cities with a population of 1-10 lakh:

Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur has been surveyed as the cleanest city in the country, followed by Mysore and New Delhi.

Bihar’s Gaya with a rank of 382, is at the bottom.

Cities with a population of less than 1 lakh:

Karad has been ranked as the cleanest followed by Sasvad and Lonavala (all three in Maharashtra).

The dynamic and evolving nature of the SwachhSurvekshan framework was also highlighted. From being just a monitoring framework for measuring outcomes, it has become an implementation accelerator for Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), enabling sustainability of outcomes by institutionalizing cleanliness.
SBM-U was launched in 2014, with the objective of making urban India 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF) along with 100% scientific solid waste management.
It has a deep impact on health, livelihoods, quality of life and behaviour, which proved to be very helpful while dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic as well.
MoHUA is also actively working on coming up with a second phase of the SBM-U (SBM 2.0), which was initially supposed to be till March 2020 but has been extended till March 2021. It envisions to:
Take current targets further, making cities open defecation-free, including 100% sludge management and zero dumping of waste in the open.
Safe containment, transportation and disposal of faecal sludge and septage from toilets and also the grey and black water from households and establishments.
Treat all wastewater before discharging into water bodies and their maximum possible re-use.
Provide adequate safety gear and mechanised equipment to all sanitation workers with maximum attention.
To ensure the sustainability of on-ground performance of cities, the MoHUA had also introduced SwachhSurvekshan League in 2019.
It is a quarterly cleanliness assessment of cities and towns done in three quarters with 25% weightage integrated into the final SwachhSurvekshan results.
MoHUA launched the sixth edition of the survey, SwachhSurvekshan 2021 and also introduced a new performance category, the Prerak DAUUR Samman.
It has a total of five additional subcategories namely Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze) and Aarohi (Aspiring).