Daily Prelims Notes 4 December 2020

December 4, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: Defence

Context: The government sanction letter for the creation of a new post of Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) as part of Army headquarters’ reorganisation has been issued, Army sources said on Thursday.

Concept:

As part of the reorganisation of Army Headquarters, the government has approved the creation of a new deputy chief of strategy in the headquarters.
The government has also cleared the creation of the post of Director General Information Warfare in the headquarters who would be dealing with media affairs too.
The first officer to assume the new appointment would be the present Director General of Military Operations Lt General Paramajit Singh, they said.
The new office of the third deputy chief in the Army would reduce the burden on the vice chief of the Army as he would have important officers including the in-charges of military intelligence and military operations under him.
The new post was envisaged during the Doklam crisis when a need for closer and direct coordination was felt in the headquarters.

2. ARECIBO TELESCOPE

Subject: Science & tech

Context: One of the world’s largest telescopes collapsed at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory on Tuesday.

It had been in operation for 57 years, but shut after engineers warned of the structure’s deterioration earlier this year.

Concept:

The Arecibo Telescope has one of the most powerful radar employed to observe asteroids, planets, and ionosphere.
The telescope has discovered the first exoplanets, prebiotic molecules in distant galaxies and first millisecond Pulsar. Prebiotic molecules are matter that lead to the origin of life.
The Telescope had served as a hub in the search of extra-terrestrial life and has picked up several radio signals from alien civilisations. It has played a major role in tracking killer asteroids heading towards the earth.
In 1993, the scientists Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. With the help of the observatory they monitored a binary Pulsar. It was the first evidence for the existence of gravitational waves.
The telescope had become a symbol of Puerto Rico. It drew more than 90000 visitors every year.

Why did the Arecibo Telescope collapse?

On November 19, 2020, the National Science Foundation of the United States recommended controlled demolition of the telescope as two cables broke off threatening the survival of the observatory.
The foundation came to this conclusion after several assessments found that the telescope structure is in danger of catastrophic failure and the cables of the telescope are no longer capable of carrying its weight. The receiver platform of the telescope alone weighs 900 tonnes. The receiver platform collapsed 450 feet into the 1000 feet wide dish.
Earlier, the telescope had survived several hurricanes and earthquakes.

3. RBI POLICY REVIEW

Subject: Economy

Context: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India on Friday decided to keep repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent. The reverse repo rate stays at 3.35 per cent. The RBI last changed policy rate on May 22.

Concept:

The key lending rate of the RBI or the repo rate was left unchanged at 4% while the reverse repo rate, or the rate the RBI pays when funds are parked with it, stayed at 3.35%.
The RBI has also projected the ongoing GDP contraction to narrow to 7.5% this fiscal with the economy returning to growth of 0.1% in Q3 and expanding 0.7% in Q4 of FY21.
Governor Shaktikanta Das, while announcing the policy, said inflation still remains a concern as RBI sees core inflation remaining sticky. He projected retail inflation to average 6.8% in Q3, before moderating to 5.8% in Q4.
The RBI also announced a host of measures for liquidity management and to deal with exchange rate risks.

4. NRI VOTING

Subject: Polity

Context: Election Commission (EC) approached the Law Ministry to permit NRIs to cast their votes from overseas through postal ballots.

Concept:

According to a UN report of 2015, India’s diaspora population is the largest in the world at 16 million people. Registration of NRI voters, in comparison, has been very low: a little over one lakh overseas Indians registered as voters in India, according to the EC. In last year’s Lok Sabha elections, roughly 25,000 of them flew to India to vote.
An NRI can vote in the constituency in which her place of residence, as mentioned in the passport, is located. She can only vote in person and will have to produce her passport in original at the polling station for establishing identity.
Voting rights for NRIs were introduced only in 2011, through an amendment to the Representation of the People Act 1950.
According to the EC proposal, any NRI interested in voting through the postal ballot in an election will have to inform the Returning Officer (RO) not later than five days after the notification of the election.
On receiving such information, the RO will dispatch the ballot paper electronically. The NRI voters will download the ballot paper, mark their preference on the printout and send it back along with a declaration attested by an officer appointed by the diplomatic or consular representative of India in the country where the NRI is resident.

Postal Ballots System

Ballot papers are distributed electronically to electors and are returned to the election officers via post.
Currently, only the following voters are allowed to cast their votes through postal ballot:
Service voters (armed forces, the armed police force of a state and government servants posted abroad),
Voters on election duty,
Voters above 80 years of age or Persons with Disabilities (PwD),
Voters under preventive detention.
The exception to the above-mentioned category of voters is provided under Section 60 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

5. MALAYAN GIANT SQUIRREL

Subject: Environment

Context: A first-of-its-kind study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) under the Union Ministry of Environment, has projected that numbers of the Malayan Giant Squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) could decline by 90 per cent in India by 2050.

Concept:

The Malayan Giant Squirrel, one of the world’s largest squirrel species that has a dark upper body, pale under parts, and a long, bushy tail, is currently found in parts of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.
Destruction of its habitat could restrict the squirrel to only southern Sikkim and North Bengal by 2050, according to the ZSI.
A large tree squirrel that is considered to be a “forest health indicator species” is disappearing, and may by the middle of this century no be longer found in the forests of India’s Northeast to which it is native.
According to the study, the Malayan Giant Squirrel and its habitat are under threat from deforestation, fragmentation of forests, crop cultivation and over-harvesting of food, illegal trade in wildlife, and hunting for consumption. Slash-and-burn jhum cultivation in many areas of the Northeast contribute to destruction of its habitat.
India is home to three giant squirrel species; the other two – Indian Giant Squirrel and Grizzled Giant Squirrel – are found in peninsular India.

6. BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER

Subject: Geography

Context: India on Thursday said it “carefully monitors all developments on the Brahmaputra” river, even as Beijing said it was its “legitimate right” to develop hydro power projects.

Concept:

Brahmaputra river system is one of the largest rivers in the world. In the Tibet region, it is known by the name of YarlungTsangpo. It enters by the names of Siang and Dihang in India. And after it is joined by its two main tributaries, the Dibang and theLohit, it is known by the name of Brahmaputra. It flows in Bangladesh by the name of Jumna. Finally, it merges with the Ganga river.

Brahmaputra River System

The world’s largest riverine island, Majuli Island is on the Brahmaputra river in the state of Assam. Important cities along Brahmaputra are Dibrugarh, Pasighat, Neamati, Tezpur and Guwahati.
Source of origin: The Brahmaputra river rises from Chemayundung glacier of the Kailash range near the Mansarovar Lake to the north of the Himalayas in the southwest Tibet region.
Confluence of Mouth: The Brahmaputra drains into the Bay of Bengal before forming a huge delta along with the Ganga.

Course of the Brahmaputra river

In Tibet, it runs parallel to the Himalayas for about 1,200 km. It turns into the south and creates a deep gorge through the Himalayas near NamchaBarwa and enters India under the name of the Dihang.
Near Sadia, it receives the Dibang coming from the north and the Lohit coming from the east and enters the Assam valley where it is called the Brahmaputra. It flows in the west direction up to Dhubri and further below, it runs to the south and enters Bangladesh.
The Brahmaputra receives numerous tributaries in the Assam valley. The number of streams joining the Brahmaputra on its right-bank is greater than that of those joining it on the left-bank. Most of the tributaries are large streams and they pour great quantities of water in the Brahmaputra.
During the rainy season, it is 8 km broad, slow-moving and heavily laden with silt. Its channel is braided. It is notorious for floods and erosion of its banks. Recurrent floods not only hampers the navigation through the river but also the establishment of large towns on its banks.

Primary Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River

The Dhansiri River

It is the left-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river.It rises from Liasang peak of Nagaland. It is the main river of the Golaghat district of Assam and the Dimapur district of Nagaland.

The Lohit River

It is an important left-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It rises in the eastern Tibet region. The Lohitriver flows through the Mishmi Hills. It joins the left-bank of the Brahmaputra at Sadia town in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
. The newly constructed massive Dhola-Sadia bridge or the Bhupen Hazarika bridge spans the Lohit river.

The Dibang River

It is the left-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It is one of the principal tributaries of the Brahmaputra river. It flows through the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

The Subansiri River

It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It rises in the Tibet region in the Himalayas. It flows east and southeast through the Lower Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh, and then south to the Assam valley, where it joins the right-bank of the Brahmaputra river in the Lakhimpur district of Assam. The Subansiri River is known as the Gold River by the locals. This river is famous all over the world for its gold dust.

The Kameng River

It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It rises in the Tawang district in the eastern .
The Kaziranga National Park and the Pakkhui Wildlife Sanctuary are located near the Kameng river.

The Manas River

It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It is a trans-boundary river in the Himalayan foothills between southern Bhutan and India. The Manas river flows through Bhutan and Assam in India before it joins the right-bank of the Brahmaputra river.

The Sankosh River

It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It is a trans0boundary river and it flows through Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh. It rises in the northern Bhutan region

The Teesta River

It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. The Teesta rises from Zemu glacier in Kanchenjunga massif in Sikkim. The Teesta river drains the entire state of Sikkim and a part of Darjeeling Hills. It is known as the lifeline of Sikkim.

7. NISARG GRAM

Subject: Current Events

Context: Ministry of AYUSH will develop Nisarg Gram campus at Pune as the 21st Century abode of Naturopathy.

Concept:

Invoking recollections of Mahatma Gandhi’s famous Nature Cure campaign of 1946 at the “NisargUpchar” Ashram in UruliKanchan village near Pune, the upcoming new campus of National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune will be called “Nisarg Gram”.
Located at a distance of 15 Km from NIN’s present premises at BapuBhavan, the new Institution will be future-ready, with many novelties and innovations incorporated in the project per se and the curriculum of the Naturopathy courses.

Additional Information:

NIN, Pune is an Autonomous Body under the Ministry of AYUSH.
The institution was called All India Nature Cure Foundation and was set up under Gandhi Ji’s leadership in 1945 at the same premises where the NIN presently functions.
It was subsequently taken over by the Central Government and structured into the present National Institute of Naturopathy.

8. THE ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 2020

Subject: Current Events

Context: India, which has the highest average monthly mobile data traffic per smartphone, is expected to surpass 350 million 5G subscriptions by 2026, accounting for 27% of all mobile subscriptions in the country, according to a report by Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson.

Concept:

As per the ‘The Ericsson Mobility Report 2020,’ four out of every ten mobile subscriptions in 2026 will be 5G globally with 5G subscriptions forecast to reach 3.5 billion.
In the India region, LTE (long-term evolution technology) subscriptions are forecast to increase from 710 million in 2020 to 820 million in 2026” by which time 3G will be phased out.
In India, the reliance of people on mobile networks to stay connected as well as work from home during the pandemic has resulted in average traffic per smartphone user rising from 13.5 GB a month in 2019 to 15.7 GB in 2020, the highest globally.

9. NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE TEST

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Honey marketed by prominent Indian brands failed a key test of purity, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has claimed, citing an investigation it conducted.

Concept:

Current regulations specify around 18 parameters that honey must comply with for producers to label it ‘pure honey’.
Most brands passed muster but when subjected to one test, called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) that was done at a lab in Germany, only three brands passed: Saffola, MarkfedSohna and Nature’s Nectar. There were often multiple samples tested for each brand.

Additional Information

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Test can ascertain the composition of a product at the molecular level)
The NMR test is not required by Indian law for honey that is being marketed locally but is needed for export.