Daily Prelims Notes 6 July 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

6 July 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Personal Data Protection Bill gets Cabinet approval
2. RBI inter-departmental group plan to internationalise Rupee
3. DGTR initiates probe on rising metallurgical coke imports
4. Project Cheetah: Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary to be new home for African felines
5. Microplastics can alter gut microbiome, cause intestinal inflammation: FAO
6. World needs over $75 bn for a 75% slash in energy-related methane emissions
7. What are the risks faced by Zaporizhzhya, the nuclear power plant in a war zone?
8. Pay half of fine to informer: court’s bid to spur animal protection
9. Chandrayaan-3 integrated with launch vehicle LMV3
10. ‘Gender in physics’ meet in Mumbai
11. U.K., Canada, Sweden, Ukraine take Iran to top UN court
12. Observing gravitational waves critical to study of the cosmos
13. mulls rating firms on GST compliance
14. Credit card usage: Why RBI wants banks to let customers choose among few
15. Mosaic viruses
16. In boost to ties, Taiwan to set up office in Mumbai
17. Border states to get financial aid to set up rehabilitation homes for victims of trafficking

1. Personal Data Protection Bill gets Cabinet approval

Subject : Polity

Section: Legislation in news

Context:  Personal Data Protection Bill gets cabinet nod, major provisions retained

Key Points:

• The bill has been approved by the cabinet, to be tabled in Parliament.
• Government has retained the major provisions of the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, including penalties for data breaches, parental consent for children’s data, and deemed consent, in the final version
• Bill will continue with a principle-based approach, and it will be followed by a rulebook
• Data Fiduciaries, Principal and Consent:
  • The Bill requires online platforms to take clear and informed consent from the user (principal) before collecting any personal data.
  • The Bill requires platforms to give a description of the personal data sought and the purpose of processing of such personal data. The provision is likely to change the way a majority of the websites collect cookies
  • All data fiduciaries must undertake certain transparency and accountability measures such as security safeguards (encryption), grievance redressal mechanisms.
  • Bill requires platforms to obtain verifiable parental consent “in such manner as may be prescribed” before processing any personal data of a child — any user below the age of 18.
  • Users to get a right to erase their personal data with platforms
• Monitoring, Compliance, Penalty, grievance redressal:
  • The Bill, seeks to enforce the fundamental right to privacy of citizens, has the provision of penalties ranging up to 250 crore for each instance of data fiduciaries failing to take safeguards to prevent personal data breaches.
  • Data Protection Board of India will be set up by the government which will be responsible for monitoring compliance, imposing penalties, requiring fiduciaries to take necessary measures in the event of a data breach, and hearing grievances made by affected persons.
  • The affected data principals will be able to seek compensation in civil courts.
  • The government may also retain the concepts of voluntary undertaking and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to reduce litigations.
• Deemed Consent:
  • The provision of ‘deemed consent’ has become a matter of debate in public discussions with respect to its idea and the exemptions allowed under it.
  • According to it “In specific circumstances, a data principal might be deemed to have given consent to the processing of his/her personal data if such processing is necessary.” and ‘taking consent (for sharing personal data) is not feasible.’
• Surveillance:
  • the Bill does not mention unreasonable surveillance as a harm, a definition which was available in the previous Bill
  • The requirement of proportionality, reasonableness and fairness have been removed for the Central government to exempt any department or instrumentality from the ambit of the Bill
  • The bill has widened the scope of ‘public interest’ exemptions given to government under Section 18
  • unchecked data processing by the State, which may violate the right to privacy

2. RBI inter-departmental group plan to internationalise Rupee

Subject: Economy

Section: External Sector 

Key Points:

• An inter-departmental group (IDG) of the RBI was set up to study and recommend strategy towards achieving internationalisation of the rupee. Over the long term, if these measures are taken, the INR may ascend to a level where it would be widely used and preferred by other economies as a “vehicle currency”.
• Why India should aim for internationalisation ?
  • INR has the potential to become an internationalised currency as India is one of the fastest growing countries
  • It has shown remarkable resilience even in the face of major headwinds.
• What will be the benefit of greater internationalisation ?
  • Internationalisation of INR can lower transaction costs of cross-border trade and investment operations by mitigating exchange rate risk.
• The IDG has recommended several measures to help achieve this goal:
  • Having a Local Currency Settlement (LCS) framework for bilateral transactions in local currencies, and bilateral and multilateral trade arrangements for invoicing, settlement and payment in INR and local currencies
  • Allowing banking services in INR outside India through off-shore branches of Indian banks
  • Encouraging opening of INR accounts for non-residents, both within and outside India, these should be other than nostro accounts of overseas banks. Harmonising of the present Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines will be necessary for this.
  • FPI (foreign portfolio investment) regime will have to be over-hauled.
  • Progressive capital account convertibility, wherein the domestic currency increasingly acquires the character of a de facto freely convertible currency for international financial transactions.
  • Making efforts to enable INR as an additional settlement currency in existing multilateral mechanisms. Indian payment systems should also be integrated with other countries for cross-border transactions.
  • Launch of BIS Investment Pools (BISIP) in INR and inclusion of government securities in global bond indices.
  • Review of taxes on masala bonds, examination of taxation issues in financial markets to harmonise tax regimes of India and other financial centres

3. DGTR initiates probe on rising metallurgical coke imports

Subject: Economy

Section: External Sector 

Context: Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) begins probe into allegations of rising imports of low ash metallurgical coke for initiating safeguard duties.

Key Points:

• The notification by DGTR mentions that imports of met coke were found to be causing serious injury to the domestic industry in the recent period.
• Reason for increase in price of Indian coke:
  • Rise in imports have been attributed to factors like the Russia – Ukraine war impacting the key raw material price, coking coal, leading to increase in cost of production for Indian met coke.
  • Further with sanctions on Russia, China is having advantage in sourcing coking coal from Russia.
• Role of DGTR:
  • The DGTR under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry provides a level playing field to the domestic industry against the adverse impact of unfair trade practices.
  • Practices like dumping and actionable subsidies from any exporting country, by using trade remedial methods under the relevant framework of the WTO arrangements, the Customs Tariff Act & Rules and other relevant laws and international agreements, in a transparent and time bound manner.
  • It also provides trade defence support to our domestic industry and exporters in dealing with instances of trade remedy investigations instituted against them by other countries.
  • The DGTR is a quasi-judicial body that independently undertakes investigations before making its recommendations to the Central Government.
  • It is the single national authority for administering all trade remedial measures including anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures.

4. Project Cheetah: Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary to be new home for African felines

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

• Officials plan to shift some African cheetahs from Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh to the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary located on the northern border of Mandsaur and Nimach districts, in the same state.

Details:

• The plan involves identifying newer habitats for cheetahs.
• The relocation of new cheetahs would be undertaken in strict accordance with the Cheetah Action Plan.
• Earlier this year in May, the Supreme Court had asked the central government to distribute cheetahs over a wider geographic range after noting that three cheetahs had died within a span of 45 days.

About cheetah:

Sr. No.	Parameter	African Cheetah	Asiatic Cheetah
1.	IUCN status	Vulnerable	Critically Endangered.
2.	CITES status	Appendix-I of the List. This List comprises of migratory species that have been assessed as being in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range.	Appendix-I of the List.
3.	Habitat	Around 6,500-7,000 African cheetahs are present in the wild.	40-50 found only in Iran.
4.	Physical Characteristics	Bigger in size as compared to Asiatic Cheetah.	Smaller and paler than the African cheetah. Has more fur, a smaller head and a longer neck. Usually have red eyes and they have a more cat-like appearance.
5.	Image

Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary:

• Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary situated on the northern boundary of Mandsaur and Nimach districts in Madhya Pradesh, India.
• It is spread over an area of 368.62 km2 (142.32 sq mi) adjoining Rajasthan state in India.
• It was notified in 1974 and more area was added in 1983.
• The Chambal River passes through the sanctuary dividing it into two parts.
• The western part is in Nimach district and eastern part is in Mandsaur district.
• It is in the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.

Flora and Fauna:

• The Sanctuary has a varied terrain of wooded hills – the forest being dry, mixed and deciduous- and flat grasslands around Gandhi sagar dam submergence.
  • The principal tree species found in the Sanctuary are Khair (Acacia catechu), Salai, Kardhai, Dhawda, Tendu, Palash etc.
• The predominant animal species are the deer, of which the most easily sighted are the chinkara or Indian gazelle, Nilgai and sambar.
  • In addition the Indian leopard, langur, Indian wild dog, peacock, otter, and Mugger crocodile are present.

Kuno National Park:

• Kuno National Park is a national park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, India.
• It derives its name from the Kuno River. It was established in 1981 as a wildlife sanctuary with an initial area of 344.686 km2 (133.084 sq mi) in the Sheopur and Morena districts.
• In 2018, it was given the status of a national park. It is part of the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.

5. Microplastics can alter gut microbiome, cause intestinal inflammation: FAO

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context:

• Microplastics and nanoplastics considerably impact human and animal gut microbiomes as well as the environment, noted a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Details:

• FAO report: The Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Human Health.
• Though the effects of its exposure to other plastic chemicals in the gut microbiome are still unexplored, instances of alteration in the intestinal structure and the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract have been observed.
• Exposure to plastic has led to intestinal inflammation and gut dysbiosis — changes in the gut microbiome and microbiota.
• The findings stood true for aquatic species and rodents as well.

Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics:

• When plastic spreads in the environment, they undergo ageing, weathering and deterioration. Such changes cause mechanical abrasion, breakage, fragmentation and photo-oxidation, which involves chemical release or adsorption.
  • Plastics eventually break into different sizes and shapes and undergo changes during interactions with microorganisms and other substances in their surroundings.
  • Plastics of hydrophobic nature, for instance, can adsorb hydrophobic chemicals or persistent organic pollutants from the environment (for example, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane).
• Microplastics (0.1 to 5 000 μm) and nano plastics (0.001 to 0.1 μm) are known to affect larger soil microorganisms and penetrate the entire food web.
• Microplastics found in water bottles and food items such as sugar, honey, sea salt, tea and others have eventually deposited in human lung tissue, placenta, stool, blood and meconium.
• Physical abrasion of microplastic and its accumulation in the gut can lead to satiety in the organism and even reduce food consumption. It may eventually lead to weight loss and metabolic changes.

6. World needs over $75 bn for a 75% slash in energy-related methane emissions

Subject: Environment

Section: Climate change

Context:

• Over $75 billion in funding is required to slash just energy-related methane emissions by 75 per cent by 2030, two-thirds of which would be generated through oil and gas operations, a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Details:

• Around $55 billion would be required in upstream oil and gas facilities that extract non-renewable energy sources from the onshore or offshore ground and over $20 billion would be required in downstream facilities, which involve refining and distribution to consumers.

Methane emissions:

• Methane is the second biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide.
• It is 84 times more potent than carbon but it does not last as long in the atmosphere before it breaks down.
• This makes it a critical target for reducing global warming more quickly while simultaneously working to reduce other greenhouse gases (GHGs).
• The energy sector contributes to nearly 40 per cent of anthropogenic methane emissions, while methane emissions are also generated from agriculture and waste.
• Methane (CH4) accounts for 15–35% of the rise in greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by human activity.
• Over the past ten years, the atmospheric methane growth rate (MGR) has increased significantly, most likely due to rising fossil fuel and microbial source emissions.
• Methane emissions increased from 9.9 parts per billion (ppb) in 2019 to around 15 ppb in 2020.
• Human-related methane emissions fell by 1.2 teragrams (Tg) year in 2020.

Curbing methane emission:

• The extraction and transportation of oil, gas and even coal release methane through defective valves or pipes, referred to as fugitive emissions.
• Fixing the malfunctioning parts and processes by employing leak detection and repair (LDAR) programmes prevents methane emissions amounting to 13 million tonnes (Mt)
• Around 6 Mt of methane emissions may be avoided using vapour recovery units by capturing the gas before leakage either through flaring or venting by 2030.
  • The practice of burning pressurised natural gas during oil extraction, either as a safety concern or because of being uneconomical to sell, is known as flaring and releases methane emissions.
  • Similarly, venting is the process of directly releasing methane gas into the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction.
• Around 21 Mt of methane release can be avoided by replacing pumps, controllers, compressors and other equipment with low- or zero-emissions alternatives.
• Globally, the sale of captured methane would fetch oil and gas producers returns at $45 billion on financing methane emission technologies.
• Non-binding pledges like the Global Methane Pledges are unlikely to drive this action.

Global initiatives

• Methane Alert and Response System (MARS): MARS will integrate data from a large number of existing and future satellites that have the ability to detect methane emission events anywhere in the world, and send out notifications to the relevant stakeholders to act on it.
• Global Methane Pledge: At the Glasgow climate conference (UNFCCC COP 26) in 2021, nearly 100 countries had come together in a voluntary pledge, referred to as the Global Methane Pledge, to cut methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels.
• Global Methane Initiative (GMI): It is an international public-private partnership focused on reducing barriers to the recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source.

Indian initiatives:

• Harit Dhara’ (HD): Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed an anti-methanogenic feed supplement ‘Harit Dhara’ (HD), which can cut down cattle methane emissions by 17-20% and can also result in higher milk production.
• India Greenhouse Gas Program: The India GHG Program led by WRI India (non-profit organization), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is an industry-led voluntary framework to measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): NAPCC was launched in 2008 and aimed at creating awareness among the representatives of the public, different agencies of the government, scientists, industry, and the communities on the threat posed by climate change and the steps to counter it.
• Bharat Stage-VI Norms: India shifted from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms.

7. What are the risks faced by Zaporizhzhya, the nuclear power plant in a war zone?

Subject: International Relations

Section: Places in news

Context:

• In June, a Lithuania-based NGO named the Bellona Foundation published a report, analysing the risks associated with the hostilities around, near, or at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, based on the facility’s design, safety measures, and the local geography.

What is the reactor design at Zaporizhzhya?

• Zaporizhzhya NPP is located southwest of Zaporizhzhia city, along the Dnieper River.
• It has six VVER-1000 reactors providing a total power-generation capacity of 6 GW.
• The reactor complex consists of the reactor vessel, in which fuel rods are submerged in water.
• Control rods are inserted at the top.
• The water acts as both coolant and moderator.
• A pressuriser holds the water at a high but constant pressure (around 150 atm) to prevent it from boiling. This is the primary cooling circuit.
• As the water heats up, the heat is moved to a secondary cooling circuit, where it converts a separate resource of water into steam. This steam is fed to turbines that generate electricity.
• In this design, the primary coolant and the moderator are the same substance (water), and it doesn’t leave the reactor vessel at any time.

Is Zaporizhzhya comparable to Chernobyl?

• The report says that any damage to the Zaporizhzhya NPP is unlikely to play out in the same fashion or at the same scale.
• The principal difference between Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhya is that the former had RBMK reactors and the latter has VVER-1000 reactors (this is the same reactor design installed at the Kudankulam NPP in India).
• Zaporizhzhya also takes advantage of safety measures installed in the aftermath of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.
• In RBMK reactors like at Chernobyl, the coolant and the moderator are different (light water and nuclear graphite, respectively). And the coolant, which is radioactive from having been exposed to the nuclear fuel, flows out of the reactor vessel.
• One of the reasons Chernobyl was so bad is that when the reactor was breached, the superhot graphite caught fire when it came into contact with air.
• Unlike Chernobyl, the VVER-1000 reactor and its power-generation units at Zaporizhzhya are also placed inside a large airtight chamber called a containment. Its walls are 120-cm thick and made of pre-stressed concrete.

Risk factors:

• The principal danger here is that the primary water circuit could depressurise as steam and escape into the air, along with radioactive material and other volatile substances.
• This mixture will contain the isotope iodine-131, which is easily dispersed by winds and accumulates in and damages the thyroid gland in humans. It has a half-life of around eight days and so it would only pose a threat for several weeks.
• A breach and depressurisation would also release caesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years and was responsible for contaminating much of Chernobyl’s surroundings after the accident.

Report recommendations:

• On June 6, 2023, the Kakhovka dam, which is downstream of the Zaporizhzhya NPP and in whose reservoir the plant is located, was breached.
• The Bellona report suggested that the walls of the pond were built to withstand a water-level differential of 6 metres.
• After considering the possibility of this breach as well, the report made the following recommendations (reworded):
  • All reactors should be in shutdown or cold-shutdown states
  • There should be no effort to move fuel at the same time as hostilities around the plant
  • Hostilities should be kept out of the territory of the plant itself
  • If/when Russian troops withdraw from the plant, plant staff should be rehabilitated

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant:

• Kudankulam NPP or KKNPP is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
• Construction on the plant began on 31 March 2002, but faced several delays due to opposition from local fishermen.
• KKNPP is scheduled to have six VVER-1000 reactors built in collaboration with Atomstroyexport, the Russian state company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), with an installed capacity of 6,000 MW of electricity.

8. Pay half of fine to informer: court’s bid to spur animal protection

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

• In a first-of-its-kind judgement, a sessions court in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan has ordered the payment of half of the fine amount, imposed on a convict in a Chinkara killing case, to the informer as a prize for helping in the detection of crime against wildlife.

Details:

• The court said section 55(c) of the Wildlife Protection Act empowered the court to take cognisance of an offence on the complaint of a private person.
• Besides, Article 51A (g) of the Constitution had laid down that the protection of wildlife and having compassion for living creatures was a fundamental duty of the citizens.

Chinkara (or Gazelle):

• Rajasthan have two animals Camel and Chinkara as their state animals. Chinkara was declared a state animal in 1981, it is also known as a small deer.
• The chinkara (Gazella bennettii), also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
• Distribution and habitat
  • Chinkara live in arid plains and hills, deserts, dry scrub and light forests.
  • They inhabit more than 80 protected areas in India.
  • In Pakistan, they range up to elevations of 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
  • In Iran, their largest population is the Kavir National Park.
  • In 2001, the Indian chinkara population was estimated at 100,000 with 80,000 living in the Thar Desert.
  • The population in Pakistan is scattered and has been severely reduced by hunting.
  • Also in Iran, the population is fragmented.
  • In Afghanistan, chinkaras are probably very rare.

The following six subspecies are considered valid:

1. Deccan chinkara (G. b. bennettii) (Sykes 1831) – ranges from South India, from the Ganges Valley (east to the borders of West Bengal) south at least to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Deccan Plateau;
2. Gujarat chinkara (G. b. christii) (Blyth, 1842) – ranges from the desert lowlands of Pakistan, western India, Rann of Kutch, Kathiawar, Saurastra region and as far east of Ahmedabad district in Gujarat.
3. Kennion gazelle, eastern jebeer gazelle or Baluchistan gazelle (G. b. fuscifrons) (Blanford, 1873) – occurs in eastern Iran, (southeast and along the Makran coast, Sistan and Baluchistan) southern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Balochistan Province to Sindh and northwestern India, Rajasthan, also the darkest subspecies.
4. Bushehr gazelle (G. b. karamii) (Groves, 1993) – ranges in northeastern Iran, restricted near Bushehr, also the smallest subspecies.
5. Jebeer gazelle, western jebeer gazelle or Shikari gazelle (G. b. shikarii) (Groves, 1993) – Lives in northeastern Iran, north and west-central districts (Touran, west to Tehran and southwest to Shiraz County and beyond), also the palest subspecies.
6. Salt Range gazelle (G. b. salinarum) (Groves, 2003) – ranges in Pakistan, Punjab region and east as far as Delhi, Indian Punjab, Haryana in northwest India, salt range.

9. Chandrayaan-3 integrated with launch vehicle LMV3

Subject :Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Context:

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is planning to launch the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission in July, has integrated the spacecraft with the launch vehicle — Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3).
• The launch date is not announced yet, but the launch window for the Chandrayaan-3 is between July 12 and 19.

Chandrayaan program:

• Chandrayaan-1 was the first Indian lunar probe under the Chandrayaan program.
• It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, and operated until August 2009.
• The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor.
• India launched the spacecraft using a PSLV-XL rocket.
• India was the fourth country to place its flag insignia on the Moon.
• The location of impact was named Jawahar Point.

Goals:

• High-resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of the permanently shadowed north- and south-polar regions
• Searching for surface or subsurface lunar water-ice, especially at the lunar poles
• Due to technical issues Chandrayaan-1 stopped communicating in August 2009 and ISRO officially declared that the mission was over. Chandrayaan-1 operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years, but the mission achieved most of its scientific objectives.

Findings:

• The recent images sent by Chandrayaan-1 suggest that the moon may be rusting along the poles. Data sent indicates the presence of hematite at the lunar poles.

Chandrayan-2:

• Chandrayaan-2 is India’s first lander mission.
• It consists of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover, all equipped with scientific instruments to study the moon.
• Chandrayaan-2 was planned to make a landing at a site where no earlier mission had gone, i.e near the South pole of the moon.
• However, a part of the mission failed as the Vikram lander crash-landed on the lunar surface.
• A successful landing would have made India the fourth country in the world to do so after the US, the erstwhile USSR and China, and the first country to have landed so close to the lunar South Pole.

Chandrayaan-3 mission:

• Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third moon mission, and is a follow-up to Chandrayaan-2, to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
• Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover with the objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
• According to ISRO, the lander has the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site, and deploy the rover, which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.
• The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.
• The main function of PM is to carry the LM from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100-km circular polar orbit, and separate the LM from PM.
• Apart from this, the Propulsion Module also has one scientific payload, as a value addition, which will be operated post-separation of the Lander Module.

10. ‘Gender in physics’ meet in Mumbai

Subject : International Relations

Section :  International Organizations

Concept :

• The eighth edition of the International Conference on Women In Physics (ICWIP) will be the first to be organised in India when it happens next week on July 10-14.

About ICWIP 2023

• The conference is an event of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.
• It was first held in 2002 in France, to address the gender imbalance in physics education and research worldwide.
• The Gender in Physics Working Group of the Indian Physics Association and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, are organising it together. The conference will be virtual and will be hosted by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, a National Centre of TIFR in Mumbai.
• The program will consist of plenary sessions, interactive workshops, poster presentations, and networking sessions.
• In addition to the country papers depicting the status of women in physics, registered participants can make contributions in physics, physics education and gender issues.

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics

• The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics is an international non-governmental organization whose mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the application of physics toward solving problems of concern to humanity.
• It was established in 1922 and the first General Assembly was held in 1923 in Paris.
• The Union is domiciled in Geneva, Switzerland.
• IUPAP is a member of the International Science Council.

11. U.K., Canada, Sweden, Ukraine take Iran to top UN court

Subject : International Relations

Section: International Organization

Concept :

• The United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine have launched a case against Iran at the United Nations’ highest court over the downing in 2020 of a Ukrainian passenger jet and the deaths of all 176 passengers and crew.
• The countries want the International Court of Justice to rule that Iran illegally shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 on January 8, 2020, and order Tehran to apologise and pay compensation to the families of the victims.

About International Court of Justice :

• The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
• It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
• The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations.
• After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively.
• The PCIJ was formally dissolved in April 1946, and its last president, Judge José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, became the first president of the ICJ.

Seat and role:

• The ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
• It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
• (The other five organs are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the Secretariat.)
• All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
• The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
• The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
• There is no provision of appeal; it can at the most, be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision.
• However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.

Judges of the court

• The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
• To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes in both bodies.
• A third of the court is elected every three years.
• The president and vice-president of the court are elected for three-year terms by secret ballot. Judges are eligible for re-election.
• Four Indians have been members of the ICJ so far.
• Justice Dalveer Bhandari, former judge of the Supreme Court, has been serving at the ICJ since 2012. Others being R S Pathak (1989-91), Nagendra Singh (1973-88), Sir Benegal Rau (1952-53).

India at the ICJ:

• India has been a party to a case at the ICJ on six occasions, four of which have involved Pakistan.
• They are:
  • Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India, culminated 1960);
  • Appeal Relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council (India v. Pakistan, culminated 1972);
  • Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Pakistan v. India, culminated 1973);
  • Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India, culminated 2000);
  • Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India, culminated 2016); and
  • (Kulbhushan) Jadhav (India v. Pakistan, culminated 2019).

The Genocide Convention:

• The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), or Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to enforce its prohibition.
• It was the first legal instrument to codify genocide as a crime, and the first human rights treaty unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, on 9 December 1948.
• The Convention entered into force on 12 January 1951 and has 152 state parties.
• The Genocide Convention was conceived largely in response to World War II, which saw atrocities such as the Holocaust that lacked an adequate description or legal definition.
• The Convention defines genocide as an ‘intentional effort to completely or partially destroy a group based on its nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion.

12. Observing gravitational waves critical to study of the cosmos

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Concept :

• Last week, scientists revealed evidence that the universe is constantly flooded with low-frequency gravitational waves, unlocking new avenues to expand our knowledge of the universe.
• Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity also predicted the existence of gravitational waves more than a century ago, but the phenomenon was only directly observed in 2016.

About the Gravitational Waves:

• These are invisible ripples in space that form when:
  • A star explodes in a supernova.
  • Two big stars orbit each other.
  • Two black holes merge.
  • Neutron star-Black hole (NS-BH) merges.
• They travel at the speed of light (1,86,000 miles per second) and squeeze and stretch anything in their path.
• As a gravitational wave travels through space-time, it causes it to stretch in one direction and compress in the other.
• Any object that occupies that region of space-time also stretches and compresses as the wave passes over them, though very slightly, which can only be detected by specialized devices like LIGO.

Theory and Discovery:

• These were proposed by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity, over a century ago.
• However, the first gravitational wave was actually detected by LIGO only in 2015.

Detection Technique:

• As the two compact and massive bodies orbit around each other, they come closer, and finally merge, due to the energy lost in the form of gravitational waves.
• The Gravitational Waves signals are buried deep inside a lot of background noise. To search for the signals, scientists use a method called matched filtering.
• In this method, various expected gravitational waveforms predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity, are compared with the different chunks of data to produce a quantity that signifies how well the signal in the data (if any) matches with any one of the waveforms.
• Whenever this match (in technical terms “signal-to-noise ratio” or SNR) is significant (larger than 8), an event is said to be detected.
• Observing an event in multiple detectors separated by thousands of kilometers almost simultaneously gives scientists increased confidence that the signal is of astrophysical origin.

Importance of Discovery:

• A neutron star has a surface and black hole does not. A neutron star is about 1.4-2 times the mass of the sun while the other black hole is much more massive. Widely unequal mergers have very interesting effects that can be detected.
• Inferring from data as to how often they merge will also give us clues about their origin and how they were formed.
• These observations help us understand the formation and relative abundance of such binaries.
• Neutron stars are the densest objects in the Universe, so these findings can also help us understand the behaviour of matter at extreme densities.
• Neutron stars are also the most precise ‘clocks’ in the Universe, if they emit extremely periodic pulses.
• The discovery of pulsars going around Black Holes could help scientists probe effects under extreme gravity.

LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC):

• LSC was founded in 1997 and currently made up of more than 1000 scientists from over 100 institutions and 18 countries worldwide.
• It is a group of scientists focused on the direct detection of gravitational waves, using them to explore the fundamental physics of gravity, and developing the emerging field of gravitational wave science as a tool of astronomical discovery.
• LIGO Observatories: The LSC carries out the science of the LIGO Observatories, located in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana as well as that of the GEO600 detector in Hannover, Germany.

Other Observatories:

• VIRGO: Virgo is located near Pisa in Italy. The Virgo Collaboration is currently composed of approximately 650 members from 119 institutions in 14 different countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain.
• The Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA): The KAGRA detector is located in Kamioka, Gifu, Japan. The host institute is the Institute of Cosmic Ray Researches (ICRR) at the University of Tokyo.
• This interferometer is underground and uses cryogenic mirrors. It has 3 km arms.

LIGO-India Project

• The LIGO-India observatory is scheduled for completion in 2024, and will be built in the Hingoli District of Maharashtra.
• LIGO India is a planned advanced gravitational-wave observatory to be located in India as part of the worldwide network.
• The LIGO project operates three gravitational-wave (GW) detectors.
• Two are at Hanford in the State of Washington, north-western USA, and one is at Livingston in Louisiana, south-eastern USA.
• The LIGO-India project is an international collaboration between the LIGO Laboratory and three lead institutions in the LIGO-India consortium: Institute of Plasma Research, Gandhinagar; IUCAA, Pune; and Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore.
• It will significantly improve the sky localisation of these events.
• This increases the chance of observation of these distant sources using electromagnetic telescopes, which will, in turn, give us a more precise measurement of how fast the universe is expanding.

13. Govt. mulls rating firms on GST compliance

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Concept :

• The government is mulling the introduction of tax compliance ratings for vendors under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and a pilot project is on the anvil to try out biometric authentications for applicants to be able to register with the GST framework.
• While GST officials are cracking down on fake invoicing and other tax evasion techniques, they have also found more than 11,000 firms that were considered ‘fake registrations’, some of which were undertaken through identity theft.

Automated Return Scrutiny Module

• The that uses data an ARSM is a part of the ACES (Automation of Central Excise and Service Tax)-GST backend application analytics to identify risks and discrepancies in GST returns.
• This helps tax officers to scrutinize the GST returns of Centre Administered Taxpayers who are selected based on the risks identified by the system.
• The module also generates alerts if any non-compliance is detected.
• The automated return scrutiny module has already commenced with the scrutiny of GST returns for FY 2019-20, with the requisite data already with the tax officers.

e-Invoicing Under GST

• e-Invoicing is a system where B2B (Business to Business) invoices and some other documents are electronically authenticated by the GSTN (Goods and Service Tax Network) for further use on the GST portal.
• e-Invoicing involves submitting already generated standard invoices on a common e-invoice portal, automating reporting with a one-time input of invoice details.
• An identification number is issued against every invoice by the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), which transfers the invoice information in real-time to the GST portal and the e-Way Bill portal.
• E-Way Bill is a compliance mechanism wherein by way of a digital interface the person causing the movement of goods uploads the relevant information prior to the commencement of movement of goods and generates an e-way bill on the GST portal, and therefore facilitating faster movement of Goods.
• This eliminates manual data entry while filing returns and generating e-way bills.

Objectives:

• The GST Council in its 37th meeting in September 2019 had approved the standard of e-invoice with the primary objective to enable interoperability across the entire GST ecosystem.

Significance:

• With a uniform invoicing system, the tax authorities are able to pre-populate the return and reduce the reconciliation issues.
• With a high number of cases involving fake invoices and fraud availment of input tax credit, GST authorities have pushed for implementation of this e-invoicing system which is expected to help to curb the actions of tax evaders and reduce the number of frauds as the tax authorities will have access to data in real-time.

14. Credit card usage: Why RBI wants banks to let customers choose among few

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Concept :

• At a time when the credit card business of banks is booming, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants credit card issuers (banks and finance companies) to allow customers opt for their desired card network instead of forcing them to accept the favourite networks of banks.
• The central bank has proposed that card issuers provide an option to their eligible customers to choose any one among the multiple card networks.
• This option may be exercised by customers either at the time of issue or at any subsequent time, the RBI said in a draft circular to banks.
• The RBI has said card issuers should not enter into any arrangement or agreement with card networks that restrain them from availing the services of other card networks.

Credit card network

• Credit card networks provide the centralised communication system that card issuers like banks and non-banks use to process credit card transactions.
• The networks and issuers authorise and process credit card transactions, set the transaction terms, and move payments between customers, businesses, and their banks. Major credit card networks include Visa, Mastercard, American Express and RuPay.
• Banks usually issue credit cards to customers in association with card networks. If a customer has a credit card issued by the bank with its logo and the Visa logo on it, the bank is the credit card issuer and Visa is the credit card network.
• When a customer uses a credit card to make a purchase, the transaction request goes to the credit card issuer, who then decides whether or not to authorise it through the network system of the card networks.
• The bank extends credit to the cardholder, and the cardholder pays the bank back for purchases made with the credit card.

What are the practices that RBI want to put an end?

• Many banks have exclusively tied up – informally – with card networks to offer their services whether the customers prefer them or not. While one of India’s leading two private banks have tied up with Visa, the other one offers only the network of MasterCard.
• Some banks have been forcefully asking customers to accept particular card networks.
• The RBI had indefinitely barred Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club from issuing new debit, credit or prepaid cards to customers over noncompliance with local data storage rules two years ago but lifted the ban later.

15. Mosaic viruses

Subject : Science and tech

Section: Biotechnology

Concept :

• Farmers in Maharashtra have said their tomato crop was impacted by attacks of the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), while growers in Karnataka blamed the tomato mosaic virus (ToMV).

About CMV and ToMV

• The two plant pathogens have similar names and cause similar damage to crops, but they belong to different viral families.
• ToMV belongs to the Virgaviridae family and is closely related to the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV).
• ToMV hosts include tomato, tobacco, peppers, and certain ornamental plants.
• CMV has a much larger host pool that includes cucumber, melon, eggplant, tomato, carrot, lettuce, celery, cucurbits and some ornamentals. CMV was identified in cucumber in 1934, which gave the virus its name.

Spread of virus:

• ToMV spreads mainly through infected seeds, saplings, agricultural tools and often, through the hands of nursery workers who have failed to sanitise themselves properly before entering the fields.
• CMV is spread by aphids, which are sap-sucking insects.
• CMV too can spread through human touch, but the chances of that are extremely low.

Impact on the crop:

• Both viruses can cause almost 100 per cent crop loss unless properly treated on time.

16. In boost to ties, Taiwan to set up office in Mumbai

Subject : International Relations

Section: Places in news

Concept :

• In a significant step aimed at boosting economic linkages, Taiwan on Wednesday announced it would open its third representative office in India in Mumbai, more than a decade after it last expanded its presence in India.

Taiwan:

• Taiwan is an island on the southern coast of China.
• It has its own constitution, democratically-elected leaders and active troops in its armed forces.
• Taiwan is not a member of the UN (United Nations) and WHO (World Health Organization).
• Taiwan maintains official ties with 14 out of 193 UN member states and the Holy See.
• Taiwan is a member of WTO (World Trade Organization) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) under the name of “Chinese Taipei”
• Geography
• It is a state in East Asia with Neighbouring states include the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the west, Japan to the north-east, and the Philippines to the south.
• The East China Sea lies to its north, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south and the South China Sea to its southwest.
• The Taiwan Strait separates the island of Taiwan from mainland China. The strait is currently part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north.
• Taipei is the capital.

17. Border states to get financial aid to set up rehabilitation homes for victims of trafficking

Subject: Schemes

Concept:

• The Central Government has decided to help build infrastructure in border areas to combat child trafficking and help in rehabilitation and protection of victims.

About Trafficking in border areas of India:

• India is a source as well as destination country for trafficking of persons.
• The source countries of such trafficking are Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar from where women and girls are trafficked under false promises of providing a better life, jobs and good living conditions in India.
• A majority of those trafficked are minor girls or young women who after their arrival in India are sold and forced into commercial sex work.
• These girls/women often reach major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad etc. from where they are taken out of the country mainly to the Middle East and SouthEast Asia.

Steps taken till now to combat trafficking in border areas

• Till now, the Women and Child Development Ministry has been providing financial assistance to all States and Union Territories under the Nirbhaya Fund to set up and strengthen Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) in every district of the country.
• Funding has also been provided for setting up of AHTU units in border guarding forces such as the Border Security Force (BSF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Further steps the government is planning to take to combat trafficking on border areas

• Government has decided to provide financial assistance to States/UTs in border areas to set up protection and rehabilitation homes for the victims of trafficking particularly for minor girls and young women.
• These homes will provide services like shelter, food, clothing, counseling, primary health facilities and other daily requirements.
• The government will also help build infrastructure to combat child trafficking in border areas.
• The victims of trafficking will also be produced before the child welfare committee to declare fit facility for providing sponsorship as per the Mission Vatsalya Scheme guideline and accordingly, the states/UTs will be requested to do the needful.