Daily Prelims Notes 8 February 2022

February 8, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

8 February 2022

Table Of Contents

1. SNOWFALL IN THE SAHARA DESERT: AN UNUSUAL WEATHER PHENOMENON

TOPIC: Geography

Context- Snowfall in a hot desert may seem a contradiction but snow has been recorded several times in the Sahara Desert over the last decades, most recently in January 2022.

Concept-

In order for snow to form, two distinctive weather properties are needed:
- cold temperatures and
- moist air.
Although the Sahara commonly experiences very high temperatures (more than 50°C), low temperatures are also recorded (in particular at night) because of the bare land surface and the cloudless skies.
A maximum cold of -14°C was recorded in Algeria in January 2005 during the northern hemisphere winter.
Winter air circulation patterns draw cool, moist air towards the northern Sahara from the Atlantic and Mediterranean. This results in higher winter precipitation along the Saharan fringe in this season.
It is under these weather conditions, and in these mountainous areas, that snow in the Sahara can occasionally be found.
Wet air comes into the region from the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean, by low-pressure cyclones in the northern Sahara during winter, and monsoon rains in the southern Sahara during summer. The peripheries of the desert are therefore wetter than its centre. This means that snow is more likely to form at the periphery of the desert.
The Atlas Mountains in particular act as a snowtrap because of their proximity to the Atlantic and elevation.
Globally, however, climate change is leading to more unpredictable weather patterns. In the Sahara, this may mean increased variability of rainfall along its wetter Sahelian fringe and along the Atlantic and Mediterranean seaboards (including in the Atlas Mountains).

About Sahara Desert:

The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert.
It spans across 11 countries in northern Africa: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia.
It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Red Sea on the east, the Mediterranean Sea on the north and the Sahel Savannah on the south.
It has gravel plains and elevated plateaus with a bare rocky surface.
Flora: Vegetation in the Sahara desert includes cactus, date palms and acacia. We can find an oasis in some places.
Fauna: The animal species found here are camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions and many varieties of snakes and lizards.

2. EPFO

TOPIC: Economy

Context- The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation will meet on March 4-5 in Guwahati to decide on the interest rate for its subscribers for the financial year 2021-22.

Concept-

Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO):

It is a government organization that manages provident fund and pension accounts of member employees and implements the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
It is administered by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India.
It is one of the World’s largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken.

Employees Pension Scheme (EPS):

It is a social security scheme that was launched in 1995.
The scheme, provided by EPFO, makes provisions for pensions for the employees in the organized sector after the retirement at the age of 58 years.
Employees who are members of EPF automatically become members of EPS.
Both employer and employee contribute 12% of employee’s monthly salary (basic wages plus dearness allowance) to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) scheme.
EPF scheme is mandatory for employees who draw a basic wage of Rs. 15,000 per month.

3. RENEWABLE ENERGY POOLING

TOPIC: Economy

Context- The Union power ministry is set to come out with rules to pool solar tariffs to accelerate the procurement of solar power by power distribution companies.

Concept-

Why is pooling required?

A consistent fall in solar power tariffs due to the falling price of solar panels has led to discoms waiting for a further fall in tariffs rather than contracting PPAs at current prices.
A move to pool tariffs could help speed up procurement of solar power.
Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mandates that all discoms meet a minimum specified quantity of their requirements from renewable energy sources.

What is renewable energy bundling?

The Centre is encouraging bundling of renewable energy with thermal power under existing PPAs.
Bundling of renewable energy with thermal power would particularly benefit old thermal power projects which have become unviable due to high variable cost.
A move to bundle cheaper renewable energy in these PPAs will allow discoms to lower their average cost of power procurement.
The Centre is targeting bundling of 10,000 Megawatt of renewable energy with fossil fuel based power over the next 4-5 years.
As of 2020, 38% of India’s installed electricity generation capacity is from renewable sources. This comes to 136 GW out of 373 GW. And the government has already set an ambitious target to achieve 500 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Reverse Bundling Scheme: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy ‘reverse bundling’ scheme for balancing between coal-fired power and renewable.

To ‘bundle’ the solar energy with the cheaper coal fired power.
This is done for pushing renewable power in a market driven manner.
It will ensure 24*7 uninterrupted electricity.
The policy stipulates supply of 51% renewable energy with or without energy storage bundled with 49% thermal power component.

4. BUY NOW PAY LATER

TOPIC: Economy

Context- The ease of access to credit has made BNPL the most preferred product among GenZ consumers, young millennials, new to credit borrowers, who were often underserved or overlooked by traditional banks.

Concept-

What is Buy Now, Pay Later

Buy Now Pay Later or BNPL, as it is popularly known, is a ﬁnancing option that allows you to buy a product or get a service without paying for it immediately.
It’s simply a short- term loan product where the BNPL lender pays the merchant or service provider at the point-of- sale and allows you to repay the loan at a future date with little or no interest charge.
The repayment can either be in lumpsum or in the form of equated monthly instalments (EMIs).
g. Zest- Money, LazyPay, MobiKwik, Paytm Postpaid, Amazon Pay Later, Flipkart Pay Later, Capital Float among others.

In what way is it diﬀerent from credit card payment?

Both credit cards and BNPL are similar in a sense that both oﬀer deferred repayment options to the borrower.
However, there are certain key diﬀerences between these two credit products.

5. CROWDING OUT OF PRIVATE INVESTMENT

TOPIC: Economy

Context- Public borrowing won’t crowd out private investment: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged industry to step up investments and expand capacities, asserting that worries about high public capital spending and borrowings crowding out private investments were misplaced.

Concept-

Crowding out effect:

A situation when increased interest rates lead to a reduction in private investment spending such that it dampens the initial increase of total investment spending is called crowding out effect.
In other words, when the government is increasing its expenditure, private expenditure comes down.
Sometimes, government adopts an expansionary fiscal policy stance and increases its spending to boost the economic activity.
This leads to an increase in interest rates. Increased interest rates affect private investment decisions.
With higher interest rates, the cost for funds to be invested increases and affects their accessibility to debt financing mechanisms. This leads to lesser investment ultimately and crowds out the impact of the initial rise in the total investment spending. Usually the initial increase in government spending is funded using higher taxes or borrowing on part of the government.
Some believe that government spending does not always lead to a crowding out of private investment in the economy. They instead argue that government demand for funds can compensate for the lack of private demand for funds during economic depressions, thus helping to prop up aggregate demand.

6. MANGROVES

TOPIC: Environment

Context- As per WWF, around 300-400 million people world-over depend on wetlands for their livelihoods or protection against floods and other storms. Yet, it is estimated that the world has lost 87% of its wetlands since 1900s because of development activities which have also pushed many species to the brink of extinction.

Concept-

About Manroves:

A Mangrove is a small tree or shrub that grows along coastlines, taking root in salty sediments, often underwater.
Mangroves are flowering trees, belonging to the families Rhizophoraceae, Acanthaceae, Lythraceae, Combretaceae, and Arecaceae.
Mangroves are found only along sheltered coastlines within the tropical or subtropical latitudes because they cannot withstand freezing temperatures.
Features of Mangroves:
- They can survive under extreme hostile environments such as high salt and low oxygen conditions. Hence the mangrove root system absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere.
- Mangroves have special roots for this purpose called breathing roots or pneumatophores.
- With their roots submerged in water, mangrove trees thrive in hot, muddy, salty conditions that would quickly kill most plants.
- Succulent leaves: Mangroves, like desert plants, store fresh water in thick succulent leaves. A waxy coating on the leaves seals in water and minimises evaporation.
- Viviparous: Their seeds germinate while still attached to the parent tree. Once germinated, the seedling grows into a propagule.
Global Mangrove Cover:
- The total mangrove cover in the world is one 1,50,000sqkms.
- Asia has the largest number of mangroves worldwide.
- South Asia comprises 6.8% of the world’s mangrove cover.
- India’s contribution is 45.8% total mangrove cover in South Asia.
Mangroves in India:

- According to the India State of Forest Report, 2019, the mangrove cover in India is 4,975 sq km, which is 0.15% of the country’s total geographical area.
- West Bengal has the highest percentage of area under total Mangrove cover followed by Gujarat and Andaman Nicobar Islands.
- Sundarbans in West Bengal are the largest mangrove forest regions in the world. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  - The forest is home to the Royal Bengal tiger, Gangetic dolphins and Estuarine crocodiles.
- The second largest mangrove forest in India is Bhitarkanika in Odisha created by the two river deltas of River Brahmani and Baitarani. It is one of the most significant Ramsar wetlands in India.

7. ACTIVE PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENTS (API)

TOPIC: Science & Tech

Context- The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in pharmaceutical sector is to reduce import dependence on active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), drug intermediates (DIs) and key starting materials (KSMs).

Concept-

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients are the active ingredients contained in a medicine.
It is that part of the medicine that produces the intended therapeutic effects.
For example, in a painkiller, the active ingredient relieves pain. In the OTC drug Crocin, the API is paracetamol.
Only a small amount of the API is required to produce the effect and so the medicine contains only the required amount of the API.
Some drugs contain multiple APIs to treat varied symptoms.
API is the most important raw material in the production of medicines.
Components of Drugs: All drugs contain two parts:
1. API
2. Excipient – These are chemically inactive substances that help deliver the API to the system. Eg. lactose, mineral oil, etc.

Key Starting Materials:

Raw material refers to chemical compounds that are used as a base to make an API.
An API starting material (or) Key Starting Material is a raw material, intermediate or an API that is used in the production of an API.
It is incorporated as a significant structural fragment into the structure of the API.

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme:

The scheme expected to give a fillip to the domestic drug manufacturing industry is the PLI Scheme.
This scheme aims to promote the domestic manufacturing of, apart from APIs, drug intermediates and key starting materials (KSMs).
In this scheme, financial incentives will be provided to eligible manufacturers of identified 53 critical bulk drugs on their incremental sales over the base year (2019-20) for a period of 6 years.
The scheme will be implemented through a Project Management Agency (PMA) to be nominated by the Department of Pharmaceuticals.

8. PM MATRU VANDANA YOJANA

TOPIC: Governance

Context- The government’s has recently announced that the maternity beneﬁt programme which provides ₹5,000 for ﬁrst child will be extended to cover the second child only if it is a girl.

Concept-

The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY):

The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), launched in 2017, provides ₹5,000 for the birth of the ﬁrst child to partially compensate a woman for loss of wages.
It is a centrally sponsored scheme being executed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme: Cash benefits are provided to pregnant women in their bank account directly to meet enhanced nutritional needs and partially compensate for wage loss.
It also aims to improve the nutritional well-being of the mother and the child.
Beneficiaries receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in three installments on fulfilling the following conditions:
- Early registration of pregnancy
- Ante-natal check-up
- Registration of the birth of the child and completion of first cycle of vaccination for the first living child of the family.
It is combined with another scheme, Janani Suraksha Yojana, under which nearly ₹1,000 is given for an institutional birth, so that a woman gets a total of ₹6,000.
Under the revamped PMMVY under Mission Shakti, the maternity beneﬁt amounting to ₹6000 is also to be provided for the second child, but only if the second is a girl child, to discourage pre-birth sex selection and promote the girl child.
National Food Security Act, 2013 lays down that every pregnant woman and lactating mother are entitled to maternity benefits.

9. Operation AAHT

TOPIC: Governance

Context- The Railway Protection Force has launched a nationwide operation to curb human traﬃcking.

Concept-

As part of “Operation AAHT”, special teams will be deployed on all long-distance trains/routes with focus on rescuing victims, particularly women and children, from the clutches of traﬃckers.
The infrastructure and intelligence network of the force could be utilized to collect, collate and analyse clues on victims, source, route, destination, popular trains used by suspects, identity of carriers/agents, kingpins etc and shared with other law-enforcing agencies.
The RPF will act as a bridge cutting across States to assist the local police in the mission to curb the menace.

Why Operation AAHT?

The Railways, which operate about 21,000 trains across the country daily, is the most reliable mode of transportation for the traffickers who often move their victims on long-distance trains.
Thousands of Indians and persons from neighboring countries are trafficked every day to some destinations where they were forced to live like slaves.
They are also being trafficked for illegal adoptions, organ transplants, working in circus, begging and entertainment industry.

10. PM CARES FUND

TOPIC: Polity

Context- The PM CARES Fund collected ₹10,990 crore since its inception in March 2020 until March 2021 and spent ₹3,976 crore during the 2020-21 ﬁnancial year, according to the audited ﬁnancial statement.

Concept-

About the Fund:

The Fund is a public charitable trust with the Prime Minister as its Chairman.
- Other Members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.
The Fund enables micro-donations as a result of which a large number of people will be able to contribute with the smallest of denominations. The Fund will strengthen disaster management capacities and encourage research on protecting citizens.
The fund is recognized as a Trust under the Income Tax Act and the same is managed by the Prime Minister or multiple delegates for national causes.
It can avail donations from the foreign contribution and donations to fund can also avail 100% deduction from taxable income under section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Contribution to PM – CARES Fund will Qualify as CSR Expenditure.
- The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has clarified that contributions by companies towards the PM-CARES Fund will count towards mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure.
- Under the Companies Act, 2013, companies with a minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore, or net profit of Rs 5 crore are required to spend at least 2% of their average profit for the previous three years on CSR activities every year.

11. REGULATION OF TV CHANNELS

TOPIC: Polity

Context- the Information and Broadcasting Ministry barred the transmission of Malayalam news channel Media One citing ‘security reasons’.

Concept-

The content or “programs” on TV channels are regulated by the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 by Ministry of information & Broadcasting:

Cable Television Network Act, 1995:

The Act aimed at regulating content and operation of cable networks. This Act regulates the ‘haphazard mushrooming of cable television networks’.
Important Provisions:
- Section 2: Under the Act, district magistrates, sub-divisional magistrates and police commissioners are the ‘authorised officers’ to ensure that the Programme Code is not breached.
- Section 3: No person shall operate a cable television network unless he is registered as a cable operator under this Act.
- Section 4A: It is obligatory for cable operators to transmit programmes of any channel in an encrypted form through a digital addressable system when the centre asks them to do so.
- Section 19: Authorised officer has power to prohibit transmission of certain programmes in public interest if it promotes, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, linguistic or regional groups or castes or communities.
- Section 20: Parliament has power to prohibit operation of cable television networks in public interest.

Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021.

It provides for a three-level grievance redressal mechanism —
- self-regulation by broadcasters,
- self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the broadcasters, and
- oversight by an Inter-Departmental Committee at the level of the Union government.

12. West Bengal’s ‘Paray Shikshalaya’

TOPIC: Governance

Context- The West Bengal government has launched ‘Paray Shikshalaya’, an open-air classroom for students from class 1 to 7.

Concept-

The aim of this initiative is to encourage students who dropped out of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic to continue their education.
Arrangements for mid-day meals have also been made for the students taking neighbourhood classes.
Schools which do not have open-air spaces conducted the classes in neighbourhood parks and grounds.
Benches have been set up for students and blackboards were placed to provide a real classroom experience.