Daily Prelims Notes 9 December 2021

December 9, 2021
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Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

9 December 2021

Table Of Contents

1. E-commerce at WTO

Subject – Economy

Context – WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) got postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic

Concept –

When e-commerce was still at a nascent stage, in September 1998, the work programme on e-commerce was adopted by the General Council of the WTO.
- The programme was largely exploratory in nature, focussing on examining all trade issues relating to global ecommerce, considering the economic, financial and development needs of developing countries.
Under the programme, WTO members agreed to continue the practice of not imposing Customs duties on electronic transmissions.
- Also known as “moratorium on Customs duties”, this has been renewed regularly at each Ministerial Conference and many WTO members, led by the US wanted the moratorium to continue in MC 12. With the postponement of MC12, this is likely to continue.
- One of the reasons for implementing the moratorium is that it is technically not possible for Customs to collect duties on digitalised products like software.

Change in stance

India’s position has changed over time. India, with a vibrant software industry, was a proponent of liberalisation of Mode 1 or cross-border trade.
However, with the growth of e-commerce, there is a fear that developing countries, including India, are importers and thereby losing out on Customs duty.
On March 10, 2020, India and South Africa circulated a paper on the need to understand the scope and impact of the moratorium.
- Citing UNCTAD studies, it presented the potential tariff revenue losses from goods that have become digitised, and which are digitisable.
- Based on a limited number of digitised goods, namely, films, printed matter, video games, software and music, the UNCTAD study estimated a loss of tariff revenue of more than $10 billion globally because of the moratorium, 95 per cent of which is borne by developing countries.
The study did not consider that with growing trade agreements, tariffs are reducing.
India itself announced Early Harvest with key trading partners like the UK and Australia in March 2022 and relaunched the India-US Trade Policy Forum and, hence, the country is open to tariff reduction.

2. RBI keeps the Repo Rates Unchanged

Subject – Economy

Context – The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday kept key policy rates unchanged for the ninth time in a row

Concept –

The bank has kept the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends funds to banks — unchanged at four per cent and the reverse repo rate — the rate at which RBI borrows from banks — at 3.35 per cent.
The bank rate — the rate at which RBI lends short-term funds to banks sans security — also remains unchanged at 4.25 per cent.
The unchanged repo rates will help maintain the status quo on the prevailing low interest rate regime for some more time.
This works well for borrowers as the environment of affordability will continue.

3. Ambergris- The Floating Gold

Subject – Environment

Context – The Crime Branch of the Pimpri Chinchwad police has arrested two persons in Pune and seized 550 grams of ambergris, also known as ‘floating gold’

Concept –

It is generally referred to as whale vomit.
It is a solid waxy substance that floats around the surface of the water body and at times settles on the coast.
A sperm whale eats several thousand squid beaks a day and a beak makes it way to the whale’s stomach and into its looping convoluted intestines where it becomes ambergris.
It was called as “preternaturally hardened whale dung” by a German physician Franz Schwediawer in 1783.
It is produced only by an estimated one per cent of sperm whales.
It contains alkaloids, acids, and a specific compound called ambreine, which is similar to cholesterol.

Value of Ambergris

It is referred to as floating gold because 1 kg of ambergris is worth Rs 1 crore in the international market.
The reason for its high cost is its use in the perfume market, especially to create fragrances like musk.
It is believed to be in high demand in countries like Dubai that have a large perfume market.
The ancient Egyptians used it as incense and it is also believed to be used in some traditional medicines.

Laws governing trade of Ambergris

The sperm whale is a protected species and hunting of the whale is not allowed.
The buying or selling of ambergris in India is prohibited under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Sperm Whale

They are the largest of the toothed whales and have one of the widest global distributions of any marine mammal species.
They are found in all deep oceans, from the equator to the edge of the pack ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.
They are named after the waxy substance i.e. spermaceti, found in their heads.
It is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
They inhabit all of the world’s oceans.

4. WHO’s latest report on Omicron variant

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – WHO has presented an update on the current situation on Omicron

Concept –

WHO said that given the predominant circulation of the Delta variant in many countries, it is too early to draw a conclusion on the impact of the new Omicron variant on the global epidemiology of Covid-19.
At the same time, WHO has also presented an update on the current situation on four key issues on Omicron — transmissibility, clinical severity, risk of reinfection and the potential impact of the vaccines.
WHO said that at present, while “there seems to be evidence that the Omicron may have a growth advantage over other circulating variants, it is unknown whether this will translate into increased transmissibility”.
WHO underlined that currently only limited data are available on clinical severity making it “challenging to assess any changes in disease severity with the Omicron variant”.
WHO said that initial modelling studies from South Africa have found an increased risk of re-infection, adding, this information only offers an initial assessment of the risk of re-infection.
WHO reiterated that Interleukin-6 Receptor Blockers and corticosteroids are expected to continue to be effective in the management of patients with severe diseases.

5. Biomarker

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – Australia’s Queensland state has found a new omicron lineage in a traveller who arrived from South Africa

Concept –

In medicine, a biomarker is a measurable indicator of the severity or presence of some disease state.
- More generally a biomarker is anything that can be used as an indicator of a particular disease state or some other physiological state of an organism.
According to the WHO, the indicator may be chemical, physical, or biological in nature – and the measurement may be functional, physiological, biochemical, cellular, or molecular.
A biomarker may be used to see how well the body responds to a treatment for a disease or condition.
Also called molecular marker and signature molecule.
Biomarkers help in diagnosing, treating and tracking disease progress. They are important to safeguard health of an individual and provide them with proper treatment.

6. Variable Reverse Repo Rate (VRRR)

Subject – Economy

Context – RBI increases 14-day VRRR amount in December to shift out of overnight auctions

Concept –

RBI’s rebalancing of liquidity management started in February 2020, as the central bank shifted its liquidity absorption tool out of the fixed-rate overnight reverse repo window into VRRR auctions of longer maturity.
In order to absorb additional liquidity in the system, the RBI announced conducting a VRRR program because it has higher yield prospects as compared to the fixed rate overnight reverse repo.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the amount of variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auctions in December, as it is shifting out of the fixed-rate overnight reverse repo auction and re-establishing VRRR as the main liquidity management operations
The amount under the 14-day VRRR auctions on a fortnightly basis has been increased to Rs 6.5 lakh crore for December 17 and further to Rs 7.5 lakh crore for December 31.
- While from January 2022 onwards, liquidity absorption will be undertaken mainly through the auction route.
Market participants expect the heavy liquidity withdrawal from the system will pull overnight rates near to repo rate, this would mean that accrual returns on a very short-term, low market risk products like overnight and liquid funds could rise in the coming months.

7. Coonoor Ghat

Subject – Environment

Context – Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife MadhulikaRawat, an Army Brigadier, and 10 others were killed when an Indian Air Force helicopter carrying them crashed into a heavily wooded area of the Coonoor ghat in the Nilgiris in western Tamil Nadu

Concept –

This is also known as the Kallar Ghat, as it follows the valley of the Kallar and Coonoor rivers.
It is by far the most traveled of all the Ghat Roads as it is the main access from the home state of Tamil Nadu.
It has 14 numbered Hairpin bends and was recently (c.2003) taken over to be owned and maintained by the National Highways Authority of India and is now part of National Highway 181.
The ghat rises steeply from Mettupalayam. The Coonoor river flows through a deep gorge with sheer cliff faces on both sides.

8. Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS)

Subject – Security and Defence

Concept –

CDS acts as the permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee which will also have three service chiefs as members.
His core function will be to foster greater operational synergy between the three service branches of the Indian military and keep inter-service frictions to a minimum.
He will also head the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DoMA) in the Ministry of Defence.
The CDS will be the single-point military adviser to the Defence Minister on matters involving all three services and the service chiefs will be obliged to confine their counsel to issues pertaining to their respective services.
As the head of DoMA, CDS is vested with the authority in prioritising inter-service procurement decisions as Permanent Chairman-Chiefs of Staff Committee.
The CDS is also vested with the authority to provide directives to the three chiefs.
However, he does not enjoy any command authority over any of the forces.
CDS is first among equals, he enjoys the rank of Secretary within the DoD and his powers will be confined to only the revenue budget.
He will also perform an advisory role in the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA).
The CDS is a four-star officer selected from among the serving officers of the Indian Armed Forces.
He will be the single-point military adviser to the government as suggested by the Kargil Review Committee in 1999.
He is also the Principal Adviser to the Defence Minister.
The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about “jointness” in “operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office”.

Conditions:

Not eligible to hold any Government office after demitting the office of CDS.
No private employment without prior approval for a period of five years after demitting the office of CDS.
The age limit for the CDS’s post is 65 years with no fixed tenure defined.

9. Two plant species now extinct in wild

Subject – Environment

Context – ‘Two plant species now extinct in the wild’

Concept –

Two species of plants first collected by botanists more than 125 years ago from Meghalaya and the Andaman Islands are now extinct in the wild.
Classified under the genus Boesenbergia, the species belong to the family of Zingiberaceae, the ginger family of flowering plants. Boesenbergiarubrolutea was first collected from the Khasi Hills, Thera, in Meghalaya on October 10, 1886. Specimens of Boesenbergiaalbolutea were collected from the Andamans and sent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, in 1889.
Possible reasons for their disappearance include climate change, human interference and overexploitation or natural calamities.
Endemic to the locations of their discovery, Boesenbergiaalbolutea and Boesenbergiarubrolutea are also among the least explored species of the genus Boesenbergia.
The authors have recommended listing them as ‘Extinct in the Wild (EW) (IUCN 2019)’ under the IUCN Red List category on the basis of field visits, examination of databases of various herbaria, and available literature.

10. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

Subject – Government Schemes

Context – High LPG prices are scorching the air pollution fight

Concept –

Prime Minister launched the second phase of Pradhan MantriUjjwalaYojana (PMUY) or Ujjwala 2.0 Scheme.
PMUY-I – Launched in May 2016 to provide LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connections to poor households.
PMUY-II:
- It is aimed to provide maximum benefit to the migrants who live in other states and find it difficult to submit address proof.
- Now they will only have to give “Self Declaration” to avail the benefit.
The scheme provides a financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households.
Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.
Under Ujjwala 2.0, an additional 10 million LPG connections will be provided to the beneficiaries.
Government has also fixed a target of providing piped gas to 21 lakh homes in 50 districts.
Nodal Ministry – Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG).

11. Civil Registration System

Subject – Governance

Context – Establishing reliable, real-time mortality surveillance is an essential element of pandemic preparedness

Concept –

The history of Civil Registration System (CRS) in India dates back to the middle of the 19th century.
In 1886 a Central Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act was promulgated to provide for voluntary registration throughout British India.
Post-independence, the Registration of Births and Death Act (RBD Act) was enacted in 1969 to promote uniformity and comparability in the registration of Births and Deaths across the country and compilation of vital statistics based thereon.
With the enactment of the Act, registration of births, deaths and still births has become mandatory in India.
The Registrar General, India (RGI) at the Central Government level coordinates and unifies the activities of registration throughout the country.
However, implementation of the statute is vested with the State Governments.
The registration of births and deaths in the country is done by the functionaries appointed by the State Governments.
Directorate of Census Operations are the sub-ordinate offices of Office of the Registrar General, India and these offices are responsible of monitoring of working of the Act in their concerned State/UT.
Civil Registration System (CRS) in India is the unified process of continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording of the vital events (births, deaths, stillbirths) and characteristics thereof. The data generated through a complete and up-to-date CRS is essential for socio-economic planning.

12. Law Commission of India

Subject – Polity

Context – Law panel appointments under consideration

Concept –

The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the Government of India from time to time.
The first Law Commission of independent India was established in 1955 for a three-year term. Since then, twenty one more Commissions have been established.
The first Law Commission was established during the British Raj era in 1834 by the Charter Act of 1833 and was chaired by Lord Macaulay.
It works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The Law Commission undertakes research in law and review of existing laws in India for making reforms therein and enacting new legislations on a reference made to it by the Central Government or suo-motu.

13. Ken-Betwa Project

Subject – Environment

Context – Cabinet nod for KenBetwa project

Concept –

Ken Betwa Link Project (KBLP):

The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is the River interlinking project that aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken river in MP to Betwa in UP to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region.
The region spread across the districts of two states mainly Jhansi, Banda, Lalitpur and Mahoba districts of UP and Tikamgarh, Panna and Chhatarpur districts of MP.
The project involves building a 77-metre tall and a 2-km wide Dhaudhan dam and a 230-km canal.
Ken-Betwa is one of the 30 river interlinking projects conceived across the country.
The project has been delayed due to political and environmental issues.

Ken and Betwa Rivers

Ken and Betwa rivers originate in MP and are the tributaries of Yamuna.
Ken meets with Yamuna in Banda district of UP and with Betwa in Hamirpur district of UP.
Rajghat, Paricha and Matatila dams are over Betwa river.
Ken River passes through Panna tiger reserve.

National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers:

The National River Linking Project (NRLP) formally known as the National Perspective Plan, envisages the transfer of water from water ‘surplus’ basins where there is flooding, to water ‘deficit’ basins where there is drought/scarcity, through inter-basin water transfer projects.
Under the National Perspective Plan (NPP), the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), has identified 30 links (16 under the Peninsular Component and 14 under the Himalayan Component) for the preparation of feasibility reports (FRs).
The NPP for transferring water from water-surplus basins to water-deficit basins was prepared in August 1980.