Daily Prelims Notes 16 February 2022

Daily Prelims Notes

16 February 2022

Table Of Contents

1. PUBLIC ORDER
2. NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE (NSE)
3. La-NINA
4. RAVIDASSIA DERA
5. CHEETAH TRANSLOCATION
6. RUBBER BILL 2022
7. EXPENDITURE ON R&D
8. INDIAN FEDERATION
9. RBI’s Prudential Norms on Income Recognition- ‘Asset Classification and Provisioning’
10. India to make digital maps of all villages
11. RESERVATION TO STs IN J&K
12. BT BRINJAL
13. GLOBAL CARBON BUDGET

1. PUBLIC ORDER

TOPIC: Polity

Context- The Karnataka High Court is hearing a challenge to the constitutionality of the state government’s ban on students wearing a hijab in educational institutions. Whether the state can justify the ban on the ground that it violates ‘public order’.

Concept-

What is public order?

• Public order is one of the three grounds on which the state can restrict freedom of religion.
• Public order’ is also one of the grounds to restrict free speech and other fundamental rights.
• Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees to all persons right to freedom and conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health.
• Public order is normally equated with equated with public peace and safety.
• According to List 2 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the power to legislate on aspects of public order rests with the states.
• Public order is an aggravated form of disturbance that is much higher than a law and order issue.

How has public order been interpreted by courts?

• In Ram Manohar Lohia vs State of Bihar (1965), the Supreme Court held that in the case of ‘public order’, the community or the public at large have to be affected by a particular action.
  • “The contravention of law always affects order but before it can be said to affect public order, it must affect the community or the public at large.
• One has to imagine three concentric circles, the largest representing ‘law and order’, the next representing ‘public order’ and the smallest representing ‘security of State’.”

2. NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE (NSE)

TOPIC: Economy

Context- In April 2019, SEBI’s investigations unearthed evidence of gross negligence and a complete disregard for public and investor interests at the NSE.

Concept-

NSE:

• National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is the leading stock exchange of India, located in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is India’s largest financial market.
• NSE was established in 1992 as the first dematerialized electronic exchange in the country.
• Incorporated in 1992, the NSE has developed into a sophisticated, electronic market, which ranked fourth in the world by equity trading volume.
• NSE was the first exchange in India to provide modern, fully automated electronic trading.
• The NSE is the largest private wide-area network in India.
• The NIFTY 50 is the flagship index on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE).
  • The Index tracks the behavior of a portfolio of blue chip companies, the largest and most liquid Indian securities. It includes 50 of the approximately 1800 companies listed on the NSE.
• NSE is ranked 4th in the world in cash equities by number of trades as per the statistics maintained by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) for the calendar year 2021.
• It is regulated by SEBI.
  • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory authority established under the SEBI Act 1992 and is the principal regulator for Stock Exchanges in India.

Difference between NSE & BSE

3. La-NINA

TOPIC: Geography

Context- The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has cited climate models and observations to suggest that the 2021–22 La Nina phenomenon in the Equatorial East and Central Pacific, that drove a successful monsoon for India last year (2021).

Concept-

• El Nino and La Nina are complex weather patterns resulting from variations in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific Region.
• They are opposite phases of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
  • The ENSO cycle describes the fluctuations in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere in the east-central Equatorial Pacific.
• El Nino is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
  • It is the “warm phase” of a larger phenomenon called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It occurs more frequently than La Nina.
• La Nina, the “cool phase” of ENSO, is a pattern that describes the unusual cooling of the tropical eastern Pacific. La Nina events may last between one and three years, unlike El Nino, which usually lasts no more than a year.
  • La Nina is characterized by lower-than-normal air pressure over the western Pacific. These low-pressure zones contribute to increased rainfall.
  • In the ‘La Nina year’, rainfall associated with the summer monsoon in Southeast Asia tends to be greater than normal, especially in northwest India and Bangladesh.
  • It usually brings in colder than normal winters in India.

4. RAVIDASSIA DERA

TOPIC: Art & Culture

Context- The Punjab Assembly poll was postponed to accommodate Guru RavidasJayanti which underlines the importance of the Ravidassia community in the state.

Concept-

About Ravidassias:

• The Ravidassias are a Dalit community of whom the bulk — nearly 12 lakh — live in the Doaba region.
• The DeraSachkhand Ballan, their largest dera with 20 lakh followers worldwide, was founded in the early 20th century by Baba SantPipal Das.
• The Ravidassia religion, also called the RavidasPanth is a religious sect of the Sikhism, founded in the 14th century.
• It is based on the teachings of the 14th-century guru Ravidass, revered as a Satguru by the Ravidassia tradition.
• Ravidassias believe that Ravidas is their Guru (saint) whereas the Sikhs have traditionally considered him one of many bhagats (holy person).
• Prior to their break from Sikhism, the Dera Ballan revered and recited the Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism in DeraBhallan.
  • However, following their split from mainstream Sikhism, the DeraBhallan compiled their own holy book based exclusively on Ravidas’s teachings, the Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji, and these DeraBhallanRavidassia temples now use this book in place of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Ravidas:

• Guru Ravidas was a mystic poet saint of the Bhakti Movement from the 15th and 16th centuries, and founded the Ravidassia religion.
• It is believed that he was born in Varanasi in a cobbler’s family.
• Medieval era texts, such as the Bhaktamal suggest that Guru Ravidas was the disciple of the Brahmin bhakti-poet Ramananda. He is traditionally considered as Kabir’s younger contemporary.
• He dedicated his whole life to the abolition of the caste system and openly despised the notion of a Brahminical society.
• His devotional songs made an instant impact on the Bhakti Movement and around 41 of his poems were included in ‘Guru Granth Sahib’, the religious text of the Sikhs.

5. CHEETAH TRANSLOCATION

TOPIC: Geography

Context- A team of five experts will leave for Namibia February 17, 2022, to finalise details on translocating African cheetahs to India.

Concept-

• The cheetah translocation project aims to bring African cheetahs to India, where the Indian cheetah was declared extinct in 1952.
• The cheetahs will be sourced mainly from South Africa and Namibia.
• The cheetahs will be brought to the Kuno-Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur and Morena districts.
• India had tried to get Asiatic cheetahs from Iran but was refused. According to a recent statement by an Iranian government official, there are only 12 Asiatic cheetahs left in the world.
• The Cheetah Conservation Fund is an international organisation dedicated to saving cheetahs in the wild.
• Cheetahs are listed as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species

Asiatic & African Cheetah:

6. RUBBER BILL 2022

TOPIC: Economy

Context- The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has proposed to repeal the Rubber Act, 1947 and replace it with the Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill, 2022.

Concept-

How is the Bill different from the Rubber Act of 1947?

• The Bill brings natural rubber, its cultivation, rubber plantations, rubber wood and all associated agricultural activities under the ambit of the rubber industry.
• This is a major change from the Act which did not define rubber cultivation as an industrial activity.
• Rubber plantations will be under the Union or Concurrent List.
• The Bill gives the central government authority to supersede the Rubber Board. The central government can take its own decisions without consulting the Rubber Board.

About Rubber Board:

• The Rubber Board is a statutory body constituted by the Government of India, under the Rubber Act 1947, for the overall development of the rubber industry in the country.
• The Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, established the Rubber Board in 1947 to strengthen the development of the rubber industry by offering financial assistance, consolatory and regulatory services.
• Head Office is in Kottayam, Kerala.
• The Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) established in 1955 is located on a hillock in the eastern suburb of Puthuppally, Kottayam, eight kilometres from the town.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): 100% FDI in plantations of rubber, coffee, tea, cardamom, palm oil tree and olive oil tree.

Rubber:

• India is currently the sixth largest producer of NR in the world with one of the highest productivity(694,000 tonnes in 2017-18).
• Traditional rubber-growing states comprising Kerala and Tamil Nadu account for 81% of production.
• Major non-traditional rubber growing regions are the North Eastern states of Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
• Due to the major spike in the rubber consumption and deficit in the NR production in India, around 40% of NR is imported from other major rubber producing countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

Conditions required for the growth of Rubber tree

• Rubber is made from the latex of a tree called HeveaBrasiliensis, The British established the first rubber plantation in India in 1902 on the banks of the river Periyar in Kerala.
• Rubber is a tropical tree.
• It requires high temperature throughout the year – ranging between 20°-35°C or average monthly mean of 27°C. Less than 20°C temperature is detrimental.
• Rubber also requires heavy rainfall. The rainfall should be well-distributed throughout the year.
• Rubber trees can grow in a wide range of soils, including clay, sand and loam. They can tolerate both acidic and alkaline soils, but need good drainage.

7. EXPENDITURE ON R&D

TOPIC: Economy

Context- To move from stagnation in R&D to a more dynamic ecosystem would require action on many fronts, including more government spending.

Concept-

• The most used indicator to measure country-wise investments in R&D is the gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) as the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).
• According to UNESCO the global expenditure on research and development (R&D) has crossed $1.7 trillion.
• India is a low spender (only 0.66 percent of the GDP) in comparison to the developed countries and emerging economic powers of East Asia.
• While USA Japan & Germany Spend more than 3%.

8. INDIAN FEDERATION

TOPIC: Polity

Context- Prakash Javadekar writes: As the Constitution says, India is a Union of states. But it is a Union that is indestructible.

Concept-

The Union and its Territory:

• Part I of Indian Constitution is titled The Union and its Territory. It includes articles from 1- 4.
• ARTICLE 1 : NAME AND TERRITORY OF THE UNION
  • (1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.
  • (2)The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the First Schedule.
  • (3) The territory of India shall comprise –
    • (a) the territories of the States;
    • (b) the Union territories specified in the First Schedule; and
    • (c) such other territories as may be acquired.
  • No where under Part I, it is mentioned that India is a federal state. It rather uses the phrase “Union of States”.
  • India as a union is indestructible in order to protect the sovereignty, integrity and unity. Units or states within the union cannot secede as there is no provision for it under the Constitution.
  • In order to do so, it must pass a Constitutional Amendment under Article 368. Thus proving how the union is indestructible.

9. RBI’s Prudential Norms on Income Recognition- ‘Asset Classification and Provisioning’

TOPIC: Economy

Context- Loans can be upgraded from NPA to standard category only after repayment of arrears: RBI says in its Prudential Norms on Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning’.

Concept-

• This means is that if a borrower has two credit facilities, with one of them (say, a housing loan) being standard and the other (say business loan) non-per- forming, the lender’s entire exposure to this borrower will be treated as non-performing.
• This exposure can be upgraded only if the non-performing account is regularised.
• Banks wanted the RBI to allow them to treat the two exposures separately due to provisioning implications.
• The central bank had clarified that loan accounts classified as NPAs may be upgraded as ‘standard’ asset only if entire arrears of interest and principal are paid by the borrower.

Non-Performing Asset (NPA):

• NPAs are loans or advances made by a financial institution, on which both principal or interest is unpaid for a specified period of time.
• Thus, NPAs are those loans that have ceased to generate income for the bank.

Types of NPA:

• Sub Standard: A sub-standard asset is one that is classified as an NPA for a period not exceeding twelve months.
• Doubtful: A doubtful asset is one that has remained as an NPA for a period exceeding twelve months.
• Loss: A loss asset is one where loss has already been identified by the bank or an external institution, but it is not yet completely written off, due to its recovery value, however little it may be.

10. India to make digital maps of all villages

TOPIC: Governance

Context- India plans to prepare digital maps of all its 6,00,000 villages and pan-India 3D maps will be prepared for 100 cities, under updated geospatial policy guidelines.

• The updated guidelines help private companies prepare a variety of maps without approvals from a host of Ministries and make it easier to use drones and develop applications via location mapping.

Concept-

• An ongoing scheme, piloted by the Panchayati Raj Ministry, called SVAMITVA was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2020.
• So far, drone surveys have covered close to 1,00,000 villages and maps of 77,527 villages had been handed over to States. Property cards have been distributed to around 27,000 villages, according to current information on the SVAMITVA portal.

SVAMITVA Scheme:

• SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme is a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Revenue Departments and Survey of India.
• It aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India.
• It is a scheme for mapping the land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS).
• The mapping will be done across the country in a phase-wise manner over a period of four years – from 2020 to 2024.

11. RESERVATION TO STs IN J&K

TOPIC: Polity

Context- The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission has recently shared its interim report & proposed reservation of nine seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST). It is for the first time that seats have been reserved for the ST community in the legislative Assembly of J&K.

Concept-

• The dilution of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and the subsequent Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 changed political dynamics in the region.
• It promised them political reservation under Article 332 and led to the extension of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Constitutionally Guaranteed Reservation to STs:

• Article 332 of the Constitution of India provides for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
• In Jammu & Kashmir, eight communities vide the Constitution (Jammu & Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1989 and four communities, namely Gujjar, Bakarwal, Gaddi and Sippi were notified as the Scheduled Tribes vide the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Act, 1991.
• Out of twelve (12) Scheduled Tribes, Gujjar is the most populous tribe followed by Bakarwal and Brokpa.
• Other Tribes include: Balti, Purigpa, Gaddi, Sippi, Changpa, Mon, Garra and Beda.
• Among all the tribes, Beda is the smallest group with a population of 128.

12. BT BRINJAL

TOPIC: Science & Tech

Context- On Thursday, the pro-GM crop movement will be re-launched in Maharashtra once again.

• Since 2019, thousands of farmers have been openly sowing and cultivating herbicide-tolerant Bt (HTBt) cotton and Bt brinjal.

Concept-

• To date, the Centre has approved only GM cotton for commercial cultivation in India.
• Under Section 22 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, GM foods are not allowed to be manufactured, imported or sold in India unless approved under the Act.
• Legally, sale, storage, transportation and usage of unapproved GM seeds is a punishable offence under the Rules of Environmental Protection Act 1989.
• Also, sale of unapproved seeds can attract action under the Seed Act of 1966 and the Cotton Act of 1957.

Bt Brinjal:

• Bt brinjal was developed by Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company) in collaboration with the Dharwad University of Agricultural Sciences and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
• Bt Brinjal is a transgenic brinjal created by inserting a gene cry1Ac from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into Brinjal.
• This genetically modified brinjal gives resistance against insects such as the Brinjal Fruit and Shoot Borer (Leucinodes orbonalis)

Bt Cotton:

• Developed by US giant Bayer-Monsanto, it involves insertion of two genes viz‘Cry1Ab’ and ‘Cry2Bc’ from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into cotton seeds.
• This modification codes the plant to produce protein toxic to Heliothis bollworm (pink bollworm) thus making it resistant to their attack.

Herbicide Tolerant Bt (HTBt) Cotton:

• The HTBt cotton variant adds another layer of modification to Bt Cotton, making the plant resistant to the herbicide glyphosate.
• HtBt Cotton involves the addition of another gene, ‘Cp4-Epsps’ from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens to make it herbicide resistant.

13. GLOBAL CARBON BUDGET

TOPIC: Environment

Context- The Working Group II report of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment (AR6), to be released at the end of the month, will strengthen science on the links between biodiversity loss and climate change: UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Concept-

Global carbon Budget:

• The Global Carbon Budget is produced by 76 scientists from 57 research institutions in 15 countries working under the umbrella of the Global Carbon Project (GCP).
• The budget provides an in-depth look at the amount of fossil fuels that nations around the world burn and where it ends up.

About Global Carbon Project:

• The Global Carbon Project is a Global Research Project of Future Earth and a research partner of the World Climate Research Programme.
• The Global Carbon Project was established in 2001 by a shared partnership between the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and Diversitas. This partnership constituted the Earth Systems Science Partnership (ESSP) which subsequently evolved into Future Earth.
• It was formed to work with the international science community to establish a common and mutually agreed knowledge base to support policy debate and action to slow down and ultimately stop the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• The anthropogenic climate change is a reality has focused the attention of the scientific community, policymakers and the general public on the rising atmospheric concentrations of the main greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O).
• The GCP has approached this challenge by focusing comprehensively on the global biogeochemical cycles which govern these three greenhouse gases, including their natural and human drivers, and opportunities for low carbon pathways.