Daily Prelims Notes 12 July 2020

July 12, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: IR

Context:

Kuwait is planning to reduce the share of foreigners in the country’s population thereby benefitting locals in employment.

Concept:

Around 8 million Indians work in the GCC countries.
Of them, around 2.1 million of them are from Kerala.
Other major contributors to the Indian expatriate communities in GCC countries are Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab and Rajasthan.

GCC

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic alliance of six countries in the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Established in 1981, the GCC promotes economic, security, cultural and social cooperation between the six states and holds a summit every year to discuss cooperation and regional affairs.

2. Aerosol

Subject: Environment

Context:

WHO has formally acknowledged the possibility that the novel coronavirus can remain in the air in crowded indoor spaces, where short-range aerosol transmission cannot be ruled out.

Concept:

Aerosols are defined as a combination of liquid or solid particles suspended in a gaseous or liquid environment.
“Primary” aerosols, like dust, soot, or sea salt, come directly from the planet’s surface. They get lifted into the atmosphere by gusty winds, shot high into the air by exploding volcanoes, or they waft away from smokestacks or flames.
“Secondary” aerosols form when different things floating in the atmosphere like organic compounds released by plants, liquid acid droplets, or other materials—crash together, culminating in a chemical or physical reaction.
Aerosols come from both natural and human sources.
Natural sources of aerosols include sea salt generated from breaking waves, mineral dust blown from the surface by wind, and volcanoes.
Anthropogenic aerosols include sulfate, nitrate, and carbonaceous aerosols, and are mainly from fossil fuel combustion sources.

3. UGC

Subject: Government Organization

Context:

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has said that states are not permissible to cancel university exams and commission does have the power to take action if states do so.

Concept:

As per the UGC Act, State governments cannot take this decision.
Unlike school education, which is on the State list, higher education is on the concurrent list. UGC and AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) directives have to be implemented by states.

UGC

The University Grants Commission (UGC) came into existence on 28th December, 1953 and became a statutory organization of the Government of India by an Act of Parliament in 1956.
The UGC has the unique distinction of being the only grant-giving agency in the country which has been vested with two responsibilities: that of providing funds and that of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education.
The UGC`s mandate includes:
Promoting and coordinating university education.
Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities.
Framing regulations on minimum standards of education.
Monitoring developments in the field of collegiate and university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges.
Serving as a vital link between the Union and state governments and institutions of higher learning.
Advising the Central and State governments on the measures necessary for improvement of university education.

4. The Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update

Subject: Environment

Context:

According to a recent World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, average global temperature can rise by 1.5°C in next 5 years.

Findings

This is significant as the countries under 2015 Paris Agreement had agreed to try and limit the average global temperature rise to below 2°C by the end of the century.
If the annual average temperature increase shoots past the 1.5°C-mark more frequently, achieving the Paris targets would be challenging. The last five years have already been the warmest ever recorded, according to WMO.

5. Forest Rights Act (FRA)

Subject: Acts and policies

Context:

Fourteen states rejected over 5 lakhs claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, in suomotu review.

Concept:

History of forest laws

In the colonial era, the British diverted abundant forest wealth of the nation to meet their economic needs. While procedure for settlement of rights was provided under statutes such as the Indian Forest Act, 1927, these were hardly followed. As a result, tribal and forest-dwelling communities, who had been living within the forests in harmony with the environment and the ecosystem, continued to live inside the forests in tenurial insecurity, a situation which continued even after independence as they were marginalized.
The symbiotic relationship between forests and forest-dwelling communities found recognition in the National Forest Policy, 1988.
The policy called for the need to associate tribal people in the protection, regeneration and development of forests.
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, was enacted to protect the marginalised socio-economic class of citizens and balance the right to environment with their right to life and livelihood.

Preamble: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) was enacted to recognize and vest the forest rights and occupation in forest land in forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in such forests for generations but whose rights could not be recorded.

Provisions:

The act recognize and vest the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD)who have been residing in such forests for generations.
The act also establishes the responsibilities and authority for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance of FDST and OTFD.
It strengthens the conservation regime of the forests while ensuring livelihood and food security of the FDST and OTFD.
The act identify four types of rights:
Title rights: It gives FDST and OTFD the right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares.Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted.
Use rights: The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
Relief and development rights: To rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection
Forest management rights: It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.