Daily Prelims Notes 10 August 2020

August 10, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Table Of Contents

1. Negative import list

Subject: Economy

Context:

Defence Minister has announced a list of 101 items that the Defence Ministry will stop importing

Concept:

Items in negative list cannot be imported.
India has been among the top three defence importers in the world
So the government wants to reduce the dependence on imported items in defence and give a shot in the arm to the domestic defence manufacturing industry.
By denying the possibility of importing the items on the negative list, the domestic industry is given the opportunity to step up and manufacture them for the needs of the forces.
As per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks defence exports and imports globally, India has been the second largest importer between 2014 and 2019 with US$ 16.75 billion worth of imports during this period.

2. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Subject: Schemes

Context:

Prime Minister has launched a new financing scheme under the ₹1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.

Concept:

Government has launched Central Sector Schemeof financing facility under “Agriculture Infrastructure Fund” of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore.
The Fund will catalyze the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets such as cold storage, collection centres, processing units, etc.
These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce, as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.
The beneficiaries of the scheme will include farmers, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

3. Indus Water Treaty

Subject: IR

Context:

India has suggested to Pakistan that the talks for discussing pending issues under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) be held through video-conferencing in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Concept:

In the year 1960, India and Pakistan signed a water distribution agreement came to be known as Indus Waters Treaty which was orchestrated by the World Bank.
This agreement took nine years of negotiations and divides the control of six rivers between the two nations once signed.
Under this treaty, India got control over: Beas, Ravi Sutlej while Pakistan got control over: Indus, Chenab, Jhelum

Source: India Today

Under the treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of the three eastern rivers, averaging around 33 million acre-feet (MAF), were allocated to India for exclusive use.
The waters of the western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab – averaging to around 135 MAF, were allocated to Pakistan except for ‘specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India,’ according to the treaty.
India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through the run of the river (RoR) projects on the western rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation, is unrestricted.

4. Perseid meteor shower 2020

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

In India, Perseid meteor shower starting August 11 or August 12 and the visibility of the meteor shower is high late in the night from 2 AM to dawn

Concept:

A meteor is a space rock or meteoroid that enters Earth’s atmosphere.
As the space rock falls toward Earth, the resistance—or drag—of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot.
That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere.
When Earth encounters many meteoroids at once, then it is meteor shower.

5. Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO)

Subject: Government organization

Context:

Ten containers of ammonium nitrate were moved by Customs officials from the Manali Sattva Container Freight Station to a Hyderabad-based buyer. The transfer was done with 12-point instructions by the Chennai police and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) officials.

Concept:

With an overall objective of ensuring safety and security of public and property from fire and explosion, the Organisation as a statutory authority is entrusted with the administration of Explosives Act, 1884, Petroleum Act, 1934; Inflammable Substances Act, 1952.
It administers the usage of explosives & petrol stations in India.
The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) formerly Department of Explosives, with its Head Office at Nagpur had completed its hundred years on 9th September 1998.
This Organization comes under Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

6. India rupee appreciation/depreciation factors

Subject: Economy

Context:

The Indian currency is trading relatively weaker compared with emerging market peers such as the Brazilian real and the South African rand
Concept:

Currency appreciation is an increase in the value of currency comparing to another currency.
Currency depreciation is an opposite of currency appreciation, it is a fall in the value of a currency.
Numerous factors determine exchange rates.
Many of these factors are related to the trading relationship between the two countries.
Exchange rates are relative, and are expressed as a comparison of the currencies of two countries.
The following are some of the principal determinants of the exchange rate between two countries.
- Differentials in Inflation
- Differentials in Interest Rates
- Current Account Deficits
- Public Debt
- Terms of Trade

7. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)

Subject: Government organization

Context:

Government had recently upped the deposits insured by Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) from ₹1 lakh (fixed in 1993 when the insurance scheme was started) to ₹5 lakh following the PMC Bank fiasco of 2019

Concept:

Deposit insurance is a protection cover for deposit holders in a bank when the bank fails and does not have money to pay its depositors.
This insurance is provided by Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RBI.
DICGC insures all bank deposits, such as savings, fixed, current and recurring deposit for up to the limit of Rs 5 lakh per bank.
DICGC covers depositors of all commercial banks and foreign banks operating in India, state, central and urban co-operative banks, local area banks and regional rural banks provided the bank has bought the cover from DICGC.
The DICGC does not include the following types of deposits:
- Deposits of foreign governments.
- Deposits of central/state governments.
- Inter-bank deposits.
- Deposits of the state land development banks with the state co-operative bank.
- Any amount due on account of any deposit received outside India.
- Any amount specifically exempted by the DICGC with previous approval of RBI.

8. Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS)

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

The Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is one of the most common safety mechanisms in use around the world.

Concept:

TheUS Federal Aviation Administration (FAA ) began conducting research in the 1990s to determine how to improve safety at airports where the full runway safety areas (RSA) cannot be obtained.
EMAS uses crushable material placed at the end of a runway to stop an aircraft that overruns the runway.
The tires of the aircraft sink into the lightweight material and the aircraft is decelerated as it rolls through the material.

9. GI Tag for basmati

Subject: Economy

Context:

Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Basmati produced in 13 districts of Madhya Pradesh has been granted

Concept:

A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin
A geographical indication right enables those who have the right to use the indication to prevent its use by a third party whose product does not conform to the applicable standards.
Geographical indications are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wine and spirit drinks, handicrafts, and industrial products.

Validity:

In much sui generis legislation, registrations for geographical indications are not subject to a specific period of validity. This means that the protection for a registered geographical indication will remain valid unless the registration is cancelled.
Geographical indications registered as collective and certification marks are generally protected for renewable ten-year periods.

Enforcement:

Under Articles 1 (2) and 10 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, geographical indications are covered as an element of IPRs.
They are also covered under Articles 22 to 24 of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, which was part of the Agreements concluding the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations.
India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection)Act, 1999 has come into force with effect from 2003. This Act seeks to provide for the registration and better protection of geographical indications relating to goods in India. The Act would be administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks- who is the Registrar of Geographical Indications.