Daily Prelims Notes 10 August 2022

Daily Prelims Notes

10 August 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Silent marches to recall Partition
2. Quit India Movement
3. India and Bangladesh in talks for major river agreement ahead of PM Hasina’s visit
4. What is Langya, the new zoonotic virus that has infected 35 people in China?
5. What RBI’s surveys tell about India’s economy?
6. World Lion Day: Asiatic lions used to inhabit most of southwest Asia & India
7. The PESA Act and the reason behind parties trying to woo tribals in Gujarat
8. What went wrong with the ISRO launch of SSLV?
9. Microsoft joins ONDC network; to launch shopping app
10. Fin Min invites applications for post of PFRDA chairperson
11. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and European Free Trade Association(EFTA) want to negotiate trade pact

1. Silent marches to recall Partition

Subject : History

Section: Modern History

Context: The first-ever Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced last year, would be observed on August 14. The event will be commemorated with silent marches centred on 75 refugee colonies, according to government sources familiar with the plans.

In the run-up to August 14, the Culture Ministry had planned exhibitions at about 5,000 locations.

Concept:

Pakistan Resolution—Lahore (March 1940)

• The Muslim League passed a resolution calling for “grouping of geographically contiguous areas where Muslims are in majority (North-West, East) into independent states in which constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign and adequate safeguards to Muslims where they are in minority

August Offer

• Linlithgow announced the August Offer (August 1940) which proposed, no future constitution to be adopted without the consent of minorities.

C. Rajagopalachari Formula

• C. Rajagopalachari (CR), prepared a formula for Congress-League cooperation in 1944. It was a tacit acceptance of the League’s demand for Pakistan.
• Jinnah wanted the Congress to accept the two-nation theory. He wanted only the Muslims of North-West and North-East to vote in the plebiscite and not the entire population

Wavell plan

• The viceroy, Lord Wavell was permitted to start negotiations with Indian leaders. The League claimed some kind of veto in the council. Wavell announced a breakdown of talks thus giving the League a virtual veto. This strengthened the League’s position

The Cabinet Mission Plan

• The Cabinet Mission Plan was against the creation of Pakistan since grouping was option; one constituent assembly was envisaged; and the League no longer had a veto. Muslim League. The Muslim League believed Pakistan to be implied in compulsory grouping.

Direct action

• The Muslim League on June 6 and the Congress on June 24, 1946 accepted the long-term plan put forward by the Cabinet Mission, July 29, 1946 The League withdrew its acceptance of the long-term plan in response to Nehru’s statement and gave a call for “direct action” from August 16 to achieve Pakistan.
• Government headed by Nehru was sworn in on September 2, 1946 with Nehru continuing to insist on his party’s opposition to the compulsory grouping. Wavell quietly brought the Muslim League into the Interim Government on October 26, 1946. The League was allowed to join without giving up the ‘direct action’.

Indian Independence Act

• Mountbatten Plan, June 3, 1947: The freedom-with-partition formula was coming to be widely accepted well before Mountbatten arrived in India. Mountbatten’s formula was to divide India but retain maximum unity
• The Act provided for the creation of two independent dominions of India and Pakistan with effect from August 15, 1947. As per the provisions of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, Pakistan became independent on August 14 while India got its freedom on August 15, 1947. M.A. Jinnah became the first Governor-General of Pakistan.

Congress and Gandhi stand

• The virtual collapse of the Interim Government also made the notion of Pakistan appear unavoidable.
• Official reference to Pakistan came in March 1947, when CWC resolution stated that Punjab (by implication, Bengal) must be partitioned if the country was divided.
• Gandhi felt helpless because there had been a communalisation of the people. He had no option but to accept partition because the people wanted it

Post-independence riots

• On both sides of the Radcliffe Line, sizable sections of populations became minority (religion-wise)—20 million non-Muslims in Pakistan and 42 million (later reduced to 35 million) Muslims in India.
• In absurd hurry, the British government appointed the Boundary Commission under the chairmanship of Sir Cyril Radcliffe.
• The communal riots had started in August 1946 itself, but with the announcement of partition and independence, the situation became more inflamed, due to Gandhi’s initiatives, no massacres took place in these regions)
• Amidst serious chaos, the British troops started to leave India from August 17, 1947 and the process was completed by February 1948.
• To resolve the problems of refugees and restore communal peace in the two countries, especially in Bengal (East Pakistan as well as West Bengal), the Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and the Pakistani prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, signed an agreement on April 8, 1950

2. Quit India Movement

Subject : History

Section: Modern History

Context:  Anniversary of Quit India Movement

In July 1942, the Congress Working Committee met at Wardha and resolved that it would authorise Gandhi to take charge of the non-violent mass movement. The resolution generally referred to as the ‘Quit India’ resolution.

Proposed by Jawaharlal Nehru and seconded by Sardar Patel, it was to be approved by the All India Congress Committee meeting in Bombay in August.

The Quit India Resolution was ratified at the Congress meeting at Gowalia Tank, Bombay, on August 8, 1942.

The meeting also resolved to

1. demand an immediate end to British rule in India.
2. declare commitment of free India to defend itself
3. against all types of Fascism and imperiali
4. form a provisional Government of India after British withdrawal.
5. sanction a civil disobedience movement against British rule.

The Quit India resolution was passed on August 8, 1942.

ArunaAsaf Ali hoisted the tricolour on the Gowalia Tank ground and on August 9 night, the senior leaders of the Congress were arrested.

Many nationalists went underground and took to subversive activities. The participants in these activities were the Socialists, Forward Bloc members, Gandhi ashramites, revolutionary nationalists and local organisations in Bombay, Poona, Satara, Baroda and other parts of Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra, United Provinces, Bihar and Delhi.

The main personalities taking up underground activity were RammanoharLohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, ArunaAsaf Ali, Usha Mehta, BijuPatnaik, ChhotubhaiPuranik, AchyutPatwardhan, SuchetaKripalani and R.P. Goenka. Usha Mehta started an underground radio in Bombay.

This phase of underground activity was meant to keep up popular morale by continuing to provide a line of command and guidance to distribute arms and ammunition.

3. India and Bangladesh in talks for major river agreement ahead of PM Hasina’s visit

Subject : Geography

Section: Mapping

Context: 

• There is a “strong possibility” that an agreement on the Kushiyara that flows from Assam into Bangladesh is part of one such agreement that may get “done” during the Joint River Commission (JRC).
• The Awami League government has been insistent on sealing the Teesta waters agreement, which has eluded settlement so far.
• It is understood that the next JRC will focus on the “positive side” and take the negotiation beyond the Teesta and to “other big rivers” and intensify collaboration on the rivers like Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar, where India and Bangladesh have greater scope of collaboration.
• Bangladesh and India share 54 rivers and Dhaka has been keen on accessing more data from the Indian side to plan better fisheries and flood control strategies.
• Both sides are also expected to take up the Ganga Waters Treaty of 1996 that is scheduled to be renewed in 2026.

Ganga Waters Treaty of 1996

• The treaty was signed by Prime Minister D. Deve Gowda and PM Hasina in December 12, 1996 and was expected to be renewed after thirty years.
• It is an agreement to share surface waters at the Farakka Barrage near their mutual border based on “equitable” distribution

About Teesta river:

• Teesta river is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh), flowing through India and Bangladesh.
• It originates in the Himalayas near Chunthang, Sikkim and flows to the south through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh.
• The Teesta Barrage dam helps to provide irrigation for the plains between the upper Padma and the Jamuna.

The Kushiyara River

• The Kushiyara River is a distributary river in Bangladesh and Assam, India.
• It forms on the India-Bangladesh border as a branch of the Barak River, when the Barak separates into the Kushiyara and Surma.
• The waters of the Kushiyara thus originate in the state of Nagaland in India and pick up tributaries from Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.

4. What is Langya, the new zoonotic virus that has infected 35 people in China?

Subject: Science  and Technology

Section: Biotechnology

Context:

• Almost three years after the novel coronavirus was detected in China, a new zoonotic virus has been discovered in the country’s two eastern provinces with 35 infections identified so far. This new type of Henipavirus is also being called Langya Henipavirus or the LayV.
• Henipaviruses are classified as biosafety level 4 (BSL4) pathogens. They can cause severe illness in animals and humans, and as of now there are no licensed drugs or vaccines meant for humans.

What is Langya virus?

• The newly discovered virus is a “phylogeneticallydistinct Henipavirus”, according to a recent study — A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China — published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
• The types of Henipaviruses that had been identified prior to this included Hendra, Nipah, Cedar, Mojiang and the Ghanaian bat virus. According to the US CDC, the Cedar virus, Ghanaian bat virus, and Mojiang virus are not known to cause human disease. But Hendraand Nipah infect humans and can cause fatal illness.
• Langya, meanwhile, is known to cause fever, with the NEJM study calling for a deeper investigation of associated human illness.
• The study adds that Langya’s genome organization is “identical to that of other Henipaviruses”, and that it is closely related to the “MojiangHenipavirus, which was discovered in southern China”.

What are the symptoms of Langya virus?

• The study looked at the 26 patients with only LayV infection to identify the associated symptoms. While all 26 had fever, 54% reported fatigue, 50% had cough, 38% complained of nausea. Also, 35% of the total 26, complained of headache and vomiting. The study found that 35% had impaired liver function, while 8% had their kidney function impacted. The patients were accompanied by abnormalities of “thrombocytopenia (35%), leukopenia (54%), impaired liver (35%) and kidney (8%) function”, the study noted.
• Thrombocytopenia is low platelet count, while leukopenia means a fall in the white blood cell count, in turn reducing the body’s disease-fighting capability.

Where has Langya virus come from?

• In all likelihood, the new virus has jumped from an animal to humans. The LayV virusRNA has been predominantly found in shrews, which may be its natural hosts. The study zeroed in on shrews after conducting a serosurvey of domestic and wild animals. Among domestic animals, seropositivity was detected in goats and dogs.

What about human-to-human transmission?

• There are no clear answers yet. The authors of the study have underlined that the sample size of their investigation is too small to determine human-to-human transmission. However, they point out that among the 35 patients infected by LayV, there was “no close contact or common exposure history”, which suggests that the “infection in the human population may be sporadic”.

5. What RBI’s surveys tell about India’s economy?

Subject :Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context:

The RBI unveiled its latest monetary policy review as well as seven surveys that help it ascertain how the economy is doing.

Details:

• Trade Survey:
  • Widening trade deficit-

• Impact of rising trade deficit:
  • It is one of the main reasons for the depreciation of the Indian rupee.
  • India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) is expected to rise from 1.2% of GDP in 2021-22 to around 4% (of the GDP) in 2022-23.
• Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS):
  • The CCS asks people across 19 cities about their current perceptions and one-year ahead expectations on the general economic situation, employment scenario, overall price situation and own income and spending.
  • Based on the responses, the RBI comes up with two indices: the Current Situation Index (CSI) and the Future Expectations Index (FEI).
  • An index below the 100 mark implies people are pessimistic and a value higher than 100 conveys optimism.
    • The CSI has been recovering since falling to a historic low in July 2021. However, consumer confidence still remains in the negative territory.
    • The FEI is in the positive territory but stays below the pre-pandemic levels.
• Inflation Expectations Survey (IES)
  • It tracks people’s expectations of inflation.
    • It shows that the households’ inflation perception for the current period has moderated along with their  three months and one-year ahead median inflation expectations.
• Order Books, Inventories and Capacity Utilisation Survey –OBICUS Survey
  • It attempts to provide demand conditions in India’s manufacturing sector on a quarterly basis.
  • A low level of Capacity Utilisation implies that manufacturing firms can meet the existing demand without needing to boost production. This in turn would have negative implications for job creation and private sector investments in the economy.
    • According to the latest report the CU is above the pre-pandemic level — suggesting India’s aggregate demand is recovering steadily.
• Industrial Outlook Survey (IOS)
  • It is a qualitative assessment of the business climate by Indian manufacturing companies.
    • It shows that the businesses were optimistic (above the 100 level) in Q1, although not as much as they were in the recent past.
•  Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey (SIOS)
  • It is a qualitative assessment of how Indian companies in the services and infrastructure sectors view the current situation and the future prospects.
    • It shows that the companies in the services space are far more optimistic than the companies in the infrastructure sector.
• Bank Lending Survey (BLS)
  • It is a qualitative assessment and expectations — of major scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) on credit parameters like-loan demand and terms & conditions of loans for major economic sectors.
    • It shows that the bankers’ assessment of loan demand remained positive for all major sectors.
• Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF)
  • It is a survey of 42 professional forecasters (outside the RBI) on key macroeconomic indicators such as GDP growth rate and inflation rate in the current year and the next financial year.
    • India’s real GDP is expected to grow by 7.1 per cent in 2022-23 and  6.3 per cent in 2023-24.

6. World Lion Day: Asiatic lions used to inhabit most of southwest Asia & India

Subject : Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context: World Lion da

Concept

• The only free-roaming population of Asiatic lions in the world has been in Gujarat, India, for the last 130 years. But before that, the lion subspecies inhabited most of southwest Asia and were present across India.
• The big cat subspecies Panthera leoleo, earlier called Panthera leo persica, are found in the Gir National Park and outside the protected areas in Gujarat. According to the latest survey, there are 674 lions in the state, 300 inside the protected area of about 1,200 square kilometres, while the rest are spread out over 30,000 sq km.
• African and Asiatic lions were separated about 55,000 years ago and then evolved into two different subspecies. The Asiatic lion was found in north Africa thousands of years ago along the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, India and perhaps a part of Europe
• While tigers prefer dense jungles whenever they can find them, lions are more grassland creatures. Even if lions and tigers occupied the same landscapes, the chances of interactions between the two were less, but they did co-exist
• Lions live and have lived across a wide variety of habitats ranging from deserts, coasts, grasslands, savannah woodlands, scrub, dry and wet forests, including rainforest and mountains
• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had identified sites in 2020 for possible lion relocation, namely,
  • Madhav National Park and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh (MP),
  • Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary, Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve and Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan and
  • Jessore-BalaramAmbaji WLS and adjoining landscape in Gujarat.
• The “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” has been launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

Bombay Natural History Society

• The Bombay Natural History Society, founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research.
• BNHS is the partner of BirdLife International in India. It has been designated as a ‘Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’ by the Department of Science and Technology.
• The BNHS logo is the great hornbill, inspired by a great hornbill named William, who lived on the premises of the Society from 1894 until 1920

African and Asiatic lions

• Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions.
• The most striking morphological character, which is always seen in Asiatic lions, and rarely in African lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin running along its belly.
• Asiatic Lion IUCN Red List: Endangered, African Lion IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

7. The PESA Act and the reason behind parties trying to woo tribals in Gujarat

Subject : Polity

Section: Panchayati raj

Context: AAP’s election manifesto in Gujrat

Concept :

• The PESA Act was enacted in 1996 “to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas”. Other than Panchayats, Part IX, comprising Articles 243-243ZT of the Constitution, contains provisions relating to municipalities and cooperative societies.
• Under the Act, Scheduled Areas are those referred to in Article 244(1), which says that the provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. The Fifth Schedule provides for a range of special provisions for these areas.

What is the PESA Act?

• The PESA Act was enacted to ensure self-governance through Gram Sabhas (village assemblies) for people living in the Scheduled Areas. It recognises the right of tribal communities, who are residents of the Scheduled Areas, to govern themselves through their own systems of self-government.
• The Act empowers Gram Sabhas to play a key role in approving development plans and controlling all social sectors. This includes the processes and personnel who implement policies, exercising control over minor (non-timber) forest resources, minor water bodies and minor minerals, among other things.
• Ten states — Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Telangana — have notified Fifth Schedule areas that cover (partially or fully) several districts in each of these states.
• After the PESA Act was enacted, the Union government circulated model PESA Rules. So far, six states have notified these Rules.

Tribes of Gujarat

• There are 11 major tribes in Gujarat, the largest being Bhil which is nearly 48% of the state’s total tribal population. Other major tribes are Gamit, Dhodias, Bawcha, Kunbi, Rabari, Siddi, Pateliya, Naikda, Chaudhary.

8. What went wrong with the ISRO launch of SSLV?

Subject : Science and Technology

Section: Space Science

Context: On August 7, ISRO got ready for the first developmental flight of the SSLV-D1/EOS-2 mission. The launch took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) D1/EOS-2 mission, was carrying two satellites — the Earth Observation Satellite-2 (EOS-2) which weighed about 135 kg and AzadiSAT which weighed about eight kg. The mission aimed to place the EOS-2 in a circular low-Earth orbit at a height of about 350 km above the Equator and inclined at an angle of 37 degrees. The initial part of the story was successful with the launch vehicle operating smoothly. However, the mission failed to place the satellites in their required orbits, and the satellites, as they were already detached from the launch vehicle, were lost.

Why do we need to develop an SSLV when we have successfully used PSLV and GSLV?

• The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) are quite powerful and can carry huge loads.
• To place an Earth Orbiting Satellite in a low Earth orbit, one does not need such power horses.
• The SSLV can easily carry small-to-medium loads from 10 kg to 500 kg. It is less expensive.
• The three stages being powered by solid fuel is another advantage. Solid fuel is easier to handle, whereas handling the liquid propellants used in the PSLV and GSLV is more complex.

What is the difference between circular and elliptical orbits?

• Mostly objects such as satellites and spacecrafts are put in elliptical orbits only temporarily. They are then either pushed up to circular orbits at a greater height or the acceleration is increased until the trajectory changes from an ellipse to a hyperbola and the spacecraft escapes the gravity of the Earth in order to move further into space — for example, to the Moon or Mars or further away.
• Satellites that orbit the Earth are mostly placed in circular orbits. One reason is that if the satellite is used for imaging the Earth, it is easier if it has a fixed distance from the Earth. If the distance keeps changing as in an elliptical orbit, keeping the cameras focused can become complicated.

9. Microsoft joins ONDC network; to launch shopping app

Subject :Economy

Context: Microsoft has become the first tech giant to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a Government of India initiative to develop an open network for digital commerce.

Concept :

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC): https://optimizeias.com/open-network-for-digital-commerce/

10. Fin Min invites applications for post of PFRDA chairperson

Subject :Economy

Context: The government has started the search for a successor to the chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Supratim Bandyopadhyay whose term ends in January 2023.

The PFRDA chairperson holds office for five years or till the age of 65. The chairperson is entitled to a consolidated salary of ₹4.50 lakh per month without the facility of a house and car, the finance ministry said while inviting an application for the post.

Concept :

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the statutory authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies. NPS was initially notified for central government employees joining services wef 1^st Jan 2004 and subsequently adopted by almost all State Governments for its employees. NPS was extended to all Indian citizens (resident/non-resident/overseas) on a voluntary basis and to corporates for its employees.

11. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and European Free Trade Association(EFTA) want to negotiate trade pact

Subject :International relations

Section :International organization

Concept :

 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.

Eurasian Economic Union(EAEU)

• The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration. It has international legal personality and is established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union.
• The EAEU provides for free movement of goods, services, capital and labor, pursues coordinated, harmonized and single policy in the sectors determined by the Treaty and international agreements within the Union.
• The Member-States of the Eurasian Economic Union are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.
• The Union is being created to comprehensively upgrade, raise the competitiveness of and cooperation between the national economies, and to promote stable development in order to raise the living standards of the nations of the Member-States.

European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is the intergovernmental organisation of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. It was set up in 1960 by its then seven Member States for the promotion of free trade and economic integration between its members.