Daily Prelims Notes 10 September 2022

September 10, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

No Comments

Daily Prelims Notes

10 September 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Income tax ‘raids’: What is the difference between surveys and searches?

Subject: Economy

According to tax officials, the surveys were conducted due to some alleged irregularities in funding these bodies. The searches, however, were conducted as an action against some unrecognised but registered political parties.

What is a survey?

Tax authorities conduct surveys to unearth hidden or undisclosed income and property. Here, the main focus is the collection of information.
It is also ascertained in a survey if a person or a business has properly maintained its books of accounts or not.
It is guided by Section 133A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. It was inserted in 1964. Some amendments were made to the section through the Finance Act, 2002.

What is a search?

Searches are thorough inspections of buildings, places of business, and other places to find hidden income or wealth in tax evasion cases. The authorities are also given the power to seize the documents, assets, bullion, which have been hidden from the authorities. That is why they are also called “search and seizure” operations.
In common parlance, it is called a “raid“, but no such word exists in the I-T Act of 1961. Searches are conducted under Section 132 of the I-T Act.

How are surveys different from searches?

Surveys can be conducted during business hours, searches have no restrictions
Searches allow seizure of unaccounted assets, during searches authorities have to be cautious and can be held accountable later for impounding
In case on non-cooperation, raiders can break open any door/ window, nothing such can be done during surveys
Surveys can only take place at the place from where the business or profession is carried out. In search operations, there is no such restriction.
Search operation is regulated by the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which allow the raiding party in case of non-cooperation to break open any outer or inner door or window to get access to the premises where the search warrant needs to be executed. However, such power is not conferred for survey proceedings
“Few rights of taxpayers get suspended during the execution of search warrant however that is not a case during survey proceedings under Income tax Act.
Before the Finance Act of 2002, the authorities had no power to seize any asset during the surveys. However, after the amendment, the authorities can impound the books and documents surveyed but only after recording the reasons for doing so. Also, they cannot be retained for over ten days without the permission of the Chief Commissioner, Commissioner, Director General or Director.
In search and seizure operations, the authorities can seize any document or asset except the stock-in-business. They can break any locks if they are not provided with the keys. They can take the help of police officers or any other central government officer for the whole process.

2. India launches community support scheme for ‘adopting’ TB patients, providing nutritional assistance

Subject: Governance

Individuals, non-profits, institutions and corporations can now “adopt” tuberculosis (TB) patients to support their nutritional needs, additional diagnostics and vocational training.
This is part of the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaanlaunched by President DroupadiMurmu September 9, 2022. Under this, the Nikshay Mitra aspect paves the way for this community support system as India inches closer to the target date of eradicating TB by 2025, five years ahead of the SDG deadline.
The three pronged support includes nutritional, additional diagnostic, and vocational support. The donors, called Ni-kshayMitras, could be a wide range of stakeholders from elected representatives, political parties, to corporates, NGOs, and individuals.
The minimum time period for providing support is one year and this is a voluntary An anonymous list of patients who have given their consent to be a part of this scheme can be found on the official Nikshay website, where their case details are listed.

Nikshay Poshan Yojana

The NPY was launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
NPY is India’s flagship nutrition support scheme for TB patients.
It aims to support every Tuberculosis (TB) Patient by providing a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of Rs 500 per month for nutritional needs.

3. Allow HT Bt cotton to keep tabs on spurious seeds, save farmers: Seed firms

Subject : Agriculture

Context: Members of the National Seed Association of India (NSAI) have said that there is a need to bring in a uniform system of seed licencing in the country by adopting a one-country-one-seed licence policy.

NSSAI executive said that Herbicide Tolerant Cotton (Ht Cotton) has already been tested in contained field trails. It may be fast tracked for environmental release so that the quality of the legally approved Ht cotton could be regulated under the existing Seed (Control) Order.

Herbicide Tolerant Bt (HTBt) Cotton:

The HTBt cotton variant adds another layer of modification, making the plant resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, but has not been approved by regulators.
HtBt Cotton involves the addition of another gene, ‘Cp4-Epsps’ from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens to make it herbicide resistant.
Fears include glyphosate having a carcinogenic effect, as well as the unchecked spread of herbicide resistance to nearby plants through pollination, creating a variety of superweeds.
As it is not approved by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), illegal sale takes place in Indian markets.

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)

GEAC is apex body under Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for regulating manufacturing, use, import, export and storage of hazardous micro-organisms or genetically engineered organisms (GMOs) and cells in the country.
It is also responsible for giving technical approval of proposals relating to release of GMOs and products including experimental field trials.
GEAC is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEF&CC and co-chaired by a representative from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

National Seed Association of India

The National Seed Association of India, (NSAI), the apex organization representing the Indian Seed Industry, continues to strive to meet all the farmers’ needs by understanding their requirements and developing research strategies to address problems.
The vision of NSAI is to create “A dynamic, innovative, internationally competitive, research based industry producing high performance, high quality seeds and planting materials which benefit farmers and significantly contribute to the sustainable growth of Indian Agriculture”.
The Indian Seed Congress, the annual forum organized by NSAI, has emerged as a much awaited event to project the latest trends and views of the Seed Industry sector; voice their concerns; deliberate on the new technological advances and the barriers to technology development and introduction; showcase new product ranges and services and network for better business development.

Objectives

To create a policy environment for the seed industry
To create better interaction & provide business opportunities among our stakeholders
To hold meetings and interactions between the public & private sector to discuss common issues
To facilitate Public Private Partnership

4. The British Commonwealth: Its past, present, and post-Queen Elizabeth future

Subject: IR

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II is a delicate moment for the British Commonwealth, 14 countries out of which continue to recognise the monarch as their Head of State, a position that is explicitly stated in the constitutions and laws of some of these countries.
In these cases, changes to the law or statute might be required and could trigger calls for a referendum in jurisdictions where there is significant opposition to the current situation. Jamaica is one example, and it could well follow its regional neighbourBarbados, which left the Commonwealth after becoming a republic in 2021.
Developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are constitutional monarchies, and their political systems are oriented in a way that the new monarch of the United Kingdom will as part of the usual process become their head of state.

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, or simply the Commonwealth, is a group of 56 member countries, the vast majority of which are former British colonies. They are mostly in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific. Three European nations are part of the Commonwealth: Cyprus, Malta, and of course, the UK itself.
Fourteen of these 56 countries — along with the UK — constitute the “Commonwealth realms”. They are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. The British monarch — now King Charles III, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II — is the head of state of these countries.
Of the remaining 41 member states of the Commonwealth, 36 are republics — this group includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The other five — Brunei Darussalam, Lesotho, Malaysia, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and Tonga — have their own monarchs.
For the wider Commonwealth, the most visible uniting feature is the Commonwealth Games, the multi-sport international competition that is held every four years in one of the member countries. The Commonwealth Games — which were hosted by India in 2010 and the latest edition of which was completed in Birmingham, England last month — are pretty much the only association that ordinary Indians make with the Commonwealth, even though there are wider aspects of intergovernmental cooperation within the grouping.

History of the Commonwealth

The Commonwealth is home to 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s population, the bulk of whom live in the Indian subcontinent.
The Commonwealth was born out of an attempt by Queen Victoria to maintain control over the colonies as movements for independence grew stronger. In 1867, after Canada made its frustrations with imperial oversight known, the Queen agreed to grant the territory dominion status, which meant that it would have self-rule, but that Britain could veto policies at the monarch’s discretion.
In subsequent decades other, primarily white, British colonies also became dominions — including Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. After World War I, rising tides of nationalist sentiment in the dominions forced more changes and, in 1926, Britain and the dominions agreed that they would be equal in status. That declaration, formalised through the Statute of Westminster in 1931, marked the founding of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Although India was present at those talks, leaders of the Indian National Movement pushed for full independence. In 1949, newly independent India was invited to join the Commonwealth, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed with a pivotal caveat. India asked that it should be given membership without the requirement of having to swear allegiance to the Crown. The member nations agreed — and later that year, India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) joined the
Four countries in the Commonwealth — Mozambique (1995), Rwanda (2009), Togo (2022), and Gabon (2022) — had no colonial ties with Britain. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony, Rwanda was ruled by the Belgians and Germans, and Togo and Gabon by the French.
It is important to underline, though, that the Queen had no influence on the governance of either the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations or those of the Commonwealth realms, of which she was head of state. In the latter group of countries, she had some constitutional duties — notably, the approval of new governments and, sometimes, legislation; and the grant of state honours or the appointment of certain officials.

Leaving the Commonwealth

In the 1970s, a host of countries chose to leave the Commonwealth realm, including Dominica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, effectively removing the Queen as their head of state. In 2021, as Barbados left the realm, its Governor General argued that “the time has come fully to leave our colonial past behind”. The exit was timed with the 55th anniversary of Barbados’s independence from the UK.
Analysts have wondered whether, with Elizabeth no more, the new monarch would be able to lawfully appoint Governors-General in countries of the Commonwealth realm if those countries do not first change their Constitutions to refer to the “King” as their head of state instead of the Queen.
If Canada were to consider leaving the realm, an amendment to its constitution would be required. In the case of Australia, it would have to be a referendum. In 1999, a referendum to give the Australian Parliament the power to choose the nation’s head of state was defeated by 45 per cent to 55 per cent, but a fresh referendum may be called by the current government.

What is Constitutional Monarchy?

A constitutional monarchy is a system of governance in which a monarch serves as the head of state while operating within the bounds of a written (i.e. codified), unwritten (i.e. uncodified), or mixed constitution.
Absolute monarchy differs from constitutional monarchy in that the monarch is the single source of political authority in the state and is not legally constrained by any constitution.
Depending on the constitution, most constitutional monarchies use a parliamentary system in which the monarch has either exclusively ceremonial or reserve powers. They have a Prime Minister who is the head of government and wields effective political authority, either directly or indirectly elected.

5. Britain has a new monarch. Here’s how flags, currency, and its anthem will now change

Subject : Polity

As Queen Elizabeth II is laid to rest beside her husband Prince Philip at King George VI memorial chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, several of the things that were associated with — and signified — her reign of more than 70 years will undergo changes.

Flags and standards across the UK

The royal cypher, ‘EIIR’, is emblazoned on flags that fly on innumerable official buildings and installations, including police stations across the UK and Royal Navy vessels under certain circumstances. The British military flies the “Queen’s Colours” of blue, red, and gold, and many flags carry the ‘EIIR’ in gold. The British National Fire Service Ensign carries her initials, and some Commonwealth countries of which the Queen was head of state, such as Australia and New Zealand, have an ‘E Flag’ that was approved by her and was used to denote her presence when she visited.

The British National Anthem

The UK National Anthem has the words “God save our gracious Queen”, which will change to “God save our gracious King”, switching back to the traditional phrase “God Save the King”, which has been in use from at least the early 17th century. The current anthem has been sung since 1745, and originally contained the words “God save great George our king, Long live our noble king, God save the king.”

Currency of the UK

British currency notes have the face of the Queen on them, and some 4.5 billion pound notes are currently in circulation, adding up to a total value of £ 80 billion. They will have to be replaced, and the process could take several years to be completed. The face of Queen Elizabeth has appeared on notes since 1960, and she also features in some other Commonwealth currencies. Some coins too feature her face, even though changing those might take longer than changing paper currency.

Post boxes in Britain

Royal Mail post boxes have the cypher of Queen Elizabeth, ‘ER’, which, according to reports in the British media, are likely to stay. The Guardian report pointed out that some post boxes with the ‘GR’ cypher of King George VI, the predecessor of Elizabeth II on the throne, are still in use today. Stamps used by the post offices will, however, change, and will be replaced by the face of the new monarch.

Pledges in Queen’s name

All British MPs must pledge allegiance to the Crown. They take the oath: “I…swear by almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.” That will now change. MPs in the Houses of Commons and Lords will swear oath to the new King, Charles.
Also, those who become citizens of the UK now swear to “bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second, her heirs and successors”. That too is likely to change, as will the oath taken in the name of the Queen by members of the armed forces and some other uniformed forces.

6. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been asked to prepare a ‘whitelist’

Subject :Economy

Context:

Noting concerns on increasing instances of money laundering, tax evasion and criminal intimidation by illegal loan apps, the Finance Minister outlined multiple steps to prevent operations of such lenders.

Details:

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been asked to prepare a “whitelist” of all the legal loan applications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been asked to ensure that only those apps are hosted on app stores.
The RBI will also monitor money laundering through mule/rented accounts.
RBI will review or cancel dormant non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to avoid their misuse
The central bank will also ensure registration of payment aggregators within a timeframe and remove unregistered payment aggregators within a timeframe.
The Corporate Affairs Ministry will identify shell companies and deregister them to prevent their misuse.
Steps would be taken to increase cyber awareness for customers, bank employees, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders.
All ministries or agencies will take all possible actions to prevent operations of such illegal loan apps.

Concept:

White list:

It is a list of people or things considered to be acceptable or trustworthy.

Digital Lending:

It consists of lending through web platforms or mobile apps, by taking advantage of technology for authentication and credit assessment.
Banks have launched their own independent digital lending platforms to tap in the digital lending market by leveraging existing capabilities in traditional lending.

Digital lenders are classified into three categories:

entities regulated by the RBI and permitted to carry out lending business,
entities authorised to carry out lending as per other statutory or regulatory provisions but not regulated by the RBI, and
entities lending outside the purview of any statutory or regulatory provisions.

Steps Taken by RBI:

Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and banks need to state the names of online platforms they are working with.
RBI has also mandated that digital lending platforms which are used on behalf of Banks and NBFCs should disclose the name of the Bank(s) or NBFC(s) upfront to the customers.
The central bank had also asked lending apps to issue a sanction letter to the borrower on the letter head of the bank/ NBFC concerned before the execution of the loan agreement.
Legitimate public lending activities can be undertaken by banks, NBFCs registered with the RBI and other entities who are regulated by state governments under statutory provisions.
The RBI constituted a WG on digital lending including lending through online platforms and mobile apps in January, 2021.

Latest guidelines by RBI:

The guidelines apply to the RBI’s regulated entities (REs) and the LSPs engaged by them to extend credit facilitation services.
- For the second category digital lenders, the respective regulator may formulate rules on digital lending, based on the recommendations of the working group.
- For entities in the third category, the working group has suggested specific legislative and institutional interventions for consideration by the government to curb illegitimate lending.
All digital loans must be disbursed and repaid through bank accounts of regulated entities only, without pass-through of lending service providers (LSPs) or other third parties.
Any fees payable to LSPs in the credit intermediation process shall be paid directly by the RE and not by the borrower.
A standardised key fact statement (KFS) must be provided to the borrower before executing the loan contract including all-inclusive cost of digital loans in the form of annual percentage rate (APR).
Automatic increases in credit limit without the explicit consent of borrowers has been prohibited.
The loan contract must provide for a cooling-off or look-up period for loan exit without any penalty.

All digital lending products involving short term credit or deferred payments must also be reported to credit bureaus by the REs.

7. Overlooked for chief secy post, IAS officer takes on Himachal govt

Subject :Polity

Chief Secretary

The Chief Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the state government.
The Chief Secretary is the ex-officio head of the state Civil Services Board, the State Secretariat, the state cadre Indian Administrative Service and all civil services under the rules of business of the state government.
The Chief Secretary acts as the principal advisor to the chief minister on all matters of state administration.
The Chief Secretary is the officer of Indian Administrative Service.
The Chief Secretary is the senior-most cadre post in the state administration, ranking 23rd on the Indian order of precedence.
- The post of Chief Secretary of a State Government is equivalent to Vice Chief of the Army Staff/Commanders and officers in the rank of full General and its equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces, and are listed as such in the Order of Precedence
The Chief Secretary acts as an ex-officio secretary to the state cabinet, therefore called “Secretary to the Cabinet”. The status of this post is equal to that of a Secretary to the Government of India.
Appointment:
- The Chief Secretary is ‘chosen’ by the Chief Minister.
- As the appointment of Chief Secretary is an executive action of the Chief Minister, it is taken in the name of the Governor of the State.
Tenure:
- The office of Chief Secretary has been excluded from the operation of the tenure system.
- There is no fixed tenure for this post.

8. Basic skills poor in Hindi but poorer in regional languages: NCERT

Subject:

Context:

According to NCERT survey foundational learning of students in Hindi is poor but their performance in regional languages in some States was even worse.

Survey provides baseline for government’s NIPUN mission to improve foundational learning

NIPUN mission

Ministry of Education has launched a National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat), for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.
The National Mission which has been launched under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha, will focus on providing access and retaining children in foundational years of schooling; teacher capacity building; development of high quality and diversified Student and Teacher Resources/Learning Materials; and tracking the progress of each child in achieving learning outcomes.
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE) will be the implementing agency at the national level and will be headed by a Mission Director.
The mission will focus on children of age group of 3 to 9 years including pre-school to Grade 3.
The children who are in Class 4 and 5 and have not attained the foundational skills will be provided individual teacher guidance and support, peer support and age appropriate and supplementary graded learning materials to acquire the necessary competencies.
The goals and objectives of the mission are required to be achieved by all Govt., Govt. Aided and Private Schools so that universal acquisition of FLN skills can be achieved by 2026-27.
The unique feature is that the goals of the Mission are set in the form of LakshyaSoochi or Targets for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. The Laskhyas are based on the learning outcomes developed by the NCERT and international research and ORF studies.
A special package for foundational literacy and Numeracy under NISHTHA is being developed by NCERT and around 25 lakh teachers teaching at pre-primary to primary grade will be trained this year on FLN.

What is Foundational Literacy and Numeracy?

Foundational literacy – The pre-existing knowledge of language helps in building literacy skills in languages. The key components in Foundational Language and Literacy are:
- Oral Language : Development Includes improved listening comprehension; oral vocabulary and extended conversation skills. The experiences in oral language are important for developing skills of reading and writing.
- Decoding : Involves deciphering written words based on understanding the relationship between symbols and their sounds
- Reading Fluency : Refers to the ability to read a text with accuracy, speed (automaticity), expression (prosody), and comprehension that allows children to make meaning from the text. Many children recognise aksharas, but read them laboriously, one-by-one.
- Reading Comprehension : Involves constructing meaning from a text and thinking critically about it. This domain covers the competencies of understanding texts and retrieving information from them, as well as interpreting texts.
- Writing : This domain includes the competencies of writing aksharas and words as well as writing for expression
Foundational Numeracy – Foundational Numeracy means the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts in daily life problem solving. The major aspects and components of early mathematics are:
- Pre-number concepts : Count and understand the number system
- Numbers and operations on numbers : Learn conventions needed for mastery of Mathematical techniques such as the use of a base ten system to represent numbers
- Shapes and Spatial Understanding : Perform simple computations in her/his own way up to three-digit numbers and apply these to their day to life activities in different contexts
- Measurement : Understand and use standard algorithms to perform operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on numbers up to three digits
- Data Handling : Identify and extend simple patterns starting from repeating shapes to patterns in numbers, interpret simple data/information in his/her daily life activities;

9. Pakistan flood

Subject : Environment

Context:

Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the world’s planet-warming gases, European Union data shows, yet it is the eighth most vulnerable nation to the climate crisis, according to the Global Climate Risk Index.

Concept :

The CCPI is developed by not-for-profit organisations German watch and New Climate Institute (Germany) together with the Climate Action Network (CAN International).
It is an important tool to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.
The latest list is prepared by assessing performances of 57 countries and European Union (as a whole) in four categories – GHG emissions (40%), renewable energy (20%), energy use (20%) and climate policy (20%). These 57 countries and the EU collectively are responsible for about 90% of global GHG emissions.