Daily Prelims Notes 11 August 2022

August 11, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

11 August 2022

Table Of Contents

1. COVID-19 has become endemic in India

Subject :Science

Section: Biotechnology

Endemic – describes a disease that is present permanently in a region or population
Epidemic – is an outbreak that affects many people at one time and can spread through one or several communities
Pandemic – is the term used to describe an epidemic when the spread is global.

2. Vaccine Lumpi-ProVacInd

Subject :Science

Section: Biotechnology

Context: Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched the indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVacInd to protect livestock from Lumpy Skin disease.

Concept:

The Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched the indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVacInd to protect livestock from Lumpy Skin disease.
The vaccine has been developed by the National Equine Research Center, Hisar (Haryana) in collaboration with with the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar (Bareilly).

Lumpy Skin disease.

3. Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise “SMILE-75 Initiative”

Subject :Government Scheme

Section: Maginalised

Concept:

The objective of SMILE- 75 is to make our cities/town and municipal areas begging-free and make a strategy for comprehensive rehabilitation of the persons engaged in the act of begging through the coordinated action of various stakeholders.
The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has allocated a total budget of 100 crore for the SMILE project for coming years till 2025-26.
Through this project, the Ministry envisions to develop a support mechanism for holistic rehabilitation of those engaged in the act of begging and build an India where no person is forced to beg in order to survive and fulfill their basic needs.
Under the initiative, seventy five (75) Municipal Corporations in collaboration with NGOs and other stakeholders will cover several comprehensive welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging with focus extensively on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, awareness, education, skill development, economic linkages and convergence with other Government welfare programmes etc.
It includes a sub-scheme of comprehensive rehabilitation for persons engaged in begging which covers identification, rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, and education, skill development for decent job and self-employment / entrepreneurship.

4. Justice U.U. Lalit appointed 49th Chief Justice of India

Subject :Polity

Section: Judiciary

Context: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was appointed the 49th Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Wednesday after President Droupadi Murmu signed his warrant of appointment.

Concept:

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 27 August, 2022
While Supreme Court judges retire on attaining the age of 65, judges of the 25 High Courts superannuate at the age of 62.

Article 124 : Establishment and constitution of Supreme Court.

(1) There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges.

(2) Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President may deem necessary for the purpose and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five years.

(3) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court unless he is a citizen of India and

(a) has been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or

(b) has been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or

(4) A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two – thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.

(5) Parliament may by law regulate the procedure for the presentation of an address and for the investigation and proof of the misbehaviour or incapacity of a Judge under clause (4).

(6) Every person appointed to be a Judge of the Supreme Court shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the President, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.

(7) No person who has held office as a Judge of the Supreme Court shall plead or act in any court or before any authority within the territory of India.

5. Common charger for all devices: What govt wants, what it means for industry

Subject :Science

Section: Awareness of computers

Context: The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs has written to stakeholders, inviting them to brainstorm a plan for having one cable for charging all your devices.

What is the reason behind the ministry’s push?

The ministry’s move comes in the backdrop of the concept of LiFE — Lifestyle for the Environment — announced by the Prime Minister at the UN Climate Change Conference (CoP 26) held in Glasgow in November last year. Besides, the Union Cabinet has also approved India’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). According to the NDC, India has committed to reducing the emission intensity of the GDP by 45% by 2030. In view of the country’s commitment to fight climate change, the ministry has taken a step in the direction to reduce electronic waste.

Which players would be impacted if there is a rule for common chargers?

If there was a directive for a common charger for all phones, laptops, earbuds, etc., as is being considered, then Apple would be the biggest player impacted, especially in the phones segment. The reason: Apple’s iPhone is still using the Lighting port for charging, and this requires a different cable compared to most other Android phones in the market.
Apple’s Lightning port is in stark contrast to devices from players like Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme — the top five brands in the Indian smartphone market. All five have switched to phones with Type-C charging ports. Now, while the charging speeds supported on each device might be different, given that most have a Type-C port at the bottom, the chargers can be used interchangeably.

Have other countries tried to pass similar laws or rules around chargers?

This idea of ‘one charger for all devices’ is not new. It was also proposed by the European Union in June.

6. Dowry harassment, rioting, use of obscene words made compoundable offences in M.P.

Subject :Polity

Context:

Former President Ram Nath Kovind on the advice of the Union Home Ministry in June assented to a 2019 legislation passed by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly that makes the criminal offences of dowry harassment, rioting and use of obscene words in the State compoundable offences.

Concept :

In a compoundable offence, parties involved can effect a compromise while the case is under trial in the court.
The Malimath Committee constituted by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2000 also favoured making Section 498A of IPC (dowry harassment) a bailable and compoundable offence.
The M.P Bill proposed amendments to several sections of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and The Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
It further said that the Madhya Pradesh Amendment Act of 1999 made Sections 147 IPC, (rioting) 294 IPC (obscene songs or words in a public place) and 506 IPC (criminal intimidation) compoundable but in 2009, the Union government amended the CrPC which again led to such offences becoming non-compoundable, leading to a backlog of cases in the court.
Both IPC and CrPC come under the concurrent list which allows the State governments to amend them.
The Bill states that certain provisions of CrPC, 1973 mandates physical presence of an accused (undertrial prisoner) or his pleader for recording evidence or other proceedings. It adds that due to shortage of police personnel, many times the accused are not produced before the court for scheduled hearings. Consequently, the case gets adjourned. Due to the advancement of information technology, it is desirable that the deposition of witnesses and examination of accused and other proceedings be taken optionally through the audio-video electronic means, instead of mandatory provision of their physical presence in court.

Malimath Committee Report

Malimath Committee (2000) on reforms in the Criminal Justice System of India (CJS) submitted its report in 2003. It suggested 158 changes in the CJSI but the recommendations weren’t implemented.

The Committee had opined that the existing system “weighed in favour of the accused and did not adequately focus on justice to the victims of crime.”

Recommendations

Rights of the Accused: The Committee suggested that a Schedule to the Code be brought out in all regional languages so that the accused knows his/her rights, as well as how to enforce them and whom to approach when there is a denial of those rights.
Police Investigation: The Committee suggested hiving off the investigation wing from Law and Order.
Court and Judges: The report pointed out the judge-population ratio in India is 10.5 per million population as against 50 judges per million population in many parts of the world. The ratio is 19.66 per million people as of 2017.
- It suggested the increase in strength of judges and courts.
Witness Protection: It suggested separate witness protection law so that safety and security of witness can be ensured and they can be treated with dignity.
Vacations of Court: It recommended reducing the vacations of court on account of long pendency of cases.

7. Capex push to states

Subject :Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Context: The Centre has released an advance instalment in addition to the regular monthly instalment of tax devolution to states totalling Rs 1.16 lakh crore

Why?

To increase capital and developmental expenditure.
To ease fiscal pressure of states after the end of the compensation mechanism under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime

Concept:

How do States get revenue from the Centre?

Article 280 of the Constitution mandates that each Finance Commission make recommendations about:
- the distribution of net proceeds of taxes between the Union and states (called vertical devolution) and
- the distribution of net proceeds of taxes also among states (called horizontal devolution).

Vertical Devolution:

As per the 15th Finance Commission Recommendations, 41% of the divisible pool should be devolved to the States.
While distributing the 41 per cent among states, the formula recommended the Finance Commission should be used – which takes into weight different parameters like
- Income Distance,
- Population of 2011,
- Area,
- Forest & Ecology,
- Demographic Performance and
- Tax Effort.
Without being included in the Union Budget, the Centre transfers states’ share of taxes from the Gross Tax Revenue. This forms a significant part of the devolution.
At present, 41 per cent of tax collected is devolved in 14 instalments during a financial year.

Horizontal Devolution:

For horizontal devolution, the 15th Finance Commission has suggested:

12.5% weightage to demographic performance,
45% to income,
15% each to population and area,
10% to forest and ecology and
2.5% to tax and fiscal efforts

States’ source of revenue from Centre:

Devolution (States’ share of taxes): As states share taxes from the Gross Tax Revenue. (This is extra-budgetary)
Scheme Related Transfer: As Centrally Sponsored Schemes from the Scheme Expenditure. (Based on Budget Allocations).
Finance Commission Grants: As Transfer to States from the Transfers, Expenditure, and Other Expenses. (Based on Budget Allocations)
Other Transfers: Other grants or loans. (Based on Budget Allocations).

Capital Expenditure

Capital expenditure is the money spent by the government on the development of machinery, equipment, building, health facilities, education, etc.
It also includes the expenditure incurred on acquiring fixed assets like land and investment by the government that gives profits or dividends in future.
Along with the creation of assets, repayment of loan is also capital expenditure, as it reduces liability.
Capital spending is associated with investment or development spending, where expenditure has benefits extending years into the future.

Different from Revenue Expenditure:

Unlike capital expenditure, which creates assets for the future, revenue expenditure is one that neither creates assets nor reduces any liability of the government.
Salaries of employees, interest payment on past debt, subsidies, pension, etc, fall under the category of revenue expenditure. It is recurring in nature.

8. Digital lending

Subject :Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines for entities engaged in digital lending.

Details

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.

Concept:

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.
- The panel was set up in the backdrop of business conduct and customer protection concerns arising out of the spurt in digital lending activities.
- Key proposals:
  - Digital lending apps should be subjected to a verification process by a nodal agency to be set up in consultation with stakeholders.
  - To set up a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) covering the participants in the digital lending ecosystem.
    - The use of unsolicited commercial communications for digital loans to be governed by a code of conduct to be put in place by the proposed SRO.
    - The maintenance of a ‘negative list’ of lending service providers by the proposed SRO.
  - Disbursement of loans should be directly into bank accounts of borrowers.
  - All data to be stored in servers located in India.
  - Algorithmic features used in digital lending to be documented should ensure necessary transparency.

9. The history of popular slogans raised during Indian independence movement

Subject :History

Section: Modern history

Context: Be it ‘Jai Hind!’ or ‘Vande Mataram!’, most of the popular patriotic slogans raised today are likely to have their origins in the movement for Indian independence.

‘Jai Hind’ by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

Bengal’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose popularised ‘Jai Hind’ as a salutation for soldiers of his Indian National Army (INA), which fought alongside Netaji’s ally Japan in the Second World War. But according to some accounts, Netaji did not actually coin the slogan.
In his 2014 book, ‘Lengendotes of Hyderabad’, former civil servant Narendra Luther said the term was coined by Zain-ul Abideen Hasan, the son of a collector from Hyderabad, who had gone to Germany to study. There, he met Bose and eventually left his studies to join the INA. His grand-nephew, Anvar Ali Khan, later wrote that Khan was tasked by Bose to look for a military greeting or salutation for the INA’s soldiers, a slogan which was not caste or community-specific, given the all-India basis of the INA.

‘Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe aazadi doonga’ by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

As per the book ‘Subhas Chandra Bose: The Nationalist and the Commander – What Netaji Did, What Netaji Said’ edited by Vanitha Ramchandani, the slogan had origins in a speech Netaji made in Myanmar, then called Burma, on July 4, 1944.

‘Vande Mataram’ by Bankim Chandra Chatterji

The term refers to a sense of respect expressed to the motherland. In 1870, Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote a song which would go on to assume a national stature, but would also be seen as communally divisive by some.
Written in Bengali, the song titled ‘Vande Mataram’ would not be introduced into the public sphere until the publishing of the novel Anandamath in 1882, of which the song is a part. Vande Mataram would soon be at the forefront of sentiments expressed during the freedom movement.
The novel Anandmath, set in the early 1770s against the backdrop of the Fakir-Sannyasi Rebellion against the British in Bengal, came at a time of the Bengal agrarian crisis when the region was hit by three famines one after another.

‘Inquilab Zindabad’ by Maulana Hasrat Mohani

‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (Long live the revolution) was first used by Maulana Hasrat Mohani in 1921.
Hasrat Mohani was a labour leader, scholar, poet and also one of the founders of the Communist Party of India in 1925.
Along with Swami Kumaranand — also involved in the Indian Communist movement — Mohani first raised the demand for complete independence or ‘Poorna Swaraj’, at the Ahmedabad session of the Congress in 1921. He was later elected a member of the Constituent Assembly and was also a member of the drafting committee of the Constitution along with Dr B R Ambedkar.
It was from the mid-1920s that this slogan became a war cry of Bhagat Singh and his Naujawan Bharat Sabha, as well as his Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Bhagat Singh also wished for a social revolution to break age-old discriminatory practices. This slogan got major traction when he and B K Dutt dropped bombs in the Assembly on April 8, 1929, and shouted it.

‘Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna’ by Bismil Azimabadi

“Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil men hai, dekhna hai zor kitna bazu-e-qatil men hai” (Our hearts are now longing to die for a good cause, that we shall see what strength the arms of killers possess), are the first two lines of a poem written by Bismil Azimabadi, a freedom fighter and poet from Bihar, after the Jallianwalah Bagh Massacre of 1921 in Amritsar, Punjab.
The lines were popularised by Ram Prasad Bismil, another revolutionary. They convey a deep longing to take on an enemy, a spirit seen in the way Bismil, an Urdu poet and revolutionary, was part of major events that raised the spirits of fellow freedom fighters at the time. He was a part of the Kakori train robbery, a successful and ambitious operation in which a train filled with British goods and money was robbed for Indian fighters to purchase arms.

‘Do or Die’ by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

In 1942, with the Second World War commencing and the failure of Stafford Cripps Missions – which only promised India a ‘dominion status’ where it would still have to bear allegiance to the King of England – it was realised that the movement for freedom needed to be intensified.
On August 8, 1942, the All-India Congress Committee met in Gowalia Tank Maidan (August Kranti Maidan) in Bombay. Gandhi addressed thousands after the meeting to spell out the way forward. He told the people that he would firmly take his demands to the Viceroy, saying, “I am not going to be satisfied with anything short of complete freedom. Maybe he will propose the abolition of salt tax, etc. But I will say, ‘Nothing less than freedom’”.

‘Quit India’ by Yusuf Meherally

While Gandhi gave the clarion call of ‘Quit India’, the slogan was coined by Yusuf Meherally, a socialist and trade unionist who also served as Mayor of Mumbai. A few years ago, in 1928, Meherally had also coined the slogan “Simon Go Back” to protest the Simon Commission – that although was meant to work on Indian constitutional reform, but lacked any Indians.

10. Fighting in Ukraine endangers big nuclear plant

Subject: Science

Section: nuclear technology

Context: The Zaporizhzhia plant is in southern Ukraine, near the town of Enerhodar on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world. Built during the Soviet era, it has six reactors with a total capacity of 5,700 megawatts. Three of the reactors are in operation.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, stoking international fears of a catastrophe on the continent.
Before the war, the plant accounted for about half of the electricity generated by nuclear power in Ukraine. The country has 15 reactors at four active plants, and also is home to the decommissioned Chernobyl plant, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press last week that the situation surrounding the Zaporizhzhia plant “is completely out of control,” and he issued an urgent plea to Russia and Ukraine to allow experts to visit the complex to stabilise matters and avoid a nuclear accident.
He noted that the IAEA also needs to perform highly important inspections to ensure that nuclear material is being safeguarded.

International Atomic Energy Agency

Widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace and Development” organization within the United Nations family, the IAEA is the international centre for cooperation in the nuclear field.
The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technolog
Headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
Reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.

Objective:

The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
In 2005, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work for a safe and peaceful world.

Programs:

Program of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT).
Human Health Program.
Water Availability Enhancement Project.
International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles, 2000.