Daily Prelims Notes 12 August 2021

August 12, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

12 August 2021

Table Of Contents

Subject: Geography

Context: A dispute in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district over hoisting of a flag on August 9 on the statue of Rana Punja Bhil, a historical figure considered as a hero by the tribal Bhil community has triggered tensions between Adivasi groups and BJP members.

Concept:

Punja Bhil

Punja Bhil was a contemporary of 16th century ruler of Mewar, Maharana Pratap.
Punja is considered to be a significant character who bolstered the strength of Maharana Pratapduring his battles with Mughal emperor Akbar.

Bhils

Bhils are an ancient tribe, whose history goes back to even mythologies. Due to their unmatched knowledge of the hills and forests of Mewar, the community has always exercised a strong influence in the region
Bhils or Bheels are an Indo-Aryan speaking ethnic group in West India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India.
In the battle of Haldighati, Bhils played a crucial role. Due to lack of soldiers, a shift was seen from the earlier custom wherein only kshatriyas were allowed to take part in battle
The Bhil community-classified as a scheduled tribe in Rajasthan.
Bhils have always had control over the forest produce from Mewar which is rich in natural resources. The Bhils were also adept in guerilla warfare with bows, arrows and slingshots and were a significant part of the Rajput resistance against the Mughal Army during the battle of Haldighati owing to their knowledge of the region’s topography.
The Rajput rulers consistently recognized the importance of Bhils in their kingdoms and the emblem of the Mewar royal family also has a Bhil alongside a Rajput, reflecting the importance of alliance between the two.

2. A conflicting picture between fundamental right of children and right of minority communities

Subject: Polity

Context: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has released a report — The “Impact of Exemption under Article 15 (5) with regards to Article 21A of the Constitution of India on Education of Children in Minority Communities”

Concept:

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has assessed minority schools (schools run by minority organisations) in the country. Minority schools are exempt from implementing the Right to Education policy and do not fall under the government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
Through this report, the NCPCR has recommended that these schools be brought under both RTE and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Conflicting picture between fundamental right of children and right of minority communities

In 2002, the 86th Amendment to the Constitution provided the Right to Education as a fundamental right .The same amendment inserted Article 21A, which made the RTE a fundamental right for children aged between six and 14 years.
The passage of the amendment was followed by the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a central government scheme implemented in partnership with the state governments that aimed to provide “useful and relevant, elementary education’’ to all children between six and 14 years.
Article 21A that guarantees fundamental right of education to all children, and Article 30 which allows minorities to set up their own institutions with their own rules and Article 15 (5) which exempts minority schools from RTE – as ”creating a conflicting picture between fundamental right of children and right of minority communities’’.
In 2006, the 93rd Constitution Amendment Act inserted Clause (5) in Article 15 which enabled the State to create special provisions, such as reservations for advancement of any backward classes of citizens like Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in all aided or unaided educational institutes, except minority educational institutes.
The government subsequently brought the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which centres around inclusive education for all, making it mandatory to include underprivileged children in schools.
Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act provided for 25 percent reservation of seats in unaided schools for admission of children from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups.
As opposed to these Acts, Article 30 of the Constitution states the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions, with a view to provide opportunities to children from different religious and linguistic minority communities to have and conserve a distinct culture, script and language.
Subsequently, in 2012, through an amendment, the institutions imparting religious education were exempted from following the RTE Act. Later on, in 2014, while discussing the validity of exemption under Article 15 (5), the Supreme Court declared the RTE Act inapplicable to schools with minority status with the view that the Act should not interfere with the right of minorities to establish and administer institutions of their choice.

3. Anti-inflammatory drugs

Subject: Science and Tech

Context: The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday a clinical trial in 52 countries would study three anti-inflammatory drugs as potential treatments for COVID-19 patients.

Concept:

These therapies – artesunate, imatinib and infliximab – were selected by an independent expert panel for their potential in reducing the risk of death in hospitalised COVID-19 patients
Artesunate is already used for severe malaria, imatinib for certain cancers, and infliximab for diseases of the immune system such as Crohn’s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
The original Solidarity trial last year found that all four treatments evaluated – remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon – had little or no effect in helping COVID patients.
So far, only corticosteroids have been proven effective against severe and critical COVID-19.

NSAIDs

NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are those medications used for reducing pain (analgesic), decreasing fever (anti-pyretic), preventing blood clots (anti-thrombotic) and decreasing inflammation (anti-inflammatory).
NSAIDs are also used to treat non-inflammatory conditions such as migraine, period pain and postoperative pain, and to reduce fever.
Some commonly used NSAIDs include: aspirin (such as Disprin), ibuprofen (such as Nurofen) , naproxen (such as Naprosyn), diclofenac (such as Voltaren), celecoxib (such as Celebrex).

4. Asset monetisation

Subject: Economy

Context: The government is working on a Rs 6-trillion monetisation plan that will include a range of assets, disinvestment secretary TuhinKanta Pandey said on Wednesday, more than double the target announced by the prime minister earlier this year. The national monetisation plan will have a range of assets from Power Grid pipeline to national highway

Concept:

Asset monetisation is the process of creating new sources of revenue for the government by unlocking the economic value of unutilised or underutilised public assets.
A public asset is any property owned by a public body, tangible or intangible.
These include roads, railways, stations, pipelines, mobile towers etc. or financial assets like shares in Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), securities and dividends.
A sub-optimally utilised or unutilised asset is one that is not using its maximum potential which could otherwise be attained by exploiting it commercially at a market valuation.
The government’s asset monetisation programme aims to correct this anomaly and get the returns it invested in these public assets, and create hitherto unexplored sources of income.
It has been the Centre’s efforts to attract the private sector in the private sector in this process, to help explore the real asset value through business ideas and technology.
The government does not need to sell assets and it does well to protect assets which give healthy returns. This process is only to innovate and enrich an asset which has largely been unresponsive in terms of revenue.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) under the Ministry of Finance has been made the nodal department for the strategic stake sale in the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
DIPAM and NITI Aayog will jointly identify PSUs for strategic disinvestment.

5. Adjournment Sine Die

Subject: Polity

Context: Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die Wednesday, two days before schedule, after a Monsoon Session that was continuously disrupted by Opposition protests over the Pegasus snooping row, farm laws and other issues.

Concept:

Adjournment

An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks. In this case, the time of reassembly is specified.
An adjournment only terminates a sitting and not a session of the House.
The power of adjournment lies with the presiding officer of the House.

Adjournment Sine Die

Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period. In other words, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called adjournment sine die.
The power of adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.
Note: The presiding officer of a House can call a sitting of the House before the date or time to which it has been adjourned or at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die.

6. EOS-03

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: Since the beginning of the outbreak in March last year, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has managed just two launches — the earth observation satellite EOS-01 last November, and the one in February this year when 18 small satellites, mainly of other countries, were sent into space.

Concept:

An earth observation satellite will send on board a GSLV rocket is a fairly routine event.
EOS-03 is being sent ahead of EOS-02, which has been delayed. EOS-02 is now scheduled for a launch in September-October.
That launch will try out a new rocket — SSLV, or small satellite launch vehicle. Though India has developed four rockets till now — SLV, ASLV, and different versions of PSLV and GSLV — only two are currently operational.
The SSLV is designed to cater to the increasing demand for launch of small satellites, mainly from businesses and universities; it costs much less and consumes less energy. EOS-03, an earth observation satellite, into a geostationary orbit.
The cryogenic upper stage has an indigenously developed cryogenic engine fuelled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at very low temperatures
EOS-03, part of the new generation of earth-observation satellites, was meant to provide almost real-time images of large parts of the country that could be used for monitoring of natural disaster like floods and cyclones, water bodies, crops, vegetation and forest cover.
This was the 14th launch involving a GSLV rocket and fourth failure. This rocket, the Mark-II version of GSLV, was last used to successfully launch GSAT-7A, a communication satellite, in December 2018.

7. Booster Doses

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: Researchers at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, will carry out the country’s first-ever clinical trials on a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) giving its nod recently.

Concept:

The fully vaccinated people by now clearly shows that immune responses last up to 8-12 months ,Hence a booster is a means of strengthening one’s immune system against a particular pathogen.
The same original vaccine, in which case its goal is to increase the protection by producing more antibodies.
The boosters given after six months of full immunisation can increase antibody level so high that they protect against all the variants

Need

These boosters will be particularly helpful for the elderly and immunocompromised people.
There are studies showing that a new variant can sneak past the antibodies created by a specific vaccine, the need of a tweaked booster shot arises then.

8. Eponyms in Economy

Subject: Economy

Context: Modern language is simply peppered with eponyms. When you talk about

Concept:

What is an eponym?

A word derived from the proper name of a person most closely associated with the phenomenon is called an eponym
‘Matthew’s law’ is summarized by the adage “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer“
Hick’s Law is a simple idea that says that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision
Giffen good is a product that people consume more of as the price rises and vice versa—violating the basic law of demand in microeconomics.

9. Secondary Market

Subject: Economy

Context: Ten major lenders, including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Canara Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, have for the first time joined hands to set up an online platform for trading of corporate loans in the secondary market.

Concept:

This is the market wherein the trading of securities is done. Secondary market consists of both equity as well as debt markets.
Securities issued by a company for the first time are offered to the public in the primary market. Once the IPO is done and the stock is listed, they are traded in the secondary market. The main difference between the two is that in the primary market, an investor gets securities directly from the company through IPOs, while in the secondary market, one purchases securities from other investors willing to sell the same.
Equity shares, bonds, preference shares, treasury bills, debentures, etc. are some of the key products available in a secondary market.
In these transactions among investors, the issuing company does not participate in income generation, and share valuation is rather based on its performance in the market. Income in this market is thus generated via the sale of the shares from one investor to another.
Secondary markets are primarily of two types – Stock exchanges and over-the-counter markets.
SEBI is the regulator of the same.

Secondary Loan Market Association (SLMA)

The Secondary Loan Market Association (SLMA), it has been formed on the recommendation of the Reserve Bank of India’s Task Force on the Development of Secondary Market for Corporate Loans
Currently, the secondary market for corporate loans is mainly inter-bank transactions, undertaken on an ad hoc basis through transfer of loan accounts from one bank to another, and sale of stressed assets by banks to Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs).
Presently the primary and secondary markets are restricted to banks and non-banking finance companies and domestic and foreign investors participate only in distressed debt through ARCs