Daily Prelims Notes 13 August 2020

August 13, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: History

Context:

Ministry of Tourism organises Independence Day themed webinar titled “Cellular Jail: Letters, Memoirs & Memories” under DekhoApnaDesh webinar series

Concept:

The lives and stories of some of the most famous political prisoners like Veer Savarkar, B.K.Dutt, Fazl-e-HaqKhairabadi, Barindra Kumar Ghose, Sushil Dasgupta were presented.
The important contribution made by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Andaman towards India’s independence also had a mention in the presentation.
The Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a prison where Indians fighting for freedom from the British were exiled and incarcerated under very inhuman conditions.
The construction of the prison started in 1896 and was completed in 1910.
The architecture of Cellular Jail was conceptualized on the basis of ‘Pennsylvania System or Separate System’ theory in which separate confinement is necessary for each inmate for complete isolation from other inmates. No communication of any kind was possible between prisoners in the same or different wings.
Each and Every brick of the Cellular Jail has got a heart rendering stories of resistance, sufferings and sacrifices. Cellular Jail stands as a mute spectator to the inhuman sufferings of the patriots, freedom fighters who were imprisoned in these cells. They even had to sacrifice their precious lives as victim of tyranny.

Famous freedom fighters

Veer Savarkar – In 1911, freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years in the cellular jail of Andamans for revolting against the Morley-Minto reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909). He was released in 1924. He was known for his bravery and hence nicknamed ‘Veer’.
BatukeshwarDutt, also known as B K Dutt, was a Revolutionary Freedom Fighter. He, along with Bhagat Singh was involved in the Central Legislative Assembly Bombing Case of 1929, passed away on 20th July 1965 after an illness at the age of 54. Dutt was sentenced to life imprisonment and deported to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.
Fazl-E-HaqKhairabadi– After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 failed, Fazl-E-Haq was covered by an amnesty and was arrested by the British authorities on 30 January 1859 at Khairabad for inciting violence. He was tried and found guilty of encouraging murder and role in the ‘jihad’. He was sentenced for life to the prison at Kalapani (Cellular Jail) on Andaman Island, and his property was confiscated by the judicial commissioner of Awadh court.
Barindra Kumar Ghose – Following the attempted killing of Kingsford by two revolutionaries Khudiram and Prafulla on 30 April 1908, the police intensified its investigation which led to the arrest of Barin and Aurobindo Ghosh on 2 May 1908, along with many of his comrades. The trial (known as the Alipore Bomb Case) initially sentenced Barin Ghosh and UllaskarDatta to death. However, the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, by Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das and Barin was deported to the Cellular Jail in Andaman in 1909 along with other convicts.
SushilDasgupta – He was a member of the revolutionary Yugantar Dal of Bengal, and the Putiya Mail Robbery case of 1929 took him to Medinipur prison. From there, he escaped along with fellow revolutionaries, Sachin Kar Gupta and Dinesh Majumdar. They were absconding for seven months. Eventually Dinesh was caught and hanged, Sushil was sent to Cellular Jail, and Sachin first to Mandalay Jail and, then, to Cellular Jail..
On December 29, 1943, political control of the islands was passed to the Azad Hind government of Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose visited Port Blair to raise the tricolour flag of the Indian National Army.

2. Krishi Megh

Subject: Schemes

Context:

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare virtually launched the KrishiMegh (National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services).

Concept:

KrishiMegh is a new chapter in digital India enabling the farmers, researchers, students and policy makers more equipped with updated and latest information regarding agriculture, research, education and extension in digital form generated by ICAR institutes and State Agriculture Universities
KrishiMegh is to protect the precious data of the government’s premier research body ICAR.
The data recovery centre has been set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad.
ICAR-KrishiMegh at NAARM Hyderabad is synchronized with ICAR-Data Center at ICAR-IASRI, New Delhi has been built to mitigate the risk, enhance the quality, availability and accessibility of e-governance, research, extension and education in the field of agriculture in India.
This new Centre has latest AI/Deep learning software/tools kits for building and deploying of deep learning based applications such as disease and pest identification using image analysis, detection of maturity and ripening of fruits through image analysis, disease identification in livestock etc.

3. Student Entrepreneurship Programme

Subject: Schemes

Context:

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, in collaboration with Dell Technologies launched Student Entrepreneurship Programme 2.0 (SEP 2.0) for young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs).

Concept:

SEP 2.0 will allow student innovators to work closely with Dell volunteers.
They will receive mentor support; prototyping and testing support; end-user feedback; intellectual property registration and patenting of ideas, processes, and products; manufacturing support; as well as the launch support of the product in the market.
It encourages young aspiring school students, as well as creates a value-adding recognition platform for innovative talent across the country.
SEP 1.0 began in January 2019. Through a 10-month-long rigorous programme, the top 6 teams of ATL Marathon—a nationwide contest where students identify community challenges and create grassroots innovations and solutions within their ATLs—got a chance to transform their innovative prototypes into fully functioning products, which are available in the market.

4. Recession

Subject: Economy

Context:

The UK economic output shrank by 20.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, pushing the country into the deepest recession recorded by any major global economy so far

Concept:

When the economy contracts for two quarters in a row (or six months), this change is classified as a recession.
The term denotes a business cycle contraction, when there is a general decline in economic activity and occurs when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock).
When a country’s economy is healthy, it grows over time and its GDP or the value of the goods and services it produces — increases.
The last time a number of countries entered a recessive phase was when the global financial crisis broke in 2007.
A recession can become a depression if it lasts long enough, like in the late 1920s.

5. Tyagaraja

Subject: Arts and culture

Context:

Ram temple in news has brought focus on Tyagaraja and his devotion to Lord Rama

Concept:

In India, there are two dominant styles of classical music – Hindustani Music whose domain is the North and Carnatic Music, largely confined to the South.
By all accounts, Saint Purandaradasa is acknowledged as the Father of Carnatic Music.
Although, PurandaraDasa gave Carnatic Music a start, it was the musical trinity of Tyagaraja, MuthuswamiDikshatar, and SyamaSastryreally helped to bring structure to Carnatic Music, besides raising it to truly exalted levels.
Tyagraja is known for his life and his exemplary devotion to Lord Rama, via the path of soulful music.
Born in Thanjavur in 1767, Tyagaraja is credited with creating thousands of devotional compositions mostly in praise of Lord Rama, of which his most famous is called the
The TyagarajaAradhana, a music festival, is held every year at Thiruvaiyaru in his honour.

6. Mega lab and Genome sequence

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is working on developing “mega labs” to ramp up testing for COVID-19 as well as improve the accuracy rate.

Concept:

These labs will be repurposing large machines, called Next Generation Sequencing machines (NGS), which are normally used for sequencing human genomes, to sequence 1,500 to 3,000 viral genomes at a go to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
They can substantially detect the presence of the virus even in several instances where the traditional RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) tests fail.
RT-PCR test identifies the SARS-CoV-2 virus by exploring only specific sections, whereas the genome method can read a bigger chunk of virus genome and thereby provide more certainty that the virus is present
It can also trace the evolutionary history of the virus and track mutations more reliably.
Unlike the RT-PCR that needs primers and probes, a key hurdle in operationalising such tests on a mass scale early on in the pandemic, the NGS only needs custom reagents.

7. Safety and Immunogenic of vaccine

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

Vaccine trials bring importance of Safety and Immunogenic of vaccine

Concept:

Immunogenicity is the ability of a foreign substance to enter a person’s body and cause an immune response.
A great example of immunogenicity is a vaccination.
When a person gets vaccinated, they are injected with a very tiny amount of a specific disease. Once a person receives the injection, their immune system will begin to create antibodies, which are special proteins created by the body that help protect us against infectious viruses and bacteria.

8. Environmental Performance Index

Subject: Environment

Context:

Debate over draft EIA 2020 Notification shed lights on poor ranking of India in Environmental Performance Index report

Concept:

In 2018, India ranked 177^thout of 180 countries and in 2020, ranked 168^th out of 180 faring badly on virtually all indicators — environmental health policy, biodiversity and habitat, air and water pollution and climate change.
EPI is a biennial index prepared by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
It offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
This index was first published in 2002 designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.