Daily Prelims Notes 14 August 2022

August 14, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

14 August 2022

Table Of Contents

Subject: Modern India

Section: Freedom Struggle

Context: Memories and Magical Moments with All India Radio since Independence All India Radio to broadcast every day from 15th August in its Prime-time News Bulletins

Concept:

All India Radio

All India Radio is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world broadcasting in 23 languages and 179 dialects from 479 stations across the country.
It reaches nearly 92 per cent of the area and 99.19 per cent of the total population.
It’s motto is ‘Bahujan Hitaya: Bahujan Sukhaya’, which means ‘for the happiness of many, for the welfare of many’.
All India Radio (AIR), officially known since 1957 as Akashvani (literary meaning “Voice from the Sky”), is the national public radio broadcaster of India and is a division of Prasar Bharati. It was established in 1936
AIR’s home service comprises 420 stations located across the country, reaching nearly 92% of the country’s area and 99.19% of the total population.
Broadcasting began in June 1923 during the British Raj with programs by the Bombay Presidency Radio Club and other radio clubs.
The company went into liquidation on 1 March 1930. The government took over the broadcasting facilities and began the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years, and permanently in May 1932 it then went on to become All India Radio on 8 June 1936.

Clandestine Congress Radio

Congress Radio, which began operations in August 1942, was set up to counter the
In August 1942., Mahatma Gandhi launches the Quit India Movement at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee.
Responding to his call, a 22-year-old student of Wilson College, Usha Mehta, starts an underground radio station to counter the propaganda disseminated through All India Radio, the British government’s mouthpiece.
On 14 August 1942, Usha and some of her close associates began the Secret Congress Radio, a clandestine radio station. It went air on 27 August. Secret Congress Radio also kept the leaders of the freedom movement in touch with the public
The clandestine Congress Radio brings messages from Gandhi and other leaders to the masses, reports the ‘unofficial’ side of events, and fights disinformation for three months till the arrest and imprisonment of its members in November of the same year.
Congress Radio, which began operations in August 1942, was set up to counter the British-controlled AIR, often tagged as ‘anti-India Radio’.

Usha Mehta

Usha Mehta(25 March 1920 – 11 August 2000) was a Gandhian and freedom fighter of India.
She was a courageous and empathetic Professor Usha Mehta (Ushaben), the only woman in the group, is particularly important. Born on 25 March 1920 at Saras village in the Surat district of Gujarat, she grew up to be a bright student in Bombay.
In 1928, eight-year-old Usha participated in a protest march against the Simon Commission
She used to mobilize friends and organize Prabhatpheris along with them dressed in national tricolour. They also used to picket liquor shops. She met Mahatma Gandhi as a young girl and took a vow to wear khadi life long
She also began studying law, but ended her studies in 1942 to join the Quit India Movement.
The Chittagong Bomb Raid, Jamshedpur strike and running of parallel governments in Bihar and Maharashtra were some of the major developments that the secret Radio broadcast to the masses.
However, the police found them on 12 November 1942 and arrested the organizers, including Usha Mehta.All were later imprisoned at Yeravda Jail in Pune.
In March 1946, she was released, the first political prisoner to be released in Bombay, at the orders of Morarji Desai, who was at that time the home minister in the interim government.
She continued to spread the Gandhian ideals and was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1998.

2. Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Subject : Polity

Section:National organisation

Context: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves (a) acquisition of majority shareholding in Optimus Drugs Private Limited (ODPL) by Sekhmet Pharmaventures Private Limited (Sekhmet).

Concept:

Competition Commission of India is a statutory body responsible for enforcing the objectives of the Competition Act, 2002.
CCI was established by the Central Government with effect from 14th October 2003, but it became fully functional on 20th May, 2009.
Composition – A Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.

Formation of CCI:

The CCI was established under the provisions of the Competition act 2002:
The Competition Act, 2007, was enacted after amending Competition Act, 2002, that led to the establishment of the CCI and theCompetition Appellate Tribunal.
The government replaced the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2017.

Function of CCI – To eliminate practices having adverse effects on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.

3. HIV drugs shortage is a challenge to ending AIDS in India

Subject: Government Schemes

Section: Health

Context: In June, PLHIV (People Living with HIV) networks across the country started witnessing an acute shortage of certain Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres. Among them were pediatric formulations and dolutegravir, the backbone of HIV treatment.

Staying on anti-retroviral therapy continuously is crucial to keep the virus suppressed.
But the virus can mutate into a resistant form if treatment delivery is poor or patchy.
The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the nodal agency responsible for overlooking and coordinating activities of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) along with the Central Medical Services Society, which is responsible for centralised tendering and pooled procurement of different HIV products, including Antiretroviral drugs.

National AIDS Control Organization (NACO)

National AIDS Control Organization is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides leadership to HIV/AIDS control programme in India through 35 HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Societies.
In 1986, following the detection of the first AIDS case in the country, the National AIDS Committee was constituted in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
As the epidemic spread, need was felt for a nationwide programme and an organization to steer the programme. In 1992 India’s first National AIDS Control Programme (1992-1999) was launched, and National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) was constituted to implement the programme.

Central Medical Services Society

Central Medical Services Society (CMSS) has been established with the approval of Cabinet on 24.08.2011 as a Central Procurement Agency (CPA) to streamline drug procurement and distribution system of Department of Health & Family Welfare (DoHFW), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and to eliminate existing deficiencies.
The Mission of the Society is to procure high quality health sector goods in a transparent and cost-effective manner in line with the directives of the Government of India and ensure timely and un-interrupted supply of health sector goods & services for State Government and Union Territories.
The CMSS Head Office is at New Delhi and Warehouses are at State capitals, at present there are 20 warehouses.

National AIDS Control Programme (NACP)

The National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), launched in 1992, is being implemented as a comprehensive programme for prevention and control of HIV/ AIDS in India. Over time, the focus has shifted from raising awareness to behaviour change, from a national response to a more decentralized response and to increasing involvement of NGOs and networks of People living with HIV (PLHIV).
The NACP I started in 1992 was implemented with an objective of slowing down the spread of HIV infections so as to reduce morbidity, mortality and impact of AIDS in the country.
In November 1999, the second National AIDS Control Project (NACP II) was launched to reduce the spread of HIV infection in India, and (ii) to increase India’s capacity to respond to HIV/AIDS on a long-term basis.
NACP III was launched in July 2007 with the goal of Halting and Reversing the Epidemic over its five-year period.
NACP IV, launched in 2012, aims to accelerate the process of reversal and further strengthen the epidemic response in India through a cautious and well defined integration process over the next five years.
The Programme will offer free HIV Prevention, detection and treatment services in facility and community settings to high-risk, vulnerable and other ‘at-risk’ populations and PLHIV without any stigma and discrimination promoting equity and inclusiveness.
The Programme includes community system strengthening through formal and informal engagement with an emphasis on the decentralized model of district-level programme monitoring and community feedback loop.
The Programme will continue special attention to most at-risk populations, youth, and pregnant women offering a comprehensive package of services. The community will be engaged in the design, concurrent appraisal and feedback to the project for providing strategic guidance and mid-course corrections.

4. India at 75: Milestones in space that made us a force to reckon with

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Space Technology

Vikram Sarabhai formed the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962. With Dr. Sarabhai leading the charge, INCOSPAR set up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in Thiruvananthapuram for upper atmospheric research. Fun fact, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who later became the President of India, was among the initial team of rocket engineers who formed the INCOSPAR.
INCOSPAR then grew and became the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 15th, 1969. It was the perfect day as India was also celebrating its 22nd Independence Day.
It has gradually become one of the six largest space agencies in the world. India has one of the largest fleets of communication satellites (INSAT) and remote sensing (IRS) satellites.
With India’s 75th Independence day round the corner, let’s go back in history and take a look at the key discoveries that put India on the global map for its space journey.
Aryabhata
- Named after the noted Indian astronomer, Aryabhata was India’s first satellite which was launched on April 19th, 1975 from Kapustin Yar, a Soviet rocket launch and development site in Astrakhan Oblast using a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle.
- It was built by the ISRO, and launched by the Soviet Union as a part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. This was an iconic moment in the history of India. In fact, to mark the occasion, the satellite’s image was printed on the reverse of Indian two rupee banknotes between 1976 and 1997.
SLV-3
- The Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) was India’s first experimental satellite launch vehicle, which was a four-stage vehicle. It was capable of placing 40 kg class payloads in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). It was launched on July 18, 1980.
- As per ISRO’s official website, SLV-3 put Rohini in orbit, and hence made India the sixth member of an exclusive club of space-faring nations. Rohini was a series of satellites launched by the Indian Space Research organization. The Rohini series consisted of four satellites, each of which was launched by the SLV and three of which made it successfully to orbit. The series was mostly experimental satellites. The successful culmination of the SLV-3 project paved the way for advanced launch vehicle projects including the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), and the Geosynchronous satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
PSLV
- The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is India’s third generation launch vehicle, and also the first launch vehicle by India that is equipped with liquid stages. PSLV was launched in October 1994 and has since then emerged as a reliable launch vehicle with 39 consecutively successful missions till June 2017. According to ISRO’s website, the vehicle has launched 48 Indian satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad between 1994 and 2017. Not to forget, the vehicle successfully launched two spacecraft – Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013.
Chandrayaan-I
- Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first moon mission. It was the first unmanned lunar probe under the Chandrayaan programme and was launched in October 2008 by ISRO.
- The spacecraft consisted of a lunar orbiter and an impactor. It also comprised instruments that were built in foreign countries like the USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, and Bulgaria. The spacecraft completed over 3,400 orbits around the moon. Although the mission was concluded after communication was lost with the spacecraft on Aug 29, 2009, it still managed to give India’s space program a major boost.
Mars Orbiter Mission
- The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was India’s first interplanetary mission. India became the fourth space agency in the world to reach Mars orbit, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It also made India the first nation in the world to reach the Martian orbit in its maiden attempt. The spacecraft, Mangalyaan, was launched on Nov 5, 2013 and reached Mars’ orbit on September 24, 2014.
GSLV
- Another brilliant innovation by ISRO is the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). GSLV too is a space launch vehicle designed to launch satellites and other space objects into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbits.A three stage launcher with strap on motors, GSLV has the capability to put a heavier payload in the orbit than the PSLV. GSLV-D5 was the first successful flight of the GSLV using the indigenous cryogenic engine. The D5 was launched on January 5, 2014.
Mission Shakti
- In a first-of-its-kind attempt, the Defence Research and Development Organisation managed to successfully neutralise a satellite in space with its anti-satellite (ASAT) missile on March 27 2019. This was one of the most important and complex missions that was undertaken by the DRDO and it was named – Mission Shakti. As you can guess by the name, Mission Shakti demonstrated the organisation’s ability to defend India’s assets, even in space!
Rakesh Sharma’s Sare Jahan Se Achcha
- Amidst all the innovations and brilliant space techs, how can we forget the one name that proved to be India’s golden ticket to fame in matters of space achievements? The one and only Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space! Sharma, a former Indian Air Force pilot, was selected to become a cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint programme between the Indian Air Force and the Soviet Interkosmos space programme.
- He flew aboard the Soyuz T-11 on April 3rd, 1984.

5. India @75: Freedom songs that catalysed struggles against colonialism

Subject: Modern History

Section: Freedom struggle

Context:

Poets like Rabindranath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh, Subramania Bharati, Vallathol Narayana Menon, Sarojini Naidu, Mahadevi Verma and others in India rejected the racialised territorial notion of nationalism during the freedom struggle and linked it to the larger cause of humanity and cosmopolitan patriotism.

Aurobindo pleaded for independence for India in the wider interest of humanity. Thus, while western thinkers believed that homogeneity was essential to build the idea of a nation-state, Indian poets looked at nationalism as the source of spiritual energy and moral enthusiasm to the nation.He wrote poems like “Bride Of The Fire Life”,”The Golden Light”,”TheDreamboat”.”Life And Death”, “Who”,” O Coil, Coil”.
Rabindranath Tagore, who famously said, “I will never allow patriotism (read nationalism) to triumph over humanity as long as I live”, also wrote India’s national anthem Jana Gana Mana as our sacred obligation to celebrate freedom.
If Tagore celebrated provincial freedom in his poems such as BanglarMaatiBanglar Jol (Earth of Bengal, Water of Bengal), he also expanded the notion of nationalism by transgressing the boundaries of narrow walls of geographical and ethnographical prejudices, saying, “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high..”
BankimChandra Chatterjee’s Vande Mataram (I Praise Thee, Mother), originally in Bengali, for the first time, personified India as a mother goddess and the love of one’s country was construed as the highest spiritual act.
It also acquired the status of national song in the context of India’s struggle for independence and was sung in the political context, for the first time, by Rabindra Nath Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress.
Sarojini Naidu, known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India), presented a much broader humanist vision of nationalism in her poems like ‘To India’.
In contrast, Subramania Bharati, the Tamil poet known as ‘Mahakavi Bharathi’, articulated the anguish of the oppressed people and awakened them to fight against the British yoke and also proclaimed his faith in the pantheistic philosophy with crystal clarity. Three of his greatest works namely, KuyilPattu, PanchaliSapatham and Kannan Pattu were composed during 1912.
Savitribai Phule, considered the first modern, radical Marathi poet, raised issues pertaining to caste and gender through her writing and speeches, as well as through direct intervention. In her book of poems “Kavya Phule”, she wrote about ‘breaking the shackles of caste’, and gave a clarion call to the lower caste
As we are celebrating the ‘Har GharTiranga’ campaign, part of India’s 75th independence day celebrations (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav), it’s timely to recall that flag song (ZandaGeet) was written by poet Shyamlal Gupta and it was given the status of national song at the Haripur Congress of 1934.
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, a renowned poet from the Hindi heartland, further extended the universe of nationalism by giving a brilliant tribute to the valour of Rani of Jhansi with her immortal lines:“Khoobladimardaaniwohtoh Jhansi wali Rani thi..”
In the hands of poets like Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, hailed as a Rashtrakavi (national poet), patriotic poetry found a new fervour of veer rasa and also poetry of rebellion. One can’t forget chilling lines of his poem SinghasanKhaali Karo Ke Janata Aaati Hai (‘Vacate the throne, for the people are coming’).
Similarly, Ram Prasad Bismil, one of the founding members of Hindustan Republican Association,galvanised millions of youths with his revolutionary poem “Sarfroshi ki tamanna” during the freedom struggle.
Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s poem Subh-e-Azadi brings back haunting memories of the freedom struggle and partition

6. Have coastal ecosystem norms been violated?

Subject: Environment

Section:

This week, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India tabled a report in Parliament on whether steps taken by the Union Environment Ministry to conserve India’s coastal ecosystems have been successful.
The CAG frequently undertakes ‘performance audits’ of government programmes and ministries. This latest report contains the observations from an audit of Conservation of Coastal Ecosystems from 2015-20.

What are the Centre’s obligations on conserving the coastline?

The government has issued notifications under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, to regulate activities along India’s coasts particularly regarding construction.
The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ) 2019, implemented by the Ministry, classifies the coastal area into different zones to manage infrastructure activities and regulate them.
The three institutions responsible for the implementation of the CRZ are the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) at the Centre, the State/Union Territory Coastal Zone Management Authorities (SCZMAs/UTCZMAs) in every coastal State and Union Territory and the District Level Committees (DLCs) in every district that has a coastal stretch and where the CRZ notification is applicable.
These bodies examine if CRZ clearances granted by the government are as per procedure, if project developers once given the go-ahead are complying with conditions, and if the project development objectives under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP) are successful.
They also evaluate the measures taken up by the government towards achieving the targets under Sustainable Development Goals, a set of United Nations-prescribed targets for countries towards eradicating poverty and becoming sustainable societies.

Why did the CAG undertake this audit?

The CAG has a constitutional mandate to investigate and report on publicly funded programmes. The CAG conducted “pre-audit studies” and found that there were large-scale CRZ violations in the coastal stretches.
Incidences of illegal construction activities (reducing coastal space) and effluent discharges from local bodies, industries and aquaculture farms had been reported by the media and this prompted it to undertake a detailed investigation.

What did the audit find?

The audit pointed out various categories of violations. For one, the Environment Ministry hadn’t notified NCZMA as a permanent body and it was being reconstituted every few years.
In the absence of defined membership, it was functioning as an ad-hoc body. There were instances of the Expert Appraisal Committees — a committee of scientific experts and senior bureaucrats who evaluate the feasibility of an infrastructure project and its environmental consequences — not being present during project deliberations. There were also instances of the members of the EAC being fewer than half of the total strength during the deliberations.
The SCZMA had not been reconstituted in Karnataka and there was delayed reconstitution in the States of Goa, Odisha and West Bengal. The DLCs of Tamil Nadu lacked participation from local traditional communities. In Andhra Pradesh, DLCs were not even established.
There were instances of projects being approved despite inadequacies in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports. These included non-accredited consultants preparing the EIA, using outdated data, not evaluating environmental impacts of the project, not appraising the disasters which the project area was prone to and so forth.

What problems did the CAG find in the States?

Tamil Nadu didn’t have a strategy in place to conserve the Gulf of Mannar Islands. In Goa, there was no system for monitoring coral reefs and no management plans to conserve turtle nesting sites. In Gujarat, instruments procured to study the physiochemical parameters of soil and water of the inertial area of the Gulf of Kutch weren’t used. Sea patrolling in Gahirmatha Sanctuary, in Kendrapara, Odisha did not happen. A research laboratory at Dangmal, Kendrapara District, Odisha constructed in 2016 has not been made functional till date. There was no website to disseminate the information related to the NCZMA , the CAG found, which is a clear violation of the mandated requirements of the Authority.

What lies ahead?

These reports are placed before the Standing Committees of Parliament, which select those findings and recommendations that they judge to be the most critical to public interest and arrange hearings on them. In this case, the Environment Ministry is expected to explain omissions pointed out by the CAG and make amends.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM):

ICZM aims to improve livelihood of coastal communities and conserve the coastal ecosystem.
The ICZM plan involves identification of infrastructure requirements and livelihood improvement means in coastal districts. Conservation of mangroves is among the components.
The national component of the project includes mapping of the country’s coastline and demarcation of the hazard line.
It is a World Bank assisted project.
It is being implemented by the Department of Forests and Environment with assistance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, will provide scientific and technical inputs.

Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)

SICOM has been established under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate change, Government of India with a vision for vibrant, healthy and resilient Coastal and Marine Environment for continuous and enhanced outflow of benefits to the Country and the Coastal Community.

Main Roles, Responsibilities and Objectives: –

Nodal agency for strategic planning, management, execution, monitoring and successful implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) practices in across the country and National Project Management Unit (NPMU) for the ICZM Project and ENCORE project in all the 13 Coastal States/UTs.
To act as a technical Secretariat to the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) related to regulatory provisions and CRZ classification of coastal stretches of the country.
Coordinating agency and an interface for various ministries of Govt. Of India and the Govts and various line departments of the 13 Coastal State/UTs., Funding Institutions (World Bank) for Enhancing Coastal and Ocean Resource Efficiency Project (ENCORE)
To support to check violations to CRZ through improved technology-enabled enforcement strengthened institutions and regulatory and legal reforms.
SICOM has also embarked upon the Pilot Blue Flag Programme, a first in India under Beach Environment & Aesthetic Management Services (BEAMS) for development of world class Beaches in India
Capacity building of Coastal State Units in planning, implementation and management of Integrated Coastal Zone Management programs and other national and State organization / agencies associated with the projects
Serving as an interface among coastal communities, experts, and governments, including providing with and disseminating examples of best practices and guidelines for coastal and marine ecological security and livelihood security of coastal and island communities
To undertake any additional work or function as may be assigned by MOEF&CC from time to time in the areas of coastal management and other related activities