Daily Prelims Notes 14 January 2022

January 14, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
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DAILY PRELIMS NOTES

14 January 2022

Table of contents

1. State of forest report 2021

Topic: Environment

Context:

The biennial India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 has been released.

Concept:

What is the India State of Forest Report?

It is an assessment of India’s forest and tree cover, published every two years by the Forest Survey of India under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
The first survey was published in 1987, and ISFR 2021 is the 17th.
India is one of the few countries in the world that brings out such every two years, and this is widely considered comprehensive and robust. With data computed through wall-to-wall mapping of India’s forest
cover through remote sensing techniques, the ISFR is used in planning and formulation of policies in forest management as well as forestry and agroforestry sectors.

Forest Survey of India:

FSI is a national organization responsible for the assessment and monitoring of the forest resources of India regularly.
It functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests and climate change.
It is headquartered in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
It was founded in 1981.
FSI is one of the major national survey organizations in India.
The organization’s precursor was the ‘Pre-investment Survey of Forest Resources’ (PISFR), a project started in 1965 with aid from UNDP and FAO.

Findings of the report:

The India State of Forest Report has found the country’s forest cover has increased by 1,540 sq km since2019.

ISFR 2021 has found that the forest and tree cover in the country continues to increase with an additional cover of 1,540square kilometers over the past two years.

India’s forest cover is now 7,13,789 squarekilometres,21.71%of the country’s geographical area, an increase from 21.67% in 2019. Tree cover has increased by 721 sq km.
The states that have shown the highest increase in forest cover are Telangana (3.07%), Andhra Pradesh (2.22%) and Odisha (1.04%).
Five states in the Northeast–Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland have all shown loss in forest cover.
Mangroves have shown an increase of 17sqkm. India’s total mangrove cover is now 4,992 sq km.
The survey has found that 35.46 % of the forest cover is prone to forest fires. Out of this, 2.81 % is extremely prone, 7.85% is very highly prone and 11.51 % is highly prone
The total carbon stock in country’s forests is estimated at 7,204 million tons, an increase of 79.4milliontonssince2019.
Bamboo forests have grown from 13,882 million culms (stems) in 2019 to 53,336 million culms in 2021.
While ISFR 2021 has shown an increasing trend in forest cover overall, the trend is not uniform across all kinds of forests.
Three categories of forests are surveyed – very dense forests (canopy density over 70%), moderately dense forests (40-70%) and open forests (10-40%).
Scrubs (canopy density less than 10%) are also surveyed but not categorized as forests.
Very dense forests have increased by501 sq km. This is a healthy sign but pertains to forests that are protected and reserve forests with active conservation activities.
The north-east did not show positive results as the current assessment showed a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 1,020 sq km in the region.
Arunachal Pradesh lost the maximum forest cover of 257 sq km, followed by Manipur which lost 249 sq km, Nagaland 235 sq km, Mizoram 186 sq km and Meghalaya 73 sq km.
In total 140 hill districts of the country, the forest cover reduced by 902 sq km in the last two years. In the 2019 report, the forest cover in the hill regions had increased by 544 sq km.

New features in ISFR:

In the present ISFR 2021, FSI has included a new chapter related to the assessment of forest cover in the Tiger Reserves, Corridors and Lion conservation area of India.
In this context, the decadal assessment of change in forest cover within Tiger Reserves, Corridors and Lion conservation area helps in assessing the impact of conservation measures and management interventions that have been implemented over the years.
For the first time assessed forest cover in tiger reserves, tiger corridors and the Gir forest which houses the Asiatic lion.
The forest cover in tiger corridors has increased by 37.15 sq km (0.32%) between 2011-2021, but decreased by 22.6 sq km (0.04%) in tiger reserves. Forest cover has increased in 20 tiger reserves in these 10 years, and decreased in 32.
Buxa, Anamalai and Indravati reserves have shown an increase in forest cover while the highest losses have been found in Kawal, Bhadra and the Sunderbans reserves.
Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh has the highest forest cover, at nearly 97%.

What impact has climate change had?

The report estimates that by 2030, 45-64% of forests in India will experience the effects of climate change and rising temperatures, and forests in all states (except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland) will be highly vulnerable climate hot spots.
Ladakh (forestcover0.1-0.2%) is likely to be the most affected. India’s forests are already showing shifting trends of vegetation types, such as Sikkim which has shown a shift in its vegetation pattern for 124 endemic species.
In 2019-20, 1.2 lakh forest fire hotspots were detected by the SNPP_VIIRS sensor, which increased to 3.4 lakh in 2020-21. The highest numbers of fires were detected in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Slight reduction in capital’s forest cover in two years, shows report:

Forest cover in Delhi has reduced by 0.44 sq km between 2019 (195.44 sq km) and 2021 (195 sq km).
Very dense forest’ (land with tree canopy density of 70% and above) has remained the same at 6.72 sq km.
The extent of ‘moderately dense forest’ (land with tree canopy density of 40%and more, but less than 70%) has increased from 56.42 sq km in 2019 to 56.60 sq km, while open forest land (tree canopy density of 10%and more, but less than 40%) has reduced from 132.30 sq km in 2019 to 131.68 sq km in 2021.
Meanwhile, the extent of ‘trees outside forests’ in Delhi is 283 sq km, higher than that in 2019 (265 sq km). As per the report, this will include trees along linear features such as roads, canals, bunds, and scattered trees.
There has been an increase in terms of ‘tree cover’, which refers to isolated tree sand small patches of trees that are less than 1 hectare in area and found outside recorded forest areas. The ‘tree cover’ has increased from 129 sq km in 2019 to 147 sq km.

2. Mother Teresa

Topic: Personalities in news

Concept:

Mother Teresa, whose original name was Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary.
Mother Teresa was born in Skopje (current capital of North Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.
She left her home at the age of 18 and moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life. Mother Teresa devoted most of her life working for poor and downtrodden.

Mother Teresa in India:

Mother Teresa came to India in 1929 at the age of 19 years and began her novitiate, a period of training that a Christian member of a religious order undergoes before taking vows to discern whether he or she is called to vowed religious life, in Darjeeling.
She served as a teacher at the Loreto convent school in Entally, eastern Calcutta for nearly 20 years and was appointed as its headmistress in 1944. Though Teresa enjoyed teaching, she was extremely disturbed by the sight of poverty that she saw in Calcutta.
The Bengal famine of 1943 had brought death and misery to the city and the August 1946 Direct Action Day marked the beginning of Hindu-Muslim violence in the state.
Mother Teresa experienced “the call within the call” on September 10, 1946 when she was traveling to the Loreto convent in Darjeeling by train from Calcutta for her annual retreat. It made Mother Teresa realize that she was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.
Mother Teresa began her missionary work with the poor in 1948 and she replacing her traditional attire with a simple, white cotton sari with a blue border.
Mother Teresa then applied for Indian citizenship and spent several months in Patna to attain basic medical training at the Holy Family Hospital and then took off into the slums.
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 to help the poorest among the poor. The charity took in an increasing number of homeless children.
Mother Teresa was joined in her effort by a group of young women at the beginning of 1949. Mother Teresa’s efforts quickly caught the attention of Indian officials including the Indian Prime Minister.
In 1952, Mother Teresa converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat, a home for the Dying, free for the poor. The home was renamed as Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday). Those brought to the home not only were given adequate medical attention but also the opportunity to die with dignity in accordance with their faith.
She was the recipient of more than 120 honors and awards during her lifetime including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962 and Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

3. AstraZeneca says early trial data show third dose helps against Omicron

Topic: Science and Technology

Concept:

ASTRAZENECA said that preliminary data from atrial showed that its Covid-19 shot,Vaxzevria, generated an increase in antibodies against the Omicron and other variants when given asa third booster dose.
The increased response, also against the Delta variant, was seen in a blood analysis of people who were previously vaccinated with either Vaxzervria or an mRNA vaccine, the drugmaker said, adding that it would submit this data to regulators worldwide given the urgent need for boosters.
AstraZeneca has developed the vaccine with researchers from the University of Oxford, and lab studies conducted by the university already found a three-dose course of Vaxzevria boosted antibody levels in the blood against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

About AstraZeneca:

The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, codenamed AZD1222, and sold under the brand name Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca given by intramuscular injection, using as a vector the modified chimpanzee adenovirus ChAdOx1.

4. MNREGA audit

Topic: Governance

Concept:

Social Audit of MGNREGA:

Social Audit is the examination and assessment of a programme/scheme conducted with the active involvement of people and comparing official records with actual ground realities. Social Audit is a powerful tool for social transformation, community participation and government accountability.
Section 17 of the MGNREGA has mandated social audit of all Works executed under the MGNREGA. Social Audit is different from Financial Audit.
Financial audits involve inspecting and assessing documents related to financial transactions in an organization to provide a true picture of its profits, losses and financial stability.
Social audits focus on the performance of a programme in fulfilling its intended social objectives and ethical vision through consultation with a range of stakeholders including social programme beneficiaries, community members, government officials and verifying the information obtained with documents and physical evidence.
Thus, social audits examine and assess the social impact of specific programmes and policies.
The process of Social Audit combines people’s participation and monitoring with the requirements of the audit discipline. It is necessary to promote people’s participation in the audit along with support provided by an independent social audit organization that facilitates the process.
The Social Audit process is a factfinding process. The work of the Auditor is to investigate by cross-verifying facts and details in the records from the workers and cross- verifying works at site. The “Auditors” must not view themselves as “Prosecutors”.

Audit of Scheme Rules, 2011:

The Audit of Scheme Rules, 2011 were prepared by MoRD in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
These rules are also called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Audit of Schemes Rules, 2011.
These rules define the process of social audit and responsibilities of the Social Audit Unit (SAU), state government and the field functionaries of MGNREGA, to be followed across the country.
These rules also emphasize the role of the SAU, its pre-requisites, the process of social audit and the responsibilities of designated officials.

Steps of Social Audit:

Social Audit Calendar: The Social Audit Unit (SAU) prepares the social audit calendar for the Gram Panchayat in the State.

Selection of Village Resource Persons (VRPs): The VRPs are identified by the Social Audit Unit in each state. The VRPs should be drawn from the following groups:

Members of SHGs (preferably women members)
Worked under MGNREGA or have family members who have worked under the MGNREGA
Preferably women or persons belonging to the SC, ST, Notified Tribes, De-Notified Tribes/other marginalised groups
Youth from Rural Groups, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Bharat Nirman Volunteers
Training of VRPs: The identified VRPs will attend the training programme on key aspects of MGNREGA, social accountability and social audit.
Consolidation of records: The Block Office will provide all the required documents and the social audit team will cross check and verify these documents. They will ensure that all the records against the total expenditure are made available.

Verification: The social audit team will cross verify the records with the beneficiaries and worksite as follows:

They will verify the documents received from the Programme Officer and the Gram Panchayat.

Through door-to-door verification, they will meet all the workers who have worked under MGNREGA during the financial year. They will check if the full wages have been paid to the workers.

They will visit all the worksites, take the measurements and check the quality of work. They will conduct 100% verification of all the executed work.

Report Preparation: The social audit team collates all the findings and evidences from the verification stage and prepares an issue-wise social audit report for the Gram Sabha.

Social Audit Gram Sabha: After the report preparation, the next step in social audit is to conduct a Social Audit Gram Sabha. The social audit team presents the findings from the verification stage to the people in the presence of an independent observer. The implementing agency needs to respond to the issues raised in front of the Gram Sabha.

Public Hearing: The purpose of the public hearing is to ensure that the orders are issued on a public platform and actions are taken on the social audit findings. The officials from the implementing agencies need to be present and respond to the social audit findings, as well as the queries raised by people.

Village Resource Persons: The Village resource persons serve as the most important link in the chain of the social audit process. They are the ones who perform the role of providing assistance to the community members enabling them to conduct a social audit of their Gram Panchayat.

The following are the key functions of the VRPs during a social audit:

Verify whether MGNREGA wage seekers received all their rightful entitlements.
Verify whether assets created under MGNREGA were built as per the norms recorded.
Assess who is drawing benefits from the works created under MGNREGA and whether works were created keeping in mind the local development requirements of the GP.
Verify whether processes of implementation of MGNREGA in the GP were as per the provisions of the Act and its guidelines.
Ensure proactive disclosure of all information pertaining to MGNREGA to the residents of the GP in a manner that is easily understandable.

5. UGC

Topic: Governance

Context:

As part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ series of events, the Ayush Ministry will organise a ‘Surya Namaskar’ programme, which is expected to have around 75 lakh participants across the country.

In this regard, the University Grants Commission (UGC) wrote to vice-chancellors of all universities, principals of colleges and directors of higher education institutes, requesting them to take part in the initiative.

Concept:

The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India is a statutory body set up in 1956, and is charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education.
Previously, UGC was formed in 1946 to oversee the work of the three Central Universities of Aligarh, Banaras and, Delhi. In 1947, a committee was entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with all the then existing Universities.
After independence, the University Education Commission was set up in 1948 under the Chairmanship of S. Radhakrishnan and it recommended that the UGC be reconstituted on the general model of the University Grants Commission of the United Kingdom.
The UGC was however, formally established in November 1956, by an Act of Parliament as a statutory body of the Government of India.

Important functions performed by the commission:

It provides recognition to universities in India.
It oversees distribution of grants to universities and colleges in India.
It provides scholarships/fellowships to beneficiaries.
It monitors conformity to its regulations by universities and colleges.

6. NCERT

Topic: Governance

Context:

The committee to select the next director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)held interactions with a few shortlisted candidates.
The autonomous body, which assists and advises the government on policies for improvement in school education, has not had a full-time director for more than a year now.

Concept:

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation set up in 1961by the Government of India to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on policies and programmes for qualitative improvement in school education.
The major objectives of NCERT and its constituent units are to:
undertake, promote and coordinate research in areas related to school education
prepare and publish model textbooks, supplementary material, newsletters, journals and develops educational kits, multimedia digital materials, etc.
organize pre-service and in-service training of teachers
develop and disseminate innovative educational techniques and practices
collaborate and network with state educational departments, universities, NGOs and other educational institutions
act as a clearing house for ideas and information in matters related to school education; and act as a nodal agency for achieving the goals of Universalization of Elementary Education.
In addition, NCERT is an implementation agency for bilateral cultural exchange programmes with other countries in the field of school education.

National Curriculum Framework:

NCF provides the framework for creation of the school syllabi and the writing of textbooks, while giving guidelines on teaching practices in India.
It addresses four issues:
Educational purpose
Educational experience
Organization of experience
Assessing learner

7. Global Risks Report 2022

Topic: Reports and indices

Context:

Recently, The Global Risks Report 2022, an annual report, is been released by the World Economic Forum.

Concept:

The annual report was based on a survey of 1,000 global experts and leaders in business, government and civil society on their perception of long-term risks to the world.
Views of over 12,000 leaders from 124 countries who identified their national short-term risks were also analyzed.
It tracks global risk perceptions among risk experts and world leaders in business, government, and civil society.

Findings of the report:

The highest number of respondents thought climate action failure and extreme weather events will be the world’s biggest risks in the next five and 10 years as well, the report showed.
“Social cohesion erosion”, “livelihood crises” and “mental health deterioration” are three of the five risks seen as the most concerning threats to the world in the next two years.
Apart from this, it has significantly contributed to “debt crises”, “cybersecurity failures”, “digital inequality” and “backlash against science”.
“Extreme weather” and “climate action failure”—appear as top risks in the short-,medium-and long-term outlooks.
Governments, businesses, and societies are facing increasing pressure to transition to net-zero economies.
Artificial intelligence, space exploitation, cross-border cyberattacks and misinformation and migration and refugees were rated as the top areas of international concerns.
Growing insecurity in the forms of economic hardship, worsening impacts of climate change and political persecution will force millions to leave their homes in search of a better future.
The prospect of 70,000 satellite launches in coming decades, in addition to space tourism, raises risks of collisions and increasing debris in space, amid a lack of regulation.
The global economic gap will widen by 2024, when the developing countries will have fallen 5.5 per cent below their pre-pandemic expected GDP growth and advanced economies would have surpassed the same by almost 0.9 per cent.

8. Kharai breed

Topic: Species in news

Concept:

About Kharai Camels:

Known as Kharai camels, their name is derived from the local word khara, meaning saline.

Habitat: Kutch, a coastal region of Gujarat, which is also a large desert land, has two camel breeds. One is the popular Kutchi breed and the other, the Kharai breed, native to the region.

The Kharai breed has the special ability to survive on both dry land and in the sea, making it an ecotonal breed.
Recognized as a separate breed a few years ago by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources(NBAGR), the Kharai camel is probably the only domesticated breed of camel that lives in dual ecosystems.
NBAGR also certified the breed as ninth camel breed found in India, separating it from Kutchi camel.

Feeding habits: Kharai camels are known to feed on mangroves on the island off shore. And to eat this salty marine food, they sometimes swim for hours.

Unique features:

These camels have a special ability to swim in seawater and feed on saline plants and mangroves, which is how they get their name, Kharai (‘salty’ in Gujarati).
Their gently padded hooves help them navigate the wet and salty coastal land with ease and they can swim up to three kilometres (1.8 miles)
During the rainy season, they swim along the Gulf of Kutch, an inlet of the Arabian Sea, to small forest islands and graze on mangroves and other saline-loving plants.
They are also known as dariyataru (meaning sea-swimmer).
They have adapted to the extreme climate of the desert, shallow or deep-sea waters, and high salinity.

Population:

As per latest counting, the state has 6,200 camels out of which around 2,200 are found in areas such as Lakhpat, Abdasa, Mundra and Bhachau in Kutch whereas the remaining are seen in South Gujarat near Aliya Bet.

Threats:

Industries in Kutch–salt, thermal power, cement and shipyards, among others–pose a huge threat to the dwindling mangroves.
Most of these industries require constructing jetties in the sea, which results in the cutting down of mangroves that are fodder for the Kharai camels.
The increase in salinity throughout the region and the growth of industrial activities has minimized the availability of camel food and water sources

Conservation status:

IUCN: Endangered
WPA 1972- Schedule I