Daily Prelims Notes 14 June 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

14 June 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Disinflation to be slow and long: Das
2. ‘Justice’ takes centre stage in the latest Earth Commission report
3. Why Punjab’s area under cotton cultivation has been decreasing
4. What are some of the deadliest cyclones to have hit India in the past?
5. Seven days later, Agenda for SB 58 still not adopted
6. HAP to take AI governance global
7. Twitter faced threats, says ex-CEO; Centre calls it a lie
8. Lightning- blamed for Canada fires, will get worse in a warming world
9. Anjadip and Sanshodhak
10. No CERT – in update on data leak yet
11. India and U.S. to diversify global semi-conductor supply chains
12. Shah asks states to prepare Disaster Management Plan

1. Disinflation to be slow and long: Das

Subject : Economy

Section: Inflation and unemployment

Context: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the disinflation process in India will be slow.

Concept:

What is Disinflation?

• Disinflation is a decline in the rate of inflation. The inflation rate is declining over time, but it remains positive.
• Disinflation should not be confused with deflation, which is fall in price level. Disinflation accompanied by higher economic growth, is a favourable position for economy.
• Deflation occurs when asset and consumer prices fall over time. t is the opposite of the often-encountered inflation.
• A reduction in money supply or credit availability is the reason for deflation in most cases. Reduced investment spending by government or individuals may also lead to this situation.

Impact:

Deflation leads to a problem of increased unemployment due to slack in demand.

Is deflation similar to disinflation?
Deflation is different from disinflation as the latter implies decrease in the level of inflation whereas on the other hand deflation implies negative inflation.

2. ‘Justice’ takes centre stage in the latest Earth Commission report

Subject :Environment

Section: Climate change

Context:

• The latest Earth Commission Report attached a “justice” framework to its earlier discourse of “safe” planetary boundaries, which are the environmental limits within which humans can safely operate.

Details:

• The new paper, titled Safe and Just Earth System Boundaries expands the scope of “planetary boundaries” and calls them “earth system boundaries” (ESBs) instead, as it looks at wise resource use not just at the global level, but also at the regional and local levels.

About the report:

• In 2009, a global team of scientists defined planetary boundaries for nine earth system processes to define the safe threshold within which humans can function and grow, beyond which there will be a devastating effect on the safety and health of the planet.
• A recent report in the series modifies the term planetary boundaries to earth system boundaries and attempts to quantify human minimum needs both at global and sub-global levels and the resultant emissions from meeting those needs.
• The new report adopts a justice lens to view earth system boundaries by acknowledging that inequalities and unjust distribution of resources exist.
• As a next step, the authors will come up with measures for a just transformation across all earth system boundaries which would require a leap in the understanding of how justice, economics, technology and global cooperation can be furthered, for a safe and just future.

What are Earth System Boundaries (ESB):

• In 2009, a global team of scientists, that later constituted the Earth Commission, came together to identify thresholds or boundaries for nine earth system processes which, if breached, could have devastating and irreversible environmental changes.
• The nine processes identified were

1. climate change;
2. rate of biodiversity loss;
3. interference with the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles;
4. stratospheric ozone depletion;
5. ocean acidification;
6. global freshwater use;
7. change in land use;
8. chemical pollution; and
9. atmospheric aerosol loading.

• The idea was to define a safe operating space for humanity within a set of interlinked thresholds in these earth system processes.
• At the time of the 2009 report, three of the nine boundaries — climate change, biosphere integrity and altered biogeochemical cycles — had already been overstepped.
• In 2015, one more boundary- Land Use– has been breached.
• The 2015 paper also identified ‘climate change’ and ‘biosphere integrity’ as the ‘core boundaries’, upon which other boundaries are dependent.

“Just” threshold to address inequalities and unjust distribution of resources:

• The three-justice criteria or the “3Is”  include interspecies justice and earth system stability; intergenerational justice that stems from the thought that we need to recognise the potential long-term consequences of short-term actions and associated trade-offs and synergies across time; and intragenerational justice between countries, communities and individuals as well as intersectional justice that considers multiple and overlapping social identities and categories like gender, race, age, etc.

3. Why Punjab’s area under cotton cultivation has been decreasing

Subject :Geography

Section: Economic geography

Context:

• Punjab has recorded its lowest-ever area under cotton cultivation in over six decades.

Details:

• Haryana and Rajasthan have been performing well in this regard due to the presence of such research centres.
• In Haryana, approximately 11 lakh bales were produced this year, while Rajasthan had 27 lakh bales. In contrast, Punjab produced 2.50 lakh bales as of March 2023.

When was the decrease in Punjab’s cotton farming area noted?

• This year Punjab managed to bring 1.75 lakh hectares of land under cotton cultivation, falling short of the state government’s target of 3 lakh hectares by 42%, with the lowest-ever area recorded under cotton farming.
• The state’s cotton yield has decreased by 45% compared to the previous year.
• The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for cotton this year is Rs. 6,600, while the market rate is Rs. 7,000 per quintal.
• Decline:
  • The decline began in 2015 when the cotton crop was severely attacked by whiteflies.
  • The insect is also a carrier for the leaf curl virus. The disease-affected plants get stunted and lead to reduced yields.

• Reasons for decline:
  • Lower yield
  • Pest attacks like Pink Bollworm insect and whitefly infestation.
  • Shifting to paddy and basmati crops

4. What are some of the deadliest cyclones to have hit India in the past?

Subject :Geography

Section: Physical geography

Context:

• A severe cyclonic storm named Biparjoy is likely to hit India’s western state of Gujarat and southern parts of Pakistan.

List of severe cyclones:

• An ‘extremely severe cyclone’, named Tauktae, hit the western coast of India, packing gusts of up to 210 km per hour.
• Cyclone Fani hit the eastern coast of India and made landfall in the eastern state of Odisha.
• OCTOBER 1999, ODISHA
  • A ‘super cyclonic storm’ crossed the Odisha coast near Paradip with a wind speed of 260 km per hour at the time of landfall, killing 9,885 people and injuring 2,142, according to official estimates.
• June 1998, Gujrat
  • A ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ crossed the Gujarat coast near Porbandar with an intensity of 167 km per hour at the time of landfall, killing 1,173 people.

Some other extremely severe cyclonic storms are:

5. Seven days later, Agenda for SB 58 still not adopted

Subject : Environment

Section: International conventions

Context:

• The second plenary meeting on the adoption of the agenda for the Subsidiary Bodies 58 (SB 58) conference on June 12 in Bonn, Germany, ended in a stalemate with no formal agenda adopted.

Details:

• Now, the Parties and the chairs of the SBI and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) have gone back into huddles to decide on the way forward with the possibility that the SB 58 conference may end without a formal agenda adopted.

Major concern:

• The two main contentions are:
  • The agenda item on the Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme or simply Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) and
  • The agenda item on finance based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities proposed by Bolivia on behalf of the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group.

Mitigation work programme:

• Setup in 2021 at the UNFCCC forum.
• Objective: ‘Work programme for urgently scaling up mitigation ambition and implementation.
• It was proposed to address the insufficiency of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and bridge the gap by increasing ambition in pledges to cut emissions.
• Should be guided by the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities- Respected Capabilities (CBDR-RC).
• It should not be a replication of Global Stocktake.

Global Stocktake:

• Delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 wrapped up the second technical dialogue of the first global stocktake, a mechanism to raise ambition under the Paris Agreement.
• The global stocktake is a critical turning point when it comes to efforts to address climate change – it’s a moment to take a long, hard look at the state of our planet and chart a better course for the future.
• The global stocktake is a Party-driven process conducted in a transparent manner and with the participation of non-Party stakeholders, that enables countries and other stakeholders to see where they’re collectively making progress toward meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement – and where they’re not.
• It’s like taking inventory. It means looking at everything related to where the world stands on climate action and support, identifying the gaps, and working together to agree on solutions pathways (to 2030 and beyond).
• Administered by: UNFCCC.

6. HAP to take AI governance global

Subject: International Relations

Section: MSc

Concept :

• Recently, in the annual Group of Seven (G7) Summit the G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué initiated the Hiroshima AI Process (HAP)

Hiroshima AI Process (HAP):

• It is an effort by the G7 bloc to determine a way forward to regulate artificial intelligence (AI).
• It also encourages international organisations such as the OECD to consider the analysis of the impact of policy developments and the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) to conduct practical projects.

Significance of HAP for AI:

• It will indicate the values and norms and from where AI will derive its guiding principles.
• It will align the development and implementation of values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.
• It also emphasizes fairness, accountability, transparency, and safety.
• The HAP will not address AI regulation from a state-centric perspective but will be a multiple-stakeholder approach through a fair and transparent mechanism.
• Regulating AI is a challenge due to divergence among G-7 member countries.
• It is said that HAP will be similar to intellectual property rights (IPR).
• The HAP will bring greater clarity to the role and scope of the ‘fair use’ doctrine in the use of AI for various purposes.

Global Partnership on AI (GPAI)

• It is a multi-stakeholder initiative which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• Launched in June 2020 with 15 members, GPAI is the fruition of an idea developed within the G7.
• At present, it has 29 members and India is also a member of this initiative.
• Its secretariat is at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

7. Twitter faced threats, says ex-CEO; Centre calls it a lie

Subject : Polity

Section :Constitution

Concept :

• Twitter’s former chief executive officer Jack Dorsey has accused the Indian government of threatening to shut down the social media platform in India unless it complied with its orders during the farmers’ protest in 2020-21.
• He further said the government demanded “contact information” of certain accounts in addition to shutting them down.
• The government refuted the claims and has called it an “outright lie”.
• The Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology highlighted that Twitter had continuously resisted Indian laws. He further said that “India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India”.
• Notably, Mr. Dorsey quit as Twitter CEO in 2021 and Elon Musk purchased the platform in 2022.
• During the protests, some accounts were taken down. However, they were restored by Twitter following free speech concerns.

Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000

• It empowers the central government to block the online content and arrest the culprit. This is the primary law that deals with cyber-crime and electronic commerce in India.
• Section 69A of the Information Technology Act has given many power to the central government.
• Issue direction to remove objectionable content on social media and any other website.
• To block the online content in the wake of sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, defence of India, friendly relations with foreign States.
• The procedure and safeguards subject to which such blocking for access by the public may be carried out shall be such as may be prescribed.
• The concerned authorities failing to comply with the direction (sub-section 1) issued might be punished with imprisonment for a term up to to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
• The apex court said that the Centre can exercise its power to issue directions to block an internet site, saying there are adequate procedural safeguards. The court also said that national security is above individual privacy.
• As we know that the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 allows the central government to tap phones. The Supreme Court had given a verdict in 1996 and said that the government can tap phones only in case of a “public emergency”.
• But in the case of Section 69 of the IT Act, no such restriction is imposed by the Supreme Court.
• Recently the government of India had banned many Chinese apps citing the provisions of Section 69A of the information technology act, 2000.

8. Lightning- blamed for Canada fires, will get worse in a warming world

Subject : Geography

Section: Physical geography

Concept :

• According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there are 426 active fires in the country as on June, 2023.

What is causing the wildfires in Canada?

• The Reuters report stated that Wildfires in Canada’s British Columbia and Alberta province have been caused by lightning. It is the main precursor of natural wildfires.
• Observation: Laboratory experiments and field observations have indicated that continuing electrical currents in lightning flowing for more than some tens of milliseconds (so-called Long-Continuing-Currents, or LCC) are likely to produce fires.

What does the report imply about global lightning and global LCC?

• According to the study, simulations suggest an increase in total global lightning and global LCC by the 2090s.
• The simulated globally averaged surface temperature increases by about 4 Kelvin (since Kelvin and Celsius have a linear relationship, this equals to an increase by about 4 degrees Celsius), and thus we obtain an increase in total lightning activity of 11% per Kelvin.
• The estimated increase of LCC lightning over land by 47% indicates a higher risk of lightning-ignited wildfires in the future.
• Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground. In the early stages of development, air acts as an insulator between the positive and negative charges in the cloud and between the cloud and the ground.

How does lightning work?

• During a storm, water droplets from warmer air and ice crystals from cooler air come together to form thunderstorm clouds. Contact between these water droplets and ice crystals produce a static electrical charge in clouds.
• When opposing negative and positive charges in clouds build up, the insulating capacity of air between the charges as well as between the cloud and the ground breaks down, leading to a rapid discharge. This is what we call lightning. It can occur between opposite charges within the thunderstorm cloud, or between opposite charges in the cloud and on the ground.

Is lightning an indicator of climate change?

• The World Meteorological Organisation recognises lightning as an essential climate variable that critically contributes to the characterization of the earth’s climate.
• As global warming increases the earth’s surface temperature, lightning activity is also predicted to increase.
• According to American Geophysical Union’s magazine Eos, lightning also produces nitrogen oxides. These react with other gases in the atmosphere and produce ozone, which is a strong greenhouse gas that traps earth’s outgoing heat and retains it in the atmosphere, altering climate and weather patterns.

9. Anjadip and Sanshodhak

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Defence

Concept :

• Two warships Anjadip and Sanshodak were launched recently.

Anjadip:

• ‘Anjadip’ is the 3rd of eight ships of Shallow Water Craft (SWC) Project
• The ship has been named Anjadip to signify the strategic maritime importance accorded to the island of Anjadip, located off Karwar, Karnataka.
• The island is connected to the mainland by a breakwater and is part of INS Kadamba.
• The ‘Arnala’ class of ships would replace the current ‘Abhay’ class of Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes of the Navy.
• These are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, low intensity maritime operations, subsurface surveillance among others.
• The ships would have 80 per cent indigenisation.

Sanshodhak:

• A warship ‘Sanshodhak’, – the fourth Survey Vessel Large (SVL) – of Indian Navy, was launched recently.
• The ship named ‘Sanshodhak’, meaning ‘Researcher’, signifies the primary role of the ship as a Survey Vessel.
• SVL ships will replace the existing Sandhayak Class survey ships, with new generation hydrographic equipment, to collect oceanographic data.
• With a capability to carry four Survey Motor Boats and an integral helicopter, the primary role of the ships would be to undertake full scale coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys of ports and navigational channels.
• The ships would also be deployed for collecting oceanographic and geophysical data for defence as well as civil applications.
• The SVL will have over 80 per cent indigenous content.

10. No CERT – in update on data leak yet

Subject : Polity

Section : National Body 

Concept :

• The Computer Emergency Team (CERT-in) has not released an update on its assessment of the leak yet, nor has it issued advisory on how impacted people should act to secure themselves.
• Union government said that the Union health ministry has also initiated an investigative exercise related to the CoWIN service which will throw up some clues in the “next couple of days.”
• There can be more sophisticated forms of hacking, including through architectural vulnerabilities in the application programming interface or API.
• Programmes exchange information with each other through APIs. An expert noted that an app or a service used by any one to update hospitals’ vaccine data can act as such a gateway.

Clarification on CoWIN Data Access

• Three methods of data access: The Ministry outlines the three ways in which data can be accessed on the CoWIN portal: user access, vaccinator access, and authorized third-party applications.
• Data sharing with Telegram bot: The Ministry clarifies that data cannot be shared with the Telegram bot without undergoing the one-time password (OTP) authentication process.
• Limited data collection: CoWIN only collects the year of birth and does not capture a person’s address.

Unanswered Questions and API Access

• Uncertainty regarding recent breaches: The Ministry has not explicitly clarified whether the CoWIN database was breached recently or in the past.
• Lack of insights on bot accuracy: The Ministry’s statement does not offer insight into the accuracy of the Telegram bot’s retrieval of citizens’ data from the CoWIN database.
• API access without OTP: The Ministry admits the existence of an API that allows data sharing without OTP, but emphasizes that requests are accepted only from trusted whitelisted APIs.

Concerns and Aadhaar Data

• Accuracy of Aadhaar details: The accuracy of displaying Aadhaar numbers corresponding to mobile numbers raises concerns, as the government has never publicly acknowledged any breaches of Aadhaar data.
• Need for clarity: The Ministry’s statement does not provide clarity on how the Telegram bot accurately displayed Aadhaar numbers.
• Addressing security concerns: The Ministry should address concerns regarding the security of Aadhaar data and provide transparency on its safety measures.

Future Steps and Data Governance Policy

• Empowering CERT-In: The Health Ministry has requested a final report from CERT-In to investigate the alleged data breach incident thoroughly.
• National Data Governance policy: The Ministry highlights the finalization of the National Data Governance policy, which aims to establish a common framework for data storage, access, and security standards across the government.
• Awaited response from CERT-In: The Ministry is awaiting a response from CERT-In regarding the issue, which will provide further insights into the nature of the breach.

11.  India and U.S. to diversify global semi-conductor supply chains

Subject : International Relations

Section : Indian and Major power

Concept :

• On the India-U.S. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), Indian NSA Ajit Doval expressed confidence over ‘the response of the industry, of the scientists and research scholars and institutions’
• Later, Mr. Sullivan, who is on a two-day India visit, attended a round table on ‘Advancing India-U.S. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET)‘ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), where he said that India and the U.S. will “diversify global semi-conductor supply chains”.

About the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET):

• It was launched by the US President and Indian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the Quad summit on May 2022.
• Goal: To elevate and expand Indo-U.S. strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries.
• The initiative will be spearheaded by the National Security Council Secretariat in India and the US National Security Council.
• The initiative would help forge links between the government, academia, and industry in areas such as AI, quantum computing, 5G/6G, biotech, space, and semiconductors.
• Under iCET, the two sides have identified six focus areas of co-development and co-production:
• strengthening innovation ecosystems;
• defense innovation and technology cooperation;
• resilient semiconductor supply chains;
• space;
• STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) talent;
• next-generation telecom.

12. Shah asks states to prepare Disaster Management Plan

Subject : Polity

Section :Msc

Concept :

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 13 asked States to prepare a disaster management plan in areas where seven new nuclear installations are to become operational.
• He asked the States to prepare a road map in conjunction with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
• Also, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday announced three major schemes worth over Rs 8,000 crore that would cover the modernisation of fire brigade services in all states, flood mitigation in seven major cities and prevention of landslides in 17 states.
• Shah highlighted that one lakh youth volunteers are being trained to deal with calamities in 350 disaster-prone districts under the ‘Aapda Mitra’ scheme, which has yielded good results.

National Disaster Management Plan, 2016

• The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) was released in 2016, it is the first ever national plan prepared in the country for disaster management.
• With National Disaster Management Plan (2016), India has aligned its National plan with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, to which India is a signatory.
• The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) aims to make India disaster resilient and significantly reduce the loss of lives and assets.
• The plan is based on the four priority themes of the “Sendai Framework,” namely:
• understanding disaster risk
• improving disaster risk governance
• investing in disaster reduction (through structural and non-structural measures)
• disaster preparedness, early warning and building back better in the aftermath of a disaster.

About ‘Aapda Mitra’ scheme

• It is a Central Sector Scheme that was launched in May 2016.
• NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) is the implementing agency.
• It is a programme to identify suitable individuals in disaster-prone regions who can be trained to be first responders in times of disasters.
• Aim:
  • To provide the community volunteers with the skills that they would need to respond to their community’s immediate needs in the aftermath of a disaster thereby enabling them to undertake basic relief and rescue tasks during emergency situations such as floods, flash-floods and urban flooding.
• Objectives:
  • Training institutions to be empanelled by respective States/UTs at the State/UT level.
  • To train community volunteers in life saving skills of disaster response (flood relief and rescue), coordination, assistance, and provide personal protective equipment and emergency responder kits;
  • To create a Community Emergency Stockpile/Reserve at the district/block level containing essential light search and rescue equipment, medical first aid kits, etc;
  • To disseminate training and education tools developed under the project to more flood prone districts in subsequent phases of the scheme.