Daily Prelims Notes 16 April 2022

April 16, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

16 April 2022

Table Of Contents

Subject: Environment

Section: Renewable Energy

Context- Muppandal in Tamil Nadu is home to India’s largest operational onshore wind farm in terms of installed capacity. Over three decades, there are visible social impacts on the people living in the districts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari.

Concept-

Wind Power Potential in India:

The Union government has set an ambitious target of achieving 175 GigaWatt (GW) of installed capacity from renewable energy sources by 2022, which includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind power capacity.
The total renewable power installed capacity in the country stood at about 150 GW presently.
It is found by the National Institute for Wind Energy (based in Chennai) that western states have larger potential in terms of a stable, steady, and speedy wind flow starting from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Top States in India – Installed Wind Power Capacity

The wind resource is highly site specific and its commercially exploitable potential is available only in seven States i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Wind power projects are set up by private developers based on techno-economic viability of the project.

Tamil Nadu – Tamil Nadu tops the list of states with the largest installed wind power generation capacity in the country. Share of wind power in electricity generation was around 28% in 2018. Total wind capacity at the end of 2018 stood at 8,631 MW while its total installed electricity generation capacity stood at 30,447 MW at the end of 2018.
Gujarat – Gujarat houses the second-largest installed wind power generation capacity in the country. Share of wind power in electricity generation was around 19% in 2018.
Maharashtra – Maharashtra houses the third-largest installed wind power generation capacity in the country.
Karnataka – Karnataka houses the fourth-largest installed wind power generation capacity in the country.
Rajasthan – Rajasthan houses the fifth-largest installed wind power generation capacity in the country. Wind contributes around 20% of total electricity generated in the state.

Advantages of Wind Park or Wind Farms:

Renewable– meaning that the source of energy is not depleted when it is used. So, as we use wind energy we don’t decrease the amount of wind available; whereas in the case of fossil fuels, it leads to depletion of resources.
Low-cost energy – Although wind turbines have high upfront costs, the energy they produce is cheap.
Clean energy – Generating energy using wind turbines does not emit any greenhouse gases.
Employment generation due to setting up of wind farms.

Disadvantages of Wind Park or Wind Farms:

Shrinking of Agricultural Land: Wind Parks need to be spread over more land than other power stations and need to be built in wild and rural areas, which can lead to industrialization of the countryside. This can lead to threat of food security.
The turbines and the crops don’t set. The natural wind is different. The quality of the vegetables grown has been affected because of the turbine. It hasn’t improved agriculture exactly
Onshore wind is an intermittent source of energy, as turbines cannot generate electricity on demand, but only when the wind is blowing, and at sufficient strength.
When wind strength is insufficient for turbines to operate, the fossil-fuel-based power supply is needed as a backup, which can temporarily increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Noise Pollution: As per some research, people who live or work in close proximity have experienced symptoms that include decreased quality of life, annoyance, stress, sleep disturbance, headache, anxiety, depression, and cognitive dysfunction. However, many researchers have differing opinions.

The Government has taken several steps to promote renewable energy, including wind energy, in the country. These include:

Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route,
Waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,
Declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2022,
Setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug and play basis,
Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity for evacuation of renewable power,
Setting up of Project Development Cell for attracting and facilitating investments,
Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
Government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against Letter of Credit (LC) or advance payment to ensure timely payment by distribution licensees to RE generators.
Conducting skill development programmes to create a pool of skilled manpower for implementation, operation and maintenance of RE projects.
In addition to the above, the following steps have been taken specifically for promoting wind energy:
Concessional custom duty exemption on certain components required for manufacturing of wind electric generators.
Generation Based Incentive (GBI) is being provided to the wind projects commissioned on or before 31 March 2017.
Technical support including wind resource assessment and identification of potential sites through the National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai

2. Bengaluru ﬁrm creates biomaterial platform to tackle climate change

Subject: Environment

Section: Climate change

Context- Bengaluru based start-up Mynusco has created a biomaterials platform for a circular bioeconomy helping farmers create value out of their crop residues and companies to manufacture finished products using sustainable biocomposite materials.

Concept-

Mynusco is manufacturing wide range of biomaterial pellets using crop residue such as coﬀee husk, paddy straw and husk and bamboo waste sourced from agarbatti manufacturers among others.
The creation of a biomaterials platform would help scale up its operations and connect to more converters, who create various various products using its biocomposite materials.

Reducing carbon footprint:

The products made using such biocomposite materials are used in automotive, houseware and furniture industry among others displacing plastics and thereby reducing carbon footprint and helping ﬁght climate change.
India produces over 500 million tonnes of crop waste every year and about two- thirds of this is either burnt or discarded resulting in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

About Biomaterials:

A biomaterial is a substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose, either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a diagnostic one.
Biomaterials science encompasses elements of medicine, biology, chemistry, tissue engineering and materials science.
A hip implant is an example of an application of biomaterials.
Note that a biomaterial is different from a biological material, such as bone, that is produced by a biological system.
Additionally, care should be exercised in defining a biomaterial as biocompatible, since it is application-specific. A biomaterial that is biocompatible or suitable for one application may not be biocompatible in another.
Biomaterials can be derived either from nature or synthesized in the laboratory using a variety of chemical approaches utilizing metallic components, polymers, ceramics or composite materials.
Biomaterials are also used every day in dental applications, surgery, and drug delivery. For example, a construct with impregnated pharmaceutical products can be placed into the body, which permits the prolonged release of a drug over an extended period of time.

3. Democratic Republic of Congo invites Big Oil Companies to world’s second-largest rainforest

Subject: Environment

Section: International convention

Context- The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has approved a plan to auction 16 oil blocks, nine of which fall in the sensitive ecosystem of Cuvette Centrale, in the Congo river basin, the second-largest forested area in the world after the Amazon.

Greenpeace Africa has called out the government, saying that decision would have “cataclysmic consequences” for global climate and local communities.

Concept-

Last week, the council largely approved the 2021 proposal by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons on the auctioning of 16 oil blocks, at least nine of which are in the sensitive ecosystem of the Cuvette Centrale.
The Cuvette Centrale is located in the centre of the Congo river basin.
It contains around 30 gigatonnes of carbon, equivalent to 15 years of emissions from the United States.
According to UNEP, around 75 million people from over 150 distinct ethnic groups depend on the health of this forest that covers much of the Congo Basin peatland complex.
The DRC, the Republic of the Congo and Indonesia signed the Brazzaville Declaration in March 2018 to protect this complex under the leadership of UN Environment and other Global Peatlands Initiative partners, UNEP has noted.
- Peatlands are a type of wetland which occur in almost every country and are known to cover at least three per cent of global land surface.
- The term ‘peatland’ refers to the peat soil and the wetland habitats growing on the surface according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Brazzaville Declaration:

The Brazzaville declaration was singed jointly by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo and Indonesia to promote better management and conservation of the world’s largest tropical Peatlands-Cuvette Centrale region in Congo Basin.
The declaration was signed to conserve the region from unregulated land use and prevent its drainage and degradation.
It has been signed on the side-lines of Third Partners Meeting of Global Peatlands Initiative held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
They are globally important carbon store. The unregulated exploitation of peatlands can potentially be detrimental to environment and to climate, as it could release carbon emissions that have been locked in for millennia.
Peatlands are wetlands that contain mixture of decomposed organic material, partially submerged in layer of water, lacking oxygen.
Their high carbon content makes them uniquely vulnerable to incineration if they are drained.
The Cuvette Centrale region in Congo Basin is world’s largest natural tropical peatlands. It stores three years equivalent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

4. Tower Dumping Technology

Subject: Science & Tech

Section: IT and Communication

Context- A 15-year-old tribal girl was allegedly gangraped and her male friend assaulted in Birbhum district on Thursday, the police said, adding that the minor, in her statement, said four to five people were involved in the incident.

Concept-

About Tower Dumping Technology:

Tower dumping technology helps investigators obtain information on cell phones active in the area around a particular mobile tower.
The dump provides information about the cellphones active in a particular area where the mobile towers are located.
It has been instrumental in cracking several high-profile cases, stated that it was much easier to crack a case through the mobile tower dump if there were suspects.
Tower Dump Analysis is a software tool which helps Law Enforcement Agencies, Police Department & Security Agencies to Import, Analyze, Investigate and Work on the “Call Data Records” (CDR) and any other such type of records, received from various Mobile Operators quickly and efficiently.

5. Phosphatic Fertilizers

Subject: Geography

Section: Environment Geography

Context – India to become AtmaNirbhar in Phosphatic Fertilisers.

Concept-

The agricultural sector’s success largely depends on the fertiliser industry, which manufactures some of the most important raw materials required for production of crops.
Moreover, the Indian fertiliser industry is extremely crucial as it produces phosphorous-based fertilisers such as
- diammonium phosphate (DAP),
- monoammonium phosphate (MAP),
- nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPKs) and
- single superphosphate (SSP).
DAP is the world’s most widely used phosphorus fertilizer. It is popular due to its relatively high nutrient content and its excellent physical properties.
DAP is an excellent source of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) for plant nutrition.
It provides the correct proportion of phosphorous and nitrogen for the farming of grains such as wheat, barley, fruits, and vegetables.
To manufacture these fertilisers, the country mainly depends on rock phosphate, which is a common, key raw material and largely sourced from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Despite this, India imports 90% rock phosphate from other countries.

Current production of phosphatic fertilisers in India:

The fertiliser industry is highly regulated and monitored by the Indian government.
Following this, the government reimburses the price difference between the cost of fertiliser production and price at which it is sold to the beneficiary in the form of subsidy.
According to government data, the overall fertilisers production stood at 37 million metric tonnes, a 3% increase in the first 10 months of FY2021 compared with 36 million in the first 10 months of FY2020.
Moreover, the country’s import dependence (i.e., imports as a proportion of production plus imports) rose from 36% in first 10 months of FY2020 to 38% in the first 10 months of FY2021.

Steps taken to boost production of rock phosphate:

To make India self-reliant in production of fertilisers through indigenous resources, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, under the Indian government, rolled out the following action plan:

Rise in subsidy rates of phosphorus-based fertilisers: In June 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the proposal to hike subsidy rates for phosphorus-based fertilisers by 140% in a bid to provide relief to farmers owing to the start of kharif sowing season. This additional subsidy, which totalled Rs. 14,775 crore (US$ 1.98 billion), was announced as a one-time measure as of the COVID-19 relief.
Expand production of phosphorite deposits: The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers directed domestic manufacturing companies to commercially exploit and increase production in the existing phosphorite deposits (three million metric tonnes), which are available in Rajasthan, Hirapur in Madhya Pradesh, central part of Peninsular India, Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, Mussoorie Syncline in Uttarakhand and Cuddapah Basin in Andhra Pradesh.
Explore potential potassic ore resources: The Department of Mining and Geological Survey planned to expedite exploration of potential potassic ore resources in Rajasthan’s Satpura, Bharusari and Lakhasar; and other states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Encourage joint ventures abroad: The Department of Mining and Geological Survey planned to expedite exploration of potential potassic ore resources in Rajasthan’s Satpura, Bharusari and Lakhasar; and other states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Focus on acquiring manufacturers of fertiliser raw materials aboard: The Department of Fertilisers is working to acquire manufacturers of fertilisers and raw materials overseas to secure the supply of raw materials to India.

Why need Phosphorus?

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient required for plant growth. It helps in root development, plant maturation, and seed development.
If soils are deficient in phosphorus, food production becomes restricted, unless the nutrient is added in the form of fertilizers.
Hence, to increase food production, an adequate amount of phosphorus is required.
Along with nitrogen and potassium, phosphorus is one of the most important elements for plant life.
Soil gets depleted of phosphorus due to several reasons including being washed away by rain. Therefore, modern farming is reliant on the use of phosphorus-based fertilizers.

6. Banknotes

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seems to have shelved its plastic banknote project with the surge in digital payments, further due to its ability to withstand India’s high temperature and the central bank’s plans to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in FY23.

The Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd (BRBNMPL) and the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) have taken up the project of printing a billion pieces of bank notes in denomination of Rs 10 on all available plastic (polymer) substrates and issued to the public in five cities in different climatic zones

— Kochi, Mysuru, Shimla, Jaipur and Bhubaneswar — on a trial basis.

Concept:

Powers?

The Department of Currency Management in the RBI has the responsibility of administering the functions of currency management, a core function of the Reserve Bank in terms of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

This involves forecasting the demand for fresh notes and coins, placing the indent with four printing presses and mints, receiving supplies against those indents and distributing them through the 18 offices of the Bank, a wide network of currency chests, repositories and small coin depots.

Acts and Laws?
Section 22 of the RBI Act, Reserve Bank of India has the sole right to issue banknotes in India.

Section 25 states that the design, form and material of bank notes shall be such as may be approved by the Central Government after consideration of the recommendations made by the Central Board of RBI.

The Reserve Bank in terms of its clean note policy, provides good quality banknotes to the members of the public. The Reserve Bank, in consultation with the Central Government and other stakeholders, estimates the quantity of banknotes that are likely to be needed denomination-wise in a year and places indents with the various currency printing presses for supply of banknotes.

The Government of India is responsible for the designing and minting of coins in various denominations as per the Coinage Act, 2011.The Indian 1-rupee note (Rs 1) is made up of hundred 100 paise as Rs 1 = 100 paise. Currently, it is the smallest Indian banknote in circulation and the only one being issued by the Government of India.

Printing:

Bank notes are printed at four currency presses,

two of which are owned by the Government of India through its Corporation, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL) located at Nasik (Western India) and Dewas (Central India).
two are owned by the Reserve Bank, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd. (BRBNMPL) located at Mysore (Southern India) and Salboni (Eastern India).

Coins are minted in four mints owned by SPMCIL. The mints are located at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and NOIDA. The coins are issued for circulation only through the Reserve Bank in terms of Section 38 of the RBI Act.

Distribution:

The Reserve Bank presently manages the currency operations through its 19 Issue Offices located at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh etc. Further, a wide network of currency chests maintained and managed by scheduled banks are part of currency management architecture.

The Issue Offices receive fresh banknotes from the currency printing presses which in turn send fresh banknote remittances to the currency chests. Direct remittances by the presses to the currency chests also happen.

The Reserve Bank offices located at Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi (Mint Linked Offices) receive coins from the mints. These offices then send the coins to the other offices of the Reserve Bank who in turn send the same to Currency Chests and Small Coin Depots.

Banknotes in circulation?

Banknotes in India are currently being issued in the denomination of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500, and Rs 2000. These notes are called banknotes as they are issued by the Reserve Bank of India.

The printing of notes in the denominations of Rs 2 and Rs 5 has been discontinued though it continues to be legal tender.

Rs 1 notes are issued by the Government of India from time to time and such notes including those issued in the past also continue to be legal tender for transactions.

The bank branches receive the banknotes and coins from the Currency Chests and Small Coin Depots for further distribution among the public.

In terms of Section 24 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, bank notes shall be of the denominational values of two rupees, five rupees, ten rupees, twenty rupees, fifty rupees, one hundred rupees, five hundred rupees, one thousand rupees, five thousand rupees and ten thousand rupees or of such other denominational values, not exceeding ten thousand rupees, as the Central Government may, on the recommendation of the Central Board, specify in this behalf.

7. e-DAR portal

Subject: Governance

Section: Government policies and interventions

Context: A web portal designed by the government in consultation with insurance companies will provide instant information on road accidents with a few clicks and help accelerate accident compensation claims, bringing relief to victims’ families.

Concept:

The Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has developed the portal named ‘e-DAR’ (e-Detailed Accident Report).
Digitalised Detailed Accident Reports (DAR) will be uploaded on the portal for easy access.
The web portal will be linked to the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD). From iRAD, applications to more than 90% of the datasets would be pushed directly to the e-DAR. Stakeholders like the police, road authorities, hospitals, etc., are required to enter very minimal information for the e-DAR forms. Thus, e-DAR would be an extension of iRAD.

Benefits:

e-DAR portal would conduct multiple checks against fake claims by conducting a sweeping search of vehicles involved in the accident, the date of accident, and the First Information Report number.
The portal would be linked to other government portals like ‘Vahan’ and would get access to information on driving licence details and registration of vehicles.
For the benefit of investigating officers, portal would provide geo tagging of the exact accident spot along with the site map. This would notify the investigating officer on his distance from the spot of the incident in the event the portal is accessed from any other location.
Details like photos, video of the accident spot, damaged vehicles, injured victims, eye-witnesses,, would be uploaded immediately on the portal.
Apart from the state police, an engineer from the Public Works Department or the local body will receive an alert on his mobile device and the official concerned will then visit the accident site, to examine it, and feed the required details, such as the road design.
Hotspots for accidents would also be identified so as to obtain solutions to avoid accidents at these hotspots.

irad project

8. Life-long Cabinet status

Subject: Polity

Section: Executive

Context: A public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the High Court of Bombay at Goa has challenged the decision of the Goa government to accord life-long Cabinet status to former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane in January this year.

Background:

PIL has urged the court to quash the January 7 notification that had conferred the “lifetime status of the rank of Cabinet minister”.
Mr PratapsinghRaoji Rane, former chief minister and former speaker (of the Goa Assembly) has completed 50 years as a legislator. The Cabinet has decided that in future also those who complete 50 years and hold posts like CM and speaker will be given the Cabinet status even after their retirement.
Challenges in giving Life-long Cabinet status
- Before granting the lifetime Cabinet status, the Cabinet did not obtain financial sanction from the finance ministry as required under the rules, as the resolution involved financial expenditure.
- PIL, has stated that the Constitution does not provide for conferring Cabinet status on any individual other than a current minister and that there is no law under which Cabinet status can be granted to an individual who was a former minister.
- Goa has a 12-member Cabinet and the conferment of Cabinet status on Rane results in the number of Cabinet ranks being 13, which exceeds the mandate of law, against purpose of the 91st Amendment to the Constitution.

What is Cabinet?

The Council of Ministers is a large body comprising a number of ministers of various ranks seldom meets. The Cabinet is a smaller inner body within the Council of Ministers and it is the effective policy-making organ of the Council. It consists of principal Ministers on whom rests the real responsibility of formulating policies. It is to be noted that even though this system of government is widely known as the Cabinet system of government.

Constitutional Position of Cabinet:

The original constitution did not specifically mention the word Cabinet anywhere and it is based on the understandings and conventions of Britain.
Article 74 of the Constitution provides only the Council of Ministers and makes no mention of Cabinet.
It was through the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978 that the word Cabinet was used under Article 352.
All members of the Council of Ministers are not members of the Cabinet.
Composition of Cabinet: Composition of the cabinet is flexible. It is for the Prime Minister to determine from time to time the compositions of the Cabinet, though due to the relative importance of certain departments, their ministers are invariably its members.
Appointment of Cabinet Minister: Cabinet Ministers are appointed by the President. The Prime Minister selects his Cabinet Ministers. The President has to simply accept the recommendations of the Prime Minister. The President has to accept the team chosen by him.
Qualification of Cabinet Minister: Cabinet Ministers must be a member of either House of Parliament. If a person who is not a member of either House of the Parliament is appointed as a Minister, he shall cease to be a minister after six months unless in the meanwhile Minister has to get himself/herself elected to either House of Parliament within six months.
Disqualification of Cabinet Minister Due To Defection: Also, if a member of Parliament has been disqualified on the ground of defection, he would not be eligible to become a Minister. But if he again gets elected in the next freshly held Parliamentary election then he will be eligible to become a minister.

Role of Cabinet

It is the Cabinet that controls the Parliament and governs the country.
The Cabinet ministers are the members of the Cabinets, while a Minister of State may attend a Cabinet meeting when matters pertaining to his department are to be discussed.
Cabinet decides major questions of policies. Its decisions are binding on all ministers.
The various government departments carry out the cabinet’s policy decision by administering the law and devising measures for enactment as law by Parliament.
Higher-ranking appointments, such as constitutional authorities and senior secretariat administrators, are under the control of the Cabinet.
The Cabinet is in charge of all international policy and affairs.
It is the Cabinet and not the Council of Ministers who advises the President, its advice is binding on him.

9. What is twitter ‘poison pills’?

Subject: Economy

Section: Capital market

Context: Twitter is trying to thwart billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover attempt with a “poison pill”, a financial device that companies have been wielding against unwelcome suitors for decades

Content:

In order to protect themselves from hostile takeovers during these testing times, many companies across the world are taking ‘poison pills’ to ward off hostile takeovers.

The term poison pill refers to a defense strategy used by a target firm to prevent or discourage a potential hostile takeover by an acquiring company.
Potential targets use this tactic in order to make them look less attractive to the potential acquirer.
The ingredients of each poison pill vary, but they are all designed to give corporate boards an option to flood the market with so much newly created stock that a takeover becomes prohibitively expensive.

It emerged in the 1980s, when lawyers for an oil company targeted by corporate raider T. Boone Pickens advised the company to flood the market with new shares, making it more difficult for Pickens to buy a controlling stake.

The typical poison pill is structured as a shareholder rights agreement, where the existing shareholders of the target company get rights to buy additional shares the moment a takeover is announced. These shares may carry a steep discount to the market price or additional voting rights.
The mechanism protects minority shareholders and avoids the change of control of company management. Implementing a poison pill may not always indicate that the company is not willing to be acquired. At times, it may be enacted to get a higher valuation or more favorable terms for the acquisition

10. IMD forecasts ‘normal’ monsoon no El Nino

Subject: Geography

Section: Climatology

Rainfall is expected to be 99 per cent of the historical average for the country during June-September. The sanguine forecast is based on “La Niña” conditions prevailing and likely to continue through the four-month monsoon season.
La Niña is the opposite of El Niño — an abnormal warming of the eastern Pacific waters usually causing heavy rains around South America, but also drought in the other western end whose effects percolate to India.
Besides La Niña, which is generally favourable for the Indian monsoon, the IMD is counting on a “neutral” Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).
A “negative” IOD, wherein the eastern Indian Ocean waters off Indonesia and Australia turn unusually warm relative to the western part, is considered bad for the monsoon. The IMD believes that this time there will be La Niña and “neutral” IOD, at least till early in the season.