Daily Prelims Notes 19 April 2021
- April 19, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Daily Prelims Notes
19 April 2021
Table Of Contents
- ELECTORAL BONDS
- INSURANCE PENETRATION & DENSITY
- EFFECTS OF CORONA VIRUS ON BRAIN
- UNIFORM CIVIL CODE
- FPI
- TYPES OF STARTUPS
- DISC FOOTED BAT
- IP APELLATE BOARD
- OXYGEN EXPRESS
Subject: Polity
Context: In a first, JMM discloses electoral bond details: Rs 1 crore from Hindalco
Concept:
- Electoral Bond is a financial instrument for making donations to political parties.
- The bonds are issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore without any maximum limit.
- State Bank of India is authorised to issue and encash these bonds, which are valid for fifteen days from the date of issuance.
- These bonds are redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party.
- The bonds are available for purchase by any person (who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India) for a period of ten days each in the months of January, April, July and October as may be specified by the Central Government.
- A person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
- Donor’s name is not mentioned on the bond.
2. INSURANCE PENETRATION & DENSITY
Subject: Economics
Context: In yet another remarkable move, both the houses of Parliament have passed the Insurance Amendment Bill in the budget session. The Bill amends the Insurance Act 1938, increasing the FDI limit from 49% to 74%.
Concept:
Insurance Penetration
- Insurance penetration measures the contribution of insurance premium to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country in percentage terms.
- For instance, if a country generates a total insurance premium of say, USD10 billion and that country’s GDP for the same period is USD100 billion, insurance penetration translates to 10% (i.e USD10b/USD100b * 100).
Insurance Density
- Insurance density, on the other hand, is the ratio of insurance premium to the total population.
- It gives an indication of how much each of the people in a country spends on insurance in terms of premium.
- In other words, it is the per capital premium for the country, calculated by dividing the total insurance premium by the population. For example, if the population of the country in the above example is 10 million people, the insurance density (per capital premium) would be USD1,000.
3. EFFECTS OF CORONA VIRUS ON BRAIN
Subject: Science & tech
Context: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, likely does not directly infect the brain but can still inflict significant neurological damage, a new study suggests.
Concept:
When it comes to the brain and nerves, the virus appears to have four main sets of effects:
- A confused state (known as delirium or encephalopathy), sometimes with psychosis and memory disturbance.
- Inflammation of the brain (known as encephalitis). This includes a form showing inflammatory lesions – acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) – together with the effects of low oxygen in the brain.
- Blood clots, leading to stroke (including in younger patients).
- Potential damage to the nerves in the body, causing pain and numbness (for example in the form of post-infectious Guillain-Barré syndrome, in which your body’s immune system attacks your nerves).
Subject: Polity
Context: Chief Justice of India S A Bobde recently appreciated the uniform civil code (UCC) in Goa, the only state to have one. This brought the spotlight back on the UCC debate, although the Law Commission had concluded in 2018 that a UCC is neither desirable nor feasible.
Concept:
- The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) calls for the formulation of one law for India, which would be applicable to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption.
- The code comes under Article 44 of the Constitution, which lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
Background of Uniform Civil Code
- The origin of the UCC dates back to colonial India when the British government submitted its report in 1835 stressing the need for uniformity in the codification of Indian law relating to crimes, evidence, and contracts, specifically recommending that personal laws of Hindus and Muslims be kept outside such codification.
- Increase in legislation dealing with personal issues in the far end of the British rule forced the government to form the B N Rau Committee to codify Hindu law in 1941.
- Based on these recommendations, a bill was then adopted in 1956 as the Hindu Succession Act to amend and codify the law relating to intestate or unwilled succession, among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.
- However, there were separate personal laws for muslim, chirstian and Parsis.
- In order to bring uniformity, the courts have often said in their judgements that the government should move towards a uniform civil code.
- The judgement in the Shah Bano case is well known, but the courts have made the same point in several other major judgements.
- By arguing that practices such as triple talaq and polygamy impact adversely on the right of women to a life of dignity, the Centre has raised the question whether constitutional protection given to religious practices should extend even to those that are not in compliance with fundamental rights.
UCC and Implications
- Protection to Vulnerable Section of Society: The UCC aims to provide protection to vulnerable sections as envisaged by Ambedkar including women and religious minorities, while also promoting nationalistic fervour through unity.
- Simplification of Laws: The code will simplify the complex laws around marriage ceremonies, inheritance, succession, adoptions making them one for all. The same civil law will then be applicable to all citizens irrespective of their faith.
- When enacted the code will work to simplify laws that are segregated at present on the basis of religious beliefs like the Hindu code bill, Sharia law, and others.
- Adhering to Ideal of Secularism: Secularism is the objective enshrined in the Preamble, a secular republic needs a common law for all citizens rather than differentiated rules based on religious practices.
- Gender Justice: India has separate sets of personal laws for each religion governing marriages, divorce, succession, adoption and maintenance.
- However, the rights of women are usually limited under religious law, be it Hindu or Muslim. The practice of triple talaq is a classic example.
- If a uniform civil code is enacted, all personal laws will cease to exist.
- It will do away with gender biases in Muslim law, Hindu law and Christian law that have been often challenged by women on the ground that they violate the right to equality.
Subject : Economics
Context : Three countries – the US, Mauritius and Luxembourg — accounted for more than 50 per cent of the total foreign portfolio investment (FPI) that India received so far.
Concept :
- Out of Rs 44.62 lakh crore investment, US investors accounted for Rs 15.38 lakh crore, Mauritius Rs 5.29 lakh crore and Luxembourg Rs 3.74 lakh crore, according to data from National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL).
Foreign Portfolio Investments
- Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) refers to investing in the financial assets of a foreign country, such as stocks or bonds available on an exchange.
- This type of investment is at times viewed less favorably than direct investment because portfolio investments can be sold off quickly and are at times seen as short-term attempts to make money, rather than a long-term investment in the economy.
- Portfolio investments typically have a shorter time frame for investment return than direct investments.
- As securities are easily traded, the liquidity of portfolio investments makes them much easier to sell than direct investments. With any equity investment, foreign portfolio investors usually expect to quickly realize a profit on their investments.
- Portfolio investments are more accessible for the average investor than direct investments because they require much less investment capital and research.
- Examples of foreign portfolio investments include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, American depositary receipts (ADRs), and global depositary receipts (GDRs).
Subject : Economics
Context :Investors infused a whopping $4.4 billion into Indian start-ups in the January-March quarter, according to data sourced from market research firm Venture Intelligence. This is a decent 26% increase over the same period last year.
Concept :
- Soonicorns are startup companies that have a good possibility of becoming ‘unicorns’, with the chance of acquiring late-stage investment.
- In the world of business, the term ‘unicorn’ denotes a private company, many times a start-up with a stock valuation of over $1 billion.
- The term unicorn is of a recent origin in the business world and was coined by Aileen Lee in 2013.
- Such companies are called unicorn so as to equate them with the mythical animal thereby denoting the rarity of such successful businesses.
- Similarly, Decacorn and Hectocorn are other terms used to depict companies valued over $10 billion and $100 billion respectively.
Subject : Environment
Context : Meghalaya has yielded India’s first bamboo-dwelling bat with sticky discs, taking the species count of the flying mammal in the country to 130.
Concept :
- The disc-footed bat (Eudiscopusdenticulus) was recorded in the north-eastern State’s Lailadarea near the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, about 1,000 km west of its nearest known habitat in Myanmar.
- There are a couple of other bamboo-dwelling bats in India. But the extent of adaptation for bamboo habitat in this species is not seen in the others.
- The flattened skull and sticky pads enabled the bats to roost inside cramped spaces, clinging to smooth surfaces such as bamboo internodes. The disc-footed bat was also found to be genetically very different from all other known bats bearing disc-like pads.
- Scientists analysed the very high frequency echolocation calls of the disc-footed bat, which was suitable for orientation in a cluttered environment such as inside bamboo groves.
- The disc-footed bat has raised Meghalaya’s bat count to 66, the most for any State in India. It has also helped add a genus and species to the bat fauna of India.
Subject : Governance
Context : On April 4, the President of India signed the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, shutting down the IPAB and many other tribunals for good.
Concept :
Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB)
- It was constituted on September 15, 2003 by the Indian Government to hear and resolve the appeals against the decisions of the registrar under the Indian Trademarks Act, 1999 and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
- Since April 2, 2007, IPAB has been authorized to hear and adjudicate upon the appeals from most of the decisions, orders or directions made by the Patent Controller under the Patents Act.
- Therefore, all pending appeals of Indian High Courts under the Patents Act were transferred to IPAB.
- Organization of an IPAB Bench: Each Bench of the IPAB includes a Judicial Member and a Technical Member.
- The qualifications for appointment as a technical member of the IPAB are mentioned in The Trade Marks Act and the Patents Act.
- Jurisdiction: Appeals from the decision of the Controller to the IPAB must be made within three months from the date of the decision/ order or direction, according to the, or within such further time as the IPAB permits, with the appropriate fees.
- An extension is available for filing the appeal by way of a Condonation of Delay (COD) petition.
Subject : Current Events
Context : Railways to run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains to meet demand; UP, Delhi, Gujarat register record spike in cases.
Concept :
- The Railways will run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains over the next few days to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country, the national transporter said on Sunday.
- Amid spiralling coronavirus cases in the country, the demand for medical oxygen in the country has gone through the roof.
- Empty tankers will begin their journey from Kalamboli and Boisar railway stations in and near Mumbai on Monday to load liquid medical oxygen from Vizag, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro, officials said.Medical Oxygen
Medical Oxygen
- Medical oxygen is the oxygen which we use to treat patients. We use it to maintain enough oxygen level in our blood.
- Oxygen therapy is the use of oxygen as a medical treatment. We can use it to treat low blood oxygen levels, carbon monoxide toxicity, cluster headaches, etc.
- This oxygen provides a basis for virtually all modern anaesthetic techniques, restores tissue oxygen tension by increasing the oxygen availability, aids resuscitation, aids cardiovascular stability, etc.
- However, there are some side effects as well. Furthermore, high concentrations can cause toxicity