Daily Prelims Notes 19 December 2020
- December 19, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Table Of Contents
- EASE OF DOING BUISNESS
- FOOD PRICE INDEX
- TECHNICAL TEXTLES
- LOW EARTH ORBIT
- DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS
- ACE2 ENZYME
- DRDO SYSTEMS
- US CYBER ATTACKS
- HUMAN FREEDOM INDEX
- FAIR AND REMUNERATIVE PRICE
- ARTICLE 356
Subject: Economy
Context : The World Bank has corrected two of its recent ease of doing business rankings, adjusting the scores for China and three other nations based on an internal audit after staffers’ claimed of “undue pressure” by management to alter ratings.
Concept:
- Ease of doing business’ refers to the regulatory environment in a country to set up and operate a business.
- The ease of doing business index is an index created by the World Bank Group. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1–190. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
A nation’s ranking on the index is based on the average of 10 sub-indices:
- Starting a business – Procedures, time, cost and minimum capital to open a new business
- Dealing with construction permits – Procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse
- Getting electricity – procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse
- Registering property – Procedures, time and cost to register commercial real estate
- Getting credit – Strength of legal rights index, depth of credit information index
- Protecting investors – Indices on the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of shareholder suits
- Paying taxes – Number of taxes paid, hours per year spent preparing tax returns and total tax payable as share of gross profit
- Trading across borders – Number of documents, cost and time necessary to export and import
- Enforcing contracts – Procedures, time and cost to enforce a debt contract
- Resolving insolvency – The time, cost and recovery rate (%) under bankruptcy proceeding
- The Doing Business project also offers information on following datasets:
- Distance to frontier – Shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the highest performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies included since each indicator was included in Doing Business
- Entrepreneurship – Measures entrepreneurial activity. The data is collected directly from 130 company registrars on the number of newly registered firms over the past seven years
- Good practices – Provide insights into how governments have improved the regulatory environment in the past in the areas measured by Doing Business
- Transparency in business regulation – Data on the accessibility of regulatory information measures how easy it is to access fee schedules for 4 regulatory processes in the largest business city of an economy
India’s Performance
- In India, these rankings are based on the business environment in Mumbai and Delhi. A lower rank indicates better performance on that parameter, whereas a higher rank indicates worse performance on the indicator.
- India jumped 30 spots to secure a place among the top-100 countries on World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking list in 2018. With this year’s performance, India became the first ever country to record highest jump in World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking.
Subject: International Report
Context: The value of the FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations stood at 105 points in November 2020.
Concept:
- The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.
- It consists of the average of five commodity group ( vegetable oil ,sugar, cereals, dairy and meat )price indices weighted by the average export shares of each of the groups over 2014-2016.
- A feature article published in the June 2020 edition of the Food Outlook presents the revision of the base period for the calculation of the FFPI and the expansion of its price coverage, to be introduced from July 2020.
- FAO Food Price Index registered a sharp rise in November to its highest level in nearly six years
- The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 105.0 points in November 2020, up 4.0 points (3.9 percent) from October and 6.4 points (6.5 percent) higher than its value a year ago.
- The November increase did not only mark the biggest month-on-month rise since July 2012, but it also resulted in the index reaching its highest level since December 2014.
- All sub-indices of the FFPI registered gains in November, with the vegetable oil sub-index rising the most, followed by those of sugar, cereals, dairy and meat.
- The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 114.4 points in November, up 2.7 points (2.5 percent).
Subject: Economy
Context: The Textiles Ministry is working on a structure to roll out the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for technical textiles and man-made fibre (MMF) segment, Textiles Minister has said.
Concept:
- Technical Textiles are defined as Textile material and products manufactured primarily for their Technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic and decorative characteristics.
- Technical textiles include textiles for automotive applications, medical textiles (e.g., implants), geotextiles (reinforcement of embankments), agro textiles (textiles for crop protection), and protective clothing (e.g., heat and radiation protection for fire fighter clothing, molten metal protection for welders, stab protection and bulletproof vests, and spacesuits).
Significance and potential applications:
- Technical Textiles are being used globally for last several decades. These materials have provided innovative
- Engineering solutions for several applications in civil and geotechnical engineering, for infrastructure water resources projects.
- Even while Technical Textiles have been extensively used in developed as well as many developing countries, India has yet to capitalize the technical, economical and environmental benefits on large scale.
- Various parts of India are subjected to floods and environmental degradation. In some of the terrains, the flood management and control can rely on Technical Textiles tubes, containers and bags.
- Technical Textiles have been found to perform better than concrete as water protection component because of permeability, flexibility and ease of underwater placement.
Subject: Science & tech
Context: Bharti Global and UK government-led OneWeb announced the launch of 36 communications satellites and said it aims to offer high-speed internet from its constellation of satellites in India by mid-2022.
Concept:
- The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications company on Friday launched the 36 satellites from a Soyuz launch vehicle, which began from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia.
- This takes the total in-orbit constellation to 110 satellites, part of OneWeb’s 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity, a company release said.
- The launch puts OneWeb on track to offer global services to customers from late 2021, starting with the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic Seas, and Canada, with global service in 2022.
Low Earth Orbit
- A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with an altitude above Earth’s surface from 160 kms to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles).
- LEO is high enough to cross all the mountains and also high enough that atmospheric drag won’t bring satellites right back home again.
- It is worth to mention that objects below approximately 160 kilometers (99 mi) will experience very rapid orbital decay and altitude loss.
- Most satellites, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope are also present in LEO. Most manmade objects in space are in LEO. Most navigation satellites by military are also in LEO.
Uses of LEOs;
- LEO-based telecommunication systems provide cheap services to countries. It helps in providing satellite telephone service in hilly areas where it would be too costly or even impossible to lay land lines.
- Low Earth Orbit is used for things that we want to visit our Space Shuttle, like the International Space Station (ISS), Hubble Space Telescope and other military and communication satellites.
- It also helps the country in having a close eye on the cross border activates through navigation satellites.
Subject : Economy
Context: Markets regulator Sebi on Friday gave certain relaxations to non-resident Indians in respect of holding of depository receipts (DRs) issued by India-listed companies.
Concept:
- NRIs can now hold DRs issued by the company under the employee stock option schemes, bonus issue and rights issue, the regulator said.
Depository Receipts
- A Depository Receipt (DR) is a negotiable financial instrument issued by a company in a foreign jurisdiction. They represent certain securities like bonds, shares etc.
- DRs is an important mechanism for raising funds by tapping foreign investors who otherwise may not be able to participate in the domestic market.
- In India, any company, whether private limited or public limited or listed or unlisted are capable of issuing DRs. The issue of DRs is regulated by Ministry of Finance’s “The Depository Receipts Scheme, 2014″.
- Depending upon the location in which DRs are issued, they are called as ADRs (American Depository Receipts), IDR (Indian Depository Receipts) or in general as GDR (Global Depository Receipt).
IDR
- An Indian Depository Receipt is an instrument denominated in Indian Rupees in the form of a depository receipt created by a Domestic Depository (custodian of securities registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India) against the underlying equity of issuing company to enable foreign companies to raise funds from the Indian Securities Markets.
ADR
- A certificate issued in the United States in lieu of a foreign security. The original securities are lodged in Bank/Custodian abroad, and the American Depository Receipts (ADRs) are traded in the US for all intents and purposes as if they were a domestic stock.
- An ADR dividend is paid in US dollars, so it provides a way for American investors to buy foreign securities without having to go abroad, and without having to switch in and out of foreign currencies.
GDR
- Any instrument in the form of a depository receipt or certificate created by the Overseas Depository Bank outside India and issued to non-resident investors against the issue of ordinary shares or Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds of issuing company.
- Generally, GDR is a collective term used to refer DRs issued in non-US jurisdictions and includes the DRs traded in London, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Singapore.
6. ACE2 ENZYME
Subject: Science & tech
Context: The human enzyme ACE2, which enables the novel coronavirus to infect the cell, is also key in protecting against cardiovascular, lung and kidney diseases. And, new research has found, it may be offering protection to women against Covid-19 disease.
Concept:
- The study of several thousand patients has revealed that men have higher concentrations of ACE2 in their blood than women.
- The study also found that heart failure patients taking a certain class of drugs (called RAAS inhibitors) did not have higher concentrations of ACE2 in their blood.
- Some recent research had suggested that Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS )inhibitors might increase ACE2 concentrations in blood plasma, thereby increasing the risk of Covid-19 for cardiovascular patients taking these drugs, but the new study indicates that this is not the case.
ACE2:
- ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2), is an enzyme molecule that connects the inside of our cells to the outside via the cell membrane. ACE2 responds to the novel coronavirus and enables it to infect the human cell.
- High levels of ACE2 are present in the lungs and play a crucial role in the progression of lung disorders related to COVID-19.
- ACE2 is found primarily in lungs, it is also present in our heart, intestines, blood vessels and muscles.
7. DRDO SYSTEMS
Subject: Defence
Context: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over three indigenously developed Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) systems to Army, Navy and Air Force at a function held in DRDO Bhawan.
Concept:
- BOSS is an all-weather electronic surveillance system successfully designed and developed by Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehradun.
- The system facilitates monitoring and surveillance by automatically detecting the intrusions in harsh high-altitude sub-zero temperature areas with remote operation capability.
- The IMSAS is high performance intelligent software system that provide Global Maritime Situational Picture, Marine planning tools and Analytical capabilities to Indian Navy. Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru and Indian Navy has jointly conceptualised and developed the product and the BEL, Bengaluru has implemented it.
- The ASTRA Mk-I is the indigenously developed first Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, which can be launched from Sukhoi-30, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Mig-29 and Mig-29K. it was developed by Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) Hyderabad.
Subject: Science & tech
Context : The ‘SolarWinds hack’, a cyberattack recently discovered in the United States, has emerged as one of the biggest ever targeted against the US government, its agencies and several other private companies. In fact, it is likely a global cyberattack.
Concept:
- This is being called a ‘Supply Chain’ attack. Instead of directly attacking the federal government or a private organisation’s network, the hackers target a third-party vendor, which supplies software to them.
- In this case, the target was an IT management software called Orion, supplied by the Texas-based company SolarWinds.
- Orion has been dominant software from SolarWinds with clients, which include over 33,000 companies. SolarWinds says 18,000 of its clients have been impacted.
- The hackers gained “access to victims via trojanized updates to SolarWinds’ Orion IT monitoring and management software. Once installed, the malware gave a backdoor entry to the hackers to the systems and networks of SolarWinds’ customers.
Subject: International Report
Context: The Human Freedom Index 2020, a worldwide ranking of civil, economic and personal freedom, released recently placed India at the 111th spot out of 162 countries. India ranked 94 on the index in 2019.
Concept:
- India’s scored 6.30 out of 10 in personal freedom and 6.56 in economic freedom. The country’s overall human freedom score was 6.43.
- New Zealand, Switzerland and Hong Kong bagged the first three spots.
- The United States and United Kingdom are tied at the 17th spot on the index. War-torn Syria ranked the last on the list.
- The index put China at 129 rank, Bangladesh at 139 and Pakistan at 140.
- The index was published by American think tank Cato Institute and Fraser Institute in Canada. Fred McMahon and Ian Vásquez are the authors of the report.
- It takes into account 76 indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedoms to rank 162 countries from 2008 to 2018.
- The institutes noted that the world has seen a notable decline in personal freedom since 2008.
10. FAIR AND REMUNERATIVE PRICE
Subject: Economy
Context: Food Minister PiyushGoyal on Friday said the government cannot reduce the FRP, the minimum price at which sugar mills buy cane from farmers, and asked the industry to be efficient, profitable and diversify product portfolio with less dependency on the central subsidy.
Concept:
- Fair and remunerative price (FRP) is the minimum price at which rate sugarcane is to be purchased by sugar mills from farmers.
- The FRP is fixed by Union government on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
- The ‘FRP’ of sugarcane is determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.
- Recommended FRP is arrived at by taking into account various factors (cost of production, demand-supply situation, domestic & international prices, inter-crop price parity etc.
- FRP assures margins to farmers, irrespective of whether sugar mills generate a profit or not.
- This will be uniformly applicable all over the country. Besides FRP, some states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP and TN announce a State Advised Price, which is generally higher than the FRP.
11. ARTICLE 356
Subject: Polity
Context: The Supreme Court Friday stayed an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to examine if there has been constitutional breakdown in the state.
Concept:
- Article 356 of the Constitution of India gives President of India the power to suspend state government and impose President’s rule of any state in the country “if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution”.
- It is also known as ‘State Emergency’ or ‘Constitutional Emergency’.
Implications:
- Upon the imposition of this rule, there would be no Council of Ministers.
- The state will fall under the direct control of the Union government, and the Governor will continue to head the proceedings, representing the President of India.
Parliamentary Approval and Duration:
- A proclamation imposing President’s Rule must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue.
- The approval takes place through simple majority in either House, that is, a majority of the members of the House present and voting.
- Initially valid for six months, the President’s Rule can be extended for a maximum period of three years with the approval of the Parliament, every six months.
Report of the Governor:
- Under Article 356, President’s Rule is imposed if the President, upon receipt of the report from the Governor of the State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
Revocation:
- A proclamation of President’s Rule may be revoked by the President at any time by a subsequent proclamation.
- Such a proclamation does not require parliamentary approval.