Daily Prelims Notes 19 January 2021

January 19, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes 19 January 2021

By

Santosh Sir

All 6 Prelims qualified

4 CSE Mains qualified

If I can do it, you can too

Table Of Contents

1. AEFI

Subject: Science & tech

Context: According to data collated by the 81 centres where the vaccination programme is being carried out, 26 cases of AEFI (adverse event following immunisation) have been reported with one beneficiary being hospitalised.

Concept:

Adverse events following immunization (AEFI)

As vaccine-preventable infectious diseases continue to Adecline, people have become increasingly concerned about the risks associated with vaccines.
Furthermore, technological advances and continuously increased knowledge about vaccines have led to investigations focused on the safety of existing vaccines which have sometimes created a climate of concern.
Adverse event following immunization is any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunization and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine.
If not rapidly and effectively dealt with, can undermine confidence in a vaccine and ultimately have dramatic consequences for immunization coverage and disease incidence.
Alternatively, vaccine-associated adverse events may affect healthy individuals and should be promptly identified to allow additional research and appropriate action to take place.
In order to respond promptly, efficiently, and with scientific rigour to vaccine safety issues, WHO has established a Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

2. NCBC

Subject : Polity

Context : The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has sought an inquiry into a complaint against a government-appointed committee that recently recommended that IITs be exempt from reserving faculty positions.

Concept :

National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)

102nd Constitution Amendment Act, 2018 provides constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
Previously NCBC was a statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment .

Composition

The Commission consists of five members including a Chairperson, Vice- Chairperson and three other Members appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
The conditions of service and tenure of office of the Chairperson, Vice- Chairperson and other Members is determined by President.

Powers and functions of NCBC

Under the Constitution Amendment Bill, the duties of the NCBC will include:

(i) Investigating and monitoring how safeguards provided to the backward classes under the Constitution and other laws are being implemented,

(ii) Inquiring into specific complaints regarding violation of rights, and

(iii) Advising and making recommendations on socio-economic development of such classes.

The central and state governments will be required to consult with the NCBC on all major policy matters affecting the socially and educationally backward classes.
It presents to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards. The President laid such reports before each House of Parliament.
Where any such report or any part thereof, relates to any matter with which any State Government is concerned, a copy of such report shall be forwarded to the State Government.
NCBC has to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the socially and educationally backward classes as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify.

Quasi Judicial Body

Under the Constitution Amendment Act, the NCBC will have the powers of a civil court while investigating or inquiring into any complaints. These powers include:

(i) Summoning people and examining them on oath,

(ii) Requiring production of any document or public record, and

(iii) Receiving evidence.

Relevant Constitutional Provisions

Article 340 deals with the need to identify those “socially and educationally backward classes”, understand the conditions of their backwardness, and make recommendations to remove the difficulties they face.
102nd Constitution Amendment Act inserted new Articles 338 B and 342 A.
The amendment also brings about changes in Article 366.
Article 338B provides authority to NCBC to examine complaints and welfare measures regarding socially and educationally backward classes.
Backward classes: The Constitution Amendment Bill states that the President may specify the socially and educationally backward classes in the various states and union territories. He may do this in consultation with the Governor of the concerned state. However, a law of Parliament will be required if the list of backward classes is to be amended. (Article 342 A) .

3. NBA

Subject : National Organisations

Context : News Broadcasters Association (NBA) demanded that Indian Broadcasting Federation, a body of television channels of the country, should suspend the channel’s membership.

Concept :

News Broadcasters Association (NBA):

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) represents the private television news & current affairs broadcasters.
It is the collective voice of the news & current affairs broadcasters in India. It is an organization funded entirely by its members.
The NBA has presently 26 leading news and current affairs broadcasters (comprising 70 news and current affairs channels) as its members.
The NBA presents a unified and credible voice before the Government, on matters that affect the growing industry.
News Broadcasters Services Authority (NBSA) administers the Codes of Ethics & Broadcasting Standards, which has been voluntarily drawn by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) for its member broadcasters to demonstrate their commitment to responsible broadcasting and to self regulate themselves.

4. GEO ENGINEERING

Subject : Environment

Concept :

Geoengineering is an umbrella term for human interventions that change the earth’s climate system .
There are currently two main approaches under the geoengineering umbrella: carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM).
CDR tackles the root cause of global warming by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere — think carbon capture and storage.
SRM, meanwhile, leaves greenhouse gases untouched, but offsets their impact by reflecting sunlight away from the earth.
Whereas CDR addresses the cause of global warming, reducing greenhouse gases, SRM only masks it or offsets it.

Geoengineering Techniques

Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)

It is the process of extracting bioenergy from biomass and capturing and storing the carbon, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. The carbon in the biomass comes from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) which is extracted from the atmosphere by the biomass when it grows.
Energy is extracted in useful forms (electricity, heat, biofuels, etc.) as the biomass is utilized through combustion, fermentation, pyrolysis or other conversion methods.

Ocean fertilization or ocean nourishment

Ocean fertilizationis a type of climate engineering based on the purposeful introduction of nutrients to the upper ocean to increase marine food production and to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A number of techniques, including fertilization by iron, urea and phosphorus have been proposed.

Soil carbon sequestration (SCS)

Soils can serve as a sink for carbon dioxide since atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have crossed 410 parts per million and oceans are already turning acidic.
Carbon sequestration in soils has the potential to offset GHG emissions from fossil fuels by up to 15% annually.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) comes from plants, animals, microbes, leaves and wood, mostly found in the first metre or so.
There are many conditions and processes that determine changes to SOC content including temperature, rainfall, vegetation, soil management and land-use change.

Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI)

SAI is the main type of solar radiation management (SRM) .
In the case of SAI, gases are pumped into the stratosphere to reflect some of the sun’s heat, mimicking an effect that happens naturally in a strong volcanic eruption.
Scale of SAI makes its governance difficult — implementing it in one country can trigger rain and extreme weather across borders. Lack of public support might be the biggest hurdle.

Marine cloud brightening (MCB)

MCB involves reflecting sunlight away from the earth in some way. In this case, sea salt or other particles are sprayed into marine clouds to make them thicker and more reflective.

Cirrus cloud thinning (CCT)

CCT is almost the opposite of marine cloud brightening. High-altitude Cirrus clouds are thin and whispy, so they don’t reflect much solar radiation back into space, and instead trap long-wave radiation on earth.
CCT proposes thinning them further through cloud seeding, letting more long-wave radiation escape.

5. LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP

Subject : Economics

Context :Decriminalising various offences and permitting LLPs to issue non-convertible debentures are among the changes being proposed under the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act.

Concept :

LLP is an alternative corporate business form that gives the benefits of limited liability of a company and the flexibility of a partnership. Hence LLP is called a hybrid between a company and a partnership.
All limited liability partnership is governed under the limited liability partnership act of 2008.
The Corporate Affairs Ministry implements the Act.

LLP vs Traditional partnership firm:

Under “traditional partnership firm”, every partner is liable, jointly with all the other partners and also severally for all acts of the firm done while he is a partner.
Under LLP structure, liability of the partner is limited to his agreed contribution. Thus, individual partners are shielded from joint liability created by another partner’s wrongful acts or misconduct.

LLP vs a Company:

The internal governance structure of a company is regulated by statute (i.e. Companies Act, 1956) whereas for an LLP it would be by a contractual agreement between partners.
The management-ownership divide inherent in a company is not there in a limited liability partnership.
LLP will have more flexibility as compared to a company.
LLP will have lesser compliance requirements as compared to a company.

6. INDIAN STAR TORTOISES

Subject : Environment

Context : Forest Department personnel on Monday seized as many as 414 live endangered Indian star tortoises.

Concept :

Indian star tortoise is found across the Indian sub-continent, more specifically, in the Central and Southern parts of India, in West Pakistan and in Sri Lanka.
Star Tortoises are protected under Schedule IV of Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The IUCN has listed it under the vulnerable
The species faces two threats: loss of habitat to agriculture and illegal harvesting for the pet trade.
The Indian star tortoise is the single most confiscated species of freshwater tortoise in the world, according to wildlife-trade watchdog TRAFFIC.
TRAFFIC is an international wildlife trade monitoring network.
The tortoise, protected under CITES Appendix I, got a big boost in its protection status, where the illegal international trade of the Indian star tortoises, as well as that of the smooth-coated otter and Asian small-clawed otter, was declared illegal.
Now, trading in these animals will require registration and special permits.
Appendix II still makes allowances for the regulated trade of captive-bred animals, which isn’t something that applies to species protected under Appendix I.

7. MONSOON FORECAST MODEL

Subject : Environment

Context : The India Meteorological Department (IMD) may introduce new monsoon models this year to better forecast changes in rainfall.

Concept :

Dynamical Model:

It is also called the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecast System. It relies on the supercomputers, mathematically simulating the physics of the ocean and the atmosphere.
This model is better at forecasting the state of the weather a week or two in advance and is not yet considered reliable by meteorologists in forecasting the monsoon.

Statistical Model:

Traditional statistical model equates relationships of physical parameters, such as for instance sea surface temperatures, snowfall, the temperature of landmass etc, with the actual observed rainfall in the past.
For example , it takes into consideration the global weather models pointing to negligible chances of El Nino, a warming of the central equatorial Pacific which is associated with the drying up of monsoon rain. The IMD relies on this model.
In any given year, there is a 33% chance of a normal monsoon that’s why there is high confidence that the monsoon in 2020 would be normal.

Proposed Models

The three models under consideration are:
12 global circulation models (dynamical) whose outputs would be combined into a single one.
Model that gauges rainfall based on the sea surface temperature in the tropics .
Statistical model based on climate variables observed during the pre-monsoon.
All of them are ‘ensembles’ meaning smaller models are combined to arrive at an average value.

8. CO WIN

Subject : Science & tech

Context : To carry out the Covid-19 vaccination drive as smoothly as possible, the government is relying on Co-WIN, a digital intelligence platform.

Concept :

It is built on an indigenously developed electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) which has been in use since 2015.
Each person who would be receiving Covid-19 vaccination in India would have to register on the Co-WIN network and and he/she would be followed up for subsequent shots as well as for any adverse event following immunisation (AEFI).
Registration on the Co-WIN app is mandatory for anyone to receive the vaccination.

About CO WIN

Co-WIN is a cloud-based IT solution for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Covid-19 vaccination in India.
It is an end-to-end solution that connects the entire public health system from national level right up to the vaccinator level.
Co-WIN allows for creation of different users (admins, supervisors, and vaccinators), registration of beneficiaries, followed by planning and scheduling sessions and subsequently vaccine administration and following up of beneficiaries after the vaccination.
In a real-time basis, the app tracks not only the beneficiaries but also the availability of vaccine stock at the national, State and district levels. This allows the system to monitor the utilisation, wastage, coverage of Covid-19 vaccination at various levels.

9. NCLAT

Subject : Polity

Context : The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has ruled that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) cannot accept a revised offer from a bidder who enters the fray late even if the offer is higher than that of other bidders that have adhered to the bidding timeline.

Concept :

It was constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of National Company Law Tribunal.
NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by NCLT(s) under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).
NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Section 202 and Section 211 of IBC.
NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction issued or decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).