Daily Prelims Notes 20 January 2022

January 20, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

20 January 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Najafgarh Lake

Subject – Environment

Context – Delhi: Fewer bird numbers, species at Najafgarh lake this year, census finds

Concept –

The Najafgarh jheel, a transboundary wetland lying in Delhi and Haryana, has recorded fewer species of water birds this year as compared to the last, the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) conducted at the jheel has found.
The AWC is an annual count of waterbirds that takes place in January, and is coordinated by the Wetlands International South Asia and the Bombay Natural History Society. It is conducted in seven wetlands across Delhi-NCR.
The Najafgarhjheel is an important site for large numbers of winter migratory birds, the census affirmed.
Among the winter migratory waterbird species recorded were the greylag goose and the bar-headed goose, which migrate from central Asia, and the Eurasian coot, which migrates from north Asia.
The greater spotted eagle, a migratory bird that flies in from Siberia or Russia, and is listed as ‘vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List of threatened species was found at the jheel, along with the northern lapwing, another winter migratory species.
A few resident species at the jheel include the sarus crane, which was also marked as vulnerable by the IUCN, the woolly-necked stork, the painted stork and the oriental darter.

About the lake–

Najafgarh Lake, Najafgarh Marsh or Najafgarh Jheel (Jheel in Hindi means a lake), fed by Sahibi River, used to be a vast lake in the south west of Delhi in India near the town of Najafgarh from which it takes its name.
It was connected to the river Yamuna by a natural shallow nullah or drain called the Najafgarh nullah.

2. Seed Money

Subject – Economy

Context – IIT-M incubated Aerostrovilos raises ₹3.5 cr seed fund from TI

Concept –

Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company.
The term seed suggests that this is a very early investment, meant to support the business until it can generate cash of its own (see cash flow), or until it is ready for further investments.
Seed money options include friends and family funding, seed venture capital funds, angel funding, and crowdfunding.
Seed money can be used to pay for preliminary operations such as market research and product development.
Seed funding is generally one of the first steps investors offer to get startups on their feet before they become fully operational.
Seed funding involves a higher risk than normal venture capital funding since the investor does not see any existing projects to evaluate for funding.

Difference in seed capital and venture capital–

Seed capital can be distinguished from venture capital.

Venture capital investments tend to come from institutional investors,
- involve significantly more money,
- are arm’s length transactions,
- involve much greater complexity in the contracts and corporate structure accompanying the investment.

3. Top Producers and Consumers of Oil

Subject – Economy

Context – Crude oil hits 7-year high

Concept –

The largest oil producers and share of total world oil production in 2020

Country	Share of World Total
United States	20%
Saudi Arabia	12%
Russia	11%

The largest oil consumers and share of total world oil consumption in 2019

Country	Share of World Total
United States	20%
China	14%
India	5%

4. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency(IREDA)

Subject – Economy

Context – Govt to infuse ₹1,500 cr in IREDA to step up RE funding

Concept –

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) is a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
IREDA is a Public Limited Government Company established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987 engaged in promoting, developing and extending financial assistance for setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency/conservation.
IREDA has been notified as a “Public Financial Institution” under section 4 ‘A’ of the Companies Act, 1956 and registered as Non-Banking Financial Company (NFBC) with Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
IREDA’s mission is “Be a pioneering, participant friendly and competitive institution for financing and promoting self-sustaining investment in energy generation from Renewable Sources, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Technologies for sustainable development.”
IREDA’s Motto is “Energy for Ever.”
In May 2021, IREDA was conferred with the “Green Urja Award” for being the Leading Public Institution in the Financing Institution for Renewable Energy by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for its pivotal role in the development of Green Energy Financing.

The main objectives of IREDA are –

To give financial support to specific projects and schemes for generating electricity and / or energy through new and renewable sources and conserving energy through energy efficiency.
To maintain its position as a leading organisation to provide efficient and effective financing in renewable energy and energy efficiency / conservation projects.
To increase IREDA`s share in the renewable energy sector by way of innovative financing.
Improvement in the efficiency of services provided to customers through continual improvement of systems, processes and resources.
To strive to be competitive institution through customer satisfaction.

5. Contingency Fund of India

Subject – Polity

Context – FinMin asks depts to curb expenses within approved RE ceilings

Concept –

Provision for this fund is made in Article 267(1) of the Constitution of India.
The Constitution authorised the Parliament to establish a ‘Contingency Fund of India’, into which amounts determined by law are paid from time to time.
Accordingly, the Parliament enacted the contingency fund of India Act in 1950.
This fund is placed at the disposal of the president, and he can make advances out of it to meet unforeseen expenditure pending its authorisation by the Parliament.
The fund is held by the finance secretary on behalf of the president.
Like the public account of India, it is also operated by executive action.
Each state can have its own contingency fund established under Article 267(2)

6. Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report used statistical modelling to estimate deaths linked to 23 pathogens and 88 pathogen-drug combinations.

Concept –

A comprehensive estimate of the global impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), covering 204 countries and territories and published in The Lancet, has found that 1.27 million people died in 2019 as a direct result of AMR, which is now a leading cause of death worldwide, higher than HIV/AIDS or malaria.
The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report used statistical modelling to estimate deaths linked to 23 pathogens and 88 pathogen-drug combinations.
Of the 23 pathogens studied, drug resistance in six (E coli, S aureus, K pneumoniae, S pneumoniae, A baumannii, and P aeruginosa) led directly to 9.29 lakh deaths and was associated with 3.57 million.
One pathogen-drug combination – methicillin-resistant S aureus, or MRSA – directly caused more than 1 lakh deaths.
Resistance to two classes of antibiotics often considered the first line of defence against severe infections – fluoroquinolones and beta-lactam antibiotics – accounted for more than 70% of deaths caused by AMR.

To know about Antimicrobial resistance, please refer April 2021 DPN.

7. Houthis and the war in Yemen

Subject – IR

Context – A suspected drone attack on Monday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), caused multiple explosions in which three people were killed — two Indians and one Pakistani. The Shia Houthi rebels of Yemen, who have been controlling the northern parts of the country, including the capital Sana’a, for almost seven years, have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Concept –

Yemen is located at the junction of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, its coastline commanding the strategic strait of Bab al-Mandab. The country has been wracked by civil war for more than seven years now, and the Houthis control the western part of the country, including the capital Sana’a.
The Houthis are a large clan belonging to the Zaidi Shia sect, with roots in Yemen’s north western Saada province. Zaidis make up around 35 per cent of Yemen’s population.
The Zaid is ruled over Yemen for over a thousand years until 1962, when they were overthrown and a civil war followed, which lasted until 1970. The Houthi clan began to revive the Zaidi tradition from the 1980s, resisting the increasing influence of the Salafists, who were funded by the state.
In 2004, the Houthis began an insurgent movement against the Yemeni government, naming themselves after the political, military, and religious leader Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, who was assassinated by Yemeni security forces in September of that year.
Several years of conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s Sunni majority government followed.

To know about Yemen civil war, please refer March 2021 DPN.

8. RBI’s Digital Payment Index

Subject – Economy

Context – RBI: Digital payments up 39.6% in Sept 2021

Concept –

The RBI’s Digital Payment Index, which shows the deepening of payments through digital modes in India, rose by 39.64 per cent to 304.06 in September 2021 against 217.74 in the year-ago month.
Constructed with March 2018 as the base period — DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100 — the RBI-DPI was 173.49 in September 2019.
Digital payments increased after Covid hit the nation in March 2020 and the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced several measures to boost digital payments.
The RBI-DPI comprises five broad parameters that enable measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods, viz.
- payment enablers (with 25 per cent weight),
- payment infrastructure—demand-side factors (10 per cent),
- payment infrastructure—supply-side factors (15 per cent),
- payment performance (45 per cent) and
- consumer centricity (5 per cent).

These parameters have sub-parameters which, in turn, consist of various measurable indicators.

9. National Commission on Urbanization in India

Subject – Polity

Context – The general approach towards urban empowerment, including financial capabilities, has remained piecemeal in India according to RBI report

Concept –

In 1986, the Government of India appointed National Commission on Urbanization comprising Shri C.M. Correa as its Chairman.
It was entrusted with the task of making a comprehensive and in-depth study of the various facets of the process of urbanization, and the issues arising therefrom, especially concerning urban planning and development, structure, organization, powers, functions, and the status of the existing urban local government institutions.
The commission recommended for promoting 329 new growth centres and emphasized upon strengthening of the existing larger metropolises.
It recommended the following measures:
- Creating employment
- Opening up hinterlands
- Generating wealth with equity
- Be engines of growth
- Be the catalysts of social transformation and modernization of economy and society
It classified the cities based on economic momentum into national priority cities, state priority cities and spatial priority urbanization regions and the small towns, which serve the rural hinterland. It also recommended providing opportunities for the growth of small and intermediate level towns so that the migration rush is reduced in the metropolitan centres.

Facts on Urbanisation

There are nearly 5,000 statutory towns and an equal number of census towns in India.
Nearly 35% of the population lives in urban centres.
And, nearly two-thirds of the country’s GDP stems from cities and almost 90% of government revenue flows from urban centres.

Schemes/Programmes Related to Urban Development

Smart Cities: To promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of Smart Solutions.
AMRUT Mission: To ensure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and a sewerage connection.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban: Aims at making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns in the country.
HRIDAY: The National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), aims to bring together urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation in an inclusive manner & with the objective of preserving the heritage character of the City.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban: Addresses Urban housing shortage among the Urban Poor including the Slum Dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to eligible urban poor.

10. Octroi Tax

Subject – Economy

Context – Before value added tax and other centralised taxation systems, one of the major earnings of cities used to be from octroi.

Concept –

Octroi duty is the tax levied by local or state governments on certain categories of goods as they enter the area. It is a charge for allowing transit of good through the jurisdiction.
Just as customs duty ensures that goods for other countries are taxed, octroi is meant to ensure that goods crossing state borders within India are taxed appropriately.
As of 1 July 2017, with the introduction of GST country-wide, the octroi has been abolished.

11. Bishing Village

Subject – Geography

Context – Chinese PLA abducted Arunachal youth: BJP MP

Concept –

Bishing, on the left bank of the Siang river, is the last Indian village near the border with China.
Bishing is a border village in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the Upper Siang district, Gelling Circle.
It is one of the northernmost populated places of the state, located on the Line of Actual Control with China.
The Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra) enters India at Bishing, from where it is known as the “Siang River”.
The Tsangpo River describes an S-shaped bend as it enters India. The Line of Actual Control (LAC) itself runs along the river in the middle of the bend. Bishing is at its lower right hand corner.
The village is home to around 100 people, mostly of the Memba tribe.

12. DGCA to probe

Context:

Two IndiGo flights that took off from the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on January 7 had come close to colliding with each other mid-air while taking off.

Concept:

Directorate General of Civil Aviation is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation primarily dealing with safety issues.
It is a statutory body.
It is responsible for regulation of air transport services to/from/within India and for enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards.
It also co-ordinates all regulatory functions with International Civil Aviation Organisation.
This directorate investigates aviation accidents and incidents, maintains all regulations related to aviation and is responsible for issuance of licenses pertaining to aviation like PPL’s, SPL’s and CPL’s in India.
The headquarters are located in New Delhi with regional offices in the various parts of India.