Daily Prelims Notes 20 October 2022

Daily Prelims Notes

20 October 2022

Table Of Contents

1. UN Chief Wants India To Mobilize G20 To Help Debt-Ridden Countries
2. Global warming is forgotten as soaring energy prices and supply disruptions drive a return to coal
3. CCI slaps 392 cr fine on Oyo, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo
4. The draft National Credit Framework
5. The Cuban Missile Crisis
6. The Indian Ocean Region
7. Tamil Nadu’s mission to save the critically endangered vultures
8. Why producing CBG, LBG, hydrogen, methanol from biogas can be beneficial
9. Climate effect in space: Expect more satellite collisions
10. Fitch Ratings about Indian economy
11. Fiber Reinforced Plastic
12. Mental illness covers under health insurance products
13. Lothal set to get National Maritime Heritage Complex

1. UN Chief Wants India To Mobilize G20 To Help Debt-Ridden Countries

Subject :International Organizations

Context: UN chief Antonio Guterres sought India’s support in mobilising G20 nations to help out developing countries saddled with debt, including three of India’s neighbours.

Concept:

• India takes over the G20 presidency from Indonesia for a year from December 1, 2022.
• Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh have in recent months sought IMF loans as high oil prices complicate efforts to recover from the economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• UN chief also stressed the importance of multilateral initiatives like G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, G20 Common Framework etc.

G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative

• It was established in May 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
• The Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) means that bilateral official creditors are, during a limited period, suspending debt service payments from the poorest countries (73 low- and lower middle-income countries) that request the suspension.
• It is a way to temporarily ease the financing constraints for these countries and free up scarce money that they can instead use to mitigate the human and economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
• The DSSI helps address immediate liquidity needs but does not mean that existing debt sustainability problems in some of these countries will be resolved.
• But DSSI does help by providing more time to properly assess and address debt sustainability on a country-by-country basis.

G20 Common Framework

• Later in November 2020, G20 announced Common framework for Debt treatments.
• As compared to the previous DSSI, the Common Framework allows debt rescheduling tailored to the specific needs of requesting countries.
• Furthermore, whilst the DSSI encouraged but did not require comparable debt relief from other creditors, the Common Framework requires the debtor to seek comparable relief from others including Paris Club, non-Paris Club and private creditors.

Various Multi-lateral Debt relief initiatives are:

For further details about G20, refer – https://optimizeias.com/g-20/

2. Global warming is forgotten as soaring energy prices and supply disruptions drive a return to coal

Subject :Environment

Context : Coal prices breached the $200 per short tonne (0.907 metric tonnes) mark in the US, with high grade Northern Appalachia coal averaging $204.95 in the first week of October — the first time that the oldest fossil fuel known to man.

Concept :

• As coal prices have soared to record levels, as the world’s major energy consumers, led by the China, the US, and Europe, have rapidly shed their “green” concerns and switched back to anthracite. Global warming can wait.
• India is not exempt to the global trend too.
• India plans to increase its coal-based power generating capacity by 25 per cent by 2030, taking installed thermal power capacity to over 265 GW by the end of this decade.
• Europe, till 2020 the leader in the transition to green energy, is not far behind in the turnaround.
• European coal imports have surged more than 35per cent this year, as most EU nations re-opened mothballed coal-based power plants.
• The breach of the Nord2 gas pipeline from Russia has worsened the situation. With winter almost here, coal usage is set to surge further.

Nord Stream Pipeline

• Owned by the Russian energy giant, Gazprom, Nord Stream the longest subsea pipeline, is an export gas pipeline which runs under the Baltic Sea carrying gas from Russia to Europe.
• Nord stream consists of two pipelines, which have two lines each.
• Nord Stream 1 was completed in 2011 and runs from Vyborg in Leningrad to Lubmin near Greifswald, Germany.
• Nord Stream 2 which runs from Ust-Luga in Leningrad to Lubmin was completed in September 2021 and has the capacity to handle 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year once it becomes operational.
• The twin pipelines together can transport a combined total of 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year to Europe for at least 50 years.
• The Nord Stream crosses the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of several countries including Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, and the territorial waters of Russia, Denmark, and Germany.
• In Germany, the pipeline connects to the OPAL (Baltic Sea Pipeline) and NEL (North European Pipeline) which further connects to the European grid.

3. CCI slaps 392 cr fine on Oyo, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo

Subject : Statutory organisations

Context :The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday slapped penalties totalling more than Rs 392 crore on online travel firms MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and hospitality services provider OYO for unfair business practices..

Concept :

• Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002, it was duly constituted in March 2009.
• The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) was repealed and replaced by the Competition Act, 2002, on the recommendations of Raghavan committee.
• Competition Commission of India aims to establish a robust competitive environment.
• It primarily pursues three issues of anti-competitive practices in the market:
  • Anti-competitive agreements.
  • Abuse of dominance.
  • Combinations

Competition Act, 2002

• The Competition Act was passed in 2002 and has been amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007. It follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
• The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
• In accordance with the provisions of the Amendment Act, the Competition Commission of India and the Competition Appellate Tribunal have been established.
• Government replaced Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2017.

Composition of CCI

• The Commission consists of one Chairperson and six Members as per the Competition Act who shall be appointed by the Central Government.
• The commission is a quasi-judicial body which gives opinions to statutory authorities and also deals with other cases. The Chairperson and other Members shall be whole-time Members.
• Eligibility of members: The Chairperson and every other Member shall be a person of ability, integrity and standing and who, has been, or is qualified to be a judge of a High Court, or, has special knowledge of, and professional experience of not less than fifteen years in international trade, economics, business, commerce, law, finance, accountancy, management, industry, public affairs, administration or in any other matter which, in the opinion of the Central Government, may be useful to the Commission.

The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022

Highlights of the Bill

• The Bill seeks to amend the Competition Act, 2002, to regulate mergers and acquisitions based on the value of transactions.
• Deals with transaction value of more than Rs 2,000 crore will require CCI’s approval.  The Bill proposes to reduce the timeline for the CCI to pass an order on such transactions from 210 days to 150 days.
• The Bill expands the scope of entities that can be adjudged to be a part of anti-competitive agreements.
• Currently, enterprises or persons engaged in similar businesses can be held to be a part of anti-competitive agreements. The Bill expands this to also include enterprises or persons who are not engaged in similar businesses.
• The Bill provides a framework for settlement and commitment for faster resolution of investigations of anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position.
• The Bill decriminalises certain offences under the Act by changing the nature of punishment from imposition of fine to civil penalties.
• These offences include failure to comply with orders of the CCI and directions of the Director General related to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position.

4. The draft National Credit Framework

Subject :Government Schemes

Context:

• Recently, the Union Ministry of Education Dharmendra Pradhan unveiled the draft National Credit Framework.
• The Students will soon be able to earn credits for both classroom learning and extracurricular activities through a unified credit system, which will be deposited in a credit bank,a system that is already in place at the higher academic level.

What is The National Credit Framework (NCrF):

• The National Credit Framework (NCrF) is based on the recommendation of an inter-ministerial committee led by Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi
• NCrF aims to bring all school students under a unified credit system.

Recommendation of The National Credit Framework (NCrF):

• The framework’s goal is to develop a unified credit accumulation and transfer system for general and vocational education from school to higher education.
• Aside from class tests, activities such as festival celebrations and school cleaning will earn credits that will be stored in the Academic Bank of Credit.
• There will be no hard and fast distinction between curricular and extracurricular activities or between vocational and academic tracks.
• Aadhaar will be used for student registration, and each candidate will be assigned an academic bank account number, where degrees and credits will be accumulated.
• At the school level, the draft National Credit Framework proposes that the credit regime be divided into five levels-
  • From pre-school to class II
  • Classes III to V
  • Classes VI to VIII
  • Classes IX to X
  • Classes XI and XII
• A student who clears class XII will be at credit level 4 and up to 8 for those who obtain doctorate degrees.
• Under the draft framework, the credit points will be carried over to the graduation level, and further.
• A student will have to earn at least 40 credits.
• The annual “notional learning” duration to earn at least 40 credits has been fixed at 1,200 hours e time spent in classrooms + a range of extracurricular activities and sports for completing each year of school, besides clearing the exams.

5. The Cuban Missile Crisis

Subject :International Relations

Context:

• Recently, US President Joe Biden said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s veiled threat of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine marked the first prospect of nuclear “armageddon” since the Cuban missile crisis. .

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis:

• The Cuban Missile Crisis was the13 day long confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• It escalated into an international crisis when American deployments of missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of similar ballistic missiles in Cuba.

What was the precursor of the Cuban missile crisis:

• The failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, in which US-backed Cuban counter-revolutionaries attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime in the country to establish a non-communist government friendly to the US.
• After the failed invasion Castro turned increasingly towards the USSR and its premier Khrushchev, to deter any future invasion by the US.
• An agreement was made between the two, and by July 1962, a number of clandestine missile launch facilities began to be constructed in Cuba.
• From the late 1950s, Washington started placing nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy,which had the capability of destroying strategic centres within the USSR in response to that USSR placed its nuclear arsenal in Cuba.

How Cuban Missile crisis was averted:

• The first sign of de-escalation came on October 26, when Khrushchev sent Kennedy a letter, stating that he would be willing to stop military shipments and withdraw his forces from Cuba if the US agreed to not invade or support any invasion of its neighbour.
• There were a few instances on October 27 that could have escalated the standoff into outright war.
• The first was when the US U-2 aircraft was shot down over Cuba, and the government chose to not order retaliatory strikes. A separate U-2 spy had also made unauthorized entry into the Soviet Union.
• On the same day, the US Navy dropped a series of non-lethal depth charges on a Soviet submarine armed with a nuclear torpedo. Those in the submarine, unaware that they were practice charges, initially assumed the vessel was under attack.
• Since the launch of the nuclear weapon required the consent of all three senior officers on board, Among them, VasiliAlexandrovich Arkhipov, the chief of staff, was the only one to refuse permission and avert nuclear warfare.
• On October 28, Khrushchev announced that Soviet nuclear missile sites would be removed from Cuba, while Kennedy pledged to never invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy and the crisis was averted.

What happened after the Crisis:

• The two superpowers created the Moscow-Washington hotline, so that their leaders could have a direct communication link and prevent such tensions.

In August 1963, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain signed a treaty banning atmospheric and underwater nuclear testing.

6. The Indian Ocean Region

Subject :International Relations

Context:

• Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh at Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Plus Defence Ministers’ Conclave Gandhinagar, said that India is ready to supply missiles and weapon systems to friendly countries in the region.

What is IOR+ Conclave:

• The first Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Defence Ministers’ Conclave was held in Bengaluru in February
• The recent IOR+ Defence Ministers’ Conclave was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on the sideline of DefExpo,2022.
• The broad theme was ‘Challenges, Opportunities and Collaborations in the Indian Ocean’.
• The conclave was attended by 40 countries located in the Indian Ocean region.

What is Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA):

• The Indian Ocean Rim Association is an inter-governmental organisation aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region.
• It was formed in 1997 by an initiative of India and South Africa.
• The IORA has 23 members and ten dialogue partners.
• The members include Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South-Africa, SriLanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Maldives and Yemen.
• The ten dialogue partners are China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Turkey, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States of America
• France was the last country to be accepted on the basis of its territory of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

The Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is located at Ebene, Mauritius.

7. Tamil Nadu’s mission to save the critically endangered vultures

Subject :Environment

Context-

• The Tamil Nadu Government formed a State-level Committee to set up an institutional framework for the effective conservation of vultures, which almost went extinct in the country at the beginning of the 21st century.
• Tamil Nadu is a pioneer.
• It banned two drugs (Ketoprofen and diclofenac) that caused vulture deaths a long time ago.
• The State’s vulture population has since stabilized and slightly increased.

The committee-

• The committee, which has a two-year tenure, will take steps for monitoring the conservation and recovery of existing vulture sites and mapping of vulture populations across the State for creating safe zones.
• It will work to eliminate the use of toxic veterinary drugs, the main reason for vulture fatalities.
• Prevention of poisoning of cattle carcasses, the principal food of vultures, is also one of the responsibilities of the newly formed committee.

Vultures in Tamilnadu region-

• In Tamil Nadu, four species of vultures are found — the Oriental white-backed vulture, the long-billed vulture, the red-headed vulture, and the Egyptian vulture.
• The first three are residents and can be found in the landscapes of the Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam.
• There is evidence of Egyptian vulture breeding only at one site in Dharmapuri.
• The availability of food is a key factor determining vulture populations.
• After the formation of tiger reserves in the Nilgiris landscape, the number of tigers has increased and therefore, the vulture population that scavenge on the kills also increased.
• Vultures play an extremely important role as nature’s scavengers, keeping the environment clean.
• Their social and ecological significance cannot be underestimated, Ms. Sahu said, adding “It is the last level scavenger.”

About Vultures:

• It is one of the 22 species of large carrion-eating birds that live predominantly in the tropics and subtropics.
• India is home to 9 species of Vulture namely the Oriental white-backed, Long-billed, Slender-billed, Himalayan, Red-headed, Egyptian, Bearded, Cinereous and the Eurasian Griffon.
• Most of these 9 species face dangers of extinction.
• Bearded, Long-billed, Slender-billed, Oriental white-backed are protected in the Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Rest is protected under ‘Schedule IV’.
• Conservation status– As per the IUCN’s Red list out of 9 species of vultures in India, 4 species are critically endangered,1 is endangered, 3 are near threatened and 1 is least concern.

1. White rumped vulture- Critically Endangered
2. Slender billed vulture- Critically Endangered
3. Long billed vulture- Critically Endangered
4. Red headed vulture- Critically Endangered
5. Egyptian vulture- Endangered
6. Himalayan Griffon- Near Threatened
7. Cinereous vulture- Near Threatened
8. Bearded vulture- Near Threatened
9. Griffon Vulture- Least Concern

8. Why producing CBG, LBG, hydrogen, methanol from biogas can be beneficial

Subject :Environment

• Biogas, a renewable fuel produced using the anaerobic digestion process from organic feedstock, is primarily composed of methane (50-65 per cent), carbon dioxide (30-40 per cent), hydrogen sulfide (1-2.5 per cent) and a very small fraction of moisture. 
• It was predominantly thought of as a rural economy product.
• Biogas contributes to all 17 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, biogas can also be converted to produce numerous sustainable transportation fuels.
• The removal of unwanted components like carbon dioxide,hydrogen sulphide and moisture from raw biogas yields pure methane (over 97 per cent content).
• Some of the common methods to purify biogas include water scrubbing, membrane separation,pressure swing adsorption and adsorption.

Compressed biogas (CBG)-

• This upgraded or high-purity biogas compressed at 250 bar pressure results in a fuel called compressed biogas (CBG). This has properties similar to compressed natural gas (CNG) and could be directly used to power CNG engines.
• Drawbacks of CBG-
  • Its existence in the gaseous form
  • Demands bigger volumes for transportation.
  • Considered more suitable to power small-sized vehicles, though heavy engines have been used for short-distance driving.

Liquified biogas (LBG)-

• If the biogas-derived methane is liquefied by cooling it at -162 degrees Celsius, the fuel thus obtained is liquefied biogas (LBG). It has a higher energy density that lowers storage space requirements.
• Advantage of LBG-
  • LBG has become a viable alternative fuel for heavy-duty road transportation.
• It has-
  • High energy density (1 litre of LBG against 2.4 litres of CBG)
  • Low sulphur content
  • Lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than diesel.
• LBG is also becoming attractive to the shipping industry in addition to being utilised in heavy-duty vehicles.

Hydrogen and Methanol-

• Biomethane can also be transformed into other fuels such as hydrogen and methanol.
• Gasification process produces Syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Methanol can also be generated from syngas.
• The hydrogen produced after the removal of carbon monoxide could be used in fuel cells to generate power.
• Advantages of Methanol-
  • Methanol is an effective fuel with an octane rating of 100. It emits less particulate matter and NOx than gasoline and doesn’t produce SOx because it doesn’t contain sulphur.
  • It can be used also as a transportation fuel by blending or entirely replacing gasoline. Methanol, which is more affordable than LNG or marine oils with virtually no SOx or NOx emissions.

Leading country-

• Presently, China leads the methanol-based automobile sector with vehicles running on different blends of gasoline and pure M100.

India’s scenario-

• In the Indian context, CBG is the only transportation fuel from biogas for which commercialisation efforts have been made.
• Currently, LBG, hydrogen and methanol are not produced from biogas in India. The main reasons are-
  • the unavailability of biogas in bulk for such derivatives
  • the absence of infrastructure to generate and market these fuels
  • the deficiency of modified automobile engines
  • the lack of effective research and development

Government initiative-

• The Indian government has been encouraging private businesses to set up CBG plants and provide CBG to oil marketing companies for sale as automotive and industrial fuels under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme launched in 2018.
• It has set a goal to produce 15 million tonnes of CBG from 5,000 plants by 2023–24.

As of August 2022, a total of 37 plants have been commissioned with an average capacity of 5 tonnes per day.

9. Climate effect in space: Expect more satellite collisions

Subject : Science and Technology

Context:

• Increasing carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere will result in a long-term decline in air density at high altitudes, which may extend the lifetime of space debris and intensify the likelihood of satellites running into space debris, according to a new study.

Defunct debris in space-

• There were 5,000 active and defunct satellites in low earth orbit, and various companies are planning to launch more in the next decade.
• Over 30,000 trackable debris pieces with diameters of more than 10 centimetres and nearly 1 million pieces with diameters over 1 cm are drifting in the low earth orbit, according to the European Space Agency.
• The number of defunct satellites in low earth orbit — altitude up to 2,000 kilometres — had increased by 50 per cent over the last two years.

Impact of climate change-

• The researchers presented the first accurate assessment of climate change in the upper atmosphere for the next 50 years.
• Satellites continue to orbit even after they are decommissioned, but they gradually slow down owing to atmospheric drag.
• The upper and middle atmospheres have been cooling compared to the lower atmosphere.
• This causes the density to decrease, which reduces the drag on objects, such as discarded satellites and mission-related debris.
• Collisions could result in serious issues like interruption in navigation, mobile communications and Earth monitoring.
• Moreover, satellite destruction could cost billions of dollars.

 Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee-

• The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) is an international governmental forum for the worldwide coordination of activities related to the issues of man-made and natural debris in space.

Objective-

• The primary purposes of the IADC are to exchange information on space debris research activities between member space agencies, to facilitate opportunities for cooperation in space debris research, to review the progress of ongoing cooperative activities, and to identify debris mitigation options.

Member space Agencies-

• The IADC member agencies include the following- Italy, France, China, Canada, Germany, Europe, India, Japan, South Korea, America, Russia, Ukraine and United kingdom.

Structure-

• A Steering Group and four specified Working Groups covering measurements (WG1), environment and database (WG2), protection (WG3) and mitigation (WG4) make up the IADC.

Rules regarding space debris management-

• Satellite operators should ensure that decommissioned satellites deorbit within 25 years, according to the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee guidelines.

But the decreasing air density will disrupt debris management by causing planning and calculation errors.

10. Fitch Ratings about Indian economy

Subject: Economy

Context:

• Global rating agency Fitch on Wednesday said India’s external buffers appear sufficient to cushion risks associated with rapid monetary policy tightening in the US and high global commodity prices.

State of Indian Economy 

• External finances are becoming less of a strength in India’s credit profile, but Fitch expects foreign-exchange reserves to remain robust and India’s current-account deficit to be contained at a sustainable level.
• Moreover, public finances remain the key driver of the rating and are only modestly affected by these developments, particularly as India is relatively insulated from global volatility due to the country’s limited reliance on external financing.
• India’s foreign reserves fell by almost $101 billion in January-September 2022, but are still large at around $533 billion.
• The decline has reversed much of the reserve accumulation that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, and reflects valuation effects, a widening current-account deficit, and some intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to support the Indian rupee’s exchange rate.
• The RBI has attributed about two-thirds of the decline to valuation effects.
• The rupee fell to a record low on Wednesday and has declined more than 11% so far this year.
• Reserve cover remains strong at about 8.9 months of imports in September. This is higher than during the “taper tantrum” in 2013, when it stood at about 6.5 months, and offers the authorities scope to utilise reserves to smooth periods of external stress. 
• Large reserves also provide reassurance about debt repayment capacity. Short-term external debt due is equivalent to only about 24% of total reserves.
• Gross external debt stood at 18.6% of GDP in 2Q22, which is low compared with the median of 72% for ‘BBB’ rated sovereigns in 2021.
• Sovereign exposures are small, with only about 4% of GDP in primarily multilateral financing. 
• Foreign investor holdings of domestic sovereign debt represent under 2% of the total, reducing risk of spillovers to the wider market should they seek to reduce their exposure.

Fitch‘s Forecast 

• It forecasts India’s current-account deficit (CAD) in the fiscal year ending March 2023 (FY23) will reach 3.4% of GDP, from 1.2% in FY22. 
• Imports have surged on strong domestic demand growth and high oil and coal prices.
• Meanwhile, export growth has moderated from the fast pace seen in January-June 2022, amid declines in prices for steel, iron ore and agricultural products,” it said.
• Recessions in key European and US export markets will weigh on near-term export prospects. However, it forecasts the CAD to narrow in FY24, to 20% of GDP, as easing global energy prices will also dampen imports. Our robust medium-term economic growth outlook on India should facilitate financing of the deficit, particularly from FDI.

About Fitch:

• Fitch ratings is a credit rating agency that rates the viability of investments relative to the likelihood of default.
• Fitch is one of the top three credit rating agencies internationally, along with Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
• Fitch offers sovereign credit ratings that describe each nation’s ability to meet its debt obligations.
• Sovereign credit ratings are available to investors to help give them insight into the level of risk associated with investing in a particular country.
• Countries will invite Fitch and other credit rating agencies to evaluate their economic and political environments and financial situations to determine a representative rating.
• It’s very important to obtain the best sovereign credit rating possible, particularly in the case of developing nations, as it aids in accessing funding in international bond markets.

11. Fiber Reinforced Plastic

Subject : Science and Technology

Context:

• Carbon Fiber-reinforced Plastic Market to Record a CAGR of 8.9% Aerospace and Défense to be Largest Revenue Generating

What is fibre reinforced plastic?

• Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) is a type of plastic in which the strength of low strength plastic material is increased by means of high strength of fibers.
• Fiber reinforced plastics contain two main things
  • Matrix
  • Fibre
• The function of the matrix is to support and hold the fibers in the correct position.Matrix also prevents fibers from surface damage and environmental conditions.
• The matrix material should show stability with moisture and temperature. The FRP fibres are the main component which bears the actual load.
• The bond between the fibres and the matrix is generally made with the help of a chemical adhesive.
• The length of fibers should be more so that the strength of bond between matrix and fibers is more than the tensile strength of fibers.

Advantages of fibre reinforced plastic:

• It is lightweight
• It has high strength
• It has high modulus of elasticity
• It has high resistance to fatigue failure
• It has good resistance to corrosion

Disadvantages of fiber reinforced plastic:

• The design of components made from FRP is complex
• The manufacturing and testing of FRP components is highly specialized

Types of fiber reinforced plastics

• Glass reinforced plastic (GRP)
• Carbon reinforced plastics (CRP)

1. Glass reinforced plastic:

Advantages of glass reinforced plastic

• They can be easily drawn into fibers from molten state
• Glass is cheaper and readily available
• Glass fiber is relatively strong
• Glass is chemically inert with respect to plastic matrix materials

Disadvantages of glass reinforced plastic

• It has poor rigidity and stiffness
• Its application is limited to a temperature below 300-degree Celsius

Applications

It is used as a manufacturing material in the following things.

• In the manufacturing of Automotive bodies due to its low weight
• Pipes
• Valve bodies
• Pump castings
• Storage containers

2. Carbon reinforced plastics:

Advantages of carbon reinforced plastics

• It has maximum strength compared to other reinforcing fibers
• It retains its strength at elevated temperatures
• At normal temperature moisture, acids and solvents do not affect carbon fibers
• They are relatively cheap

Disadvantages of carbon reinforced plastics

• There is only one limitation of carbon reinforced plastic. The manufacturing techniques associated with CRP are relatively complicated.

Applications 

Carbon reinforced plastics are used for the manufacturing of

• Pressure vessels
• Aircraft components
• Casting of rocket motors

12. Mental illness covers under health insurance products

Subject : Government

Context:

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has directed insurance companies to provide cover for mental illness under health insurance policies before October 31, 2022.

The Mental Health Act, 2017

• The Mental Health Act, 2017 says that every insurer will have to make provision for medical insurance for treatment of mental illness on the same basis as is available for treatment of physical illness

Need of mental health insurance:

• The covid 19-pandemic has highlighted the importance of mental health.
• Increasingly the stigma around mental health is decreasing as more people are seeking medical assistance.
• Many health insurance products marketed by insurers are not providing cover to newborns/infants with internal congenital birth defects from day one.
• The regulator said all health insurance products that cover newborns/unborns will provide coverage for internal congenital birth defects from day one without imposing any waiting periods/sub-limits or any other restrictive conditions.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI):

• Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) is a statutory body set up by the IRDA Act, 1999.
• It is an autonomous and apex body which has the responsibility to regulate and control the Insurance sector in India.
• Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) was established after the recommendations of Malhotra Committee report of 1994. The committee had recommended the establishment of an independent authority for the regulation of the Insurance sector in India.
• As per the section 4 of IRDAI Act’ 1999, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has a composition of a Chairman; five whole-time members; four part-time members, all appointed by the Government of India.

13. Lothal set to get National Maritime Heritage Complex

Subject : History

Context:

• World’s oldest dockyard, Lothal, is all set to get heritage complex as the Prime Minister reviewed the construction of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) site via video conferencing.
• With NMHC, Lothal will act as a centre for learning and understanding India’s maritime history

Where is Lothal situated?

• It is one of the southernmost sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation, situated in the Bhal region in the present-day Gujarat.
• Said to be built in 2,200 BC, this port city was a thriving trade centre in ancient times with its trade of beads, gems and ornaments reaching West Asia and Africa.
• The port city was discovered after a team of archaeologists led by SR Rao started the search for Harappan civilisation post 1947 in the Saurashtra region.
• According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Lothal had the world’s earliest known dock, connecting the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati River.

The ongoing project: National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC):

• The National Maritime Heritage Complex commenced in March 2022 and is being developed at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore.
• The complex will have several innovative features, including the i-recreation, which will recreate Harappan architecture and lifestyle through immersive technology and four theme parks.
• It will also house the world’s tallest lighthouse museum, along with 14 galleries, highlighting India’s maritime heritage starting from the Harappan time till today.

Significance of Lothal

• In 2014, Lothal was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, however, its application is still pending.
• Its heritage value is comparable to many other ancient port-towns around the world, which includes – Xel Ha (Peru), Ostia (Port of Rome) and Carthage (Port of Tunis) in Italy, Hepu in China, Canopus in Egypt, Gabel (Byblos of the Phoenicians), Jaffa in Israel, Ur in Mesopotamia, Hoi An in Vietnam, as per the dossier.
• In the region, it can be compared with other Indus port towns of Balakot (Pakistan), Khirasa (in Gujarat’s Kutch) and Kuntasi (in Rajkot).

Features of Indus Valley Civilization:

• On the valleys of river Indus.
• Also known as Harappan Civilization.
• Beginning of city life.
• Harappan Sites discovered by – Dayaram Sahni (1921) – Montgomery district, Punjab, Pakistan.
• Mohanjodaro discovered by – R. D. Banerji – Larkana district, Sind, Pakistan.
• The city was divided into Citadel(west) and Lower Town(east).
• Red pottery painted with designs in black.
• Stone weights, seals, special beads, copper tools, long stone blades etc.
• Copper, bronze, silver, gold present.
• Artificially produced – Faience.
• Specialists for handicrafts.
• Import of raw materials.
• Plough was used.
• Bodies were buried in wooden coffins, but during the later stages ‘Hsymmetry culture’ evolved where bodies were buried in painted burial urns.
• Sugar cane not cultivated, horse, iron not used.

Indus Valley Sites and Specialties

HARAPPA

• Seals out of stones
• Citadel outside on banks of river Ravi

MOHENJODARO

• Great Bath, Great Granary, Dancing Girl, Man with Beard, Cotton, Assembly hall
• The term means ” Mount of the dead”
• On the bank of river Indus
• Believed to have been destructed by flood or invasion(Destruction was not gradual).

CHANHUDARO

• Bank of Indus river. – discovered by Gopal Majumdar and Mackey (1931)
• Pre-Harappan culture – Jhangar Culture and Jhukar Culture
• Only cite without citadel.

KALIBANGAN

• At Rajasthan on the banks of river Ghaggar, discovered by A.Ghosh (1953)
• Fire Altars
• Bones of camel
• Evidence of furrows
• Horse remains ( even though Indus valley people didn’t use horses).
• Known as third capital of the Indus Empire.

LOTHAL

• At Gujarat near Bhogava river, discovered by S.R. Rao (1957)
• Fire Altars
• Beside the tributary of Sabarmati
• Storehouse
• Dockyard and earliest port
• double burial
• Rice husk
• House had front entrance (exception).

ROPAR

• Punjab, on the banks of river Sutlej. Discovered by Y.D Sharma (1955)
• Dog buried with humans.

BANAWALI

• Haryana
• On banks of lost river Saraswathi
• Barley Cultivation.

DHOLAVIRA

• Biggest site in India, until the discovery of Rakhigarhi.
• Located in Khadir Beyt, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Discovered by J.P Joshi/Rabindra Singh (1990)
• 3 parts + large open area for ceremonies
• Large letters of the Harappan script (signboards).

RELIGION OF INDUS VALLEY

• Pashupathi Mahadev (Proto Siva)
• Mother goddess
• Nature/ Animal worship
• Unicorn, Dove, Peepal Tree, Fire
• Amulets
• Idol worship was practised (not a feature of Aryans)
• Did not construct temples.
• The similarity to Hindu religious practises. (Hinduism in its present form originated later)
• No Caste system.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE

• The systematic method of weights and measures ( 16 and its multiples).
• Pictographic Script, Boustrophedon script – Deciphering efforts by I. Mahadevan
• Equal status to men and women
• Economic Inequality, not an egalitarian society
• Textiles – Spinning and weaving
• 3 types – burial, cremation and post-cremation were there, though burial was common.
• Majority of people Proto-Australoids and Mediterranean (Dravidians), though Mongoloids, Nordics etc were present in the city culture. Read more on races of India.