Daily Prelims Notes 22 May 2021
- May 22, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Daily Prelims Notes
22 May 2021
Table Of Contents
- SUNDERLAL BAHUGUNA
- SURPLUS TRANSFER TO THE GOVERNMENT BY RBI
- DIPCOVAN
- GST ON IMPORTED OXYGEN CONCENTRATORS
- INS MAKAR
- NANOMEDICINE
- DALAI LAMA
- VACCINE TOURISM & VACCINE PASSPORT
- ECMO
- GHOLVAD SAPOTA
- PRE MONSOON SHOWER
- MEDICINE PATENT POOL
- OIL SEEDS PRODUCTION
- PINK REVOLUTION
- VAX & SCRATCH PROGRAMME
- KALAKSHETRA FOUNDATION
Subject: Environment
Context: Well-known environmentalist and Gandhian Sunderlal Bahuguna passed away at the age of 94 due to COVID-related complications.
Concept:
- Sunderlal Bahuguna (1927 – 2021) was an Indian noted Garhwali environmentalist. He was one of the early environmentalists of India.
- He was one of the founders of the Chipko, or hug the tree movement, in the 1970s to save Himalayan forests from cutting down by forest contractors.
- He later spearheaded the Anti-Tehri Dam movement starting 1980s, to early 2004.
- He also fought against untouchability and later started organising hill women in his anti-liquor drive from 1965 to 1970.
- He adopted Gandhian principles in his life.
- In 2009, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan Award by government of India for environment conservation.
Chipko movement:
- Chipko movement was the uprising against the felling of trees and maintaining the ecological balance originated in Uttar Pradesh’s Chamoli district (now Uttarakhand) in 1973.
- The name of the movement ‘Chipko’ comes from the word ’embrace’, as the villagers
- Hugged the trees and encircled them to prevent being hacked.
- It was a silent, non-violent protest condemning ecological destruction.
- Sundarlal Bahuguna, a famous Gandhian, is said to have initiated this movement to guard the trees on the Himalayan slopes. Bahuguna is also known for coining the Chipko slogan ‘ecology is permanent economy’
- The movement’s biggest triumph was making people aware of their rights to forests, and how grassroots activism can influence policy-making regarding ecology and shared natural resources.
2. SURPLUS TRANSFER TO THE GOVERNMENT BY RBI
Subject: Economics
Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a surplus transfer of ₹99,122 crore for the 9-month period from July 2020 to March 2021.
Concept:
- The higher-than-expected dividend or surplus transfer to the government comes as the government is expecting a sharp sequential fall in tax collections due to the severe second wave of COVID-19 which has forced lockdowns in several States.
- This surplus likely reflects the central bank’s higher income from their open market operations as well as receipts from FX sales.
- The government had budgeted to receive a surplus of about ₹50,000 crore from the RBI to be accounted for in the budget estimates for 2021/22, while in the previous full accounting year, the RBI had transferred ₹57,128 crore as surplus.
- Barring 2018/19, this is the highest ever transfer by the RBI in an accounting period. In FY19, ₹1.76 lakh crore was transferred to the government which included a one-time transfer of extra reserves.
- The government is likely to find it challenging to meet its privatisation and disinvestment target of $24 billion while goods and services tax (GST) revenues are also likely to fall.
- The RBI also decided to maintain a Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50% in line with recommendations of the BimalJalan Committee report.
- RBI will move to an April to March accounting year from 2021/22, from a July to June year.
Subject: Science & tech
Context: Recently, the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) has launched the DIPCOVAN.
Concept:
- It is an indigenously developed antibody detection-based kit.
- It is DIPAS-VDx COVID-19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA for sero-surveillance.
- It is developed by Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), a laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- It has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, a development and manufacturing diagnostics company based at New Delhi.
- The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.
Significance of DIPCOVAN
- It can detect both spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97 per cent and specificity of 99 per cent.
- It is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens.
- It offers a significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases.
- The kit will be very useful for understanding COVID‐19 epidemiology and assessing an individual’s previous SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure.
4. GST ON IMPORTED OXYGEN CONCENTRATORS
Subject: Economy
Context: IGST Imposition On Import of Oxygen Concentrators As Gift For Personal Use Unconstitutional: Delhi High Court.
Concept:
- It said that oxygen concentrators constitute a life-saving device during the COVID-19 pandemic and during a pandemic, a different approach needs to be adopted.
- The petitioner had challenged a May 1 notification that levied 12% GST on such imports from 28% earlier. He invoked Article 21 of the Constitution which enshrines the fundamental right to life.
- The court had asked the government to consider temporarily dropping the 12% GST levied on such imports altogether, citing the shortage of oxygen in the second wave of the pandemic.
IGST
- IGST or Integrated Goods and Services Tax is one of the three components of Good and Services Tax. It is levied on all the inter-state transfer of goods and services and is governed by the IGST Act.
- IGST will be applicable on any supply of goods and/or services in both cases of import into India and export from India.
- Under IGST,
- Exports would be zero-rated.
- Tax will be shared between the Central and State Government.
Subject: Defence
Context: INS Makar, equipped with side scan sonars, to search for the missing
Concept:
- INS Makar (J31) is the lead ship of Makar-class of survey catamarans used for hydrographic survey by the Indian Navy. It was built indigenously in India by Alcock Ashdown Limited, Gujarat.
- INS Makar is tasked with undertaking hydrographic surveys for producing navigational charts and is capable of collecting marine environmental information by conducting limited oceanographic surveys.
- Equipped with four engines and two bow thrusters, Makar has an Integrated Platform Management System that combines the vessel’s power, navigation and propulsion systems.
- Makar is further fitted with a wide range of survey equipment that includes sounding systems, bottom profilers and an advanced electronic positioning system.
- Air conditioned data processing facilities are available on board Makar’s caravan.
Subject: Science & tech
Context: Moderna, Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines Work Better In Men: Study. Both of these vaccines use nanoparticles (nanoparticles) that deliver the active ingredients in them to the cells in our body.
Concept:
- Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology to achieve innovation in healthcare.
- It uses the properties developed by a material at its nanometric scale 10-9 m which often differ in terms of physics, chemistry or biology from the same material at a bigger scale.
- Moreover, the nanometric size is also the scale of many biological mechanisms in the human body allowing nanoparticles and nanomaterials to potentially cross natural barriers to access new sites of delivery and to interact with DNA or small proteins at different levels, in blood or within organs, tissues or cells.
Benefits
- Nanomedicine has the potential to enable early detection and prevention and to drastically improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of many diseases including cancer but not only.
- Overall, Nanomedicine has nowadays hundreds of products under clinical trials, covering all major diseases including cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, musculoskeletal and inflammatory.
- Enabling technologies in all healthcare areas, Nanomedicine is already accounting for approximatively 80 marketed products, ranging from nano-delivery and pharmaceutical to medical imaging, diagnostics and biomaterials.
Subject: Important personalities
Context: Dalai Lama’s successor has to be approved by China: Beijing white paper on Tibet. The Dalai Lama is 85 years old now and the issue of his successor has gained prominence in the last couple of years due to his advanced age.
Concept:
Following the Buddhist belief in the principle of reincarnation, the current Dalai Lama is believed by Buddhists to be able to choose the body into which he is reincarnated.
- That person, when found, will then become the next Dalai Lama.
- According to Buddhist scholars it is the responsibility of the High Lamas of the Gelugpa tradition and the Tibetan government to seek out and find the next Dalai Lama following the death of the incumbent.
- If more than one candidate is identified, the true successor is found by officials and monks drawing lots in a public ceremony.
- Once identified, the successful candidate and his family are taken to Lhasa (or Dharamsala) where the child studies the Buddhist scriptures in order to prepare for spiritual leadership.
But, According to China, there was a well-established procedure for recognizing the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama,
- One of the conditions was that the name of the successor was pulled out of golden urns found in the Jokhang Temple (one of the most sacred monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism situated in Lhasa) and the Potala Palace which was the residence of the Dalai Lama till he fled to India in 1959.
- The second was the reincarnation getting the approval of the Chinese government.
Dalai Lama
- Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people for the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the classical schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
- The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso.
- The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet.
- Bodhisattvas are realized beings inspired by a wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity.
8. VACCINE TOURISM & VACCINE PASSPORT
Subject: Science & tech
Context: ‘Vaccine tourism’ resurfaces after Indians scramble to book Moscow trip for Sputnik jabs.
Concept:
- Vaccine tourism means visiting another country or state to get a vaccine not available to you at home.
- Right now, vaccine tourism is all about the COVID-19 vaccine, which has had a slow rollout in many states and isn’t yet available worldwide.
- In the US and other countries that have the vaccine, some populations are getting priority, such as the elderly and health care workers.
- But some people who don’t fall into these groups have reportedly been jumping the line and traveling elsewhere for their shots.
Vaccine Passports:
- A vaccine passport is an e-certificate that stores and records jabs and Covid-19 test status.
- It can be kept in a smartphone app or in other digital formats.
- Its contents can be flashed at security checkpoints when people travel across borders.
- The idea is modelled on the proof of vaccination that several countries required even before the pandemic.
- Travellers from many African countries to the USA or India are required to submit proof that they have been vaccinated against diseases such as yellow fever.
- In February 2021, Israel became the first country to introduce a certification system that allows those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to access certain facilities and events.
Subject: Science & tech
Context : Over the past several weeks, as the second wave of Covid-19 has devastated India and patients have struggled against an acute shortage of medical oxygen and ICU beds, a clinical intervention technique known as ‘ECMO’ has entered the vocabulary of common conversation.
Concept:
- Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life.
- The technology for ECMO is largely derived from cardiopulmonary bypass, which provides shorter-term support with arrested native circulation.
- The device used is a membrane oxygenator, also known as an artificial lung.
- ECMO works by temporarily drawing blood from the body to allow artificial oxygenation of the red blood cells and removal of carbon dioxide.
- Generally, it is used either post-cardiopulmonary bypass or in late-stage treatment of a person with profound heart and/or lung failure, although it is now seeing use as a treatment for cardiac arrest in certain centers, allowing treatment of the underlying cause of arrest while circulation and oxygenation are supported.
- ECMO is also used to support patients with the acute viral pneumonia associated with COVID-19 in cases where artificial ventilation is not sufficient to sustain blood oxygenation levels.
Subject: Economy
Context: Recently, a consignment of DahanuGholvad Sapota from Palghar district of Maharashtra was shipped to the United Kingdom in a major boost to exports of Geographical Indication (GI) certified products.
Concept:
- The GI certification of Ghovad Sapota is held by Maharashtra Rajya ChikooUtpadak Sangh.
- It is believed that the unique taste is derived from calcium rich soil of Gholvad village.
- The DahanuGholvad Sapota, sourced from the authorized GI users, were sorted and graded from the APEDA assisted and registered packhouse facility.
Cultivation of Sapota
- Sapota is grown in many states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
- Karnataka is known to be the highest grower of the fruit, followed by Maharashtra.
Subject: Geography
Context: Good pre-monsoon showers and lower temperatures this month across the country will help retain soil moisture, helping kharif sowing which is expected to commence soon.
Concept:
- Pre-monsoon shower or summer rain is formed due to the storm over the Bay of Bengal.
- It is a mixture of dry and moist winds. It at times gives rise to local storms, such as the occurrence of violent winds, heavy rain and hailstorms.
- These showers’ effect can be seen in two ways such as in some states of northern India it reduces the intensity of heat waves, but it also come with the blessing of showers in the Eastern and Southern India for the farmers.
- Different names of pre-monsoon shower are ,
- Tea Shower in Assam
- Kalbaishakh in West Bengal
- Mango Shower in Kerala and Coastal areas of Karnataka
- Cherry Blossoms/ Coffee showers in Kerala and some part of Karanataka.
Subject: International Relations / S&T
Context: Responding to anti-TRIPS activism from low-income countries and realising they would not be able to profit off of low-income markets anyway, some manufacturers placed licensing agreements to produce AIDS drugs for which they owned patent rights in the UN-affiliated Medicines Patent Pool.
Concept:
- The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a Unitaid-backed international organisation founded in July 2010, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Its public health driven business model aims to lower the prices of HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C medicines and facilitate the development of better-adapted HIV treatments through voluntary licensing and patent pooling.
- Its goal is to improve access to affordable and appropriate HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
- Economics research finds evidence that the pool increases generic diffusion in LMIC and upstream innovation.
- In May 2020, the MPP become an implementing partner of the WHO’s Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).
C- TAP
- Thirty countries and multiple international partners and institutions have signed up to support the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).
- C-TAP is an initiative aimed at making vaccines, tests, treatments and other health technologies to fight COVID-19 accessible to all.
- The COVID-19 (Technology) Access Pool will be voluntary and based on social solidarity. It will provide a one-stop shop for scientific knowledge, data and intellectual property to be shared equitably by the global community.
- With supportive countries across the globe, C-TAP will serve as a sister initiative to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and other initiatives to support efforts to fight COVID-19 worldwide.
Subject: Economy
Context : WTO member-countries are questioning India mainly regarding incentives to oilseed growers to boost output. A creative non-tariff based policy will boost oilseeds output. It will also counter the US, the EU’s objections in WTO.
Concept:
- Country needs 25 million tonnes of edible oils to meet its requirement at current consumption level of 19 kg per person per year.
- Out of the total requirement, 10.50 million tonnes are produced domestically from primary (Soybean, Rapeseed & Mustard, Groundnut, Sunflower, Safflower& Niger) and secondary sources (Oil palm, Coconut, Rice Bran, Cotton seeds & Tree Borne Oilseeds) and remaining 60%, is met through import. The oilseed production of the country has been growing impressively.
- Despite this, there exists a gap between the demand and supply of oilseeds, which has necessitated sizeable quantities of imports.
Govt. Intervention:
- To increase domestic availability and reduce import dependency, a National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO) is proposed for next five years (2020-21 to 2024-25).
- NMEO covering three Sub-Missions to increase production of oilseeds and edible oils from
- Primary Sources (Annual Crops, Plantation Crops and Edible TBOs)
- Secondary Sources (Rice bran oil and Cotton seed oil)
- Consumer Awareness for maintaining edible oil consumption constant at 19.00 kg per person per annum.
- The proposed mission will aim to increase production from 30.88 to 47.80 million tonnes of oilseeds which will produce 7.00 to 11.00 million tonnes of edible oils from Primary Sources by 2024-25.Similarly, edible oils from secondary sources will be doubled from 3.50 to 7.00 million tonnes.
National Food Security Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm
- During the 12th Five Year Plan, a new National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) was launched.
- Under NMOOP, Mini Mission – II (MM – II) was dedicated to oil palm area expansion and productivity increases.
- MM – II was implemented in 12 States – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh w.e.f. 01.04.2014.
- Through NMOOP, the Government aims to augment the availability of edible oils and reduce the import of edible oils by increasing the production and productivity of oilseeds and oil palm.
- It also aims to improve the area under plantation of Tree Borne Oilseeds (TBOs) – Olive, Mahua, Kokum, Wild Apricot, Neem, Jojoba, Karanja, Simaroba, Tung, Cheura and Jatropha.
Subject: Economy
Context: Indonesia not suspended Indian buffalo meat imports, confirms Indian Embassy in Jakarta.
Concept:
- The modernization of the meat and poultry processing sector in India is the Pink Revolution.
- Pink revolution is also denoted as a revolution for Onion production, pharmaceuticals and prawn production. Modernization is the mechanization and specialization of the standard of processes in the meat industry.
- Industrialization and upgraded technologies are necessary for the Indian entities to meet and maintain global standards. Also, adopting and developing mass production capacities help industries to be more productive.
- There is tremendous scope for the development of the domestic market because a significant number of the population of India still prefer to buy meat from the local shop instead of standard packaged meat.
- Furthermore, considering the increasing threat of zoonotic diseases, it is imperative that India maintains and builds quality facilities so that exports of the country do not get banned by other countries.
Subject: Governance
Context: Recently, the New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced Vax and Scratch Programme.
Concept:
Vax and Scratch Programme
- It is a new vaccination programme that will provide free lottery tickets to those individuals over the age of 18 years who choose to get vaccinated from one of the ten state-run sites.
- The ten sites located in New York City, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley and Western New York regions with either the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine or the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
- These scratch-off lottery tickets have a maximum prize of $5 million and a minimum prize of $20.
Status of the vaccination campaign in New York
- The state has vaccinated nearly 63 per cent (9,907,926) of the population over the age of 18 years.
- 51 per cent (10,174,323) of the total population of the state has received at least one dose.
- While 42.9 per cent of the total population is fully vaccinated, 53.5 per cent of the population in the 18 plus age group is fully vaccinated.
Subject: Culture
Context: The Central government nominated 12 eminent artistes and musicians as members of the governing board of the Kalakshetra Foundation.
Concept:
- Kalakshetra Foundation is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music.
- It is based in Chennai.
- It was founded in 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale and her husband George Arundale.
- In 1994, an Act of the Parliament of India recognised the Kalakshetra Foundation as an “Institute of National Importance.”
- The Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam developed by Rukmini Devi Arundale is noted for its angular, straight, ballet-like kinesthetics, and its avoidance of Recakas and of the uninhibited throw (Ksepa) of the limbs.