Daily Prelims Notes 23 September 2021

September 23, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

23 September 2021

Table Of Contents

Subject – Environment

Context – Arctic sea ice hits its minimum extent for the year — 2 NASA scientists explain what’s driving the overall decline

Concept –

September marks the end of the summer sea ice melt season and the Arctic sea ice minimum, when sea ice over the Northern Hemisphere ocean reaches its lowest extent of the year.
For ship captains hoping to navigate across the Arctic, this is typically their best chance to do it, especially in more recent years. Sea ice cover there has dropped by roughly half since the 1980s as a direct result of increased carbon dioxide from human activities.
In 2021, the Arctic’s sea ice cover reached its minimum extent on September 16, 2021, the 12th lowest on record.
In recent years, Arctic sea ice levels have been at their lowest since at least 1850 for the annual mean and in at least 1,000 years for late summer, according to the latest climate assessment from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
- The IPCC concluded that “the Arctic is likely to be practically sea ice free in September at least once before 2050.”
As the Arctic’s bright ice is replaced by a darker open ocean surface, less of the sun’s radiation is reflected back to space, driving additional heating and ice loss.
- This albedo feedback loop is just one of several reasons why the Arctic is warming about three times faster than the planet as a whole.

Sea ice in 2021

The stage for this year’s sea ice minimum was set last winter. The Arctic experienced an anomalous high pressure system and strong clockwise winds, driving the thickest, oldest sea ice of the Central Arctic into the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska.
2021 melt season was, despite all the stops and starts, pretty typical for our new Arctic, with the September minimum ending up slightly higher than what we would have expected from the long-term downward trend. But various new record lows were set in other months and regions of the Arctic.

The more heat the ocean gains during summer, the more heat needs to be lost before ice can begin to form again. Because of this, some of the biggest warming signals are actually observed in fall, despite all the attention given to summer ice losses.
Weather events can also trigger local feedback loops. A freak heat wave, for example, can trigger ice melt and further warming. Winds and ocean currents also break up and spread ice out across the ocean, where it can be more prone to melt.
Thickness times area equals volume. Like area, sea ice thickness is thought to have halved since the 1980s, meaning today’s Arctic ice pack is only about a quarter of the volume it was just a few decades ago.
- Sea ice thickness is much harder to measure consistently from space. However, new technologies, like ICESat-2, are providing key breakthroughs.

2. WHO global air quality norms

Subject – Environment

Context – WHO raises the bar on clean air

Concept –

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the bar further to safeguard public health even before the global community could comply with the current benchmarks for clean air.
The WHO’s new air quality guidelines — Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) — released September 22, 2021, has redefined the threshold of safe air.
This is the first revision after the last updation in 2005 — about 15 years ago. Currently, 90 per cent of the global population and nearly everyone in India are breathing air that defies the current guidelines of the WHO.
The primary focus is on significant tightening of the guidelines for particulate matter, which is responsible for the highest number of air pollution related deaths worldwide — nearly seven million. The guidelines for key gases have also been revised.

WHO’s new guidelines recommend air quality levels for 6 pollutants, where evidence has advanced the most on health effects from exposure. When action is taken on these so-called classical pollutants – particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO), also has an impact on other damaging pollutants.
It is, however, not clear why the annual standard for sulphur dioxide (SO2) is missing and the 24-hour guideline has been made more lax at 40 μg / m3, from 20 μg / m3 — two times more lenient.
- This cannot be explained as SO2 is directly linked with the use of sulphur-rich fuels that includes coal and other dirtier industrial fuels that are widely used across the developing world. Moreover, SO2 also contributes to the formation of secondary particulate or sulphates.
This time, the WHO has also included other fractions of particulate matter (ie black carbon / elemental carbon, ultrafine particles and particles originating from sand and dust storms).
- Numerical AQG levels could not be established for them and therefore, a best practice approach is required for mitigation.
But the latest State of Global Air Report 2020 has stated that there has been little or no progress in improving air quality in many parts of the world during 2019. Dangerous levels persist in low- and middle-income countries.

Impact on India –

The move does not have an immediate effect in India as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) do not meet the WHO’s existing standards.
The government has a dedicated National Clean Air Programme that aims for a 20% to 30% reduction in particulate matter concentrations by 2024 in 122 cities, keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. These are cities that do not meet the NAAQS when calculated from 2011 to 2015.
India’s NAAQs — last revised in 2009 — specify an annual limit of 60 microgram per cubic metre for PM10 and 100 for a 24-hour period. Similarly it’s 40 for PM 2.5 annually and 60 on a 24-hour period.
There are also standards for a host of chemical pollutants including sulphur dioxide, lead and nitrogen dioxide.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act empowers Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to set standards for the quality of air.
Current NAAQS were notified by CPCB in the year 2009.
Pollutants covered under NAAQS are Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter (PM 10, PM 2.5), Ozone (O3), Lead (Pb), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ammonia (NH3), Benzene (C6H6), Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP), Arsenic(As), Nickel (Ni).

National Clean Air Programme

A long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20% to 30% reduction in Particulate Matter concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
Under NCAP, 122 non-attainment cities have been identified across the country based on the Air Quality data from 2014-2018.
- Non-attainment cities: These are those that have fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for over five years.
The city specific action plans have been prepared which, inter-alia, include measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc. Implementation of the city specific action plans are regularly monitored by Committees at Central and State level namely Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee.
Air quality of cities is monitored by State Pollution Control Boards which publishes their results from time to time. Some Smart Cities have established Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) which are also connected to Air Quality Monitors (AQMs) for effective monitoring.

3. ‘Possibly Extinct’ in IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species

Subject – Environment

Context –These animals and plants of India could have become ‘possibly extinct’: IUCN

Concept –

The latest edition of the Red List was released at the recently-concluded World Conservation Congress organised by the IUCN at Marseille, France.
Among animals, there is the coconut crab, the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world. There are also fish species such as bovany barb, native to the Cauvery river system.
Other fish that have been declared as possibly extinct include the Deolali minnow, the Deccan barb and the Nilgiri mystus, all of which are found in the Deccan.
Birds include the Pink-headed duck, which has been feared to be extinct since the 1950s, the Siberian crane, that once famously drew crowds to Keoladeo National Park as well as the Buffy fish-owl or Malay owl.
The Tentacled butterfly ray, a type of ray and the Dwarf sawfish are two other animal species that are feared to be possibly extinct. The Millepora boschmai or fire coral is also possibly extinct.
There are also species that have been marked as ‘Extinct Post-1500’.
- Those marked ‘Extinct Post-1500’ include Green peafowl, Cheetah, Hairy-nosed Otter, Banteng, a bovid found today in southeast Asia, the Sumatran and Javan rhino and the Osteobrama belangeri, a fish species endemic to Manipur.
Plants that are possibly extinct include:
- Corypha taliera, a species of palm
- Eriocaulon minutum, a species of pipewort
- Ilex gardneriana, that is found in the Nilgiris
- Vachellia bolei, a coastal stenoendemic legume of southern India
- Euphorbia mayurnathanii that is endemic to the Palghat Gap.
Hopea shingkeng, that is endemic to the Eastern Himalayas and Aldrovanda vesiculosa or the Waterwheel plant have been categorised as ‘Extinct Post-1500’.
Species whose statuses were changed included the Albacore Tuna that was moved from near threatened to least concern. The Yellowfin Tuna was moved from near threatened to least concern. The Yeracud Day Gecko was moved from least concern to endangered.
The Satara Gecko was moved from vulnerable to critically endangered while the Yellow Monitor was moved from least concern to endangered.

4. Cheetah

Subject – Environment

Context – Kuno not ready ecologically at the moment to accept cheetahs: Faiyaz Khudsar

Concept –

India has been in talks to get 8-12 cheetahs from South Africa in the end of November. The plan is to introduce them to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The National Tiger Conservation Authority has been asked to oversee this process surprising many.
The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952. Since then, the grasslands of the country, of which the cheetah was the keystone species, have also disappeared.

The cheetah is also the world’s fastest land mammal.
It is listed as vulnerable in IUCN red listed species.

(Note – A guild is any group of species that exploit the same resources, or that exploit different resources in related ways.)

Kuno National Park

Kuno is a National park in Madhya Pradesh, India.
It was established, in 1981, as a wildlife sanctuary in the Sheopur and Morena districts. It was also known as Kuno-Palpur and Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary.
In 2018, it was given the status of a National Park.
It is part of the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.
The protected area is largely dry, deciduous forest.

5. Bauxite

Subject – Geography

Context – Won’t allow bauxite mining on Mali Hill: Agitators ransack meeting in Koraput village

Concept –

Adivasis shouted slogans and ransacked the venue of a public meeting called to discuss a proposed bauxite mining project in Odisha’s Koraput district September 22, 2021.
The Mali and forest area are home to large numbers of Kondha, Paraja and Gadaba tribespeople, who are spread across 44 villages.
Mali hill was the source of 36 perennial streams which fed the waters of the Kolab river. Tribals irrigated their land with the water of the Kolab.

About Bauxite –

Bauxite is an important ore that is used for making aluminium. It is an oxide of aluminium. It is not a specific mineral but a rock consisting mainly of hydrated aluminium oxides.
The deposits of Bauxite are mainly associated with laterites and occur as capping on hills and plateaus, except in coastal areas of Gujarat and Goa.
Production of Aluminium from Bauxite: This industry is divided into 2 segments. The plants for obtaining alumina from bauxite ore, such plants are located near bauxite mines and plants for reduction of Alumina into Aluminium, such plants are located near the cheap source of electricity.
Bauxite is primarily used to produce alumina through the Bayer process.
Like many metals, world demand for aluminium, and therefore bauxite, has grown substantially over the past 10 years in response to economic growth in emerging Asian economies.

Distribution of Bauxite in the world

The world bauxite reserves are estimated at 28 billion tonnes and are located mainly in Guinea (26%), Australia (22%), Brazil (9%), Vietnam (8%), Jamaica (7%), Indonesia (4%), Guyana & China (3% each).
Australia continues to be the major producer of Bauxite and accounts for about 30% share in total world production, followed by China (25%), Brazil (14%), India (8%) and Guinea (7%).

Deposits of Bauxite in India

There are abundant bauxite reserves in the country. However since they are located in heavily forested areas, inhabited by indigenous people; mining has been unable to start in these regions.
By States, Odisha alone accounts for 53% of country’s resources of bauxite. The ranking of states in terms of bauxite resources is as following
- Odisha (53%)
- Andhra Pradesh (16%)
- Gujarat (8%)
- Jharkhand (5%)
- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh (4% each).

6. India’s sewage treatment plants

Subject – Environment

Context – India’s sewage treatment plants treat only a third of the sewage generated daily: CPCB

Concept –

Sewage treatment plants (STPs) in India are able to treat a little more than a third of the sewage generated per day, according to the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The released recently CPCB report has been compiled on the basis of information received from the state pollution control boards about STPs.

Skewed distribution

Five states and Union Territories (UT) — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka — account for 60 per cent of the total installed treatment capacity of the country.
These, along with five other states and UTs — Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan — alone constitute 86 per cent of the total installed capacity.
Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland have not installed sewage treatment plants.
There are states like Bihar which do have a small installed capacity of STPs. But on the operational front, they score a zero.
Chandigarh ranks first in terms of total sewage generated to what is actually treated.
Other states and UTs doing well in terms of proportion of sewage waste actually treated to generated ratio include Delhi (72 per cent), Punjab (72 per cent), Haryana (71 per cent), Gujarat (54 per cent) and Maharashtra (47 per cent).

Reuse of sewage

Treated sewage water can be reused for horticulture, irrigation, washing activities (road, vehicles and trains), fire-fighting, industrial cooling, toilet flushing and gardening, according to the report of the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation.
The proportion of the reuse of treated sewage is maximum in Haryana (80 per cent) followed by Puducherry (55 per cent), Delhi (50 per cent), Chandigarh (35 per cent), Tamil Nadu (25 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (20 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (5 per cent).
The Delhi government has set a target to increase their reuse to 60 per cent from 12.5 per cent.

7. Rare species of Sundarbans

Subject – Environment

Context – rare species of Sundarbans are threatened by human activities

Concept –

Our world recently completed the ‘United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (2011-2020)’.
Small patches of mangroves are being lost gradually and quietly due to their indiscriminate destruction for either coastal development or short-term gains
Coastal mangrove habitats across the world are the preferred hub of coastal fisheries, aquaculture, pisciculture, shrimp farming, crab farming, all providing livelihoods to local people.
In Indian Sundarbans, conversion of shoreline mangroves to shrimp farms and other pisciculture farms is very popular and it is the main source of income for the local people.
Extensive surveys for the last few years (2014-2021) by our group observed that loss of these mangrove habitats also leads to loss of species that belong to IUCN’s near-threatened or endangered category.
These settlement mangroves used to be safe havens of diverse molluscs and crustaceans, but these are also disappearing due to the polluted discharges from shrimp ponds, harming the native habitat and breeding activities of these species. One such crustacean is a sesarmid mangrove tree-climbing crab called Episesarma mederi, rarely reported from Sundarban settlement mangroves.
The accreting mudflat is a favoured habitat for mangrove-dependent fish species, which enter the mudflat with the tidal flow but are trapped in these nets during the ebb current of the tides.

To know more about Sunderbans, please click here.

8. Single-window portal for investors launched

Subject – Economy

Context – Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister, on Wednesday launched the single-window portal for investors and businesses.

Concept –

Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister, on Wednesday launched the single-window portal for investors and businesses.
The portal will serve as a one stop-shop for investors for approvals and clearances.
The National Single Window System (NSWS) will usher in a change from the legacy of running to government offices and will promote the ease of doing business.
The portal, as of today, hosts approvals across 18 Central Departments and nine States, and another 14 Central Departments and five States will be added by December 2021.
NSWS will provide end-to-end facilitation and support to investors, facilitate clearances at the Centre and State levels, provide pre-investment advisory to new businesses, and share information related to land banks.
It seeks to address information asymmetry, duplication of information submitted across platforms and authorities, and inefficient tracking of approvals and registration faced by investors.
All solutions for businesses will be provided at the click of the mouse through ‘end-to-end’ facilitation and information needed will be available on a single dashboard, bringing transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the ecosystem.
The dashboard can be used to put in applications and also track and respond to queries. The services available include Know Your Approval (KYA), common registration and State registration forms, document repository, and e-communication.

9. Trojan Malware

Subject – Security

Context – Beware of trojan malware attack, MeitY warns customers of 27 major banks

Concept –

A Trojan horse or Trojan is a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate software.
Trojans can be employed by cyber-thieves and hackers trying to gain access to users’ systems. Users are typically tricked by some form of social engineering into loading and executing Trojans on their systems. Once activated, Trojans can enable cyber-criminals to spy on you, steal your sensitive data, and gain backdoor access to your system.
The term “Trojan” derives from the ancient Greek story about the deceptive Trojan horse which led to the fall of the city of Troy. When it comes to your computer, a Trojan virus operates similarly – it hides within seemingly harmless programs or tries to trick you into downloading it.
The name was coined in a US Air Force report in 1974, which speculated on hypothetical ways computers could be compromised.
Unlike viruses, Trojans don’t self-replicate. Instead, a Trojan horse spreads by pretending to be useful software or content while secretly containing malicious instructions.

10. Secretaries In Central Ministries

Subject – Polity

Context – The government, on Wednesday, appointed 13 senior bureaucrats as Secretaries in Central Ministries/departments such as telecom, industry and civil aviation, and also upgraded nine Additional Secretary-level officers to the rank and pay of Secretary

Concept –

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DAR&PG) in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, as nodal Government agency, is charged with the responsibility of prescribing procedures for secretariat work.

Functions at various levels –

(a) Secretary – A Secretary to the Government of India is the administrative head of the Ministry or Department, who is the principal adviser to the Minister on all matters of policy and the administration within the Ministry/Department.

(b) Special Secretary/Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary – One or more wings may be established with Special Secretary/Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary, in-charge of each wing under the charge of Secretary.

(c) Director/Deputy Secretary – Director/Deputy secretary holds the charge of a Secretariat Division and is responsible for the disposal of Government business dealt within the Division under the charge.

(d) Under Secretary – An Under Secretary is in-charge of the Branch in the Ministry/Department consisting of one or more Sections.

(e) Section Officer – A Section Officer is the in-charge of a Section who has to ensure efficient and expeditious disposal of work, recording and weeding out, indexing and digitization

11. Final Bound Total Aggregate Measurement of Support (FBTAMS)

Subject – Agriculture

Context – ‘Rich nations must end subsidy entitlements’

Concept –

India has submitted a fresh paper at the on-going WTO negotiations on agriculture demanding that special subsidy entitlements enjoyed by 32 developed countries must be eliminated first before any other country takes on any commitments.
The special entitlements, known as the Final Bound Total Aggregate Measurement of Support (FBTAMS), allows most developed nations, and a very small number of developing countries, flexibilities to breach prescribed domestic subsidy levels (fixed at 5 per cent of value of produce for rich countries) and also concentrate the support in just a few products.
A country’s FBTAMS is derived from the level of support provided during 1986−88, with a few exceptions for countries that joined the WTO after 1995.
The G-33 Group (a group of developing and least-developed members) and the ACP group (members from African, Caribbean and Pacific regions), too, stressed that eliminating FBTAMS is their first priority in domestic support negotiations.

12. Gig Workers

Subject – Economy

Context – Gig workers’ body files PIL for social security

Concept –

Filed on September 20, the PIL stated that the denial of social security to gig workers or platform workers has led to their exploitation, in violation of Article 21 (Right to Life), Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 23 (prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour), of the Constitution.
By labelling gig workers as independent contractors, platform companies like Uber, Ola, Swiggy, and Zomato have been able to deny them fixed salary and other social security benefits.
A recent judgment of the UK Supreme Court had also recognised Uber drivers as employees and not independent contractors.

To know about Gig workers, please click here.

To know about Gig economy, please click here.

13. PM – CARES

Subject – Governance

Context – PM-CARES Fund not a fund of Government of India, Delhi HC told

Concept –

PRIME MINISTER’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation Fund (PM-CARES Fund), a charitable trust under the law, has told Delhi High Court that the trust’s fund is not a fund of the Government of India and its amount does not go in the Consolidated Fund of India.
Irrespective of whether the trust is a “State” or other authority within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India and or whether it is a ‘public authority’ within the meaning of section 2[h] of Right to Information Act, Section 8 in general and that of provisions contained in sub section [e] and [j], in particular, of the Right to Information Act, it is not permissible to disclose third party information.

To know more about PM-CARES, please click here.

14. Havana Syndrome

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – CIA officer on India trip reports Havana Syndrome

Concept –

CIA officer on India trip reports Havana Syndrome. This is the first instance of the phenomenon being reported in India, at least on record, and could have diplomatic implications.

What is Havana Syndrome?

Havana Syndrome refers to a set of mental health symptoms that are said to be experienced by US intelligence and embassy officials in various countries.
It typically involves symptoms such as hearing certain sounds without any outside noise being present, nausea, vertigo and headaches, memory loss and issues with balance.
As the name suggests, it traces its roots to Cuba. In late 2016, about a year after the US opened its embassy in Havana, some intelligence officials and members of the staff at the embassy began experiencing sudden bursts of pressure in their brain followed by persistent headaches, feeling of disorientation and insomnia.

To know more about Havana Syndrome, please click here.

15. Early Harvest Deal

Subject – IR

Context – India, UAE look to sign ‘early harvest deal’ by start of 2022

Concept –

Early harvest agreements are used to liberalise tariffs on the trade of certain goods between two countries or trading blocs before a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is concluded.
Early harvest scheme is a precursor to a free trade agreement (FTA) between two trading partners. This is to help the two trading countries to identify certain products for tariff liberalisation pending the conclusion of FTA negotiation.
It is primarily a confidence building measure between two trading partners.
An Early Harvest Scheme (EHS) is an agreement between two states (or regional trading blocs) which liberalizes tariffs on certain goods preceding the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

16. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence

Subject – Security

Context – The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is questioning the suspects arrested in connection with the 3,000¬kg heroin seizure at the Mundra port in Gujarat to determine the identities of other foreign nationals who were part of the international drug trafficking syndicate.

Concept –

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is an Indian intelligence agency. It is India’s apex anti-smuggling intelligence, investigations and operations agency.
The Directorate is run by officers from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) who are posted in its various Zonal Units as well as in Indian embassies abroad as part of the Customs Overseas Intelligence Network.
It is headed by a Director General of the rank of Special Secretary to the Government of India.
The Agency works to secure India’s national and economic security by preventing the outright smuggling of contraband such as firearms, gold, narcotics, Fake Indian Currency notes, antiques, wildlife and environmental products.
Moreover, it also works to prevent the proliferation of black money, trade based money laundering and commercial frauds.

17. National Disaster Management Authority

Subject – Disaster Management

Context – The Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Supreme Court that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recommended the payment of ₹50,000 each as ex gratia assistance to the next of kin of those who died of COVID-19.

Concept –

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recommended the payment of ₹50,000 each as ex gratia assistance to the next of kin of those who died of COVID-19, including those who succumbed to the virus while involved in relief operations and preparedness activities.
The financial aid would be given, provided that the cause of death is certified as COVID-19.
The money would be provided by the States from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). The disbursement of the amounts would be carried out by the District Disaster Management Authority/district administration concerned to the families.
In case of grievances regarding certification of death as prescribed by the Health Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), district-level committees comprising Additional District Collector, Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), Additional CMOH/Principal or HOD Medicine of a medical college (if one exists in the district) and a subject expert would propose the necessary remedial measures, including issuance of amended official document for COVID-19 death after verifying facts in accordance with the Health Ministry and ICMR guidelines.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment on June 30 based on a plea filed by advocate Gaurav Bansal, had directed the NDMA to recommend guidelines for giving ex gratia assistance to the families of persons who died of COVID-19 as mandated under Section 12 (iii) of the Disaster Management Act of 2005.

To know about NDMA, please click here.

To know about NDRF and SDRF, please click here.