Daily Prelims Notes 24 June 2020

June 24, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: Economy

Context:

According to a report, government is said to be considering a reduction in the Public Provident Fund (PPF) interest rates to below 7%.

Concept:

When the PPF scheme was launched in 1968, the introductory rate of interest hovered at 4.68% for the first two years before inching upwards to 5% and beyond.
However, the best years in terms of interest rates were between April 1986 and January 2000, the interest rate was constant at 12%.
The PPF interest rates are linked to the 10-year government bond yield, which is fixed every quarter, based on the average bond yield in the previous quarter.
Considering that since April 1, the 10-year bond yield has averaged 6.05% with the current yield at 5.85%. It’s highly likely that the PPF interest rate for the July-Sept quarter will fall to less than 7%.

About PPF

The Public Provident Fund scheme is one of the most popular long-term saving-cum-investment products, mainly due to its combination of safety, returns and tax savings.
Investors use the PPF as a tool to build a corpus for their retirement by putting aside sums of money regularly, over long periods of time (PPF has a 15-year maturity and the facility to extend the tenure). With its attractive interest rates and tax benefits, the PPF is a big favorite with a small saver.
The PPF is popular because it is one of the safest investment products. i.e., the government of India guarantees investments in the fund.
The interest rate is set by the government every quarter.
PPF scores over many other investment options mainly because investment is tax exempt under section 80C of the Income Tax Act (ITA) and the returns from PPF are also not taxable.

2. District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (Disha)

Subject: Polity

Context:

As per the Common Review Mission-2019, commissioned by the rural development ministry, in 2019 the average work generated per household under MGNREGA was 48 days which is half the entitled 100 days per household annually
The audit also added that the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (Disha) is virtually non-functional.

Concept:

District Development coordination and Monitoring committee (DISHA) is formed to fulfill the objective of ensuring a better coordination among all the elected representatives in Parliament, State Legislatures and Local Governments for efficient and time-bound development of districts in our country.
These Committees could monitor the implementation of the programmes and promote synergy and convergence for greater impact.
For years, District Vigilance and Monitoring Committees had the oversight mandate of a handful of schemes run by the rural development ministry but in 2016, they were superseded by DISHA which was charged with monitoring 41 central schemes, ranging from infrastructure and power, education and food security to rural development.
This committee will have coordination and Monitoring powers. Its role is to facilitate the timely execution of approved projects. It will have powers in seeking effective follow up of issues raised during the deliberation.

Composition

The Chairperson of the DISHA should be a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) elected from the district, nominated by the Ministry of Rural Development.
One MP (Rajya Sabha) representing the State and exercising an option to be associated with the district level Committee of that district (on first come basis), to be designated as Co-Chairpersons by the Ministry of Rural Development
Member secretary: The Member Secretary of the DISHA should be the District collector
All Members of the State Legislative Assembly elected from the district
One representative of the State Govemment / UT Administration
All Mayors / the Chairpersons of Municipalities and five elected heads of Gram Panchayat
Chairperson of the Zila Panchayat
Head of the Autonomous District Council in districts having Schedule VI Areas
And nominated members

3. U, V and W Recovery

Subject: Economy

Context:

Analysts suggested that India’s economic recovery from COVID pandemic is more likely to be a ‘U’ or ‘W’ shaped rather than ‘V’.

Concept:

Economic recession and recovery are often charted in the most common shapes such as U, V and W.
A U-Shaped Recovery represents the shape of the chart of certain economic measures, such as employment, GDP and industrial output. It is also charted when the economy experiences a gradual decline in these metrics followed by a gradual rise back to its previous peak.
A V-shaped recovery is characterized by a sharp economic decline followed by a quick and sustained recovery. This type of recession tends to be considered a best-case scenario.
W-shaped recessions begin like V-shaped recessions but turn down again after false signs of recovery are exhibited. It is also known as double-dip recessions, because the economy drops twice prior to full recovery.

4. Wildlife Corridor

Subject: Environment

Context:

Maharashtra state forest department declared 29.53 sqkm area of Dodamarg forest range, which is wildlife corridor in Sindhudurg district as ‘Tillari Conservation Reserve’.

Concept:

The 38-km-long Dodamarg wildlife corridor that connects Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra to Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka frequently witnesses elephant and tiger movement.

Wildlife corridors

A wildlife corridor is a way of connecting fragmented habitats. The corridor allows movement between isolated patches of habitat without other disturbances, such as traffic or development.
Wildlife corridors are also known as habitat corridors or green corridors.
These green corridors are also designed to keep animals out of danger of highways, busy roads, and other areas where their traditional migratory patterns intersect with potential dangerous manmade places.

Conservation reserve

Conservation reserves and community reserves in India are terms denoting protected areas of India which typically act as buffer zones to or connectors and migration corridors between established national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserved and protected forests of India.
Such areas are designated as conservation areas if they are uninhabited and completely owned by the Government of India but used for subsistence by communities and community areas if part of the lands is privately owned.
These protected area categories were first introduced in the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 − the amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
These categories were added because of reduced protection in and around existing or proposed protected areas due to private ownership of land, and land use.

5. Artic Warming

Subject: Environment

Context:

The Arctic Circle has recorded likely all-time high temperatures reaching over 38 degrees Celsius in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk which seem to have been 18 degree Celsius higher than normal in June.

Concept:

The Arctic’s extreme warming, known as Arctic amplification or polar amplification, may be due to three factors.
One, the region’s reflectivity, or albedo is changing as the world warms.
If the sea ice melts in the Arctic that will remove that white surface off of the ocean, and what will be exposed is this darker ocean surface that will absorb more of the sun’s heat.
This dovetails with the second factor: changing currents.
Ocean currents normally bring in warmer water from the Pacific, and colder water exits out of the Arctic into the Atlantic.
But those currents may be changing because more melting ice is injecting the Arctic Ocean with freshwater, which is less dense than saltwater, and therefore floats above it.
The missing ice also exposes the surface waters to more wind, speeding up the Beaufort Gyre in the Arctic, which traps the water it would normally expel into the Atlantic.
This acceleration mixes up colder freshwater at the surface and warmer saltwater below, raising surface temperatures and further melting ice.
Ocean currents influence the weather, a third factor.
They drive the powerful polar jet stream, which moves hot and cold air masses around the Northern Hemisphere. This is a product of the temperature differences between the Arctic and the tropics.
But as the Arctic warms, the jet stream now undulates wildly north and south. This has been injecting the Arctic with warm air in the summer and the US with extremely cold air in the winter, like during the “polar vortex” of January 2019.

6. Government e -Marketplace

Subject: Schemes

Context:

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal has mandated all sellers to clarify the country of origin while registering any new product.

Concept:

Need:

It is related to centre’sAatmanirbhar Bharat campaign, to promote locally produced goods.
As per procurement norms amended by the government, suppliers are categorised into classes depending on the level of local content in their goods.
The GeM portal allows buyers to reserve any bid for Class I local suppliers, or suppliers of those goods with more than 50% local content.
For bids below Rs 200 crore, only Class I and Class II (those with more than 20% local content) are eligible.

GeM Portal

Government e-Marketplace is a very bold step of the Government with the aim to transform the way in which procurement of goods and services is done by the Government Ministries and Departments, Public Sector Undertakings and other apex autonomous bodies of the Central Government.
Government e-Market Place hosted by Director General of Supplies & Disposal.
GeM is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.

7. Victory Day

Subject: History

Context:

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is on a three-day trip to Russia to attend the 75th Victory Day where India’s tri-services contingent is going to participate in the Victory Day Parade.

Concept:

Victory Day marks the end of World War II and the victory of the Allied Forces in 1945.
Though Adolf Hitler had shot himself on April 30, only on May 7, German troops surrendered.
This was formally accepted the next day, and came into effect on May 9.
In most European countries, it is celebrated on May 8, and is called the Victory in Europe Day.
The erstwhile Soviet Union had not wanted the surrender to take place in the west, and wanted that such a significant event should reflect the contribution of the Red Army and the Soviet population.
According to military historian, Joseph Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union, wanted Germany to also sign surrender in Berlin.
So Russia has celebration on May 9.

8. Travel Bubble

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

Union Aviation Ministry stated that government is considering establishment of “individual bilateral bubbles” with the US, the UK, Germany and France for allowing airlines of the respective countries in the agreement to operate international passenger flights.

Concept:

Creating a travel bubble involves reconnecting countries or states that have shown a good level of success in containing the novel coronavirus pandemic
Such a bubble would allow the members of the group to rekindle trade ties with each other, and kick start sectors such as travel and tourism.

9. Malabar rebellion

Subject: History

Context:

Malabar rebellion is going to be commemorated after 100 years.

Concept:

It was a peasant movement against the local Hindu landlords in 1921. The mains grievance of the peasants were lack of security of tenure , high rents and oppression by landlords
The impetus to the revolt came from Malabar District Congress Conference.
It was part of the Khilafat Movement, which demanded that the British preserve the Ottoman sultan as the Caliph of Islam, the revolt took place in Kerala’s Malabar and involved the Moplah or Mappila Muslims of the region
The violence began and the Moplahs attacked the police stations and took control of them. They also seized the courts, and the government treasuries.
It became a communal riot when the kudiyaan or tenant Moplahs attacked their Hindu jenmis or landlords and killed many of them. Thus, the Hindu Landlords became the victims of the atrocities of the Moplahs.
The leaders of this rebellion were:
VariyankunnathKunjahammed Haji
SeethiKoyaThangal of Kumaranpathor
Ali Musliyar.
For two some two months the administration remained in the hands of the rebels. The military as well as Police needed to withdraw from the burning areas.
Finally the British forces suppressed the movement with greater difficulty. The situation was under control by the end of the 1921.

Background:

Malabar fell under British rule in 1792.
By then, the Moplahs, once a prosperous trading community, had been reduced to penury as the English and the Portuguese wrested control of maritime commerce.
Further, Malabar’s landlords under the British were almost exclusively Hindu.
Throughout the 19th century, the Moplahs would revolt against this order, attacking either the Hindu landlords or European bureaucrats.
Between 1836 and 1919, there were 29 such “outrages”, as British chronicles from the time describe these uprisings.
Whether the uprisings were a reaction to Malabar’s oppressive land system or driven by religious fanaticism was debated even at the time by British officials.

10. Feluda kit and CRISPR Cas9

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

COVID-19 testing kits Feluda developed by labs of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are yet to make it to the market. But change in rules by the ICMR that now requires additional data and not just results from laboratory-controlled conditions from research labs will stall its release.

Concept:

On May 5, the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) announced collaboration with Tata Sons Ltd to develop a paper-based test, called FELUDA that could detect the presence of the virus.
The FELUDA kit uses a CRISPR-cas9 gene editing system to detect the coronavirus,
Unlike the conventional RT PCR test that requires a specialized machine, FELUDA (FNCas-9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay), was relatively more adaptable and could be used in conventional pathology labs that didn’t have a PCR machine.

CRISPR-cas9 gene

CRISPR technology is a simple yet powerful tool for editing genomes.
It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops. However, its promise also raises ethical concerns.
CRISPRs are specialized stretches of DNA.
The protein Cas9 is an enzyme that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA.

CRISPR technology was adapted from the natural defense mechanisms of bacteria and archaea. These organisms use CRISPR-derived RNA and various Cas proteins, including Cas9, to foil attacks by viruses and other foreign bodies. They do so primarily by chopping up and destroying the DNA of a foreign invader.
When these components are transferred into other, more complex, organisms, it allows for the manipulation of genes, or “editing.”

11. Money Supply

Subject: Economy

Context:

According to RBI data, M₃ money supply rose 6.7% in the first five months compared with the same period last year, the highest growth in seven years.

Concept:

The reason behind surge in money supply is heightened uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as people hoard cash or park money in accessible deposits to safeguard themselves against salary cuts or job losses.
Since the end of March, currency held by the public rose 8.2% compared with a 4.1% increase in term deposits, the data showed. Savings and current account deposits fell 8% due to higher withdrawals.

Currency in circulation

Currency with the public is arrived at after deducting cash with banks from total currency in circulation.
Currency in circulation refers to cash or currency within a country that is physically used to conduct transactions between consumers and businesses.

Money Aggregates: Standard Measures of Money Supply

Reserve Money (M0) = Currency in circulation + Bankers’ deposits with the RBI + ‘Other’ deposits with the RBI
M1=Currency with the public + Deposit money of the public (Demand deposits with the banking system + ‘Other’ deposits with the RBI). It is called narrow money
M2 =M1 + Savings deposits with Post office savings banks.
M3 = M1+ Time deposits with the banking system. It is called broad money
M4=M3 + All deposits with post office savings banks (excluding National Savings Certificates).