Daily Prelims Notes 28 July 2022

July 28, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

28 July 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Trend on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India

Subject :Economy

Section: External Sector

Context:Singapore (27.01%) and USA (17.94%) have emerged as top 2 sourcing nations in FDI equity flows into India in FY2021-22.

Concept:

As per the UNCTAD World Investment Report (WIR) 2022, on the global trends in FDI inflows, India has improved one position to 7th rank among the top 20 host economies for 2021.
India is rapidly emerging as a preferred country for foreign investments in the manufacturing sector. FDI Equity inflow in Manufacturing Sectors have increased by 76% in FY 2021-22.
India received the highest annual FDI inflows of USD 84,835 million in FY 21-22 overtaking last year’s FDI by USD 2.87 billion.

Trends

The top sourcing nations in FDI equity flows into India in FY2021-22 are Singapore (27.01%) > USA (17.94%) > Mauritius > Netherland > Switzerland.
Sector wise trend of FDI Equity Inflow during FY 2021-22 are Computer Software & Hardware (24.60%)> Services Sector > Automobile Industry > Trading > Construction (Infrastructure) Activities.
State wise FDI Equity Inflow during FY 2021-22 are Karnataka (37.55%) > Maharashtra (26.26%) > Delhi > Tamil Nadu > Haryana.

Significant reforms by the government

The Government has implemented several transformative reforms under the FDI policy regime across sectors such as insurance, defence, telecom, financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail trading, e-commerce, construction & development, civil aviation, manufacturing
In India FDI up to 100% is allowed in non-critical sectors through the automatic route, not requiring security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Prior government approval or security clearance from MHA is required for investments in sensitive sectors such as defence, media, telecommunication, satellites, private security agencies, civil aviation and mining, besides any investment from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Foreign Direct Investment

FDI is an investment from a party in one country into a business or corporation in another country with the intention of establishing a lasting interest.
Lasting interest differentiates FDI from foreign portfolio investments, where investors passively hold securities from a foreign country.
Foreign direct investment can be made by expanding one’s business into a foreign country or by becoming the owner of a company in another country.
FDI is not just the inflow of money, but also the inflow of technology, knowledge, skills and expertise/know-how
FDI in India is allowed under two modes – either through the automatic route, for which companies don’t need government approval, or through the government route, for which companies need a go-ahead from the centre.

New FDI Policy:

An entity of a country, which shares a land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment into India is situated in or is a citizen of any such country, can invest only under the Government route.
A transfer of ownership in an FDI deal that benefits any country that shares a border with India will also need government approval.
Investors from countries not covered by the new policy only have to inform the RBI after a transaction rather than asking for prior permission from the relevant government department.

2. Chess and chaturanga

Subject: History

Section: Art and Culture

Context: Prime Minister will inaugurate the world’s biggest chess event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

Concept:

Chaturanga is an old Indian two-player board game that was invented at least 1,500 years ago and is believed to be the earliest predecessor of the game of chess. The Arabians adapted it to a game they called Shatranjin Sassanid Persia, which was later embraced by the Europeans during the Medieval Period and, after a few modifications, is now known as chess.

Historical evidences of chess

There is a close resemblance of modern chess in various types of terracotta games-men found in Lothal.
Excavation conducted in Tamil Nadu provided some terracotta cylindrical pieces made from clay and burnt in a kiln, and came in red and black, with their bottoms flat, presumably for easy handling on the board.
Chaturanga is first known from the Gupta Empire in India around the 6th century CE.
The earliest Indian reference to the game by name occurs in the seventh centuryD. in the poet Bāṇa’s Harṣacaritra. He says that under Harṣa, “cutting feet is (a matter) of boards with 64 squares, criminals having all four limbs”.
Daṇdin’s Daśakumāracarita provides a possible late sixth century reference to the game in which there is an example of what chess players call today a “kibitzer”.
The first mention of the game in Persia is in the seventh century Persian history, Artakhshatr-i-Papakan. Its Persian designation shatranj, comes from Sanskrit, ‘chaturaṅga’.

Chess and Chaturanga:

Both chess, chaturanga depicts a war between two armies. Each of the game’s pieces represents one of the four divisions of the Indian army at that time. The name of the game, chaturanga, roughly translates to “four limbs” from Sanskrit, an allusion to those divisions, which were infantry, elephantry, cavalry, and chariots.

Differences

The first difference between chaturanga and chess lies in their boards, chaturanga game was played on a plain, uncheckered
A chief distinctionin rules is that in Chaturanga, to win, the player must eliminate all the pieces of the opponent, except their king. There was no checkmate; thus, the king had to be captured. There were no checks in chaturanga, surrounded kings would be forced to move to an attacked square and get captured. If a player manages to stalemate the opponent, the player who is stalemated wins the game. This contradicts with the rule in modern chess.
In the modern version of chess, the kings are placed facing each other. However, in the game of Chaturanga, the kings were placed in a diagonally opposite fashion.

Changes in rules: The chaturanga rules not fully known, presumed to be the ancestor of chess and similar games.

The foot-soldier moved and captured just like a regular pawn in chess.
In chaturanga the foot-soldier could be promoted whereas in chess, the pawn is promoted.
The elephant could move diagonally two squares. Later it was modified and became the bishop in chess.
The horse moved just like the knight in chess.
The chariot moved just like the rook in chess.
The minister moved diagonally one square. This piece was modified later and became much more potent. It is known as the queen in chess.
The king moved just like today’s king.

3. India’s role in UN Peacekeeping Missions over the years

Subject :International Relations

Section: International Organization

Context: Two BSF personnel, who were part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), were among five people killed during a protest in an eastern town near the border with Uganda on Tuesday.

What is UN Peacekeeping?

Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an “instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace”.
It is distinguished from peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peace enforcement although the United Nations does acknowledge that all activities are “mutually reinforcing” and that overlap between them is frequent in practice
Peacekeepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed.
Such assistance comes in many forms, including confidence-building measures, power-sharing arrangements, electoral support, strengthening the rule of law, and economic and social development
UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Beretsor Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel.
Since 1948, UN Peacekeepers have undertaken 71 Field Missions. There are approximately 81,820 personnel serving on 13 peace operations led by UNDPO, in four continents currently

India’s contribution to UN Peacekeeping

India has a long history of service in UN Peacekeeping, having contributed more personnel than any other country.
To date, more than 2,53,000 Indians have served in 49 of the 71 UN Peacekeeping missions established around the world since 1948.
Currently, there are around 5,500 troops and police from India who have been deployed to UN Peacekeeping missions, the fifth highest amongst troop-contributing countries.

4. Supreme Court upholds powers of arrest- raid under PMLA

Subject :Polity

Section: Constitution

Context: The SC upheld the core amendments made to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

What is Money Laundering?

Whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or assist other person or actually involved in any activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002:

It was enacted to prevent money-laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from money-laundering
PMLA and the Rules notified there under came into force with effect from July 1, 2005.
The Act and Rules notified there under impose obligation on banking companies, financial institutions and intermediaries to verify identity of clients, maintain records and furnish information in prescribed form to Financial Intelligence Unit – India
The PMLA seeks to combat money laundering in India and has three main objectives:
- To prevent and control money laundering.
- To confiscate and seize the property obtained from the laundered money; and
- To deal with any other issue connected with money laundering in India.

The Act prescribes that any person found guilty of money-laundering shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment from three years to seven years
The Adjudicating Authority is the authority appointed by the central government through notification to exercise jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred under PMLA. It decides whether any of the property attached or seized is involved in money laundering
The Adjudicating Authority shall not be bound by the procedure laid down by the Code of Civil Procedure,1908, but shall be guided by the principles of natural justice and subject to the other provisions of PMLA
Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) was set by the Government of India on 18 November 2004 as the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions
FIU-IND is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the Finance Minister

What all sections were under court scrutiny and what all the court has upheld?

1) Section 3: States the offence of money laundering. The court held that generating black money is also money laundering, even without proof of actually laundering it or converting it to white money.

2) Section 5 and 8(4): Under this, the ED has discretionary powers to attach property of the accused. The bench rejected the argument and held that there are enough safeguards to protect the accused.

3) Section 17: This section gives ED powers to enter and search suspected property without judicial permission. The SC rejected this argument and upheld the provision.

4) Section 19: This section gives the ED powers of arrest. The court upheld its constitutionality.

5) Section 24: Reverses the usual burden of proof in criminal law. In a PMLA case, the judge must assume that the accused person is guilty until he disproves it. The court found this provision valid.

6) Section 45: Deals with bail conditions. The court held that this provision is necessary to achieve the purpose of PMLA.

7) Section 50: The bench held that proceedings under Section 50 are an inquiry, not a criminal investigation. ED officers are hence not police. CrPC rules for investigation do not apply to the ED.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED)

It is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India
It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
The prime objective of the Enforcement Directorate is the enforcement of two key Acts of the Government of India namely, the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA)
The Directorate of Enforcement, with its headquarters at New Delhi, is headed by the Director of Enforcement

5. Centre to amend Warehousing Act

Subject: Economy

Section: Agriculture

Context:

The Union Food and Public Distribution Ministry has suggested major amendments to the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act of 2007.
the amendment was to make registration of godowns compulsory and to raise the penalty for various offences and to do away with the jail term as a punishment for the offences.
Captive warehouses such as those of the Food Corporation of India are excluded from the ambit of the Act.
The Act wants to establish a system of negotiable and non-negotiable warehouse receipt (NWR) which is now in electronic form.
If amended, the Act will help in doing away with accreditation agencies.
The application for registration of warehouses will be submitted directly to the WDRA and a new system of online application, which will be contactless and faceless will be implemented and the average registration time will be reduced.
That apart, the government has proposed doing away with up to three years imprisonment for various offences but suggested significant increase in penalty from the current Rs 1 lakh for various offences

Negotiable Warehouse Receipt System

It was launched in 2011 but the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
Farmers can seek loans from banks against the warehouse receipts issued to them against their storage.
These receipts issued by the warehouses registered with the WDRA would become a fully negotiable instrument backed by a Central legislation.
The Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWR) System was launched in 2017.

Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority

It is a Statutory Authority under the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.
It was constituted in 2010 under the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007.
It regulates and ensures implementation of this 2007 Act for the development and regulation of warehouses.
It implements and regulates the Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) /electronic-NWR (e-NWR) System in the country.
It also promotes orderly growth of the warehousing business.
It consists of a Chairperson and two Members appointed by the Central Government.
It has also setup two Repositories, namely, M/s National Electronic Repository Limited (NERL) and CDSL Commodity Repository Limited (CCRL) for creation and management of electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWRs).
All registered warehouses are mandated to issue only e-NWRs w.e.f 1^stAugust 2019.
The Recognized Stock Exchanges like National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE/ICEX) are using e-NWRs for settlement of derivative contracts.
The e-NWR has been integrated with electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) platform by providing interface between e-NAM and repositories.

6. More Opportunities for youth to become part of voters list

Subject :Polity

Section: Elections

Context:

17+ year old youngsters can now apply in advance for having their names enrolled in Voter’s list and not necessarily have to await the pre-requisite criterion of attaining age of 18 years on 1st January of a year.
ECI led by Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Shri Anup Chandra Pandey have directed the CEOs/EROs/AEROs of all States to work out tech-enabled solutions such that the youth are facilitated to file their advance applications with reference to three subsequent qualifying dates i.e. 01st April, 01st July and 01st October and not just 1st January.
Henceforth, the Electoral Roll will be updated every quarter and eligible youngsters can be registered in the next quarter of the year in which he/she has attained the qualifying age of 18 years. After getting registered, he/she will be issued an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC).
The Election Commission of India, in pursuance of the legal amendments in the Section 14(b) of the RP Act 1950 and consequent modifications in Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, has initiated the process for bringing about necessary changes for preparation/revision of electoral roll of Assembly/Parliamentary Constituency.

EPIC-AADHAR linking

For linking of AADHAR number with Electoral Roll data, provision has been made in the modified registration forms to seek Aadhaar details of electors. A new Form-6B has also been introduced for collecting Aadhaar number of existing electors. However, no application for inclusion of name in electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar Number.
It has been emphasized that while handling Aadhaar number of the applicants, the provision under Section 37 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 must be adhered to. Under no circumstances should it go public. If the electors’ information is required to put for public display, the Aadhaar details must be removed or masked.
Furnishing of Aadhaar number is purely voluntary. Objective of the programme is to establish the identity of electors and authentication of entries in Electoral Roll

7. Employment elasticity

Subject : Economy

Section: Employment

Context

One percentage of GDP growth today yields less than one fourth the number of good quality jobs that it did in the 1980s.

Concept:

Employment Elasticity:

Employment elasticity is a measure of the percentage change in employment associated with a 1 percentage point change in economic growth.
The employment elasticity indicates the ability of an economy to generate employment opportunities for its population as per cent of its growth (development) process.
- An employment elasticity of 1 implies that with every 1 percentage point growth in GDP, employment increases by 1%.
  - An employment elasticity of 1 denotes that employment grows at the same rate as economic growth.
- Elasticity of 0 denotes that employment does not grow at all, regardless of economic growth.
- Negative employment elasticity denotes that employment shrinks as the economy grows. This is crucial as it is commonly believed that economic growth alone will increase employment.
  - The negative employment elasticity in agriculture indicates movement of people out of agriculture to other sectors where wage rates are higher.
  - However, the negative employment elasticity in the manufacturing sector was a cause of concern particularly when the sector has shown positive growth in output.
Jobless growth means that the high growth in GDP did not accompany a similar growth in employment, resulting in a low Employment Elasticity.
- For example, between 2004–05 to 2009–10, employment elasticity of India was as low as 0.01, which implies that with every 1 percentage point growth in GDP, employment increased by just one basis point.
- Falling or low employment elasticity is partly the result of large-scale substitution of labour with capital and automation.
In India- the highest employment elasticity has been shown by the Construction and utilities sector (which includes energy, water and waste management). While the farm sector in India has shown negative employment elasticity. This simply indicates that growth in the farm sector is accompanied by reduction in farm employment as more and more people leave this sector and go out for jobs in the non-farm sector.

Using data of ‘employment in public and organised private sectors’ published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), we can calculate that in the decade between 1980 and 1990, every one percentage point of GDP growth (nominal)generated roughly two lakh new jobs in the formal sector. That is, if India’s GDP grew by 14% every year in the 1980s, it can be said that it created roughly 28 lakh new formal jobs. In the subsequent decade from 1990 to 2000, every one percentage point of GDP growth yielded roughly one lakh new formal sector jobs, half of the previous decade. In the next decade between 2000 and 2010, one percentage point of GDP growth generated only 52,000 new jobs. The RBI stopped publishing this data from 2011-12, but one can safely infer using proxy data that in the 2010-2020 decade, the number of new jobs generated for every percentage of GDP growth fell even further

8. Legal meteorology and GST

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Context:

From July 18, a 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been levied on several food items and grains that are sold in a pre-packed, labelled form even if they are not branded.

Details:

Earlier GST levy was limited to branded food items packed in unit containers.
The 47th meeting of the GST Council recommended a revision of the scope of this exemption.
Changes:
- 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on several food items and grains that are sold in a pre-packed, labelled form even if they are not branded.
- It would also apply to a package that contains multiple retail package say 10 packages of 10 Kg each, are sold in a larger pack
- Single packages of unbranded pre-packed and labelled food items like cereals, pulses and flour weighing in excess of 25 kg will be exempt from 5 per cent GST levy.
It is imposed only to curb rampant evasion of tax — branded items being sold pre-packaged and escaping the tax.
Loose, unbranded and unlabelled goods will continue to remain exempted from GST.

Concept:

Scope of ‘pre- packaged and labelled’ for the purpose of GST levy:

Pre-packaged and labelled food items (such as pulses, cereal like rice, wheat, flour etc), would fall within the purview of the definition of ‘pre-packaged commodity’ under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, if such packages contain a quantity up to 25 kilogram (or 25 litres).

‘Pre-packaged and labelled food items’ means a pre-packaged commodity, where the package in which the commodity is pre-packed, or a labelled is required to bear the declarations under the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act and the rules under it.
However, if such specified commodities are supplied in a package that does not require declaration(s)/compliance(s) under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, the same would not be treated as pre-packaged and labelled for the purposes of GST levy.
GST would apply whenever a supply of such goods is made by any person, i.e. manufacturer supplying to distributor, or distributor/dealer supplying to retailer, or retailer supplying to individual consumer.
- However, if for any reason, the retailer supplies the item in loose quantity from such a package, such supply by the retailer is not a supply of packaged commodities for the purpose of GST levy.
Further, the manufacturer/wholesaler/retailer would be entitled to input tax credit on GST charged by his supplier in accordance with the Input Tax Credit provisions in GST.
A supplier availing threshold exemption or composition scheme would be entitled to exemption or composition rate in the usual manner.
Supply of packaged commodities for consumption by industrial consumers or institutional consumers is excluded from the purview of the Legal Metrology Act thus, excluded from the purview of GST.

Legal Metrology Act, 2009:

Department of Consumer Affairs, administers the Legal Metrology Act 2009.
The act provides for application of legal requirements to measurements and measuring instruments.
The objective of Legal Metrology is to ensure public guarantee from the point of view of security and accuracy of the weighments and measurements.
It aims to establish and enforce standards of weights and measures, regulate trade and commerce in weights, measures and other goods which are sold or distributed by weight, measure or number and any other matter that is connected to the same.
According to the Act, the Central Govt. may appoint a Director of Legal Metrology to perform duties related to inter-state trade and commerce.
The State Govt. may appoint a Controller of Legal Metrology to perform duties related to intra-state trade and commerce.
The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011 are primarily intended to ensure that the consumers are able to make informed choices by being informed of essential declarations on the pre-packed commodities.

9. The economics of the US Economy

Subject: Economy

Section: National income

Context:

Since March, the Fed has steadily pushed up the targeted Federal Funds Rate (FFR) from zero to almost 2.5% now.

Implications:

Curb Inflation-
- by raising the cost of borrowing (the interest rate), the Fed hopes to reduce overall demand in the economy and related demand pull inflation.
Recession or hard landing of the economy-
- Aggressive monetary tightening — involves large increases in the interest rates in a relatively short period of time, and it runs the risk of creating a recession.
- This is called a hard-landing of the economy as against a soft landing (which essentially refers to monetary tightening not leading to a recession).

US economy- mixed signals–

One the one hand, it faces an inflation rate that is at a four-decade high and, on the other, its unemployment rate is at five-decade low.

Higher Inflation-The US inflation rate is at over 9% and the Fed’s target inflation rate is 2%
Decline in the GDP (likely Recession)-
- For the first three months of the year, GDP contracted by 1.6% and estimated to be below 1% in the April-June quarter but it stays in the non-negative zone.
Rise in wages and employment-
- Despite contraction in GDP, the US economy created around 2.7 million new jobs in the first half of 2022.
- In the first quarter, GDI grew 1.8% — much better than the 1.6% decline in GDP.

Concept:

Federal Funds Rate (FFR):

The FFR is the interest rate at which commercial banks in the US borrow from each other overnight.
The US Fed can’t directly specify the FFR but it tries to influence the rate by controlling the money supply
When the Fed wants to raise the prevailing interest rates in the US economy, it reduces the money supply, thus forcing every lender in the economy to charge higher interest rates.
This process starts with commercial banks charging higher to lend to each other for overnight loans.

Recession:

The most common definition of recession requires the GDP of a country to contract in two successive quarters.
Contracting GDP typically results in job losses, reduced incomes, and reduced consumption.
In the US, it is the National Bureau of Economic Research’s (NBER) Business Cycle Dating Committee — that typically declares a recession.
- It defines recession—as a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.
- It lays down 3 criteria —depth, diffusion, and duration—that needs to be met individually to some degree, where equal weight is given to GDP and GNI.
- The NBER also studies many other data points in determining recessions, including measures of income, employment, inflation-adjusted spending, retail sales and factory output.

Indicators of onset of Recession:

Inversion of the bond yield curve-
- Changes in the interest payments, or yields, on different bonds for a recession signal known as an “inverted yield curve.”
- This occurs when the yield on the 10-year Treasury falls below the yield on a short-term Treasury, such as the 3-month T-bill.
- Normally, longer-term bonds pay investors a richer yield in exchange for tying up their money for a longer period.
- Inverted yield curves generally mean that investors foresee a recession that will compel the Fed to slash rates. Inverted curves often predate recessions.
Surge in unemployment–
- layoffs indicate slowing of manufacturing activities and lowering wages.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) vs Gross Domestic Income (GDI):

The GDI refers to gross domestic income; this is also a measure of national income albeit from the income side of the economy as against the GDP, which looks at the expenditure side of the economy. Thus.
- GDP calculates the value of the nation’s output of goods and services by adding up spending by consumers, businesses and governments.
- GDI seeks to measure the same thing by assessing incomes of consumers, businesses and governments.
Over time, the two measures should track each other. But they often diverge in the short run due to statistical errors.
- According to NBER, the difference between GDP and GDI—called the ‘statistical discrepancy’

10. What is crypt jacking- the cyber attack carried out by crypto miners?

Subject :Economy

Section: Agriculture

Context:

‘Cryptojacking’ attacks on computer systems have gone up by 30% to 66.7 million in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of last year, according to a report by SonicWall, a US-based cybersecurity firm.

What is cryptojacking?

Cryptojacking is a cyber attack wherein a computing device is hijacked and controlled by the attacker, and its resources are used to illicitly mine cryptocurrency.
In most cases, the malicious programme is installed when the user clicks on an unsafe link, or visits an infected website — and unknowingly provides access to their Internet-connected device.

Why is cryptojacking done?

Coin mining is a legitimate, competitive process used to release new crypto coins into circulation or to verify new transactions. It involves solving complex computational problems to generate blocks of verified transactions that get added to the blockchain.
The reward for the first miner who successfully manages to update the crypto ledger through this route is crypto coins.
But the race to crack this 64-digit hexadecimal number code needs considerable computing power involving state-of-the-art hardware, and electrical power to keep the systems involved up and running.
Cryptojackers co-opt devices, servers, and cloud infrastructure, and use their resources for mining. The use of ‘stolen’ or cryptojacked resources slashes the cost involved in mining.

Why have cryptojacking incidents gone up?

Cryptojacking involves “lower risk”, and promises “potentially higher payday”.
Unlike ransomware, which announces its presence and relies heavily on communication with victims, cryptojacking can succeed without the victim ever being aware of it
It has a lower potential of being detected by the victim; unsuspecting users across the world see their devices get unaccountably slower, but it’s hard to tie it to criminal activity, much less point to the source

Why should this be a concern?

Cryptojacking is hard to detect and the victims of these attacks mostly remain unaware that their systems have been compromised. Some telltale signs are the device slowing down, heating up, or the battery getting drained faster than usual.
The primary impact of cryptojacking is performance-related, though it can also increase costs for the individuals and businesses affected because coin mining uses high levels of electricity and computing power.

11. World Nature Conservation Day: These 5 communities of India preserve ecology in their own distinct ways

Subject :Environment

Section: Agriculture

Context:

The theme of World Nature Conservation Day 2022 is “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet”.
Forest and Trees: At the heart of land degradation neutrality released in 2019 by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Indigenous communities were the custodians of around 40 per cent of protected and ecologically intact landscapes and managed nearly 300 billion tonnes of carbon on lands owned by them with almost negligible investment.

Bishnois

The Bishnois are the stuff of legends. People whose women suckle antelope and who are willing to give up their lives for the Khejri tree.
This sect was founded by Guru Jambheshwar around 550 years ago in western Rajasthan. He gave 29 principles for humans to follow and worship every form of nature
The Maharaja of Marwar, Abhai Singh, had sent his soldiers to cut down trees in the Khejarli village in Jodhpur district. The trees were needed for the construction of a new palace.
But the residents of the village, led by a Bishnoi woman called Amrita Devi hugged the trees and refused to let the soldiers cut them. The angry soldiers massacred 363 villagers.

Khasis

The Khasis of Meghalaya are famous across India for their matrilineal social structure. What is less known is their devotion to nature and its conservation.
Khasis are among those communities who have a legacy of nature conservation. Khasi customary laws and practices allow for conservation of forests in the form of sacred groves
One core reason behind such practices is the dependence of people on nature. Khasis depend on these groves for a variety of resources from food to traditional medicines and as sources of many of their streams and rivers. In spite of change in lifestyle and modernisation, many of these core values of conservation still remain intact

Van Gujjars

The Van Gujjars are a semi-nomadic pastoral community, which continues to practice seasonal migration across forests in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh in pursuit of their pastoral livelihood.
The rotational grazing of the Van Gujjars and their buffaloes also help maintain water sources through embankments, removal of invasive species, facilitation in seed dispersal, remanuring the grazing areas and paths and creating fire lines within forests to protect the ecosystem for other species too
The phenomena of transhumance pursued by the community is among the few climate-adaptive and resilience strategies that ensures their pastoral livelihood remains viable and sustainable
The Van Gujjars Tribal YuvaSanghatan celebrates Sela Parv, a traditional afforestation festival which used to be conducted in the rainy season, around World Nature Conservation Day

Idu Mishmis

The Idu Mishmis live mainly in the districts of Lower Dibang Valley and Dibang Valley of central Arunachal Pradesh. They believe that tigers are their elder brothers. Killing tigers is, for the Idu Mishmi, a taboo.
The main feature of the Western model is the separation of people and the environment. Dan Brockington, the British anthropologist, coined the term ‘Fortress Conservation’ to describe the western model. Nature is to be protected by making it a fort, with little or no human presence
But for indigenous peoples like the Idu Mishmi, humans are part of the environment
In their worldview, the human and natural worlds overlap. There is a constant engagement with the environment through agriculture, hunting and harvesting of resources.

Apatanis

The Apatanis live in a small wooded valley surrounded by wooded hills in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The traditional rice agriculture in the valley evolved over centuries, without any resort to animals or wells. The terraced fields are landscaped on a slight incline, so that the water runs into each field at a high end and out at a low end.
The art of rice cultivation has descended from one generation to another in Apatani tribes. The practice based on traditional wisdom which has sustained over generations, has made rice production economically viable, ecologically safe and often energy efficient.

12. Google brings ‘Street View’ to India

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Awareness of IT

Context:

For the launch this time, Google has partnered with two Indian firms – mapping solutions provider Genesys International and Tech Mahindra. As per the National Geospatial Policy, 2021, local companies can collect such data and foreign firms can license the data from Indian entities to serve their customers in the country.
The company also announced partnerships with local traffic authorities to help improve road safety and reduce traffic congestion.

Geo-Spatial Data:

Geospatial data is data about objects, events, or phenomena that have a location on the surface of the earth.
The location may be static in the short-term, like the location of a road, an earthquake event, malnutrition among children, or dynamic like a moving vehicle or pedestrian, the spread of an infectious diseas
It combines Information on:
- Location,
- Attribute (the characteristics of the object, event, or phenomena concerned),
- Temporal or time.
The past decade has seen an increase in the use of geo-spatial data in daily life with various apps such as food delivery, e-commerce or even weather apps.

National Geospatial Policy, 2021

Geospatial data will be freely available in India, specifically for Indian companies. The companies can self attest to government guidelines and start using geospatial data.

Restrictions under the present policy:

Only Indian entities can use terrestrial mapping and surveys.
The data generated also needs to be owned and stored in India.
High-resolution data—finer than 1 m horizontally and 3 m vertically—will still remain restricted.
Except for sensitive defence or security-related data, all other data can be accessed by Indian companies.
With this policy, Indian companies will be able to set up location services like Google Map in India.