Daily Prelims Notes 29 January 2021

January 29, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes 29 January 2021

By

Santosh Sir

All 6 Prelims qualified

4 CSE Mains qualified

If I can do it, you can too

Table Of Contents

1. PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

Subject : Polity

Context : As many as 18 Opposition parties, led by the Congress, announced their decision to boycott President address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget session on Friday in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the three farm laws.

Concept :

All executive power is vested in the President of India. The Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister aids and advises the President who exercises his powers in accordance to such advice.
Article 87 of the constitution provides two instances when the President specially addresses both Houses of Parliament.
The President of India addresses both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha at the beginning of the first Session after each general election when the reconstituted lower house meets for the first time.
The President also addresses both the houses at beginning of the first session of each year.
The President’s speech essentially highlights the government’s policy priorities and plans for the upcoming year. The address provides a broad framework of the government’s agenda and direction.

2. CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX

Subject : International Reports

Context : India’s rank slips to 86th in corruption perception index 2020.

Concept :

India’s rank has slipped six places to 86th among 180 countries in a corruption perception index (CPI) in 2020.
India’s rank is 86 out of 180 nations with a score of 40. “India was ranked at 80th position out of 180 countries in 2019. The CPI score for India is constant this year as well as the previous year’s score,” the index said.
This year, New Zealand and Denmark were ranked at first position with scores of 88. Somalia and South Sudan were ranked lowest at 179th position with scores of 12.

About the Index

First launched in 1995 by the Transparency International, the Index has been widely credited with putting the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda.
Transparency International is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to fighting corruption. It was founded in 1993 and is based in Berlin, Germany.
The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

3. GI TAG FOR BASMATI RICE

Subject : International Relations

Context : Pakistan has received the Geographical Indicator (GI) tag for its Basmati, paving the way for creating a local registry for the particular strain of rice and making a case in the international market.

Concept :

Experts on Basmati rice and patents said there was no cause for worry January 28, 2021 a day after Pakistan said it had got a Geographical Indications (GI) tag for its Basmati rice.
They also noted that Basmati rice was a joint heritage of India and Pakistan and that Pakistan was as entitled to secure its Basmati rice trade as India. They added that Pakistan securing the GI tag for its Basmati rice would, in no way, dent India’s Basmati exports.
A GI tag can be filed in international fora only when one has GI laws in their country.
So far, Pakistan did not have them. But now, it has enacted an Act and can thus follow India’s path. We had a GI Act in place in 2001 and filed an application in 2008. We are much ahead of them. There is no need to worry,” officials added.
A GI is a tag on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess certain qualities due to that origin and are safeguarded by legalities such as by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

Basmati Rice

It is one of the best known varieties of rice all across the globe.
It is a long grain rice which has its origin from India and some parts of Pakistan.
It has a unique position in the rice world due to its price, fragrance, grain morphology as well as quality.
Basmati rice has a unique fragrance and flavour caused due to the presence of a chemical called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.
This chemical is found in basmati rice at about 90 parts per million (ppm) which is 12 times more than non-basmati rice varieties.
Basmati rice needs specific climatic conditions to grow which is why it is cultivated in selected regions of India.
It is cultivated in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and kashmir and western Uttar Pradesh.

Geographical Indication (GI)

It is an insignia on products having a unique geographical origin and evolution over centuries with regard to its special quality or reputed attributes.
It is a mark of authenticity and ensures that registered authorized users or at least those residing inside the geographic territory are allowed to use the popular product names.
GI tag in India is governed by Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999. It is issued by the Geographical Indications Registry (Chennai).

4. INDIA JUSTICE REPORT

Subject : Important Reports

Context : At 25.3 per cent, Bihar leads the list of 25 states for employing most women in its police force, according to the second annual survey on police, prisons, judiciary and legal aid, India Justice Report, released on Thursday.

Concept :

India Justice Report prepared by the Tata Trusts in collaboration with the Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has been released.
The India Justice Report is an exhaustive study of the objective conditions prevailing in India’s legal system, including its bottlenecks, use of new technologies and its key failings.
This is the first-ever ranking of Indian states on justice delivery. It is released annually.
The report has divided states on the basis of the population into two parts:
The large-medium states (Population 1 crore and above)
The small states and Union Territories (Population less than 1 crore).

Key Findings

Maharashtra is India’s best-performing state, according to the latest India Justice Report, 2020
The other states in the top five are Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab and Kerala.
Among the 18 major states, the worst in terms of justice-delivery are Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
Among the seven small states that have a population of less than a crore, the best-performing states were Tripura followed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
On diversity, Karnataka is the only state to meet its quotas for SC, ST and OBC in both officer cadre and constabulary, Chhattisgarh being the only other state that meets the diversity requirements for constabulary.

5. H1-B & H 4 VISA

Subject : International Relations

Context : A week after his inauguration, US President Joe Biden has withdrawn a Trump-era rule rescinding work authorisation for H4 visa holders, who are spouses of those possessing H-1B work visas, with majority being highly-skilled Indian women.

Concept :

H1 B VISA

The H-1B category is an expedient and lawful method to bring foreign-born professionals temporarily to the United States, and therefore one of the most widely sought after visa classifications for employment in the United States.
The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101(a)(15)(H).
It allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
If a foreign worker in H-1B status quits or is dismissed from the sponsoring employer, the worker must either apply for and be granted a change of status to another non-immigrant status, find another employer (subject to application for adjustment of status and/or change of visa), or leave the U.S.
An individual may work in H-1B status for a maximum of six years.

H-4 VISA

An H-4 visa is issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of the H-1B visa holders, most of whom are Indian IT professionals.
The H4 visa is normally issued to those who have already started the process of seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status in the US.
An H4 Visa holder is allowed to remain in the US as long as the H-1B visa holder remains in legal status.

6. UFC and G-4 CLUB

Subject : International Relations

Context : US President Joe Biden’s pick for the ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, on Wednesday did not explicitly commit the support of the new administration for India to be a permanent member of the Security Council.

Concept :

Coffee Club/Uniting for Consensus

An informal “coffee club”, comprising 40-odd members states, has been instrumental in holding back reforms to the United Nations Security Council.
Most members of the club are middle-sized states who oppose bigger regional powers grabbing permanent seats in the UN Security Council.
The prime movers of the club include Italy, Spain, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Argentina and Pakistan.
While Italy and Spain are opposed to Germany’s bid for Security Council’s permanent membership, Pakistan is opposed to India’s bid.
Similarly, Argentina is against Brazil’s bid and Australia opposes Japan’s.
Canada and South Korea are opposed to developing countries, often dependent on their aid, wielding more power than them at the UN.

G4 Nations

The G4 nations comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan are four countries which support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.
Basis for these demands:
Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN’s establishment.
Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5).

Additional Information

Intergovernmental Negotiations

IGN is a group of nation-states working within the United Nations to further reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
The IGN is composed of several different international organizations, namely:

African Union

G4 nations

Uniting for Consensus Group (UfC)

L.69 Group of Developing Countries

Arab League

Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

7. IMD

Subject : National Organisation

Context : The India Meteorological Department has opened a portal that allows the public to share details about weather events in their surroundings.

Concept :

India Meteorological Department (IMD)

Formed in 1875, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is the national meteorological service of the country and it is the chief government agency dealing in everything related to meteorology, seismology, and associated subjects.
The administrative responsibilities of the Department are under the supervision of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Indian Government.
The IMD is headquartered in New Delhi.
The IMD also releases a winter forecast every year in November which gives predictions on the severity of the winter season starting December to February.

8. LIFE MISSION

Subject : Current Events

Context : As part of Kerala Government’s Life Mission project, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated 2.5 lakh houses in Thiruvananthapuram.

Concept :

Mission LIFE (Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) envisages a comprehensive housing scheme for all the landless and homeless in the State.
Housing is the very basic requirement that holds the key to accelerate social development in many ways, hence the Government of Kerala launched the LIFE.
The target of the mission is to provide safe housing to nearly 4.30 lakhs of homeless in the State within a period of 5 years.
Among the homeless, about 1.60 lakh landless families have been historically excluded from various housing schemes of the past.
Under the programme, the homeless will be provided with:

modern housing complexes with provision for pursuing their livelihoods,

converging social services including Primary Health Care,

Geriatric Supports,

Skill Development and

provision for financial services inclusion.

The mission will also help those who received assistance from other schemes but could not complete the construction and move into a safe house.
Priority will be given to coastal population, plantation workers and those who stay in temporary shelters in government lands.
It envisages a situation where the beneficiaries will be empowered and their active participation is mobilized in the maintenance of housing complexes.

9. EXTERNAL FINANCING/DEBT

Subject : Economics

Context : The Budget is expected to turn to external financing of the fiscal deficit during FY22. The gross marketing borrowing, however, is likely to be less than the enhanced amount for the current fiscal.

Concept :

It refers to money borrowed from a source outside the country. External debt has to be paid back in the currency in which it is borrowed.
External debt can be obtained from foreign commercial banks, international financial institutions like IMF, World Bank, ADB etc and from the government of foreign nations.
Normally these types of debts are in the form of tied loans, meaning that these have to be used for a predefined purpose as determined by a consensus of the borrower and the lender.
Government and corporations are eligible to raise loans from abroad. These are in the form of external commercial borrowings.
The interest rate on foreign loans is linked to LIBOR (London Interbank Offer rate) and the actual rate will be LIBOR plus applicable spread, depending upon the credit rating of the borrower.

External Debt Risks

Interest Rates – There is greater unpredictability and unexpected changes in the interest rates can result in defaulting of loans and precipitate a crisis.
The raising of interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve has already caused borrowing rates to rise in various countries.
Exchange Rate – Unexpected changes in the exchange rates of currencies, like say a steep fall in the value of the rupee, for instance, is a big risk.
This can cause severe difficulties for Indian borrowers who will now have to shell out more rupees than previously, to pay back dollar-denominated loans.
Lenders generally take possible currency fluctuations into account when determining their lending rates, but currency predictions are prone to failures.
While there could also be gains from such fluctuations, emerging market currencies usually tend to depreciate when the world economy is reviving.