Daily Prelims Notes 29 March 2024

March 29, 2024
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

29 March 2024

Table Of Contents

1. Households across the world waste 1 billion meals a day, says UN report

Subject: IR

Section: Int reports

Food Waste Index Report 2024:

Jointly authored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), a U.K.-based non-profit.
International Day of Zero Waste– 30 March.

Key findings:

Households across the globe wasted over one billion meals a day in 2022, even as 783 million people struggled with hunger and a third of humanity faced food insecurity.
Out of the total food waste in 2022, 60% happened at the household level, with food services responsible for 28%, and retail 12%.
Sustainable Development Goal 12.3– Halving food waste by 2030.
Food wastage is not a “rich country problem” with observed average levels of household food waste for high-income, upper-middle, and lower-middle-income countries differing by just 7 kg per capita.
At present, only four G-20 countries (Australia, Japan, the U.K., U.S.) and the European Union have food waste estimates suitable for tracking progress to 2030.
Hotter countries appear to generate more food waste per capita in households, potentially due to higher consumption of fresh foods with substantial inedible parts and a lack of robust cold chains.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions due to food loss and waste generated are five times higher than that of the aviation sector.
Compared to urban areas, rural ones generally wasted less food.

Source: TH

2. A living will, so the terminally ill can avoid the indignities of prolonged hospital care

Subject: Polity

Section : Constitution

Recent event:

A gathering of 30 people, mostly doctors, nurses, and volunteers of the Pain and Palliative Care Society, signed ‘living wills’ in Thrissur, Kerala.
The objective of the ‘group signing’ was to create awareness and ease confusion about the living will.

What is a “Living will”?

A ‘living will’ is a legal document prepared in advance, detailing your preferences for medical care or for the termination of medical support in circumstances in which you are no longer able to make those decisions for yourself.
Supreme Court verdict:
- The Supreme Court ruled on March 9, 2018, that in specific conditions, a person has the right to decide against artificial life-support by writing a living will. It upheld the fundamental right to die peacefully and with dignity (Article 21).
In January 2023, the court modified the guidelines for its 2018 order and made it simpler.
Broder perspective of signing a ‘Living will’:
- Signing a living will does not mean the patient should not receive treatment after signing the living will. Palliative surgery or chemotherapy can be employed to reduce pain.

Modified guidelines:

One must be of legal age and sound mind to make a living will.
The person must be aware of the conditions in which curative treatments and life support systems will be halted.
The decision to prepare a living will must be taken without any compulsion.
The signing of the will must be witnessed by two people and should be attested by a gazetted officer or a notary.
A copy must be handed over to the doctor and an assigned person (a close relative or friend).
Copies of the living will should also be sent to the secretary of the local self-government and the district magistrate.

Source: TH

3. WHO launches ‘CoViNet’ — a global laboratory to monitor emerging coronaviruses

Subject: Science and tech

Section : Health

CoViNet:

Launched by the World Health Organization (WHO).
It is a global network of laboratories aimed at identifying and monitoring emerging coronaviruses that may pose future threats, expanding beyond just SARS-CoV-2 to include other coronaviruses like MERS-CoV.
It consists of 36 laboratories from 21 countries across all WHO regions.
This initiative builds upon WHO’s previous efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and intends to bolster laboratory capacities worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, for the surveillance of MERS-CoV and other significant coronaviruses.
CoViNet is designed to enhance animal health and environmental monitoring, perform timely risk assessments, and inform WHO policies and protective actions.
The network’s action plan for 2024-2025 was established during a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, indicating a coordinated global response to the threats posed by novel coronaviruses.
This includes guiding the WHO’s Technical Advisory Groups on viral evolution and vaccine composition against SARS-CoV-2 mutations and variants.
‘Disease X’ is a term used by WHO for a hypothetical, unforeseen disease of significant impact, likely a zoonotic RNA virus.

Source: DTE

4. Ready proposal to demarcate Dulung-Subansiri elephant corridor, Union environment ministry tells Arunachal, Assam

Subject: Environment

Section: Protected Area

Context:

The wildlife division of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently directed the forest departments of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to prepare a proposal to notify the Dulung-Subansiri elephant corridor.

More on news:

The corridor will facilitate the east-west movement of elephants across the Subansiri River.

About Elephant Corridors:

Elephant corridors are linear, narrow, natural habitat linkages that allow elephants to move between secure habitats without being disturbed by humans.
They help animal movement and enable genetic exchange which in turn helps in sustaining the elephant population.
The number of elephant corridors have increased to 150 against 88 registered by the Government of India in 2010.
West Bengal has the most elephant corridors i.e. 26, amounting to 17 per cent of the total corridors.
The East central region contributed to 35 per cent (that is 52 corridors) while the North East region was second largest with 32 percent (48 corridors in total).
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species:
- African Forest Elephant Critically Endangered.
- African Savanna Elephant- Endangered.
- Asian Elephant- Endangered.
Elephants come under Schedule I of The Wildlife Protection Act,1972.

About Lower Subansiri hydro-project:

The 2000 MW Lower Subansiri hydro-project, executed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), is located in the Kamle and Dhemaji districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, respectively.
It is being constructed on the Subansiri River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra River.

About Subansiri River:

It is a trans-Himalayan River and a tributary of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet’s Lhuntse County in the Shannan Prefecture, and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
It is the largest tributary of the Brahmaputra contributing 7.92% of the Brahmaputra’s total flow.
Small tributaries of the Subansiri include Rangandi, Dikrong and Kamle.

Areas in news:

Dulung: Assam

Subansiri: Arunachal Pradesh

5. India top’s Internet shut down

Subject: Polity

Sec:

For five straight years, India has topped the global list of countries imposing internet bans, with about 60% of all blackouts recorded in the world, between 2016 and 2022 having been in India.

What does the law say?

Indian States and Union Territories can impose an internet shutdown only in case of a “public emergency” or in the interest of “public safety”, according to the Indian Telegraph Act. However, the law does not define what qualifies as an emergency or safety issue
These rules – the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) rules – stated that internet shutdowns can now only be ordered by the home secretary of the union or state governments.
The rules also say that only in “unavoidable circumstances”, the passing of orders can be delegated to someone not lower than the rank of a joint secretary to the government of India. And even in this case, the official must be authorized by the centre or state home secretary.
Shutdowns could be ordered where “necessary” or “unavoidable”, during a “public emergency” or in the “interest of public safety”.
Regarding Internet shutdowns, Supreme Court in the case of Anuradha Bhasin explicitly recognised two things:
- that the freedom to access information is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution;
- and that the freedom to conduct your trade, profession or business over the internet is also a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g).
These rights which are enshrined in the constitution, can only be curtailed in the interest of the “sovereignty and security of the state, integrity of the nation, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence.
Additionally, most orders for shutdown apply to mobile internet, not broadband. Thus, these shutdowns disproportionately affect those from lower income groups.

6. Kalam-250

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Space technology

Context: Leading space-tech company Skyroot Aerospace on Wednesday successfully test red the stage-2 of its Vikram-1 launch vehicle at the propulsion testbed of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh

What is Kalam-250?

It is a stage-2 of Vikram-1 space launch vehicle.
It is a high-strength carbon composite rocket motor, which uses solid fuel and a high-performance Ethylene-Propylene-Diene terpolymers (EPDM) thermal protection system (TPS).
The stage includes a carbon ablative flex nozzle along with high-precision electro-mechanical actuators for thrust vector control of the vehicle, aiding in achieving the desired trajectory.
The solid propellant in Kalam-250 was processed by Solar Industries at their Nagpur facility.
The second stage of Vikram-1 will play a crucial role in the ascent of the launch vehicle, propelling it from the atmosphere to the deep vacuum of outer space.

Key features of Vikram-1 Rocket:

It is a multi-stage launch vehicle with a capacity to place around 300 kg of payloads in low-earth orbit.
It has been built by Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace.
It is an all-carbon-fibre-bodied rocket that can place multiple satellites into orbit.
Being a solid-fuel rocket and using relatively simpler technologies would mean that launching this vehicle would

Vikram-1

Vikram-1 launch will be a landmark event for the Indian space sector as it will be the country’s first private orbital rocket launch.

Features of Vikram-S launch vehicle-

Skyroot was the first startup to sign a memorandum of understanding with ISRO for launching its rockets.
Its launch vehicles have been crafted especially for the small satellite market.
They come in three forms, Vikram I, II, and III.
More than 20,000 small satellites are estimated to be launched in the coming decade, and the Vikram series is designed to enable this through unprecedented mass production and affordability.
Vikram-S offers many services like multi-orbit insertion, and interplanetary missions; while providing customised, dedicated and ride-share options covering a wide spectrum of small satellite customer needs.
Skyroot claims a Vikam rocket can be assembled and launched within 24 hours from any launch site and has the “lowest cost in the payload segment”.