Daily Prelims Notes 29 November 2020

November 29, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: Economy

Context: The Kerala government has informed the NITI Aayog that the 529.45 km semi-high-speed rail SilverLine from Kochuveli to Kasaragod, estimated to cost ₹63,941 crore, is “viable and feasible”.

Concept:

The government said the public-private partnership component of the joint venture between the Indian Railways and Kerala would be “improved” and that the “equity cash contribution” of Railways had been brought down from ₹7,720 crore to ₹2,150 crore.

About the Project :

It involves laying of semi high-speed trains between the two corners of the state of Kerala.
It is 532- km long. The corridor will be built away from the existing line between Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur.
It aims to connect major districts and towns with semi high-speed trains that will run on their own tracks.
The Kerala Rail Development Corporation (K-Rail), a joint venture between the Ministry of Railways and the Kerala government to execute projects on a cost-sharing basis, will be the nodal agency.

2. ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Subject: International Organization

Context: The Asian Development Bank has approved a $300 million policy-based loan to Pakistan to help promote macroeconomic stability in the cash-strapped country.

Concept:

ADB is a regional development bank established on 19th December 1966.
ADB now has 68 members, 49 from within Asia.
ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).
It aims to promote social and economic development in Asia.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
ADB is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.

3. CYCLONE FORECASTING

Subject: Geography

Concept:

Over the years, India’s ability to track the formation of cyclones has improved significantly.
There is a network of 12 doppler weather radars (DWR) along India’s coast if one were to begin counting from Kolkata and trawl up to Mumbai — there are 27 in all in the country.
Depending on where a storm is forming, these radars send pulses of radio waves to gauge the size as well as the speed at which water droplets are moving. The earlier generation of radars was unable to track such progress in real time, but with DWRs, now the base standard of weather radars, it is usually possible to detect a potential storm at least four-five days in advance.
The IMD also collaborates with similar international networks, such as the Japan Meteorological Agency, the U.S. National Hurricane Center, and the U.S. Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and these bodies constantly send warnings and forecasts about changes in the ocean weather.
The near ubiquity of ocean-buoys that track changes in ocean sea surface temperatures as well as dedicated meteorological satellites improve the odds of early detection.
The IMD follows a five-stage classification for cyclones, with the lowest a ‘cyclonic storm’ generating wind speeds of 62-87 kmph, and the highest a ‘super cyclonic storm’, generating winds over 222 kmph.

Cyclone Nivar :

April-June and October-December are India’s cyclone seasons. The arriving monsoon, as well as its retreat, stir up the surrounding seas and generate cyclones.
Though the Bay of Bengal is three times more likely to generate cyclones, the ones that originate in the Arabian Sea are trickier, as the cyclone, while ostensibly moving away from India’s western coast, can suddenly ‘recurve’ and move back in.
There are also fewer radars along India’s west coast than the eastern coast, and all these reasons make the Bay of Bengal cyclones more tractable.
In this context, Nivar, because it conformed to a fairly predictable trajectory and was not super cyclonic in intensity, gave State administrations in Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh time to prepare, and was far less damaging than Amphan.
However, the cyclone season is not yet over and more systems are likely to form in the coming weeks, according to the IMD.

4. RT LAMP TEST

Subject: Science & tech

Concept:

About RT-LAMP Technology:

RT- LAMP stands for Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification which produces a high DNA yield (>10μg).
This method can produce results in significantly less time, which will increase the throughput of labs in India.
The test uses an isothermal setup to create copies of viral DNA for detection, which significantly reduces the complexity of the overall process compared to the prevalent Real-Time PCR technology.
This test also uses proprietary magnetic nanoparticle-based RNA extraction, which gives a highly purified and concentrated level of RNA.

Advantages:

The LAMP technology has many advantages over RT-PCR technology. The RT-PCR test needs different temperatures in one cycle. The temperature of the solution has to be changed from 92 degrees C to 56 degrees C and again to 72 degrees C every two minutes, and this cycle has to be repeated. Thus, the PCR test needs expensive thermal cycler as well as the real time PCR machines.
On the other hand, the new RT-LAMP technology is done at 65 degrees C, where the DNA amplification is done at a constant temperature (isothermal), so that expensive thermal cycler is not required.
Moreover, the quantity of DNA amplified in the LAMP technology is hundred thousand times more than that is taking place in PCR.
An equally important advantage of the LAMP technology is that the assay is so fast that results can be obtained within 30 minutes and positive samples are amplified as early as 10 minutes. .
Yet another advantage of LAMP is that the reagents are to be stored at 4 degree C (ordinary fridge), whereas the PCR-based reagents are to be stored and transported at –20 degrees C, which needs deep freezers that escalate the cost.
The LAMP technology does not need laborious preparation as in the case of RT-PCR. LAMP is cost effective and does not need complex expensive equipment. Assays can be performed with minimum skill and minimum infrastructure.

5. GVA & IIP

Subject: Economics

Context: The IIP manufacturing and manufacturing GVA growth are highly correlated (almost 0.9) and this correlation collapsed in Q2 when IIP manufacturing declined by 6.7% (average of July, August and September) while manufacturing GVA grew by 0.6%.

Concept:

Gross Value Added:

As per the SNA, GVA is defined as the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption and is a measure of the contribution to growth made by an individual producer, industry or sector.
It provides the rupee value for the number of goods and services produced in an economy after deducting the cost of inputs and raw materials that have gone into the production of those goods and services.
It can be described as the main entry on the income side of the nation’s accounting balance sheet, and from an economics perspective represents the supply side.
At the macro level, from a national accounting perspective, GVA is the sum of a country’s GDP and net of subsidies and taxes in the economy.
Gross Value Added = GDP + subsidies on products – taxes on products
Earlier, India had been measuring GVA at ‘factor cost’ till the new methodology was adopted in which GVA at ‘basic prices’ became the primary measure of economic output.
GVA at basic prices will include production taxes and exclude production subsidies.
GVA at factor cost included no taxes and excluded no subsidies.
The base year has also been shifted to 2011-12 from the earlier 2004-05.
The NSO provides both quarterly and annual estimates of output of GVA. It provides sectoral classification data on eight broad categories that includes both goods produced and services provided in the economy.

Index of Industrial Production

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a fixed period of time.
It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
IIP is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
Use-based sectors, namely Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods.
Base Year for IIP is 2011-2012.
The eight core industries of India represent about 40% of the weight of items that are included in the IIP.

Significance of IIP :

IIP is the only measure on the physical volume of production.
It is used by government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, etc, for policy-making purposes.
IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP estimates

6. SCO SUMMIT

Subject: International Events

Context: India will host the Heads of Government Council meeting of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) , but Prime Minister Narendra will not attend the meeting, which will be chaired by Vice-President instead.

Concept:

It will be the first time that a summit-level meeting will be held under India’s chairmanship, since it gained full membership of the organisation in 2017.
This summit is held annually at the level of Prime Ministers of SCO and deals primarily with the trade and economic agenda of the organisation.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.
It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
The SCO Charter was signed in 2002, and entered into force in 2003.
The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese. It has two Permanent Bodies,
SCO Secretariat in Beijing, and
Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
The Chairmanship of SCO is by rotation for a year by Member States.

Genesis:

Prior to the creation of SCO in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five.
Shanghai Five (1996) emerged from a series of border demarcation and demilitarization talks which the four former Soviet republics held with China to ensure stability along the borders.
Following the accession of Uzbekistan to the organisation in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
India and Pakistan became members in 2017.

7. GLOBAL INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE (GITA)

Subject: Science & tech

Context: At celebration of the 9th Foundation Day of GITA, Union Minister of Science & Technology underlined how Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA) served as a catalyst for nurturing innovation and industrial R&D.

Concept:

Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA) is a “not–for–profit” Section-8 Public Private Partnership (PPP) company.
It is promoted jointly by the Technology Development Board (TDB), Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry had, in 2010, recommended incorporation of a Government’s arm’s length entity under PPP mode to professionally manage the Government’s funds for providing flexibility to industry for undertaking R&D along with global partners.
The GITA platform encourages industrial investments in innovative technology solutions by

Mapping technology gaps,

Undertaking expert evaluation of technologies available across the globe,

Facilitating techno–strategic collaborative partnerships appropriate for Indian economy,

Connecting industrial and institutional partners for synergistic matchmaking and

Providing soft funding for technology development / acquisition / deployment.

8. COLD WAVE

Subject: Geography

Context: Delhi and other parts of north India are bracing for near cold wave conditions.

Concept:

A cold wave is declared when there’s a significant drop in minimum or night time temperature.
The IMD’s criteria for a cold wave in the plains is that the minimum temperature should be 10 degrees or lower and the departure from normal minimum temperature 4.5 degrees or less for two consecutive days.

What is causing the dip in temperature?

One of the main reasons is snowfall in high altitude areas north of Delhi, including places in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Cold winds blowing from these areas lower temperature across northwest India every winter, including Delhi.

9. US PRESIDENT PARDON POWERS

Subject: Polity

Context: With less than two months of his tenure remaining, US President exercised his powers under the Constitution to pardon his former National Security Advisor, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Concept:

USA President:

The President of the US has the constitutional right to pardon or commute sentences related to federal crimes. The US Supreme Court has held that this power is “granted without limit” and cannot be restricted by Congress.
Clemency is a broad executive power, and is discretionary — meaning the President is not answerable for his pardons, and does not have to provide a reason for issuing one.

Indian President:

Unlike the US President, whose powers to grant pardons are almost unfettered, the President of India has to act on the advice of the Cabinet.
Under Article 72 of the Constitution, “the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence where the sentence is a sentence of death”.
In several cases, the SC has ruled that the President has to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers while deciding mercy pleas. These include Maru Ram vs Union of India in 1980, and Dhananjoy Chatterjee vs State of West Bengal in 1994.