Daily Prelims Notes 29 October 2022

October 29, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

29 October 2022

Table Of Contents

Subject: Governance

Context:

Tamil Nadu government’s argument against tobacco anchored around Article 47 is like devil quoting scripture: Madras High Court.

Details:

Madras High Court quashed the orders passed by the TN authorities under Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 and the article 47.
State argument-raw tobacco leaves had been subjected to the manufacturing process.
- Removing dust and sand, spraying the tobacco leaves with jaggery water and cutting them into small pieces involves an element of manufacture.
- In this case, test reports have indicated that nicotine is present in the sample
Court– Companies dealing only with unmanufactured tobacco and not mixing the same in any food product.
- Sprinkling of jaggery water, there has been no change in the nicotine content.
- Jaggery water is sprayed only to ensure that the leaf does not turn brittle, and the nicotine content in the tobacco remains the same before and after the liquoring process.
- The State has not prohibited the cultivation of tobacco as it has done in the case of Ganja.

Concept:

Measures towards tobacco control in India:

India adopted the tobacco control provisions under WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003:
- It replaced the Cigarettes Act of 1975 (largely limited to statutory warnings- ‘Cigarette Smoking is Injurious to Health’ to be displayed on cigarette packs and advertisements. It did not include non-cigarettes).
- The 2003 Act also included cigars, bidis, cheroots, pipe tobacco, hookah, chewing tobacco, pan masala, and gutka.
- Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance, 2019: Which prohibits Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement of e-Cigarettes.
National Tobacco Quitline Services (NTQLS): Tobacco Quitline Services have the potential to reach a large number of tobacco users with the sole objective to provide telephone-based information, advice, support, and referrals for tobacco cessation.
mCessation Programme: It is an initiative using mobile technology for tobacco cessation.India launched mCessation using text messages in 2016 as part of the government’s Digital India initiative.
National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) – Government of India launched the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) in the year 2007-08 during the 11th Five-Year-Plan, with the aim to

(i) create awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption,

(ii) reduce the production and supply of tobacco products,

(iii) ensure effective implementation of the provisions under “The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003” (COTPA)

(iv) help the people quit tobacco use, and

(v) facilitate implementation of strategies for prevention and control of tobacco advocated by WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control.

National Health Policy 2017: It has set an ambitious target of reducing tobacco use by 30% by 2025.
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
- Governments adopt and implement the tobacco control provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
- It is the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO.
- It was adopted by the World Health Assembly (apex decision making body of WHO) on 21st May 2003 and entered into force on 27th February 2005.
- It was developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
- The FCTC’s measures to combat tobacco use include:
  - Price and tax measures.
  - Large, graphic warnings on tobacco packages.
  - 100% smoke-free public spaces.
  - A ban on tobacco marketing.
  - Support for smokers who want to quit.
  - Prevention of tobacco industry interference.

Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 Regulation mandates that tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products

Status of tobacco:

Since 1947, the Indian government has supported growth in the tobacco industry. India has seven tobacco research centers that are located in: Jeelugumilli, A.P., Kandukuru, A.P., Guntur, A.P., Kalavacherla, A.P., Hunsur, Karnataka, Vedasandur, Tamil Nadu, Dinhata, West Bengal; and Rajamundry houses the core research institute.
The government has set up Tobacco Board Guntur which works to increase production, sale and exports of Indian tobacco.
The Central Tobacco Research Institute works under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
India is the 2nd largest producer and exporter (in quantity terms) after China and Brazil, respectively.

2. Herbicide-tolerant cotton set to get recommendations for release

Subject : Science and Technology

Context-

After Delhi University’s transgenic hybrid mustard, India’s biotechnology regulator is set to recommend the “environmental release” of a genetically modified (GM) cotton of German multinational company Bayer AG that allows farmers to spray the herbicide glyphosate.

HT-BT Cotton-

The transgenic cotton — Bollgard II Roundup Ready Flex (BG-II RRF) — contains three alien genes, the first two (‘cry1Ac’ and ‘cry2Ab’) being isolated from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, and coding for proteins toxic to the American bollworm spotted bollworm and tobacco caterpillar insect pests.
The third gene, ‘cp4-epsps’, is sourced from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumafaciens.
Its incorporation into cotton makes the crop “tolerant” to glyphosate.
This herbicide cannot be applied on normal cotton, as the chemical does not distinguish between the crops and weeds.

Sub-committee to look for approval-

The regulatory body, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) had constituted an expert sub-committee under Department of Biotechnology (DBT) scientist Sanjay Kumar Mishra to conduct a detailed review of the application by MahyoPvt. Ltd, Mumbai, the licensee for the BG-II RRF technology in India.
GEAC is a body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change that appraises GM products for their testing and commercialisation (environmental release).
BG-II RRF cotton had already undergone biosafety research and field trials by 2012-13.

How is it different from Bt Cotton-

Bt Cotton has been genetically modified (GM) to produce an insecticide to combat the cotton bollworm, a common pest.
The HTBt cotton variant adds another layer of modification, making the plant resistant to the herbicide glyphosate.

Need for Using HTBt Cotton:

Saves Cost: There is a shortage of labour needed to do at least two rounds of weeding for Bt cotton.
With HTBt, simply one round of glyphosate spraying is needed with no weeding. It saves Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 8,000 per acre for farmers.
Support of Scientists: Scientists are also in favour of this crop, and even the World Health Organization (WHO) has said it does not cause cancer.

Cotton crop-

Conditions of Growth-

Cotton is the crop of tropical and subtropical areas and requires uniformly high temperatures varying between 21°C and 30°C.
Frost is enemy number one of the cotton plant and it is grown in areas having at least 210 frost-free days in a year.
The modest requirement of water can be met by an average annual rainfall of 50- 100 cm.
About 80 per cent of the total irrigated area under cotton is in Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Moist weather and heavy rainfall at the time of boll-opening and picking are detrimental to cotton as the plant becomes vulnerable to pests and diseases.
High amounts of rainfall in the beginning and sunny and dry weather at ripening time are very useful for a good crop.
Cotton is a Kharif crop which requires 6 to 8 months to mature.
In the peninsular part of India, it is sown up to October and harvested between January and May because there is no danger of winter frost in these areas. In Tamil Nadu, it is grown both as a kharif and as a rabi crop.
Cotton cultivation is closely related to deep black soils (regur) of the Deccan and the Malwa Plateaus and those of Gujarat. It also grows well in alluvial soils of the Satluj-Ganga Plain and red and laterite soils of the peninsular regions.
Cotton quickly exhausts the fertility of the soil. Therefore, regular application of manures and fertilizers to the soils is very necessary.

Production-

India has the largest area under cotton cultivation in the world though it is the world’s third largest producer of cotton after China and the USA.
Currently it is grown over 6 per cent of the net sown area.

Distribution-

In India, cotton is grown in three distinct agro-ecological zones, viz.,
- Northern (Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan),
- Central (Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh) and
- Southern zone (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka).
Maharashtra is the largest producer and produces 29.78 per cent of the total cotton production of India. Maharashtra is a traditional producer of cotton. Over 80 per cent of the production comes from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.

3. Global TB Report 2022

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: The WHO released the Global TB Report 2022 on October 27, 2022. The Report notes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, treatment and burden of disease for TB all over the world.

Concept:

Highlights of the report

India’s TB incidence for the year 2021 is 210 per 100,000 population – compared to the baseline year of 2015 (incidence was 256 per lakh of population in India).
There has been an 18% decline which is 7 percentage points better than the global average of 11%.
These figures also place India at the 36th position in terms of incidence rates (from largest to smallest incidence numbers).
In 2020 and 2021 – this led to the National TB Elimination Programme notifying over 21.4 lakh TB cases – 18% higher than 2020.
The WHO Report notes that India is the only country to have completed such a survey in 2021, a year which saw “considerable recovery in India”.

Tuberculosis (TB)

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
TB commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect other parts (extrapulmonary TB)
Tuberculosis spreads from person to person through the air, when people who are infected with TB infection cough, sneeze or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air.
The most common risk factor associated with TB is HIV & other conditions that impair the immune system.
Common symptoms of tuberculosis are Chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, Loss of weight, Loss of appetite, Fever and night sweats, Fatigue , etc.

TB Treatment: consists of four drugs:

Isoniazid (INH)
Rifampicin
Pyrazinamide
Ethambutol

Multidrug-Resistant TB (MDR-TB)

In MDR-TB, the bacteria that cause TB develop resistance to antimicrobial drugs used to cure the disease.
MDR-TB does not respond to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the 2 most powerful anti-TB drugs.
Treatment options for MDR-TB are limited and expensive. CBNAAT (Cartridges Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) is used for early diagnosis of MDR-TB.

Extensively Drug-Resistant TB (XDR-TB)

XDR-TB is a form of multidrug-resistant TB with additional resistance to more anti-TB drugs.
People who are resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, plus any fluoroquinolone and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (amikacin, kanamycin, capreomycin) are said to have XDR-TB.
To achieve goal: To end TB by 2025

India’s Initiative

National Strategic Plan (NSP) for Tuberculosis Elimination (2017-2025)
The Nikshay Ecosystem (National TB information system)
Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY- financial support)
TB HaregaDeshJeetega Campaign.

Global Initiative:

The WHO (World Health Organisation) has launched a joint initiative “Find. Treat. All. #EndTB” with the Global Fund and Stop TB Partnership.
WHO also releases the Global Tuberculosis Report

4. First test site for in-depth study of monsoon has only 9 of 25 instruments

Subject: Geography

Context-

Four years after finalising a ‘test-bed site’ to study the Indian monsoon, only nine of the total 25 requisite instruments have been installed till September, the response to a Right to Information (RTI) application has revealed.

Need for the study of changing monsoon patterns-

India receives 70 per cent of its annual rainfall from June to September.
Increasing unpredictability in rainfall distribution is leading to extreme situations like floods or droughts, posing a threat to the food and water security of the agrarian country.
This year, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand were among rainfall deficient states at the end of the monsoon season.
With monsoons becoming more erratic in nature, the need for more focused studies of the monsoon was felt.

About the test-bed facility-

Aimed to improve monsoon forecasts and carry out dedicated monsoon studies, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), in 2018, decided to establish a test-bed facility near Bhopal to mainly study monsoon winds, clouds and synoptic systems (low-pressure, depression, etc.) passing via the core monsoon zone — near Bhopal in central India.
Accordingly, an MoU was signed between the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and the Madhya Pradesh Council of Science and Technology in New Delhi in January 2018.
The MoU is set to expire in January 2023.
The long-term experiment site is expected to cost Rs 125 crore to set up.
It will house high-end weather instruments, allowing climate scientists to study the properties, convection processes in clouds, precipitation and land-atmosphere interaction over this zone.

Why Bhopal is chosen as a suitable site-

As areas around Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal are located directly in the path of rain-bearing systems like low-pressure systems or depressions, the location is ideal to study their characteristics.
In addition, scientists can also take observations of associated clouds and their properties, whose information, when incorporated into numerical weather models, can help improve forecasts of both rain-bearing systems and monsoons in general.

Progress so far-

According to the RTI response, procurement of an instrument for measuring solar radiation is still in process, whereas another instrument for studying winds, planned in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is still in the planning stage.
Until last month, only nine of the total 25 instruments had been installed at the site.
A 75-metre-tall tower mounted with instruments, meant for measuring atmospheric and greenhouse gas measurements, and an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) also have to be set up.
The remaining 16 uninstalled instruments include a terrestrial radiation measuring instrument, whose procurement process is still on; a wind profiler for the creation of vertical wind profiles of all wind-related components, which is being planned in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO); an aerosol chemical speciation monitor; single particle soot photometer; sun or sky radiometer; instruments to measure direct, diffused, total and terrestrial radiations, soil moisture and temperature.

5. Alert as the world’s largest active volcano rumbles

Subject: Geography

Context-

Hawaii officials are warning residents of the Big Island that the world’s largest active volcano, Mauna Loa, is sending signals that it may erupt.

About the Mauna Loa Volcano-

Mauna Loa (Meaning: Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi in the Pacific Ocean.
The largest subaerial volcano in both mass and volume, Mauna Loa has historically been considered the largest volcano on Earth, dwarfed only by Tamu Massif.
It is an active shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes, with a volume estimated at 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 km3), although its peak is about 125 feet (38 m) lower than that of its neighbour, Mauna Kea.
The volcano makes up 51% of the Hawaii Island landmass, so a large portion of the island has the potential to be affected by an eruption.
Mauna Loa, rising 13,679 feet above sea level, is a much larger neighbour to the Kilauea volcano, which erupted in a residential neighbourhood and destroyed 700 homes in 2018. Some of its slopes are much steeper than Kilauea’s, so its lava can flow much faster when it erupts.
Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are silica-poor and very fluid, and they tend to be non-explosive.
Mauna Loa has probably been erupting for at least 700,000 years and may have emerged above sea level about 400,000 years ago.
Mauna Loa’s most recent eruption occurred from March 24 to April 15, 1984. No recent eruptions of the volcano have caused fatalities, but eruptions in 1926 and 1950 destroyed villages, and the city of Hilo is partly built on lava flows since the late 19th century.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which is part of the US Geological Survey, said Mauna Loa has been in a state of “heightened unrest” since the middle of last month when the number of summit earthquakes jumped from 10 to 20 per day to 40 to 50 per day.

Position of volcanoes on Hawaii island-

6. Climate observing system remains fragile, needs funding: Experts

Subject: Geography

Context-

Climate observing system remains fragile and needs financing for strengthening and sustaining it, stated a global conference in their declaration.

More on the news-

Sustainable and long-term funding is essential to ensure the continuity and expansion of observations, read the declaration released by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)conference on October 19, 2022. But they remain highly inadequate.
The status of climate observation systems has not improved much in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia since 2015, according to State of Global Observation Systems, 2021.

About the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)conference-

GCOS conference was hosted by Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), from 17-19 October 2022.
- Operational monitoring of the climate and detection of global climatic changes are the fundamental objectives of EUMETSAT.
GCOS is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC- UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Science Council (ISC).
Objectives of GCOS-
- GCOS expert panels maintain definitions of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) which are required to systematically observe Earth`s changing climate.
- The observations supported by GCOS contribute to solving challenges in climate research and also underpin climate services and adaptation measures.

GCOS implementation Plan-

GCOS Implementation Plan 2022, released by the WMO, also identified gaps in earth observations and areas that require improvement. The plan will be presented at COP27.
- The 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP27, will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 -18 November.
The conference has announced its commitment to a “comprehensive and sustainable global climate observing system” in light of the rapid pace of climate change.

Need for access to more data on climate-

There is a need to focus on improving data quality, availability, accessibility and utility.
The conference called for access to climate data through global data repositories.
In addition, access to climate data must be made free and open.

7. Fewer cyclones in the Bay of Bengal but frequency increased in Arabian Sea: Report

Subject: Geography

Context-

Northern Indian Ocean cyclones may have gained notoriety for causing considerable devastation, but new research has noted a decline in the Bay of Bengal.
The Arabian Sea, however, has registered an increase in the last two decades, according to researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal. They attributed this trend to global warming.

IMD data on the pattern of cyclones-

The India Meteorological Data (IMD)’s data for the 130-year-long study period found an average of 50.5 tropical cyclones per decade over the region comprising the Bay of Bengal in the East and the Arabian Sea in the West.
The researchers found that 49.8 per cent of tropical cyclones occurred from October-December in the post-monsoon period, while 28.9 per cent of the cyclones occurred in the pre-monsoon season between April to June during the same 130-year period.

Increase in cyclones over the Arabian sea-

The Arabian Sea side of the north Indian Ocean, however, saw a 52 per cent increase in cyclonic storms (63-88 km per hour) from 2001 -2019.
The frequency increase in very severe cyclonic storms, extremely severe cyclonic storms and super cyclonic storms in the Arabian sea was observed during the post-monsoon months.
As an exception, 2019 witnessed five tropical storms over the Arabian Sea and three over the Bay of Bengal.
In contrast, the frequency of Bay of Bengal cyclonic storms has slightly decreased but not to a significant extent.
The researchers examined the Bay of Bengal tropical cyclones from 1982-2020 and found that El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) years reported more tropical cyclonic activity over the region.

Role of vertical shear in cyclone development-

With the greenhouse gases increasing and the earth warming, not only do temperature and humidity increase but also winds change and become weaker simultaneously.
One thing in the atmosphere that inhibits the growth of cyclones is called vertical shear, which refers to how strongly the winds can change from the surface to the top of the atmosphere, for up to 10 kilometres or so.
It determines if the cyclone, which is trying to grow like a tunnel, gets chopped off or not.
If it does, then its energy gets taken away and it doesn’t grow into a strong cyclone.
In other words, strong vertical shears suppress cyclones and weak vertical shears increase cyclones.
While the global trend reflects a decrease in cyclones, there has been an increase in cyclones over certain parts of the world, including the Northern Indian Ocean (Arabian sea).

8. Air pollution is not just about PM10 and PM2.5

Subject: Geography

Context-

The discourse on air pollution in India centres on the mean concentration of particulate matter PM10 (particles smaller than 10 microns) and PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microns, about 25 to 100 times thinner than a human hair), while a potential air pollutant ‘Nanoparticles’ got neglected totally,

Nanoparticles as air pollutants-

The Central Pollution Control Board has the facility to monitor only PM2.5/PM10 pollutants in Delhi or elsewhere.
There are pollutants which are more harmful than PM10/PM2.5 in the case of air pollution, known as nanoparticles.

What are nanoparticles?

Size –
- Nanoparticles (NPs) are tiny particles between 1 and 100nm.
- Due to their ultrafine size, they can be suspended in the atmosphere for a long time and can travel larger distances.
Mass –
- They possess very little mass but are many in number.
- So, the current mass-based, ambient air quality regulations for particulate matter are ineffective in dealing with nanoparticle concentrations in cities.
Source-
- They are arising from both natural and man-made processes: soil erosion, dust storms, burning of unprocessed fuel, industrial, and mechanical processes.

Impact of Nanoparticles on human health-

Inhalation is the most common route through which people get exposed to nanoparticles. Ingestions and dermal contact of engineered nanoparticles are also popular transmission mechanisms.
Inhaled particles can enter the blood circulation from where they can be carried to different organs such as the heart, kidney and liver.
Suggestive evidence shows that nanoparticles accumulated in the vascular sites can clot blood vessels, increasing the likelihood of heart attack and stroke.
Occupational exposure to these toxic elements can increase the risk of lung cancer.
For patients with pre-existing heart or pulmonary conditions, the situation can get worse when exposed to elevated particle concentrations.
Infant mortality, neonatal complications, and birth defects are also likely to increase with ever-increasing concentrations of matters smaller than 10 µm.
Incidentally, while the pollution mask provides protection against PM10/PM2.5 particulate matter, the same is not true for pollution from nanoparticles.
Where studies have extensively researched the health impacts of PM2.5 and PM10 exposure, evidence of the toxic effects of nanoparticles on human health is insufficient.

The chemically reactive nature of nanoparticles makes the risk assessment highly uncertain.

9. Committees for Grievance Redressal of Social Media Users

Subject : Governance

Context : A gazette notification was issued by the Ministry Of Electronics And Information Technology recently to amend the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Concept :

Grievance Appellate Committees

Grievance Appellate Committees will be set up within three months by the government for resolving social media users’ grievances.
Each Grievance Appellate Committee will consist of a chairperson and two whole time members appointed by the Central Government.
Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Grievance Officer may prefer an appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of communication from the Grievance Officer.
It also states that the Grievance Appellate Committee will adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism.
Grievance Appellate Committee has been introduced for hearing appeals against decisions of the Grievance Officer appointed by the intermediary.
Privacy policy and user agreements of intermediaries are to be made available in the Eighth Schedule Indian languages.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism under IT Rules 2021:

Intermediaries shall appoint a Grievance Officer to deal with complaints and share the name and contact details of such officers.
Grievance Officer shall acknowledge the complaint within twenty four hours and resolve it within fifteen days from its receipt.

About New IT Rules 2021

The government has notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules on February 2021.
These new rules broadly deal with social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.
These rules have been framed in exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 and in supersession of the earlier Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.

10. EC sends notice to Telangana Minister over MCC violation

Subject : Polity / Governance

Context : The Election Commission(EC) on Friday sent a notice to Telangana Energy Minister for violating the Model Code of Conduct by asking voters in the Munugode Assembly seat to support Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao if they wanted welfare schemes to continue.

Concept:

According to the transcript of the speech, as provided by the District Election Officer and cited by the EC in its notice, Reddy said the contest was not between the candidates of the TRS and the BJP, but rather whether the schemes for pension and free electricity would continue.
The EC said the speech had violated the MCC provision against the use of corrupt practices.

District Election Officer

Section 26 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 requires the District Election Officer to appoint a Presiding Officer and as many Polling Officers as he deems necessary for each polling station within his jurisdiction.

The Representation of the People Act of 1950 includes the following election provisions:

District Election Officer means the officer designated or nominated under Section 13AA of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 specifies the general duties of district election officer.
Section 25 states that the district election officer, with the previous approval of the Election Commission, provides a sufficient number of polling stations for every constituency.
Under Section 78, every contesting candidate at an election shall, within thirty days from the date of election of the returned candidate, lodge with the district election officer an account of his election expenses which shall be a true copy of the account kept by him or by his election agent under section 77.

Significance

The Presiding Officers and Polling Officers are appointed by the District Election Officer.
The District Election Officer coordinates and supervises all work in the district or in the area within his jurisdiction related to the preparation, revision, and correction of electoral rolls.
He also looks after the conduct of all elections, including Lok Sabha, Legislative Assembly, and Legislative Council.

Supervisory Role

Implementation of all Election Commission and Chief Electoral Officer directions/orders and instructions and distribution thereof to concerned election authorities including Returning Officers.
Consolidation of information from Returning Officers regarding nominations and submission of reports to the Chief Electoral Officer in this regard.
Meetings with political parties, candidates, government and local authorities, and law enforcement to ensure free and fair elections and the implementation of the model code of conduct.
Transport and storage of EVMs and other election stationery.
Keeping a record of election expenses and reporting to the Commission.
Supervising the poll process on election day and reporting to the Commission on poll events on a regular basis.
Supervising the counting of votes and reporting to the Commission as needed.
Safe custody of EVMs, election papers, and materials after counting.

For further details about Model Code of Conduct, refer – https://optimizeias.com/model-code-of-conduct/

11. BRO Infrastructure projects in Ladakh

Subject : Environment/National Organisations

Context :Defence minister Rajnath Singh said as he dedicated 75 infrastructure projects built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Ladakh, to the nation.

Concept :

Strategically important projects

The highlight of the event was the onsite inauguration of 120-metre-long Class 70 ShyokSetu on D-S-DBO Road at an altitude 14,000 feet.
Other projects inaugurated virtually by Singh include two helipads, one each in Hanle and Thakung, in Eastern Ladakh
The BRO’s first carbon-neutral habitat at a height of 19,000 feet for its personnel was also inaugurated at Hanle.
On the occasion, Singh also laid the foundation stones of Himank Air Despatch Complex being constructed in Chandigarh and a BRO Museum at Leh.

Carbon Neutral Habitat

The habitat will accommodate 57 personnel and provide thermal comfort during extreme weather.
It will enable BRO to operate efficiently during winters.
It consists of 12 golden “green houses” which will provide home to 57 karmyogis even in sub-zero Himalayan temperatures with Zero carbon emission.
These tiny sleek golden sand houses are powered by renewable solar and wind energy that makes Hanle a high tech green hamlet in the golden landscape of
These carbon neutral houses have been built under the project Himank of BRO to make UT of Ladakh as the first carbon neutral UT in India.

Climate neutrality refers to the idea of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by balancing those emissions so they are equal (or less than) the emissions that get removed through the planet’s natural absorption; in basic terms it means we reduce our emissions through climate action.

As part of this, UN Climate Change launched Climate Neutral Now back in 2015 in order to encourage stakeholders around the world to work towards net zero emissions and a climate neutral world. This would see a world where global emissions are in balance with what is naturally absorbed in ‘sinks’ such as forests and oceans. While the aim is to have a ‘climate neutral’ world by 2050, Climate Neutral Now focuses on the need to take action now in order to reach that target.

Project Himank

Himank, also styled Project Himank, is a project of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in the Ladakh region of northernmost India that started in August 1985.
It is known for constructing some of world’s highest motorable roads across the Khardung La, Tanglang La and Chang La passes.
It is responsible for constructing and maintaining motorable roads in Ladakh, along the Line of Actual Control.

Border Roads Organisation

BRO was conceived and raised in 1960 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
The Border Roads Organisation [BRO] was formed to maintain and develop the Indian remote areas north and northeast situated near the borders.
The Border Roads Organisation [BRO] Raising Day is celebrated on May 7.
In the beginning, BRO functioned under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Since 2015, it has been managed and is functioning under the Ministry of Defence.
It has diversified into a large spectrum of construction and development works comprising airfields, building projects, defence works and tunneling and has endeared itself to the people.

12. Param-Kamrupa

Subject :Science and Technology

Context: President Draupadi Murmu along with many government schemes and welfare projects launched India’s latest supercomputer Param-Kamrupa

Concept:

Param-Kamrupa was set up at IIT Guwahati under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) a joint initiative of the Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). There were 15 such supercomputers that were deployed across the country.
The super computer’s software, design and all parts were built in the country making it a successful project of ‘make in India’ indigenous technology.
It will be of great benefit to IIT Guwahati to carry out research activities in various scientific domains including forecasting weather and climate, bioinformatics, computational chemistry, molecular dynamics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning and especially data science etc
The supercomputing facility has been equipped with advanced facilities to cater to the computing needs of various scientific and engineering applications.
Param-Kamrupa has 838 teraflops. A teraflop is a measure of a computer’s speed and can be expressed as a trillion floating point operations per second. An average gaming PC has a processing power of around 3-4 teraflops.
The latest super computer’s speed was so high that some 1500 desktops can process its data at one point of time.
It has software for users from different domains and can be used even from outside the institute.
The super computer has a ‘liquid cooled system’ and the heat generated by the computer system can be easily taken away.
The Param-Kamrupa super computer will not only give an additional edge to the use of data science but would also help in vital technologies like weather forecasting.