Daily Prelims Notes 3 December 2020
- December 3, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Table Of Contents
- SESSIONS OF PARLIAMENT
- PFIZER VACCINE
- INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
- CONSENT FOR CONTEMPT
- WORLD MALARIA REPORT 2020
- THEREMIN
- APEX COMMITTEE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PARIS AGREEMENT (AIPA)
- DEENDHAYAL UPADHYAYA – GRAMEEN KAUSHAL YOJANA
- H1 B VISA
Subject : Polity
Context : Farmers in delhi protest is demanding for a special session of parliament.
Concept :
- Under Article 85, the Houses of Parliament shall be summoned in such a manner that six months shall not lapse between two sessions of Parliament. By convention, the Parliament meets in three regular sessions in a calendar year apart from the special sessions.
- The regular and special sessions of Parliament are convened by the President on the advice of Council of Ministers. However, if the President thinks that the time period of six months may expire and Union Council of Ministers has not asked him to call the session of Parliament, then the President may convene the session of Parliament at his own discretion.
- As per convention, there are three regular sessions of Parliament:
Regular sessions of parliament
- Budget session: It starts with an address by the President to a joint sitting of both the houses of Parliament. It is in this session that the budget is presented and passed. It is the longest and most important of the three sessions. It generally begins in the month of February and lasts till third week of May. From year 2017, the budget session has been preponed, as the government has decided to introduce budget on 1st February every year.
- Monsoon Session: It is held in the month of July-September. It is the second longest session of the Parliament.
- Winter Session: It is held in the month of November-December and it is the shortest of the three sessions.
Special Session of Parliament
- It is held in order to transact a particular business as mentioned in the notice of invitation sent to the members of parliament and in this session no other business is taken up for consideration. It may be held within or outside the regular session of Parliament.
- Apart from the special session of Parliament, there is a special session of Lok Sabha under Article 352(8) inserted by 44th Amendment Act. Special session of Lok Sabha can take place if not less than one-tenth members of Lok Sabha give in writing to the President (if Lok Sabha is not in session) or to the speaker (if Lok Sabha is in session), about an intention to move a resolution for disapproval of continuance of national emergency.
- If majority of the members present and voting disapprove the national emergency, then national emergency comes to an end.
Subject : Science & tech
Context : Britain became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from early next week.
Concept :
- The British regulator Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) declared that the vaccine offers protection of up to 95 per cent and is safe to be used for immunisation against Covid-19.
- The American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech last month concluded phase 3 study of their mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2, meeting all primary efficacy endpoints.
- BNT162b2 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by BioNTech and Pfizer and given by intramuscular injection.
- It is an RNA vaccine composed of nucleoside-modified mRNA encoding a mutated form of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, and is encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles.
3. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Subject : Current Events
Context : International Day of Persons with Disabilities is being observed on December 3, 2020.
Concept :
- International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPWD) is a United Nations sanctioned day celebrated internationally on 3 December each year.
- The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3.
- Its objective is to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development and to increase awareness.
Additional Information
- This year, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) falls on the same week as the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and will be observed throughout the week in conjunction with the 13th session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD.
Subject : Polity
Context : Attorney General for India granted consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against a comic illustrator for allegedly scandalising the judiciary through her tweets and illustrations.
Concept :
- The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, lays down the law on contempt of court. Section 15 of the legislation describes the procedure on how a case for contempt of court can be initiated.
- In the case of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General or the Solicitor General, and in the case of High Courts, the Advocate General, may bring in a motion before the court for initiating a case of criminal contempt.
- However, if the motion is brought by any other person, the consent in writing of the Attorney General or the Advocate General is required. If the AG denies consent, the matter ends.
- The objective behind requiring the consent of the Attorney General before taking cognizance of a complaint is to save the time of the court.
Is the AG’s consent mandatory for all contempt of court cases?
- The AG’s consent is mandatory when a private citizen wants to initiate a case of contempt of court against a person. However, when the court itself initiates a contempt of court case, as it did in the case of Prashant Bhushan recently, the AG’s consent is not required.
- This is because the court is exercising its inherent powers under the Constitution to punish for contempt and such Constitutional powers cannot be restricted because the AG declined to grant consent.
Subject : Current Events
Context : The World Malaria Report (WMR) 2020 released by WHO indicates that India has made considerable progress in reducing its malaria burden.
Concept :
- India is the only high endemic country which has reported a decline of 17.6% in 2019 as compared to 2018.
- The Annual Parasitic Incidence (API) reduced by 27.6% in 2018 compared to 2017 and by 18.4% in 2019 as compared to 2018. India has sustained API less than one since year 2012.
- India has also contributed to the largest drop in cases region-wide, from approximately 20 million to about 6 million. The percentage drop in the malaria cases was 71.8% and deaths was 73.9% between 2000 to 2019.
- India achieved a reduction of 83.34% in malaria morbidity and 92% in malaria mortality between the year 2000 and 2019, thereby achieving Goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals (50-75% decrease in case incidence between 2000 and 2019).
- States of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Madhya Pradesh disproportionately accounted for nearly 45.47 percent of malaria cases and 70.54 percent of falciparum Malaria cases in 2019. 64% of malaria deaths were also reported from these states.
Additional Information
- WHO has initiated the High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) initiative in 11 high malaria burden countries, including India. Implementation of HBHI initiative has been started in four states i.e. West Bengal and Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in July, 2019.
- National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) was launched in India in 2016 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22) was launched by the Health Ministry in July, 2017 which laid down strategies for the next five years that is upto 2022.
6. THEREMIN
Subject : Culture
Context : Theremin instrument turned 100 years old this year.
Concept :
- The theremin is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the thereminist (performer).
- The instrument was invented in 1920. It is named after its inventor, Leon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928.
- The instrument’s controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas that sense the relative position of the thereminist’s hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.
7. APEX COMMITTEE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PARIS AGREEMENT (AIPA)
Subject : Governance
Context : The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has constituted a high-level inter-ministerial Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement (AIPA) under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoEFCC.
Concept :
- The purpose of AIPA is to generate a coordinated response on climate change matters that ensures India is on track towards meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement including its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
- Senior officials from fourteen ministries will serve as Members to AIPA who will oversee the progress in implementation of India’s NDC
Other key functions of AIPA :
- To operate as a National Authority to regulate carbon markets in India under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement,
- To formulate guidelines for consideration of projects or activities under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement,
- To issue guidelines on carbon pricing, market mechanism, and other similar instruments that have a bearing on climate change and NDCs.
8. DEENDHAYAL UPADHYAYA – GRAMEEN KAUSHAL YOJANA
Subject : Government Schemes
Context : Out of 10.78 lakh, rural youths trained under DDU-GKY over 6.27 lakh (58 per cent) have got placement till date. Over 4.50 lakh trained youth are still to get a job in the market under this scheme run by the Ministry of Rural Development.
Concept :
- The scheme is tasked with the dual objectives of adding diversity to the incomes of rural poor families and cater to the career aspirations of rural youth. DDU-GKY is uniquely focussed on rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years from poor families
- The overall target of the scheme is to train and get placement for 28,82,677 rural youth by March 2022.
- It is a placement linked skill development program which allows skilling in a PPP mode and assured placements in regular jobs in an organization not owned by the skilled person.
- DDU-GKY is being undertaken as PPP Project all over the country through Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) registered with the Ministry of Rural Development.
- Further, Guidelines of the scheme mandate State Governments to take up skill training projects with Corporate Social Responsibility funding.
- DDU-GKY Guidelines provide for setting apart 15% of the funds of the funds at for national level beneficiaries from among minority groups.
Beneficiary Eligibility:
- Rural Youth:15 – 35 Yrs
- SC/ST/Women/PVTG/PWD: upto 45 Yrs.
9. H1 B VISA
Subject : International events
Context : In a huge relief to the Indian techies and IT industry, a US court, on December 1, blocked the H-1B visa rule changes that made it tough to recruit H-1B workers
Concept :
- 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.