Daily Prelims Notes 3 July 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

3 July 2023

Table Of Contents

1. IMF Crypto stance: winds of change from Latin America?
2. Rs 2000 was transitory note to fill in value lost due to demonetization
3. CBIC plans tighter GST regulation norms using geo-tagging, biometrics
4. Banks profitability up: increase in net interest margin
5. Offshore nifty trading now in Gift city
6. Impact of climate change on Kashmir’s mushroom pickers
7. Newborn genome sequencing unlocks the blueprint of health
8. Public impact, sensitivity and rights violation: factors that can open SC’s portal
9. Criminalization of politics: Why ADR has approached the ECI
10. India and China ramp up infra on north bank of Pangong lake
11. Hul Diwas: Remembering the Santhal rebellion
12. Make older children in care homes legally free for adoption, says Irani
13. IIT-B develops perovskite solar cell with 26% efficiency

1. IMF Crypto stance: winds of change from Latin America?

Subject :Economy

Section: Monetary policy

• Original position of IMF on crypto currencies:
  • IMF has maintained that crypto assets, and their adoption poses risk for financial and monetary stability of the economy.
  • On adoption of cryptocurrencies as a substitute for currency, as seen with some LatinAmerican countries such as El Salvador, the IMF noted that unregulated capital movement will pose challenges in taking any management measures by the government or the regulator.
  • In addition it noted fiscal risks and consumer protection issues that crypotos pose.
  • On El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as official currency, IMF had urged the country to not grant “legal tender status” to Bitcoin.
• Importance of Latin America’s cryptocurrency market:
  • Countries like Argentina, Chile, and Columbia have experienced devaluation of their currency against the U.S. dollar.
  • To preserve the value of their savings, residents try to convert their funds to U.S. dollars. However, there are legal restrictions controlling this.
  • To circumvent this, people resorted to converting their assets to stablecoins – cryptocurrencies designed to reflect the value of fiat currencies such as the U.S dollar. (A “stablecoin” is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another asset class, such as a fiat currency or gold, to stabilize its price)
  • In view of all this, countries were forced to allow cryptos, and El Salvador has become the leader of this trend in LatAm and Caribbean, by making Bitcoin its legal tender.
  • Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador are among the top 20 in Chainalysis’ 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
  • El-Salvador uses a digital wallet known as Chivo to regulate users’ crypto transactions.
• Changed IMF position:
  • IMF in its latest statement has changed its view on cryptos to a degree. It noted that the approach of banning cryptos because of their risks may not be effective in the long run.
  • IMF also called for regulation of cryptocurrency and recording crypto transactions for transparency.
  • In the Latin America and Caribbean region IMF said that they should improve the financial infrastructure and lack of support which drove users to crypto in the first place.
• Block-chain based CBDCs:
  • a number of central banks in the Latin American market are also considering CBDCs, meaning that more people could soon be exposed to blockchain-based infrastructure
  • China’s government, meanwhile, has energetically promoted its digital renminbi (e-RMB). Transactions with its CBDC crossed $13.9 billion last year.
  • Bahamas in the Caribbean was one of the first countries to officially introduce its Sand Dollar CBDC.
• Difference between Crypto-currency and CBDC:
  • CONTROL: Cryptocurrencies and CBDCs are both blockchain-based digital currencies. But while cryptocurrencies are generally run by private companies or individuals, a CBDC is controlled and tracked by a country’s central bank and corresponds to that country’s fiat currency.
  • PRICE: Bitcoin’s price may vary by hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a short period of time, and its founder is a mystery. On the other hand, a CBDC such as the eNaira, issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, would (ideally) be worth as much as its physical counterpart.
  • USE CASE: While investors often buy large quantities of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and hold them in the hope of making a profit, this doesn’t make sense in the case of CBDCs as they are not meant to be investment vehicles.

2. Rs 2000 was transitory note to fill in value lost due to demonetization

Subject : Economy

Section: Monetary policy

In news: “It was a transitory kind of note to fill in the value which was lost in demonetisation”, says former MD of Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd.

Key Points:

• It was said that after demonetisation, done by banning Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, there was a sudden currency withdrawal, and to fill that gap in a timely manner the Rs. 2,000 notes were issued.
• It may be noted that RBI issued a whole new series of notes of the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000, and new notes for Rs 10, 20, 50, 100 and Rs 200.
• Case for high denomination notes:
  • As economy grows and inflation rises then automatically the relative value of the current highest denomination comes down. The country then requires higher denomination, otherwise we would not be able to handle normal day-to-day payment transactions.
  • It is also said that normally the highest denomination is meant for store of value and not for medium of exchange.
  • Both the arguments though prove weak, when financial institutions and tools are as developed as today.
• Problem with high denomination notes:
  • the anonymity of currency makes it an attractive means of payment in illegal transactions and a desirable store of value for criminals.
  • It facilitates tax evasion, avoiding capital controls, money laundering, funding of criminal activity and of terrorism.

3. CBIC plans tighter GST regulation norms using geo-tagging, biometrics

Subject :Economy

Section: Fiscal  policy

Context: With 12,500 fake entities detected, Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities are looking to tighten registration norms with biometric authentication and geo-tagging of risky entities.

Key Points:

• Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will make the return filing system stringent to prevent fraudsters from using Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar identification to obtain fake/fraudulent GST registration.
• For this GST authorities plan to introduce:
  • Biometric authentication : CBIC will require risky entities to get their biometrics authenticated at Aadhaar centre. Presently only OTP authentication is used.
  • Geo-tagging (linking with the geographical coordinates of a location) of place of business will be implemented for both existing and new registrants if they match as risky entities availing input tax credit fraudulently. This will ensure that the address given in GST registration is the place from where the entity operates.
• Concerns have been raised by some service sector companies, especially co-working spaces, as they do not typically fit in the brick-and-mortar rules for GST registration.
• A pilot on biometric authentication and geo-tagging is already underway in two-three states and depending on the results and evaluation of digital infrastructure requirements, the project would be launched across India.
• Tax authorities have identified certain locations where fake entities are rampant, such as Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan. Certain parts of Gujarat, Noida, Kolkata and Assam and some parts in Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra too have registered cases of fake entities with GST registration.
• Sectors for which cases of fake entities are getting detected mainly include, metal or plastic scrap, and waste paper. There are fake entities operating in the services sector also, such as manpower services, advertising services.

4. Banks profitability up: increase in net interest margin

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary policy

Context: Net interest margin (NIM) of banks, a key profitability gauge, grew 46 basis points (bps) or .46 % to 3.3 % in the January-March quarter, driven by slower deposit rate resetting

Key Points:

• Banks have benefited in terms of their interest income, owing to the increased interest rates that have been passed on to borrowers, but without a simultaneous passing on of the enhanced rates to the depositors.
• Since May 2022, the RBI has increased the repo rate by 250 bps to 6.5 % in FY23, which was accompanied by an increase in interest rates in the debt market.
  • Banks in turn readjusted their interest rates and that has been reflected in lending rates.
  • However, the rate hike is not fully reflected in deposit rates which are not reset before maturity. Thus the effect of increased deposit rates acts with a lag.
  • The overall effect is an increase in Net interest margin. NIM = Interest on loan – interest on deposits
  • NIM saw an on-year improvement of 46 bps to 3.3 % in Q4FY23 due to the faster repricing of loans, while deposit rates have not yet reflected the increased interest rates.
• This has helped lenders register a 29.5 % increase in their net interest income during the period.
  • Net interest income or NII, is the money that banks earn from lending and paying to depositors. Growth in NII = Growth in NIM x Growth in Advances
  • High yields on advances/loans, along with healthy growth of loan book, helped NII to rise to ₹1.83 lakh crore in Q4FY23.
• It can be summarized that while both cost of funds (deposit rates) and lending rate (rate bank is charging on advances) increased, overall balance determines the effect on net interest margin.

5. Offshore nifty trading now in Gift city

Subject :Economy

Section: Monetary policy

Context: Offshore-traded Singapore based SGX Nifty now becomes Gift Nifty

Key Points:

• SGX Nifty is the NSE based derivative that was traded on the Singapore exchange. The ability to trade in the country based derivative allowed market participants to manage their risks and to take positions without any capital transfer to India.
• After the resolution of a legal dispute between Singapore exchange and Nifty, now the whole trading of the NSE based derivatives has been transferred to India. The GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) city in Gujarat (an international financial city) will provide similar status to trades as was in Singapore.
• The exchange will be operated by NSE International Exchange IFSC Ltd (NSE IX)
• Significance:
  • This will see a spillover of better price discovery, with India assuming the role of price-setter, thanks to 62 domestic entities initially taking part in trading along with foreign investors
  • Trade in four index-based derivatives: Gift Nifty, which is the most actively traded, Gift Nifty Bank, Gift IT, and Gift Nifty Financial Services.
• Indian broker subsidiaries can sign up funds, foreign portfolio investors, non-residents and family owned offices of wealthy Indians as clients. Apart from running proprietary trades, they can trade on behalf of clients too.
• Ordinary citizens cannot trade in GIFY Nifty, as under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) disallows the use of the $250,000 per person per year limit for leveraged trades, including futures and options.

6. Impact of climate change on Kashmir’s mushroom pickers

Subject :Environment

Section: Msc

Context:

• Unpredictable weather patterns, early springs, and above-average temperatures have left gucchi mushroom hunters in distress, facing another season of low yield for the second consecutive year

About Gucchi Mushroom:

• A variety of fungus.
• Also known as Moral.
• Preferred for its nutty, earthy flavour.
• Gucchis can vary in colour from blonde to dark black.
• The truffle-like fungi can fetch prices upward of Rs 40,000 a kg due to their scarcity and short growing season.
• Location: They can normally be found on southerly slopes and sunny areas before showing up on the northern side of hills or in the shade.
  • Mainly grown in the Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Mountains of Ramban, Kupwara and Anantnag districts.
• Climatic conditions required:
  • Temperature: 15-20^O Celsius is most suitable
  • Ideal weather conditions for the great morel are when daytime Celsius is between 15 and 20 and night-time temperatures are in the five to nine.
  • The thunder and rain allow the mushrooms to sprout.
• Gucchi mushrooms are difficult to spot on the wooded floor and often blend perfectly with their surroundings.
• But their spongy and honeycomb-looking top gives them a distinctive appearance. The mushroom does not grow in the same spot many times.

Impact of climate change:

• Gucchis are weather dependent, triggered by the temp and moisture. The past few years have been bad for pickers of morel mushrooms in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The cultivation is impacted due to:
  • Above average temperature
  • Reduced rainfall during March and April months
  • Erratic spring weather
• Gucchi is becoming rarer because of climate change, deforestation, and habitat destruction.
• The Jammu and Kashmir forest department data shows morel mushroom production has shrunk from 2,000 quintals in 1991 to around 45 quintals in 2021.
• Wild mushrooms are sprouting early because of climate change, and it gets wasted because there is no one to pick them up at that time.

7. Newborn genome sequencing unlocks the blueprint of health

Subject : Science and tech

Section: health

Genetic diseases:

• There are 6,000 or so genetic diseases, of which around 3,500 diseases have been documented, and a much smaller number have had their molecular and/or genetic defects mapped.
• A significant number of diseases in the population are also treatable but are nevertheless prevalent.
• Newborn screening programmes are now in vogue in different countries, and have been deployed in some states in India as well.

Why is it important to sequence newborn genomes?

• The rarity of many genetic diseases, the narrow window of opportunity, the long diagnostic paths, and the unfortunate deaths of ill newborns make it very difficult to document and understand these diseases.
• However, population-scale genome-sequencing efforts have provided insights into the prevalence of many of these diseases in an unbiased manner.
• Discoveries in the last few decades have allowed doctors to diagnose and treat genetic diseases through genomic sequencing in newborns, especially sick newborns.
• The whole-genome sequencing could provide a much higher number of positive cases with a diagnosis, around 40%, with 26% of the diagnosed children benefiting from reduced severity of illness due to the rapid diagnosis and, consequently, a significant reduction in the cost of treatments.

Why sequence healthy newborns?

• The U.K. National Health Services recently launched a nationwide programme to sequence 100,000 sick newborns.
• The BabySeq project funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health is one of the most comprehensive studies to evaluate the sequencing of newborns for routine newborn care.
• One study found that just over 10% of infants had an unanticipated risk of genetic diseases.
• When these infants were followed up for three to five years, sequences revealed the causes of disease in three infants; in the remaining 14, a better picture of the risk made way for better medical surveillance.
• The sequencing also warranted additional at-risk family members of 13 infants to have their genes sequenced. Three of them benefited from subsequent surgeries.

Challenges:

• Newborn whole genome sequencing presents multiple ethical challenges.
  • The issue of disclosing and managing incidental and secondary findings raises concerns about privacy and the psychological impact on families.
  • The equitable distribution of benefits and burdens associated with accessing and utilising this technology also invokes issues of justice and fairness.

What is a genome?

• The genome is the entire set of DNA instructions found in a cell. In humans, the genome consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes located in the cell’s nucleus, as well as a small chromosome in the cell’s mitochondria.
• A genome contains all the information needed for an individual to develop and function.
• All of the DNA of an organism is called its genome. Some genomes are incredibly small, such as those found in viruses and bacteria, whereas other genomes can be almost unexplainably large, such as those found in some plants.
  • The human genome contains about 3 billion nucleotides.
  • The rare Japanese flower called Paris japonica has a genome size of roughly 150 billion nucleotides, making it 50 times the size of the human genome.

Genome vs gene

• A gene is a part of the DNA while a genome is the total DNA in a cell.
• Gene is the hereditary element of genetic information while the genome is the complete set of nuclear DNA.
• Gene encodes protein synthesis, whereas genome encodes both protein and regulatory elements of protein synthesis.
• The length of the gene is about a few hundred bases while the genome of a higher organism has about a billion base pairs.
• Variations in genes are naturally selected, while horizontal gene transfer and duplication cause variations in the genome.

What is whole genome sequencing (WGS)?

• All organisms (microorganisms, plants, mammals) have a unique genetic code, or genome, that is composed of nucleotide bases– adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine (A, T, C, and G).
• If you know the sequence of the bases in an organism, you have identified its unique DNA fingerprint or pattern, and determining the order of bases is called sequencing.
• Whole genome sequencing is a laboratory procedure that determines the order of bases in the genome of an organism at a single time.
• This includes sequencing all of an organism’s chromosomal DNA as well as DNA contained in the mitochondria and, for plants, in the chloroplast.
• Whole genome sequencing should not be confused with DNA profiling, which only establishes the probability that genetic material originated from a specific person or group and does not provide details on genetic relationships, the origin of the genetic material, or a person’s susceptibility to particular diseases.
• Whole genome sequencing has primarily been utilized as a tool for research, but it was first made available to clinics in 2014.
• Whole genome sequence data may be a crucial tool in the future of personalized medicine to direct therapeutic intervention.

8. Public impact, sensitivity and rights violation: factors that can open SC’s portal

Subject : Polity

Section: Judiciary

Concept :

• Saturday saw the Supreme Court constitute two separate Benches, one after the other, to hear a plea by activist Teesta Setalvad for interim protection from arrest, sending a strong signal that questions of personal liberty cannot wait after the weekend.
• Whether a case deserves to be listed urgently during the weekend in the top court is entirely the Chief Justice of India’s discretion.
• Public impact of a particular case, political sensitivity involved, dire risk to a guaranteed right may be some of the factors which guide judges to list a case on a weekend.
• The past few years, there have been Special Benches constituted during the weekends on various matters.

Divison Bench of SC

• Judges sit on division benches, which often have two or three people.
• The Chief Justice of India is granted the power to name benches as part of his administrative responsibilities under the Supreme Court Rules.
• To hear conflicts between parties, rule on legal issues, and finally administer justice to the wronged and innocent, there must be one judge or several benches of judges.
• These benches have been established over the years to decide a variety of situations of legal significance.
• Every case must be heard by the division bench, a two-judge panel selected by the Chief Justice of India, in accordance with the Supreme Court Rules of 2013.
• The Chief of India may also convene a full bench of three judges or a constitutional bench of five or more judges to hear cases of greater importance.

Constitution Bench

• A Constitution Bench is a special bench of the Supreme Court having 5 or more judges on it.
• These benches are not a common phenomenon. Constitution Benches are exceptions, set up only if ;
• The case involves a significant question of law pertaining to the interpretation of the Constitution [Article 145(3) of the Constitution, which mandates that such matters be heard by a bench of not less than five judges]
• Two or more benches of the Supreme Court have delivered conflicting judgments on the same point of law.
• The Constitution Benches are set up on an ad hoc basis and when the need arises.
• Constitution Bench is constituted in rare cases to decide important questions of fact or legal and/or constitutional interpretation.

9. Criminalization of politics: Why ADR has approached the ECI

Subject :Polity

Section: Election

Concept :

• Recently, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), wrote to the Election Commission seeking action against parties that fail to publish details of criminal antecedents of candidates as per orders of the Supreme Court and the poll panel.
• ADR is an electoral watchdog established in 1999 by a group of professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad.

Criminalization of politics

• The criminalization of politics refers to the phenomenon where individuals with criminal backgrounds, including those charged or convicted of criminal offenses, actively participate in politics.
• Several politicians with criminal records have managed to secure positions in legislative bodies, ranging from local municipalities to the national Parliament.
• This trend cuts across party lines and affects politicians from various political parties.

2018 Judgement

• In September 2018, the Supreme Court decided that political parties must share information about the criminal cases pending against their candidates.
• This includes publishingsuch information on the websites of respective political parties in a format specified by the Election Commission of India.
• The candidates did declare the cases pending against them in their election affidavits to the ECI before the ruling.
• However, the Supreme Court order made it mandatory for the information to be widely publicised.
• It directed parties to publish the details of criminal cases pending against a candidate in bold letters and told the candidate with pending cases to inform the party about these cases.
• The court also ordered that the candidate and the party have to publish the information at least thrice after filing the nomination.

2020 Judgement

• In February 2020, the apex court reiterated that the parties would have to publish the details of candidates with pending criminal cases.
• SC was hearing a contempt petition regarding its 2018 order not being implemented.
• It also added that they would have to include the reasons for selecting such a candidate.
• As per the court, the reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, and not mere winnability at the polls.
• According to this ruling, political parties must publish the information about criminal cases against their candidates in a local vernacular newspaper, a national newspaper, and on their official social media platforms.
• They must do this within 48 hours of candidate selection or at least two weeks before the first nomination date, whichever comes earlier.
• The parties would then have to submit a compliance report with the ECI within 72 hours.

How are political parties flouting the Supreme Court’s orders?

• According to ADR, political parties are flouting the Supreme Court’s orders and the ECI’s subsequent directions.
• Many political parties did not have functional websites to publish the information.
• Those that did, had not maintained the information and/or had inaccessible website links.
• The ADR letter point out that parties were citing chances of winning, the popularity of the person as among the reasons.
• The SC had said that a party cannot use winnability as a reason for selecting a candidate with criminal antecedents.
• The parties were also copy-pasting the similar justifications for multiple candidates.

10. India and China ramp up infra on north bank of Pangong lake

Subject :  Geography

Section: Places in news

Concept :

• Three years after the violent clash between Indian and Chinese forces in Galwan both countries ramp up infrastructure on north bank of Pangong Tso.

About Pangong Tso lake:

• It is one of the most famous lakes in Leh Ladakh, derives its name from the Tibetan word, “Pangong Tso”, which means “high grassland lake”.
• It is also known as Pangong Lake which is a long narrow, endorheic (landlocked) lake situated at a height of more than 14,000 ft (4,350 meters) in the Ladakh Himalayas.
• It is the world’s highest saltwater lake.
• India holds one-third of the 135 km-long boomerang-shaped Pangong lake.
• One-third of the Pangong Lake lies in India and the other two-thirds in China.
• It is also known to change colours, appearing blue, green, and red at different times.

11. Hul Diwas: Remembering the Santhal rebellion

Subject : History

Section: Modern History

Concept :

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about Hul Diwas on June 30, remembering the sacrifice of Adivasis in their fight against British colonial authorities.

Santhal Rebellion

• The Santhal rebellion or ‘Hul’ – literally, revolution – began in 1855, two years before the the uprising of 1857, often referred to as “the first war for Indian independence”.
• The Santhal revolt (also known as the Hulrevolt ) started on 30th June 1855, with the help of prominent leaders like Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, and Bhairav, and also their two sisters Phulo and Jhano.
• The depressed and anguished Santhals engaged in guerrilla warfare against the Britishers and formed their own troops which included the farmers, villagers, and the women.
• In this quest, they were able to capture large parts of land including Rajmahal Hills, Bhagalpur district, and Birbhum.
• They militarized over 10000 Santhal people. The villagers put to fire the storehouses and the warehouses and all forms of communication lines were disrupted.
• The government applied all possible means to suppress the movement. In order to curb the rebellion, Britishers used heavy loaded weapons against bows and arrows used by the Santhals.
• The landlords were in the support of the government whereas the local people supported the Santhals in full vigour.
• Unfortunately, the duo brother Sidhu and Kanhu were arrested and the revolt had a brutal end.
• The Santhals were repressed and the movement came to an end in 1856.

How was the revolt, different From the Other Revolts?

• Organized movement
• The Santhal uprising was an organized movement with good leadership qualities. In a short period of time, it was successful in uniting about 60,000 people.
• If we look at the other spontaneous movement of that time, we find that none of the movements was that well-arranged as the Santhal revolt. The unity of the Santhals shook the nerve of the Britishers.

Use of weapons & Tactics

• Despite the Santhal using bows and arrows against the weapons and artillery used by the Britishers, the guerrilla tactics, which was a new occurrence for Bihar to fight against the Britishers, gave Santhals an upper hand.

Trained leadership

• The prominent leaders of the war, Sidhu, and Kanhu in a short span of time, were successful in mobilizing a huge number of people to fight against the cause.

Blow on British powers

• The Santhal rebellion was a blow on the British powers. It was such a fierce movement that Britishers had to implement martial law to quell the powers of Santhals

Growth of Revolutionary Nationalism

• The Santhal revolt fostered a sense of unity among the Santhal tribes.
• It was seen as the beginning of larger wars to free the people from the oppressive British rule.
• This movement resulted in a feeling of nationalism which helped to mobilize people for further wars, like the Revolt of 1857.

Identity of the tribal people

• The Santhal rebellion gave birth to the modern Santhal identity.
• It also promoted the tribal people to protect their culture and tradition from any kind of destruction and interference.

Successful movement

• It was seen that the Britishers did acknowledge their follies, despite the Santhals being defeated
• Further, after the end of the war, the Santhal Paraganas Tenancy Act was enacted which provided the tribes some protection against the oppressive British Rule.
• This was successful in inculcating nationalist feelings among the people.

12. Make older children in care homes legally free for adoption, says Irani

Subject :Schemes

Concept :

• Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani asked the child welfare committees on Sunday to visit child-care homes and review the cases of older children who could be made free for adoption as soon as possible.
• Many children living in child-care homes are not legally free for adoption.
• According to official figures, there are around 66,000 children residing child-care homes across the country and less than 3,000 of them are legally free for adoption.
• She also asked the child-care homes to look into the infrastructure gaps in their areas and requested the apex child rights body — National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) –– to review these gaps and present them to the ministry so that they can be brought up in the upcoming budget.

Child Welfare Committee

• It is a quasi-judicial agency and is the final authority on children in need of care and protection. It is an autonomous body.
• The Child Welfare Committee functions as a bench guided by the powers that are conferred in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
• Anyone connected to the child is allowed to file a petition to the Magistrate of that District, who considers and passes appropriate orders.
• It is mandatory to form one or more Child Welfare Committees in every district for exercising power and to discharge the duties conferred in relation to children in need of care and protection.
• This committee consists of a Chairperson and other four members who according to the State Government are fit to be appointed, at least one of whom should be a woman and the other should preferably be an expert on matters that are concerning the children.

Power and function as mentioned in Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice, Act 2015:

• The Committee has the full authority of disposing of cases for the care, protection and treatment of the children.
• The Committee can also dispose of cases that are for the development, rehabilitation and protection of children that are in need, and also to provide for the basic need and protection that is needed by the children.
• When a Committee is constituted for any particular area, then it has the power to exclusively deal with all proceedings that are being held under the provisions of this Act that are related to children in terms of need of care and protection.
• While exercising the given powers curtailed under this Act, the Committee is barred from performing any act which would go against anything contained in any other law that is in force at that time.
• CWCs are designated by law as final district-level authorities for care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of “children in need of care and protection” – or CNCP

POCSO Act mandates the police to inform CWC

• In case of sexual abuse, the Juvenile Justice Act defines CNCP as any child “who has been or is being or is likely to be abused, tortured or exploited for the purpose of sexual abuse or illegal acts”.
• Rules under POCSO Act make it mandatory that if the police have reasons to believe that the child is without a home or paternal support, or is in any institution or when a perpetrator is in the same house, among others, the victim has to be produced before CWC.

Mission Vatsalya Scheme

• It is a roadmap to achieve development and child protection priorities aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It lays emphasis on child rights, advocacy and awareness along with strengthening of the juvenile justice care and protection system with the motto to ‘leave no child behind’.
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 provisions and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 form the basic framework for implementation of the Mission. Funds under the Mission Vatsalya Scheme are released according to the requirements and demands made by the States/UTs.
• The Scheme is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with State Governments and UT Administrations to support the States and UTs in universalizing access and improving quality of services across the country.
• The fund sharing pattern is in the ratio of 60:40 between Centre and State & Union Territories with Legislature respectively. The fund sharing pattern between Centre and State is in the ratio of 90:10 for the North-Eastern States viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and two Himalayan States viz. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and UT of Jammu and Kashmir. For Union Territories without Legislature, it is 100% central share.
• Mission Vatsalya scheme supports the children through Non-Institutional Care under Private Aided Sponsorship wherein interested sponsors (individuals/ institutions/ company/ banks/ industrial units/ trusts etc.) can provide assistance to children in difficult circumstances. The District Magistrates take measures to encourage individuals or Public/ Private Sector Organisations to sponsor a child or a group of children or an Institution. Such arrangements are subject to stipulations as per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and Rules thereof.

13. IIT-B develops perovskite solar cell with 26% efficiency

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Msc

Concept :

• The National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE) at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) has developed a perovskite solar cell (PSC). The cell has been demonstrated an efficiency of over 26 per cent.
• To compare, with the best of the conventional solar cells in the market, you will be lucky to get an efficiency of 22 per cent.
• Efficiency is the percentage of sun’s light energy that falls on the cell that is converted into electrical energy.

Perovskite

• A perovskite is a material that has the same crystal structure as the mineral calcium titanium oxide, the first-discovered perovskite crystal. Generally, perovskite compounds have a chemical formula ABX3, where ‘A’ and ‘B’ represent cations and X is an anion that bonds to both.
• A large number of different elements can be combined together to form perovskite structures.
• Using this compositional flexibility, scientists can design perovskite crystals to have a wide variety of physical, optical, and electrical characteristics.
• Perovskite crystals are found today in ultrasound machines, memory chips, and now – solar cells.

Perovskite Solar Cells

• When used to create solar cells, they have shown potential for high performance and low production costs.
• Perovskite solar cells have shown remarkable progress in recent years with rapid increases in conversion efficiency, from reports of about 3% in 2006 to over 25% today.
• Perovskites can be tuned to respond to different colors in the solar spectrum by changing the material composition.
• Perovskite solar cells of certain compositions can convert ultraviolet and visible light into electricity very efficiently, meaning they might be excellent hybrid-tandem partners for absorber materials such as crystalline silicon that efficiently convert infrared light.
• It is also possible to combine two perovskite solar cells of different composition together to produce a perovskite-only tandem. Doing so could lead to even higher efficiency and more cost-effective tandem photovoltaic (PV) applications.
• While perovskite solar cells have become highly efficient in a very short time, a number of challenges remain before they can become a competitive commercial technology:
• Their stability is quite limited compared with that of leading PV technologies.
• They don’t stand up well to moisture, oxygen, extended periods of light, or high heat. Current operational lifetimes are not commercially viable.

Semiconductors Vs Perovskite Solar Cells

• All photovoltaic solar cells rely on semiconductors — materials in the middle ground between electrical insulators such as glass and metallic conductors such as copper — to turn the energy from light into electricity.
• Light from the sun excites electrons in the semiconductor material, which flow into conducting electrodes and produce electric current.
• Silicon has been the primary semiconductor material used in solar cells since the 1950s, as: its semiconducting properties align well with the spectrum of the sun’s rays and it is relatively abundant and stable.
• However, the large silicon crystals used in conventional solar panels require an expensive, multi-step manufacturing process that utilizes a lot of energy.
• In the search for an alternative, scientists have harnessed the tunability of perovskites to create semiconductors with similar properties to silicon.
• Perovskite solar cells can be manufactured using simple, additive deposition techniques, like printing, for a fraction of the cost and energy.
• Because of the compositional flexibility of perovskites, they can also be tuned to ideally match the sun’s spectrum.