Daily Prelims Notes 3 November 2020

November 3, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Table Of Contents

1. ATTORNEY GENERAL

Subject : Polity

Context : Attorney-General declined consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.

Concept :

The Attorney General (AG) of India is a part of the Union Executive. AG is the highest law officer in the country.
Article 76 of the Constitution provides for the office of AG of India.
AG is appointed by the President on the advice of the government.
S/he must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, i.e. s/he must be a citizen of India and must have been a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President.
Term of the Office: Not fixed by the Constitution.
Procedures and grounds for the removal of AG are not stated in the Constitution. S/he holds office during the pleasure of the President (may be removed by the President at any time).

Duties and Functions:

To give advice to the Government of India (GoI) upon such legal matters, which are referred to her/him by the President.
To perform such other duties of a legal character that are assigned to her/him by the President.
To appear on behalf of the GoI in all cases in the Supreme Court or in any case in any High Court in which the GoI is concerned.
To represent the GoI in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 (Power of the President to consult the Supreme Court) of the Constitution.
To discharge the functions conferred on her/him by the Constitution or any other law.

Rights and Limitations:

S/he has the right to speak and to take part in the proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament or their joint sitting and any committee of the Parliament of which s/he may be named a member, but without a right to vote.
S/he enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a member of Parliament.
S/he does not fall in the category of government servants. S/he is not debarred from private legal practice.
However, s/he should not advise or hold a brief against the GoI.
Solicitor General of India and Additional Solicitor General of India assist the AG in fulfillment of the official responsibilities.
Corresponding Office in the States: Advocate General (Article 165).

2. SERO SURVEY

Subject : Science & tech

Context : Sero surveys to detect antibodies against COVID underestimate building of herd immunity.

Concept :

What was the serological survey about?

The serological survey was meant to detect whether the person being tested had developed antibodies against the coronavirus.
Since it is not possible to test everyone, detecting antibodies in random sets of people is an indirect way of estimating the extent of disease spread in a community.
The antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system to fight external organisms like viruses that try to enter the body.
These are produced only after the infection has happened, and are specific to the attacking virus or bacterium.
The presence of antibodies, therefore, is an indication that an infection by that particular virus or bacterium has already occurred.
Subsequent attempts to infect the body can be thwarted by these antibodies.

What about Vaccines then?

Vaccines work in a similar manner – wherein they inject harmless doses of a virus or a bacterium inside the human body to trigger the production of antibodies by the immune system.
These antibodies can then fight off an actual attack by those viruses or bacteria.

Do antibodies ensure Immunity?

The mere presence of antibodies does not mean that the person is protected against the disease.
What is also important is the amount of antibodies present, and whether it also includes what are known as “neutralising antibodies” which actually fight the disease.

What is Herd Immunity?

Herd immunity is a stage of an epidemic in which some members of a population group remain protected from infection because a majority of those around them have already developed immunity, either through vaccination or because they have been infected earlier.
Once a certain proportion of population gets infected, and thus builds immunity against the disease, the epidemic begins to slow down and eventually stop.
No one clearly knows what percentage of the population needs to be infected before herd immunity kicks in. It is different for different diseases, and different population groups.

3. INDIAN PENAL CODE

Subject : Polity

Context : Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said that States have been asked for their suggestions to amend the British era Indian Penal Code.

Concept :

What is IPC?

The IPC replaced Mohammedan Criminal Law, which had a very close relationship with Islam. Thus, the IPC laid the foundation of secularism.
It was widely appreciated as a state-of-the-art code and was, indeed, the first codification of criminal law in the British Empire
Today, it is the longest serving criminal code in the common-law world.

Why it needs a review?

IPC, 1860 requires a thorough revision to meet the needs of the 21st century. In 1860, the IPC was certainly ahead of the times but has been unable to keep pace since then.
Macaulay had himself favoured regular revision of the code whenever gaps or ambiguities were found or experienced.
Even though the IPC has been haphazardly amended more than 75 times, no comprehensive revision has been undertaken in spite of the 42nd report of the law commission in 1971 recommending it — the amendment bills of 1971 and 1978 lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
Most amendments have been ad hoc and reactive, in response to immediate circumstances like the 2013 amendment after the Delhi gangrape case.

Areas that need reforms:

Some of the concepts underlying the code are either problematic or have become obsolete.
A re-examination of the sedition law, inserted in 1898, is necessary.
The offence of blasphemy should have no place in a liberal democracy and, therefore, there is a need to repeal Section 295A, which was inserted in 1927.
Criminal conspiracy was made a substantive offence in 1913. The offence is objectionable because it was added to the code by the colonial masters to deal with political conspiracies.
Under Section 149 on unlawful assembly, the principle of constructive liability is pushed to unduly harsh lengths.
The distinction between “culpable homicide” and “murder” was criticised even by Stephen as the “weakest part of the code”, as the definitions are obscure.
Sexual offences under the code reveal patriarchal values and Victorian morality. Though the outmoded crime of adultery gives the husband sole proprietary rights over his wife’s sexuality, it gives no legal protection to secure similar monopoly over the husband’s sexuality.
Section 377 also needs a review.

4. PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX

Subject : Economy

Context : India’s manufacturing sector activity improved for the third straight month in October with companies raising output to the greatest extent in 13 years amid robust sales growth, PMI survey indicated .

Concept :

PMI is an indicator of business activity- in the manufacturing and services
It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception about key business variables as compared with the previous month.
It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.
The PMI is a number from 0 to 100.
PMI above 50 represents an expansion when compared to the previous month;
PMI under 50 represents a contraction, and
A reading at 50 indicates no change.
If PMI of the previous month is higher than the PMI of the current month (as is the case mentioned above), it represents that the economy is contracting.
The PMI is usually released at the start of every month. It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.

Purpose: To provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision-makers, analysts, and investors. As the official data on industrial output, manufacturing and GDP growth comes much later, PMI helps to make informed decisions at an earlier stage.

5. E-INVOICE

Subject : Economy

Context : e-Invoice, a path breaking initiative completes one month on 31st October.

Concept :

The e-invoice system under goods and services tax (GST) was launched on October 1, 2020 for the businesses with aggregate turnover of more than Rs 500 crore in the financial year.
According to NIC, within the first month of introduction itself, more than 495 Lakh e-invoices were generated on the NIC portal by 27,400 tax payers.
Currently, there are three modes of generations of IRN(Invoice Reference Number) in NIC system.
First is the direct API interface of ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) system of tax payer with NIC system.
Second is the API interface of ERP system of the tax payer through GSP with NIC system.
Third is using the offline tool for bulk uploading of invoices and generating IRNs.
Around 15% of the tax payers are using the offline tool for the IRN generations and 85% are integrating through API.

6. MAHARANI JINDAN KAUR

Subject : History

Context : Maharani Jindan Kaur, the last wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, is in news for the auction of some of her jewellery at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art sale in London.

Concept :

Rani Jindan (1817-1863) was the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh empire, whose boundaries stretched from Kabul to Kashmir and the borders of Delhi.
She was also the mother of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the empire, who was raised by the British and she acted as a regent queen.
Duleep Singh was five years old when he was placed on the throne in 1843 after the death of two heirs to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Since he was just a child, Maharani Jindan was made the regent.
Not a rubber stamp, she took an active interest in running the kingdom, introducing changes in the revenue system.
As the only surviving widow of Ranjit Singh, Jindan Kaur led a spirited resistance to the encroachment of the British into the Punjab, but was eventually forced to surrender.

7. CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY (CTE)

Subject : Science & tech

Context : It was reported that England World Cup winner Bobby Charlton, regarded England’s greatest, had developed dementia.

Concept :

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a disease that causes severe damage to the brain because of repeated head injuries and is linked to memory loss, depression and dementia.
Dementia is a general term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia.

8. NDPS ACT

Subject : Legislations

Context : The Supreme Court has ruled on a long-pending question of law on whether statements recorded under Section 67 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act can be admissible as confessional statements during criminal trials.

Concept :

Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act is an Act of the Parliament of India that prohibits a person to produce/manufacture/cultivate, possess, sell, purchase, transport, store, and/or consume any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.
As per the NDPS Act, narcotic drugs include coca leaf, cannabis (hemp), opium and poppy straw.
Psychotropic substance means any natural or synthetic material or any salt or preparation covered under the 1971 convention on Psychotropic substances.
The following conventions various forms of control to limit the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances

The UN Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs 1961

The Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971

The Convention on Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988

India is a signatory to all these three.
NDPS Act has made stringent provisions for the control and regulation of operations relating to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
As per the NDPS Act, the minimum sentence for dealing with drugs is 10 years rigorous imprisonment coupled with a fine of Rs. 1 lakh.
No bail is granted for those persons booked under this act.
In addition, no relief can be obtained by the drug convicts through suspension, remission and commutation of sentences passed.
NDPS Act prescribes capital punishment for repeat offenders of drug trafficking even though the offence cannot be called as a heinous crime.