Daily Prelims Notes 31 May 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

31 May 2023

Table Of Contents

1. World Health Assembly approves draft resolution on health action plan for indigenous people
2. Gangetic dolphins
3. India becomes net copper importer for the fifth year in a row
4. E-Rupee yet to take off
5. Light weight and portable Payment and Settlement System (LPSS)
6. Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) scheme
7. ‘Utkarsh 2.0’. Medium-term Strategy Framework for 2023-2025 by RBI
8. Stress Testing of Financial Institutions
9. Excavations at Purana Qila
10. ‘India keen to boost ties with Cambodia’
11. New Jupiter-size exoplanet discovered
12. Shenzhou-16 Mission
13. Hardening interest rates, geopolitical risks impacting FDI inflows
14. The Foucault’s Pendulum
15. Testing breakthrough challenges ‘world’s worst wildlife disease’

1. World Health Assembly approves draft resolution on health action plan for indigenous people

Subject : International Relations

Section: International Organisation

Context:

• Member states of the World Health Organization accepted a draft resolution that proposed developing a Global Plan of Action for the Health of Indigenous People during the World Health Assembly hosted on May 29, 2023.

Details:

• The plan will be up for consideration at the 79th World Health Assembly in 2026. 
• The draft resolution was proposed by Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the European Union and its Member States, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States of America and Vanuatu.
• The resolution noted that the indigenous peoples are disproportionately subject to poverty, poor housing, cultural barriers, violence, including gender-based violence, racism, experiencing disability, pollution and lack of access to education, economic opportunities, social protection, water, and sanitation, as well as appropriate resilience planning for climate change and natural and other emergencies.
• WHO’s 194 member states were urged to develop a collection of ethical data to identify specific requirements of indigenous people and fill in the gaps.
• They were also urged to have an intersectional approach to their politics that overcomes geographical barriers, digital connectivity, information availability, remoteness and disability.
• Another approach proposed was to use evidence-based traditional medicine, along with medical services offered at the primary healthcare level, which also includes mental health and wellness services.

Status of Indigenous people around the world:

• The world presently has 476 million indigenous people across the world in about 90 countries.
• They speak 7,000 languages and come from 500 different cultures.
• They are marginalised individuals without access to basic infrastructure and oftentimes cannot claim titles over their land and surrounding natural resources.
• The life expectancy of indigenous people is 20 years lower than that of an average person.

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

• The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues or Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) is an open and inclusive space under the UNFCCC secretariat and brings together people and their knowledge systems to build a climate-resilient world for all.
• The forum was established in 2000 and provides advice and recommendations on indigenous issues to the Economic and Social Council.
• Purpose of the platform:
  • The platform has been established to strengthen the knowledge, technologies, practices, and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change, to facilitate the exchange of experience and the sharing of best practices and lessons learned on mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner and to enhance the engagement of local communities and indigenous peoples in the UNFCCC process.

2. Gangetic dolphins

Subject :Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

• Two Gangetic dolphins were found dead in Bihar in three days.

Details:

• The dolphins were found dead at the Sangat Ghat (bank of river Ganga) near Aunta in Mokama, about 90 km from Patna.
• Both Gangetic dolphins were killed due to the ongoing mechanised dredging to deepen the riverbed.

About Gangetic dolphins:

• The Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is a species of toothed whale classified in the family Platanistidae. 
• t lives in the Ganges and related rivers of South Asia, namely in the countries of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
• It is related to the much smaller Indus river dolphin which lives in the Indus River in Pakistan and the Beas River of northwestern India.
• It is also known by the name susu (popular name) or “Sisu” (Assamese language) and shushuk (Bengali).
• The Ganges river dolphin has been recognized by the Government of India as its National Aquatic Animal and is the official animal of the Indian city of Guwahati.
• Its first occurrence, within the Hooghly River, was documented by William Roxburgh.
• The Gangetic river dolphin is one of four freshwater dolphin species worldwide.
• The other three are found in the Yangtze River in China (now extinct), the Indus River in Pakistan and the Amazon River in South America.

Threats:

• Dolphins are frequently targeted by poachers for their skin and oil. There is a huge demand for this mammal’s meat and fat.
• Other threats include:
  • Natural habitat destruction
  • Fishing and poaching
  • Dredging and large-scale construction of dams
  • Large-scale vessel movement and related pollution
  • Oil spills and other river pollutants
  • Lack of prey base due to large-scale fishing, entangled in fishing net, etc.

Characteristics:

• It is blind and finds its way and prey in river waters through echolocation.
• Ganges river dolphins use echolocation to find food. They eat crustaceans such as prawns and fish including carp, mahseer, and even sharks such as the Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus). They may also take birds and turtles.
• Bihar is home to around half of India’s estimated 3,000 Gangetic dolphins.

Protection status:

• Gangetic dolphin is protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972.
• Under WPA, special instructions are provided on how to deal with Schedule I animals.
• There are provisions for a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs 3,000-25,000 for possessing any body part of an animal listed in Schedule I. The forest officials are accountable and responsible for this.
• IUCN red list: Endangered

Role in the ecosystem:

• The presence of dolphins was a sign of a healthy riverine ecosystem.
• Dolphins prefer water that is at least five-eight feet deep.
• They are usually found in turbulent waters, with enough fish for them to feed on.
• Gangetic dolphins live in zones with little or no current, which helps them save energy. On sensing danger, they can dive into deep waters.
• The dolphins swim from the no-current zone to the edges to hunt for fish and return, Sharma recalled.

3. India becomes net copper importer for the fifth year in a row

Subject :Geography

Section: Economic Geography

Context:

• India’s copper imports witnessed a 15 per cent year-on-year jump in financial year 2022-23.

Details:

• From a net exporter of 335,000 tonnes in 2017-18, India became a net importer of copper, first in 2018-19 and the trend remains unaltered till 2021-22.
• During the April-October period of the current fiscal also, India’s import at 88,000 tonnes was higher than exports of 16,000 tonnes.
• Major cause:
  • Domestic copper production fell significantly from FY2019 onwards as a result of shutdown of the Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin.
  • Lower refined production created a huge deficit in the domestic copper market, resulting in large imports for fifth year in a row.
• Given the healthy copper demand outlook in the domestic market, the deficit situation is unlikely to improve in the near term.

Production and consumption pattern:

• While production steadily fell since Sterlite’s unit closure and the trend continued till FY21, there was a rise in production last fiscal but it was well short of the 2017-18 level.
• Consumption has been on the upswing, largely due to demand from electrical, electronics, infrastructure and electric vehicle segments.
• Government’s thrust on infrastructure and rapid offtake of electric vehicles, domestic demand for copper would go up by 10-11% in the next two years.

About Copper:

• Nuggets of the metal could be found in streams in a few areas, and its properties allowed it to be easily worked without a required processing step.
• Copper’s metallic lustre attracted people’s attention. Today most copper is produced from sulfide ores.
• Copper is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity.
• Large amounts are also used to make alloys such as brass (copper and zinc) and bronze (copper, tin, and zinc). Copper is also alloyed with precious metals such as gold and silver.
• Major producer:
  • Chile is the world’s largest producer of copper, three of the world’s ten largest copper mines based on capacity are located there.

• Major copper-producing states in India:
  • Copper production in India is only about 2 percent of world copper production.
  • Madhya Pradesh is the leading producer of copper in India.
  • It accounts for producing 53% of copper in this country.
  • Rajasthan accounts for 43%, and Jharkhand accounts for 4% of copper production in India.
  • The global ranking is 4th in smelter production and 7th in refined copper consumption.
• Five largest copper mines in India:
  • Malanjkhand Mine, Madhya Pradesh
  • Khetri mine, Rajasthan
  • Kolihan mine, Rajasthan
  • Surda mine, Jharkhand
  • Banwas mine, Rajasthan

4. E-Rupee yet to take off

Subject : Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

What is E-Rupee (e-Re) is the central bank digital currency (CBDC) launched by the RBI. While based on block-chain technology, it is not a cryptocurrency.

• The term central bank digital currency (CBDC) refers to the virtual form of a fiat currency.
• A CBDC is an electronic record or digital token of a country’s official currency.
• As such, it is issued and regulated by the nation’s monetary authority or central bank. As such, they are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing government.
• CBDCs can simplify the implementation of monetary and fiscal policy and promote financial inclusion in an economy by bringing the unbanked into the financial system.
• Because they are a centralized form of currency, they may erode the privacy of citizens.
• Although they aren’t formally being used, many countries are exploring the introduction and use of CBDCs in their economy.

Key Points:

• Pilot was launched in 4 cities four cities—Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar.
• Presently 4 banks – SBI, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and YES Bank – are involved in the first phase of the pilot
• Four more banks – HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will subsequently be added to the plan, which would cover 13 cities in a phased manner.
• At present only Rs. 5.7 crore is in circulation as CBDC-Retail and Rs. 10.69 crore for CBDC-Wholesale
• CBDC-Retail can only be used for peer-to-peer account transfer, but CBDC -Wholesale is more versatile and can be used for inter-bank transfers as well as international transfers.

Aim:

• It is Government’s answer to cryptocurrency, which has been denied a legal status in India so far.
• e-Re is also targeted at those who don’t have a bank account, but can use digital currencies similar to a pre-paid mobile recharge card.
• e-RUPI is trying to attain a leak-proof way of passing on government subsidies.
• Other objectives are to promoting financial inclusion, enhancing payment system efficiency, competition, security, resiliency, and cross-border payments

Features:

• Available in exact denominations of physical cash
• The E-Re will not earn interest when parked in the e-wallet.
• No intermediary, direct peer-to-peer transfer.
• Instant completion of transaction, no back-end settlement needed.

How different from UPI:

• UPI requires a request from your bank to transfer an amount from your account. For E-Re one can simply transfer digital money from one wallet to another.
• UPI works on a settlement basis between two banks, and it takes about a day for inter-bank settlements to conclude. Thus there is a settlement risk in UPI, since there is an intermediary involved. But in e-Re, there is no settlement risk, since it is issued by the RBI and could also be much faster.
• As UPI is a bank-to-bank payment mode, there is a transaction or audit trail it leaves, which e-Re won’t because it is wallet-to-wallet transfer. RBI is likely to allow anonymity in e-Re transactions, at least in the small-ticket ones.
• Customers are unlikely to be charged anything for using e-Re since usage of cash does not involve any charges. UPI is free now, but could become chargeable in future.
• Multiple factors that contributed to the growth of UPI such as the interoperability of QR code, zero charge, and first mover advantage may limit adoption of E-Re by retail users.

5. Light weight and portable Payment and Settlement System (LPSS)

Subject :Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

The LPSS is being proposed by RBI, is a system that will be independent of conventional technologies and can be operated from anywhere with minimum staff. The aim is to ensure following:

• Ensure near zero downtime of payment and settlement system
• Enhance the liquidity available in the economy.
• Essential payment services work even in extreme situations or catastrophic events.
• Achieve a ‘bunker equivalent’ in payment system and enhance public confidence in digital payments and financial market infrastructure even during extreme conditions.

Features of a LPSS:

• Will operate of minimalistic hardware and software, to be made available on a need basis only with ability to process transactions critical to ensure economic stability.
• Unlike conventional systems like UPI, NEFT, RTGS it will not be dependent on complicated IT infrastructure.

6. Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) scheme

Subject :  Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Concept:

• It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India to facilitate the development of payment acceptance infrastructure in tier-3 to tier-6 cities and north-eastern states.
• Was launched in Jan, 2021 in consultation with major authorized card networks, to facilitate the development of payment acceptance infrastructure
• It aims to provide financial assistance to eligible entities for setting up, extending and modernizing payment infrastructure across the country.
• The scheme is expected to benefit both consumers and businesses by making digital payments more accessible and convenient.

Operationalization of the scheme:

• RBI, with assistance from card networks, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), and the Payments Council of India (PCI), monitored the implementation of these targets.
• RBI is responsible for operationalizing the scheme, with the Chairman of the Payments Council of India at the helm.
• Subsidy of between 30% and 50% for physical Point-of-Sale (PoS) devices and 50% to 75% for digital PoS devices.

7. ‘Utkarsh 2.0’. Medium-term Strategy Framework for 2023-2025 by RBI

Subject :  History

Section: Monetary Policy

Background:

• RBI in 2015 launched a strategic management program to provide a framework for all its future policies and frameworks. Under this framework, the first strategy framework titled Utkarsh 2022 was launched, covering the period from 2019-2022.
• It was a 3-year medium-term roadmap to improve regulation and supervision by the central bank. It was built in line with the central banks globally to strengthen the supervisory and regulatory mechanism.
• Under it an internal committee was formed, under the aegis of the then deputy governor Viral Acharya.
• Their task was to identify issues that can be addressed in the next three years until 2022. The agenda was to prevent a crisis to the likes of IL&FS and the issues that follow, especially regarding investor confidence.

Utkarsh 2.0

• RBI will put in a resilient framework for oversight of Centralised Payment Systems-NEFT and RTGS.
• Upgradation of RTGS, to bring in new functionalities
• Six vision statements (from Utkarsh 1.0 are continued) that are designed to improve the performance of the RBI’s statutory and other functions
• core purpose in Utkarsh is to foster monetary and financial stability keeping in mind the objective of growth and to ensure the development of an efficient and inclusive financial system 

8. Stress Testing of Financial Institutions

Subject :Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Stress testing is an analytical technique to show how a financial services company or bank will be affected by certain financial events or situations. In other words, it shows what can happen and how well prepared institutions are when certain stressors are introduced.

Key points:

• Stress testing is generally a computer-simulated technique to analyze how banks and investment portfolios perform in case of adverse economic scenarios.
• Banks use it to measure investment risk and the adequacy of assets and help evaluate internal processes and controls.
• Portfolio managers use internal stress-testing programs to evaluate how well the assets they manage might weather certain market occurrences and external events.
• Retirement and insurance portfolios are also frequently stress-tested to ensure that cash flow, payout levels, and other measures are well aligned.
• Regulators carry out stress tests to ensure that the capital holdings and other assets of such institutions are adequate. This is called ‘regulatory stress testing’.
  • BASEL III also requires the administration of stress tests by Banks for various crisis scenarios.
  • RBI conducts bi-annual stress tests for RBI’s Financial Stability Report (FSR). RBI had found Banks and NBFCs adequately capitalized for any economic stresses but found Urban Cooperative Banks (UCB) vulnerable (2022).
• Monte Carlo simulation is one of the most widely known. This type of stress testing can be used for modeling probabilities of various outcomes given the various economic variables, such as inflation, forex rate, interest rates, unemployment rates etc.
• Other types of stress tests are: Historical (response to similar events as in past is evaluated) and Hypothetical stress tests (response to various possible events/shocks is examined).

9. Excavations at Purana Qila

Subject :  History

Section: Art and Culture

Concept :

• A recent round of excavations at the site of Delhi’s Purana Qila or Old Fort has uncovered evidence of the continuous history of the city since the pre-Mauryan era.

About Purana Qila:

• It is located on the South Eastern part of the present city of New Delhi.
• It is one of the oldest forts in Delhi and built on the banks of river Yamuna.
• The present citadel at Purana Qila started its construction in the reign of Humayun and was completed by Sher Shah Suri (‘The Lion King’).
• The Qila was inspired by Jama Masjid, which was established 15 years before the reconstruction of Qila.

Architecture:

• It is rectangular in shape and is spread over an area of 1.5 kilometers.
• Another amazing feature of the Purana Qila are the three gates that are a display of a happy blend of Hindu and Muslim styles of architecture. – Bara Darwaza or the Big Gate facing west, the Humayun Gate facing south, and the Talaqqi Gate, which is often referred to as the forbidden gate.
• All of the gates are double-storeyed and comprise of huge semi-circular bastions flanking either of their sides.
• These bastions are equal in frequency, except for in the westward wall, where they are built at a distance of 73 meters from each other.
• The eastern and western walls of the Qila are the tallest, which were specifically designed for safeguarding the Kings residing within the four-walls.
• All the walls surrounding the Qila are 0.33 meters thick and supported by bastions.

10.  ‘India keen to boost ties with Cambodia’

Subject : Geography

Section: Place in news

Concept :

• The President of India has held that India is keen to further elevate its defence relations with Cambodia besides increasing tourism and people-to-people contacts.
• While welcoming the King of Cambodia, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President of India has added that there is great potential for further growth in trade and investment between India and Cambodia.
• India is keen to further boost its defence relations with the Southeast Asian country.
• The President further said that the visit of the King of Cambodia to India demonstrates the importance that Cambodia attaches to its ties with India as the two countries share a rich and vibrant relationship.

About Cambodia

• Cambodia lies entirely within the tropics, between latitudes 10° and 15°N, and longitudes 102° and 108°E.
• It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast.
• The country is situated in its entirety inside the tropical Indomalayan realm and the Indochina Time zone (ICT).
• It has a 443-kilometer coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.
• Cambodia’s landscape is characterized by a low-lying central plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta.
• Cambodia’s main geographical features are the low-lying Central Plain that includes the Tonlé Sap basin, the lower Mekong River flood-plains and the Bassac River plain surrounded by mountain ranges to the north, east, in south-west and south.
• The landmass is bisected by the Mekong River, which is the longest river in Cambodia. In 1997, it was successfully nominated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
• The majority of the country lies within the Tropical savanna climate zone, as the coastal areas in the South and West receive noticeably more and steady rain before and during the wet season.

11. New Jupiter-size exoplanet discovered

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Concept :

• An international team of scientists led by Prof. Abhijit Chakraborty at the Exoplanet Research Group of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad has discovered a new Jupiter-sized exoplanet.

About the exoplanet

• A new Jupiter-sized exoplanet with the highest density of ~14 g/cm3 known to date has been discovered.
• The new exoplanet discovered has a mass that is 13 times that of Jupiter.
• This discovery was made using the indigenously developed PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search spectrograph (PARAS) and PRL2m telescope at Gurushikhar Observatory located in Mt. Abu.
• The team of scientists involved in the discovery includes researchers from India, Germany, Switzerland and the US.
• The new exoplanet discovered was found around the star called TOI4603 or HD 245134.
• This newly discovered exoplanet “TOI 4603b” is regarded as one of the most massive and densest giant planets that orbits very close to its host star at a distance less than 1/10th the distance between our Sun and Earth.
• This newly discovered planet falls into the transition mass range of massive giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfs.
• Massive giant exoplanets are those having mass greater than four times that of Jupiter.
• Low-mass brown dwarfs are those having mass equal to 13 times the mass of Jupiter.
• The exoplanet with a surface temperature of 1670 K is said to be undergoing high-eccentricity tidal migration with an eccentricity value of approximately 0.3.
• The discovery also marks the third exoplanet discovery by India, and by the PRL scientists using PARAS spectrograph and the PRL 1.2m telescope, following the discoveries of K2-236b (in 2018) and TOI-1789b (in 2021).
• The finding of such exoplanets provides valuable information about the formation, migration, and evolution mechanisms of massive exoplanets.

12. Shenzhou-16 Mission

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Space Technology

Concept :

• China sent its first civilian astronaut into orbit, as it launched the Shenzhou-16 mission to its Tiangong space station.

Shenzhou 16

• Shenzhou 16 is a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 30 May 2023 on board a Shenzhou spacecraft.
• It carries two People’s Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonauts and a payload specialist from Beihang University.
• The mission is the eleventh crewed and sixteenth flight overall of the Shenzhou program.

Tiangong space station

• Tiangong space station which translates as “Heavenly Palace” is China’s permanent space station.
• China had previously launched two temporary trial space stations, named as Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.
• The Tiangong space station has three modules namely:
• Tianhe: the core module launched in 2021
• Wentian: science module 1, launched in 2022
• Mengtian: science module 2, also launched in 2022
• Tiangong space station is planned in such a way that it shares its orbit with the Xuntian space telescope in order to facilitate astronauts to repair and upgrade the telescope easily.
• China became only the third country in history to have put both astronauts into space and to build a space station, after the Soviet Union and the US.
• China believes that Tiangong will replace the International Space Station (ISS), which is due to be decommissioned in 2031.

13. Hardening interest rates, geopolitical risks impacting FDI inflows

Subject : Economy

Concept :

• Hardening interest rates globally and worsening geo-political situation have impacted the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India in 2022-23, a top government official said.
• Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the department would analyse the reasons for the contraction in FDI in five important sectors like computer hardware and software; construction, education, automobiles and metallurgical industries.
• These five sectors had a share of USD 30 billion in India’s total FDI in 2021-22 and in the last fiscal year, overseas inflows have almost halved.

Various Investment Models

Based on Project Grouping

• Public–Private Partnership (PPP) :
  • A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a cooperative arrangement between two or more public and private sectors, typically of a long-term nature.
  • In other words, it involves government(s) and business(es) that work together to complete a project .
  • The public and private stakeholders sign up to jointly develop, finance, execute and operate a (mostly) infrastructure project, and thus an entity called concessionaire is created (sometimes also called an SPV – special purpose vehicle).
  • The contract demarcates the responsibilities of the two partners, and in most cases, the public partner assumes the preparatory works like land acquisition, statutory approvals, political resolution of issues, etc., in addition to overall tracking of the work to be done by the private partner.
  • The public partner may or may not be bringing in any hard equity other than land, etc.
  • The private agency invests money, obtains financing, executes the project and runs the assets thus created for a pre-defined period of time in order to realize a return on its financial investments.
• Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Model:
  • Under this model, the cost is completely borne by the government.
  • Government invites bids for engineering knowledge from the private players.
  • Procurement of raw material and construction costs are met by the government.
  • The private sector’s participation is minimum and is limited to the provision of engineering expertise.
  • A difficulty of the model is the high financial burden for the government.
  • EPC Contractor (private entity) is made responsible for all the activities from design, procurement, construction, to commissioning and handover of the project to the Government.
  • This is a PPP model for the development of infrastructure projects especially highways.
• Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) :
  • Simply put, EPCM is a way of working on an engineering project which lets the project owner (say Government) stay in complete control of their project while engineering consultants (Private entities) manage the process from start to finish.
  • This means the private entities take care of all the stages of engineering: including planning, complex engineering requirements, co-ordinating all contractors and vendors etc. on the client’s behalf and providing a single point of contact.
• EPC VS EPCM
  • EPC stands for Engineering, Procurement and Construction… so the crucially missing element is the “M” for “Management”. Simply put, this is because EPC is not a service in the same way that EPCM is.
  • So this means with an EPC contract, the private entity will completely handle the Government’s project from start to finish, however, the Government effectively relinquishes control of the project from the moment the contract is signed. So the private entities then have complete ownership of the project until project completion, and they make all the decisions, with no involvement of the Government..
  • But in EPCM contractors keep in touch and update the Govt. regarding the progress of commissioning of the project.
• Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI):
  • This terminology is used for Off-Shore setups/Constructions.
  • In an EPCI contract, the contractor will design the structure/equipments, procure the required materials for its construction, will provide the necessary transportation of the structure and sets it up at an off-shore site.
  • The points and terminologies are much similar to an EPC contract.
• LSTK (Lump sum Turnkey) or Turnkey Project :
  • One of the special modes of carrying out international business is a turnkey project.
  • The turnkey projects meaning, a contract under which a firm agrees to fully design, construct and equip a manufacturing/ business/ service facility and turn the project over to the purchaser when it is ready for operation for remuneration.
  • The term turn-key project (Turn-key delivery) describes a project (or the delivery of such) in which the supplier or provider is responsible to the client for the entire result of the project and presents it to the client completely finished and ready to use.

Based on Project Classification

• Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) Model:
  • The private partner is responsible to design, build, operate (during the contracted period) and transfer back the facility to the public sector.
  • The private sector partner is expected to bring the finance for the project and take the responsibility to construct and maintain it.
  • In return, the public sector will allow it to collect revenue from the users.
  • The national highway projects contracted out by NHAI under PPP mode is an example.
• LOT (Lease, Operate and Transfer) :
  • Under this type of PPPs, a facility which already exists and is under operation, is entrusted to the private sector partner for efficient operation, subject to the terms and conditions decided by mutual agreement.
  • The contract will be for a given but sufficiently long period and the asset will be transferred back to the government at the end of the contract.
  • Leasing a school building or a hospital to the private sector along with the staff and all facilities by entrusting the management and control, subject to pre-determined conditions could come under this category.
• BOOT project :
  • This is a variation of the BOT model, except that the ownership of the newly built facility will rest with the private party during the period of contract.
  • This will result in the transfer of most of the risks related to planning, design, construction and operation of the project to the private partner.
  • The public sector partner will however contract to ‘purchase’ the goods and services produced by the project on mutually agreed terms and conditions.
  • In the latter case (BOOT), however, the facility / project built under PPP will be transferred back to the government department or agency, after the private partner recovers its investment and reasonable return agreed to as per the contract.
• Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) or Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFOM) :
  • The private party assumes the entire responsibility for the design, construct, finance, and operate or operate and maintain the project for the period of concession.
  • These are also referred to as “Concessions”.
  • The private participant to the project will recover its investment and return on investments (ROI) through the concessions granted or through annuity payments etc.
  • The public sector may provide guarantees to financing agencies, help with the acquisition of land and assist to obtain statutory and environmental clearances and approvals and also assure a reasonable return as per established norms or industry practice etc., throughout the period of concession.
• Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM):
  • In financial terminology hybrid annuity means that the government makes payment in a fixed amount for a considerable period and then in a variable amount in the remaining period.
  • This hybrid type of payment method is called HAM in the technical parlance.
  • Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) has been introduced by the Government to revive PPP (Public Private Partnership) in highway construction in India.
  • Launch of the new model is due to many problems encountered as associated with the existing ones.
  • Large number of stalled projects are blocking infrastructure projects and at the same time adding to Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of the banking system.

14. The Foucault’s Pendulum

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Msc

Concept :

• The Foucault’s Pendulum has been installed hanging from a skylight at the top of the Constitution Hall in the newly inaugurated Parliament.
• Suspended from the ceiling of the Central Foyer of India’s new Parliament building, inaugurated is a Foucault pendulum.

Foucault’s Pendulum

• The Foucault’s Pendulum was named after French physicist Léon Foucault who invented it in the mid-19th Century.
• Foucault in 1851 built the first-of-its-kind pendulum comprising a 28-kilo iron ball and a 67-metre steel wire.
• Foucault hung the pendulum inside France’s Panthéon and then pushed it to one side and released it – after which it began swinging back and forth.
• Though the pendulum swings back and forth the Earth rotates beneath it. This means relative motion is at play.
• At the North Pole, latitude 90° N, the relative motion as viewed from above in the plane of the pendulum’s suspension is a counterclockwise rotation of the Earth once approximately every 24 hours (more precisely, once every 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds, the length of a sidereal day). Correspondingly, the plane of the pendulum as viewed from above appears to rotate in a clockwise direction once a day.
• A Foucault pendulum always rotates clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere with a rate that becomes slower as the pendulum’s location approaches the Equator.
• Foucault’s original pendulums at Paris rotated clockwise at a rate of more than 11° per hour, or with a period of about 32 hours per complete rotation.
• The rate of rotation depends on the latitude.
• At the Equator, 0° latitude, a Foucault pendulum does not rotate.
• In the Southern Hemisphere, rotation is counter-clockwise.
• In short, as the Earth rotates on its axis the pendulum changes the direction it swings in.

The pendulum inside the new Parliament

• Created by the National Council of Science Museum (NCSM) in Kolkata, the pendulum is being dubbed as the largest such piece in India, 22 metre in height, and weighing a staggering 36 kg.
• The piece has been crafted with gunmetal and affixed with an electromagnetic coil to ensure hassle-free movement.
• It touches the floor as it rotates on its axis. The pendulum hangs from a skylight at the top of the Constitution Hall, and signifies the “integration of the idea of India with the idea of the cosmos.
• At the latitude of the Parliament, it takes 49 hours, 59 minutes, and 18 seconds for the pendulum to complete one rotation, as per the details displayed at the installation.

15. Testing breakthrough challenges ‘world’s worst wildlife disease’

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Health

Concept :

• For the past 40 years, a devastating fungal disease has been ravaging frog populations around the world, wiping out 90 species. A a multinational study has now developed a method to detect all known strains of this disease, caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus.

The Panzootic

• Unlike the global COVID-19 pandemic, you may not even be aware of this “panzootic” – a pandemic in the animal world. Yet it’s the world’s worst wildlife disease.
• A panzootic is an epizootic (an outbreak of an infectious disease of animals) that spreads across a large region (for example a continent), or even worldwide. The equivalent in human populations is called a pandemic.
• A panzootic can start when three conditions have been met:
  • the emergence of a disease new to the population.
  • the agent infects a species and causes serious illness.
  • the agent spreads easily and sustainably among animals.

Chytridiomycosis: The deadly frog disease

• Chytridiomycosis, also known as chytrid, is a fungal disease that has been decimating frog populations worldwide for the past 40 years.
• The disease has caused severe declines in over 500 frog species and led to 90 extinctions, making it the deadliest animal disease known.

How does it infect?

• Chytrid infects frogs by reproducing in their skin, damaging their ability to balance water and salt levels.
• The disease originated in Asia and spread globally through amphibian trade and travel.

An extreme mortality rate

• The extreme rate of mortality, and the high number of species affected, makes chytrid unequivocallythe deadliest animal disease known to date.
• The single-celled fungus enters a skin cell, multiplies, then breaks back out onto the surface of the animal.
• This damage to the skin affects the frog’s ability to balance water and salt levels, and eventually leads to death if infection levels are high enough.
• It’s believed that global travel and trade in amphibians led to the disease being unwittingly spread to other continents like Asia.

Natural immunity

• The most puzzling thing about chytrid is that some amphibian species – even those that have not evolved with the pathogen – don’t become sick when they carry the fungus. These species have some form of natural immune resistance.
• However, frog immunity is extremely complex. Immunity might come from anti-microbial chemicals within the skin, symbiotic bacteria on the skin, white blood cells and antibodies in the blood, or combinations of these mechanisms.
• So far, no clear trend has been found between resistance and immune function. To make matters more complicated, there is also evidence chytrid can suppress a host’s immune response.
• Because there haven’t been any observed chytrid declines in Asia, and because detecting chytrid in Asia has been difficult, Asia is lagging behind the rest of the world in chytrid research.
• Yet the new qPCR test detected high levels of chytrid in a range of amphibian species across India.
• While the new qPCR test was successful at detecting chytrid in samples from India, Australia, and Panama, we will need to validate and promote the method so it becomes the new gold standard for chytrid testing.