Daily Prelims Notes 4 May 2021

May 4, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

4 May 2021

Table Of Contents

Subject: International Relations

Context: The Kachin Independence Army said the helicopter was shot down in retaliation for air strikes earlier in the Kachin province.

Concept:

A rebel group in Myanmar has said it shot down a military helicopter on Monday as fighting in the country’s northern and eastern frontier regions intensified following an army coup.
The claim by the Kachin Independence Army came as protests against Myanmar’s military government continued in Kachin State and elsewhere in the country.

Kachin Independence Army

The Kachin Independence Army is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), a political group of ethnic Kachins in Northern Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The Kachins are a coalition of six tribes whose homeland encompasses territory in Yunnan, China, Northeast India and Kachin State in Myanmar.
The Kachin Independence Army is funded by the KIO, which raises money through regional taxes and trade in jade, timber and gold.
The Kachin Independence Organisation is a Kachin political organisation in Myanmar (Burma), established on 5 February 1961.
It has an armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army, which operates in Kachin and Shan State.

2. STEROIDS

Subject: Science & tech

Context: With many patients in the current Covid-19 wave reporting a drop in oxygen saturation levels, in turn requiring hospitalisation, AIIMS Director DrRandeepGuleria warned against indiscriminate prescription of steroids, as well as CT scans and tests, for those with mild symptoms.

Concept:

Steroids are a man-made version of chemicals, known as hormones that are made naturally in the human body. Steroids are designed to act like these hormones to reduce inflammation.
They’re also known as corticosteroids, and are different to anabolic steroids used by bodybuilders and athletes.
Steroids won’t cure your condition, but they’re very good at reducing inflammation and will ease symptoms such as swelling, pain and stiffness.
Usually inflammation is the body’s natural reaction to infection or bacteria.
Your immune system produces extra fluid to fight infections or bacteria, which causes swelling, redness and heat in the affected area.
In some conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system produces inflammation in the joints or other parts of the body by mistake, which can cause permanent damage if left untreated.
Steroids can be used to reduce this immune reaction.

3. NCPCR & JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT

Subject: National Organisations

Context: NCPCR urges states to share info on children orphaned due to COVID-19.

Concept:

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

NCPCR is a statutory body set up in March 2007 under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.
It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
The Commission’s mandate is to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes, and administrative mechanisms are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It inquires into complaints relating to a child’s right to free and compulsory education under the Right to Education Act, 2009.
It monitors the implementation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 replaced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
The Act changes the nomenclature from ‘juvenile’ to ‘child’ or ‘child in conflict with law’. Also, it removes the negative connotation associated with the word “juvenile”.
It also includes several new and clear definitions such as orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children; and petty, serious and heinous offences committed by children.
Includes special provisions to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years.
It mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees in every district. Both must have at least one woman member each.
A separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption procedures for an orphan, abandoned and surrendered children.
Also, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) was granted the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
The Act states that the adoption of a child is final on the issuance of an adoption order by the court. Currently, there are 629 adoption cases pending in various courts.
All Child Care Institutions, whether run by State Government or by voluntary or non-governmental organisations are to be mandatorily registered under the Act within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Act.
Recently, the Lok Sabha passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 that seeks to strengthen and streamline the provisions for protection and adoption of children.
The Bill amends the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and contains provisions related to children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection.

4. SECTION 66 A OF IT ACT

Subject: Governance

Context: Three journalists get notices for reports on ‘diverting’ oxygen. Administration says news reports shared by them on social media false propaganda, in violation of IT Act.

Concept:

Section 66A of Information Technology Act

Section 66A dealt with information related crimes in which sending information, by means of a computer resource or a communication device, which is inter alia offensive, derogatory and menacing is made a punishable offence.
In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India judgement, Justices Rohinton F. Nariman and J. Chelameswar had observed that the weakness of Section 66A lay in the fact that it had created an offence on the basis of undefined actions: such as causing “inconvenience, danger, obstruction and insult”, which do not fall among the exceptions granted under Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of speech.
The court also observed that the challenge was to identify where to draw the line. Traditionally, it has been drawn at incitement while terms like obstruction and insult remain subjective.
In addition, the court had noted that Section 66A did not have procedural safeguards like other sections of the law with similar aims, such as :
The need to obtain the concurrence of the Centre before action can be taken.
Local authorities could proceed autonomously, literally on the whim of their political masters.
The judgment had found that Section 66A was contrary to both Articles 19 (free speech) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. The entire provision was struck down by the court.
After that government had appointed an expert committee (T.K. Viswanathan committee) which proposed a legislation to meet the challenge of hate speech online.

5. OPEN APIs

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Since Covid-19 inoculation exercise commenced for the 18-44 age group, finding an available slot at a vaccine centre has become a challenge, especially given that it is mandatory for this age group to make an appointment on the CoWin app.

Concept:

With an aim to resolve this, the National Health Authority (NHA) — the nodal agency managing the CoWin app — has opened up the APIs for vaccine appointments to the public.
An open API refers to a publicly available application programming interface (API) that provides developers access to a proprietary software application.
For instance, you have a Google Maps API that integrates with food delivery or travel portal, or the UPI API used by a range of apps to enable easy payments.
In this case, the NHA has allowed anyone to access a set of requirements needed to communicate and interact with the CoWin platform.
This has enabled developers to build third-party tools that allow users to set alerts for slot availabilities according to various parameters.
People can use these third-party tools to enter their details and they will get an alert whenever a slot opens up.

6. INTEGRATED GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (IGST)

Subject: Economics

Context : Centre has waived off IGST on the import of COVID related medical supplies including Remdesivir Injection/API, Medical Oxygen, O2 Concentrators, Cryogenic tanks & COVID Vaccines among others.

Concept:

The exemption has been granted till 30th June for free distribution of these medical supplies. Earlier the Centre had waived the import duty & health cess on such medical supplies.
IGST meaning Integrated Goods and Service Tax, is one of the three categories under Goods and Service Tax (CGST, IGST and SGST) with a concept of one tax one nation.
IGST falls under Integrated Goods and Service Tax Act 2016.
IGST is charged when movement of goods and services from one state to another. For example, if goods are moved from Tamil Nadu to Kerala, IGST is levied on such goods.
The revenue out of IGST is shared by state government and central government as per the rates fixed by the authorities.

Under Article 269A of the Constitution,

The GST on supplies in the course of interState trade shall be levied and collected by the Government of India and
such tax shall be apportioned between the Union and the States according to the provisions of law on the recommendations of the Goods and Services Tax Council.
Under the IGST scheme, 50% of the collections will go to the Centre (as the Central Goods and Services Tax component) and the remaining 50% will be allocated to the States and Union Territories (as the State Goods and Services Tax component). And, 42% of the CGST will be devolved to the States and Union Territories.

7. PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX

Subject: Economics

Context: India’s manufacturing sector activity was largely flat in April, as rates of growth for new orders and output eased to eight-month lows amid the intensification of the Covid-19 crisis, a monthly survey said.

Concept:

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was at 55.5 in April, little changed from March’s reading of 55.4.

Purchasing Managers’ Index

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.

8. APPOINTMENT OF CEC AND EC

Subject: Polity

Context: Disband present EC; SC should decide criteria to appoint CEC, ECs: Congress

Concept:

The Election Commission shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix.
The appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners shall be made by the president.
The president may also appoint after consultation with the election commission such regional commissioners as he may consider necessary to assist the election commission.
The conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be determined by the president.
The CEC and the two other election commissioners have equal powers and receive equal salary, allowances and other perquisites, which are similar to those of a judge of the Supreme Court.
They hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
They can resign at any time or can also be removed before the expiry of their term.

9. CENTRAL VISTA PROJECT

Subject: Current Events

Context: An expert panel of the Environment Ministry has accorded environmental approval to ancillary projects that are part of the construction of a new Parliament, including a new residence for the Prime Minister, common Central Secretariat buildings, Central Conference Centre, a building for the Special Protection Group and a Vice-President’s Enclave among others

Concept:

The Central Vista is a 3 km stretch in the heart of New Delhi that runs from the RashtrapatiBhavan to India Gate. It is flanked by large green spaces and significant structures such as Parliament, the Secretariat buildings and the National Archives.
The Central government is redeveloping the three-km-long Central Vista and Parliament. A common Central secretariat will be constructed for all ministries that are currently spread over many buildings across Delhi.
The new Parliament has to be ready by March 2022 the 75th year of India’s Independence. The revamped Central Vista, complete with public amenities and parking, has to be ready by November 2021 and the new common Central secretariat by March 2024.
The Parliament House and North and South Blocks will not be demolished, but their usage may change. The rest of the buildings that came up post-1947, including ShastriBhavan and KrishiBhavan, are likely to be demolished.

Need of project:

The Parliament House and the North and South Blocks were built by the British between 1911 and 1931. Post-1947, the government of independent India added office buildings such as ShastriBhavan, KrishiBhavan and NirmanBhavan. These buildings do not have the facilities and space required today.
While the British-built buildings are not earthquake-proof the buildings that came up after 1947 are prone to fires. The new buildings are expected to have a lifespan of 150 to 200 years. They would be energy-efficient and modern workspaces. The revamp would represent a ‘New India’.

10. ONE HEALTH APPROACH

Subject: Governance

Context: The battle against COVID-19 should also be used as an opportunity to meet India’s ‘One Health’ targets.

Concept:

One Health

OneHealth is an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes.
The areas of work in which a One Health approach is particularly relevant include food safety, the control of zoonotic diseases (diseases that can spread between animals and humans, such as flu, rabies and Rift Valley Fever), and combating antibiotic resistance (when bacteria change after being exposed to antibiotics and become more difficult to treat).
Although OneHealth, as a conceptual entity, emerged relatively recently, a stellar example of OneHealth being operationalised in the field was seen in India in the late 1950s.

Zoonotic Diseases

The diseases, which “spillover” from animals to humans are referred to as zoonotic diseases
They represent more than 60% of emerging infectious diseases worldwide.
The destruction of the natural environment, globalised trade and travel and industrialised food production systems have created numerous pathways for new pathogens to jump between animals and humans.

11. OPEC

Subject: International Organisations

Context : OPEC’s share of India’s oil imports fell to the lowest in at least two decades in the year to the end of March as overall purchases by Asia’s third-largest economy fell to a six-year low, data obtained from industry and trade sources showed.

Concept :

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
They were to become the Founder members of the Organization.
As of 2020, OPEC has a total of 13 Member Countries viz. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Angola and Venezuela are members of OPEC.
OPEC’s objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.
It is head quartered in Vienna, Austria.
OPEC membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and which shares the ideals of the organization.

OPEC +

OPEC+ is the alliance of crude producers undertaking corrections in supply in the oil markets since 2017.
OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.