Daily Prelims Notes 6 April 2021

April 6, 2021
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

6 April 2021

Table Of Contents

1. NATIONAL SECURITY ACT

Subject: Legislations

Context: Allahabad HC cancels 94 NSA cases lodged by UP govt, calls them misuse of law.

Concept:

About the National Security Act, 1980

The NSA is a preventive detention law.
The NSA empowers the Centre or a State government to detain a person to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to national security.
The government can also detain a person to prevent him from disrupting public order or for maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community.

Period of Confinement: The maximum period for which one may be detained is 12 months. But the term can be extended if the government finds fresh evidence.

No Basic Rights to People Detained under the NSA, including:

The right to be informed of the reason for the arrest (Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code -Cr.PC).
Under the NSA, a person could be kept in the dark about the reasons for his arrest for up to five days, and in exceptional circumstances upto ten days.
Even when providing the grounds for arrest, the government can withhold information which it considers to be against public interest to disclose.
Sections 56 and 76 of the Cr. PC also provides that a person has to be produced before a court within 24 hours of arrest.
Article 22(1) of the Constitution says an arrested person cannot be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice.
Under the NSA, the arrested person is not entitled to the aid of any legal practitioner in any matter connected with the proceedings before an advisory board, which is constituted by the government for dealing with NSA cases.

Preventive Detention

Preventive Detention involves the detainment (containment) of a person in order to keep him/her from committing future crimes and/or from escaping future prosecution.
Article 22 (3) (b) of the Constitution allows for preventive detention and restriction on personal liberty for reasons of state security and public order.
Further, Article 22(4) states that no law providing for preventive detention shall authorise the detention of a person for a longer period than three months unless:
An Advisory Board reports sufficient cause for extended detention.
The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 has reduced the period of detention without obtaining the opinion of an advisory board from three to two months. However, this provision has not yet been brought into force, hence, the original period of three months still continues.
Such a person is detained in accordance with the provisions of any law made by the Parliament.

2. TROPICAL CYCLONE

Subject: Geography

Context: Tropical Cyclone in Indonesia and East Timor Kills at Least 76.

Concept:

Tropical Cyclones

Tropical cyclones are violent storms that originate over oceans in tropical areas and move over to the coastal areas bringing about large scale destruction due to violent winds, very heavy rainfall and storm surge.
They are irregular wind movements involving closed circulation of air around a low pressure center. This closed air circulation is a result of rapid upward movement of hot air which is subjected to Coriolis force.

Conditions Favourable for Tropical Cyclone Formation

Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27°C.
Presence of the Coriolis force enough to create a cyclonic vortex.
Small variations in the vertical wind speed.
A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation.
Upper divergence above the sea level system.

Favorite Grounds for Tropical Cyclones

South-east Caribbean region where they are called hurricanes.
Philippines islands, eastern China and Japan where they are called typhoons.
Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea where they are called cyclones.
Around south-east African coast and Madagascar-Mauritius islands.
North-west Australia.

3. E-9 INITIATIVE

Subject: Current Events

Context: Consultation meeting of Education Ministers of E9 countries on E9 initiative to be held tomorrow.

The consultation is the first of a three-phased process to co-create an initiative on digital learning and skills, targeting marginalised children and youth, especially girls.

Concept:

E9 initiative

The initiative aims to accelerate recovery and advance the Sustainable Development Goal 4 agenda by driving rapid change in education systems in three of the 2020 Global Education Meeting priorities: (i) support to teachers; (ii) investment in skills; and (iii) narrowing of the digital divide.

Participants:

Spearheaded by the UN, the E9 countries include Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Benefits:

Building on the established partnership of E9 countries allows these nine countries the opportunity to benefit from this global initiative and accelerate progress on digital learning and skills towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education.

4. MSME PRE-PACK

Subject: Economy

Context: The Centre has used the Ordinance route to introduce pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (pre-pack) for companies classified as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Concept:

Pre-Packs:

A pre-pack is an agreement for the resolution of the debt of a distressed company through an agreement between secured creditors and investors instead of a public bidding process.
This system of insolvency proceedings has become an increasingly popular mechanism for insolvency resolution in the UK and Europe over the past decade.
In India’s case, such a system would likely require that financial creditors agree on terms with potential investors and seek approval of the resolution plan from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Need for Pre-Packs:

Slow progress in the resolution of distressed companies has been one of the key issues raised by creditors regarding the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the IBC.
CIRP is the process of resolving the corporate insolvency of a corporate debtor in accordance with the provisions of the Code.
Under the IBC, stakeholders are required to complete the CIRP within 330 days of the initiation of insolvency proceedings.

Key Features of Pre-Packs:

Pre-Pack usually requires services of an insolvency practitioner to assist the stakeholders in the conduct of the process.
The extent of authority of the practitioner varies across jurisdictions.
Pre-pack envisages a consensual process – prior understanding among or approval by stakeholders about the course of action to address stress of a Corporate Debtor (CD), before invoking the formal part of the process.
No requirement of Court Approval: It does not always require approval of a court. Wherever it requires approval, the courts often get guided by commercial wisdom of the parties.
Outcome of the pre-pack process, where approved by the court, is binding on all stakeholders.

5. GEO ENGINEERING

Subject: Environment

Context : As per a report by Nature, the US’s National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) has called on the government to fund (to the tune of $200 million over five years) research on solar geoengineering.

Concept:

Geoengineering is an umbrella term for human interventions that change the earth’s climate
There are currently two main approaches under the geoengineering umbrella: carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM).
CDR tackles the root cause of global warming by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere — think carbon capture and storage.
SRM, meanwhile, leaves greenhouse gases untouched, but offsets their impact by reflecting sunlight away from the earth.
Whereas CDR addresses the cause of global warming, reducing greenhouse gases, SRM only masks it or offsets it.

Geoengineering Techniques

Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)

It is the process of extracting bioenergy from biomass and capturing and storing the carbon, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. The carbon in the biomass comes from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) which is extracted from the atmosphere by the biomass when it grows.
Energy is extracted in useful forms (electricity, heat, biofuels, etc.) as the biomass is utilized through combustion, fermentation, pyrolysis or other conversion methods.

Ocean fertilization or ocean nourishment

Ocean fertilizationis a type of climate engineering based on the purposeful introduction of nutrients to the upper ocean to increase marine food production and to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A number of techniques, including fertilization by iron, urea and phosphorus have been proposed.

Soil carbon sequestration (SCS)

Soils can serve as a sink for carbon dioxide since atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have crossed 410 parts per million and oceans are already turning acidic.
Carbon sequestration in soils has the potential to offset GHG emissions from fossil fuels by up to 15% annually.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) comes from plants, animals, microbes, leaves and wood, mostly found in the first metre or so.
There are many conditions and processes that determine changes to SOC content including temperature, rainfall, vegetation, soil management and land-use change.

Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI)

SAI is the main type of solar radiation management (SRM) .
In the case of SAI, gases are pumped into the stratosphere to reflect some of the sun’s heat, mimicking an effect that happens naturally in a strong volcanic eruption.
Scale of SAI makes its governance difficult — implementing it in one country can trigger rain and extreme weather across borders. Lack of public support might be the biggest hurdle.

Marine cloud brightening (MCB)

MCB involves reflecting sunlight away from the earth in some way. In this case, sea salt or other particles are sprayed into marine clouds to make them thicker and more reflective.

Cirrus cloud thinning (CCT)

CCT is almost the opposite of marine cloud brightening. High-altitude Cirrus clouds are thin and whispy, so they don’t reflect much solar radiation back into space, and instead trap long-wave radiation on earth.
CCT proposes thinning them further through cloud seeding, letting more long-wave radiation escape.

6. AIR IONIZER

Subject : Science & tech

Context : Governments and businesses should encourage new technologies to control the spread of the virus and enable ‘opening’ of offices, schools, colleges and cinemas rather than lockdown

Concept:

An air ioniser (or negative ion generator or Chizhevsky’s chandelier) is a device that uses high voltage to ionise (electrically charge) air molecules.
Negative ions, or anions, are particles with one or more extra electrons, conferring a net negative charge to the particle.
Cations are positive ions missing one or more electrons, resulting in a net positive charge.
Some commercial air purifiers are designed to generate negative ions. Another type of air ioniser is the electrostatic discharge (ESD) ioniser (balanced ion generator) used to neutralise static charge.

7. TRIBUNAL REFORMS ORDINANCE

Subject : Legislations

Context : The President of India has promulgated the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, by which the appellate authorities under nine Acts have been done away with and the right to hear appeals under the statute has been conferred to High Courts.

Concept :

Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017 has been amended to empower the Central Government to make rules for qualifications, appointment, term of office, salaries and allowances, resignation, removal and other terms and conditions of service of Members of Tribunals.

The Ordinance omits following Tribunals/ Appellate Authorities from the purview of Finance Act:

Airport Appellate Tribunal established under the Airport Authority of India Act, 1994
Appellate Board established under the Trade Marks Act, 1999
Authority for Advance Ruling established under the Income Tax Act, 1961
Film Certification Appellate Tribunal established under the Cinematograph Act, 1952
Further, it substitutes the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established under the erstwhile Consumer Protection Act, 1986 with a National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

8. LA PEROUSE

Subject : Defence

Context : Indian Navy Ships INS Satpura and INS Kiltan along with P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft are participating, for the first time; in multi-lateral maritime exercise La Pérouse, being conducted in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region from 05 to 07 April 2021.

Concept :

The Indian Navy ships and aircraft will exercise at sea with ships and aircraft of French Navy (FN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and United States Navy (USN) during the three day exercise at sea.
The exercise La Pérouse is led by French Navy.
Exercise La Pérouse will witness complex and advanced naval operations including surface warfare, anti-air warfare and air defence exercises, weapon firing exercises, cross deck flying operations, tactical manoeuvres and seamanship evolutions such as replenishment at sea.

9. ADVANCED CHAFF TECHNOLOGY

Subject : Defence

Context : Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard the naval ships against enemy missile attack.

Concept :

Defence Laboratory Jodhpur (DLJ), a DRDO laboratory, has indigenously developed three variants of this technology namely Short Range Chaff Rocket (SRCR), Medium Range Chaff Rocket (MRCR) and Long Range Chaff Rocket (LRCR) meeting Indian Navy’s requirements.
Chaff is a passive expendable electronic countermeasure technology used worldwide to protect naval ships from enemy’s radar and Radio Frequency (RF) missile seekers.
The importance of this development lies in the fact that very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for safety of the ships.

10. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Subject : National Organisations

Context :The Supreme Court told the government that interim appointments to the post of CBI Director cannot go on.

Concept :

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating police agency in India.
It functions under the superintendence of the of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances, Government of India – which falls under the prime minister’s office.
However for investigations of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, its superintendence vests with the Central Vigilance Commission.
It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.
Its conviction rate is as high as 65 to 70% and it is comparable to the best investigation agencies in the world.

Cases Handled by the CBI

Anti-Corruption Crimes – for investigation of cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Public officials and the employees of Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings, Corporations or Bodies owned or controlled by the Government of India.
Economic Crimes – for investigation of major financial scams and serious economic frauds, including crimes relating to Fake Indian Currency Notes, Bank Frauds and Cyber Crime, bank frauds, Import Export & Foreign Exchange violations, large-scale smuggling of narcotics, antiques, cultural property and smuggling of other contraband items etc.
Special Crimes – for investigation of serious and organized crime under the Indian Penal Code and other laws on the requests of State Governments or on the orders of the Supreme Court and High Courts – such as cases of terrorism, bomb blasts, kidnapping for ransom and crimes committed by the mafia/the underworld.
Suo Moto Cases – CBI can suo-moto take up investigation of offences only in the Union Territories.
The Central Government can authorize CBI to investigate a crime in a State but only with the consent of the concerned State Government.
The Supreme Court and High Courts, however, can order CBI to investigate a crime anywhere in the country without the consent of the State.

Director of CBI

Director, CBI as Inspector General of Police, Delhi Special Police Establishment, is responsible for the administration of the organisation.
Till 2014, the CBI Director was appointed on the basis of the DSPE Act, 1946.
In 2003, DSPE Act was revised on Supreme Court’s recommendation in the VineetNarain case. A committee that had members from Central Vigilance Commission, Secretaries from Home Ministry, Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances would send recommendations to Central Government for the appointment of CBI Director.
In 2014, the Lokpal Act provided a committee for appointment of CBI Director:

Headed by Prime Minister

Other members – Leader of Opposition/ Leader of the single largest opposition party, Chief Justice of India/ a Supreme Court Judge.

Home Ministry sends a list of eligible candidates to DoPT. Then, the DoPT prepares the final list on basis of seniority, integrity, and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases, and sends it to the committee.
Director of CBI has been provided security of two year tenure, by the CVC Act, 2003.

11. INS VIRAAT

Subject : Defence

Context : INS Viraat, the Navy’s decommissioned aircraft carrier, has become the “private property” of a ship-breaker who has already torn down 40% of its body, chiefly for scrap, the Supreme Court told a private company, that wants to turn the vessel into a maritime museum-cum-adventure centre.

Concept :

On February 10, the court had ordered a stay on the process of dismantling the ship.
The carrier was bought by the Gujarat-based Shree Ram Group, a ship-breaking firm, in a bid.
The 67-year-old iconic warship was towed to the breaking yard after over three decades’ service in the Navy.

INS VIRAAT

INS Viraat was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy.
INS Viraat was the flagship of the Indian Navy before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013.
The ship was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes, and decommissioned in 1984. It was sold to India in 1987.
INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987 served till 2016 when it was decommissioned.