Daily Prelims Notes 9 July 2023

July 9, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

9 July 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Why is China limiting exports of raw materials?

Subject : Economy

Section: External sector

Context:

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it would implement export controls on items related to gallium and germanium.

Details:

It is seen as the country’s retaliatory move in the ‘chip war’.
It said that the controls were being imposed “in order to safeguard national security interests”.
The announcement led to a spike in the prices of essential raw materials with companies rushing to secure their supplies.
The regulations will be enforced from August 1.

Why Gallium and Germanium are important?

Gallium is used to make gallium arsenide which forms the core substrate for semiconductors.
- They are used to manufacture semiconductor wafers utilised in integrated circuits, mobile and satellite communications (in chipsets), and LEDs (in displays).
- It is also used in automotives and lighting and for sensors in avionic, space and defence systems.
Germanium is used in fibre-optic cables, infrared imaging devices (used by enforcement agencies for surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, particularly in the dark) and optical devices (to improve the ability to operate weapon systems in harsh conditions).
- They are also used in solar cells for their ability to withstand heat and higher energy conversion efficiency.

Regulations announced by China:

Export operators would now have to acquire a specific licence.
The primary contention lies with the application process that requires operators to list the importers, end-users and end use.
They would also have to produce the export contract in the original.
Exporting without permission would constitute a violation — calling for administrative penalties. It would also be deemed a crime with the exporter being held “criminally responsible”.

Why is it a matter of concern?

According to the European industry body, Critical Raw Materials Alliance (CRMA), 80% of gallium production takes place in China.
China also commands 60% of the total production of Germanium.
The European Commission, whose import dependency on China stands at 71% and 45% for gallium and germanium respectively, has recognised it as a ‘critical raw material’.
In India, the Ministry of Mines identified the two elements to be crucial for the country’s economic development and national security.

Impact on India:

India is totally import-dependent for germanium and gallium.
The Chinese export controls are expected to have a short-term impact on India and its industries due to the disruption in immediate supply chains.
The increased prices resulting from the export control order would affect the cost and availability of chips, potentially impacting India’s chip-making plans.
The long-term consequences for India’s chip-making plans and industries will depend on several factors, including alternative supply sources, domestic semiconductor production capabilities, and strategic partnerships like the India-U.S. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).
Available alternatives for India:
- The two critical minerals are present as by-products in the processing of zinc and alumina.
- Efforts should be made to focus on waste recovery from zinc and alumina production.
- Moving attention towards available substitutes such as indium and silicon could also be considered.
- There is some good quality silica feedstock available in India, but that has to be converted to metallurgical-grade silicon for which we would require lower power (rates).

What is the iCET?

Announced by India and the US in May 2022 and was officially launched in January 2023 and is being run by the National Security Council of both countries.
Under iCET, both countries have identified six areas of cooperation which would include co-development and co-production, that would gradually be expanded to QUAD, then to NATO, followed by Europe and the rest of the world.
Under iCET, India is ready to share its core technologies with the US and expects Washington to do the same.
It aims to promote collaboration in critical and emerging technology areas, including AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, and wireless telecommunication.
Focus Areas of the Initiative:
- AI research agency partnership.
- Defense industrial cooperation, defense technological cooperation, and defense startups.
- Innovation Ecosystems.
- Semiconductor ecosystem development.
- Cooperation on human spaceflight.
- Advancement in 5G and 6G technologies, and adoption of Open RAN network technology in India.

2. Moderate alcohol consumption has no health benefits

Subject : Science and tech

Section: Health

Context:

Can consuming small amounts of alcohol daily will help keep the heart in good shape is a common question faced by many doctors across the country.

Genesis:

The presumed benefit of moderate alcohol use was first published in 1926 as a book by American biologist Raymond Pearl based on multiple patient case histories.
He describes the effect of alcohol consumption — from none to heavy drinking — on human survival as a J-shaped curve.
What the ‘J’ curve suggests?
- People who drink no or very less alcohol (represented by the portion to the left of the tipping point of J) experienced a lower survival rate.
- Those who drank heavy alcohol (represented by the portion of the right J-point) also experienced a lower survival rate.
- Those who consumed ‘modest’ amounts of alcohol lived longer.
- This gave birth to the myth that moderate alcohol consumption was beneficial.

Why moderate consumption of alcohol improves the survival rate?

As per the studies, a particular type of heart condition called ischemic heart disease (IHD) in which the arteries that supply the heart become narrowed leading to muscle damage and poor pumping capacity reduced with moderate alcohol use.
If IHD was reduced with modest alcohol use, there had to be another reason behind it.
In a study published in March 2023 in Cardiovascular Diabetology, the researchers concluded that modest alcohol consumption led to a reduction in damage to tiny vessels that regulate blood flow into heart muscles, called microvascular dysfunction or MVD that was responsible for IHD.
Another study found that improved heart health was due to a reduction in stress-related brain network activity with modest alcohol use.

What do the new findings say?

In a study published in JAMA Network in March 2023, researchers found the favourable health benefit of moderate alcohol use was because people also had healthier lifestyles.
When these individuals were excluded, moderate alcohol use was found associated with a greater risk for heart disease.
The risk increased exponentially with increasing dose and duration.
The MGH study that demonstrated a reduction in brain stress and thus improved heart health also showed that any amount of alcohol increased the risk of various cancers and cancer-related death.

Ill-impacts of alcohol consumption:

Any amount of alcohol damages the brain cells and reduces brain volume.
Alcohol consumption prevents new learning within brain pathways and impairs memory and reasoning.
Alcohol downgrades the immune system rendering it defenceless against a host of infections, especially a lethal bacteria called Klebsiella pneumonia that eats away the lung tissue.
Alcohol consumption increased the risks of over 200 diseases in men.
Any amount of alcohol exposure was found to be associated with various cancers, the reason why WHO recently cautioned that no level of alcohol consumption was safe for health.
Incidentally, individuals who were engaged in 15-20 minutes (BMC Medicine) of simple physical activity per day experienced a similar level of reduced mortality as seen with modest alcohol use. And the more one increases physical activity, the more the chances of living longer.

3. Evidence for high annual rainfall 66 million years ago found

Subject :Geography

Section Physical geography

Context:

A team of scientists from IIT Kharagpur and Academia Sinica, Taipei has found evidence of very high annual rainfall during the catastrophic volcanism that formed the Deccan Traps in India about 66 million years back.

Details of the study:

New techniques used:
- They used a new technique — Nanoscale Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry — to analyse three isotopes of oxygen (Oxygen-16,17, and 18) in fossil trees of the Cretaceous period and measure the isotopic composition of the lake water derived from rainfall.
Findings:
- The depleted values of the oxygen isotopes suggest a higher tropical rainfall (1,600 mm per year) in India during the terminal Cretaceous period.
- The increase in rainfall and its waning in the early Palaeocene closely follows the change in palaeo-atmospheric (paleo carbon dioxide) suggesting a possible underlying link.
- The available records of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and temperature over both land and ocean during the time of the Deccan Trap eruption were analysed.
- Deccan trap lavas were erupting spewing huge amounts of carbon dioxide thus increasing the then atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to as high as 1,000 ppm (parts per million).
Except for the arid/semi‐arid regions, the modern annual rainfall over large parts of peninsular India on average is about 1,000‐1,200 mm.
Our data suggested that these fossil trees recorded 1,800‐1,900 mm of rainfall per year.
This is exactly what the IPCC predicts in case of a future extreme 4-degree C warming of the planet.

Impact of rising CO2 concentrations:

Fossil fuel emission has increased carbon dioxide from a pre‐industrial level of 280 ppm to about 420 ppm in 2023.
Climate models suggest that a doubling of carbon dioxide will intensify the atmospheric circulation and consequently the rainfall.
The 2023 AR6 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns if the carbon dioxide emission and global warming continue unabated, annual wettest day precipitation will increase manifold across all continents.
Monsoon rainfall associated with tropical cyclones over India will also increase by 40%.

What are Deccan Traps?

A thick succession of (3200 metres) late Cretaceous basaltic lava flows known as the Deccan Traps covers around 500 000 square kilometres of peninsular India. This basaltic lava soil has gradually eroded due to erosion, resulting in the formation of a Deccan trap.
The Deccan Traps is an area of black dirt on the Peninsular Plateau. The rocks are igneous and have volcanic origins. Black dirt has been produced as a result of the erosion of these rocks over time.

Distribution of Deccan Traps:

The majority of these volcanic rocks are found in Gujarat’s Kutch and Kathiawar regions, as well as in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
Its thickness varies depending on whether the surface is flat or sloppy, being midway between deep and shallow.
These (the Deccan Traps) might be considered Peninsular India’s most widespread geological formations after the Archean Rocks.

How are Deccan traps formed?

Cretaceous vulcanicity, the development of many linear cracks in the earth’s crust, is what causes the formation of decan traps. This eruption did not produce any volcanic domes since it was of the quiet kind.
This incident started 66.25 million years ago (End of the Cretaceous period) when India was near present placed Madagascar and during its movement north, it passed over Reunion Hotspot. Presently this hotspot is dormant in nature.
From a general study of the Deccan Traps, the following broad conclusions can be drawn about their mode of eruption:
- They erupted in a sub-aerial environment. Their relationship with the older rocks suggests this.
- Eruptions of the lava took place along linear fissures, forming fissure-type of eruptions and not from any central cone-type volcanoes. This is explained by numerous flows and their remarkably consistent horizontal attitude.
- The lava when erupted was in a highly liquid form, which is indicated by the long distances over which the individual flows could spread. This fact also suggests that the lava might have been super-heated to reach that state of mobility.
- A large number of dykes that have been found occurring intersecting many lava flows might be quite younger than those flows, but some such dykes might have also been the feeder dykes for the volcanic eruptions.
- The lava flows, especially after the beginning and before the close of the activity, passed through definite periods of no volcanic activity. During such periods streams and lakes appeared on the cooled and congealed volcanic landforms here and there and both animal and plant life domiciled these areas.
- This is indicated by the occurrence of inter-trappean layers found in the lower and upper flows and their fossil contents.

Characteristics of Deccan Trap:

They develop in semi-arid regions that are coated with basalt.
The soil is almost devoid of humus and is black due to the presence of titanium salt in the lava land that makes up the Deccan trap. They have a lot of lime in them.
Particularly in the lowlands and river valleys where it is deep and clayey, the soil holds moisture well and is extremely productive.
The construction of traps is very constant and regular; they are layered and the strata are practically horizontal everywhere, with an average dip (angle of inclination) of 5°–10°. This is similar to a homogenous mineralogical and chemical composition.
The thickness of the individual strata, known as lava flows, can range from 3 metres to 30 metres or even more.
The area of the flows is frequently much larger than the layer thickness, sometimes even reaching 100 km.
The Inter-Trappean Beds, which are non-volcanic sedimentary levels, frequently interrupt the consecutive flows. These show deposits in rivers and lakes with shallow water that developed during the lulls in the age’s volcanic activity.
There are several excellent fossils of animals and plants that may have survived during those times when there was no volcanic activity to be found in the inter-trappean strata. The age of the Traps has been interpreted using these fossils.

4. Women-only courts for alternative dispute resolution

Subject : Polity

Section: Judiciary

Concept :

The Centre is launching a unique initiative of setting up women-only courts – Nari Adalats – at the village level as an alternate dispute resolution forum for issues like domestic violence, property rights and countering the patriarchal system.

About the Nari Adalat [women’s court]:

The scheme would be run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development under the Sambal sub-scheme of Mission Shakti, which is dedicated to strengthening women’s safety, security and empowerment.
It would be launched on a pilot basis in 50 villages each in Assam and J&K and would be extended to the rest of the country over the next six months.
The implementation process will be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the Ministry of Rural Development and Common Service Centers operated by the MeitY.
The scheme takes inspiration from the Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats [People’s Court of Women] which were run by the National Commission for Women (NCW) till 2014-15.

Other Aspects of Nari Adalats:

The Nari Adalat of each village would have 7-9 members/Nyaya Sakhis[legal friends] –
Half of which would be the elected members of the gram panchayat and
The other half are women with social standing like teachers, doctors and social workers – who would be nominated by the villagers.
The head of Nari Adalat called the Mukhya Nyaya Sakhi [chief legal friend] will be chosen among the Nyaya Sakhis, generally for a six-month term.
The Nari Adalat though does not hold any legal status, has its primary focus on reconciliation, grievance redressal and creating awareness of rights and entitlements.

Significance of Nari Adalats:

The Nari Adalat will not only address individual cases but also raise awareness about social schemes under the government while collecting valuable feedback to enhance the effectiveness of these initiatives.
It will cater to all women and girls who require assistance or have grievances within the local community.

For further notes on Lok Adalat, refer – https://optimizeias.com/lok-adalats/

5. Centre adding more services to Ayushman Bharat health centres

Subject : Schemes

Concept :

India’s five-year-old Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) programme, which has grown to more than 1.60 lakhs centres and registered a footfall of over 178.87 crore (as of June end), is undergoing its biggest ever expansion of services, confirmed sources in the Health Ministry.
Under the latest expansion spree, the Central government is adding services, including screening, prevention, control & management of non-communicable diseases, care for common ophthalmic & ENT problems, basic oral health care, elderly and palliative health care services, emergency medical services, and screening and management of mental health ailments.

Essential list of medicines and diagnostics has been expanded

The essential list of medicines and diagnostics has been expanded to make available 171 medicines at Primary HWCs and 105 at Secondary Health Care-HWC and 63 diagnostics at PHC-HWC and 14 at SHC-HWC.

New cadre of Community Health Officers

A new cadre of Community Health Officers, 1.29 lakh in position, has been introduced at the level of SHC-HWC.
They will act as clinicians as well as public health managers.They will lead the team of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Anganwadi Workers (AWW) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifes (ANM).

About AB-HWCs

Started in 2018, AB-HWCs aims to deliver Comprehensive Primary Health Care, that is universal and free to users.
It focuses on wellness and the delivery of an expanded range of services closer to the community.
These centres deliver a range of comprehensive health care services like maternal and child health, services to address communicable and non-communicable diseases and services for elderly and palliative care.
AB-HWCs provide free essential medicines and diagnostic services, teleconsultation, and health promotion including wellness activities like Yoga.
Target
1,50,000 Sub Health Centres(SHC), Primary Health Centres (PHC) and Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) to be transformed as Health Wellness Centres by
As of 8 July 2023, there are 1,60,074 functional HWCs in India.
As on June 30, 2023, more than 2.16 crores wellness sessions have been conducted with participation of 23.83 crores individuals
Key Components
The delivery of comprehensive primary health carethrough HWCs involve is complex task as it requires a paradigm shift at all levels of health systems.

PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission

The scheme aims at strengthening healthcare infrastructure across the country.
Its objective is to fill gaps in public health infrastructure, especially in critical care facilities and primary care in both urban and rural areas.
Through this, critical care services will be available in all the districts of the country with more than five lakh population through exclusive critical care hospital blocks, while the remaining districts will be covered through referral services.
It will provide support to 17,788 rural Health and Wellness Centres in 10 ‘high focus’ states and establish 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centres across the country.
People will have access to a full range of diagnostic services in the public healthcare system through a network of laboratories across the country.
Integrated public health labs will also be set up in all districts, giving people access to “a full range of diagnostic services” through a network of laboratories across the country.
All the public health labs will be connected through the Integrated Health Information Portal, which will be expanded to all states and UTs.
An IT-enabled disease surveillance system will be established through a network of surveillance laboratories at block, district, regional and national levels.

Institutions to be set-up under the scheme:

Under the scheme, a national institution for one health, four new national institutes for virology, a regional research platform for WHO (World Health Organization) South East Asia Region, nine biosafety level-III laboratories, and five new regional national centres for disease control will be set up.
Biosafety Level 3: The pathogens that can cause serious health hazards are worked under biosafety level 3.

6. Archaeologists come up with rare findings in Tamil Nadu

Subject : History

Section: Art and Culture

Concept :

A gold stud, a bone point and a carnelian bead have been unearthed by archaeologists at Porpanaikottai in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu, where the State Archaeology Department has taken up excavation this year.
A Sangam-age fort is believed to have existed at the site.
A three-course brick structure was unearthed within a few days of digging. Over 150 antiques, including potsherds, hopscotches, spouts, pieces of glass bangles and beads, a terracotta lamp, a coin, a spindle whorl and rubbing stone, besides a couple of graffiti, have been found at the site so far.
Porpanaikottai, situated about 6.5 km to the east of Pudukottai town, is one of the new sites where the Department had taken up excavation this year.

Existence of fort

Studies carried out at the site using Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), a remote sensing method, had indicated that a fort had existed at Porpanaikottai.
A habitation mound spread over 1.26 hectares is believed to have existed within the fort. The excavation is currently focussed on this area.

7. A radio wireless system becomes force multiplier for disaster management team

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Awareness in Computers AI

Concept :

The District Emergency Operation Centre Thrissur, which received information about the missing fishing boat from the Coastal Jagratha Samithi, managed to contact the fishermen through the wireless system that functions in radio frequency. Their GPS location was shared with the Coast Guard team from Kochi and they were rescued.
A radio wireless system under the Revenue department in Thrissur has been used to effectively coordinate relief and rescue work during floods and natural calamities.
The system emerged as a force multiplier and a fallback for the disaster management force when power outages and remoteness render other communication systems defunct.
Interestingly, a radio wireless network system was installed in all districts in the State in 2009. But it was abandoned later due to poor range and lack of proper maintenance.
The network of 35-odd amateur radio operators (HAM radio) too can be integrated into the system in case of emergency.
Their service was used for official communication during the Thrissur Pooram when all the mobile services got jammed as lakhs of people gathered in the city.

Radio Access Network

A radio access network (RAN) is the part of a telecommunications system that connects individual devices to other parts of a network through radio connections.
A RAN resides between user equipment, such as a mobile phone, a computer or any remotely controlled machine, and provides the connection with its core network.
The system, which uses radio frequency, can function even when all other communication links fail.
The RAN is a major component of wireless telecommunications and has evolved through the generations of mobile networking leading up to 5G.
This network platform, similar to how open source software became a game changer in the 1990s, attempts to build telecom radio and base stations using non-proprietary technology.

HAM Radio

Amateur radio, also called ham radio, is a noncommercial two-way radio communications.
They use many frequency bands across the radio spectrum.
HAM radio is a real-time communication network. This is much like wireless communication which is quick and transparent.
Amateur Radio operators set up and operate organized communication networks locally for governmental and emergency officials, as well as non-commercial communication for private citizens affected by the disaster.
Amateur Radio operators are most likely to be active after disasters that damage regular lines of communications due to power outages and destruction of telephone, cellular and other infrastructure-dependent systems.

Indian Scenario

According to the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Amendment Rules, 1984, ‘Amateur service’ means a service of self training intercommunications and technical investigation carried on by Amateurs that is, by persons duly authorized under these rules interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.
It is a non-commercial radio communication service.
Amateur radio operators are commonly known as hams. The term “Ham radio” is used to describe the hobby of Amateur radio and not the equipment.
Similarly the term “Ham” is used to describe a radio amateur enthusiast and not the equipment.
Any citizen of India who is above 12 years of age can become a ham by qualifying in the Amateurs Station Operators’ examination (ASO) and obtaining a valid Amateur wireless telegraph station license.

8. Government brings GSTN under PMLA

Subject :Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Concept :

Aiming to plug tax evasion through fake billing, Centre has brought the GST Network (GSTN) under the purview of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This will give more power to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the anti-money laundering agency, to act against tax evasion within GSTN.
The government through a gazette notification, notified the exchange of information between ED and GSTN under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) to help in such kind of investigations.
The notification is regarding sharing of information between ED and GSTN under section 66(1)(iii) of PMLA
The notification will now facilitate sharing of information or material in possession between ED and GSTN, to check any violations of GST provisions.

Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN)

It is a non-profit organization, owned by government, which manages the entire IT system of the GST portal.
Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has built an Indirect Taxation platform for GST to help taxpayers in India to prepare, file returns, make payments of indirect tax liabilities and do other compliances.
It provides IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, taxpayers and other stakeholders for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India.
The GST System Project is a unique and complex IT initiative as it established for the first time a uniform interface for the taxpayer under indirect taxes through a common and shared IT infrastructure between the Centre and States.

Mission

Provide common and shared IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, Tax Payers and other stakeholders for implementation of the Goods & Services Tax (GST).
Provide common Registration, Return and Payment services to the Tax payers.
Partner with other agencies for creating an efficient and user-friendly GST Eco-system.
Encourage and collaborate with GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) to roll out GST Applications for providing simplified services to the stakeholders.
Carry out research, study best practises and provide Training and Consultancy to the Tax authorities and other stakeholders.
Provide efficient Backend Services to the Tax Departments of the Central and State Governments on request.
Develop Taxpayer Profiling Utility (TPU) for Central and State Tax Administration.
Assist Tax authorities in improving Tax compliance and transparency of the Tax Administration system.
Deliver any other services of relevance to the Central and State Governments and other stakeholders on request.

For further notes on PMLA, Money Laundering, refer – https://optimizeias.com/money-laundering/