Daily Prelims Notes 9 June 2020

June 9, 2020
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Table Of Contents

Subject: Polity

Context:

Lieutenant Governor of NCT of Delhi has overturned the Delhi government’s order on testing only those showing COVID-19 symptoms and restricting access to hospitals only to Delhi residents.

Concept:

Constitutional provision

As per Article 239, every UT in India shall be administered by the President, through an administrator to be appointed by him. He/She is called Lieutenant Governor in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry and Delhi.
Governor is an administrator and not a constitutional head.

Council of ministers Vs LG

The scheme that has been conceptualized by the insertion of Articles 239AA and 239AB with the provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and the corresponding Transaction of Business Rules, 1993 indicates that the Lieutenant Governor, being the Administrative head, shall be kept informed with respect to all the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers but this does not mean that the concurrence of the Lieutenant Governor is required said Supreme court
Lieutenant Governor is bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers and this position holds true so long as the Lieutenant Governor does not exercise his power under the proviso to clause (4) of Article 239AA.
The Lieutenant Governor has not been entrusted with any independent decision making power. He has to either act on the ‘aid and advice’ of Council of Ministers or he is bound to implement the decision taken by the President on a reference being made by him.
In the case of difference of opinion between the lieutenant governor and his ministers, the lieutenant governor has to refer the matter to the president for decision and act accordingly.
Under Article 239AA(3)(a), Parliament has the power to make laws for the NCT with respect to any matter in the State List and Concurrent List. The Delhi Legislative Assembly also has the power to make laws on all subjects in the Concurrent List and all but three subjects in the State List — namely, public order, police and land.
It clarified that the Centre will have exclusive power to make laws in respect of these three subjects but “in respect of other matters, the executive power is to be exercised by the Government of NCT of Delhi”.

2. Digital Divide

Subject: Economy/Society

Context:

Many states flagged concerns over the digital divide in education in a meeting called by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry to discuss the way forward for learning amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Concept:

Digital divide is a term that refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that don’t or have restricted access
The digital divide typically exists between those in cities and those in rural areas; between the educated and the uneducated; between socioeconomic groups; and, globally, between the more and less industrially developed nations.
According to CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd, a special purpose vehicle set up by the ministry of electronics and information technology, there has been a 100% surge in data consumption. There is a rural-urban component to the digital divide. Internet density in rural areas accounting for 66% of population is around 25%, while among urban population (34%), internet density is almost 98%.
According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, male users account for 67% of India’s online population; women account for just 29%.

3. Reverse Quarantine

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

Kerala state government has decided to put its senior citizens under reverse quarantine

Concept:

Reverse quarantine is a method of detaching the most vulnerable people from general public to protect them from contracting virus
Examples: Aged above 60, infants, Children

4. Gairsain

Subject: Geography/Polity

Context:

Uttarakhand governor has given her assent for declaration of Bhararisen (Gairsain) in Chamoli district as the summer capital of Uttarakhand

Concept:

The state was first carved out from Uttar Pradesh in 2000.
Gairsain was best suited to be the capital as it lay between Kumaon and Garhwal. However, Dehradun was named the ‘temporary capital’ instead.
Earlier, VN Dixit Commission which was set up to solve the problem had recommended that Dehradun should be made the permanent capital and rejected Gairsain as it is prone to earthquakes. The new summer capital falls under seismic zone 5, in a scale of 2 to 5 (in order of increasing vulnerability to earthquakes).
Gairsain is also the site of the source of the Ramgangariver, tributary of ganges.
Historically, it is believed that the Chinese traveller, Hiuen-Tsang visited Gairsain, the capital of Brahmaputra Kingdom during the 7th century.

Constitutional provisions

Article 2 and Article 3 of the Constitution of India confer exclusive and plenary powers upon Parliament to form or establish or completely alter and destroy the identity of existing states.
A state legislature, as per Clause (e) of Article 3 cannot even change the name of the state.
It is within the exclusive domain of Parliament to form any state, set boundaries, and name a state in the Union

5. Drugs in India to fight Covid

Subject: Science and tech

Concept:

Remdesivir

Remdesivir, an antiviral drug first developed for treating Ebola in 2014, is one of the possible Covid-19 treatments being investigated in the WHO’s Solidarity Trial.
It inhibits viral replication in the body.

Favipiravir

Favipiravir is an antiviral given to inhibit viral replication.
It is used as an anti-influenza drug.

Tocilizumab

This is an immunosuppressant commonly used to treat for rheumatoid arthritis.
In Mumbai, more than 100 severely ill Covid patients have been treated with this expensive drug (Rs 40,000-60,000 per dose) as a preventive against ventilator requirement

Hydroxychloroquine

This antimalarial drug is a subject of debate over its efficacy against Covid.
The WHO halted its HCQ arm in the Solidarity Trial following a study in The Lancet, then reinstated it after a retraction by the authors.
India is the largest producer of this drug. Doctors use HCQ use in Covid patients with symptoms as mild as headache, fever, body pain, and even in critically ill patients. ICMR guidelines recommend low doses for nine days.

Doxycycline + ivermectin

Doxycycline is an antibiotic used to fight infection in the urinary tract, eye, or respiratory tract.
Ivermectin is an anti-parasite drug for treatment of scabies, head lice, and filariasis.
The combination is used to treat Covid patients with acute symptoms.

Ritonavir + lopinavir

These antivirals are commonly used to treat HIV patients.
They are being investigated in the Solidarity Trial.

Plasma therapy

This is meant for critical patients with low oxygen saturation levels, or those suffering a cytokine storm.
Patients who have recovered from severe Covid-19 donate their plasma, which is then injected into other critical patients to boost their immunity.
A protocol approved by ICMR is used to select which patient is best suited for plasma therapy. Preference is given to those at risk of cytokine storm, extreme breathlessness with severe pneumonia.

6. Delhi Earthquake

Subject: Geography

Context:

Recently, eleventh minor earthquake recorded in and around Delhi since May, the most powerful of which happened to be of magnitude 3.4.

Concept:

The Earth’s crust consists of seven large lithospheric plates and numerous smaller plates. These plates move towards each other (a convergent boundary), apart (a divergent boundary) or past each other (a transform boundary).

Earthquakes are caused by a sudden release of stress along faults in the earth’s crust. The continuous motion of tectonic plates causes a steady build-up of pressure in the rock strata on both sides of a fault until the stress is sufficiently great that it is released in a sudden, jerky movement. The resulting waves of seismic energy propagate through the ground and over its surface, causing the shaking we perceive as earthquakes.

Types of Earthquake:

Tectonic Earthquakes

Earthquakes caused by plate tectonics are called tectonic quakes. They account for most earthquakes worldwide and usually occur at the boundaries of tectonic plates.

Induced Earthquakes

Induced quakes are caused by human activity, like tunnel construction, filling reservoirs and implementing geothermal or fracking projects.

Volcanic Earthquakes

Volcanic quakes are associated with active volcanism. They are generally not as powerful as tectonic quakes and often occur relatively near the surface. Consequently, they are usually only felt in the vicinity of the hypocenter.

Collapse Earthquakes

Collapse quakes can be triggered by such phenomena as cave-ins, mostly in karst areas or close to mining facilities, as a result of subsidence.

Seismic Zones:

According to the macro seismic zoning map of entire India, the Bureau of Indian Standards has classified the entire country into four major groups — Zone V (high intensity) to Zone II (low intensity).
Around 30% of Delhi falls under Zone V, while the rest is under Zone IV.
The Delhi-NCR region is very peculiar with regard to seismic activities. It has several faultlines that generate earthquakes, but it also feels the impact of quakes that are epicentred as far as the Hindukush mountains in Afghanistan and even in Nepal.
Even a strong earthquake in the Himalayan belt may pose a threat to Delhi-NCR. The fact is that this region is only 150-odd km from the active Himalayan seismic belt. Also, the large sediment thickness (loose soil) in the Ganga Alluvial Plains to the north of Delhi tends to amplify the impact of earthquakes.

7. Global Economic Prospects

Subject: Economy

Context:

In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank predicted a 3.2 per cent contraction in India’s economy during the current fiscal year

Concept:

Global economy is expected to contract by 5.2 per cent as a result of the the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will be the deepest recession in global economy since the second World War, the World Bank also said.
According to the report, economic activity among advanced economies is anticipated to shrink by seven per cent in 2020 as domestic demand and supply, trade and finance have been severely disrupted.
Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) are expected to shrink by 2.5 per cent this year, their first contraction as a group in at least 60 years, it said.

8. Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT)

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

The Indian Air Force has inducted an indigenously designed and manufactured pod called ARPIT.

Concept:

It will be used for evacuation of critical patients suffering from infectious diseases like COVID-19 from isolated and remote areas.
The isolation system has a suitable number of air exchanges, integration of medical monitoring instruments, and ventilation for an intubated patient
In addition, the pod generates high constant negative pressure in the isolation chamber for prevention of infection risk to air crew, ground crew and health care workers involved in air transportation