DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 30th May 2022

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Geography
• Mains – GS 1 (Distribution of Key Natural Resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent)

In News: The Bihar government has decided to accord permission for exploration of the “country’s largest” gold reserve in Jamui district

• As per a Geological Survey of India (GSI) survey, around 88 million tonnes of gold reserve, including 37.6 tonnes of mineral-rich ore, are present in Jamui district.
• GSI findings indicated the presence of gold in areas such as Karmatia, Jhajha and Sono in Jamui district

Gold reserve in India

• As per National Mineral Inventory data, the total reserves/resources of gold ore (primary) in the country have been estimated at 501.83 million tonnes as of 2015
• The largest reserves of gold ores are located in Bihar (44 per cent), followed by Rajasthan (25 per cent), Karnataka (21 per cent), West Bengal (3 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (3 per cent), Jharkhand (2 per cent).
• The remaining 2 per cent reserves are in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Survey

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is actively engaged in geological mapping, followed by mineral exploration and surveys, of various mineral commodities with an aim to identify potential mineral rich zones and establish resources.

Geological Survey of India

• The GSI is a government organisation in India, attached to the Ministry of Mines for conducting geological surveys and studies.
• It is one of the premier organisations of earth science survey and research in the world.
• The GSI was established in 1851 and is one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey institution in the country.
• It is the prime provider of basic earth science information to the government, industry and the general public.
• Its main function is related to creation and updation of national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment.

Mining in India

• MMDR (Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 regulates the overall mining sector in India

Categories of minerals:

As per the available legislations in the country, all minerals have been classified into two categories namely.

• Major minerals: major minerals are minerals like agate, asbestos, barytes, bauxite, cadmium, calcite, china clay, coal. Copper lead, manganese, mica, nickel, rock phosphate, soapstone, tungsten, wollastonite, zinc, etc., as specified in second schedule appended with the mmdr act 1957.
• Minor minerals: the minor mineral are building stone, gravel, ordinary clay, ordinary sand and any other mineral which the central government may by notification in the official gazette declare as minor mineral.
• The MMDR Amendment Act of 2015 introduces Mineral Concessions Grant through auctions to bring transparency and remove discretion; The District Mineral Foundation (DMF) to address the longtime grievance of the people affected by mining; and the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) for incentivizing regional and detailed exploration to fill the gaps in exploration in the country, and stringent measures to check illegal mining.

How are Minerals regulated in India?

Ownership of Mineral:

• The State Governments are the owners of minerals located within the boundary of the State concerned.
• District Mineral Foundations are statutory bodies in India established by the State Governments by notification. They derive their legal status from Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
• The objective of District Mineral Foundation is to work for the interest of the benefit of the persons and areas affected mining related operations in such manner as may be prescribed by the State Government.
• The Central Government is the owner of the minerals underlying the ocean within the territorial waters or the Exclusive Economic Zone of India.

Granting Mineral Concessions:

• The State Governments grant mineral concessions for all the minerals located within the boundary of the State, under the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.
• However, for minerals specified in the First Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 approval of the Central Government is necessary. Schedule I contains minerals such as coal and lignite, minerals of the “rare earths” group containing Uranium and Thorium.
• Also, the Central Government notifies certain minerals as ‘minor’ minerals from time to time for which the absolute powers for deciding on procedures of seeking applications for and granting mineral concessions, fixing rates of royalty, dead rent, and power to revise orders rest only with the State Government.

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) With reference to the mineral resources of India, consider the following pairs: (2010)

 Mineral         90% Natural sources in

1. Copper:        Jharkhand
2. Nickel:      Orissa
3. Tungsten:    Kerala

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Q.2) Consider the following minerals: (2020)

1. Bentonite
2. Chromite
3. Kyanite
4. Sillimanite

In India, which of the above is/are officially designated as major minerals?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 4 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 2, 3 and 4 only

Source: The Hindu 

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Economy
• Mains – GS 3 (Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment)

Why in News: On August 31, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will release the so-called “Provisional Estimates (or PEs)” of GDP for the last financial year (2021-22).

What are Provisional Estimates and what is their significance?

• The provisional estimates are important because they will be the first formal estimates of how India grew in the full financial year 2021-22.
• In the past, MoSPI has released two “advance” estimates of GDP.
• The first advance estimates (FAEs) were released on January 7th and they expected India’s GDP to grow by 9.2% in 2021-22.
• Next, in end-February, the MoSPI updated the FAEs by adding data for the third quarter (October to December).
• These were labelled as the second advance estimates (SAEs). The SAEs dialled down the full-year growth to 8.9%.
• The provisional estimates (or PEs) that will be released on August 31 will go a step further.
• They will add the data from the fourth quarter (January to March) and thus provide the most complete picture of how India’s economy performed in 2021-22.
• The GDP growth in 2021-22 will tell us the extent of India’s economic recovery.
• Apart from telling us how robust was India’s recovery, the provisional estimates will also set the base on which the current financial year’s GDP growth will be calculated.

What to look for in provisional estimates?

GDP and GVA

• For any financial year, the two main variables of national income are GDP and GVA (or Gross Value Added).
• The GDP calculates India’s national income by adding up all the expenditures in the economy while the GVA calculates the national income from the supply side by looking at the value-added in each sector of the economy.
• While both the variables measure national income, they are linked as follows:
• GDP = (GVA) + (Taxes earned by the government) — (Subsidies provided by the government).
• As such, if the government earned more from taxes than what it spent on subsidies, GDP will be higher than GVA.
• If, on the other hand, the government provided subsidies in excess of its tax revenues, the absolute level of GVA would be higher than the absolute level of GDP.

• This set of data is based on the SAEs. But the provisional estimates will update all these data points.

GDP vs GVA

• GDP maps the economy from the expenditure (or demand) side — that is by adding up all the expenditures.

• The Gross Value Added (GVA) provides a picture of the economy from the supply side.
• GVA maps the “value-added” by different sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry and services.

 In 2015, India opted to make major changes to its compilation of national accounts and decided to bring the whole process into conformity with the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA) of 2008.

• Change of base year from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012
• Replacing Factor Cost with Market Prices
• Broadening of data pool
• Improved coverage of financial corporations in GDP estimation (like stock brokers, stock exchanges, asset management companies, mutual funds and pension funds).

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) Increase in absolute and per capita real GNP do not connote a higher level of economic development, if (2018)

1. industrial output fails to keep pace with agricultural output
2. agricultural output fails to keep pace with industrial output
3. poverty and unemployment increase
4. imports grow faster than exports

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Science and Technology

In News: The Kerala health department is on alert after the death of a 47-year-old from Thrissur due to the West Nile Virus.

• Earlier in 2019, a six-year-old boy in Malappuram district had died of the same infection.
• The virus was first reported in the state in Alappuzha in 2006 and then in Ernakulam in 2011.

West Nile Virus

• The West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne, single-stranded RNA virus
• It is a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of the family Flaviviridae.
• WNV is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia

Detection of WNV:

• WNV was first isolated in a woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937.
• It was identified in birds in the Nile delta region in 1953. Before 1997, WNV was not considered pathogenic for birds.
• WNV outbreak sites are found along major bird migratory routes.
• Human infections attributable to WNV have been reported in many countries for over 50 years.

Transmission:

• WNV is an infectious disease spread by infected mosquitoes.
• It spreads from birds to humans with the bite of an infected Culex mosquito. It can lead to a fatal neurological disease in humans.
• Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which circulate the virus in their blood for a few days. The virus eventually gets into the mosquito’s salivary glands. During later blood meals (when mosquitoes bite), the virus may be injected into humans and animals, where it can multiply and possibly cause illness
• WNV can also spread through blood transfusion, from an infected mother to her child, or through exposure to the virus in laboratories.
• To date, no human-to-human transmission of WNV through casual contact has been documented

Symptoms:

• The disease is asymptomatic in 80% of the infected people
• The symptoms include a fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph glands. They can last a few days to several weeks, and usually go away on their own.
• If West Nile virus enters the brain, it can be life-threatening.
• It may cause inflammation of the brain, called encephalitis, or inflammation of the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, called meningitis.

Treatment:

• There are no specific vaccines or treatments for human WNV disease.
• The best way to avoid WNV is to prevent mosquito bites.

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) Consider the following statements:

1. In tropical regions, Zika virus disease is transmitted by ‘the same mosquito that transmits dengue.
2. Sexual transmission of Zika virus disease is possible.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Polity
• Mains – GS 2 (Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections of the population by the Centre and States and the Performance of these Schemes; Mechanisms, Laws, Institutions and Bodies constituted for the Protection and Betterment of these Vulnerable Sections)

In News: The apex court in its order stated that sex workers are entitled to dignity and equal protection under the law.

• A long-standing demand of sex workers that their work be decriminalised has been partially fulfilled with the Supreme Court.

What was the case about?

• In 2010, an appeal was filed in the SC against a 2007 order of the Calcutta High Court which upheld the life imprisonment imposed on a man named Budhadev Karmaskar, found guilty of murdering a sex worker in Kolkata’s red light area in September 1999.
• The court suo motu converted the case into a PIL to address the problems of sex workers.
• The court held that the Central and the State Governments should prepare schemes for rehabilitation for physically and sexually abused women commonly known as prostitutes through Social Welfare Boards.
• The Court had ruled in Budhadev Karmaskar (2011), that sex workers are also entitled to a “life of dignity” under Article 21 of the Constitution
• The SC also appointed a panel to make suitable suggestions on prevention of trafficking and rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave sex work.

What did the panel say in its report?

• In its final report submitted in 2016, the panel noted that sex workers
• Found it difficult to acquire proofs of identity such as ration cards or voter cards because they lacked a proof of residence
• District authorities did not recognise the identities of sex workers and their children
• No access to schemes meant for their rehabilitation
• No access to credit offered by states, because the lack of documents prevented them from opening bank accounts
• The committee recommended that amendments should be made to The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
• Centre’s response- In 2020, the government informed the SC that a Group of Ministers has been constituted to examine the two draft legislations and the SC panel report shall be taken into consideration by the Group of Ministers.

What is the recent court ruling?

• In 2020, the SC directed States and Union Territories to provide dry rations to sex workers identified by National Aids Control Organization (NACO) without insisting on proof of identity.
• Recently, the court noted that despite its assurances, the Centre was still to bring a law on the subject.
• The court used its extraordinary powers under Article 142 and directed that the recommendations in respect of sex workers and other connected issues be implemented by states and UTs.
• Recommendations to be implemented- The order listed 10 recommendations of the panel, and directed that six of them should be implemented.
• provision for immediate medical assistance for any sex worker who is a victim of sexual assault
• direction to states to do a survey of all Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act Protective Homes
• sensitising police and other law enforcement agencies to the rights of sex workers and to ensure that police treat them with dignity and should not abuse them verbally and physically
• ask the Press Council of India to issue appropriate guidelines for the media to take utmost care not to reveal the identities of sex workers
• measures that sex workers employ for their health and safety must neither be construed as offences nor seen as evidence of commission of an offence

Prostitution in India

• It is said that prostitution is the oldest profession in the world.
• In India, their presence can be dated back to ancient times with scriptures mentioning the presence of three kinds of women — those who were chaste and devoted to a single man (even if the man had many wives).
• The second were women who kept away from men and lived as nuns.
• The third kind were women who had multiple lovers and were attached to no single man.
• In later times, such women were considered the wives of a temple deity or a Devdasi, who saw their god in all their lovers.
• This last kind of women has often been described in modern literature as ancient sex workers or prostitutes or sacred concubines.

Laws around prostitution in India

• While the profession has long been prevalent in India, its legal status has always been under a cloud and many have over the years demanded that it be legalised.
• Currently, as per the Indian Penal Code (IPC), prostitution is not in a broad sense illegal, but several activities under prostitution are punishable by law.
• As per the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986, sex workers can practice their profession but activities, including pimping and running a brothel are considered a punishable offence.
• It is illegal to procure, induce, or abduct a person for prostitution.
• The law further mentions that the practice cannot take place within a 200-metre radius of any public place. To participate in prostitution lawfully, sex-worker must choose an isolated location.
• This clearly puts the legality of profession of prostitution in ambiguity.
• While the legality of sex work is vague in India, until now, other countries across the world have legalised the profession, granting sex workers equal rights and protection.
• Across Europe, countries such as Germany, Netherlands, France, Greece have legalised the profession.

How significant is the court order?

• By holding that basic protection of human decency and dignity extends to sex workers and their children, the Court has struck a blow for the rights of an exploited, vulnerable section.
• It has asked State governments to do a survey of protective homes to review the cases of adult women detained there and process their release in a time-bound manner.
• The Court’s observations shall help sensitise the police, media and society toward sex workers.

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Geography (Places in News)
• Mains – GS 2 (Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora)

In News: Russia storms key city in eastern Ukraine

• Heavy fighting in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk
• Ukrainian regional officials reported Russian forces “storming” Sievierodonetsk after trying unsuccessfully to encircle the city.

Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk

• Sievierodonetsk, located about 143 kilometres south of the Russian border, has emerged in recent days as the epicentre of Moscow’s quest to capture all of Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region.

• Russia also stepped up its efforts to take nearby Lysychansk, where civilians rushed to escape persistent shelling.
• The two eastern cities span the strategically-important Siverskiy Donetsk river.
• They are the last major areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province, which makes up the Donbas together with neighbouring Donetsk.

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) Consider the following pairs: (2018)

Regions sometimes mentioned in news         Country

1. Catalonia            —                                  Spain
2. Crimea      —                                 Hungary
3. Mindanao    —                                Philippines
4. Oromia     —                                Nigeria

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

1. 1, 2 and 3
2. 3 and 4 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 2 and 4 only

Source: Times of India

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Polity
• Mains – GS 4(Foundational Values for Civil Service; Ethics – in Private and Public Relationships)

In News: An IAS couple is transferred after dog-walking incident on the tracks of Thyagraj Stadium, Delhi at a time when young athletes should have been practising on it.

What rules govern the behaviour of high officials of the government?

• The three All India Services (IAS, IPS, Indian Forest Service) are governed by the All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968. There are 23 Rules in all
• The other civil services are governed by the Central Civil Services (CCS) Conduct Rules, 1964, which comprise 25 Rules
• By an amendment in August 2014, several points were added that may be seen as having a bearing on the conduct of the IAS officers in the recent cases. These include:
• Every member of the Service shall commit himself to and uphold the supremacy of the Constitution and democratic values;
• not misuse his position as civil servant and not take decisions in order to derive financial or material benefits for himself, his family or his friends;
• act with fairness and impartiality and not discriminate against anyone, particularly the poor and the under-privileged sections of society;
• Refrain from doing anything which is or may be contrary to any law, rules, regulations and established practices, among others things.
• The overarching Rule for civil servants is: Every member of the Service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the Service.
• “They shall maintain high ethical standards, integrity and honesty; political neutrality; accountability and transparency; responsiveness to the public, particularly to the weaker section; courtesy and good behaviour with the public.”

Importance of values and ethics to Public Servant

• Public service values or civil service values are those values and ethics should be followed while carrying out their duties.

Values to be followed

• Adhere to the Values such as Integrity, Honesty, Objectivity, Non-partisanship, Impartiality, Empathy, Compassion, Conflict of interest etc
• Patriotism and upholding national pride
• Allegiance to the Constitution and the law of the nation
• Objectivity, honesty, care and diligence, courtesy and transparency
• Maintain absolute integrity.
• Discharge official duties with competence and accountability; without discrimination and in accordance with the law.
• Ensure effective management, professional growth and leadership development.
• Avoid misuse of official position or information and using the public moneys with utmost care and economy.
• Function with the objective serving public.
• Public Servants are to serve as instruments of good governance and to provide services for the betterment of the public at large.
• Foster socio-economic development, with due regard to the diversity of the nation
• These values ensure an effective civil service which functions honestly, impartially and efficiently.
• These values empower the administrator to fill the gaps of trust deficit between the citizens and the Government.
• These foundational values provide lawfulness to the behavior of an administrator and make it more effective.
• Since civil servants have discretionary powers the values are important to give them certain guidance to prevent abuse of power.

Source: Indian Express

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Science and Technology
• Mains – GS 3 (Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life)

In News: Recently, Prime Minister of India inaugurated the country’s first indigenous test bed to help support the ecosystem around 5G.

• Earlier this year, the Government reiterated its plans to conduct auctions for 5G spectrum in June and expected services to be rolled out by the third quarter of the year.
• With increased capacity, lower latency, and energy efficiency, 5G is expected to significantly improve the state of art and enable new applications

5G

• Radio electronics refers to a broad range of technologies that can transmit, receive and process wireless signals.
• While these technologies can utilize electromagnetic spectrum that goes all the way up to 300GHz, the lower frequencies of this spectrum are particularly attractive.
• Lower frequency signals can travel longer distances and penetrate obstacles with lesser attenuation.
• Electronic components (amplifiers, transmitters, receivers) operating at lower frequencies are also easier to design and manufacture.
• Consequently, much of the bandwidth in the lower frequencies of this spectrum has already been allocated for several applications (mobile communications currently use the spectrum from 800MHz to 2.5 GHz).

New spectrum for 3GHz

• With the increasing demand for mobile services, the currently allocated spectrum is proving inadequate.
• At the simplest level, 5G represents the allocation of new spectrum to increase capacity.
• Since most of the spectrum at lower frequencies is already being utilised — much of this new spectrum is being allocated at higher frequencies.
• The first deployments in India will be around 3GHz, but will expand to 25 GHz and beyond.

While operating at higher frequencies has some fundamental challenges, it offers some unique opportunities as well

• As 5G services evolve to occupy higher frequencies, it will significantly increase the bandwidth available for mobile services.
• However, at these frequencies the design of the transmitting and receiving equipment becomes more complex.
• Signal attenuation also increases. So, the coverage area of each cell tower will decrease which will require the towers to be more closely spaced.
• At higher frequencies it becomes easier to direct a signal in specific direction.
• So, signals transmitted from a cell tower can be more precisely directed at a specific user
• Intuitively, this enhanced directivity results in less interference between signals meant for different users which directly translate to increased capacity.
• Since much of the 5G infrastructure is being built from ground up, there is a chance to redesign the technology to make it more suitable for the evolving communication needs of the future.
• 5G places special emphasis on low latency, energy efficiency and standardization – Low delays between transmission and reception of messages are extremely critical to avoid accidents. For instance, Self-driving cars is an illustrative example
• As 5G rolls out, over the next several years the volume of data is expected to exponentially increase. To ensure that there isn’t a corresponding increase in the energy usage, 5G places a lot of importance on energy efficiency
• Greater attention to standardisation is another important aspect of 5G enable the rapid deployment of 5G infrastructure there is an industry-wide effort to standardise interaction between components.

Thus, while operating at higher frequencies has some fundamental challenges, it offers some unique opportunities as well.

Way forward

• There should be lot of research in both industry and academia centred around 5G.
• Convergence of positioning, sensing and communication – traditionally, positioning, sensing and communication have been seen as separate technologies (for e.g., GPS is used for positioning, and radar for sensing). However, all three technologies involve transmission and reception of radio signals — hence it is possible for positioning and sensing to piggy back on 5G infrastructure that is primarily meant for communication.
• There should be research around cost and energy efficient electronic devices that can transmit and receive high frequency signals. This involves delving into the fundamental physics of semiconductor technologies and is expected to lay the foundation for the growth of wireless technology into higher frequency bands.

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q.1) With reference to “Blockchain Technology”, consider the following statements: (2020)

1. It is a public ledger that everyone can inspect, but which no single user controls.
2. The structure and design of blockchain is such that all the data in it are about cryptocurrency only.
3. Applications that depend on basic features of blockchain can be developed without anybody’s permission.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 2 only
3. 2 only
4. 1 and 3 only

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus

• GS-1: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues
• GS-2: Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Context: In a significant order, the Supreme Court has issued a slew of directions concerning rehabilitation measures of sex workers.

• With the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill yet to see the light of day, the Court invoked powers under Article 142 to issue guidelines till the legislation is in force.
• The directions were based on recommendations made by a panel appointed by the court in 2011 on the rehabilitation of sex workers.
• The panel was asked to study and make suitable suggestions on prevention of trafficking, rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave sex work and to create conducive conditions for sex workers to live with dignity in accordance with the provisions of Article 21.

Read Complete Details on Sex Workers

Q.1) Karmatia, Jhajha and Sono regions recently in news, are related to?

1. Conflict areas between Assam and Mizoram
2. Disputed islands between India and Bangladesh
3. Gold reserves in Bihar
4. Conflict areas on Line of Actual Control

Q.2) With reference to West Nile Virus, consider the following statements

1. The West Nile Virus is a single-stranded DNA virus
2. It spreads from birds to humans with the bite of an infected Culex mosquito
3. Recently, WHO in collaboration with GLASS has developed vaccine to treat West Nile Virus fever

Choose the incorrect statements:

1. 1, 2 and 3
2. 1 only
3. 1 and 3
4. 3 only

Q.3) Consider the following statements

1. Lower frequency signals can travel longer distances and penetrate obstacles with lesser attenuation
2. At higher frequencies it becomes easier to direct a signal in specific direction

Choose the correct statements:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’30th MAY 2022 – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs.

Q.1) – a

Q.2) – b

Q.3) – c