pre-cure 1st week july 2020 - sleepy classes

PRE-Cure (Relevant Current Affairs for UPSC Civil Services Examination)

Weekly Compilation for

1st Week of

July 2020 (29nd June - 4th July)

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Table of Contents

1. Geography 1 .............................................................................................................

1.1.Decarbonizing Transport Project 1 .......................................................................................

1.2.Styrene Gas Leak Case 2 ..........................................................................................................

1.3.Wheat Contributor 3 ................................................................................................................

1.4.Kushinagar Airport - International Airport 4 .....................................................................

1.5.Shwe Oil & Gas Project in Myanmar 4 .................................................................................

1.6.Pangong TSO 4 ...........................................................................................................................

1.7.Japan to Rename Islands Disputed with China 5 .............................................................

1.8.Senkaku Islands 6 ......................................................................................................................

2. Polity & Governance 7 ..........................................................................................

2.1.Kholongchu Hydropower Project 7 ......................................................................................

2.2.Navigating the new normal 7 .................................................................................................

2.3.PM Formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises (PM FME) 8 .............................................

2.4.Attorney General of India 8 ....................................................................................................

3. Environment & Ecology 9 ....................................................................................

3.1.Urban Forest in Delhi 9 ............................................................................................................

3.2.Central Zoo Authority (CZA) 9 ...............................................................................................

3.3.Globba Andersonii 9 .................................................................................................................

3.4.Uttarakhand Okays Forest Land Transfer 10 .......................................................................

3.5.Assam Keelback 10 .....................................................................................................................

3.6.Sankalp Parva 11 .........................................................................................................................

3.7.Tillari Conservation Reserve 11 ...............................................................................................

3.8.National Mission for Clean Ganga 12 ....................................................................................

4. Science & Technology 13 ........................................................................................

4.1.G4 Flu Virus 13 .............................................................................................................................

4.2.Accelerate Vigyan Scheme 13 ..................................................................................................

4.3.Drug Discovery Hackathon 13.................................................................................................

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1. Geography Click here to watch the following questions on YouTube

1.1.Decarbonizing Transport Project • NITI Aayog in collaboration with International Transport Forum (ITF) is set to launch the

“Decarbonising Transport in India” project with the intention to develop a pathway towards a low-

carbon transport system for India.

Decarbonising Transport in India

• The transport sector is India’s is third-most greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector. As much as 13% of

India’s carbon dioxide emissions come from the transport sector, more than three times of what it

emitted in 1990.

• The project will help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system through the

development of modelling tools and policy scenario

• The project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India.

• It will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity

and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.

• The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s

“Decarbonising Transport” initiative. It is part of the “Decarbonising Transport in Emerging

Economies” (DTEE) family of projects, which supports transport decarbonisation across different

world regions.

International Transport Forum’s “Decarbonising Transport” initiative.

• The Decarbonising Transport initiative promotes carbon-neutral mobility to help stop climate change.

• It provides decision makers with tools to select CO2 mitigation measures that deliver on their climate

commitment.

The Decarbonising Transport initiative helps governments and industry to translate climate ambitions into actions. Specifically, it:

• Builds a catalogue of effective CO2 mitigation measures.

• Provides targeted analytical assistance for countries and partners to identify climate actions that

work.

• Gathers and shares evidence for best practices that will accelerate the transition to carbon-neutral

mobility.

• Shapes the climate change debate by building a global policy dialogue and by bringing the transport

perspective to the broader climate change discussions.

Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies

• One of the biggest challenges for climate change mitigation is to enable emerging economies to

continue lifting people out of poverty while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


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• The ITF’s Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies (DTEE) project helps governments of

emerging nations to identify ways to reduce their transport CO2 emissions and meet their climate

goals.

• The DTEE project supports transport decarbonisation in Argentina, Azerbaijan, India and Morocco.

• It is designing a common assessment framework for transport emissions that will cover several

transport sub-sectors and transport modes.

• Country-specific modelling tools and policy scenarios will help the participating governments to

implement ambitious CO2-reduction initiatives for their transport sectors.

• Stakeholder workshops, training sessions, briefings for policy makers and mitigation action plans will

stimulate further research and the development of policies beyond the duration of the project.

International Transport Forum (ITF)

• The ITF is an inter-governmental organisation within the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-

operation and Development) system.

• It is the only global body with a mandate for all modes of transport.

• India has been a member of ITF since 2008.

OECD

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an intergovernmental economic

organisation with 37 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world

trade.

• India is NOT a member of OECD.

1.2.Styrene Gas Leak Case • The Visakhapatnam gas leak, also referred to as the Vizag gas leak, was an industrial accident that

occurred at the LG Polymers chemical plant in R. R. Venkatapuram village near Gopalapatnam on the

outskirts of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.

• Factory: To Manufacture polystyrene.

• When: While reopening the factory that was shut for lockdown.

What is styrene?

• Styrene is a flammable liquid. It is used in the manufacturing of polystyrene plastics, fibreglass,

rubber, and latex.

Note

• Vizag Police has maintained that the gas is “non-poisonous” and is only fatal when exposed for longer

durations.

Important Associated Acts:

• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

• Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986

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• Hazardous Waste (Management Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 1989

• Manufacture, Storage And Import Of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989

• Chemical Accidents (Emergency, Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996

• Factories Amendment Act, 1987

• Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991

1.3.Wheat Contributor • Madhya Pradesh - number one contributor of wheat.

• Previously - Punjab

• Punjab, however, is still a way ahead from MP as far as per hectare productivity of wheat is

concerned, which is around 52 per cent more (per hectare) than MP.

• “If we compare the total production of both the states, MP’s production is 92 per cent more than

Punjab but their area under wheat too is 192 per cent more than Punjab.



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1.4.Kushinagar Airport - International Airport • Uttar Pradesh.

• Buddhist Pilgrimage Site

• Gautam Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana.

• located in the vicinity of several Buddhist Cultural Sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu and Lumbini.

1.5.Shwe Oil & Gas Project in Myanmar • Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved additional investment of US$ 121.27 million

(about Rs.909 crore) by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) towards further development of blocks A-1 and A-3

Blocks of Shwe oil & gas project in Myanmar.

1.6.Pangong TSO • Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about

4,350 m (14,270 ft).

• It is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China.

• It is not a part of the Indus river basin area and geographically a separate landlocked river basin.

• The lake is in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of

international importance. This will be the first trans-boundary wetland in South Asia under the

convention.

• The LAC mostly passes on the land, but Pangong Tso is a unique case where it passes through the

water as well. The points in the water at which the Indian claim ends and Chinese claim begins are not

agreed upon mutually.



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• It lies in the path of the Chushul approach, one

of the main approaches that China can use for

an offensive into Indian-held territory.

Chusul Approach

• Chushul is one of the five officially agreed

Border Personnel Meeting points between the

Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army

of China for regular consultations and

interactions between the two armies to improve

relations.

1.7.Japan to Rename Islands Disputed with China • A local council in southern Japan voted recently to rename an area, including islands disputed with

China and Taiwan.

• To change the name of the area covering the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands — known by Taiwan

and China as the Diaoyus — from “Tonoshiro” to “Tonoshiro Senkaku”.

• But the uninhabited islands are at the centre of a festering row between Tokyo and Beijing and the

move by the small local council -- which does not carry national governmental weight -- sparked anger

in both Taiwan and mainland China.



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1.8.Senkaku Islands • The Senkaku Islands dispute, or Diaoyu Islands dispute, concerns a territorial dispute over a group of

uninhabited islands located in East China Sea known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, the Diaoyu

Islands in the China.

• They are currently controlled by Japan. But both China and Taiwan claim sovereignty over the islands.

Remember

• After World War Two, Japan renounced claims to a number of territories and islands including Taiwan

in the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco.

• These islands, however, came under US trusteeship and were returned to Japan in 1971 under the

Okinawa reversion deal.



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2. Polity & Governance Click here to watch the following questions on YouTube

2.1.Kholongchu Hydropower Project • India and Bhutan signed concession agreement in June 2020

• The Kholongchhu project is one of four additional projects agreed to in 2008, as a part of India’s

commitment to help Bhutan create a total 10,000 MW of installed capacity by 2020

• PM Modi laid the foundation stone of this 600 MW project in 2014

• It is the first time an India-Bhutan hydropower project will be constructed as a 50:50 joint venture,

not as a government-to-government agreement

• It is a joint venture between India and Bhutan — India's Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) and

Bhutan's Druk Green Power Corporation Limited (DGPC)

• It is the first joint venture project to be implemented under an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA)

signed in 2014

• GoI will provide, as a grant, the equity share of the Bhutanese DGPC in the JV Company. Once the

project is commissioned, the JV partners will run it for 30 years, called the concession period, after

which the full ownership will transfer to the Bhutan government, which will receive power from the

project as a “royalty” in the interim

India-Bhutan Partnership

• Under this four hydropower projects have been built in the last 30 years totalling a capacity of 2,100

MW, and another two are under construction.

Benefits

It is an example of win-win cooperation for both countries

• Hydropower projects generate export revenue for Bhutan

• Cement our economic partnership

• Provide clean and low-cost electricity to India

2.2.Navigating the new normal • Behaviour change campaign launched by NITI Aayog to help people follow norms to contain the

spread of COVID-19

• Focuses on COVID-safe behaviour, especially wearing masks

• Campaign has two parts

1. Web portal: Contains resources informed by behavioural science and use of nudge and social

norms theory

2. Media campaign focused on wearing masks



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2.3.PM Formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises (PM FME) • It aims to bring in new technology, apart from affordable credit to help small entrepreneurs penetrate

new markets

• Rs 10000 crore scheme for micro enterprises which offers 50% subsidy for storage and

transportation to prevent distress sale by farmers

• It will be implemented for five years until 2024-25

• Micro enterprises will get 35% subsidy on project cost, with a ceiling of Rs 10 lakh

• Beneficiaries will contribute at least 10% of the project cost while the balance will come from loans

Operation Greens Scheme

• It has also been extended from tomato, onion and potato (TOP) crops to notified horticulture crops

for providing subsidy for their transportation and storage from surplus production area

• It will prevent post-harvest losses and distress sale by farmers when prices fall

Objective

• Reduce food wastage

• Increase farmers’ income

• Push for investment in food processing sector

• Create employment opportunities

2.4.Attorney General of India • Union government extended the term of K.K. Venugopal as AG for one year

• AG is the part of the Union executive along with President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and

Council of Ministers

• Article 76 provides for the office of AG and he/she holds office during the pleasure of the President

• A person qualified to be appointed a judge of Supreme Court is eligible for appointment

• AG is the highest law officer in the country



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3. Environment & Ecology Click here to watch the following questions on YouTube

3.1.Urban Forest in Delhi • Environment Minister recently inaugurated an urban forest with 12,000 seedlings which would serve

as a role model for offices in Delhi.

• The Miyawaki method of forest creation has been used to create the urban forest in the heart of the

National Capital.

• The technique was pioneered by Japanese botanist, Akira Miyawaki, and is believed to ensure 10

times faster plant growth, which results in plantation, that is 30 times denser than usual.

• According to experts, this process involves planting dozens of native species in the same area, which

becomes maintenance-free after the first three years.

• The forest is made up of trees which are native to the area and are three-dimensional, multi-layered

communities having 30 times the surface area of the greenery of single-layered lawns, and have more

than 30 times the ability to protect against natural disasters and to conserve the environment.

• With minimal maintenance, including watering and de-weeding, the urban forest will be self-

sustainable by October 2021.

3.2.Central Zoo Authority (CZA) • The Environment Ministry has reconstituted the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to include an expert

from the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, and a molecular biologist.

• The Central Zoo Authority has been constituted under the section 38A of Wild Life (Protection) Act

1972.

• The Authority consists of a Chairman, ten members and a Member Secretary. (chaired by the

Environment Minister)

• The main objective of the authority is to complement the national effort in conservation of wild life.

(ex situ conservation)

3.3.Globba Andersonii • A team of researchers from Pune and Kerala have “rediscovered” a rare and critically endangered

plant species called Globba andersonii from the Sikkim Himalayas near the Teesta river valley region

after a gap of nearly 136 years.

• The plant, known commonly as ‘dancing ladies’ or ‘swan flowers’ was thought to have been extinct

until its “re-collection”, for the first time since 1875.

• Globba andersonii are characterised by White flowers, Non-appendaged Anthers (the part of a

stamen that contains the pollen) and a Yellowish Lip.

• Classified as “critically endangered” and “narrowly endemic”, the species is restricted mainly to Teesta

River Valley region which includes the Sikkim Himalays and Darjeeling hill ranges.



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• Plant usually grows in a dense colony as a lithophyte (plant growing on a bare rock or stone) on rocky

slopes in the outskirts of evergreen forests.

• It is especially prevalent near small waterfalls along the roadside leading to these hill forests, which

are 400-800 m. above sea level.

3.4.Uttarakhand Okays Forest Land Transfer • Uttarakhand State Wildlife Advisory Board gave its go-ahead to three proposals on transfer of forest

land in Gangotri National Park for development of roads to make movement of Indo-Tibetan Border

Police (ITBP) personnel near China border.

• The proposals regarding land transfer for these

roads will be sent to the National Wildlife Board.

• Under these proposals, a total of 73.36 hectares of

forest land at three different sites of Gangotri

National Park will be required to be transferred for

construction of separate roads, totalling 35.66 km in

length.

• G a n g o t r i N a t i o n a l P a r k i s a n a t i o n a l

park in Uttarkashi District of Uttarakhand.

• Its habitat consists of coniferous forests,

alpine meadows and glaciers.

• The Gaumukh glacier, the origin of river Ganges is

located inside the park

✓The northeastern park boundary is located along

the international boundary with China.

3.5.Assam Keelback • Assam keelback is a snake species endemic to Assam and was rediscovered in 2018 by a team from

Wildlife Institute of India (WII) near a reserve forest on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

• It was discovered 129 years ago by Samuel Edward Peal, a British tea planter based in Upper Assam.

(Herpetoreas pealii).

• In 2018, five scientists from WII retraced the route of the Abor Expedition, a punitive expedition in

the North-Eastern Frontier Agency (which corresponds to parts of present-day Assam and Arunachal

Pradesh) from October 1911 to April 1912.(approximately 105 snake species are found in the

Northeast and out of these, seven are endemic)

• As much as it was a military expedition, it was a zoological and botanical expedition.

• It is a mascot for the lowland evergreen habitat.

• The Poba RF, where the snake was found, is one of the last remaining patches of low elevation tropical

wet forest in the upper Brahmaputra valley.

• It is categorised as data deficient in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list.



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3.6.Sankalp Parva • Prime Minister of India has called for planting at least five trees either in Office campus or wherever it

is possible, to ensure clean and healthy environment of the country.

• Ministry of Culture has decided to celebrate Sankalp Parva from 28th June to 12 July 2020, wherein

Ministry expects all its Subordinate Offices, Academies, Attached Institutions, Affiliated Institutions

to plant trees in its campus or at the surroundings wherever it is possible.

• Ministry of Culture recommends to plants five trees which have been identified by our Prime Minister

and which represent the herbal heritage of our country.

• These trees are (i) “Bargad” (ii) “Awla” (iii) “Pepal” (iv) “Ashok” (v) “Bel”.

• If sapling of these trees are not available then people may do plantation of any other sapling of their

choice.

• Each employee should plant at least one tree of his/her choice and over and above these five trees

which should be planted as per the call of the Prime Minister.

• Monsoon season has started, which is right time for plantation.

• The Institutions must also ensure that the employee takes care of plant planted by them during the

year so that it survives and flourishes.

3.7.Tillari Conservation Reserve • Tillari will be the seventh corridor in the state of Maharashtra to be declared as a ‘conservation

reserve’.

• The state forest department declared 29.53 sqkm area of Dodamarg forest range in Sindhudurg

district as ‘Tillari Conservation Reserve’.

• The area covering nine villages in the forest range is known to serve as a corridor and even as a

habitat for the population of tigers and elephants moving between the three states of Goa, Karnataka

and Maharashtra.

• The 38-km-long Dodamarg wildlife corridor that connects Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary in

Maharashtra to Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka frequently witnesses elephant and tiger

movement.

• The land in Tillari which was under the forest department was a reserve forest which basically is less

protected.

• Being declared as a conservation reserve is a step in the right direction and gives it some level of

protection from development projects.

• Conservation reserve denotes protected areas which typically act as buffer zones to or connectors

and migration corridors between established national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserved and

protected forests.

• Such areas are designated as conservation areas if they are uninhabited and completely owned by the

Government of India but used for subsistence by communities if parts of the lands are privately

owned.



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3.8.National Mission for Clean Ganga

• The World Bank has approved a five-year loan to the Namami Gange project worth ₹3,000 crore

($400 million) to develop and improve infrastructure projects to abate pollution in the river basin.

• The Namami Ganga or the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has already received ₹4,535

crore ($600 million) from the World Bank until December 2021 as part of the first phase of the

National Ganga River Basin project.

• So far, 313 projects worth ₹25,000 crore have been sanctioned under the mission.

• Some of the projects to be undertaken under the second phase of the mission include spillover

projects from the first phase of the mission as well cleaning projects in tributaries such as the Yamuna

and Kali rivers.

• In the second phase, the loan would fund ₹1,134 crore ($150 million) for three new ‘Hybrid Annuity

Projects’ in Agra, Meerut and Saharanpur for the tributaries of the Ganga.

• ₹1,209 crore ($160 million) is provided for the ongoing DBOT (Design, Build, Operate and Transfer)

projects in Buxar, Munger, Begusarai.

• Other heads of distribution would include ‘Institutional Development’ ($20 million or ₹151 crore);

‘Improving Investments Resilience to COVID-19 Like Emergency Situations’ ($5 million or ₹38 crore);

Performance Based Incentive for Urban Local Bodies ($30 million or ₹226 crore) and Programme

Communication and Management ($16 million or ₹121 crore).

• The first World Bank project helped build critical sewage infrastructure in 20 pollution hotspots along

the river, and this project will help scale this up to the tributaries.

• It will also help the government strengthen the institutions needed to manage a river basin as large

and complex as the Ganga Basin.



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4. Science & Technology Click here to watch the following questions on YouTube

4.1.G4 Flu Virus • Researchers in China have identified a “recently emerged” strain of influenza virus that is infecting

Chinese pigs and has the potential of triggering a pandemic

✓China has the largest population of pigs in the world

• It is named G4 and has genes similar to the virus that caused 2009 flu (H1N1)

• G4 strain has the capability of binding to human-type receptors and can copy itself in human airway

epithelial cells

• Human-to-human transmission is not yet confirmed

4.2.Accelerate Vigyan Scheme • It is a programme launched by Science and Engineering Research Board aimed at

✓providing a thrust to high-end scientific research

✓a platform for research internships and capacity-building programs

✓preparing scientific manpower

• It will initiate and strengthen mechanisms of identifying research potential, mentoring, training and

giving hands-on workshops on a national scale

ABHYAAS

• Winter component of the scheme which attempts to boost research and development in the country

by enabling and grooming potential post-graduate/PhD students by developing their research skills

• Components

✓KARYASHALA — High-end workshops

✓VRITIKA — research internships

SAMMOHAN

• Components

✓SAYONJIKA — open-ended programme to catalogue capacity building activities

✓SANGOSHTI — pre-existing programe of SERB

4.3.Drug Discovery Hackathon • Joint initiative of MHRD’s Innovation Cell (MIC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and supported by Centre for Development of

Advanced Computing (CDAC), MyGov and private players



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• It is a national initiative to support drug discovery process and will see participation from

professionals, faculty, researchers and students from varied fields

• It wants to establish the culture of computational drug discovery — potential drug molecules will be

identified and these identified molecules would be synthesised and lab tested for efficacy, toxicity,

sensitivity and specificity

In-silico Drug Discovery

• It utilises computational methods such as Machine learning (ML), AI and Big Data



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