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  • State of the World Population Report 2020

    The UNFPA has released the State of the World Population Report 2020.

    Highlights of the WPR

    I) Global prospects

    • According to estimates averaged over a five year period (2013-17), annually, there were 1.2 million missing female births, at a global level.
    • The same study shows that in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan excess female mortality of girls below 5 years of age was under 3 per cent.
    • These skewed numbers translate into long-term shifts in the proportions of women and men in the population of some countries, the report points out.
    • In many countries, this results in a “marriage squeeze” as prospective grooms far outnumber prospective brides, which further results in human trafficking for marriage as well as child marriages.

    II) Data on India

    • India had about 4,60,000 girls ‘missing’ at birth each year.
    • The figure shows that the number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years, who were at 61 million in 1970.
    • The report examines the issue of missing women by studying sex ratio imbalances at birth as a result of gender-biased sex selection as well as excess female mortality due to deliberate neglect of girls because of a culture of son preference.
    • Excess female mortality is the difference between observed and expected mortality of the girl child or avoidable death of girls during childhood.
    • The report cites a 2014 study to state that India has the highest rate of excess female deaths at 13.5 per 1,000 female births or one in nine deaths of females below the age of 5 due to postnatal sex selection.

    About UNFPA

    • The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN organization.
    • It is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
    • Their work involves the improvement of reproductive health; including the creation of national strategies and protocols, and birth control by providing supplies and services.
    • The organization has recently been known for its worldwide campaign against child marriage, obstetric fistula and female genital mutilation.

  • Rapid Intensification of Cyclones

    Tropical cyclones remain the deadliest natural climate hazard that causes an unacceptably high loss of life, property and infrastructure.  Global warming has already resulted in a detectable increase in the number of higher intensity cyclones as well as their intensification.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Tropical Cyclones and India

    Try this question:

    Q. The Marsupial Theory often seen in news is related to which of the climatic phenomena?

    a) Heatwaves b) Monsoon Variability c) Formation of Cyclones d) Thunderstorms

    What is Rapid Intensification of Cyclones?

    • RI is defined as an increase in maximum sustained winds by at least 55 km/hour in a 24-hour period.
    • Such acceleration can only come with a rapid drop in the pressure in the eye of the cyclone.
    • Rapid intensification (RI) is making cyclone forecasts harder and intense cyclones with RI are expected to grow in number.
    • The lack of understanding of the transition from a seedling of a cyclone, like a low-pressure system to a tropical storm, limits extending the forecast lead times.

    Factors causing RI

    The most important environmental factors for cyclone genesis are-

    • the rotation or vorticity of a low-pressure system at the surface;
    • sea surface temperatures or the volume of warm water available;
    • the vertical motion of air in this low-pressure system;
    • the amount of humidity available in the middle atmosphere and
    • the vertical shear or the change in winds from the surface to the upper atmosphere.

    MJO and Cyclones

    • Madden-Julian Oscillations as they are known, dominate the tropics during October-April by propagating from the western Indian Ocean into the eastern Indian Ocean, across the Indonesian seas into the Pacific Ocean.
    • Referred to as MJOs, these Madden-Julian Oscillations throw seeds of rotational low-pressure systems over the Indian and the Pacific Oceans.
    • And thus, MJOs show a strong association with cyclogenesis, especially for the post-monsoon season.

    Impacts of MISO

    • Monsoon Intraseasonal Oscillations (MISO) are alternating periods of heavy and minimal rainfall, each lasting for about a month or so and tending to follow a cyclical, northward shifting pattern from the equator to southern Asia.
    • While the strong vertical shear suppresses cyclones during the monsoon season, MISOs influence cyclone genesis during the pre-monsoon season.

    Other factors

    • At longer timescales, phenomena like the El NiĂąo and La NiĂąa influence not only the number of cyclone seeds but also the location and the expanse of warm water.
    • For example, during the pre-monsoon season of La NiĂąa year, the region of warm water over the Bay of Bengal increases. This leads cyclones to travel longer and grow stronger than during an El NiĂąo year.
    • Over the Pacific Ocean, on the other hand, it is the El NiĂąo that provides a larger swath of warm water and more intense cyclones.
    • West Africa produces waves called easterly waves that propagate west from land onto the tropical Atlantic Ocean and sow the seeds for most hurricanes.
    • Extensive analysis has produced theories that are evocatively called the Marsupial Theory — a wave pouch that allows cyclones to grow, or waves interacting to produce a Kelvin cat’s eye, which is a ‘sweet-spot’ for the birth of a cyclone.

  • In news: Santhal Rebellion

    Covid-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation of annual public observance of Hul in Jharkhand.

    Try this question from CSP 2018:

    Q.After the Santhal uprising subsided, what was/ were the measure/measures taken by the colonial government?

    1. The territories called ‘Santhal Paraganas’ were created.
    2. It became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to a non Santhal.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    Hul Divas

    • Hul Divas is observed annually on June 30 in memory of tribals — Sidho and Kanhu Murmu — who led the Santhal Hul (rebellion) on June 30, 1855, at Bhognadih in Sahebganj district.

    About Santhal Rebellion

    • The Santhals of Rajmahal Hills resented the oppression by revenue officials, police, money-lenders, and landlords—in general, by the “outsiders’ (whom they called diku).
    • The Santhals under Sido and Kanhu rose up against their oppressors, declared the end of the Company’s rule and asserted themselves independent in 1854.
    • It was only in 1856 after extensive military operations that the situation was brought under control. Sido died in 1855, while Kanhu was arrested in 1866.
    • A separate district of Santhal Parganas was created by the Government to pacify the Santhals.

    Must read:

    Tribal Issues | Part 2 | Pre Independence Tribal Revolts

  • 1st July 2020| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement

    Important Announcement:  Topics to be covered on 2nd July-

    GS-1  Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.

    GS-4 Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information.

    Question 1) 

    Discuss the non-geographical factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world. 10 marks

    Question 2)

    Custodial torture is an anathema to democracy. Examine the issues related to custodial torture and how is it against the basic fundamental rights? What steps should be taken to prevent such acts by the police functionaries? 10 marks

     

    Question 3)

    India’s foreign exchange reserves touched new height recently. This also gives rise to the argument of lost opportunity. In light of this discuss the utility of maintaining foreign exchange reserves and issue of optimum level of foreign exchange reserves.10 marks

    Question 4)  

    Discuss the role of emotional intelligence in conflict handling with suitable examples. 10 marks

     

     

    Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.

    For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check  here: Click2Join

  • Stamp Duty on Mutual Fund Purchases

    The Amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 has been brought through Finance Act 2019 for Rationalized Collection Mechanism of Stamp Duty across India with respect to Securities Market Instruments.

    Up till now, we knew that stamp duties are levied on property transactions, registrations etc. With the Finance Act 2019, the stamp duties are also levied on Mutual Funds.

    What is Stamp Duty?

    • Stamp duty is a legal tax payable in full and acts as evidence for any sale or purchase of a property. It is payable under Section 3 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
    • The levy of stamp duty is a state subject and thus the rates of stamp duty vary from state to state.
    • The Centre levies stamp duty on specified instruments and also fixes the rates for these instruments.
    • It is usually paid by the buyer with regardless of agreement and in case of property exchange, both seller and the buyer has to share the stamp duty equally.
    • A stamp duty paid instrument/document is considered a proper and legal instrument/document and has evidentiary value and is admitted as evidence in courts.

    What is the move?

    • Beginning July 1, all shares and mutual fund purchases will attract a stamp duty of 0.005 per cent and any transfer of security will attract a stamp duty of 0.015 per cent.
    • The government had introduced changes to the Stamp duty Act last year by introducing a uniform rate of stamp duty on the trading of shares and commodities.
    • All categories of mutual funds (except for ETFs) will attract stamp duty for the first time.
    • Shares purchased by individuals at stock exchanges were charged stamp duty at different rates by respective states.

    Where all will it be applicable?

    • The stamp duty will be applicable on all transactions, including shares, debt instruments, commodities and all categories of mutual fund schemes.
    • As for mutual funds, it will be applicable on all fresh purchases, including the fresh monthly purchases in previously registered Systematic Investment Plans.
    • It will also be applicable if investors switch from one scheme to another and also in case of dividend reinvestment transactions.
    • Transfers of units from one Demat account to another, including market/off-market transfers, will also attract stamp duty.

    How does it impact the investor?

    • The impact on long-term investments by a retail investor is nominal.
    • Since the stamp duty will be charged a one-time charge, if an investor invests Rs 1 lakh in a mutual fund scheme or in stock and holds it for two years, he will have to pay a duty of only Rs 5.
    • In fact, it will be marginally lower as the stamp duty is applicable on the net investment value i.e gross investment amount less than any other deduction like transaction charge.
    • There is no duty at the time of redemption.

    What about big investors?

    • The impact is higher for investors with short-term investment horizons such as banks and corporates who invest in liquid and overnight schemes of mutual funds.

    How much revenue can it generate for the government?

    • In the financial year 2019-20, the mutual fund industry mobilized aggregate funds of over Rs 188 lakh crore.
    • A high portion of that was in overnight funds or liquid funds.
    • A 0.005 per cent stamp duty on this amount works out to Rs 940 crore.
    • If the industry continues to mobilise funds to the tune of Rs 190 lakh crore or higher, it will generate revenues of nearly Rs 1,000 crore for the government from mutual fund transactions itself.

    Back2Basics: Mutual Funds

    • MF is a trust that collects money from a number of investors who share a common investment objective.
    • Then, it invests the money in equities, bonds, money market instruments and/or other securities.
    • Each investor owns units, which represent a portion of the holdings of the fund.
    • The income/gains generated from this collective investment are distributed proportionately amongst the investors after deducting certain expenses, by calculating a scheme’s “Net Asset Value or NAV.
    • It is one of the most viable investment options for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost.
    • All funds carry some level of risk. With mutual funds, one may lose some or all of the money invested because the securities held by a fund can go down in value.

  • The lost continent of Zealandia

    A new map has revealed the lost continent of Zealandia.

    The ocean relief can be divided into various parts such as Continental Shelf, Continental Slope, Continental Rise or Foot, Deep Ocean basins, Abyssal plains & Abyssal Hills, Oceanic Trenches, Seamounts and Guyots.

    Revise these ocean bottom relief features from your basic references.

    Also revise India’s Deep Ocean Mission.

    About Zealandia

    • Zealandia — or Te Riu-a-Māui, as it’s referred to in the indigenous Māori language — is a 2 million-square-mile (5 million square kilometres) continent east of Australia, beneath modern-day New Zealand.
    • Scientists discovered the sprawling underwater mass in the 1990s, then gave it formal continent status in 2017.
    • Still, the “lost continent” remains largely unknown and poorly studied due to its Atlantean geography.

    Its formation

    • It is a group of submerged pieces of crust that separated from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana about 85 million years ago.
    • Gondwana was formed when Earth’s ancient supercontinent, Pangea, split into two fragments.
    • Laurasia was transformed into North America, Asia, and Europe, while Gondwana became Africa, South America, Australia, and Antarctica.
    • But land masses continued to be rearranged afterwards, with Zealandia breaking off Gondwana.

    Data revealed by the new map

    • The new maps reveal Zealandia’s bathymetry (the shape of the ocean floor) as well as its tectonic history, showing how volcanism and tectonic motion have shaped the continent over millions of years.
    • Data for the bathymetric map was provided by the Seabed2030 project — a global effort to map the entire ocean floor by 2030.

    Why call it a continent?

    • Zealandia was classified as a “microcontinent,” as the island of Madagascar, until 2017.
    • But according to Mortimer, it has all the requirements to be classified as a continent.
    • It has defined boundaries; it occupies an area of over one million square kilometres and is elected above the ocean crust.

    Also read: https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/seabed-2030-project/

  • G4 Flu virus and it’s pandemic potential

    In new research, scientists from China – which has the largest population of pigs in the world – have identified a “recently emerged” strain of influenza virus that is infecting Chinese pigs and that has the potential of triggering a pandemic.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What are zoonotic diseases? Why China has emerged as the epicentre of global outbreaks of zoonotic disease?

    G4 Flu

    • Named G4, the swine flu strain has genes similar to those in the virus that caused the 2009 flu pandemic.
    • The scientists identified the virus through surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs that they carried out from 2011 to 2018 in ten provinces of China.
    • They also found that the G4 strain has the capability of binding to human-type receptors (like, the SARS-CoV-2 virus binds to ACE2 receptors in humans).
    • The virus was able to copy itself in human airway epithelial cells, and it showed effective infectivity and aerosol transmission.

    Swine industry is the new hotspot for zoonoses

    • The scientists report that the new strain (G4) has descended from the H1N1 strain that was responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic.
    • Pigs are intermediate hosts for the generation of pandemic influenza virus.
    • Thus, systematic surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs is a key measure for pre-warning the emergence of the next pandemic influenza.

    Back2Basics: 2009 swine flu pandemic

    • The WHO declared the outbreak of type A H1N1 influenza virus a pandemic in 2009 when there were around 30,000 cases globally.
    • It was caused by a strain of the swine flu called the H1N1 virus, which was transmitted from human to human.
    • Influenza viruses that commonly circulate in swine are called “swine influenza viruses” or “swine flu viruses”.
    • Like human influenza viruses, there are different subtypes and strains of swine influenza viruses. Essentially, swine flu is a virus that pigs can get infected by.
    • The symptoms of swine flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills and fatigue.

  • Species in news: Assam keelback snake

    More than a century after it was first seen, the Assam keelback — a snake species endemic to the region — was rediscovered in 2018 at the Poba Reserve Forest (RF) by a team from Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

    Try this question from CSP 2018:

    Q.In which one of the following State Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary is located?

    (a) Arunachal Pradesh (b) Manipur (c) Meghalaya (d) Nagaland

    Assam Keelback Snake

    • The species is small — about 60 cm long, brownish, with a patterned belly.
    • This particular keelback does not belong to the generalized keelback snake of India but is rather a unique genus (Herpetoreas).
    • It was discovered 129 years ago by Samuel Edward Peel, a British tea planter based in Upper Assam.
    • The snake’s ‘lost’ status has a lot to do with the habitat it occupies — in this case, a lowland evergreen forest.
    • These forests have been selectively degraded during the last 100 years: tea plantations have been made, selective logging has taken place, and many other activities such as oil exploration and coal mining.

    Is the snake under threat?

    • Most snakes and other reptiles are categorised as ‘data deficient’ in the IUCN list.
    • There is practically no information available about it and it is difficult to determine its status.

  • Species in news: Globba Andersonii Plant

    A team of researchers have “rediscovered” a rare species called Globba andersonii from the Sikkim Himalayas near the Teesta River valley region after a gap of nearly 136 years.

    Try this question from CSP 2016:

    Q.With reference to ‘Red Sanders’, sometimes seen in the news, consider the following statements:

    1. It is a tree species found in a part of South India.
    2. It is one of the most important trees in the tropical rain forest areas of South India.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    Globba Andersonii

    IUCN status: Critically Endangered

    • Globba andersonii is characterised by white flowers, non-appendaged anthers (the part of a stamen that contains the pollen) and a “yellowish lip”.
    • 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.
    • The earliest records of the collection of this plant were dated between the period 1862-70 when it was collected by Scottish botanist Thomas Anderson from Sikkim and Darjeeling.
    • Then, in 1875, the British botanist Sir George King, had collected this taxon from the Sikkim Himalayas.

  • 30th June 2020 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 470]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 469]

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