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Current Affairs

July- 2019

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Index

EDITORIAL

1. India’s Ambitious Space Station Plan 1–3

Art and Culture, Heritage, Society, Social and National Issues

2. Kailash Mansarovar in Tentative List of World Heritage Sitess 4–5

3. Health Index 2019 Released by NITI Aayog 5–6

4. Jal Shakti Abhiyan 7–7

5. Scheme for Trans-Disciplinary Research (STRIDE) 7–8

6. National Mission on Libraries 8–9

Polity & Governance, Social Justice, Social Development

8. Prison Statistics Released by NCRB 8–9

9. Nagaland government Starts its Own Version of Citizenship Register 9–10

10. Maratha Reservation issue 11–12

11. Reconstitution of Cabinet Committees- 2019 12–13

International Relations, India & the World and International Affairs

12. Current course of Indian foreign policy vis a vis India’s neighbourhood 14–15

13. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – Bishkek Declaration 15–16

15. G-20 Osaka summit 16–19

16. 34th ASEAN Summit 19–20

17. SIPRI Yearbook 2019 20–21

18. 21–23

INDIAN ECONOMY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

19. Highlights of Budget 2019 23–26

20. Financial Stability Report-2019 by RBI 2 7 – 2 8 ´

21. One Nation One Ration Card Scheme 28–29

22. Recommendations of U.K. Sinha Committee on MSMEs 29–30

23. Redefining Poverty 30–31

24. CII launches new Index to measure fiscal performance 31–32

25. National Rubber Policy-2019 32–33

26. Over Estimation of GDP 33–34

27. High Powered Committee Formed for Agriculture Reforms 34–35

28. Report by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision 35–36

July - 2019

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Ecologyment and Environment

29. Heat Stress and Labour Productivity Report by ILO 37–37

30. India is now the lowest-cost producer of solar power 38–38

31. Ingestion of Micro Plastic 38–38

32. Coringa Mangroves 39–39

33. European Heat Wave 39–40

34. Resilient Kerala Program 40–41

35. Gujarat launches India’s first trading programme to combat particulate air pollution 41–42

36. Bacterial Spray and Decaying Monuments 42–42

37. Ozone Pollution in NCR 43–43

38. Government Plans to Ban Fossil Fuel-Driven Vehicles 43–44

39. Indian Navy steams ahead with its go ‘green’ plans in eco-friendly push 44–44

40. Airplane Contrails and Global Warming 44–45

41. Flood Hazard Atlas 45–46

42. World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 46–47

Science and Technology, Defense, Health

43. ISRO - Chandrayaan-2 Mission 48–49

44. Concerns over Genetically Modified Brinjal 49–50

45. Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos test fired 50–51

46. Operation Sankalp Launched 51–52

47. Dragonfly Mission 52–54

48. ACute Encephalitis Syndrome in Bihar - Litchi Connect, Malnutrition 54–56

49. India signs Agreement with the World Bank to Eradicate TB 56–57

50. Facebook’s Cryptocurrency “Libra” Launched 56–56

51. National Food and Nutrition Security Analysis report 57–58

52. India to Set Up its Own Space Station 58–58

More News

53. Buddhist Relic Unearthed in Andhra Pradesh 59–59

54. Amaravati School of Art 59–59

55. ‘Jal Hi Jeevan Hai’ Scheme 59–59

56. International Yoga Day 2019 59–59

57. Sahitya Akademi Awards 59–60

58. Mukhyamantri Vridhjan Pension Yojna 60–60

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1

July–2019

Editorial

Theme: Science and Technology

India’s Ambitious Space Station Plan

F Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) has announced its ambitious plan to put up a space station in the

next decade. The space agency’s chief, K. Sivan, said the idea is to build the space station in the next seven years

and launch it by 2030.

Introduction

F Space station is also called orbital station. It orbits around Earth. Basically, it is a large spacecraft or man-made

station in space, a home where astronauts live and also receive several spacecrafts from the Earth. It is a kind of

science lab, many countries worked together to build it and also, work together to use it. The United States (U.S.)

and Russia have had orbiting space stations since 1971. The first space stations were the Russian Salyut program,

the U.S. Skylab program and the Russian Mir program. And since 1998, the U.S., Russia, the European Space

Agency, Canada, Japan and other countries have been building and operating the International Space Station (ISS)

in Earth orbit. With the ISS, humans have been living and working in outer space for more than 18 years.

Need of Space Station

Ø There are a variety of reasons for building and operating space stations, including research, industry, exploration

and even tourism. The first space stations were built to study the long-term effects of weightlessness on the

human body. After all, if astronauts will ever venture to Mars or other planets, then we must know how prolonged

microgravity on the order of months to years will affect their health.

Ø Space stations are a place to do cutting edge scientific research in an environment that cannot be done on Earth.

For example, gravity alters the way that atoms come together to form crystals.

Ø In microgravity, near-perfect crystals can be formed. Such crystals can yield better semi-conductors for faster

computers or for more efficient drugs to combat diseases. Another effect of gravity is that it causes convection

currents to form in flames, which leads to unsteady flames.

Ø This makes the study of combustion very difficult. However, in microgravity, simple, steady, slow-moving flames result;

these types of flames make it easier to study the combustion process.

Ø The resulting information could yield a better understanding of the combustion process, and lead to better designs

of furnaces or the reduction of air pollution by making combustion more efficient.

Ø Further, scientific researches, which are done on space stations, benefit people on Earth. Space research is even

used in everyday life. The results are products called “spinoffs.” Scientists also study what happens to the body

when people live in microgravity for a long time.

Ø From high above the Earth, space stations offer unique views to study the Earth’s weather, landforms, vegetation,

oceans and atmosphere. In addition, because space stations are above the Earth’s atmosphere, they can be used as

manned observatories where space telescopes can look out upon the heavens.

Ø The Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t interfere in the views of space station telescopes. In fact, we’ve already seen the

advantages of unmanned space telescopes like the Hubble space telescope, Kepler telescope, Astrosat and many more.

Ø In addition to above, space stations might be used for space hotels. Here, private companies like ‘SpaceX’ could

ferry tourists from Earth to space hotels for brief visits or extended stays.

The International Space Station

Ø In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proposed that the U.S. in cooperation with other countries, build a permanently

inhabited space station. Reagan envisioned a station that would have government and industry support. To help

with the enormous costs of the station, the U.S. forged a cooperative effort with 14 other countries (Canada,

Japan, Brazil and the European Space Agency). During the planning of the ISS and after the fall of the Soviet

Union, the U.S. invited Russia to cooperate in the ISS in 1993; this brought the number of participating countries

to 16. NASA took the lead in coordinating the ISS’s construction.

Ø The assembly of the ISS in orbit began in 1998. More pieces were added over the next two years before the

station was ready for people to live there. On October 31, 2000, the first crew of the ISS was launched from

Russia. People have lived on the space station ever since. More pieces have been added over time. NASA and its

partners from around the world completed construction of the space station in 2011.



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Ø ISS orbits Earth at an average altitude of approximately 250 miles. It travels at 17,500 mph. This means it orbits

Earth every 90 minutes.

Ø Further, the space station has the volume of a five-bedroom house or two Boeing 747 jetliners. It is able to

support a crew of six people, plus visitors. On Earth, the space station would weigh almost a million pounds.

Measured from the edges of its solar arrays, the station covers the area of a football field including the end zones.

India’s Ambitious Space Station Plan

Ø India is planning to launch its own space station. The space station, which is estimated to weigh around 20 tonnes

and placed in an orbit 400 km above Earth, would be an extension of the Gaganyaan Mission — India’s first

manned mission into space. India will set up its separate space station in the next 5-7 years after Gangayaan is

successfully completely in 2022.

Ø The preliminary plan for the space station is to accommodate astronauts for up to 15-20 days in space but

specific details will emerge after the Gaganyaan Mission is complete.

Ø There will be no collaboration with any other country for this project. The space station will most likely be used

to conduct microgravity experiments.

Ø The only countries that have had space stations so far are the the U.S., Russia, China and a consortium of nations

that own the International Space Station.

Analysis of India’s Plan

Ø Constructing a space station after being able to safely orbit a crew in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is a natural progression

that many advanced space-faring countries have pursued to expand their space capabilities. The announcement by

ISRO also falls in line with such a progression.

Ø The first indication came in 2017 when Rs. 10 crore was budgeted for an orbital rendezvous and docking experiment

between two satellites. Docking expertise is essential when two separate free-flying units in space are required

to physically link with each other. This technique is important to link the space shuttle with the space station.

These foundations should provide leverage to further carry out larger scale and precision experiments in space

to cement the know-how required for human-rated vehicle transfers in orbit. The second indication was when the

human space flight mission (2021/22) was announced in August 2018.

Ø ISRO has now called for proposals for experiments, including docking, to be carried out on the orbiting platform

(PS4-OP). For the last few years, ISRO has been experimenting with its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)

rocket in different ways. Now, a single PSLV rocket can put satellites in different orbits. PSLV launch vehicle is

a four-stage rocket. On two occasions (PSLV-C44 and PSLV-C45 missions) in 2019, ISRO successfully converted

the fourth stage (PS4) of the rocket into an orbital laboratory. Such laboratories are normally hosted on space stations.

Ø Importance of Gaganyaan Programme for Indian Space StationISRO’s Gaganyaan programme will

establish mature capabilities in India: having a human-rated rocket, the ability to train crew and the capacity

to sustain life and safety of the crew on orbit and return them. The major technical leap required to establishing

a space station beyond simply having these capabilities is in the ability to also carry larger payloads into space

and achieving the ability to precisely rendezvous and dock spacecrafts to a space station in orbit. This will allow

scaling up of infrastructure on orbit – a must to provide more room for astronauts to live and carry out experiments

over longer time frames.The PS4-Orbital Platform (PS4-OP)The PS4-Orbital Platform (PS4-OP) refers to a

novel idea formulated by ISRO to use the spent PS4 stage (fourth stage of PSLV which until now used to go waste

after putting the spacecraft into the desired orbit) to carry out in-orbit scientific experiments for an extended

duration of one to six months. The advantage being the stage has standard interfaces & packages for power generation,

telemetry, tele-command, stabilization, orbit keeping & orbit manoeuvring.Among the experiments ISRO is looking

to put onboard PS4-OP are microgravity experiments; robotic armor smart space robot technology demonstration;

rendezvous & docking experiments; small satellites technology development; laser communication technology

development and low-cost platform for testing inflatable systems.

Challenges for India

Ø The ISS which spreads as long as a football field and costs $3 billion a year (Rs. 20,000 crore) for NASA alone

in maintenance and has exceeded more than $100 billion (Rs. 6,50,000 crore) in assembling it. Finances of such

magnitude are very difficult to provide for any Indian space research project in near future.

To keep the cost as a smaller multiple of the Gaganyaan project, ISRO could well choose such strategies to limit

the architecture of the space station and the goals to be achieved on orbit. Apart from it, India can involve the

private sector in such projects. Recently, NASA has declared that the ISS would be open for commercial business and

people could “purchase” a ticket to visit ISS. India could think of developing such projects under a public-private

partnership model.



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Ø Further, ISRO’s project proposal for such a space station will require plan to upgrade the payload carrying capacity

of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mark III) (which is going to carry Indian astronauts

into space as a part of Gaganyaan) by a considerable magnitude.

Benefits of Having Indian Space Station

Ø Though, India has the option of joining the ISS, rather than making its own space station, it will not have enough

significance for India. This is because the ISS is now in the last leg of its existence and is expected to become

redundant during 2024-28. In heyday of the ISS also, India could not have been a part of the ISS since it was

excluded from such projects because of Delhi’s nuclear policy; ISRO and Defence Research and Development

Organisation (DRDO) were taken out of the export control list only in 2011.

Further, owning space station will offer the Indian scientific community a range of subjects to conduct research

in, from astronomy and meteorology to biology and medicine. Also, material is one arena where India should

make major investments. Breakthroughs in this field would have major commercial and strategic benefits.

Future of Space Stations

Ø We are just beginning the development of space stations. The ISS will be a vast improvement over Salyut, Skylab

and Mir; but none of our space stations thus far have had any gravity. One reason for this is that we want a place

without gravity so that we can study its effects. Another is that we lack the technology to practically rotate a large

structure, like a space station, to produce artificial gravity. In the future, artificial gravity will be a requirement

for space colonies with large populations.

Further, till now all space stations need periodic reboosting because of their position in Low Earth orbit. However,

there are two places between the Earth and Moon called Lagrange Points L-4 and L-5. At these points, the Earth’s

gravity and the Moon’s gravity are counter-balanced so that an object placed there would not be pulled toward the

Earth or Moon. The orbit would be stable and require no boosting. In future, there is need to put space stations at

Lagrange Points L-4 and L-5.

Conclusion

Ø From successful lunar missions and multiple satellite launches, ISRO believes it has reached a technological

point where it can create a more dynamic space program. More advanced operations in space would reflect

India’s overall growth as a tech breeding ground where innovations are happening at a rapid pace. While the plan

for an Indian space station within 10 years seems ambitious, India is increasingly becoming a potent tech player

and is well-placed for its plans to become a reality.

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July–2019

Art and Culture, Society, Social and National Issues

Kailash Mansarovar in Tentative List of World Heritage Sites

Why in news?

Recently the ‘Sacred Mountain Landscape and Heritage Routes’ (Indian side of Kailash Mansarovar) has been

included in Tentative List of World Heritage Sites of India.

Key facts

Ø It was proposed as a Mixed site in April 2019.

Ø As per UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines 2017, a site must be on the tentative list of UNESCO at least for aperiod of one year before proposing it for final nomination.

Ø Once the nomination is done, it is sent to the World Heritage Centre (WHC) by the stipulated deadline of 01February of a calendar year.

Ø Accordingly, the decision of permanent inclusion of any site in the World Heritage list is taken by the membersof the World Heritage Committee.

World Heritage site

Ø World Heritage site, any of various areas or objects inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List.

Ø The sites are designated as having “outstanding universal value” under the Convention Concerning the Protectionof the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972.

Ø It provides a framework for international cooperation in preserving and protecting cultural treasures and naturalareas throughout the world.

Ø There are three types of sites : Cultural, Natural, and Mixed.Ø Cultural heritage sites include hundreds of historic buildings and town sites, important archaeological sites, and

works of monumental sculpture or painting.

Natural heritage sites are restricted to those natural areas that:Ø Furnish outstanding examples of Earth’s record of life or its geologic processesØ Provide excellent examples of ongoing ecological and biological evolutionary processes.

Ø Contain natural phenomena that are rare, unique, superlative, or of outstanding beauty,Ø Furnish habitats for rare or endangered animals or plants or are sites of exceptional biodiversity.

Mixed heritage sites contain elements of both natural and cultural significance.List of UNESCO’s World Heritage of India is given as under:

UNESCO’s World Heritage of India

Tangible Heritage Intangible Cultural Heritage

Cultural Natural Mixed Indian Intagible Cultural Heritage

Humanity

• Taj Mahal, Agra Great Khangchendzong The tradition of Vedic chanting

a National Park,Sikkim

• Khajuraho, Madhya Himalayan Ramlila, the traditional performance of thePradesh National Park Ramayana

• Hampi Kaziranga WildKarnataka Life Sanctuary

Assam

• Ajanta Caves Keoladeo Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatreMaharashtra National Park,

Bharatpur,Rajasthan

• Ellora Caves, Manas Wild Life Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatreMaharashtra Sanctuary, Assam of the Garhwal Himalayas, India



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• Bodh Gaya, Manas Wild Life Garhwal Himalayas, IndiaBihar Sanctuary,

• Sun Temple AssamKonark, Odisha

• Red Fort Nanda Devi and Mudiyettu, ritual theatre Valley of Flowers and dance

• Sanchi, Madhya National Parks, Uttarakhand

• Chola Temples, Western Ghats KaSbelia folk songs and dances of RajasthanTamil Nadu

• Group of Sundarbans Chhau danceMonuments at National Park,Mahabalipuram West BengalTamil Nadu

• Humayun’s Buddhist changing of Ladakh:Tomb, New recitation of sacred BuddhistDelhi texts in the trans–Himalayan Ladakh region,

Jammu and Kashmir, India• Fatehpur Sikri Sankirtana, ritual singing

Uttar Pradesh• Rani Ki Vav, Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil

Patan, Gujarat making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru,Punjab, India.

• Nalanda Mahavihara Yoga(Nalanda University), NawrouzBihar Kumbh Mela

• ChhatrapatiShivaji MaharajTerminus(formerly VictoriaTerminus), Maharashtra

• Mountain Railways of India• Qutub Minar and its

Monuments, New Delhi• Champaner–Pavagadh

Archaeological Park,Gujarat

• Hills Fort of Rajasthan• Churches and

Convents of Goa• Rock Shelters of

Bhimbetka, MadhyaPradesh

• Capitol Complex,Chandigarh

• The Historic City ofAhmedabad

• The Victorian andArt Deco Ensembleof Mumbai

Source: PIB

Health Index 2019 Released by NITI Aayog

Why in news?

Ø The second edition of NITI Aayog’s Health Index has been recently released.Ø Its title is ‘Healthy States, Progressive India: Report on Rank of States and UTs’.



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July–2019

Ø The Index ranks the States and Union Territories based on 23 health-related parameters which comprise the

following –

Ø neonatal mortality rate

Ø under-five mortality rate

Ø proportion of low birth weight among new-borns

Ø progress in treating tuberculosis and HIV

Ø full immunization coverage

Ø improvements to administrative capability and public health infrastructure

Ø proportion of districts with functional Cardiac Care Units

Ø proportion of specialist positions vacant at district hospitals

Ø It has ranking in three categories - larger States, smaller States and Union Territories, to ensure comparison

among similar entities.

Ø The Health Index does not capture other related dimensions, such as non-communicable diseases, infectious

diseases and mental health.

Ø It also does not get uniformly reliable data, especially from the growing private sector.

Highlights of the report are as follows:

Ø Kerala continued to top the list for the best performing State in the health sector among the 21 large States.

Ø Kerala was followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Ø Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have had the additional distinction of making incremental progress from the

base year.

Ø Uttar Pradesh retains the worst performer tag in the index.

Ø Uttar Pradesh continued to be at the bottom of the list with its score falling to 28.61; Kerala got a score of 74.01.

Ø Other States at the bottom of the list are Bihar (32.11), Odisha (35.97) and Madhya Pradesh (38.39).

Ø Among the UTs, Chandigarh jumped one spot to top the list with a score of (63.62).

Ø It is followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar and Daman and

Diu (41.66).

Ø Overall, only about half the States and UTs showed an improvement in the overall score between 2015-16 (base year)

and 2017-18 (reference year).

Ø Among the 8 Empowered Action Group States, only 3 States (Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh) showed

improvement in the overall performance.

What does the trend indicate?

Ø Some States and Union Territories are doing better on health and well-being even with a lower economic output.

Ø In contrast, others are not improving upon high standards, and some are actually slipping in their performance.

Ø In the assessment during 2017-18, a few large States showed less encouraging progress.

Ø This reflects the low priority their governments have accorded to health and human development since the first

edition of the ranking for 2015-16.

Ø The disparities are very evident in the rankings, with the populous and politically important Uttar Pradesh being

in the bottom of the list.

The way forward

Ø For the Health Index concept to encourage States into action, public health must become part of the

mainstream politics.

Ø The Centre has paid attention to tertiary care and reduction of out-of-pocket expenses through financial risk

protection initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat.

Ø But several States lag behind when it comes to creating a primary health care system with well-equipped PHCs

(Primary Health Centres) as the unit.

Ø Neglect of such a reliable primary care approach affects States such as Bihar where infant and neonatal mortality

and low birth weight are high.

Ø Special attention is needed to raise the standards of primary care in low performing states such as Odisha, Madhya

Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Assam and Jharkhand.

Ø State governments now have greater resources at their command under the new scheme of financial devolution.

Ø So States, in partnership with the Centre, must use the funds to upgrade and transform the primary health care.

Source: The Hindu



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Jal Shakti AbhiyanWhy in news?

F The Jal Shakti Abhiyan, launched by the Union Jal Shakti Minister has begun recently.

Key facts

Ø The Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a campaign for water conservation and water security in the country.Ø The campaign will run through citizen participation in two phases, firstly, during the monsoon season, from 1st July,

2019 to 15th September, 2019 and then from 1stOctober, 2019 to 30th November, 2019 for states receiving theNorth East retreating monsoons.

Ø It is a collaborative effort of various ministries of the Government of India and state governments,being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) that comes under the JalShakti Ministry.

Ø The focus of the campaign is on water stressed districts and blocks. The teams of officers from the centralgovernment will visit and work with district administration in 1592 water stressed blocks in 256 districts, toensure five important water conservation interventions.The five important water conservation interventions are :

Ø Water conservation and rainwater harvesting,Ø Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks,Ø Reuse of water and recharging of structures,Ø Watershed development andØ Intensive afforestation.

The Way Ahead

Ø The water conservation interventions will also be supplemented with special interventions including thedevelopment of block and district water conservation plans, promotion of efficient water use for irrigation andbetter choice of crops through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

Source: PIB

Scheme for Trans-Disciplinary Research (STRIDE)

Why in news?

F The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a new initiative, Scheme for Trans-Disciplinary

Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE), to support socially relevant, local need-based, nationallyimportant and globally significant research projects.

F The UGC has set up an advisory committee under its Vice Chairman Bhushan Patwardhan, to oversee theentire scheme.

Components of the Scheme

Ø Component 1: The Scheme will provide for research capacity building in diverse disciplines by mentoring,nurturing and supporting young talents to innovate pragmatic solutions for local, regional, national and globalproblems. Grant available is upto Rs. 1 crore.

Ø Component 2: It will mainly focus on enhancing problem solving skills with the help of social innovationand action research to improve wellbeing of people and contribute for India’s developing economy. Grant uptoRs. 50 lakh to 1 crore is available for projects under this component.

Ø Component-3 will fund high impact research projects in the identified thrust areas in humanities and human

sciences through national network of eminent scientists from leading institutions. Grant available under thiscomponent is upto Rs. 1 crore for one Higher Educational Institution and upto Rs. 5 crores for a multi institutional network.

Expected Benefits from the Scheme

Ø It will help strengthen transdisciplinary research culture in colleges and universities.Ø Trans-disciplinary research is a team effort of investigators from different disciplines to create new conceptual,

theoretical, methodological innovations that integrates and transcends beyond discipline-specific approaches toaddress a common problem.

Ø It goes beyond mere production of knowledge and extends to the practical use of the knowledge outside academic endeavour.Ø It will provide opportunity to build multi sectoral linkages between university-government-community-

industry for national development and wellbeing of people.Ø It will give major impetus to high impact research in Humanities and Human Sciences.



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July–2019

University Grants Commission (UGC)

Ø The University Grants Commission (UGC) came into existence on 28th December, 1953 and became a statutory

organization of the Government of India by an Act of Parliament in 1956, for the coordination, determination

and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education.

Ø The head office of the UGC is located in New Delhi.

Source: PIB

National Mission on Libraries

Why in news?

Ø The Union Ministry of Culture has declared financial assistance under National Mission on Libraries (NML) to

develop libraries in each States/UT.

Ø As per scheme, it will provide financial assistance for upgradation of infrastructure of one State Central Library

and one District Library in each State/UT as NML Model Library.

Ø Public libraries as being a State Subject, function under the administrative control of the respective State/UT

library authority.

Ø There are six Public Libraries under administrative control of Union Ministry of Culture namely National Library,

Kolkata; Central Reference Library, Kolkata; Central Secretariat Library, New Delhi; Delhi Public Library, Delhi;

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna and Rampur Raza Library, Rampur.

National Mission on Libraries (NML)

Ø The Union Ministry of Culture in 2012 formulated the NML scheme in pursuance of National Knowledge

Commission recommendations for sustained attention for development of Libraries and Information Science Sector.

Ø The National Knowledge Commission was constituted in 2005 to prepare a blueprint for reform of knowledge

related institutions and infrastructure which would enable India to meet the challenges of the future.

Ø The scheme consists of four components:

Ø Creation of National Virtual Library of India (NVLI)

Ø Setting up of NML Model Libraries

Ø Quantitative & Qualitative Survey of Libraries

Ø Capacity Building

Ø The setting up on NML Model Libraries would develop 6 Libraries under Ministry of Culture, 35 State Central

Libraries and 35 District Libraries with particular emphasis on economically backward districts, as model

Libraries.

Ø In addition, 629 district libraries across the states would be provided network connectivity.

Ø The Quantitative & Qualitative Survey of Libraries would be undertaken to prepare a baseline data of libraries in

India through a survey of 5000 Libraries.

Ø The Capacity Building would be undertaken to enhance the professional competence of library personnel.

National Virtual Library of India (NVLI)

Ø The objective of the NVLI is to facilitate the creation of a comprehensive database on digital resources of India

on information about India in an open access environment.

Salient features of NVLI are:

Ø Federated searching through multilingual user interfaces.

Ø Virtual learning environment.

Ø E-Governance platform facilitating data analytics

Ø Multilingual searching and retrieval on ontology/thesaurus based.

Ø The project of creation of NVLI costing Rs.72.34 crore had been entrusted to IIT Bombay (in collaboration with

C-DAC, Pune and IGNOU, Delhi).

Source: PIB

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9

July–2019

Polity & Governance, Social Justice, Social Development

Prison Statistics Released by NCRB

Why in news?

F The Prison Statistics India 2016 report was released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently.

What are the highlights?

Prison population

Ø The report shows that at the end of 2016, there were close to 4,33,000 people in prison.

Ø Of these, 68% were under trials, or people who are yet to be found guilty of the crimes they are accused of.

Ø India’s under-trial population remains among the highest in the world.

Ø More than half of all under trials were detained for less than 6 months in 2016.

Ø This suggests that the high proportion of under trials in the overall prison population may be the result of

unnecessary arrests and ineffective legal aid during remand hearings.

Preventive detention

Ø Another concern is the rise in the number of people held under administrative (or ‘preventive’) detention laws in

Jammu and Kashmir.

Ø There has been a 300% increase, with 431 detainees in 2016, compared to 90 in 2015.

Ø Administrative, or ‘preventive’, detention is being used by authorities to unfairly detain persons without charge

or trial and circumvent regular criminal justice procedures.

Prisoner release

Ø A new and important addition to the report is the data on number of prisoners eligible to be released and actually released.

Ø In 2016, out of the nearly 1,500 undertrials found eligible for release under Section 436A, only 929 were released.

Ø [Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows undertrials to be released on a personal bond.

Ø This is possible if they have undergone half of the maximum term of imprisonment they would have faced if

convicted.]

Ø Research by Amnesty India has found that prison officials are frequently unaware of this section and unwilling to

apply it.

Ø In 2017, the Law Commission of India had recommended that undertrials who have completed a third of their

maximum sentence for offences attracting up to 7 years of imprisonment be released on bail.

Ø The NCRB could consider including the number of such undertrials in its upcoming report for informing the

policy on the use of undertrial detention.]

Unnatural deaths

Ø Unnatural deaths doubled between 2015 and 2016, from 115 to 231.

Mental health concerns

Ø About 6,000 individuals with mental illness were in jail in 2016.

Ø The rate of suicide among prisoners has also increased by 28%, from 77 in 2015 to 102 in 2016.

Ø The National Human Rights Commission in 2014 stated that on average, a person is one-and-a-half times more

likely to commit suicide in prison than outside.

Ø This is an indicator of the magnitude of mental health concerns within prisons.

Ø Moreover, the report mentions that there was only one mental health professional for every 21,650 prisoners, in 2016.

Ø Only 6 States and one Union Territory had psychologists/psychiatrists.

Ø Odisha, U.P. and M.P., the 3 States with the most prisoners with mental illness, did not have a single psychologist

or psychiatrist.



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What are the lacunae in the report?

Ø The NCRB failed to include demographic details of religion, and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe status

of prisoners.

Ø These demographic details, which were consistently published for the last 20 years, are significant to understand

India’s prison population.

Ø It had, notably, been instrumental in revealing the overrepresentation of Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis among

under-trials in prisons.

Ø [The 2015 report noted that Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis accounted for 55% of the under-trial population. This

was despite the fact that they made up only 50% of the convict population and 38% of the total Indian population.]

Prison visits

Ø The statistics do not mention the number of prison visits by official and non-official visitors.

Ø [The non-official visitors include district magistrates and judges, social workers and researchers.]

Ø The number of “unnatural” deaths in prisons underlines the relevance of prison visits.

Ø The details on this aspect can be used to provide some information on independent monitoring of prisons.

Ø This is essential to uncover torture and other forms of ill-treatment, increase transparency and balance the power

asymmetry in prisons.

Mental health concerns

Ø The report does not provide information on whether the reported mentally affected prisoners were diagnosed

with mental illness before entering prison.

Ø The resultant lack of clarity thus makes it difficult to determine whether prison conditions worsened their plight.

Way ahead

Ø This present report is different from its earlier versions on account of its omission of certain key data.

Ø However, despite these gaps, the report has highlighted some concerns involved in India’s prison system.

Ø The important information in the report has to be utilised, to facilitate a dialogue on improving prison policies.

Ø Going forward, the NCRB should also address the shortcomings and open about its prison statistics for appreciable

democratic discourse in India.

Source: The Hindu

Nagaland government Starts its Own Version of Citizenship Register

Why in news?

F The Government of Nagaland has recently decided to set up a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN).

Key facts

Ø The aim is to prevent fake ‘indigenous inhabitants’ certificates.

Ø It will be the master list of all indigenous inhabitants of the state.

Ø The entire process will be conducted across Nagaland and will be done as part of the online system of Inner Line

Permit (ILP), which is already in force in Nagaland.

Ø The state government will designate nodal officers of the rank of a Secretary to the state government.

Ø Their role will be to monitor the implementation, but they will have no say in the adjudication process.

How it will be executed?

Ø The RIIN list will be based on “an extensive survey”. The preparation of the list will commence from July 10,

2019, and the entire process will be completed within 60 days.

Ø The list would be prepared under the supervision of the district administration.

Ø It will involve official records of indigenous residents from rural and (urban) wards.

Provisional list

Ø The database will comprise each family’s original residence, current residence as well as the concerned Aadhaar numbers.

Ø This provisional list will then be published in all villages, wards and on government websites.

Review procedure

Ø Respondents will be given an opportunity to make their case before the authorities. And, over the next 30 days

from provisional list, claims and objections can be made.



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Ø And, respective Deputy Commissioners will adjudicate on the claims and objections based on official records

and the evidence produced.

Ø On the basis of the adjudication and verification, a list of indigenous inhabitants will be finalised.

Ø The final list or the RIIN will be created and its copies will be placed in all villages and ward.

Ø In addition, electronic copies of the list will also be stored in the State Data Centre.

Ø Also, all indigenous inhabitants of the state would be issued a bar-coded and numbered Indigenous Inhabitant Certificate.

Updation

Ø Once the RIIN is finalized, no fresh indigenous inhabitant certificates will be issued.

Ø The only exception will be newborn babies of the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland.

Ø Those left out of the RIIN will have to file an application before Home Commissioner, who will get the matter

verified and take necessary action for updating the RIIN if required.

What are the challenges associated with RIIN?

Ø The Assam experience indicates that in the complex demographics of the Northeastern States, the registration

process can be a hectic task.

Ø As about 40 lakh people were left out of the NRC listing in Assam, in the alleged process to filter out ‘illegal

immigrants’.

Ø In fact, in Nagaland, numerous attempts have been made to determine non-locals, non-tribals and non-Nagas.

Ø The situation on the ground is already volatile and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is routinely extended

there too.

Ø All these pose serious challenges to the citizenship registration process.

What lies ahead?

Ø Other than deepening the existing differences, the registration process in Assam has not led to any substantial gains.

Taking this into account, the Nagaland government should facilitate the right to appeal and a humane hearing for

those who are left out.

What is Inner Line Permit (ILP)?

Ø Issued by the Government of India it is an official travel document required by Indian citizens residing outside

certain “protected” states while entering them.

Ø It origin dates back to the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, which protected the British Crown’s interest

in tea, oil and elephant trade.

Source: The Hindu

Maratha Reservation issue

Why in news?

Ø The Bombay High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of reservation for the Maratha community in

education and government jobs in Maharashtra, but directed that it be slashed from the present 16 per cent to 12

per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

Background:

Ø The Marathas who are almost one-third of Maharashtra’s population are not a homogeneous community.

Historically, they evolved from the farming caste of Kunbis who took to military service in medieval times and

started assuming a separate identity for themselves. Even then they claimed hierarchy of 96 clans.

But the real differentiation has come through the post-independence development process, creating classes within

the caste:

1. A tiny but powerful section of elites that came to have control over cooperatives of sugar, banks, educational

institutions, factories and politics, called gadhivarcha (topmost strata) Maratha.

2. The next section comprising owners of land, distribution agencies, transporters, contracting firms, and those

controlling secondary cooperative societies, is the wadyavarcha (well-off strata) Maratha.

3. The rest of the population of Marathas comprising small farmers is the wadivarcha (lower strata) Maratha.

Need for reservations:

Ø Reservation in India is the process of facilitating people in education, scholarship, jobs etc that were faced

historical injustice.

Ø Reservation is a form of quota-based affirmative action. Reservation is governed by constitutional laws, statutorylaws, and local rules and regulations.



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Ø The system of reservation in India comprises a series of measures, such as reserving access to seats in the variouslegislatures, to government jobs, and to enrolment in higher educational institutions.

Ø The reservation is undertaken to address the historic oppression, inequality and discrimination faced by thosecommunities and to give these communities a place. It is intended to realise the promise of equality enshrined inthe Constitution.

Ø The primary objective of the reservation system in India is to enhance the social and educational status ofunderprivileged communities and thus improve their lives.

Why there is a need to reexamine reservation policy?

Ø Unlike in the late Sixties and again in the late Eighties, when the reservation discourse originated in a deep sense ofunfairness of the social system, today’s reservation discourse draws its strength from unfair development policies.

Ø Reservation is increasingly seen as a remedy for the adverse effects of ill-thought out development policies.Ø Reservation is also called ‘Discrimination in Reverse’ or Reverse Discrimination. This terminology connotes

that reservation, which works as a protection to the reserved categories i.e. scheduled castes, scheduled tribesand other backward classes, acts as a reverse discrimination against the upper castes.

Ø For political parties reservation discourse is convenient because it allows them to keep subscribing to the consensusover economic policies, avoiding a critical approach to the root causes of the problem.

What needs to be done?

Ø The government will have to expand the economic aspect and create fresh opportunities so that people, especiallyyoung people, who leave agriculture are absorbed in non-farm sectors.

Ø It is time that India made a critical assessment of its affirmative action programmes.Ø The government should consider the economic, political and social wellbeing of the community and make a

balanced decision.Ø Problems of these castes should be addressed through government schemes and programmes.Ø Progressive steps should be taken to ensure that poorer section among the backward communities get the benefit

of reservation system.Ø The policy of reservation should be gradually phased out after it serves its purpose.

Source: Indian Express

Reconstitution of Cabinet Committees- 2019

Why in news?

F Under the Transaction of Business Rules, the Government has reconstituted Cabinet Committees in 2019.

Key Facts

Ø Recently the government of India added two new committees to generate employment and promote skilldevelopment in the country.

Ø With addition to new committees, there are total eight cabinet committees now.Ø The six committees include– Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Cabinet Committee on Accommodation,

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Committee onPolitical Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Security.

Ø Cabinet committee on investment & growth and Cabinet Committee on Employment and skill development arethe two new committees added by the government.

Cabinet Committee

Ø Cabinet committees are extra-constitutional bodies. But they derive their legality from the constitution.Ø In constitutional parlance, a government is called executive, which also includes the President of India.Ø Article 77(3) of the Constitution allows the president to make rules for more convenient transaction of the

business of the Government of India.Ø The prime minister-led Union cabinet has the powers to constitute committees of cabinet drawing members

from various ministries.Ø This is done in accordance with the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961.

Objective:

Ø The cabinet committees ensure smooth functioning between two departments or ministries of the government.Ø The ministries at times are seen holding contrasting views on policy matters or their implementation.Ø Cabinet committees help in ironing out the differences by preparing a common ground.Ø They work as organisations, which are instrumental in reducing the workload of the Union cabinet.

Committee’s composition and functions:

1. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)



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Ø Headed by Prime Minister.Ø The Minister of Home Affairs and Minister in-charge of the concerned Ministry are the members of this committee.Ø It takes decision regarding all higher level appointments in the Cabinet Secretariat, public enterprises, banks and

financial institutions.2. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation (CCA)Ø It is composed of cabinet ministers from various ministries with one of them as the head.Ø The committee determines the guidelines or rules and terms and conditions to govern out-of-turn allotment of

government accommodation and allotment of accommodation to the members of the parliament.Ø Also considers proposals regarding shifting of the existing Central Government Offices to places outside Delhi

and the location of new offices in Delhi.3. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)Ø Cabinet ministers of various ministries are its members. Prime Minister is the head of this committee.Ø It directs and coordinates the governmental activities in the economic sphere.Ø Also reviews economic trends and evolve consistent and integrated policy framework in the country.Ø It considers issues relating to disinvestment4. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary AffairsØ This committee is composed of cabinet ministers from various ministers. The Union Home Minister is the head

of the committee.Ø The function of the committee is to watch the progress of Government business in Parliament and to give directions

necessary to secure smooth and efficient conduct of such business.5. Cabinet Committee on Political AffairsØ The committee is headed by the Prime Minister. Cabinet ministers of various ministries are its members.Ø The committee deals with problems relating to Centre-State relations.Ø It also deals with policy matters concerning foreign affairs which do not have external or internal security

implications.6. Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)Ø The Prime Minister is the head of this committee. Cabinet ministers of Finance, Defence, Home Affairs and

External Affairs are its members.Ø It deals with all Defence related issues. Also with the issues relating to law and order and internal security.Ø The committee also considers all matters relating to atomic energy.7. Cabinet committee on investment & growthØ It is a new committee comprising Prime Minister as head, Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs,

Minister of Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs andMinister of Commerce & Industry.

8. Cabinet Committee on Employment and skill developmentØ The committee is made up of Prime Minister as head, Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister

of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Minister of Rural Development, Ministry of Commerce & Industry and other ministers.

Transaction of Business Rules (TBR), 1961

Ø In 1961, the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules (TBR), 1961 were framed, which prescribed themanner in which government should conduct its business.

Ø In terms of the TBR, 1961, there shall be “Standing Committees of the Cabinet” as set out in the First Scheduleto the TBR, 1961, with the functions specified therein.

Ø The Prime Minister can amend the Schedule by adding/reducing the numbers of such Committees or by modifyingthe functions assigned to them.

Ø Every Standing Committee shall consist of such Ministers as the Prime Minister may from time to time specify.Conventionally, while Ministers with Cabinet rank are named as ‘members’ of the Standing Committees of theCabinet, Ministers of State, irrespective of their status of having ‘Independent Charge’ of a Ministry/Department,and others ‘with rank of’ a Cabinet Minister or Minister of State are named as ‘special invitees’.

Ø The Second Schedule to TBR 1961, lists the items of Government business where the full Cabinet, and not anyStanding Committee of the Cabinet should take a decision.

Ø However, to the extent there is a commonality between the cases enumerated in the Second Schedule and thecases set out in the First Schedule, the Standing Committees of the Cabinet shall be competent to take a finaldecision in the matter, except in cases where the relevant entries in the respective Schedules themselves precludethe Committees from taking such decisions. Also, any decision taken by a Standing Committee may be reviewedby the Cabinet.

Source: PIB, The Hindu

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14

July–2019

International Relations, India & the World and International

Affairs

Current course of Indian foreign policy vis a vis India’s neighbourhood

Why in news?

Ø Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit abroad in his second term to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, which

certifies the traditional diplomatic emphasis on “Neighbourhood first”

Ø This move reaffirms the Indian Ocean island states into India’s strategic geography. A beginning of which was

made in 2015 when Indian PM travelled to Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka and outlined an Indian Ocean

strategy called SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).

What is the current course of Indian foreign policy vis a vis India’s neighbourhood?

Ø After SAARC becoming defunct (due to Pakistan’s misadventure) PM Modi turned to the BIMSTEC, India invited

BIMSTEC leaders in the swearing ceremony of PM Modi’s second term.

Ø Earlier BIMSTEC leaders were invited to join the BRICS summit at Goa during 2016.

Ø But India’s geopolitical thinking of neighbourhood concentrated towards the idea of South Asia has led to subdued

historic commercial ties with the maritime neighbours.

Ø So apart from focusing mainly on the land-borne neighbourhood, Indian foreign policy has to shift its focus

towards the maritime neighbourhood.

Ø Though some positive steps in this direction have taken: For example:

Ø PM Modi first foreign visit in his second term is headed towards Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Ø Emphasis on SAGAR narrative

Ø But India needs to engage with its maritime neighbourhood more enthusiastically as strategically important

countries like Myanmar, Thailand, or Indonesia with whom India shared land and/or maritime boundaries were

neglected in PM Modi first term.

What is the importance of the Maritime Neighbourhood for India?

Ø Geo-strategically: Indian ocean has now become the theatre of great power rivalry:

Ø Growing China’s assertiveness in the Indian ocean in its maritime silk road component of BRI (Belt and road

initiative) project.

Ø China has been also building naval bases in name of the commercial centre like Gwadar etc., which India dubbed

as its encirclement under the string of pearls theory

Ø Citing this India has also entered into the agreement for naval cooperation with powers like USA and France. this

has triggered a base race in the Indian ocean.

Ø Geo-politically: Indian ocean is one of the world’s busiest sea lines of communication.

Ø It serves as an important commercial trade route but it is strategically important too

Ø Citing this, from few years Sri Lanka has been persistent in claiming an “Indian Ocean identity” rather than a

South Asian identity.

Ø Geo-economically: Indian ocean harbours massive resources of the blue economy:

Ø Fisheries, Rare earth metals, unexplored oil and gases etc.

What should be the course of action for Indian foreign policy towards maritime Neighbourhood?

Ø India in the maritime domain must focus:

Ø In the western Indian Ocean: India can form a coherent group that must be dealt within an integrated framework.

Also, India must expand its ambit of Neighbourhood policy to draw in Madagascar, Comoros, Reunion and Diego Garcia.

Ø As Reunion is part of France and Diego Garcia hosts a major American military facility.

Ø In the eastern Indian Ocean: India should focus on a number of small islands which are geo-politically important

as they lie at heart of sea lines of communication

Ø The Cocos and Keeling islands belonging to Australia come readily to mind

Ø In both the east and the west, India’s own island territories — the Andaman and Lakshadweep, that have a critical

role in reshaping our maritime neighbourhood.



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Ø India needs to develop its own national capabilities — especially in the delivery of strategic economic and security

assistance to the island states. Without that the SAGAR vision will remain elusive.

Ø With SAGAR vision, PM Modi signalled India’s readiness to work with other powers in promoting regional

prosperity and security. Also, There are big possibilities for collaboration with France, the US, Australia and

Japan in different corners of the Indian Ocean. For this, to work out, India must now formulate a Neighbourhood

First Policy 2.0.

What is Neighbourhood first policy?

Ø It is part of India’s foreign policy that actively focuses on improving ties with India’s immediate neighbours

which is being termed as Neighbourhood first policy in the media

Ø It was started well by inviting all heads of state/heads of government of South Asian countries in his inauguration

of PM Modi first term and later held bilateral talks with all of them individually which was dubbed as a mini

SAARC summit.


Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – Bishkek Declaration

Why in news?

F The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO’s) Heads of State summit was recently held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

What is SCO?

Ø The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation formed

in 2001 in Shanghai, China.

Ø Currently, the SCO comprises 8 member states, namely India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia,

Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Ø [India and Pakistan were inducted into SCO in 2017.]

Ø The 4 observer countries are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

Ø The 6 dialogue partners are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.

Ø The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO.

Ø It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.

The SCO Heads of Government Council (HGC) meets once a year

Ø to discuss on the organisation’s multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas

Ø to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues

Ø to approve the organisation’s annual budget

Ø The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

Ø The deliberations of SCO are divided into two portions –

i. restricted format which is meant for the members

ii. expanded format in which observers also join the members

Ø The next summit is to be held in Russia.

What are the key outcomes?

Ø The Bishkek Declaration was finalised in the summit.

Ø Member countries signed 14 decisions at the summit, including cooperation in sports, healthcare and environment.

Ø The anti-narcotic strategy and the programme of action were amongst one of the documents signed.

Ø Discussions regarding terrorism, regional cooperation, Afghanistan, and economic issues were carried out during

the summit.

Ø SCO urged the global community to work towards a consensus on adopting the Comprehensive Convention on

International Terrorism (CCIT).

Ø It also emphasised the need to launch multilateral talks, at the Conference on Disarmament, on an international

convention to combat acts of chemical and biological terrorism.

Ø SCO called for the international community’s joint efforts to counter attempts to involve young people in terrorism,

separatism and extremist activities.

Ø The members committed to counter the use of information and communications technology to undermine

political, economic and public security in the SCO countries.



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Ø Opportunities for economic cooperation had a special focus, and SCO countries committed to strengthening

economic cooperation.

Ø Countries also committed to supporting the World Trade Organisation structure.

Ø Also, building more people-to-people ties, tourism and cultural bonds within the grouping was stressed upon.

Ø On the sidelines of the summit, some cooperation agreements between SCO and UN-specialised agencies were

also signed.

Ø On Afghanistan, the Bishkek declaration stressed on an inclusive peace process led by “Afghans themselves”.

Ø India reiterated its long-held stand towards the peace process in Afghanistan.

Ø It held the view that Afghanistan should be led, owned, and controlled by Kabul.

Ø Indian PM Modi also touched upon the topics of connectivity, especially the north-south corridor, Chabahar port

and renewable energy.

Ø He also introduced the acronym HEALTH (during the SCO session) which denotes –

i. Healthcare Cooperation

ii. Economic Cooperation

iii. Alternate Energy

iv. Literature and Culture

v. Terrorism-free society

vi. Humanitarian Cooperation

Ø India-Pakistan - Prime Minister Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan failed to hold substantive talks

at the summit.

Ø Nevertheless, the occasion provided a setting for them to exchange what India called the “usual pleasantries” at

the least.

Ø Beyond the summit, the two countries are committed to engaging at several other levels, including the SCO

Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

Ø Pakistan leads the effort to coordinate between the SCO and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Ø Besides these, India opposed to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Ø The summit declaration has mentioned only the other countries in a paragraph praising the project.

Ø On the sidelines of the summit, Mr. Modi held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian

President Vladimir Putin.

How significant is SCO to India?

Ø The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is becoming vital to India’s Eurasia policy.

Ø SCO is also a platform for alignments on issues such as energy security, connectivity and trade.

Ø Besides, India has been indicating, for some time now, the little use for SAARC.

Ø So, the SCO provides the only multilateral platform for it to deal in close proximity with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ø Going ahead, India’s strategy of balancing the competing interests of SCO and other such multilateral groupings

will be tested.

Source: The Hindu

G-20 Osaka summit

Why in news ?

F Recently the 11th G20 Summit was held in Osaka, Japan on 28th-29th June, 2019.

Highlights of G20:

Ø On issues such as ocean pollution management, gender equality and concerted efforts to fight corruption, the G-

20 found consensus more easily. The Summit was based on discussions on subjects like trade, energy, climate

change etc.

Ø India targeted to become a five-trillion dollar economy in the next five years.

Ø Further, India pledged to accord Social sector top priority and resolved to focus on infrastructure development,

especially digital infrastructure.

Ø However, Indian PM also highlighted the deficiency of resources, underlining that “there is a shortfall of almost $1.3

trillion investment in the infrastructure.

Ø On the sidelines of G-20 summit, India and Japan signed exchange of Letter of Intent on Ahmedabad – Kobe

Sister City Partnership.

Ø India also invited the G20 countries to join a global coalition on disaster resilience, saying disasters require

quick and effective remedial measures as they invariably affect the poor the most.



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Ø India and Indonesia fixed an ambitious USD 50 billion target for bilateral trade over the next six years.

Ø India sent a tough message by refusing to attend the digital economy summit pushed by Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe, as his plan for “data free flow with trust”, included in the G-20 declaration, runs counter to the

Reserve Bank of India’s proposed data localisation guidelines.

Ø Indian PM (his sixth G-20 summit) held many plurilateral meetings with other world leaders like heads of Russia,

USA, Japan, China etc.

Ø India and the US discussed various bilateral and global issues including Iran, 5G communications networks, trade

and defence ahead of the G-20 Summit.

Tri-Lateral Meetings of JAI and BRICS:

Ø Along with that India also participated in two parallel tri-laterals i.e the Russia-India-China (RIC) and Japan-

U.S.-India (JAI) and an informal BRICS summit.

Ø JAI Trilateral: Three countries discussed issues of the Indo-Pacific region, connectivity and infrastructure

development. It was the second Japan-America-India (JAI) meeting.

Ø Informal BRICS meet: India stressed the need to stop all the mediums of support to terrorism and racism. Indian

PM called terrorism ”the biggest threat to humanity” which kills innocent and severely affects economic

development and social stability.

Ø India is taking aggressive steps to mitigate the effects of climate change and is expanding its renewable energy

generation rapidly. It is also encouraging its automobile industry to shift to electric mobility in a big way.

Russia-India-China (RIC):

Ø Russia-India-China (RIC) held trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, President Xi

urged the three countries, to “expand cooperation in 5G network, high technology, connectivity, energy and other

areas,” . He also called for reforming the World Trade Organisation (WTO), based on consensus.

Ø China pointed out that the rise of protectionism and unilateralism had seriously affected the stability of the

global landscape, dragged down world economic growth.

Ø It exerted a negative impact that cannot be ignored on the international order on which emerging-market countries

and developing countries depend.

Reducing the Trade Tensions another important concern :

Ø The most anticipated were President Trump’s meetings with his Chinese Xi Jinping and Mr. Modi, given

the escalation in trade tensions. Both ended on a cordial note, but with no breakthrough or “big deals”.

Ø The Indian and U.S. Commerce Ministers will sit down again, to try to resolve the impasse over trade issues, and

the U.S. and China have called a halt to raising tariffs until they resolve issues.

Ø Both come as a relief to India, given the impact of those tensions on the national and global economies.

Ø Mr. Modi raised several Indian concerns at the G-20 deliberations, including the need for cooperation on dealing

with serious economic offenders and fugitives, as well as climate change funding. This found its way into the

final declaration.

Ø PM Modi discussed terrorism threat at informal BRICS meet on G20 Summit sidelines

Ø He also highlighted the need to bring reforms into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to ensure equal

growth for all.

Ø During the Japan-America-India trilateral meeting, Modi highlighted ”the importance India attaches to”

the grouping.

Osaka Declaration

Ø The Osaka Declaration of G-20 leaders summed up the key outcomes of the meet.

Terrorism

Ø The joint statement accorded very low priority to terrorism, but the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) got due

significance.

Ø It welcomed the UNSC Resolution 2462, which highlights the significant role of the FATF.

Ø The declaration called for the full, effective and swift implementation of the FATF standards.

Ø India has been quite active at the FATF with Pakistan’s grey-listing, and China will now hold the chair after the US.



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Anti-corruption

Ø The Osaka declaration emphasized on economic offenders as part of the anti-corruption theme.

Ø It noted that the countries would work on a scoping paper on international cooperation dealing with “serious

economic offenders” and recovery of stolen assets.

Ø It committed to intensify efforts to combat foreign bribery and to ensure that each G-20 country has a national

law in force for criminalizing foreign bribery as soon as possible.

Ø The issue has notably been portrayed by the Indian government as a priority objective.

Climate Change

Ø Signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change reaffirmed their commitment to its full implementation.

Ø It reflected their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different

national circumstances.

Ø The declaration emphasized the importance of providing financial resources to assist developing countries for

both mitigation and adaptation.

Ø The U.S. is isolated on climate change for the last two summits since its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

Ø However, it was able to make its way to get its position reflected in the G-20 statement for the first time.

Ø In the statement, the US reiterated its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as it feels it to be

disadvantageous to American workers and taxpayers.

Ø However, the U.S. reaffirmed its strong commitment to promoting economic growth, energy security and access,

and environmental protection.

Ø The US’s position as a world leader in reducing emissions was mentioned in the declaration.

Ø Notably, US’s energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 14% between 2005 and 2017 even as its economy grew by

19.4%.

Ø This was largely due to the development and deployment of innovative energy technologies.

India’s priorities

Ø India’s primary concern on terrorism was not given due prominence at G-20 this year.

Ø But its concerns on black money, cross-border flow of data, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and significance of

FATF were given due importance.

Ø India will now have to start thinking about its agenda for 2020, especially since it is going to shape the agenda in

2022 as host of G-20.

Trade

Ø The presence of the challenge of trade protectionism across the world was acknowledged at the summit.

Ø The G-20 leaders thus committed to ensure a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable

trade and investment environment.

Ø Taking note of the growing risks to the global economy, the leaders also called for a reform of the World Trade

Organization (WTO).

Ø The declaration highlighted the need for carefully calibrated macroeconomic and structural policies designed to

country-specific circumstances.

Ø This is particularly to address excessive current account imbalances and mitigate the risks to achieving the G-20

goal of strong and inclusive growth.

Ø Besides, the declaration called for the IMF to expedite its work on its resources and governance reform on a

priority basis.

Ø It also urged the IMF and the World Bank Group to continue efforts to strengthen borrowers’ capacity in the area

of debt recording, monitoring and reporting.

Ø G-20 further said that it would intensify its efforts for a consensus-based solution on tax challenges arising from

digitalisation with a report by 2020.

G-20

Ø The G-20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors. On the name of its members

its name is termed as the G-20.

Ø G-20 was founded in 1999 with the aim to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.

Ø Group of 20 or (G-20) is the main forum for deciding the opinion on many international economic cooperation

and some other critical issues like terrorism, human trafficking, global warming etc.



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Ø The G20 Summit is formally known as the ”Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy”.Ø G20 members represent around 85% of global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and two-thirds of the world’s

population.Ø The G20 Presidency rotates annually according to a system that ensures a regional balance over time.Ø The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat. Instead, the G20 president is responsible for bringing the G20

agenda in consultation with other members. G20 is an informal political forum.Ø A Sherpa is a personal representative of the leader of a member country at an international Summit meeting such

as the G8, G20 or the Nuclear Security Summit and are responsible for thrashing out the details before themeeting of the leaders.

Conclusion:

Ø The G-20 is an important platform to discuss pressing issues, and it must not be detracted from its originalpurpose of promoting sustainable growth and financial stability by grandstanding by one or two members.

Ø Many global challenges, such as climate change and its impact, the balance between the needs for speed andnational security with 5G networks being introduced, as well as technology-driven terrorism, will becomeeven more critical for the grouping, and the government must articulate its line.

Ø With Saudi Arabia hosting the next G-20 in 2020, followed by Italy in 2021, all eyes will soon turn to theagenda India plans to highlight when it holds the G-20 summit in 2022.

Ø India should lead the exercise in making the G-20 more effective in dealing with some of the inequities inits system. Source: The Hindu, Indian Express

34th ASEAN Summit

Why in news?

F The 34th ASEAN Summit was recently held in Thailand’s capital Bangkok.

Following are the key highlights of the summit

Indo-Pacific Outlook

Ø Leaders of the ASEAN member states have agreed to adopt the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific conceptwhich was led by Indonesia.

Ø There are 5 main points related to the Outlook - the background and reason behind, the key elements, objectives,principles, and areas of cooperation.

Ø It reflects the centrality and strength of ASEAN in respecting peace and dialogue culture and strengtheningcooperation.

Ø The outlook on the Indo-Pacific issue has come amidst the current global developments in the region.

BIMSTEC

Ø With the Indo-Pacific strategy, ASEAN has reserved a special place for India’s BIMSTEC grouping as one toconnect with.

Ø This will be the first sign of acceptance in the region of India’s renewed interest in BIMSTEC.Ø Notably, India has put in more diplomatic energy into BIMSTEC in recent years.Ø This comes as an effort to redefine India’s neighbourhood eastwards, for better connectivity and economic and

strategic engagement.

Marine debris

Ø The Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris in the region was endorsed at the summit.Ø Efforts will be taken to significantly reduce and prevent the amount of marine debris, particularly from

land-based activities.Ø In addition, leaders also agreed to –Ø encourage integrated land-to-sea approaches to prevent and reduce marine debrisØ strengthen their respective legislationØ intensify regional and international cooperation, including dialogs on policies and exchanges of informationØ In this regard, ASEAN will promote inter-sectoral coordination among ASEAN sectoral bodies.Ø This is to address the multidimensional negative and far-reaching impact of marine debris.Ø Leaders also agreed to promote an innovative solution to raise plastic costs.Ø Strengthening research capacities and applications of scientific knowledge to combat marine debris were also discussed.Ø Leaders of the ASEAN grouping have committed to concluding negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive

Economic Partnership (RCEP) by the end of 2019.



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What is RCEP?

Ø The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is the free trade agreement (FTA) being negotiated under

the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).

Ø It includes 10 ASEAN members and 6 FTA partners of ASEAN (India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and

New Zealand).

Ø [The ASEAN member countries are Thailand, I ndonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam,

Brunei, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos.]

What is the recent decision?

Ø Leaders of the ASEAN have committed to conclude negotiations for the RCEP free trade agreement by the end of 2019.

Ø Malaysian Prime Minister suggested that countries not ready to join the RCEP could join it at a later date.

Ø This, in particular, includes India along with Australia and New Zealand.

Ø Such a move would allow a smaller 13-member RCEP to go ahead.

Ø However, other leaders insist that all 16 members must agree on the final RCEP document.

Ø In this line, it was agreed in the summit to send a three-member delegation to India to take forward the talks.

India’s stance

Ø Six years into negotiations on the finalization of RCEP, India’s continuing concerns include the following -

Ø opening its markets for cheaper goods from countries like China and South Korea

Ø ensuring that RCEP countries open their markets for Indian manpower (services)

Ø India has a trade deficit with as many as 11 of the 16 RCEP countries.

Ø Also, India is the only one among them that is not negotiating a bilateral or multilateral free trade agreement with

China at present.

Ø So, negotiators have agreed to India’s demand for differential tariffs for its trade with China vis-à-vis the others.

Ø But India has also made tagging the “Country of Origin” on all products a point of contention in RCEP negotiations.

Ø Despite these concerns, India has reiterated its commitment to making RCEP work.

Way Ahead

Ø India has begun consultations with stakeholders from industries in this regard.

Ø It has engaged think tanks and management institutes to develop a consensus in favour of signing the RCEP.

Ø In the coming days, India will have to keep up intense negotiations to materialize RCEP.

Ø Importantly, there are global uncertainties and challenges to multilateralism and the international economic order today.

Ø So making RCEP function would show India’s standards in regional trade and investment potentials, which are key

for economic growth.

Source: The Hindu

SIPRI Yearbook 2019

Why in news?

F The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has recently released, SIPRI Yearbook 2019 related

to the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security.

Key findings of the report are as under:

Ø The report says that the all 9 nuclear weapon-possessing states are reducing nuclear warheads but are modernising

their arsenals.

Ø These 9 nuclear-armed countries had a total of some 13,865 nuclear weapons at the start of 2019. It is a decrease

from 14,465 at the start of 2018.

Ø It attributed the decrease mainly to Russia and the US(together still account for over 90 per cent of the total

nuclear weapons)in pursuant of implementing the New START treaty of 2010.

Ø America has focused on its non-strategic nuclear arsenal and this could divert other countries in the same direction.

Ø China, India and Pakistan are increasing the size of their nuclear arsenals.

Ø Also, India and Pakistan are expanding their military fissile material production capabilities.

Ø North Korea continues to prioritize its military nuclear programme as a central element of its national security strategy.

Ø The report sites that the absence of transparency on the status of the nuclear arsenals and capabilities of the

nuclear-armed states.



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How the countries have been rated?

Ø India and Pakistan:

Ø For India, figure of 130-140 other warheads in 2019, the same as in 2018.

Ø For Pakistan, figure of 150-160 warheads.

Ø Both nations are estimated to have increased their arsenal by 10 to 20 warheads in 2018.

Ø US and Russia: Reduction in the strategic nuclear forces of US and Russia is due to

Ø Implementation of the New START2010 (Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic

Offensive Arms)

Ø Unilateral reductions by both the countries.

Ø Programmes under way to replace and modernize their arsenal.

Ø Both are concentrating on the development of their non-strategic nuclear arsenal.

Ø North Korea: Figures for North Korea were not added to the total on account of uncertainty.

Ø China: It’s working to expand its nuclear forces. It is also committed to a no-first-use policy, however has also

taken steps to improve its retaliation response.

SIPRI (The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute):

Ø SIPRI is an independent international institute and a think tank established in 1966.

Ø Its headquarter is located at Stockholm.

Ø Its vision is a world in which sources of insecurity are identified and understood, conflicts are prevented or

resolved, and peace is sustained.

Ø It researches into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.

Ø It provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and

the interested public.


World Population Projections 2019Why in news?

F The United Nations recently released the ‘World Population Projections 2019’ report.

What are the highlights?

World population

Ø The report projects the world population to reach some 9.7 billion by 2050.

Ø However, it says that the overall growth rate will continue to fall.

Ø The next 30 years will see the population add 2 billion people to today’s 7.7 billion.

Ø The world population will reach 11 billion by the end of the century.

Ø Half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just 9 countries.

Ø This is led by India and followed by Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania,

Indonesia, Egypt and the US.

Ø Many of the fastest growing populations are in the poorest countries.

Ø Here, population growth brings additional challenges in the form of poverty, equality, hunger and malnutrition,

low education, etc.

Fertility rates

Ø The fertility rates are falling worldwide.

Ø The average number of births per woman globally, from 3.2 in 1990, fell to 2.5 by 2019.

Ø This is now projected to fall further to 2.2 births by 2050.

Ø To avoid decline in a national population, a fertility level of 2.1 births per woman is necessary (in the absence of

immigration).

Age composition

Ø In 2018, for the first time, persons aged 65 years or over worldwide outnumbered children under age five.

Ø Projections indicate that by 2050, there will be more than twice as many persons above 65 as children under five.

Ø By 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65 (16%), up from one in 11 in 2019 (9%).

Ø By 2050, the number of persons aged 65 or over will also surpass the number of adolescents and youth aged 15-24.

Ø The number of persons aged 80 years or over is projected to triple, from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million in 2050.



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Life expectancy

Ø The overall life expectancy will increase from 64.2 years in 1990 to 77.1 years in 2050.

Ø However, life expectancy in poorer countries is projected to continue to lag behind.

Ø Today, the average lifespan of a baby born in one of the least developed countries will be some 7 years shorter

than one born in a developed country.

Ø The main reasons cited are high child and maternal mortality rates, conflict and insecurity, and the continuing

impact of the HIV epidemic.

Dwindling populations

Ø The populations of 55 countries are projected to decrease by 1% or more between 2019 and 2050.

Ø The largest relative reductions in population size (loss of around 20% or more) over this period are expected in

Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands.

Ø The key reasons are sustained low levels of fertility, and, in some places, high rates of emigration.

Migration

Ø Migration flows have become a major reason for population change in certain regions.

Ø Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines are seeing the largest migratory outflows resulting from the demand for

migrant workers.

Ø Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela are the countries where the largest numbers are leaving because of

insecurity or conflict.

Sex ratio

Ø Males are projected to continue to outnumber females until the end of the century, but the gap will close eventually.

Indian Context

Ø China, with 1.43 billion people in 2019, and India, with 1.37 billion, has long been the two most populous countries

of the world.

Ø China and India comprise 19 and 18%, respectively, of the global total population in 2019. They are followed by

the USA.

Ø India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in the next 8 years i.e. by around 2027.

Ø India is expected to add nearly 273 million people between 2019 and 2050.

Ø It will remain the most populated country through the end of the current century.

Ø Together, the population of India and Nigeria (projected to grow by 200 million) could account for 23% of the

global population increase to 2050.

Over-65 population

Ø In India, children under age five still outnumber the over-65 population.

Ø But the over-65 population is projected to overtake the under-five group between 2025 and 2030.

Ø By 2050, persons over age 65 will make up about one-seventh of India’s population.

Ø By then, the 15-24 years age group in India (13.8%), too, will outnumber the over-65 group (13.6%).

Ø So, children under age five are projected to constitute less than 6% of India’s population in 2050, as compared to

7% globally.

2019 World Population Prospects

Ø The 2019 World Population Prospects is the twenty-sixth round of official United Nations population estimates

and projections that have been prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social

Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat.


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Indian Economy and Economic Development

Highlights of Budget 2019

Ø The Union Minister for Finance presented the Union Budget 2019-20 before the Parliament.

Constitutional Provisions

Ø The term ‘budget’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution. It is the popular name for the ‘Annual Financial

Statement’ that has been dealt with in Article 112 of the Constitution.

Ø The budget is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India in a financialyear (FY), which begins on April 1 and ends on March 31 of the following year.

Ø In addition to the estimates of receipts and expenditure, the budget contains certain other elements. Overall, thebudget contains the following:

Ø Estimates of revenue and capital receipts;Ø Ways and means to raise revenue;Ø Estimates of expenditure;Ø Details of the actual receipts and expenditure of the closing financial year and the reasons for any deficit or

surplus in that year; andØ Economic and financial policy of the coming year, that is, taxation proposals, prospects of revenue, spending

programme and introduction of new schemes/projects.Ø The Railway Budget was separated from the General Budget in 1921 on the recommendations of the Acworth

Committee. In August 2016, the Central Government decided to merge the railway budget into the general budget.

Economy

Ø Fiscal deficit in FY 19 has been set at 3.3% of the GDP.Ø Indian economy will become a 3 trillion dollar economy in 2019. Government aspires to make India a 5 trillion

dollar economy by 2024-25. To achieve this, there is a need for investment in:

Infrastructure

Digital economy

Ø Job creation in small and medium firms

Ø PAN and Aadhaar will become interchangeable. One can use Aadhaar number to file I-T Returns.Ø Rs. 5 lakh minimum limit announced for taxpayers.Ø In view of rising income levels, those in the ¹ 2-5 crore and ¹ 5 crore-and-above brackets will see an increase in

effective tax rate by 3% (39%) and 7% (42.74%), respectively.Ø No change in personal income tax rates.Ø Increase in cess on fuel by 1 rupee, petrol & diesel to get costlier; while customs duty on gold and precious

items increased.Ø Corporate tax with a turnover of up to Rs 400 crore slashed to 25% from a current rate of 30%.Ø GST Council advised to reduce tax rate on Electric Vehicles from 12% to 5%.Ø No charge on digital payments: Merchant Discount Rate charges waived on cashless payment.Ø Measures related to MSMEs:

Ø Proposed easing angel tax for startups.Ø E-verification mechanism for establishing investor identity and source of funds for startups.Ø 2% interest subvention for GST-registered MSME on fresh or incremental loans.Ø ‘Stand Up India’ Scheme to continue till 2025.Ø New television channel for start-ups.Ø Pension benefit extended to retail traders with annual turnover less than Rs 1.5 crore.Ø New payment platform for MSMEs to be created.Ø Proposal to provide Rs 70,000 crore capital for PSU Banks.Ø Regulation of HFCs (Housing Finance Cos) to move to RBI from National Housing Bank.Ø Govt to modify the present policy of retaining 51% stake in PSUs.

Ø Govt to continue with strategic divestment of select CPSEs.

Ø Divestment target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore for FY 20.

Ø Strategic disinvestment of Air India proposed to be re-initiated.Ø Global Investors Meet to be held in India.



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Rural India and Agriculture

Ø Gaon, Garib and Kisan are the focus of the government.

Ø New Jal Shakti ministry will work with states to ensure Har Ghar Jal for all rural houses by 2024.

Ø Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana phase 3 is envisaged to upgrade 1,25,000 km of road length over the next 5 years.

Ø Govt will set up 100 new clusters for 50,000 artisans in FY 20.

Ø Every single rural family, to have electricity by 2022.

Ø Govt to promote Zero Budget Farming.

Ø 10,000 new farm produce organisations.

Ø 80 Livelihood business incubators and 20 technology business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under Scheme

for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE) to develop 75,000 skilled

entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries.

Ø Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)

Ø A robust fisheries management framework through PMMSY to be established by the Department of Fisheries.

Ø To address critical gaps in the value chain including infrastructure, modernization, traceability, production,

productivity, post-harvest management, and quality control.

Youth

Ø To popularise sports at all levels, National Sports Education Board for development of sportspersons to be

set up under ’Khelo India.’

Ø Govt to launch ‘Study in India’ programme to attract foreign students in higher education.

Ø Rs 400 crore allocated for world-class higher education institutions in FY 20 .

Ø National research foundation to fund, coordinate and to promote research in the country.

Ø New Higher Education Commission with focus on higher autonomy.

Ø New national education policy to propose changes in school, higher education.

Ø To make the Indian youth ready to take up jobs in foreign countries, more emphasis on new-age skills like Artificial

Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, etc.

Ø Study in India proposed to bring foreign students to study in Indian higher educational institutions.

Social

Ø Nari tu Narayani: Women SHG Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India.

Ø Rs 1 lakh loan to be provided for SHG women members under Mudra Scheme.

Ø Rs 3,000 pension per month for workers from the informal sector.

Ø Gandhipedia being developed by the National Council for Science Museums to sensitize youth and society

about positive Gandhian values.

Infrastructure

Ø State road networks to be developed in the second phase of Bharatmala project.

Ø Rs. 50 lakh crore investment needed in Railway Infrastructure during 2018-2030.

Ø Public-Private-Partnership proposed for development and completion of tracks, rolling stock manufacturing and

delivery of passenger freight services.

Ø Policy interventions to be made for the development of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), to achieve

self- reliance in the aviation segment.

Ø Outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore for 3 years approved for Phase-II of FAME Scheme.

Ø National Highway Programme to be restructured to ensure a National Highway Grid, using a financeable model.

Ø Power at affordable rates to states ensured under ”One Nation, One Grid .

Ø Blueprints to be made available for gas grids, water grids, i-ways, and regional airports.

Space

Ø India has emerged as a major space power. It is time to harness our ability commercially.

Ø A public sector enterprise, New Space India Limited (NSIL) has been incorporated to tap benefits of ISRO.

Roadmap for Future

Ø Simplification of procedures.

Ø Incentivizing performance.

Ø Red-tape reduction.

Ø Making the best use of technology.

Ø Accelerating mega programmes and services initiated and delivered so far.



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Highlights of Economic Survey 2018-19

Ø The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs tabled the Economic Survey 2018-19 in the Parliament.

Ø This is the first survey by the new chief economic advisor Krishnamurthy V Subramanian.

Ø The theme of Economic Survey, 2018-19 is ”Shifting Gears towards a $5 trillion Indian economy by 2024-25".

GDP Growth

Ø A sustained real GDP growth rate of 8% is needed for India to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

Ø The survey suggests that this can be achieved by a ”Virtuous Cycle” of savings, investment, and exports.

The private investment being the key driver.

Ø This cycle will be catalyzed and supported by a favorable demographic phase.

Ø This virtuous cycle should be sustained and in equilibrium. A departure from traditional Anglo-Saxon

thinking by viewing the economy as being either in a virtuous or a vicious cycle, and thus never in equilibrium.

Behavioural Economics for Social Change

Ø The survey has drawn on Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler’s Behavioural Economics Theory to lay out an

“ambitious agenda” for behavior change that will bring in social change, which in turn, will help India transit to a

$5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

Ø Decisions by real people deviate from impractical robots theorized in classical economics. Behavioral economics

provides insights to ‘nudge’ people towards desirable behavior.

Ø It pitches for behavioral change by applying the principles of behavioral economics to several issues including

gender equality, a healthy and beautiful India, savings, tax compliance, and credit quality.

Ø This includes a transition from ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ to ‘BADLAV’ (Beti Aapki Dhan Lakshmi Aur

Vijay Lakshmi), from ‘Swachh Bharat’ to ‘Sundar Bharat’, from ‘Give it up” for the LPG subsidy to ‘Think

about the Subsidy’ and from ‘Tax evasion’ to ‘Tax compliance’.

Nudge Theory

Ø According to Nudge theory, people, rather than being forced, can be encouraged and influenced to pursue or

desist from certain actions through nudges.

Ø It does not talk about penalizing people if they do not behave in a particular manner, rather it encourages them

to make desirable decisions.

Ø It believes that Humans are not-so-rational and often need encouragement or intervention — a nudge — to

get going and do what’s best for the country or society at large.

Ø American economist Richard Thaler has won the 2017 Nobel Prize in economics for his contributions to

behavioural economics.

Policies for MSME Growth

Ø The survey highlights the importance of intervention in the case of ”Dwarfs”.

Ø Dwarfs are the firms with less than 100 workers despite being more than 10 years old.

Ø They account for more than 50% of all organized firms in manufacturing by number.

Ø Contribution of dwarfs to employment is only 14% and to the productivity is a mere 8%.

Ø Large firms (more than 100 employees) account for 75% employment and close to 90% of productivity

despite accounting for about 15% by number.

Ø The interventions are:

Ø A sunset clause of less than 10 years, with necessary grand-fathering, for all size-based incentives.

Ø Deregulating labor law restrictions to create significantly more jobs.

Ø Re-calibrating Priority Sector Lending (PSL) guidelines for direct credit flow to young firms in high

employment elastic sectors.

Sunset Clause & Size Based Incentives

Ø Sunset clause is a provision of a law that it will automatically be terminated after a fixed period unless it is

extended by law.

Ø The Economic Survey slammed the practice of perpetual support to small and medium-sized enterprises on

the grounds that they are mega job creators. Such a continuous hand-holding merely encourages these entities

to keep a check on their scale of operations, i.e. they deliberately stay small.

Ø The governments should shift their focus to nurturing “infant” firms only.

Ø Policymakers must ensure that support to small units is withdrawn after a specified time, forcing them to

expand their operations and not live off government relief forever.

Ø The survey also cites ”size-based incentives” irrespective of the firm’s age.



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Minimum Wage System & Inclusive Growth

Ø Survey proposes a well-designed minimum wage system as a potent tool for protecting workers and alleviating poverty.

Ø The survey supports rationalization of minimum wages as proposed under the Code on Wages Bill. Minimum

wages to all employments/workers.

Current Scenario:

Ø Present minimum wage system in India has 1,915 minimum wages for various scheduled job categories across states.

Ø 1 in every 3 wage worker in India is not protected by the minimum wage law.

Ø ‘National Floor Minimum Wage’ should be notified by the Central Government, varying across five geographical regions.

Ø Minimum wages by states should be fixed at levels not lower than the ‘floor wage’.

Ø Minimum wages can be notified based either on the skills or on geographical region or on both grounds.

Ø ‘National level dashboard’ under the Ministry of Labour & Employment for regular notifications on minimum

wages, proposed by the survey.

Ø Toll-free number to register grievance on non-payment of the statutory minimum wages.

Minimum Wage

Ø According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), minimum wages have been defined as the minimum

amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given

period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract.

India’s Demography

Ø A sharp slowdown in population growth is expected in the next 2 decades. National Total Fertility Rate is expected

to be below the replacement rate by 2021.

Ø Significant decline is to be witnessed in elementary school-going children (5-14 age group) over the next

two decades.

Ø States need to consolidate/merge schools to make them viable rather than build new ones.

Ø Policy makers need to prepare for aging by investing in health care and by increasing the retirement age in a

phased manner.

Reforms in the Lower Judiciary

Ø The section on ways to ramp up capacity in the lower judiciary is titled ‘Ending Matsyanyaya’ (the law of the

fish/jungle).

Ø Delays in contract enforcement and disposal resolution are now the single biggest hurdle to the ease of doing

business and higher GDP growth in India.

Ø However, the survey highlights the profound impact that the Government’s efforts of introducing the Insolvency

and Bankruptcy Code and the adoption of the Goods and Services Tax, have had on improving Ease of Doing

Business in India.

Data “Of the People, By the People, For the People”

Ø As data is generated by the people, data can be created as a public good within the legal framework of data privacy.

Ø The government must intervene in creating data as a public good, especially of the poor and in social sectors.

Ø Merging the distinct datasets held by the Government already would generate multiple benefits.

Economic Survey

Ø The Economic Survey is prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the

Finance Ministry under the overall guidance of the Chief Economic Adviser.

Ø The survey was de-linked from the Budget in the year 1964 and is circulated in advance to provide the context

of the Budget.

Ø India’s first Economic Survey was presented in the year 1950-51.

Source: PIB, Indiabudget.nic



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Financial Stability Report-2019 by RBI

Why in news?

F The Reserve Bank of India has recently released the 19th edition of the Financial Stability Report (FSR).

What is the Financial Stability Report?Ø It reflects the combined assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development

Council (FSDC) on risks to financial stability.

Ø It also provides a picture of the resilience of the financial system.

Ø In addition, it also discusses issues relating to the development and regulation of the financial sector.

Ø The report analyses the overall status of the various segments and highlights the risk-related issues which could

lead to potential challenges.

How is the performance of the banking system as per the report?

Ø The report says that the state of the banking system is encouraging.

Ø As of March 2019, the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio is 9.3% for all banks. However, it is likely to

come down to 9% by March 2020.

Ø More significantly, the asset recognition process is completed and from now onwards, the NPAs will be on new

credit given and not on earlier lending.

Ø Credit growth of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) has picked up, with public sector banks (PSBs) showcasing

near double-digit growth.

Ø Also, the capital adequacy of the SCBs has improved significantly after the recapitalization of PSBs.

Ø The PSBs have improved the Provision Coverage Ratio to 60.8% as against an average of 60.6% for the entire system.

Ø Overall, the growth in credit has picked up for PSBs which is a sign that they are on the road to normalcy.

Ø The fact that NPAs are under control shows that the other parameters will also improve.

Ø Lower NPAs mean fewer provisions which in turn improve profits and remove pressure from the net worth and

hence further demand for capital.

Ø The RBI has also indicated that the recovery rate for the cases under the IBC is around 40-45%.

Ø This is definitely better than the ratios of less than 20% that was the norm prior to the implementation of the IBC.

Concerns

Ø The report highlights that the problem areas in terms of NPAs still remain.

Ø For example, in metals, mining and engineering, the NPA ratios are above 25%.

Ø And, in construction, gems and jewellery and auto that follow next, the ratios are 21.8%, 21.5% and 18.4% respectively.

Ø It is to be seen as to how the new norms of dealing with stressed assets by the RBI work out for these above

mentioned sectors.

RBI’s observation on NBFCs

Ø The report highlights the significance of the Non-Banking Financial Companies’ in the country’s financial system.

Ø About 70% of their liabilities are raised from the public, with a size of Rs 28.8 lakh crore.

Ø As compared with the banking assets size of roughly Rs 140 lakh crore, the NBFC sector forms around 20%.

Ø This clearly shows the significance of this sector, as it caters to the needs of several corners where probably

banks are less interested.

Performance

Ø As per the report, in general, the well-run NBFCs have no problem and are progressing smoothly.

Ø However, those which started off with a fundamental asset/liability management (ALM) mismatch have faced a

series of challenges.

Ø More regulation which involves putting structures in place which are already in progress is the possible solution

in this regard.

Ø Loan share - The combined loan share of the NBFCs and HFCs (Housing Finance Companies), in comparison

with the joint share of banks, is fairly impressive.

Ø So, they are as important as the banks when it comes to providing finance to the household segment.

Ø Concerns - The worrisome part is that the delinquency rates (wrongdoings) tend to be higher.

Ø It thus calls for a higher degree of introspection in the NBFC sector.

Ø Contagion effect - Given the size of the housing finance companies (HFCs), they tend to be the largest of the NBFCs.



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Ø Now, their combined strength makes them comparable to the banks.

Ø This means that any major shock or failure can also have far-reaching implications for the financial system.Ø This has already been witnessed in case of the mutual fund industry which has been affected by their investments

in a paper issued by the NBFCs.Ø Their dominance in the corporate bond market is well-known and the progress here too will be impeded in case

of such a shock.Ø Given these, surveillance is the way out to ensure that the NBFCs continue to grow in a disciplined and secure manner.

Financial Stability and Development Council

Ø FSDC was established in 2010 with Union Finance Minister as its Chairman.Ø Its members include -

i. the heads of financial sector regulators (RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, and IRDA)ii. Finance Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs

iii. Secretary, Department of Financial Servicesiv. Chief Economic Adviser

v. Chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy BoardØ FSDC has two core functions:

i. to perform as an apex level forum to strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining financial stabilityii. to enhance inter-regulatory coordination and promote financial sector development in the country

Ø It focuses on financial literacy and financial inclusion.Ø It monitors macro-prudential supervision of the economy and also assesses the functioning of the large financial conglomerates.

Ø The FSDC sub-committee is chaired by the Governor of RBI.Source: The Hindu

One Nation One Ration Card Scheme

Why in news?

Ø Recently the Food Minister announced One Nation One Ration Card Scheme, which all states needs to implement

by July 2020.Ø One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme seeks to provide portability of food security benefits all across the nation.

Features

Ø The poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country but

for that their ration cards must be linked to Aadhaar.Ø Migrants would only be eligible for the subsidies supported by the Centre, which include rice sold at Rs. 3/kg and

wheat at Rs. 2/kg, It would not include subsidies given by their respective state government in some other state.Ø This scheme will ensure that no poor person is deprived of subsidised grains.

Ø The scheme can be implemented as already 77% of the ration shops across the country have PoS machines andmore than 85% of people covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) have their cards linked to Aadhaar.

Ø For remaining beneficiaries, all the States have been given one more year to use point of sale (PoS) machines inthe ration shops and implement the scheme.

Importance of Scheme

Ø Through this scheme, a citizen of the country will be able to get ration anywhere in the country from a card andthe availability of food grains will be ensured to all people under the National Food Security Act 2013.

Ø This scheme will benefit poor, laborer and people who migrate from one State to another for livelihood,employment or any other reason.

Ø Focusing on the use of information technology from the time of procurement of foodgrains to its distribution,will help in enhancing the overall efficiency of the entire process by maintaining its transparency and curbing corruption.

Ø There should be a system for the storage of all qualitative and quantitative information, which can be accessedthrough the ‘Food Distribution’ portal and specially designed dash boards.

National Food Security Act

Ø The basic concept of food security globally is to ensure that all people, at all times, should get access to the basicfood for their active and healthy life and is characterized by availability, access, utilization and stability of food.

Ø Food security can also be derived from the fundamental right to life enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution,as it may be interpreted to include right to live with human dignity, which may include the right to food and other

basic necessities.



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Ø In pursuance of this, the enactment of the National Food Security Act, (NFSA) 2013 marks a paradigm shift in the

approach to food security from welfare to the rights-based approach.

Ø The Act legally entitles up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized

foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.

Source: PIB

Recommendations of U.K. Sinha Committee on MSMEs

Why in news?

F The RBI-appointed U.K. Sinha-led committee, tasked up to study the issues faced by MSMEs, submitted its

recommendations recently.

Why was the committee constituted?

Ø In India, small businesses have been facing various issues since the demonetization in 2016. It was followed by

the implementation of the goods and services tax in 2017.

Ø Now, there is also the liquidity crunch issue triggered by a series of debt defaults by group companies of

Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd in 2018.

Ø All these factors have made the smooth functioning and development of the MSME sector very difficult.

Ø Thus, taking this into account, in January 2019, the RBI constituted the expert committee on MSMEs to undertake

a comprehensive review of the MSME sector.

Ø It was tasked to study the problems faced by MSMEs, identify the causes, and propose long-term solutions.

Following are the key recommendations

Distressed Asset Fund

Ø The committee has suggested a Rs.5,000 crore stressed asset fund for domestic micro, small and medium

enterprises (MSMEs).

Ø The creation of a distressed asset fund will be structured to assist units in clusters.

Ø This is intended as a relief to small businesses hurt by demonetization, GST and an ongoing liquidity crunch.

Ø The fund would go into reviving MSMEs in which a change in the external environment has led to them becoming

non-performing asset (NPA).

Ø The fund could work in tandem with RBI-mandated restructuring schemes or bank-led NPA revival solutions for MSMEs.

Ø The responsibility of creating this fund would lie with the government.

Ø The committee suggested forming a government-sponsored Fund of Funds of Rs. 10,000 crore. This is to support

venture capital and private equity firms investing in MSMEs.

MSME Act

Ø The committee observed that small industries face problems of delayed payments. They hesitate to enforce legal

provisions available to them under the MSME Development Act, 2006 due to their weak bargaining power.

Ø The committee has thus recommended an amendment to the Act.

Ø Under this, it calls for all MSMEs to mandatorily upload from time to time all their invoices above an amount (to

be specified by the government) to an information utility.

Ø This mechanism will entail automatic display of the names of defaulting buyers.

Ø This will also act as moral suasion on them to release payment to these suppliers.

Ø Also, many Indian start-ups that are at the forefront of innovation are drawn to look overseas.

Ø So the new law ought to address the sector’s biggest bottlenecks, including access to credit and risk capital.

Ø This will go a long way in prioritizing market facilitation and ease of doing business.

SIDBI

Ø The committee has recommended expanding the role of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Ø It called for SIDBI to deepen credit markets for MSMEs in underserved districts and regions.

Ø It emphasized on the role of private lenders such as non-banking financial companies and micro finance institutions

in this regard.

Ø Further, SIDBI was suggested to develop additional instruments for debt and equity.

Ø This would help crystallize new sources of funding for MSMEs and MSME lenders.



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Loan portal

Ø New entrepreneurs may not necessarily have information like GSTIN, income-tax returns and bank statement.Ø The committee thus suggested that the ‘PSBLoansIn59Minutes.com’ portal also cater to such new entrepreneurs.

Ø Besides, obtaining regular sanctions from the banks post in-principle approval had not been smooth forentrepreneurs.

Ø It was thus suggested to fix a timeline of 7-10 days for disposal of applications, which have received in-principleapproval.

Ø The committee also recommended enhancing the threshold of loan up to Rs. 5 crore.

Technology

Ø The committee acknowledged the fact that technology, especially digital platforms, having become inevitable.

Ø It thus made a case for greater adoption of technology-facilitated solutions to many of the problems encounteredby the MSME sector.

Ø The committee also suggested to develop group policies for death and accident cover for MSME entrepreneurs.Ø This, it said, should be significantly higher than the cover currently offered by the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima

Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.Ø Another suggestion entails expediting the integration of information on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

platform with the Trade Receivables Discounting System. The objective is to boost liquidity at MSMEs.Ø Going forward, the task is now for the RBI and the Centre to act on these recommendations to help actualize the

sector’s true economic potential.

Other suggestions include-

Ø introduction of adjusted priority sector lending guidelines for banks to specialize in lending to a specific sector

Ø doubling the collateral-free loan limit to Rs. 20 lakhØ providing insurance coverage to MSME employees by the government

What is the significance of the MSME sector?

Ø Around 63 million MSMEs in India contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth; they account for -Ø about 45% of manufacturing output

Ø more than 40% of exportsØ over 28% of gross domestic product

Ø More significantly, the MSME sector employs about 111 million people.Ø Worldwide, small businesses account for more than 50% of employment.

Ø They are key engines of job creation and economic growth in developing nations.Ø In addition, the MSME sector is also a true reflection of economics where people really matter.

Ø Given its employment share, the sector’s health is crucial to the economy’s vitality and society’s well-being.Source: The Hindu

Redefining PovertyWhy in news?

F India witnessed an astonishing poverty decline between 2011-12 and 2016-17 (as per the Tendulkar poverty

line of Rs 44 per person per day in 2017-18 prices, just 4.5 per cent of the population is below the poverty line).Also as per various scholars, agricultural growth is thrice more effective than any other means of poverty

alleviation.

F Poverty is no longer about food, hence there is a need for government to strive to free up our food producers

rather than keeping them as prisoners of policy. Time has arrived to rethink poverty: Policymaking should

concentrate on what causes growth, not what causes poverty to decline.

Why there is a need to redefine poverty in India?

Ø Policymaking on poverty in India considers food consumption as the ultimate criterion of poverty. Hence,

India built up an elaborate ecosystem of food production, consumption, and distribution.Ø But this ecosystem is biased against the poor farmer, as the Essential Commodities Act, Food Corporation of

India, and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee all work against the interest to the farmer.Ø Time has come to dismantle this ecosystem —, against climate change mitigation and also against efficient use

of water and energy.Ø Poverty is now not just about food but living standards — sanitation, housing, piped water, electricity,

education, health, and jobs. And on each of these elements, the focus should shift to quality, not quantity.



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Ø Since poverty is a dynamic concept, so it is not fair to define poverty in absolute terms, rather it must be

defined in relative terms.

Ø Most European nations have a relative definition of poverty — that is, a fixed proportion of the median income.

Ø India should move towards that by the end of 2024, as India will likely be a $5 trillion economy by that time.

Ø But before India moves to a relative definition, India should forthwith move towards an updated poverty line, a

poverty line consistent with our income status today as a lower-middle income country (as India is no longer a

poor economy, as it was in the 1990s).

Ø Also, this record decline in poverty came in the middle of demonetisation, GST, two drought years, and lower

than potential GDP growth. Reason for this astonishing feat can be attributed to better targeting of government

programmes (made possible by expanded and extensive use of direct benefit transfer (DBT).

How to balance welfare v/s economic growth?

Ø The Indian economy requires adequate investments in critical areas such as road, railways and water. Therefore,

the government needs to rationalise its expenditure and tax rates to ensure the reallocation of resources.

Ø Though India’s pace of poverty reduction has improved over the last five years, it can be augmented through

a targeted basic income policy which will free up resources for other sectors of the economy.

Ø The new approach towards poverty alleviation should involve targeted income transfers.

Ø Under the targeted basic income programme, the government transfers the poverty gap (the difference between

per capita consumption of the household and the poverty line faced by the household) into the bank account of

the poor

Ø The poverty gap is defined as the ratio of average per capita consumption of the poor to the poverty line.

Ø In 2011–2012, the average per capita expenditure of the poor was Rs. 708 per person per month and the poverty

line was Rs. 847.

Ø With perfect targeting (that is, complete knowledge of who is poor and by how much), a transfer of Rs. 139 per

person per month (or Rs. 1,668 a year) would enable the target of zero percent Tendulkar poverty to be reached.

Ø Whereas with the current level of government spending in PDS, MGNREGA, food subsidy, the government spends

about Rs. 58,000 a year to bring one person out of poverty.

Ø In 2011–2012, there were approximately 250 million Tendulkar Line poor in India. Achievement of zero poverty

would require only an expenditure of under Rs. 42,000 crore, or less than 0.5 per cent of GDP.

Conclusion

Ø Since for any society, two concerns are paramount—economic growth and improvement in the well-being of the poor.

Ø Growth is needed to finance redistribution. This redistribution typically takes two forms—productive investment,

for example, the financing of infrastructure, expenditures on health and education, and simple transfers of income.

Ø But given scarce capital and developmental nature of the Indian economy, it is imperative that Policymaking

should strive to make the best use of every single rupee, For that to happen, issues must be looked to be resolved

from a qualitative perspective rather than only quantitative perspective, and in this route it is best to start by

redefining -What is poverty!


CII launches new Index to measure fiscal performance

Why in news?

F Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a Fiscal Performance Index (FPI) to assess state and central

budgets.

About the Fiscal Performance Index (FPI):

Ø FPI is a new index comprising multiple indicators to evaluate India’s fiscal performance and budget, in order to

make up for the shortcomings of Fiscal Deficit.

Ø FPI incorporates qualitative assessments of revenue expenditure, capital expenditure, revenues, fiscal prudence and

the level of public debt arrive at a more holistic picture of fiscal performance than the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio.

Ø The index will consider expenditure on infrastructure, education, healthcare and other social sectors beneficial

for economic growth compared to other revenue expenditure.

Ø It will also consider tax revenues a more sustainable source of revenues for the government as compared to

one-time income sources.



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Need :

Ø Fiscal Deficit to GDP ratio, a single criterion, is not enough to measure the quality of budget.

Ø At the State level, the CII study showed that the states which are presumed to be good in fiscal health, based on

fiscal deficit to GDP ratio are not necessarily doing well on FPI.

Ø On the contrary, the low-income states which have shown consistent good performance on the FPI over the years

mainly due to good performance in “Expenditure Quality Indices” (Revenue and Capital), have performed below

average on the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio.

Ø This clearly is indicative of the fact that the one single parameter i.e., fiscal deficit to GDP ratio in judging the

overall quality of budgets of the state governments is not enough.

Highlights of the report:

Ø The CII has used this index to analyse state and central budgets from 2004-05 to 2016-17

Ø The study found that despite improvement a reduction in the fiscal deficit between FY13 and FY18, the overall

performance of the budget has been remained steady with improvements only in FY16 and FY17.

Ø This is largely due to moderation in the revenue, capital expenditure and and net tax revenues indices.

Ø The analysis also shows that the combine performance of all state budgets has improved despite worsening of

fiscal deficit numbers because of improvements in revenue and capital expenditure indices.

Ø The study also points out that relatively high income states including Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra which are

presumed to have good fiscal health because of low fiscal deficit to GDP ratio do not perform well on the

composite FPI because of poor expenditure and revenue quality compared to other states.

Ø Other states including, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have done well on the FPI

because of their good performance in revenue and capital expenditure indices.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) :

Ø CII, founded in 1895, is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing

a proactive role in India’s development process.

Ø It works to create an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government, and

civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.

Ø It has 66 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 10 overseas offices in Australia, China, Egypt,

France, Germany, Singapore, South Africa, UAE, UK, and USA.

Ø With the theme for 2019-20 as ‘Competitiveness of India Inc – India@75: Forging Ahead’, CII will focus on five

priority areas- employment generation, rural-urban connect, energy security, environmental sustainability and

governance – which would enable the country to stay on a solid growth track.

Source: The Hindu

National Rubber Policy-2019

Why in news?

F The Department of Commerce has recently brought out the National Rubber Policy 2019.

Highlights of National Rubber policy is as under:

Ø The National Rubber Policy 2019 includes several provisions to support the Natural Rubber (NR) production

sector and the entire rubber industry value chain.

Ø The Policy covers new planting and replanting of rubber, support for growers, processing and marketing of natural

rubber, labour shortage, grower forums, external trade, Centre-State integrated strategies, research, training,

rubber product manufacturing and export, climate change concerns and carbon market

Ø National Rubber Policy is based on the short term and long term strategies identified by the Task Force constituted

on the rubber sector for mitigating problems faced by rubber growers in the country.

Ø The Task Force held extensive consultations with various stakeholders of rubber sector.

Ø The policy is expected to benefit natural rubber growers and promote the natural rubber production sector.

Ø Developmental and research activities for supporting Natural Rubber sector for the welfare of growers are carried

out through Rubber Board by implementing the scheme Sustainable and Inclusive Development of Natural Rubber

Sector in the Medium Term Framework (MTF).

Ø The developmental activities include financial and technical assistance for planting, supply of quality planting

materials, support for grower forums, training and skill development programme.



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Basic characteristics of rubber crop

Ø Rubber is made from the latex of a tree called Hevea Brasiliensis, The British established the first rubber plantation

in India in 1902 on the banks of the river Periyar in Kerala.

Ø Rubber tree is a fast growing tall tree acquiring a height of about 20 to 30 meters.

Ø Rubber tree needs a hot and humid climate with temperature ranging between 25 °C and 35 °C and the annual

rainfall of about 300 cm.

Ø The rainfall should be well-distributed throughout the year.

Ø Dry spells and low temperature are harmful for rubber trees, daily rainfall followed by bright sunshine is ideal for

its growth.

Ø Deep, rich and well-drained loamy soil, at an elevation of about 400 meters above the sea level, provides ideal

conditions for the growth of rubber trees.

Ø Apart from this cheap and adequate supply of skilled labour is needed for this plantation crop.

Ø Kerala is the largest producer of natural rubber in India, the main rubber producing districts of Kerala are Kottayam,

Kollam, Ernakulam and Kozhikode.

Ø Other important producers are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Source: PIB

Over Estimation of GDP

Why in news?

F Former Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian recently claimed that India’s GDP growth from

2011-12 to 2016-17 was likely to have been overestimated.

What is the issue?

Ø Official estimates place average annual growth at about 7% for the 2011-12 to 2016-17 periods.

Ø But, actual growth may have been about 4.5%, with a 95% confidence interval of 3.5% to 5.5%.

Ø The methodological changes have led to GDP growth being overstated by about 2.5 percentage points per year

between 2011-12 and 2016-17.

The parameters used were as follows:

Ø Firstly, 17 key indicators that are typically correlated with GDP growth were complied for the period 2001-02 to

2017-18.

Ø These include

Ø electricity consumption

Ø two-wheeler sales, commercial vehicle sales, tractor sales

Ø airline passenger traffic, foreign tourist arrivals, railway freight traffic

Ø index of industrial production (IIP), IIP (manufacturing), IIP (consumer goods), petroleum, cement, steel

Ø overall real credit, real credit to industry

Ø exports and imports of goods and services

Ø Secondly, India is compared with other countries.

Ø For a sample of 71 high and middle income countries, relationship between a set of indicators and GDP growth

for the pre and post-2011 periods was estimated.

Ø [The indicators chosen (credit, exports, imports and electricity) are simple, reliable, and typically not produced

by the agency that estimates GDP.]

What are the key arguments?

Ø Correlation between annual growth of indicators and GDP, 2001-2011 and 2012-2017

The line shows the growth predicted by the indicators (horizontal axis) and what is officially reported (vertical axis).

Ø Mismatch - In the first period (2001-2011), the India data point (red) is right on the line.

Ø It shows that it is a normal country i.e. India’s reported GDP growth is consistent with the cross-country relationship.

Ø However, in the second period (2012-2017) the India data point (blue) is well above the line. It means that its

GDP growth is much greater than what would be predicted by the cross-country relationship.

Ø It is high by over 2.5 percentage points per year.



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Cause

Ø Reproducing the detailed methodology underlying the GDP estimates is hard for outside researchers.Ø So it is difficult to trace the source of the problem. But, possibly, one sector where the mis-measurement seems

particularly severe is the formal manufacturing.Ø Before 2011, formal manufacturing value added from the national income accounts moved closely with IIP (Mfg.)

and with manufacturing exports.Ø But afterward, the correlations turn strongly and bizarrely negative.

What are the implications?

Ø Growth estimates are significant not just for reputational reasons but critically for internal policy-making as well.Ø The new evidence implies that both monetary and fiscal policies over the last years were overly tight from a

cyclical perspective.Ø E.g. interest rates may have been too high, by as much as 150 basis pointsØ Also, inaccurate statistics on the economy’s health weaken the drive for reform.Ø E.g. if it was known that India’s GDP growth was actually 4.5%, the urgency to act on the banking system or on

agricultural challenges may have been greaterØ The popular narrative has been one of “jobless growth”, hinting at a disconnect between fundamental dynamism

and key outcomes.Ø But in reality, weak job growth and acute financial sector stress may have been a consequence of the modest GDP growth.

Way ahead

Ø Policy discourse recently has focused on employment, agriculture and redistribution more broadly.Ø But most importantly, restoring growth must be the key policy objective.Ø Going forward, there must be reform urgency drawn from the new knowledge that growth has been only moderate

during the recent years.Ø Significantly, GDP estimation in its entirety must be revisited by an independent task force.Ø It should comprise of both national and international experts, statisticians, macro-economists and policy users.Ø Moreover, with the current large amounts of transactions-level GST data, the revisit may, for the first time in

India, help make expenditure-based estimates of GDP. Source: Indian Express

High Powered Committee Formed for Agriculture Reforms

Why in news?

F Prime Minister announced a high powered committee to recommend structural reforms in agriculture, at the

5th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog.

Objective of the committee will be as under

Ø The proposed committee would include some Chief Ministers.Ø It would take a holistic approach on the subject, including allied activities of agriculture.Ø The key issues marked out for reference to the proposed committee include -Ø private investment in agricultureØ logisticsØ value-additionØ marketing supportØ irrigation, especially drip and other means of micro-irrigationØ legislative changes required to revamp agriculture and its allied activities

Earlier committees

Ø The Swaminathan commission’s report (2006) had sought a paradigm shift in the focus of agriculturaldevelopment programmes.

Ø It called for shift in focus from increasing production to raising farmers’ income.Ø But this took over a decade for the government to realize the importance of this counsel and begin acting on it.Ø However, many other equally sensible recommendations of this commission still remain unattended.Ø The Dalwai committee’s report (2018) had a key focus on the structural reforms and governance framework for agriculture.Ø Being the latest, its recommendation were most relevant to the prevailing agrarian situation marked by widespread

farmers’ distress.Ø Besides, there is the government’s own think tank, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.Ø The three-year action plan for agriculture crafted by NITI Aayog also addressed current challenges in the agriculture sector.



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What are the challenges before the new committee?

Ø Agriculture, according to the Constitution, is a state subject.

Ø So the truth is that the Centre has a very limited authority to intervene in matters related to agriculture.

Ø It can do little without the cooperation of the states which, often, is unavailable in adequate measure.

Ø The meager success of some of the Centre’s key initiatives in agriculture stands as proof.

Ø E.g. the efforts at reforming agricultural marketing, legalizing land leasing and regularizing contract farming

Ø The model Bills drafted to serve as the guides for the amendment of the state laws have failed to deliver the desired results.

The way forward

Ø The Swaminathan commission chose to recommend shifting of agriculture from the State List to the Concurrent List.

Ø This could be firmly considered as this would allow the Centre to play a more meaningful role in the agricultural sector.

Ø At the same time, it would not significantly dilute the powers of the state governments.

Ø If the government is truly serious in reforming the farm sector, it can just examine the earlier reports and pick up

the appropriate suggestions.

Ø Significantly, concerted efforts at implementing them in a time-bound manner should be taken up.

Ø The Centre’s ability to take the states on board through statutory means or persuasion is essential for meaningful

reformation of the farm sector.

Source: Business Standard

Report by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision

Why in news?

Ø According to a report by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision (BCBS), the Reserve Bank of India has

fallen short of meeting tougher requirements set by the Basel III norms.

Ø The report looked at adoption status of Basel III standards by 30 global systemically important banks (G-Sibs) as

of end-May 2019.

Ø The RBI is yet to publish the securitisation framework and rules on Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity

(TLAC) requirements.

Ø Securitisation framework includes credit enhancement facility, liquidity facility, underwriting facility, interest

rate or currency swaps and cash collateral accounts.

Ø TLAC requirements ensures that G-Sibs have adequate loss absorbing and recapitalisation capacity so that critical

functions can be continued without taxpayers’ funds or financial stability being put at risk.

Ø The RBI is also yet to come out with draft regulations on revised Pillar 3 disclosure requirements, which

took effect from end-2016.

Ø Indian banks are in the process of implementing rules on Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book (IRRBB).

The central bank is also yet to come out with final guidelines on the same. Globally the rules were effective from

end-2018.

Basel III Norms

Ø Basel III is an internationally agreed set of measures developed by the BCBS in response to the financial

crisis of 2007-09. The measures aim to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of banks.

Ø BCBS members are committed to implementing and applying standards in their jurisdictions within the time

frame established by the Committee.

Ø Basel 3 measures are based on three pillars:

Ø Pillar 1 : Improve the banking sector’s ability to absorb ups and downs arising from financial and economic instability

Ø Pillar 2 : Improve risk management ability and governance of banking sector

Ø Pillar 3 : Strengthen banks’ transparency and disclosures

ØØØØØ Basel Committee on Bank Supervision (BCBS)

Ø It is a committee under the Bank For International Settlements.

Ø Established in 1930, the BIS is owned by 60 central banks, representing countries from around the world that

together account for about 95% of world GDP.

Ø Its head office is in Basel, Switzerland.

Ø Its mission is to serve central banks in their pursuit of monetary and financial stability, to foster international

cooperation in those areas and to act as a bank for central banks.

Ø It is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks and provides a forum for regular

cooperation on banking supervisory matters.



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Ø The Committee identifies global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) using a methodology that includes both

quantitative indicators and qualitative elements.

Ø A global systemically important bank is a bank whose systemic risk profile is deemed to be of such importance

that the bank’s failure would trigger a wider financial crisis and threaten the global economy.

Source: Live Mint

UNCTAD World Investment Report 2019

Why in news?

F According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report

2019, India received foreign direct investments worth USD 42 billion in 2018. India attracted over 77% of the

total foreign direct investments that came to the South Asia region.

Key facts

Ø The global FDI slipped by 13% in 2018, to US$1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion in 2017, the third consecutive

annual decline.

Ø In South Asia, overall, FDI inflows increased by 3.5% to $54 billion. The prospects for FDI inflows into South

Asia are largely determined by expectations of growing investment into India.

Ø Investment in India rose by 6% to USD 42 billion with strong inflows in manufacturing, communication,

financial services and cross-border merger and acquisition activities. However, India’s rank as a source country

for FDI fell one notch to the 10th position as it was overtaken by Spain.

Ø Among others in the South Asian region, FDI flows to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka rose to a record level, to USD

3.6 billion and USD 1.6 billion, respectively, while Pakistan witnessed a 27% decline in investment to USD 2.4 billion.

Ø Of the 5,400 special economic zones (SEZs) in the world, more than 4,000 are in developing countries in Asia.

In the developing countries in Asia, China topped the list at 2,543 such zones, followed by Philippines (528),

India (373) Turkey (102), Thailand (74) among others.

Ø India has recently liberalised its rules on inward investment (an investment that comes into a country from

investors who live in other countries) in several industries, including single-brand retail trading, airlines and

power exchanges.

UNCTAD

Ø UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.

Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ø It is part of the UN Secretariat.

Ø It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.

Source: The Hindu

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Environment and Ecology

Heat Stress and Labour Productivity Report by ILO

Why in news?

F The International Labour Organisation (IL38 O) in its recent report ‘Working on a Warmer Planet: The

Impact of Heat Stress on Labour Productivity and Decent Work’ highlighted that rising heat stress becauseof climate change may result in loss of as much as 80 million jobs by 2030.

F The report makes its projections based on a global temperature rise of 1.5°Celsius by the end of the century.

What is Heat Stress?

Ø It refers to heat in excess of what the body can tolerate without suffering physiological impairment.Ø It usually occurs at temperatures above 35°C, and in high humidity.Ø Excess heat during work is termed as an occupational health hazard as it restricts workers’-Ø Physical functions and capabilities,Ø Work capacity as well as productivity.Ø Extreme heat can lead to heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke and exhaustion, enhanced mortality, and

exacerbate existing health conditions.Ø As per the World Health Organisation heat stress linked to climate change is likely to cause 38,000

additional deaths every year worldwide between 2030 and 2050.

Highlights of the report

Ø Economic Loss: 2% of total working hours worldwide is projected to be lost (costing the global economy $2.4trillion) every year, either because it is too hot to work or because workers are forced to work at a slower pace.

Affected Sectors:

Ø Agricultural workers, especially women, who make up the bulk of the 940 million laborers in the sector, willbe most severely affected.

Ø Agricultural sector is projected to account for 60% of global working hours lost due to heat stress by the year 2030.Ø Construction sector will also be severely impacted with an estimated 19% of global working hours lost by 2030.Ø Other sectors like environmental goods and services, refuse collection, emergency, repair work, transport,

tourism, sports and some form of industrial work will be worst affected by rising heat.

Affected Regions:

Ø The regions losing the most working hours are expected to be southern Asia and western Africa, whereapproximately 5% of working hours are expected to be lost in 2030.

Ø According to ILO, India lost 4.3% of working hours in 1995 because of heat stress, and it is projected tolose 5.8% of its working hours in 2030, which corresponds to 34 million jobs.

Ø Most of the impact in India will be felt in the agricultural sector and more working hours are expected to belost in the construction sector, where heat stress affects both male and female workers.

Social Consequence:

Ø It could lead to more inequality between low and high income countries and worsening working conditions forthe most vulnerable.

Ø Heat stress will affect millions of women who make up the majority of workers in subsistence agriculture, aswell as men who dominate the construction industry.

Ø The social consequences of heat stress may include increasing migration, as workers leave rural areas to lookfor better prospects.

The Way Ahead

Ø Design, finance and implement national policies to address heat stress risks and protect workers.Ø Adequate infrastructure and improved early warning systems for heat events, and improved implementation

of international labour standards such as in the area of occupational safety and health to help design policiesto tackle heat-related hazards.

Ø Employers and workers are best placed to assess risks and take appropriate actionat the workplace so thatworkers can cope with high temperatures and continue to do their jobs.

Ø Employers can provide drinking water, and training on recognizing and managing heat stress.Ø Social dialogue can play a crucial role in reaching consensus on indoor and outdoor working methods, adapting

working hours, dress codes and equipment, use of new technologies, shade and rest breaks.Source: Indian Express



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India is now the lowest-cost producer of solar power

Why in news?

F As per the report named ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’ of International Renewable Energy Agency

(IRENA), India is now the lowest-cost producer of solar power globally.

Key highlights of Solar Photovoltaics (PV) in the report of ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs

in 2018’

Ø The total installed costs of utility-scale solar PV in India is as low as $793 per kilowatt (kW) in 2018 which is 27

per cent lower than for projects commissioned in 2017. Canada has the highest cost at $2,427 per kW.

Ø The report analysed eight major solar PV markets from 2010 to 2018 including China, France, Germany, India,

Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. The report concludes that Solar PV costs have dropped by 80 per cent in India.

Ø Typically, the cost of hardware including inverters account for more than half of the total cost of setting up a

solar PV project in India.

Reason for becoming lowest-cost producer of Solar power :

Ø India has high solar potential that leads to improved asset utilization and the country imports majority of hardware

for installation from China which is cheaper and helps cut the cost by a huge margin.

Ø As the cost of land and labor is cheaper than the rest of the world, it contributes to low-cost production of solar

power in India.

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) :

Ø The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries

in their transition to a sustainable energy future.

Ø The proposal for an international agency dedicated to renewable energy was made in 1981 at the United Nations

Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, held in Nairobi, Kenya. It was officially founded in Bonn,

Germany in 2009 and its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010 and is headquartered in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.

Ø IRENA is an official United Nations observer.

Ø It serves as the principal platform for international co-operation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of

policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy.

Ø In 2019, It has 160 member’s countries along with 23 countries in accession. India is a member of IRENA.

Ø IRENA Statute is available in in English and in four other United Nations official languages (Arabic, French,

Russian and Spanish) as well as in the language of the Depository (German).

Source: Down to Earth

Ingestion of Micro PlasticWhy in news?

Ø The World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) study has revealed that people worldwide could be ingesting five

grams of microscopic plastic particles every week, which is equivalent to the weight of a credit card.

Ø Microplastics are plastic particles measuring 5mm in size or smaller.

Findings

Ø Sources of plastic ingestion:

Ø Drinking water: is one of the largest sources of plastic ingestion (with plastic particles found in bottled, tap,

surface and groundwater).

Ø Shellfish: account for as much as 0.5g a week.

Ø Inhalation represented a negligible proportion of microplastics entering the human body.

Ø Indoor air because of its limited circulation is more heavily polluted with plastic than the outdoors.

Ø Major sources of Indoor airborne microplastics are synthetic textiles and household dust.

Burden of Plastic

Ø In the last two decades, the world has produced as much plastic as during the rest of history, and the industry is set

to grow by 4% a year until 2025.

Ø Ocean will contain one metric tonne of plastic for every three metric tonnes of fish by 2025.

Ø About one-third of waste plastics are dumped or leaches into nature, polluting land, rivers and the sea.



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Plastic pollution and Wildlife

Ø Animals get entangled in large plastic debris, leading to injury or death.

Ø Animals also ingest large quantities of plastic that they cannot pass through their digestive systems, resulting

in internal abrasion, digestive blockage, and death.

Ø Toxins from ingested plastic also harm breeding and impair the immune system of animals.

Curbing Plastic Pollution

Ø Political and economic actions to reduce the amount of plastic being disposed of into the environment.

Ø Minimize the use of plastics and encourage recycling of plastics instead of taking stringent acts of total ban

or zero plastic.

Ø Legally binding agreement to combat marine plastic pollution - it should be a stand-alone treaty like the

Montreal Protocol or the Paris Agreement.

Ø Binding national commitments and protocols for restricting commercial and household use of plastics.

Source: The Hindu

Coringa MangrovesWhy in news?

Ø The Andhra Pradesh Government has recently constituted a seven-member committee for fulfillment of norms

required for proposing the Godavari Mangroves (Mada forests), at Coringa, as a World Heritage Site.

Ø Godavari Mangroves at the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (CWLS) are touted to be the second largest mangroves in India.

The largest mangrove forest in the world is Sundarbans, West Bengal.

Ø The mangrove forests in Andhra Pradesh are located in the estuaries of the Godavari and the Krishna

rivers. The Godavari mangroves are located in Godavari estuary of East Godavari district.

Ø Located in Andhra Pradesh, the CWLS is home to numerous endangered speciesincluding the fishing cat, otter,

jackal, sea turtles, sea gull, pelican, stork, heron, snipes, flamingos among others.

Ø Along with the mangrove forest, the Hope Island, a naturally formed sandy stretch amidst the sea that turned

into a synonym for biodiversity, too comes under the purview of the sanctuary.

Ø The sanctuary also has a site where Olive Ridley Sea Turtles nest from January to March every year.

Ø Once the Coringa sanctuary gets the heritage site tag, UNESCO will help develop tourism and protect the wildlife

in the mangroves.

Mangroves

Ø Mangroves are the plant communities occurring in inter-tidal zones along the coasts of tropical and subtropical countries.

Ø Mangrove forests perform multiple ecological functions such as production of woody trees; provision of habitat,

food, and spawning grounds for fin-fish and shellfish; provision of habitat for birds and other valuable fauna;

protection of coastlines and accretion of sediment to form new land.

Ø According to the India State of Forest Report, India has nearly 3.3% of the world’s mangrove vegetation.

Source: The Hindu

European Heat Wave

Why in news?

F Recently, Europe went through a heat wave which smashed all temperature records and left many people dead.

What is the reason?

Ø The heat wave in Europe is a result of warm air masses from Africa, the World Meteorological Organization

(WMO) said.

Ø It follows extreme heat episodes in India, Pakistan, parts of the Middle East and Australia.

Ø More events are expected to follow during this northern hemisphere summer.

What is a heat wave?

Ø It is a weather phenomenon which is a period of prolonged abnormally high surface temperatures relative

to those normally expected.

Ø No standardized definition of a heat wave exists.

Ø WMO definition: If five or more consecutive days during which the daily maximum temperature surpasses the

average maximum temperature by 5 °C or more, it is called heat wave.

Ø It may be characterized by low humidity (which may exacerbate drought) or high humidity.



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How heat waves are classified?

Ø Classifying a heat wave varies from country to country.

Ø That is because what is seen as extremely hot in one place may seem within normal range in another.

Ø In 2016 – The WMO listed several factors to be considered while analysing an extreme weather event such as a

heat wave.

Ø This includes defining a specific threshold for variables such as temperature to be considered extreme as well

as a human perspective of extremes.

How heat waves are classified in India?

Ø It does not consider a heat wave unless the maximum temperature crosses 40°C and 30°C in the plains and hills respectively.

Ø Where the normal maximum is 40°C or less,

1. Heat wave departure from normal – 5°C to 6°C

2. Severe heat wave departure – 7°C or more.

Ø Where the normal maximum is more than 40°C,

1. Heat wave departure from normal – 4°C to 5°C

2. Severe heat wave departure – 6°C or more.

Ø In places where the maximum temperature reaches 45°C or more, the IMD declares a heat wave irrespective of

the normal.

What is the controversy?

Ø Some scientists – Blamed climate change for these trends.

Ø However, the WMO agreed that the heat wave is consistent with climate scenarios which predict more frequent.

Ø The WMO says that the drawn out and intense heat events as greenhouse gas concentrations lead to a rise in global

temperatures.

What are its health hazards?

Ø It poses a risk to people’s health, agriculture and the environment.

Ø Babies and older people are particularly vulnerable as their bodies are not as well able to regulate

their own temperatures.

Ø It can cause exhaustion and heat stroke.

Ø It can cause organ failure and breathing problems.

Ø The people living in urban areas are trapped in heat islands as steel, concrete, and asphalt structures absorb heat.

Ø In regions like Europe where people are not used to extremely high temperatures, many buildings don’t have air-conditioning.

Source: The Indian Express

Resilient Kerala Program

Why in news?

F The Government of India, the Government of Kerala and the World Bank have signed a Loan Agreement of USD

250 million for the First Resilient Kerala Program to enhance the State’s resilience against the impacts of

natural disasters and climate change.

Key facts

Ø The Resilient Kerala Program will focus on strengthening the State’s institutional and financial capacity to protect

the assets and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable groups through an inclusive and participatory approach.

Ø The New Program is part of the Government of India’s support to Kerala’s ‘Rebuild Kerala Development

Programme’ aimed at building a green and resilient Kerala. This partnership will identify key areas of policy and

institutional strengthening to maximize development impact.

Ø It is the first of two Development Policy Operations aiming to mainstream disaster and climate resilience into

critical infrastructure and services.

Ø State partnership is a key pillar of the Bank’s new Country Partnership Framework for India. Through such

partnerships, the Bank will support select States striving to bring about systemic improvements in the way

development initiatives are planned and executed.



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Objectives of the Program

Ø It aims to support the State with:

Ø Improved river basin planning and water infrastructure operations management, water supply and sanitation services

Ø Resilient and sustainable agriculture, enhanced agriculture risk insurance

Ø Improved resilience of the core road network

Ø Unified and more up-to-date land records in high-risk areas

Ø Risk-based urban planning and strengthened expenditure planning by urban local bodies

Ø Strengthened fiscal and public financial management capacity of the state.

Ø The World Bank has been supporting the State through engagements such as the Second Kerala State Transport

Project, Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project, National Hydrology Project, National Cyclone Risk

Mitigation Project Phase 2 and the Kerala Local Government and Service Delivery Project.

Development Policy Financing (DPF)

Ø It is an initiative of World Bank that aims to help the borrowers to achieve sustainable poverty reduction through

a program of policy and institutional actions, for example, strengthening public financial

management, improving the investment climate, addressing bottlenecks to improve service delivery,

and diversifying the economy.

Ø This represents a shift away from short-term macroeconomic stabilization and trade liberalization reforms of the

1980s-90s towards more medium-term institutional reforms.

Ø This could be a loan, grant or credit which provides rapidly-disbursing financing to help a borrower address

the actual or anticipated development financing requirements and promote policy reform.

Source: PIB

Gujarat launches India’s first trading programme to combat particulate air

pollution

Why in news?

F Gujarat Chief Minister launched India’s first trading programme to combat particulate air pollution on World

Environment Day 2019, which has air pollution as its theme.

About the Emission trading scheme (ETS)/ cap-and-trade system :

Ø The programme is a market-based system where the government sets a cap on emissions and allows industries to

buy and sell permits to stay below the cap.

Ø Being initiated in Surat by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), the emission trading scheme (ETS) was

designed with the help of a team of researchers from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago

(EPIC), the Economic Growth Center at Yale University and others from The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action

Lab (J-PAL).

Ø The emissions trading programme builds on another early innovation by the GPCB —the use of continuous

emissions monitoring systems to track industry emissions in real time.

How will it work?

Ø Under the cap and trade system, the GPCB will first determines the total mass of pollution (in terms of particulate

matter emissions) that can be put into the air over a defined period by all factories put together. This is known as the cap.

Ø Then, a set of permits is created, each of which allows a certain amount of pollution, and the total is equal to the cap.

Ø These permits are the quantity that is bought and sold. Each factory is allocated a share of these permits (this

could be equal or based on size or some other rule).

Ø After this, plants can trade permits with each other, just like any other commodity on the National Commodity

and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX).

How does the ETS incentivise industries to curb pollution?

Ø The fixed cap on emissions limits the amount of toxic particulate matter that will be released into the environment.

In addition, trading of permits among industrial units rewards those who have cut down their emissions while

punishing those who have exceeded them.

Ø Industrial units bear the additional cost when they need to buy permits after exceeding their allotted emissions

limit. On the other hand, industries that emit lower than their permitted limit have the ability to sell their permits

generating more cash.



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Existing regulations:

Ø Under existing regulations, every industry has to meet a certain maximum concentration of pollutants when it isoperating. They are tested occasionally and manually.

Ø However, there is widespread non-compliance across India. This is partly because penalties are rarely applied, inlarge part because they involve punishments such as closing down the entire plant which is not necessarilyappropriate for small violations.

Ø For now, the government has set a cap on concentration of emissions for each industrial unit at 150 microgrammeper cubic metre (ug/m3), which is the 24-hour average for emission standard set by the Central government forindustrial units.

The need for emissions trading in India:

Ø In a report published by Health Effects Institute, air pollution has been identified as the third-highest cause ofdeath, contributing to over 1.2 million deaths in 2017.

Ø Another study published by India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative estimated that cleaner air could increasethe life expectancy of the average Indian by 1.7 years. The ETS in Gujarat promises lowered air pollution whilefacilitating robust economic growth.

ETS system around the world

Ø Cap-and-trade systems around the world have proven to be successful.Ø A central tool in China’s strategy to combat air pollution is the national ETS which is the largest carbon market of

its kind. The European Union’s and US has also ETS system.Ø Globally, cap-and-trade systems have been used to reduce other forms of pollution, such as sulphur dioxide

(SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). But the Gujarat programme is the first in the world to regulate particulate air pollution.Source: Live Mint

Bacterial Spray and Decaying Monuments

Why in news?

Ø A Study has identified bacteria responsible for calcification and hardening of lime.Ø In calcification process, lime is deposited.Ø When the rain water seeps into the monumental structure, lime leaches through basaltic rock joints. This leached

lime is acted upon by bacteria, which turn it into hard calcified lime. Ø Because of it, many monuments have been losing its shine and beauty due to white deposits on its surface.Ø It is very hard and difficult to remove precipitates of calcium carbonates (calcified lime).Ø The Salabat Khan tomb, located 125 kilometres from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, has been losing its shine and

beauty due to white deposits on its surface. Ø The study of it was conducted by National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology.Ø The study identified bacteria responsible for calcification and hardening of lime are Bacillus sp, Arthrobacter sp,

Agromyces Indicus and Aquamicrobium sp species.Ø Bacterial Spray: A spray of identified organisms along with calcium carbonate can create calcite layer that will

help preserve exteriors of monuments. Ø In this method, micro-organisms are evenly sprayed on the surface and are fed with nutritional medium containing

calcium and urea.Ø The bacteria then induces carbonate precipitation by creating low acidic medium and converting dissolved calcium

into a protective surface coating of calcium carbonate.Ø This process is also known as Biocoating. Under it, identified organisms are used to preserve exterior of

monuments.Ø The study proves that living bacteria can be used to clean as well as protect old and historic monuments and also

to seal the cracks, if any, without causing any damage to the monument or its surface. Ø Currently marble surfaces of historic monuments are cleaned by applying mud packs, which at times can be damaging.

National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology

Ø The National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology was formed and registered onJanuary 27, 1989 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

Ø It is located in Delhi.Ø It provides for various courses of study, training and research in different branches of History of art, Museology,

Conservation, etc.

Source: The Hindu



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Ozone Pollution in NCRWhy in news?

F According to the data presented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the Lok

Sabha, ozone was reported as a prominent pollutant (for 95 days between 2016 and 2018) in Delhi (contributingto rising air pollution in Delhi).

F Delhi has witnessed 122 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/cu m) of ozone pollution which is 1.22 times higher

than the eight-hour average standard which is 100 ug/cu m.

Impacts of Ozone Pollution

Ø Surface level Ozone causes damage to crops and forests.

Ø Irritation can occur in the respiratory system giving rise to coughs and an uncomfortable sensation in the chest.Ø Ozone worsens bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, etc and increases the risk and susceptibility to pulmonary

inflammation like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).Ø It may reduce lung function and make breathing difficult.

Government Efforts: The Way Ahead

Ø Shifting to BS-VI compliant vehicles from BS-IV.

Ø Shutting down of the Badarpur thermal power plant.Ø Banning of garbage burning.Ø Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).Ø Launch of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).Ø Setting up of a monitoring network for assessment of the ambient air quality at 779 locations, covering 339 cities

in 29 states and six Union territories

Ozone

Ø Ozone (composed of three atoms of oxygen) occurs both in the Earth’s upper atmosphere (stratosphere) and atground level (troposphere). It can be good or bad, depending on where it is found:

Ø Good Ozone: Ozone occurs naturally in the Earth’s upper atmosphere (Stratosphere) where it forms a protective

layer that shields us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.Ø Ozone depleting gases like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons, destroy this protective shield and

causes hole in the ozone.Ø India had adopted the Kigali Amendment (aims to phase-down hydro fluorocarbons).Ø Bad Ozone: In the Earth’s lower atmosphere (troposphere) near ground level, ozone is formed when pollutants

emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources react chemicallyin the presence of sunlight.

Ø Surface level Ozone is a harmful air pollutant.Source: The Hindustan Times

Government Plans to Ban Fossil Fuel-Driven Vehicles

Why in news?

F Government of India has recently planned to ban the sale of fossil fuel-driven 2&3 wheeler vehicles by 2025.

Key facts

Ø Government wants to halt production of internal combustion vehicle,1. Three-wheelers by 2023 and2. Two-wheelers with 150cc engines and below by 2025.Ø NITI Aayog has given a two-week deadline to the industry to come up with a comprehensive plan for introducing

electric vehicles (EVs) in the next 5 years.

NITI Aayog’s stance

Ø Pollution - As per a report by Greenpeace and AirVisual, India has 22 of the most polluted cities in the world,with Gurugram being the most polluted.

Ø Two-thirds of the pollution load is due to internal combustion engine based two-wheelers running in major cities.Ø This will be reduced with the transition.Ø Dependence – India is hugely dependent on oil imports.Ø The NITI Aayog estimates savings of Rs 1.2 trillion if the transition takes place.



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Response from the automobile industry

Ø Industry leaders have questioned the urgency.

Ø They also have pointed out the increase in the cost of vehicles due to the price of batteries which constitute 40%

of the total cost.

Ø In addition, considerable planning and execution are required to simultaneously develop a complete ecosystem

around EVs.

Ø They insist such a short-notice switch is impossible and it would destroy an industry that’s a key global exporter.

Ø Additionally, the industry is already facing difficulties in coping with the transformation to meet the BS-VI regulations.

Ø In the unorganised sector, the vast pool of mechanics would also suddenly find their services aren’t greatly needed.

Ø Only EV manufacturers are enthusiastic about the proposals.

What should be done?

Ø While a move to EVs is inevitable, the industry should be given a reasonable time.

Ø With the country facing mounting unemployment, managing the transition fallout will be all-important.

Ø Chinese example - China took the EV route as early as in the 1990s by classifying electric two-wheelers that

move at 20 km/hour as bicycles.

Ø Beijing made them attractive by doing away with registration.

Ø They are allowed to be ridden in bicycle lanes.

Ø Soon, it restricted the ownership of gasoline-powered two-wheelers in some cities.

Ø It has been giving tax benefits and other subsidies to carmakers for almost a decade.

Ø To spruce up their supply chain, Chinese companies have been aggressively buying lithium mines, the critical

component for making batteries.

Source: Hindu Business Line

Indian Navy steams ahead with its go ‘green’ plans in eco-friendly push

Why in news?

Ø The Indian Navy is pushing its eco-friendly programme – the Indian Navy Environment Conservation Roadmap (INECR).

ØØØØØ About Indian Navy Environment Conservation Roadmap (INECR)

Ø The roadmap envisions reduction in energy consumption and diversification of energy supply including renewable energy.

Ø To implement INECR, Indian Navy has pledged 1.5% of its Works budget towards renewable energy generation.

Ø Solar Energy: Solar photovoltaic (PV) projects has been one of the focus areas of the Navy since the inception

of the INECR. Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) projects are under execution at various shore establishments of the Navy

under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

Ø Wind Energy: Pilot projects utilizing wind or a mix of both solar and wind (hybrid) are also being taken up

progressively which would not only reduce the carbon footprint but also help achieve self-sustenance in energy security.

Ø Biodiesel: To promote use of biodiesel, Navy plans to replace High Speed Diesel (HSD) with B5 blend of HSD

resulting in a direct savings of 5% of HSD, which translates to approximately 315 kL annual savings of HSD. The

project to blend HSD will start at Visakhapatnam.

Ø Afforestation: Afforestation drives at Naval stations, under which plants have been planted over the past one year

which would mitigate a large amount of CO2 emissions.

Ø Waste Management: Propagating attempts on Segregation of waste collection and improved waste management

techniques as well as implementation of biogas plants using bio-degradable waste and organic waste converters

across naval units.

Source: The Hindu

Airplane Contrails and Global Warming

Why in news?

Ø According to a recent study, the airplanes contrails contribute more to global warming than the CO2 emitted by

an aircraft.

Ø Moreover, the contrails’ impact on climate change will triple by 2050 than it was in 2006 because of following reasons:

Ø Modern planes flying slightly higher than their predecessors, which is likely to lead to more contrail cloud

formation over the tropics.

Ø Increase in air traffic.



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Ø Improvements in fuel efficiency.

Ø The study also suggested that the impact on the atmosphere due to contrail cirrus clouds will be stronger over

Northern America and Europe which are the busiest air traffic areas on the globe.

Ø However, the impact will also increase in Asia as the air travel is also growing in the region.

Ø The warming effect of cirrus clouds is also short-lived, and because it occurs in the upper atmosphere, it’s not

clear how much of a difference it actually makes for temperatures at Earth’s surface.

Contrails

Ø The hot, humid exhaust from jet engines mixes with the atmosphere, which at high altitude is of much lower vapor

pressure and temperature than the exhaust gas.

Ø The water vapor contained in the jet exhaust condenses and may freeze, and this mixing process forms clouds.

Ø Most of these contrail cirrus clouds dissipate quickly, but under the right conditions they can remain for hours,

and when that happens they warm the atmosphere by absorbing thermal radiation emitted by the Earth.

Impacts

Ø Jet engine exhaust contains carbon dioxide, oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, unburned fuel, soot and metal particles,

as well as water vapor.

Ø The soot provides condensation sites for water vapor. Any particles present in the air provide additional sites.

Ø Depending on a plane’s altitude, and the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere, contrails may vary in their

thickness, extent and duration.

Ø The nature and persistence of jet contrails can be used to predict the weather.

Ø A thin, short-lived contrail indicates low-humidity air at high altitude, a sign of fair weather, whereas a thick,

long-lasting contrail reflects humid air at high altitudes and can be an early indicator of a storm.

Significance

Ø Aviation already has a sizable influence on the climate.

Ø In 2005, air traffic contributed about 5 percent of humans’ influence on climate change.

Ø Air traffic roughly doubles every 15 years. And contrails are the aviation industry’s biggest climate influencer,

even more than CO2 emissions from planes.

Ø But policies to lower aviation’s influence on climate change focus on CO2 emissions, all but ignoring the impact

of contrails.

Ø The study suggests that contrails are a major factor that climate policies should take into account.

Ø It is important to recognise the significant impact of non-CO2 emissions, such as contrail cirrus, on climate and

to take those effects into consideration when setting up emission trading systems or schemes like the CORSIA

Agreement.

Solution

Ø Cleaner aircraft emissions would solve the issue, as the reduction of the number of soot particles emitted by

aircraft engines decreases the number of ice crystals in contrails and that means climate impact of contrail cirrus

will also be reduced.

Ø However, soot would have to be decreased a lot to have a significant effect–even if it was reduced by 90 percent,

the contrail cirrus clouds will produce more warming in 2050 than they did in 2006.

Ø Therefore, the best option for reducing this effect and aviation’s carbon footprint is to fly less.

Source: Times of India

Flood Hazard Atlas

Why in news?

F Odisha has released a unique flood hazard atlas on the basis of historic flood inundation captured

through satellite imagery over the period from 2001 to 2018.

F Flooding in Odisha: Vast areas of the state are inundated when there is flooding every year in major rivers like

the Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani, Subarnarekha and Rushikulya.

F Some of the rivers like the Vamsadhara and Budhabalanga, also cause flash floodsdue to instant run-off from

their hilly catchments.



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Flood Hazard Atlas

Ø It is the mapping and zonation of an area prone to frequent flooding, the mapping is done on the basis of the data

of the past few years. The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO), Hyderabad does flood hazard zonation.

Benefits of Flood Hazard Atlas

Ø Better preparedness: A more concise focus on the effects and impacts of the flooded area is possible during

the early planning stages.

Ø Risk reduction or mitigation techniques can be recommended for the same portion of the study area.

Ø Location, severity, or frequency of hazard can be done more easily.

Ø Proper assessment of area: A study area or a sub-area can be expanded, reduced, or deleted. Study areas can be

divided into sub-areas requiring more information, additional assessments, or specific reduction techniques.

Ø Risk evaluation: A more realistic evaluation of risks to new development is possible. Appropriate hazard reduction

techniques can be more easily developed to deal with an emergency situation.

Ø Rehabilitation planning: It could be initiated in advance with proper coordination among different central and

state agencies.

Source: Business Standard

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Why in news?

Ø The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on 17thJune. India for the first

time will host the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to

Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in September, 2019.

Ø The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year to promote public awareness of

international efforts to combat desertification.

Ø The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-

solving, strong community involvement and cooperation at all levels.

Ø The Theme of 2019 is “Let’s Grow the Future Together”

ØØØØØ United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Ø It was established in 1994, the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and

development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry

sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.

Ø UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework: It is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land

Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land, improve the

livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations to build.

Ø The Convention’s 197 parties work together to improve the living conditions for people in drylands, to maintain

and restore land and soil productivity, and to mitigate the effects of drought.

Ø The UNCCD is particularly committed to a bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in

combating desertification and land degradation. The UNCCD secretariat facilitates cooperation between developed

and developing countries, particularly around knowledge and technology transfer for sustainable land management.

Ø As the dynamics of land, climate and biodiversity are intimately connected, to meet these complex challenges

with an integrated approach and the best possible use of natural resources. The UNCCD collaborates closely with

the other two Rio Conventions:

Ø The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Ø The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Conference of the Parties (COP)

Ø The COP was established by the Convention as the supreme decision-making body. It comprises ratifying

governments and regional economic integration organizations, such as the European Union.

Ø Functions of COP: One of the main functions of the COP is to review reports submitted by the Parties detailing

how they are carrying out their commitments.

Ø The COP makes recommendations on the basis of these reports.



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Ø It also has the power to make amendments to the Convention or to adopt new annexes, such as additional regional

implementation annexes.

Ø The COP can guide the Convention as global circumstances and national needs change.

UNCCD Estimate of Desertification

Ø Land & Drought: By 2025, 1.8 billion people will experience absolute water scarcity, and 2/3 of the world will

be living under water-stressed conditions.

Ø A complex and slowly encroaching natural hazard with significant and pervasive socio-economic and environmental

impacts to cause more deaths and displace more people than any other natural disaster.

Ø Land & Human Security: By 2045 some 135 million people may be displaced as a result of desertification.

Ø Achieving land degradation neutrality-by rehabilitating already degraded land, scaling up sustainable land

management and accelerating restoration initiatives- is a pathway to greater resilience and security for all.

Ø Land & Climate: Restoring the soils of degraded ecosystems has the potential to store up to 3 billion tons of

carbon annually.

Ø The land use sector represents almost 25% of total global emissions. Its rehabilitation and sustainable management

are critical to combating climate change.

UNCCD and Sustainable Development

Ø Goal 15 of Sustainable Development Goals(SDG), 2030 declares that “we are determined to protect the planet

from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural

resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future

generations”.

India and UNCCD

Ø The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in partnership with the International

Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also launched a flagship project on enhancing capacity on forest

Landscape Restoration (FLR) and Bonn Challenge in India, through a pilot phase of 3.5 years implemented

in the States of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Karnataka.

Desertification

Ø It is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities

and climatic variations. Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts.

Ø It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one-third of the world‘s land area, are extremely vulnerable

to overexploitation and inappropriate land use.

Ø Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation practices can all undermine the

productivity of the land

Bonn challenge

Ø The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land

into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.

Ø At the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) 2015 in Paris, India also joined the voluntary Bonn

Challenge pledge to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by the year

2020, an additional 8 million hectares by 2030.

Ø India’s pledge is one of the largest in Asia.

Source: The Hindu




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Science and Technology, Defense, Health

ISRO - Chandrayaan-2 MissionWhy in news?

F ISRO has recently announced the launch date (July 15, 2019) of Chandrayaan-2 mission

Why was the delay?

Ø Chandrayaan-2’s predecessor, Chandrayaan-1, was an Orbiter mission which was sent way back in 2008.

Ø Following this, according to the original schedule, Chandrayaan-2 was to be launched in 2012 itself.

Ø But at that time, it was supposed to be a collaborative mission with the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, which

was to provide the lander module.

Ø The Russians, however, withdrew from the missions.

Ø This was after Russia’s similarly-designed lander for another mission developed problems in 2011.

Ø This left ISRO to design, develop and build the lander on its own.

Ø As this was new to ISRO, it had led to considerable delay from the original schedule.

Chandrayaan-1 mission

Ø The Chandrayaan-1 mission was ISRO’s first exploratory mission to the moon, in fact to any heavenly body in the space.

Ø It was designed to just orbit around the moon and make observations with the help of the instruments on board.

Ø The closest that Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft came to the moon was in an orbit 100 km from its surface.

Ø For largely symbolic reasons, though, the Chandrayaan-1 mission made one of its instruments crash-land on the

moon’s surface.

Ø It was the Moon Impact Probe, or MIP, a 35-kg cube-shaped module with the Indian tricolour on all its sides.

Ø MIP left an Indian imprint on the moon’s surface.

Chandrayaan-2’s features

Ø Chandrayaan-2 is India’s first lander mission.

Ø It consists of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover, all equipped with scientific instruments to study the moon.

Ø The Lander and Rover modules will separate from the orbiter and make a soft-landing on moon’s surface.

Ø The lander and rover are designed to work for only 14 days (1 lunar day) while the orbiter would remain in orbit

for a year.

Orbiter

Ø The Orbiter would once again watch the moon from a 100-km orbit.

Ø The Orbiter is a 2379-kg spacecraft with 7 instruments on board.

Ø It is equipped with different kinds of cameras to take high-resolution three-dimensional maps of the surface.

Ø It also has instruments to study the mineral composition on the moon and the lunar atmosphere, and to assess the

abundance of water.

Ø The Orbiter will observe lunar surface and relay communication between Earth and the Lander.

Lander

Ø ISRO has named the Lander module as Vikram, after Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneer of India’s space programme.

Ø The 1471-kg lander will remain stationary after touching down on the moon’s surface.

Ø It will carry three instruments that will mainly study the moon’s atmosphere.

Ø One of the instruments will also look out for seismic activity on lunar surface.

Rover

Ø The Rover is a 6-wheeled, Artificial Intelligence-powered and solar-powered vehicle named Pragyan, meaning wisdom.

Ø Once on the moon, the rover will detach itself from the lander.

Ø Equipped with two instruments, it would slowly crawl on the surface, making observations and collecting data.

Ø Its primary objective is to study the composition of the moon’s surface near the landing site.

Ø It would also determine the abundance of different elements on the moon’s surface.

What are the challenges?

Ø The Lander is the distinguishing feature as this is the first time that ISRO has attempting to soft-land a module in

extra-terrestrial space.

Ø Once the Lander and the Rover, enter the Moon’s gravity, they would be in a state of free fall.



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Ø That could end in crash-landing and destruction of instrument.

Ø The main challenge is thus in controlling its speed as it approaches the surface.

Ø To enable a smooth landing, the speed of the Lander just ahead of touchdown should be 1 m/s (3.6 km/h) or less.

Ø Due to lack of air to provide drag, these instruments cannot make use of parachute-like technologies.

Ø So instead, the Lander fires thrusters in the opposite direction to slow down.

What is the significance?

Ø With Chandrayaan-2, India will become only the 4th country in the world to land a spacecraft on the moon.

Ø So far, all landings, human as well as non-human, on the moon have been in areas close to its equator.

Ø This was mainly because this area receives more sunlight that is required by the solar-powered instruments to

function.

Ø Chandrayaan-2 will make a landing at a site where no earlier mission has gone, near the South pole of the moon.

Ø It is a completely unexplored territory and therefore offers great scientific opportunity for the mission to discover

something new.

Source: The Hindu

Concerns over Genetically Modified Brinjal

Why in news?

F Genetic modification of crops has been a controversial issue since the first commercial production of

a genetically modified crop. India has banned the cultivation of Bt brinjal in 2010, but GM crops still find its way

into the fields through the illegal supply of seeds specifically in the region of Haryana, Maharashtra, and Andhra

Pradesh where farmers are indulged in unapproved sowing and cultivation of Bt brinjal owing to its advantages

of being pest resistant, lower cost, and higher yield.

F Benefits of increased shelf life and high yield attached with the cultivation of Bt Brinjal cannot outweigh the

multiple concerns arising out of the unapproved and half prepared release of Bt brinjal like :

Major Concerns

Ø Environmental impact: Sowing of Bt brinjal or GM foods can give rise to serious environmental concerns like:

Ø Cross-pollination in GM crops paves the way for herbicide-resistant super weedsthat can further threaten

the sustenance of other crops and pests because of its uncontrolled growth.

Ø Pest-resistant Bt crops can lead to the extinction of a few species that in turn can affect the food chain also.

Ø Implications for consumers and farmers: National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy

Research’s anticipation that Bt brinjal’s high yield and increased shelf life will benefit consumers and farmers

owing to cut in retail price of brinjals ignores the scenario that companies might charge premium prices for Bt

brinjal seeds, in which case farmers may not benefit at all.

Ø Critics claim that patent laws give developers of the GM crops a dangerous degree of control/ dominance over

the food supply that results in the over domination of world food production by a few companies.

Ø Biosafety Issues: Crops like rice, brinjal, and mustard, among others, have their origin in India and introducing

genetically modified versions of these crops could be a major threat to the vast number of domestic and wild

varieties of these crops (GM crops because of their pest resistance characteristics could eliminate important

species of pests that are responsible for sustaining domestic varieties and can pose serious threats to biodiversity).

Ø Biodiversity is critical for nutrition and sustainability, and the government’s task force on biotechnology (2004)

had recommended that no GM crop be allowed in biodiversity-rich areas.

Ø Nutrition issues: Bt brinjal poses risks to human health as their resistance to antibiotics can turn medicines

ineffective and may result in the formation of new toxins and allergens.

Ø Toxins produced by GM crops can not only affect non target organisms but also pose the danger of unintentionally

introducing allergens and other anti-nutritionfactors in foods.

Ø Indian agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan (who had described Bt cotton as a ‘failure’) had asked

for independent (instead of relying exclusively on Mahyco for data) long-term (chronic) toxicity studies, of

Bt brinjal before going for commercialization and cultivation of Bt brinjal.

Ø Inefficient Regulatory system: Seeing the lapses in the regulatory system and irregularities in the assessment

of Bt brinjal (in terms of labeling and unapproved and illegal sowing of GM crops) Parliamentary Standing

Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Science & Technology, Environment and Forests recommended:



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GM crops.

Ø Endorsed labeling GM foods to protect a consumer’s right to know.

Ø No scientific consensus: Lack of scientific consensus on the safety and efficacy of GM crops.Ø Pests have developed resistance to Bt cotton, forcing farmers to spray lethal pesticides. This led to over 50

deaths by pesticide-poisoning in Vidarbha in 2017.Ø A GM-based strategy of pest control is unsustainable, all the more so since farmers, already pressed for land,

ignore the government’s recommendation to plant refuge crops.Ø The government’s task forces and expert committees on GM crops are of the view that Bt brinjal runs counter to

the framework for agricultural development and farmers’ welfare.

Way Forward

Ø Environmental Impact Assessment: must be carried out by independent environmentalist, as farmers do not

and cannot assess the long-term impact of GM crops on ecology and health.Ø The government must detail the steps it has taken since the ban of Bt brinjal (2010) to address the scientific gap

for commercialization of Bt brinjal.Ø The government should bring a clear report on benefits accrued by Bt brinjal to the farming community and

demonstrate how Bt brinjal fits in with sustainable farming and biodiversity conservation.

Ø Ensure efficient infrastructural and institutional set up in order to ensure labeling of GM crops and bring more

efficacy into the regulatory system of GM crops.Ø Mandatory labeling of products from GM crops.

Ø Unchecked import of GM products should be stopped.Ø In order to curb the illegal cultivation of Bt brinjal, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal

Committee (GEAC) must:Ø Collaborate with state governments and launch a nation-wide investigation drive.

Ø Take action on threats of deliberate Bt brinjal and Bt cotton cultivation.Ø Investigate and prosecute those involved in the illegal supply of Bt brinjal seeds.

Ø Organic farming should be encouraged.Ø The government should go for commercialization of Bt brinjal only after the core and deep research on the long

term prospects and benefits of commercialization of Bt crops in India. In that context, India can learn fromBangladesh’s example where farmers have been growing the Bt Brinjal since 2013.

GM Crops in India

Ø Bt cotton is India’s first genetically modified crop, to be approved for commercialization.Ø India has the world’s 5th largest GM crop acreage after the USA, Brazil, Argentina, and Canada

Ø Presently majority of India’s cotton cultivation area is under Bt cotton crops.Ø Bt brinjal was developed by Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company) in collaboration with the Dharwad

University of Agricultural Sciences and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.Source: The Hindu

Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos test fired

Why in news?

F Supersonic anti-ship version of BrahMos cruise missile was successfully test fired from the Integrated Test

Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.

Key features of BrahMos Missile:

Ø BrahMos Missile is the first supersonic cruise missile system known to be in service, developed as part of a

joint venture between India and Russia.Ø The missile derives its name from the names of two rivers, namely the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.

Ø The missile is capable of carrying a conventional as well as nuclear warhead of 300 kilograms.Ø The BrahMos is a multi-stage missile having a solid propellant in the first stage and the ramjet liquid propellant

in the second stage.Ø It is world’s fastest cruise missile of its class in the world. It has supersonic speed of Mach 2.8 (Mach number

equals object speed divided by speed of sound), a very low-cruising altitude of 10 metres at terminal phase andpin-point accuracy.

Ø It can be launched from land, sea, sub-seas and air.Ø It has strike range up to 290 km.



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Ø It operates on ‘Fire and Forget Principle’ by adopting varieties of flights on its way to the target.

Ø It approaches the enemy target with a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the US

subsonic Tomahawk Cruise Missile System.

Ø The missile has been developed by the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited.

Ø It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia and India’s Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO).

Ø While the navy and army versions of the missile were inducted in 2005 and 2007 respectively, the air version is

still in the testing stage.

Difference between Cruise Missile and Ballistic Missile:

Cruise Missile:

Ø A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled (till the time of impact) guided vehicle that sustains flight through

aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place special payload on a target.

Ø They fly within the earth’s atmosphere and use jet engine technology.

Ø Depending upon the speed such missiles are classified as: Subsonic cruise missile (speed lesser than that of sound),

Supersonic cruise missile (travels at a speed 2-3 times of sound) and Hypersonic cruise missile (travels at a

speed of more than 5 times of speed of sound).

Ballistic Missile:

Ø A ballistic missile is a missile that has a ballistic trajectory over most of its flight path, regardless of whether or

not it is a weapon-delivery vehicle.

Ø They are categorised according to their range.

Ø The missile carries a huge payload. It can be launched from ships and land based facilities.

Ø For example, Prithvi I, Prithvi II, Agni I, Agni II and Dhanush ballistic missiles are currently operational in the

Indian defence forces.

Source: The Hindu

Operation Sankalp Launched

Why in news?

Ø The Indian Navy has launched ‘Operation Sankalp’ in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman as a measure to

assure the safety and security of the Indian vessels, following the recent maritime incidents in the region.

Ø The operation has been launched in the wake of escalating tension in the Gulf of Oman, where two oil tankers

were attacked recently. The U.S. considers Iran responsible for the attacks, heightening tensions between the

two countries.

Ø Indian Navy Ships Chennai and Sunayna has been deployed in the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf to undertake

maritime security operations. In addition, aerial surveillance by IN aircraft is also being undertaken in the area.

Ø The Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region is also keeping a close watch on the movement of

ships in the Gulf region.

The Persian Gulf

Ø Also called the Arabian Gulf, it is a shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that lies between the Arabian

Peninsula and the southwestern Iran.

Ø Its length is around 990 km and its width varies from a maximum of around 340 km to a minimum of 55 km in

the Strait of Hormuz.

Ø It is bordered on the north, northeast, and east by Iran; on the southeast and south by part of Oman and the

United Arab Emirates; on the southwest and west by Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia; and on the northwest

by Kuwait and Iraq.

Ø The area has approximately two-thirds of the world’s estimated proven oil reserves and one-third of the world’s

estimated proven natural gas reserves.

Ø A considerable amount of sea trade passes through the gulf, leading to heavy traffic in the region.

Ø There remains an incessant traffic of large tankers that carry oil from the large marine terminals situated in Iran,

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and other locations to all parts of the world.



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The Gulf of Oman

Ø The Gulf of Oman, northwest arm of the Arabian Sea, lies between the eastern portion of the Arabian Peninsula

(Oman) and Iran.

Ø It is 560 km long and connects with the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ø It is a shipping route for the oil-producing area around the Persian Gulf.

Ø It offers the only entrance from the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean into the Persian Gulf, thus the world’s

major oil exporters and importers have a joint interest in its security.

Source: PIB, Business Standard

Dragonfly MissionWhy in news?

F The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Dragonfly mission, (which will be launched

in 2026 and land in 2034) plans to fly a drone copter to Saturn’s largest moon Titan in search of the building

blocks of life.

Key facts

Ø Dragonfly mission will study whether the moon of Saturn (Titan) could now be, or once was, home to life.

Ø Dragonfly will fly to dozens of promising locations on Titan looking for prebiotic chemical processes common

on both Titan and Earth.

Ø This will be the first time Nasa will fly a multi-rotor vehicle for science on other planet.

Ø Multi-rotor vehicle would have eight rotors (moving component of an electromagnetic system in the electric

motor, electric generator, or alternator) and will fly like a large drone.

Ø Dragonfly will explore diverse environments from organic dunes (hill of loose sand built by the flow of water or air)

to the floor of an impact crater where liquid water and complex organic materials (key to life)once existed

together (possibly tens of thousands of years).

Ø The craft will land first at the equatorial ”Shangri-La” dune, exploring the region in short trips before building

up to longer “leapfrog” flights of five miles (8 kilometers).

Ø It will investigate the Titan’s atmospheric and surface properties and it’s subsurface ocean and liquid reservoirs

and will also search for chemical evidence of past life.

Titan

Ø Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest moon in our solar system.

Ø It has liquid rivers, lakes, and seas on its surface (though these contain hydrocarbons like methane and ethane, not water).

Ø Titan’s atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen, like Earth’s, but is four times denser.

Ø Unlike Earth, it has clouds and rain of methane.

Ø It is 886 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers) away from the Sun, about 10 times farther than Earth.

Ø Because it is so far from the Sun it’s surface temperature is (-179 degree Celsius).

Ø It’s surface pressure is also 50% higher than Earth.

Source: The Hindu

Acute Encephalitis Syndrome in Bihar - Litchi Connect, Malnutrition

Why in news?

Ø The outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Bihar has led to close to 350 cases and around 130 deaths.

Ø While the causes of AES are still researched, the association with hypoglycaemia and litchi fruit has drawn attention.

What is AES?

Ø Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) is a broad term involving several infections, and it affects young children.

Ø AES is not a disease;it is a syndrome.

Ø Under its umbrella comes the hypoglycaemia, Japanese Encephalitis, Herpes meningitis, Race syndrome, cerebral

malaria, scrub typhus, etc.

Ø All of them are grouped under AES as they have a classical triad of sudden onset of fever, convulsions and loss of

consciousness.

How prevalent is AES?

Ø The first AES case was recorded in 1995 in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

Ø Eastern Uttar Pradesh too sees frequent outbreaks.



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Ø There is no fixed pattern, but a year with high temperature and scanty rain usually witnesses high cases.

Ø Last year, there had been very few cases (in Muzaffarpur) because the general pattern of a few days of high

temperature followed by rain showers was there.

Ø There were 143 deaths in 2013 and 355 in 2014, which dropped to 11 in 2017 and 7 in 2018.

Ø But this year, the heat has been prolonged with no spells of rain.

What causes AES?

Ø The syndrome can be caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi.Ø In India, the most common cause is the virus that causes Japanese encephalitis (JE).Ø Health Ministry estimates attribute 5-35% of AES cases to the JE virus.Ø In Bihar, the Directorate of Health Services claimed that the JE virus had caused only two of the total 342 AES

cases this year.Ø The syndrome is also caused by infections such as scrub typhus, dengue, mumps, measles, and even Nipah or Zika virus.Ø In the latest outbreak in Muzaffarpur, the cause is yet to be clinically identified in most of the children.

How is hypoglycaemia linked to AES?

Ø Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) is a commonly seen sign among AES patients, and the link has been the subjectof research for long.

Ø The combination of AES with hypoglycaemia is unique to Muzaffarpur, Vietnam and Bangladesh.Ø A 2014 study in Muzaffarpur suggested that hypoglycaemia was the trigger that led to diagnosis of encephalitis.Ø So, Hypoglycaemia is not a symptom but a sign of AES.Ø With 98% of AES patients in Bihar also suffering hypoglycaemia, doctors are attributing deaths to the latter.Ø In Bihar, convulsions in children (which is AES) are found in combination with hypoglycaemia.

What is the litchi connect?

Ø Early researcheshave drawn parallel between cases in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and in Vietnam’s Bac Giang province.Ø In both places, there were litchi orchards in the neighbourhood.Ø Methylene cyclopropyl glycine (MCPG), also known as hypoglycin A, is known to be a content of litchi fruit.Ø Undernourished children who ate litchi during the day and went to bed on an empty stomach presented with

serious illness early the next morning.Ø When litchi harvesting starts in May, several workers spend time in the fields.Ø There, it is common for children to feed on fallen litchis and sleep without food.Ø The toxin in litchi (MPCG) lowers blood sugar level during night, and these children are found unconscious in

the morning.Ø Blood glucose falls sharply causing severe brain malfunction (encephalopathy), leading to seizures and coma,

and death in many cases.Ø However, this remains a subject of debate, and the possible association needs to be documented.

What role does malnutrition play?

Ø If toxins from litchi were causing hypoglycaemia, then these cases should have remained consistent each year.Ø Also, it should have affected children of all socio-economic strata.Ø But in contrast, this year, all deaths have been recorded in the lower income groups.Ø While well-nourished children eating litchi remain unaffected even if they go to bed on an empty stomach, the

under-nourished ones were at grave risk.Ø This is because under-nourished children lack sufficient glucose reserve in the form of glycogen.Ø Also, the production of glucose from non-carbohydrate source is unsafe as it is unsustainable and thus stopped midway.Ø This leads to low blood sugar level, giving way for further health complications.Ø In all, even if litchi is a triggering factor, the real cause for adverse effects is said to be malnutrition.Ø So, while the cause of AES is still being researched, hypoglycaemic AES may be caused by malnutrition, heat,

lack of rain, and entero-virus.

What makes Bihar and UP so vulnerable?

Ø Malnutrition is high in both states, and malnourished children are prone to infection.Ø As per Health Ministry data, UP and Bihar together account for over 35% of child deaths in the country.Ø National Family Health Survey-4 data show that in 2015-16, 48% children aged less than 5 in Bihar were stunted,

which is the highest in India.Ø Also, heat, humidity, unhygienic conditions and malnutrition which are unique to these areas, together contribute

to the rise in AES.Ø Incidence is higher in litchi fields around which malnourished children live.



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What are the measures taken?

Ø In 2014, 74% of sick children were saved through a simple intervention by infusing 10% dextrose within 4 hours

of the onset of illness.

Ø Infusing dextrose is necessary to completely stop the attempt by the body to produce glucose from non-carbohydrate source.

Ø Also, the prevention strategy of ensuring that no child goes to bed without eating a meal was adopted from 2015.

Ø This ensured a sharp drop in the number of children falling sick.

Ø The Bihar government introduced free vaccines at all primary health centres .The current coverage is 70%.

Ø The central and state governments have also conducted awareness campaign asking people not to expose their

children to sun.

Ø Also, ensuring a proper diet and increased fluid intake were insisted.

Ø Besides these, early hospital referral and standard treatment for convulsions, high fever and vomiting can save lives.

Source: The Hindu, Indian Express

India signs Agreement with the World Bank to Eradicate TB

Why in news?

F The Government of India and the World Bank have signed a loan agreement of $400 million for the Program

Towards Elimination of Tuberculosis (TB).

F The program builds on a partnership between the Government of India and the World Bank that has spanned more

than 20 years. The World Bank supported programshave helped treat more than 20 million people since

1998 and averted 3.5 million deaths.

F The loan has a 19-year maturity including a 5-year grace period.

Program towards Elimination of Tuberculosis

Ø The program aims to improve the coverage and quality of TB control interventions in nine states: Uttar

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu.

Ø It will support the Government of India’s (GoI) National Strategic Plan to end TB in India by 2025. It will

do so by helping improve and strengthen diagnostics and management of drug-resistant tuberculosis and increase

the capacity of public institutions engaged in monitoring and treating TB in the country.

Ø The Program will provide financial incentives to private sector care providers for reporting cases of TB

and ensuring that their patients complete the treatment regimen.

Ø It will also provide Direct Benefit Transfers to patients for acquiring the critical nutrition needed during treatment.

Ø The Program will even help the GoI strengthen the monitoring and implementation of Nikshay - a web-based

TB case monitoring system introduced by the government.

Need behind the Program

Ø TB kills approximately half a million people in India every year.

Ø Drug resistant TB is a major public health threat in the country.

Ø Despite a growing number of TB cases being notified, India has more than a million missing cases every year

with most of them being either undiagnosed or inadequately diagnosed and treated in the private sector.

Ø Other challenges that India face while eliminating TB in its region are: delayed care-seeking by suspected TB

patients, low adherence to treatment, and fragmented health care service providers, including an unregulated

private sector which is treating more than half of TB cases in India.

National Strategic Plan (NSP) to end TB

Ø It encapsulates the bold and innovative steps required to eliminate TB in India by the year 2025.

Ø Objective (Detect-Treat-Prevent-Build)

Ø Detect: Find all Drug Sensitive TB and Drug Resistant TB cases with an emphasis on reaching TB patients seeking

care from private providers and undiagnosed TB in high-risk populations.

Ø Treat: Initiate and sustain all patients on appropriate anti-TB treatment wherever they seek care, with patient

friendly systems and social support.

Ø Prevent the emergence of TB in susceptible populations.

Ø Build and strengthen enabling policies, empowered institutions, additional human resources with enhanced

capacities, and provide adequate financial resources.



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Tuberculosis (TB)

Ø TB is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs.

Ø Transmission: TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or

spit, they propel the TB germs into the air.

Ø Symptoms: Cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.

Ø Treatment: TB is treatable and curable disease.It is treated with a standard 6 month course of 4 antimicrobial

drugs that are provided with information, supervision and support to the patient by a health worker or trained volunteer.

Ø Anti-TB medicines have been used for decades and strains that are resistant to 1 or more of the medicines have

been documented in every country surveyed.

Ø Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to isoniazid

and rifampicin, the 2 most powerful, first-line anti-TB drugs. MDR-TB is treatable and curable by using second-

line drugs.

Ø Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a more serious form of MDR-TB caused by bacteria that do not

respond to the most effective second-line anti-TB drugs, often leaving patients without any further

treatment options.

Global Burden

Ø In the year 2017, the largest number of new TB cases occurred in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific

regions, with 62% of new cases, followed by the African region, with 25% of new cases.

Ø Also, eight countries accounted for two thirds of the new TB cases: India,China,Indonesia, the Philippines,

Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and South Africa.

Ø According to the WHO’s 2018 Global TB Report, nearly half of the world’s MDR-TB cases are in India (24 %),

China (13 %), and Russia (10 %).

Global Actions Against TB

Ø Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals.

Ø The WHO End TB Strategy outlines global impact targets to reduce TB deaths by 90%, to cut new cases by 80%

between the years 2015 and 2030, and to ensure that no family is burdened with catastrophic costs due to TB.

Source - The Hindu

DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill

Why in news?

Ø The Cabinet has recently cleared the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 once again,

for its re introduction in Parliament.

What is the objective?

Ø To create a regulatory framework for obtaining, storing and testing of DNA samples of human beings, mainly for

the purposes of criminal investigations, and with the objective of establishing the identity of a person.

Ø The proposed law seeks to bring in a supervisory structure so that the DNA technology is not misused.

Key Provisions of the Bill are as follows:

Ø The Bill regulates the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of persons in respect of matters listed

in a Schedule. These include,

Ø Criminal matters (offences under the IPC, 1860)

Ø Civil matters (parentage disputes, transplantation of human organs etc).

Ø The Bill establishes National and Regional DNA Data Banks. Every Data Bank will maintain the following indices:

Ø Crime scene index

Ø Suspects’ or undertrials’ index,

Ø Offenders’ index

Ø Missing persons’ index, and

Ø Unknown deceased persons’ index.

Ø It establishes a DNA Regulatory Board. Every DNA laboratory that analyses a DNA sample to establish the identity

of an individual, has to be accredited by the Board.

Ø Written consent will be required from individuals to collect DNA samples from them.

Ø However, consent will not be required for offences with punishment of more than 7 years of imprisonment or death.



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Ø It also provides for the removal of DNA profiles of suspects on filing of a police report or court order, and of

undertrials on the basis of a court order.

Ø Profiles in the crime scene and missing persons’ index will be removed on a written request.

What are all the issues with this bill?

Ø Clarity - The Schedule lists civil matters where DNA profiling can be used. This includes issues relating to

establishment of individual identity.

Ø Thus, it is unclear if it intends to regulate the medical or research laboratories where the DNA testing is carried out.

Ø Consent - The Bill hasn’t specified for any requirement of the consent of the individual when DNA profiling is

used in civil matters.

Ø Privacy - DNA laboratories are required to share DNA data with the Data Banks.

Ø It is unclear whether DNA profiles for civil matters will also be stored in the Data Banks which may violate the

right to privacy.

Ø Removal - The Bill specifies the process by which DNA profiles may be removed from the Data Banks.

Ø However, the Bill does not require DNA laboratories to remove DNA profiles.


Facebook’s Cryptocurrency “Libra” Launched

Why in news?

F Facebook has recently announced its plans to launch “Libra” a digital currency, in 2020.

Key facts

Ø Libra is a virtual currency, which users buy and store in a digital wallet.

Ø It can be used for transactions on a decentralized network that is not controlled by one bank or a government.

Ø It is powered by a technology called ‘Blockchain’, which functions like an open ledger that gets updated in real time.

Ø For Libra, Facebook announced a dedicated wallet app called “Calibra.”

Ø “Calibra” will be built into WhatsApp and Messenger as well, to let users store and use “Libra” coins.

Ø Once launched, users will be able to buy Libra and add it to their digital wallet.

Ø Libra will be built into Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, allowing users to send and receive money via messages.

Ø People will be able to send money at “low to no cost”

Ø Libra will also be used for offline payments, such as paying bills, buying coffee, or paying for public transport.

Is Libra different from other Cryptocurrencies?

Ø The values of most cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, tend to fluctuate against real currencies.

Ø The plan is to ensure Libra is stable and give users confidence.

Ø Libra will be backed by a reserve of assets designed to “give it intrinsic value” and ensure stability.

Ø These assets include securities and fiat currencies (like the dollar, pound).

Ø The Libra reserve will include bank deposits and government bonds in several international currencies.

Ø However, the value of the one Libra in any local currency may fluctuate.

Ø Libra is planned as a “global currency” for use anywhere in the world without transaction fees.

Ø It will target those who are left out in the formal banking sector.

Ø Facebook is also launching its Subsidiary Company, called ”Calibra” which will handle its crypto dealings.

Ø “Calibra” is a digital wallet, which will store Libras.

Ø Libra will be controlled by the ‘Libra Association’, a non-profit based in Geneva.

Ø The currency has been backed by Visa and Mastercard, as well as tech firms such as Uber, Lyft, Spotify, ebay,

Paypal and PayU from India.

Is ‘Libra’ a privacy concern?

Ø Libra will be built on its own blockchain, a decentralised database that records the history of transactions over time.

Ø Facebook has said that account details will not be shared with Facebook or third parties for advertising purposes,

except for cases of data sharing “to keep people safe, comply with the law.

Ø Also Facebook stated that, If someone loses their Libra coins from Calibra wallet, they will get a refund.

Ø For Libra, a new programming language called ‘Move’ is being built, which the organization claims is more

secure and private.



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Cryptocurrency

ØØØØØ A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and is generally based on

blockchain technology, a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. Bitcoin is the most

popular cryptocurrency in the world.

Source: The Hindu

National Food and Nutrition Security Analysis report

Why in news?

Ø According to the National Food and Nutrition Security Analysis report, malnutrition amongst children in

India is projected to remain high, despite all the progress made in food security.

Ø National Food and Nutrition Security Analysis report was developed in partnership between the World Food

Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India.

Findings of the Report are as under

Ø The slow decline of child stunting: Over the last decade, child stunting has reduced at a rate of about 1% per

year, the slowest decline among emerging economies. At this rate, 31.4% of children will still be stunted by the

2022 deadline.

Ø Almost one in three Indian children under five years will still be stunted by 2022 going by current trends.

Ø Access to nutritious food has not increased: Food grain yields have risen 33% over the last two decades, but

are still only half of 2030 target yields

Ø The consumer’s access to rice, wheat and other cereals has not increased at the same rate, due to population

growth, inequality, food wastage and losses, and exports.

Ø As a result, the average per capita consumption of energy among the poorest 30% of the population is 1811

kilocalories, much lower than the norm of 2155 kilocalories per day.

Ø Under and over nutrition: For several decades India was dealing with only one form of malnutrition- under

nutrition. However, in the last decade, the double burden which includes both over- and under nutrition, is becoming

more prominent and poses a new challenge for India.

Ø Despite positive trends and patterns in improving food security, the prevalence of malnutrition in India remains

high, with many people, especially women and children, suffering from micronutrient deficiency.

Ø Performance of States: In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the stunting rate is around 48% and 46% respectively. It

shows that in these states almost every 2nd child is stunted.

Ø Whereas in Kerala and Goa, it is only one in five children.

Ø The most vulnerable: There are high rates of stunting among children in the poorest wealth quintile is (51.4%),

Scheduled Tribes (43.6%) and Scheduled Castes (42.5%), and children born to mothers with no education (51%).

Key Recommendations

Ø Recommendations are grouped by the three pillars of food security: availability, access and utilisation.

Ø Farmers should be encouraged and incentivised for agricultural diversification.

Ø Innovative and low-cost farming technologies, increase in the irrigation coverage and enhancing knowledge of

farmers in areas such as appropriate use of land and water should be encouraged to improve the sustainability

of food productivity.

Ø The government should improve policy support for improving agricultural produce of traditional crops in

the country.

Ø Storage capacity should be improved to prevent post-harvest losses.

Ø The targeting efficiency of all food safety nets should be improved, especially that of the Targeted Public

Distribution System (TPDS), to ensure that the poorest are included.

Ø In addition, fortification of government-approved commodities within the social safety net programmes can

improve nutritional outcomes.

Ø Child feeding practices should be improved in the country, especially at the critical ages when solid foods

are introduced to the diet.

Ø Fortification, diversification and supplementation may be used as simultaneous strategies to address micro

and macronutrient deficiencies.

Ø There is a need for more robust measures that can take cognizance of all aspects of SDG 2.

Ø All the major welfare programmes need to be gender sensitive.



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Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)- 2

Ø Goal 2 of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda seeks to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition and

double agricultural productivity in the next 15 years.

Ø Ensuring this sustainable access to nutritious food universally will require sustainable food production and

agricultural practices.

Ø Target 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular, the poor and people in vulnerable

situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.

Ø Target 2.2: By 2030, end-all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed

targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent

girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.

World Food Programme (WFP)

Ø It is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing

hunger and promoting food security.

Ø Its headquarters are in Rome and it works to help people who cannot produce or obtain enough food for

themselves and their families.

Ø The WFP was formally established in 1963 by the FAO and the United Nations General Assembly on a

three-year experimental basis. In 1965, the programme was extended to a continuing basis.

Ø It is a member of the United Nations Development Group and part of its executive committee.

Ø Stunting: It is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated

infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is

more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median.

Ø According to UNICEF, 38% of children younger than five years of age in India are stunted, a manifestation

of chronic under nutrition. Stunting and other forms of under-nutrition are thought to be responsible for nearly

half of all child deaths globally.

Source: The Hindu, FAO

India to Set Up its Own Space Station

Why in news?

Ø India is planning to launch its own space station by 2030, joining the league of US, Russia, and China to an elite

space club.

Ø A space station is a habitable spacecraft capable of supporting human crewmembers and designed to remain in space.

Ø As of now, the International Space Station (ISS) is the only fully functioning space station and largest

human-made body in low Earth orbit.

Indian Space Station

Ø The Indian space station will be much smaller (mass of 20 tonnes) than the International Space Station and will

be used for carrying out microgravity experiments (not for space tourism).

Ø Preliminary plan for the space station is to accommodate astronauts for up to 20 days in space, and the project

will be an extension of the Gaganyaan mission.

Ø It will orbit Earth at an altitude of around 400km.

Ø ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is working on space docking experiment (Spadex), a technology that

is crucial for making the space station functional.

Ø space docking is a technology that allows transferring humans from one spacecraft to another.

Significance

Ø Space station is essential for collecting meaningful scientific data, especially for biological experiments.

Ø Provide platforms for greater number and length of scientific studies than available on other space vehicles. (

as Gaganyaan will take humans and experiments in microgravity for few days only).

Ø Each crew member stays aboard the station for weeks or months, but rarely more than a year.

Ø Space stations are used to study the effects of long-term space flight on the human body.

Source: The Hindu




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More News

Buddhist Relic Unearthed in Andhra Pradesh

Ø A Buddhist relic has been unearthed in Andhra Pradesh. It is a limestone pillar, which is carved with half lotusmedallions at the centre and top portions on all four sides.

Ø It belongs to the Amaravati school of Art of the Ikshvaku times.Ø Buddhist monastery of which this pillar might be part of a Shilamandapa where Buddhist teachers offer regular

discourses on the Dhamma of the Buddha.Ø The exploration was undertaken under ‘Preserve Heritage for Posterity’, an awareness campaign launched by the

Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA), to bring to limelight artefact which remained in neglect indifferent parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Amaravati School of Art

Ø Amaravati school of art evolved and flourished for nearly six centuries commencing from 200-100 BC in Indiaitself, i.e. it has no outside influence.

Ø It was patronized first by the Satavahanas and later by the Ikshvakus.Ø The material used is a distinctive white marble and Amaravati sculptures have a sense of movement and energy

with profound and quiet naturalism in human, animal and floral forms.Ø Both religious (mainly Buddhist) and secular images were present in this style.

‘Jal Hi Jeevan Hai’ Scheme

Ø Jal Hi Jeevan Hai Scheme has been launched by the Haryana government.Ø The scheme has been launched with an aim to encourage farmers to adopt crop diversification and sow crops

consuming less water like Maize, Arhar etc. instead of water guzzling crops such as paddy so as to conserve water.Ø Due to continuous paddy growing in the State, about 1 meter of water table is depleting per year.Ø Under the scheme, the amount Rs. 2000/acre will be transferred into the accounts of farmers in two phases i.e.

Rs. 200/- at the time of registration and the balance Rs. 1800/- after verification of sowing data within twomonths. Free of cost hybrid seeds would also be provided under the scheme.

Ø The diversified crops produced, would be completely procured by the State Government.

International Yoga Day 2019

ØØØØØ The fifth annual International Yoga Day will be observed on June 21.

Ø June 21 is observed as International Day of Yoga every year since the United Nationsdeclared it in 2015.

Background

Ø The idea of International Day of Yoga was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech atthe UN General Assembly (UNGA), on September 27, 2014.

Ø A draft resolution on ‘International Day of Yoga’ introduced by India’s Ambassador to UN received support from177 nations, the highest number of co-sponsors for any UNGA resolution.

Ø Thereafter, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

International Yoga Day 2019

Ø The theme for fifth International yoga 2019 day is ’Yoga for Heart’.Ø Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi will be hosting the main yoga day event.Ø International yoga day coincides with the summer solstice.Ø Yoga is inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of India.

Sahitya Akademi Awards

Ø The Sahitya Akademi announced Bal Sahitya Puraskar and Yuva Puraskar 2019.Ø Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar relates to books first published during the five years immediately

preceding the year of Award.Ø During the initial ten years (i.e. from 2010 to 2019), the award may also be given to an author based on his/her

total contribution to children literature.



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Ø Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar relates to books published by an author of the age of 35 and below as on 1stJanuary of the year of the award.

Ø The winners of both the awards will receive a casket containing an engraved copper plaque and a cheque of Rs

50,000.

Sahitya Akademi Awards

Ø Sahitya Akademi award established in 1954, is a literary honour that is conferred annually by Sahitya Akademi,

India’s National Academy of letters.

Ø Award is presented to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the twenty-four major

Indian languages recognized by the Akademi (including English).

Ø Sahitya Akademi award is the second highest literary honour by the Government of India, after Jananpith award.

Ø The award is presented in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.

Ø Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray is the designer of the plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi.

Criteria

Ø The author must be of Indian Nationality.

Ø Book/work eligible for award must be an outstanding contribution to the languageand literature to which it belongs.

Ø When equal merit for books of two or more are found, certain criteria like total literary contribution and

standing of authors shall be taken into consideration for declaring award.

Mukhyamantri Vridhjan Pension Yojna

Ø Bihar has recently launched a universal old-age pension scheme in which each person at the age of 60 years

and above, irrespective of their financial, family or caste status, will get a monthly pension directly in his/

her bank account. The scheme aims to bring all elderly in the state under a social security plan.

Ø Each male and female at the age of 80 years and above will get a pension of Rs 500 per month, whereas people

in the age group of 60-79 years will get a pension of Rs 400 per month.

Ø In other states, generally, old-age pensions are provided only to the members of either BPL family or SC/

ST or widows or disabled persons.

Ø But in Bihar, each male and female above 60 years, if they are not getting any other pension either from the state

or the central government, will be entitled to get old-age pension under this new scheme.

Ø The state government would make an additional expenditure of Rs 1,800 crore per annum on this scheme.

Ø The new scheme has been made effective from 1st April, 2019.


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