MONTHLY NEWS DIARY SEPTEMBER -2020
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MONTHLY NEWS DAIRY (MnD)
(FOR UPSC – PRELIMS & MAINS) OCTOBER -2020
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MONTHLY NEWS DIARY SEPTEMBER -2020
Dear Student, Warm Greetings. ➢ MnD aims to provide news analysis of monthly events in sync with the UPSC pattern.
➢ It is targeted at UPSC – Prelims & Mains
➢ The articles are provided in the form of Question and Answers
• To have a bank of mains questions.
• Providing precise information that can he carries straight to the exam, rather than over dumping.
Enjoy reading.
THE HINDU - TH INDIAN EXPRESS - IE BUSINESS LINE - BL ECONOMIC TIMES - ET TIMES OF INDIA - TOI
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INDEX ESSAY PAPER
EDITORIAL 1. Defence Offsets……………………………………………………………………………………….…05 2. India-USA relationship…………………………………………………………………...... 05 3. Strategic handling of China……………………………………………………………….……….07 4. The pathways to conservation of Biodiversity………………………………………..….08 5. Right to Protest………………………………………………………………………………………….09 6. Philips Curve is not a model enough for forecasting Inflation in India………..10 7. How the New Monetary Policy has taken a dovish stance………………………….10 8. Zero hunger by 2030…………………………………………………………………...... 11 9. United Nations Human Right Council…………………………………………………………13 10. Innovation…………………………………………………………………...... 14 11. The reasons for high intensity urban floods in Hyderabad…………………………15 12. Digital Payments…………………………………………………………………...... 16 13. Domestic Violence (2020) Judgement………………………………………………………..17 14. Law’s on women freedom and right’s……………………………………………….…..…..19 15. New Monetary Policy has taken a dovish stance………………………………………..20 16. Electricity Distribution Companies…………………………………………………………..…20 17. What is Dyslexia? And what are the issues faced by people with dyslexia….22
GS 1 ➢ HISTORY 1. Bharati Script…………………………………………………………………...... 23 2. Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan…………………………………………………………………..23 3. Indi-Saracenic Architecture…………………………………………………………………...... 24 4. New findings in Indus-Valley civilization ……………………………………………………25
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SNIPPET GEOGRAPHY 1. Mount Kilimanjaro…………………………………………………………………...... 26
GS 2 ➢ GOVERENCE 1. Crime in India 2019 report: NCRB……………………………………………………………….26 2. SVAMITVA Scheme…………………………………………………………………...... 28 3. What is ‘Infodemic Management’…………………………………………………………….…29 4. Anaemia Mukt Bharat Index……………………………………………………………………….30 5. Kisan Suryodaya Yojana…………………………………………………………………...... 30 6. Steps taken by government to promote green crackers……………………………..31 7. COVID-19 and rural education…………………………………………………………………….31
SNIPPET ➢ CONSITTUTION 1. Chief Information Commission…………………………….………………………….………….32
➢ INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP 1. India-Mexico relations…………………………………………………………………...... 33 2. BECA Agreement…………………………………………………………………...... 34 3. India and China’s changed foreign policy with regards to West Asia...... 35 4. Gilhit-Baltistan...…………………………………...... …………………………………...... 36 5. India’s outreach to Myanmar…………………………………...... 38
GS 3 ➢ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 1. Contraction in GDP of India in 2020-21: World Bank………………………………….39 2. Electoral Bonds…………………………………...... ………………………...... 41 3. Public Sector Unit’s (PSUs) buy-backs can help cash-strapped government to raise funds…………………………………...... …………………………………...... 41
4. Government the credit scheme…………………………………...... 42
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5. Compound Conundrum…………………………………...... ………………………………43
➢ ENVIRONMENT 1. Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo) …………………………………...... 44 2. World Cotton Day…………………………………...... 45 3. ‘Blue Flag Tag’…………………………………...... 45 4. Synedrella Yellow Vein Cleaning Virus…………………………………...... 46 5. Red light on, gaadi off’ campaign…………………………………...... 47 6. Heeng Cultivation in India…………………………………...... 47 7. Millets cultivation…………………………………...... 48 8. Climate change effecting the Himalayans Bear…………………………………...... 49 9. Ramsar wetland conservation…………………………………...... 50 10. Aenigmachanna Gollum…………………………………...... 51 11. Farm Bills (2020) …………………………………...... 51 12. Stubble Burning and PUSA Decomposer…………………………………...... 53
➢ SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1. Indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine…………………………………...... 54 2. OSIRIS-REx spacecraft…………………………………...... 56 3. Deepfakes and what can be done to counter its misuse………………………….…56 4. SOFIA…………………………………...... 58
SNIPPET ➢ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 1. The country’s GST collections…………………………………...... 59 2. The Current Account and what does its surplus indicate……………………………………60
➢ SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1. Akademik Lomonosov…………………………………...... 60 2. FEDOR Robot…………………………………...... 61 3. Super Conducter…………………………………...... 62
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➢ SECURITY 1. ICGS Kanaklata Barua…………………………………...... 62 2. Atal Tunnel (Rohtang Pass) …………………………………...... 63 3. Diffie-Hellman key exchange…………………………………...... 65 4. World space week…………………………………...... 65 5. National Security Guard Raising Day…………………………………...... 66 6. SLINEX-20 India-Sri Lanka maritime Exercise…………………………………...... 66 7. BrahMos Surface to Surface Cruise Missile…………………………………...... 67
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EDITORIAL
1. What is Defence Offset and what are the recent changes made by the government. The Defence Minister came up with its latest Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 (DAP 2020), effected from October 1. Changing a 15-year old policy, the government has decided to remove the clause for offsets if the equipment is being either through deals or agreements between two countries, or through an ab initio single-vendor deal.
WHAT ARE DEFENCE OFFSETS: In simplest terms, the offset is an obligation by an international player to boost India’s domestic defence industry if India is buying equipment from it. Since Defence contracts are costly, the government wants part of that money either to benefit the Indian industry, or to allow the country to gain in terms of technology.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) defined offsets as a “mechanism generally estimated with the triple objectives of:
1. Partially compensating for a significant outflow of a buyer country’s resources in a large purpose of foreign goods 2. Facilitating the induction of technology 3. Adding capacities and capabilities of domestic industries”
An offset provision in a contract makes it obligatory on the suppliers to either “reverse purchase, execute export orders or invest in local industry or in research and development” in the buyer’s domestic industry.
WHEN WAS THE POLICY INTRODUCED: This policy was adopted on the recommendation of the Vijay Kelkar Committee in 2005. The first policy said that all defence procurements exceeding Rs 300 crore, estimated coast, will entail offset obligations of at least 30%, which could be increased or decreased by the DAC (Defence Acquisition Council).”
The sixth Standing Committee on Defence (2005-006) had recommended in 2005 in its report on Defence Procurement Policy and Procedure that modalities for implementation of offset contracts should be worked out. The first offset contract was signed in 2007. The government stated the “objective for defence offsets” in 2012 – “The key objective of the Defence offset Policy is to leverage capital acquisitions to develop Indian defence industry by- 1. Fostering development of internationally competitive enterprises 2. Augmenting capacity for Research, Design and Development related to defence products and services 3. Encouraging development of synergistic sector like civil aerospace and internal security”. HOW CAN A FOREIGN VENDOR FULFIL ITS OFFSET OBLIGATIONS? There are multiple routes, until 2016, the vendor had to declare around the time of signing the contract the details about how it will go about it. In April 2016, the new policy amended it to allow it to provide it “either at the time of seeking offset credits or one year prior to discharge of offset obligations”.
2. Discuss the India-USA relations from post 1900’s to 2000’s. What factors played an important role in building good relations in contemporary times? • At a time when most ministerial engagements and even summits are taking place virtually,
the visit of the two senior U.S. officials for the third round 2+2 Dialogue with their Indian
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counterparts conveys an unambiguous political message — the defence partnership has come of age. History of India-United States defence partnership:
POST 1990’s: • The 1991 Kicklighter proposals suggested establishing contacts between the three Services to promote exchanges and explore areas of cooperation. • An Agreed Minute on Defence Cooperation was concluded in 1995 instituting a dialogue at the Defence Secretary level together with the setting up of a Technology Group.
POST 2000’s • In 2005 a 10-year Framework for Defence Relationship established, followed by a Joint Declaration on Defence Cooperation in 2013. • The Framework laid out an institutional mechanism for areas of cooperation including joint exercises, intelligence exchanges, joint training for multinational operations including disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, technology transfer and a sharing of non-proliferation best practices. • Initial movement was slow; it gathered momentum once the nuclear hurdle was overcome in 2008 with the India-U.S. civil nuclear deal.
FACTORS PLAYED FOR GOOD RELATIONS: • The progressive opening up of the Indian economy that was registering an impressive annual growth rate of over 7%. • Bilateral trade in goods and services was $20 billion in 2000 and exceeded $140 billion in 2018. • The four million-strong Indian diaspora in the U.S. has come of political age and its impact can be seen in the bipartisan composition of the India Caucus (in the House) and the Senate Friends of India group. • From less than $400 million of defence acquisitions till 2005, the U.S. has since signed defence contracts of $18 billion. • The visit, taking place after 22 years — the previous one being U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s visit in 1978 — marked a shift from “estranged democracies” to “natural allies”. • The biggest push has come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi overcoming the “hesitations of history” and taking forward the relationship, first with a Democratic Obama administration by announcing a Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region in 2015 ,followed by elevating the India-U.S. Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (launched in 2009 and the first round held in 2010) into the 2+2 dialogue in 2018 with the (Republican) Trump administration reflecting the ‘Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership’. India – US relationship stand today:
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• It has helped that India also joined the export control regimes (Australia Group, Missile Technology Control Regime and Wassenaar Arrangement) and has practices consistent with the Nuclear Suppliers Group where its membership was blocked by China spuriously linking it to Pakistan. • In 2018, India was placed in Category I of the Strategic Trade Authorisation, easing exports of sensitive technologies.
CONCLUSION: • In every relationship, there is a push factor and a pull factor; an alignment of the two is called the convergence of interests. An idea matures when the timing is right. • After all, the Quad (Australia, India, Japan and the U.S.) was first mooted in 2007 but after one meeting, it petered out till its re-emergence now. • Alongside the ministerial meeting in Tokyo earlier this month, India was invited for the first time to also attend the Five Eyes (a signals intelligence grouping set up in 1941 consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the U.S.) meeting.
3. What does a strategic handling of China mean, explain through reflecting on the steps taken thus far by the Indian government for retaliating? INTRO = An article was headlined ‘Hit Them Where It Hurts Us: India has few good ways to punish China for its Himalayan land-grab’. It argued that “most economic sanctions would harm India, too” – i.e, the recently implemented Chinese apps ban and any other steps to follow. Instead of taking knee-jerk, retaliatory decisions against China following border flare- ups, India should consider joining the rest of the world in reining in China and calling it out for its worst excesses. Current status of Indo-China Trade – 1. Chinese venture capitalists have poured in more than $8 billion into some of India’s most successful start-ups. 2. China supplies many goods and services that India needs, and will continue to need. 3. While India relies heavily on imports from China, a smaller portion of China’s imports are
from India.
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4. Further, the timing of the economic decoupling with China that India is attempting could not have come at a worse time. The Indian economy, which was faring badly even before COVID-19 struck, is badly affected by it. Thus, India must re-engage with China economically even as it confronts it militarily. Lessons from China and its Global Partners: • Taiwan – China = China claims Taiwan as its own territory and sometimes threatens invasion. But China remains the top destination for Taiwan’s exports and outbound investment. Trade between the China and Taiwan has remained strong over the past four years. The Taiwanese firm Foxconn, for instance, makes almost all the iPhones that the world buys from factories in China • US – China = Similarly, tensions simmer between China and the its largest trading partner, the U.S., but that doesn’t stop China from continuing to do business with the U.S. Tesla’s massive car and battery plants are coming up in China and American farmers still sell soya to China, though U.S. soybean exports to China have fallen. • EU – China = The European Union, China’s second largest trading partner, continues to be robustly engaged with China. • South East Asia – China = Unlike India, which has been talking for years about establishing road and rail connectivity with its immediate neighbours and even Southeast Asia but doing little about it, China’s ambitious BRI is a vision that is being realised in quick time. This has now reached India’s doorstep and is bad news for India. Mark Leonard, the Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, elaborated on the depth of debate and discussion that goes into Chinese policymaking in his 2008 book “What Does China Think”. The Chinese American economist, Yukon Huang, makes the same point in far greater detail in Cracking the China Conundrum. India should listen to these voices and not react in a knee-jerk manner with China.
4. Explain the pathways to conservation of Biodiversity and discuss how far Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been useful for our environment as well as society? INTRO = The UN Summit on Biodiversity convened in the midst of a global crisis caused by the novel coronavirus that is thought to have spilled over to humans from an animal reservoir. Thus, making it important all the more to focus on the various pathways to conservation of biodiversity in its pristine form for both Human and Animal Welfare –
1) In New York, member-nations of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took note of the link between biodiversity loss and the spread of animal pathogens, calling for an end to destructive industrial and commercial practices.
2) There is consensus that conservation targets set a decade ago in Aichi, Japan, to be achieved by 2020, have spectacularly failed. • Among the Aichi targets that fell by the wayside are those – a) On reform or phasing out of subsidies that erode biodiversity, b) Steps for resource use within safe ecological limits, c) Preventing industrial fisheries from destroying threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems, d) And an end to pollution, including growing plastic waste.
3) Evidence is presented by the latest UN Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 report: none of the
20 targets has been fully met. Many countries have chosen to ignore the connection
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between biodiversity and well-being, and depleted ecological capital in pursuit of financial prosperity.
4) But the losses appear even starker from WWF’s Living Planet Index, which points to precipitous declines in vertebrate populations, a key indicator, by 68% over 1970 levels.
5) Faced with fast-eroding ecosystem health, the 196 CBD member countries must chart a greener course, aligning it with the Paris Agreement, which has a significant impact on the health of flora and fauna.
5. Supreme Court judgement on Right to Protest. CONTEXT: Recently, the Supreme Court has upheld the right to peaceful protest against the law but also cleared that public ways and public spaces cannot be occupied and that too indefinitely. Background: • The ruling came after a petition was filed in the SC highlighting problems caused by the protester which led to the roadblock and traffic problems. • Sit-in protests against the citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 were organized in the Shaheen Bagh area of the capital from December 2019 to March 2020. • The petition highlighted that the Delhi High Court have intervened positively and not left the situation fluid and the administration too should have talked to the protesters. • Earlier, the petition was filed in Delhi HC, which heard disposed of the plea the same day without any specific direction. • Despite a lapse of a considerable period of time, there was neither any negotiations nor any action by the administration. ISSUES WITH THE PROTEST AND ITS LOCATION: • Protesters did not fully realise the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued large gatherings in a small place and there was also a general unwillingness to replace to another site. • The protest seemed typical of the many digitally-fuelled “leaderless” dissent seen in modern times. • The presence of various groups of protesters had resulted in many influencers, acting possibly at cross-purposes with each other. SC’s observations on Dissent: • SC appreciated the existence of the right to peaceful protest against the legislation and held that “democracy and dissent go hand in hand. But then the demonstrations expressing dissent have to be in designated places alone”. • The seeds of protest and dissent were sown deep during the Freedom struggle but dissent against the colonial rule cannot be equated with dissent in a self-ruled democracy. • The constitution guarantees the right to protest and express dissent, but with an obligation towards certain duties. • A-19 confers up citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression and right to assemble peacefully without arms. • These rights, in cohesion, enables every citizen to assemble peacefully and protest against or inaction of the states. • In a democracy, the rights of free speech and peaceful protest are “treasured” and must
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• However, these rights are also subject to reasonable restrictions mentioned under A-9. Imposed in the interest of sovereignty, integrity and public order with the help of police regulations. • Fundamental rights do not live in isolation. The right of the protest has to be balanced with the right of the commuter and has to co-exist in mutual respect.
6. “The inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment as described by the Philips Curve is not a model enough for forecasting Inflation In India”, Comment on the steps being taken by the Indian Government to improve on these lines? INTRO = There is nothing like a crisis to concentrate the mind. The salience of this saying may be found in the changes taking place in the economic policymaking establishments of the world. The COVID-19-triggered recession had led to some of their strongly held assumptions being revised – U.S.A’s Federal Reserve
Perhaps the most significant of them is the shift indicating that the Fed will not let inflation stand in the way of maximising employment. The practical counterpart of this is that the Fed will no longer raise rates pre-emptively, i.e., in anticipation of inflation. The reason for this, was that the Phillips Curve, the relationship between inflation and unemployment, may no longer hold in the U.S. economy.
Even be guided by the consideration of unemployment among vulnerable groups within the American population, namely African-Americans and Hispanics. It took a lawyer to call out the emperor. The Phillips Curve has been a mighty presence in the canon of Anglo-American economics.
India’s Reserve Bank Yoked as much of India’s economic policymaking has been to intellectual developments in the West one would expect some changes in how our own central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will change now that the Fed has.
Way Forward – A recent working paper of the RBI’s research department has received attention in the media for suggesting that a more eclectic model than the one that underlies inflation targeting does a better job of forecasting inflation in India –
This model accepts a role for food prices, a possibility that is missed when embracing economic models developed in the western hemisphere, where food prices have stopped trending upwards over half a century ago. Better late than never, we might say. That India’s central bank is finally alive to India’s economy is surely good news for Indians.
7. Explain how the New Monetary Policy has taken a dovish stance on the elevated inflation rate and contraction of Indian Economy? INTRO = Newly appointed Monetary Policy Committee members — Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R. Varma and Shashanka Bhide, In their first meeting, chose to maintain the status quo on the
benchmark repo rate. Yet the tone of the policy statement was dovish on several counts –
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• First, despite the consternation over elevated inflation, the new MPC is viewing the current inflation hump as “transient”, and has attached primacy, rightly so, to growth concerns. • Second, the committee has stated its intention to maintain an accommodative policy stance well into the next financial year in order to stimulate economic activity. • Third, with the central bank expecting inflation to trend lower at around 4.5-5.4 per cent in the second half of the current year, and thereafter declining further to 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of the next financial year — well below the 6 per cent upper limit of its inflation targeting regime — it opens up space for further monetary easing down the road. Alongside, the RBI announced a slew of measures aimed at ensuring smooth passage of the enhanced borrowing programme of both the Centre and states, reducing the volatility in interest rates, and easing the flow of funds to different segments in the economy – • First, it has increased the size of its open market operations to buy government bonds to Rs 20,000 crore, up from around Rs 10,000 crore currently. • Second, the held-to-maturity limit for banks will remain at 22 per cent till March 31, 2022. • Third, the central bank will, for the first time, be conducting open market operations for state government bonds. • Fourth, an on-tap targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO) of Rs 1 lakh crore has also been announced. However, there continues to be concern over the durability of the pick-up in economy activity, with questions over the resilience of household demand after the festive season and lingering uncertainty over the spread of the pandemic.
8. Define Hunger and the present situation in India and how government has played its role. Definition: Hunger is an uncomfortable or painful physical sensational caused by insufficient consumption of Dietary energy.
When a person or community go through huger for large period of time it reflects in Malnutrition mainly in the form of Stunting, Wasting, Micro nutrients deficiency and obesity. The prime reason for hunger is Food Insecurity, when people lack regular access to enough safe and nutrition food for normal growth and development and active and healthy life.
PRODUCTION ACCESS • Disasters (draught, flood) • Poverty • Conflicts war • Geography CAUSES OF • Climate Change • Law and order HUNGER • Land degradation • Market failure
SUPPLY • Broken Linkages
• Lack of Infrastructure 11
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MONTHLY NEWS DIARY SEPTEMBER -2020
GOLBAL HUNGER INDEX 2020:
• Jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilife. • India has ranked 94 among the 107 countries. • It was 1st published in 2006, the 2020 edition marks the 15th edition. • The aim is to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional and country levels.
CALCULATION:
• Each year it is calculate on the basis of four indicators to combact hunger- ➢ UNDERNOURISHMENT: Share of the population with insufficient caloric intake. ➢ Child Wasting: share of children age 5 who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition. ➢ Child Stunting: children under age of 5 who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition. ➢ Child Mortality: The mortality rate of children under the age of 5.
Global Scenario:
• The COVID-19 pandamic, lockdown and massive outbreak of desert locusts in Horn of Africa and other crises are exacerbating food and nutrition insecurity for millions of pepople. • It needs to be noted that 2020 GHI scores do not reflects the impacy of COVID-19 on
hunger and undernutrition. • Worls wide hunger represented by GHI score of 18.2(moderate level), down from a 2000 GHI score of 28.2 (serious).
INDIAN SCENARIO:
• With score of 27.2 India has a level of hunger that is “serious”. • It ranked 94 out of 107 in 2020 and in 2019 it was 102 out of 117.
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According to National Family Health Survey report Children under 5 years 35.7% were underweight and 38.4% stunted and about 23% women have body mass index less than 18.5. Government’s Efforts to counter Hunger • Provides food grains at highly subsidized prices to the targeted population through State government/Union Territory Administrations under National Food Security Act (NFSC), 2013 and other Welfare Schemes (OWS). • NFSA provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving food grains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-third of the population of the country for receiving food grains @ 1/2/3 per kg for nutri-cereals/wheat/rice respectively. • The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella integrated Child Development Service Scheme (ICDS). • The goal is POSHAN Abhiyaan is to achieve improvement in nutritional status of children from 0-6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in a time bound manner with fixed targets. 9. Prepare a short note on UNHRC its utility and its implication. CONTEXT: On October 13, elections were held for the United Nation Human Right Councils (UNHRC). Among the five countries from the Asia-Pacific region Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Nepal and China made it while Saudi Arabia lost. UN Human Rights Council • The council is the central structure in the global human rights architecture, a political body with representatives drawn from the General Assembly. • The UNHRC replaced the UN Human Rights Commission in 2006. • Headquarter : Geneva, Switzerland. • The UNHRC has 47 members serving at any time with elections held to fill up seats every year, based on allocations to regions across the world to ensure geographical representation. African States: 13 seats Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats Western European and other States: 7 seats Eastern European States: 6 seats
• There is no special privilege for the more developed Western countries, as is the case with other multilateral institutions such as the IMF or the World Bank. • Countries are disallowed from occupying a seat for more than two consecutive terms. • It passes non-binding resolutions on human rights issues, besides overseeing expert investigation of violations in specific countries. • Apart from the council, the UN has also set up a number of treaty-based organisations to monitor compliance with human rights standards and international human rights treaties such as the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The UNHRC holds regular sessions three times a year, in March, June, and September –
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Universal Periodic Review: It reviews all 192 UN member states every four years to "ensure universality of coverage and equal treatment of all Member States. "It provides opportunities to member states to declare what actions they have taken to improve human rights and to fulfil their obligations.
Special Procedure: The special procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a country- specific perspective. The system of Special Procedures is a central element of the United Nations human rights machinery and covers all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and social.
Special Rapporteur: The titles Special Rapporteur, Independent Expert, and Working Group Member are given to individuals working on behalf of the United Nations (UN) within the scope of "special procedure" mechanisms.
UNHRC and India
• A recent report by UNHCR on Kashmir, although talking of both sides of the LoC, focuses mainly on serious violations in Jammu and Kashmir. India has rejected the report. • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, had expressed concern over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the clampdown in Kashmir, besides the “inter- communal attacks” in Delhi • Ms. Bachelet had welcomed the release of political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, but expressed concern over the communications restrictions as part of “Global Human Rights update” at the start of the 45th session of the UNHRC in September 2020. • Under Universal Periodic Review, Government has formed forming a task force to prepare a National Action Plan on Human Rights (NAPHR)as mandated under the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review(UPR). • The task force will involve the Union Home Ministry and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and have representatives from ministries such as social justice and health. • National Action Plan on Human Rights (NAPHR) once implemented, will help mitigate the criticism India faces at international level when it comes to its human rights record as well as strengthen the social justice system. • It will also lead to stronger administration of justice, strengthening of human rights institutions, and linking of rights with development. • However, what makes the Council’s composition problematic is that several of its members run afoul of its proclaimed aims (for example, the one-party systems of China and Cuba that have a controversial record on freedom of expression or the anti-gay policies of Russia).
10. How technology-led Innovation is a realistic potential for India. INNOVATION: A new idea or method or the use of new ideas and methods to do things in a better way. It does not necessarily mean invention. For example, Henry Ford, for instance, did not invent the car but invented its production process through the assembly line, which allowed Ford to make more cars than all other automakers combined and at a much lower
cost.
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FELUDA, CRISPR-Cas 9 technology based, recently development for detecting COVID-19 infection. It uses CRISPR technology, not for gene editing but for diagnosis. This is a perfect example of innovating using an existing technology. Similarly, the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aashaar, Mobile) trinity has 404 million Jan Dhan bank accounts.
GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX: • India is ranked 52nd on the GII 2019, a jump of 5 place over last years. • India ranks 1st in the world in ICT service exports. • 4th in Labour productivity growth. • This year India reaches the 15th spot in global companies’ R&D expenditure. • India also features in the GII ranking on the world’s top science and technology clusters, with Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi included in the global top 100 clusters. Significance of innovation Social inclusion – Lower strata of society also gets basic services enjoyed by the rich. E.g.: Cheap LED light. Greater opportunity for small entrepreneurs are created ➢ Even small start-ups are global. And they are growing faster. ➢ The firms selling on eBay in Chile, Jordan, Peru, and South Africa are younger than the firms in offline markets. ➢ In China, start-ups are dominant on the Alibaba platform ➢ JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce company has more than 170,000 online merchants on its platform, many in rural areas. ➢ Uber, Ola etc.
Improving Job creation in traditional areas through innovation ➢ Rural tourism, agricultural tourism, connecting textile with tourism (as is being done in Tirupati and Odisha) ➢ Convergence of MNREGA with other schemes for asset creation (Tamil Nadu model). ➢ Food processing will generate more on-farm job. ➢ Defence procurement form MSME will support job creation.
11. Discuss the reasons for high intensity urban floods in Hyderabad. And what measures can be taken to address the devastation part of the intensive rainfalls? INTRO = A deep monsoon depression over the west central Bay of Bengal, which weakened as it moved over Telangana, resulted in downpours over several districts in the State, severely affecting the city of Hyderabad as well. • On October 13, the monthly average rainfall of Hyderabad for October (103.6 mm according to Skymet) was surpassed on a single day when 192 mm of rain fell. • According to the India Meteorological Department, this is the highest rainfall for October recorded in Telangana’s capital since 1903. Affects – 1. Such a high intensity downpour in a short span is bound to affect a densely populated urban area, and Hyderabad was no exception. At least 24 people were killed and several localities submerged and isolated following incessant rains and the overflowing of the city’s lakes. In particular, the Hussain Sagar Lake in the middle of the city and the breaching of storm water
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2) Other districts were badly affected too: roads damaged and irrigation tanks breached. 3) Construction over lake beds and encroachments of drainage channels have been identified as problems that have exacerbated flooding and inundation in the city in the past (the deluge in August 2000, for example). 4) But the little that has been done to unblock existing storm drains over the last decade has not been enough to handle the requirements of the city, which still depends upon an antiquated sewerage and drainage system. Disaster management agencies have managed to limit the impact of the disaster as many of those marooned in submerged areas and flooded houses were rescued. But the extent of the damage and the turmoil show a lack of preparation and disaster mitigation, a problem that plagues most urban centres in the country. Hyderabad urgently needs to expand and remodel its drainage system – • Besides lakes and canals, wetlands and watersheds play a vital role in absorbing excess rainfall, but regrettably, rapid urbanisation in the twin cities has resulted in the loss of a large portion of the wetlands. • An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment in 2016 revealed that 3,245 hectares of water bodies were lost in Hyderabad between 1989 and 2001. In the long term, the effects of flooding due to deluges can only be mitigated if urban planners take into account the hydro- geology of cities and ensure that construction, development and land occupation do not take place in a way that reduces the area of wetlands.
12. Digital payments Trends, Issues and Opportunities. Discuss Digital Payments: The Payment and Settlement Act, 2007 has defined Digital Payments, as any "electronic funds transfer" that is any transfer of funds which is initiated by a person by way of instruction, authorization or order to a bank to debit or credit an account maintained with that bank through electronic means and includes point of sale transfers; automated teller machine transactions, direct deposits or withdrawal of funds, transfers initiated by telephone, internet and, card payment. Segments of Digital Payment Systems The payment system has two main segments: Systemically Important Financial Market Infrastructure (SIFMIs): It is defined as a multilateral system among participating institutions, including the operator of the system, used for the purposes of clearing, settling, or recording payments, securities, derivatives, or other financial transactions. Retail Payments: Under the Retail Payments segment which has a large user base, there are three broad categories of instruments. They are (1) Paper Clearing, (2) Retail Electronic
Clearing, (3) and Card Payments.
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Growth Trends in India (2017-18)
• Digital Payments have registered robust growth in 2017-18 both in volume and value terms. • In volume terms the growth during the year 2017-18 was much higher than the trend growth rate during the last five years (2011-16) • Growth in Total Retail Payments in value terms has been three times higher than the trend rate of the last five years. • The UPI and IMPS Segment in volume of transactions registered a spectacular growth during 2017-18. UPI, despite being new product in the payment segment has shown great adoption rate among consumer and merchants • Total Card Payments continued its growth momentum and exceeded the trend growth rate of the last five years both in volume and value terms Policy Initiatives to promote Digital Payments • In the Union Budget 2017-18, major policy announcements were made by the Humble Finance Minister for promoting Digital Payments. • Ministry of Finance has taken a major initiative in drafting a Bill for amendment of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, as envisaged in the Report of the Committee on Digital Payments 2016 • RBI has taken four major policy initiatives. ➢ National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system – Settlement at half-hourly intervals ➢ Master Directions on Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) ➢ Rationalisation of Merchant Discount Rate ➢ Storage of Payment System Data
Opportunities • According to NITI AYOG, the digital payments market In India is all set to grow to $1 trillion by 2023 led by growth in mobile payments, which are slated to rise from $10 billion in 2017-18 to $190 billion by 2023. • Digital Payments offer unique opportunities. The Global trends indicate heightened customer expectations for value-added services, increased competition due to the emergence of FinTechs, new technologies, and an ever-changing regulatory landscape • These emerging global trends are expected to impact the Indian Digital Payments ecosystem and provide impetus to the growth of Digital Payments. Way Forward The different components of Digital Payments have to be comprehensively studied with respect to global best practices and the list of indicators which are universally acceptable and relevant in the current context may be considered by RBI.
13. What factors can be attributed to the high incidence of domestic violence in Indian families? Are laws not in force to prevent victimization of women in their own homes? Analyse. Also suggest ways which can check this problem. • In 2005, Parliament enacted the protection of women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act. • The DV Act was a critically important law that recognised and codified a set of rights intended to protect women from domestic violence and domestic abuse.
• The recognised the Domestic Violence is triggered – and enabled by the vast differences of
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• Long-standing norms that operates to make the husband’s family home as the default matrimonial home, or create and sustain disparate earning capacities between the spouses, ensure that, in many cases, women lack the social and economic support structure that would enable them to effectively resist domestic violence, or to leave abusive relationships. • DV Act prescribed a set of remedies that women could avail of in situation where they were faced with domestic violence: ➢ One of these remedies is the right to residence, codified under Section 17 of the DV Act. • The right to residence is based on the recognition that in a significant number of relationships, the marital household will either be under the legal control of the husband, or his parents, and the women will not always be in a position to return to her own family home. • In such situation, the threat – or the potential social shame – of homelessness creates a situation of “no exit” from the abusive relationship. • To prevent this DV Act specifically provides that “every woman in a domestic relationship shall have the right to reside in the shared household”, and that she cannot be excluded or evicted from it, except through legal process.
SUPREME COURT 2007 JUDGEMENT: • The SC interpreted in a narrow and restrictive meaning to the right of residence. It held that only where the “shared household” either legally belonged to the husband, or where it was joint family property. • The judgement based its interpretation on a strained reading of the phrase “shared household” under the DV Act, and by raising the spectre of the “chaos” that would ensure of every place the married couple had ever stayed in could be treated as a “shared household”, where the wife could claim residence rights.
SUPREME COURTS 2020 JUDGEMENT: • In Satish Chander Ahuja v Sneha Ahuja, the court acknowledged that its old reading was wrong, and the specific purpose of the DV Act- which was to protect the rights of women
subjected to domestic violence, within the Indian social context – required a broad reading of
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• Thus held that residence right were not limited to situations where the shared household was joint family property, or belonged to the husband. • The court judgement is important not just for its progressive outcome, but also for its reasoning: The court refrains from treating the entitlements under the DV Act as paternalistic gifts to protect the “weaker” party, but expressly frames them in the language of rights. • It is, therefore an important step forward in making the DV Act an effective rights-legislation. 14. Laws that are based on gender are actually detrimental to women’s freedom and rights, hence our laws should be gender-neutral. Critically comment. • India has an opportunity to build climate resilience and address gender equality issues. • The Economic Reforms by the government, and significant stimulus packages, recovery measures are poised to lift millions from this unprecedented economic and health crisis and tackle widening inequalities. • The recovery is offering two golden opportunity: ➢ To build climate resilience for the most vulnerable by ensuring that stimulus measures are green. ➢ To meaningfully address long-standing gender equality issues. WOMEN’S CONDITIONS: • The cause and effects of Climate Change - stresses agriculture, food insecurity, unplanned urban growth, thinning forest covers, rising temperatures and shrinking water resources – have also hit vulnerable groups disproportionately and women face a great brunt the most. • According to the India Voluntary National Review 2020, female labour force participation rate for the 15-59 age group is showing a decline trend and stands at 25.3%, the lowest rate in the world. • Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund estimates that equal participation of women in the workforce will increase India’s GDP by 27%.
• Indian govt has invested $22.5 billion for the recovery, aligning these recovery packages with India’s commitments on climate change by investing in green jobs will improve lives and make our planet healthier. • Women, particularly those from indigenous and marginalised communities, play a significant yet unsung role in various sectors. INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN AND VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES: • Disha, a UNDP initiative supported by the IKEA Foundation, has reached one million women
and girls with skills and livelihood opportunities.
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• It energises local economies, reduce carbon emissions, enhance climate resilience and disrupt social norms and behaviours that restrict women’s participation in the workforce. • The Self-Empowered women’s association and the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India, and supported by the UN Environment Programme. • By training young rural women to develop a cadre of 15,000 solar technicians for the maintenance of solar pumps in remote locations, the initiative will not only introduce clean energy options but also reduce production costs. CONCULSION: • Creating the right financial incentives, fostering sustainable public-private partnerships and enabling women entrepreneurs to access markets, training and mentoring will be critical in scaling up these approaches. • The Asian Development Bank projects that India’s GDP growth rate will rebound to 8% in 2021-22. • Putting women at the heart of this recovery will make it faster, just and inclusive. 15. Explain how the New Monetary Policy has taken a dovish stance on the elevated inflation rate and contraction of Indian Economy? INTRO = Newly appointed Monetary Policy Committee members , In their first meeting, chose to maintain the status quo on the benchmark repo rate. Yet the tone of the policy statement was dovish on several counts – 1. Despite the consternation over elevated inflation, the new MPC is viewing the current inflation hump as “transient”, and has attached primacy, rightly so, to growth concerns. 2. The committee has stated its intention to maintain an accommodative policy stance well into the next financial year in order to stimulate economic activity. 3. With the central bank expecting inflation to trend lower at around 4.5-5.4 % in the second half of the current year, and thereafter declining further to 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of the next financial year — well below the 6 per cent upper limit of its inflation targeting regime — it opens up space for further monetary easing down the road. Alongside, the RBI announced a slew of measures aimed at ensuring smooth passage of the enhanced borrowing programme of both the Centre and states, reducing the volatility in interest rates, and easing the flow of funds to different segments in the economy – 1) It has increased the size of its open market operations to buy government bonds to Rs 20,000 crore, up from around Rs 10,000 crore currently. 2) The held-to-maturity limit for banks will remain at 22 per cent till March 31, 2022. 3) The central bank will, for the first time, be conducting open market operations for state government bonds. 4) An on-tap targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO) of Rs 1 lakh crore has also been announced. These announcements are likely to help calm the markets in light of recent signals that have emanated from the government’s bond auctions which indicated the market’s increasing discomfiture with the absorption of government debt. However, there continues to be concern over the durability of the pick-up in economy activity, with questions over the resilience of household demand after the festive season and lingering uncertainty over the spread of the pandemic. 16. On the backdrop of COVID-19 what are the problems faced by Electricity Distribution
Companies and steps taken by the government?
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• Distribution Companies (DisComs) have been called the lynchpin but also the weakest link in the electricity chain. • For all of India’s global leadership for growth of renewable energy, or ambitions of smart energy, the buck stops with the DisComs, the utilities that typically buy power from generators and retail these to consumers. • Long gone are the days of scarcity of power; while the physical supply situation has mostly improved, the financial picture has not brightened much — and this was before COVID-19.
Data on liabilities: • This figure is roughly what the government’s PRAAPTI (or Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators) portal shows for DisCom dues to generators. • However, what is not widely appreciated is that the portal is a voluntary compilation of dues, and is not comprehensive. • The Power Finance Corporation (PFC)’s Report on Utility Workings for 2018-19 showed dues to generators were ₹2,27,000 crore, and this is well before COVID-19. It also showed similar Other Current Liabilities. Reasons to not to pay to time: • DisComs have delayed their payments upstream (not just to generators but others as well) — in essence, treating payables like an informal loan. • Conventional wisdom blames the utilities for inefficiency, including high losses, called Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses, a term that spans everything from theft to lack of collection from consumers. • Ideally, they should not incur losses as they enjoy a regulated rate of return. • While AT&C losses can explain part of any gap, the first problem starts at the regulatory level where even if DisComs performed as targeted, across India, they would face a non-trivial cash flow gap, which was ₹60,000-plus crore in FY18-19 compared to their then annual cost structure of ₹7.23-lakh crore. Way Forward:
• Improving AT&C losses is important, but will not be sufficient.
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• We need a complete overhaul of the regulation of electricity companies and their deliverables. • Much of inefficiency is tolerated in the name of the poor but they do not get quality supply. • The rise of renewable energy means that premium customers will leave the system partly first by reducing their daytime usage. • And as battery technologies mature, their dependence on DisComs may wane entirely. • Even without batteries, regulations permitting, they may want to find third party suppliers under competitive models.
17. What is Dyslexia? And what are the issues faced by people with dyslexia. Explain
This is a condition that makes it difficult to read and write, often accompanied by difficulties in math. • Reading requires ➢ decoding or converting symbols into sounds and ➢ comprehension or understanding the meaning of words. • Dyslexics may have difficulty in either or both. ISSUED FACED: • Dyslexics have poor phonological awareness, the ability to recognise similarities and differences in sounds, for example in rhyming words. • They may have trouble sequencing; for instance remembering sequences such as days of the week, syllables in a word (hence hopsital), steps in a long division, or the order of events in a story. • They may also have a weak working memory such as difficulty in listening to the teacher while taking notes or following their mother’s multi-step instructions. • Working memory is like the RAM of a computer, where you temporarily store bits of information to be retrieved for daily activities.
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WAY FORWARD: • Some of these issues can be remedied by making cognitive assessments compulsory in junior school. The National Education Policy 2020 mandates inclusive education for all children with disabilities. • It states that teachers should be provided with help to identify children with learning disabilities early, so that these children can be supported from the beginning. • It lists out specific actions such as using appropriate technology, allowing students to work at their own pace and making curricula flexible to make education accessible to all.
GS 1 ➢ HISTORY 1. Prepare a short note on Bharati Script.
• Recently, Srinivas Chakravathy’s team at IIT Madras has developed the Bharati Script. • The script is a simple and unified which can be used to write major Indian languages. • It is designed using simplest shapes, often borrowing simple characters from various Indian languages/scripts and English. (Hindi/Marathi (Devanagari), Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi (Gurmukhi), Bengali, Oriya, Kannada and Malayalam) Technology used: • OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION: The team has developed a method for reading documents in BHARATI SCRIPT using a multi-lingual optical character RecognitIon (OCR) scheme. • FINGER-SPELLING METHOD: It can be used to generate a sign language for hearing-impaired persons. • RELATED APPLICATIONS/TOOLS: Bharati handwriting Keyboard and Bharati Transliterator. • The script is in line with “ONE NATION, ONE SCRIPT” and can help the next generation of Indians to easily read in Indian languages.
2. Prepare a short note on what is Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan. CONTEXT: Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) has started a nation-wide campaign to celebrate “Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan” this year on the occation of Deepawali festival.
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• Through this campaign, the RKA is promoting extensive use of cow-dung/Panchgavya products during this Diwali Festival. • Manufacture of Cow dung based Diyas, Candles, Dhoop, Agarbatti, Shubh-Labh, Swastik, Samrani, Hardboard, Wall-piece, Paper-weight, Havan samagri, Idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi for this year’s Diwali festival has already started. • RKA has been constituted by PM for the conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny and for giving direction to the cattle development programmes. • RKA is high powered permanent body to formulate policy and to provide direction to the implementation of schemes related to cattle so as to give more emphasis on livelihood generation.
3. Prepare a short note on Indo-Saracenic Architecture? INTRO = Saracenic was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arab. Some use this term to refer to Indo-Islamic Architecture. However, it basically refers to the style that diffused from the 1870’s to the early 20th century for colonial buildings in India, adding the elements of Mughal architecture, to the base of Victorian Gothic style. • Indo-Saracenic, also known as Indo-Gothic, was a revival architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government buildings in the British Raj, and the palaces of rulers of the princely state, reflecting and imitating contemporary and earlier high Indian architecture.
• GATEWAY of India is a fine example of Indo-Saracenic style of Architecture, it is the second landmark of Mumbai, after the Film City.
• The construction began on March 31, 1913 and completed in 1924
• In August 1914, George Wittet’s design got approval for construction • From the year 1915 to 1919, the renewal work at Apollo Pier took place and a new sea wall was built • The foundation work of the colossal structure was completed in 1920 • The gateway of India, Mumbai is built from yellow Kharodi basalt and strengthened concrete
• The central dome of the monument features a diameter of 48 feet and is 83 feet above ground
at its highest point • The viceroy of India inaugurated the gateway on December 4, 1924 • It is located adjacent to the Arabian Sea in the Colaba district.
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4. Examine the different aspects and uniqueness of Indus Valley Civilisation in relation to its social practices on the line of recent discovery along with suitable examples. Context: The year 2020 marks 100 years of discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation, and a new study has shown that dairy products were being produced by the Harappans as far back as 2500 BCE. • By analysing residues on ancient pots, researchers show the earliest direct evidence of dairy product processing. This has thrown fresh light on the rural economy of the civilisation. The studies were carried out on 59 shards of pottery from KotadaBhadli, a small archeological site in present-day Gujarat. • When we talk about Harappans, we always refer to the metropolitan cities and the big towns. But we have no idea of the parallel economy — agro-pastoral or rural. We know they had great urban • planning, trading systems, jewellery making. But we don't have any idea how the common masters were living during the Harappan times, their lifestyle and how they were contributing in the larger network.
Carbon isotope studies: • The team used molecular analysis techniques to study the residues from ancient pottery. “Pots are porous. So as soon as we put any liquid form of food, it will absorb it. The pot preserves the molecules of food such as fats and proteins. Using techniques like C16 and C18 analysis we can identify the source of liqids. • Traces were seen in cooking vessels indicating that milk may have been boiled and consumed. • Residues in a bowl were also found, showing that either heated milk or curd could have been served. There are also remains of a perforated vessel, and similar vessels were used in Europe to make cheese. So it is possible that they were further processing milk into different forms.
Animal husbandry: • The team was also able to show which type of animals were being used for dairy production. They studied the tooth enamel from fossils of cattle, water buffalo, goat and sheep found in the area. Cows and water buffalo were found to consume millets, while sheep and goats ate
nearby grass and leaves.
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• A preliminary study suggested that most of the cattle and water-buffalo died at an older age, suggesting they could have been raised for milk, whereas the majority of goat/sheep died when they were young, indicating they could have been used for meat. • The large herd indicates that milk was produced in surplus so that it could be exchanged and there could have been some kind of trade between settlements. This could have given rise to an industrial level of dairy exploitation. • The most fascinating thing about the Indus Valley Civilisation is that it is faceless — there is no king, no bureaucratic organisations, but there are these very close regional interactions between settlements, a symbiotic relationship of give and take that helped the civilisation survive for so long.
SNIPPET ➢ GEOGRAPHY 1. Mount Kilimanjaro CONTEXT: Recently, a fire that has broken out on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.
• Mount Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania and it is Africa’s tallest mountain at about 5,895 meters. • It is also the largest free-standing mountain rise in the world, meaning it is not a part of mountain range. • The mountain is a stratovolcano or composite volcano. • The mountain is also known for its snow-capped peak which might disappear within the next 20 years or so as per the warning by the scientists.
GS 2
➢ GOVERENCE 1. India’s negligence regarding implementing protective legislations reflects in the increased rate and types of crimes against Scheduled Castes and Tribes observed by the National
Crime Records Bureau. Analyse?
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CONTEXT: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has released the annual Crime in India 2019 report. It reports an increase in crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the year 2019 as compared to the year 2018.
CRIMES AGAINST SCs and STs: • Crime against SCs have increased by over 7% and crimes against STs by 26% in the year 2019. • Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of crimes against SCs followed by Rajasthan and Bihar. • Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of cases against STs followed by Rajasthan and Odisha. CATEGORIES: Crimes against SCs and STs include the following categories: • Atrocities committed by non-SC/ST members under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989. • Indian Penal Code – Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 : It is prescribes punishment for the preaching and practice of Untouchability. According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), very few cases were being registered for specific discriminatory action against SCs and STs under the POA Act. Such actions are registered mainly when accompanied by any of the IPC offences like rape, murders etc. Also, there is no data on total complaints received on crimes against the SCs, the only data available is the number of cases registered. Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018. The amendment act adds article 18A which states that the preliminary enquiry shall not be required for registration of a First Information Report against any person. NATIONAL VRIME RECORD BUREAU: • NCRB, headquartered in New Delhi, was set-up in 1986 under the Ministry of Home Affairs to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in inking crime to the perpetrators.
• It was set up based on the recommendation of the National Police Commission (1977-1981)
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• NCRB brings out the annual comprehensive statistics of crime across the country(‘Crime in India’ report). • Being published since 1953, the report serves as a crucial tool in understanding the law and order situation across the country.
2. What is SVAMITVA Scheme and its importance. CONTEXT: Recently, PM launched the distribution of property cards under the SVAMITVA scheme through video conferencing.
About SVAMITVA • SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas. • Under the scheme, the latest surveying technology such as drones will be used for measuring the inhabited land in villages and rural areas. • The mapping and survey will be conducted in collaboration with the Survey of India, State Revenue Department and State Panchayati Raj Department under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. • it is a Central Sector Scheme(100% by Union Govt.) implemented by Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj. • Presently the scheme is being implemented as a pilot project in about 1 Lakh villages across 8 states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. • The drones will draw the digital map of every property falling in the geographical limit of each Indian village. • Property Cards will be prepared and given to the respective owners. Significance of the scheme • The scheme paves the way for using the property as a financial asset by villagers for taking loans and other financial benefits. • Also, this is the first time ever that such a large-scale exercise involving the most modern
means of technology is being carried out to benefit millions of rural property owners.
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• The scheme will create records of land ownership in villages and these records will further facilitate tax collection, new building plan and issuance of permits. • It will enable the government to effectively plan for the infrastructural programs in villages. • It would help in reducing the disputes over property.
Now its up to State government and local authorities to be enthusiastic about the scheme for it to become successful.
E-Gramswaraj Portal • E-Gram Swaraj portal is the official portal of central govt for the implementation of Swamitva scheme. • By visiting this portal people can check their Panchayat profile easily. It will also contain the details of ongoing development works and the fund allocated for them. • Any citizen can create his or her account on the portal and can know about the developmental works of villages. • The user of E Gram Swaraj portal can also access all work of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. • This single interface will help speed-up the implementation of projects in rural areas from planning to completion.
3. What is ‘Infodemic Management’ and why is it a serious challenge?
• Defining “infodemic” as having too much information, including false or misleading information, particularly on social media, that it led to confusion, risk-taking and ultimately mistrust towards governments and the public health response. • Managing the “infodemic” has been a serious challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO). • The WHO has been working with technology companies to address this challenge by directing the public to credible sources of information, taking down false and misleading information from online platforms, and developing chatbots in different languages that the public could use for accessing information. • Pointing out the “shared appointments” initiative tried by Aravind Eye Hospital in Puducherry, in which more than one patient with similar problems are provided a consultation at the same time, she said that combining this with telemedicine could bring in a paradigm change. Highlighting that telemedicine was increasingly being used during COVID-19, she said that shared consultations could provide benefits such as learning from others, higher follow-up rates, and higher compliance to medication. • She said that COVID-19 had exposed existing social inequities and the importance of investing in public and primary health infrastructure. We see examples of countries where investments in primary healthcare over the past decade or two have paid off. • WHO also emphasised the differential impact of the pandemic on women and children, and stressed on the need for governments to focus more on them.
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4. Prepare a short note on Anaemia and steps taken by government to identify. CONTEXT: Recently, the union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has released the Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Index. • Haryana was ranked at the top slot with an AMB Index 0f 46.7 among the 29 states. • It was one of the 11 states of India that has achieved the national health that targets well before 2020. • The Index is an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF. • It aims to reduce the prevalence of Anaemia all over India. • The target beneficiaries are Children (6-59 month), • Children (5-9 years), Adolescent Girls and Boys of 10-19 years, Women of Reproductive Age (15-49 years), Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers.
ANEMIA: • Anaemia is a condition in which you lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body’s tissues. Having Anaemia can make you feel tired and weak. • It is caused due to iron deficiency • There are many forms of anaemia, each with its own cause. Anaemia can be temporary or long term, and it can range from mild to severe. • The symptoms are fatigue, skin pallor, shortness of breath, light-headedness, dizziness or a fast heartbeat. 5. What do You understand by Kisan Suryodaya Yojana in the energy sector? How is it
affecting the generation of renewable energy in India?
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• Recently, PM launched the Kisan Suryodaya Yojana in Gujarat • The aim is to provide day-time electricity to farmers in the State for irrigation and farming. • Now the farmer will be able to avail power supply from 5 AM TO 9 PM. • The state govt has allocated a budget of Rs.3500 crore for installing transmission infrastructure under this scheme by 2023. • Around 234 transmission lines are to be installed under the scheme. Each line is to carry the power of 66 KW. They are to be erected to a total length of 3,490 Km. • Dahod, Patna, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Kheda, Tapi, Valsad, Anand and Gir-Somnath have been included under the scheme for 2020-21. • The remaining districts will be covered in a phase-wise manner by 2022-23.
6. What are green crackers? Are green crackers less polluting and to what extent there is awareness among people about it? Explain. Context: • Delhi is set for its first full-fledged date with ‘green’ crackers this Deepavali amid growing sentiment against not deepening the air pollution crisis the Capital countenances every winter. • A ban on fireworks was imposed in 2018 and in 2019 only ‘green’ crackers were allowed, but the Permission had come too late for manufacturers to ensure their availability on time. What are these Green crackers? • The crackers have been named as safe water releaser (SWAS), safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL) and safe thermite cracker (STAR). It has unique property of releasing water vapour and /or air as dust suppressant and diluent for gaseous emissions and matching performance in sound with conventional crackers. Safe Water Releaser (SWAS): • SWAS crackers eliminates usage of (KNO3) Potassium nitrate and Sulphur with consequent reduction in particulate matter (30-35%) SO2 and NOx. • It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 dBA. Safe thermite cracker (STAR): • STAR eliminates usage of KNO3 and S with consequent reduction in particulate matter (35-40%), SO2 and NOx. • It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 dBA. Safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL) • SAFAL has minimal usage of aluminium (only in flash powder for initiation) with consequent significant reduction in particulate matter(35-40 %) compared to commercial crackers. • It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 110-115 dBA.
7. How Covid 19 Pandemic has affected rural education? Discuss in the light of latest ASER survey report. Context: Findings of the Annual State of Education Report (ASER) survey conducted
in September.
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• The survey provides a glimpse into the levels of learning loss that students in rural India are suffering, with varying levels of access to technology, school and family resources, resulting in a digital divide in education. About ASER: • ASER is a nationwide survey of rural education and learning outcomes in terms of reading and arithmetic skills. • It has been conducted by the NGO Pratham for the last 15 years. This year, the survey was conducted via phone calls. Key findings- impact of Covid- 19 Pandemic: 1. About 20% of rural children have no textbooks at home. In Andhra Pradesh, less than 35% of children had textbooks. More than 98% had textbooks in West Bengal, Nagaland and Assam. 2. In the week of the survey, about one in three rural children had done no learning activity at all. 3. About two in three had no learning material or activity given by their school that week, and only one in 10 had access to live online classes. 4. 3% of rural children aged 6-10 years had not yet enrolled in school this year, in comparison to just 1.8% in 2018. 5. Enrolment patterns also show a slight shift toward government schools, with private schools seeing a drop in enrolment in all age groups.
SNIPPET ➢ Constitution 1. Prepare a note on Chief Information Commissioner. • The Central Information Commission is an important authority in India needed for the smooth functioning of democracy and good governance. • The CIC is headed by the Chief Information Commissioner. He/she is assisted by ten Information Commissioners. The Chief Information Commissioner holds the office for five years. • The commissioners are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee comprising of: Prime Minister (Chairperson), Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM. Role of the Central Information Commission: 1. Order enquiry into any matter on reasonable grounds only. 2. Secure compliance of its decisions from any public authority. 3. Receive and inquire into a complaint from any person: • Who has not received any response to his request for information within a specified time • Who deems the information given to him/her incomplete, false or misleading, and any other matter related to securing the information • Who has been unable to submit a request for information due to the non-appointment of an officer • Who considers the fees so charged unreasonable
• Who was refused the information requested
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4. The commission has the power to examine any record under the control of the public authority. All such records have to be given to the Commission during the examination and nothing shall be withheld. 5. During inquiries, the CIC has the powers of a civil court, such as the powers to: • Summon and enforce the attendance of persons, and compel them to give oral or written evidence on oath and produce documents or things • Require the discovery and inspection of documents • Receive evidence on affidavit • Requisition public records or copies from any office or court • Issue summons for the examination of documents or witnesses • Any other matter that may be prescribed
6. The CIC also submits an annual report to the GOI on the implementations of the provisions of the Act. This report is then placed before both the Houses of Parliament.
➢ INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Write the importance of India- Mexico relationship. CONTEXT: Recently, the 5th meeting of the India-Mexico Bilateral High-Level Group (BHLG) on Trade, Investment and Cooperation has been held through video conference. • The 4th meeting of BHLG at the level of Commerce Secretary was held in Mexico City in July 2016. • On the 1st August 2020, India and Mexico celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them.
Key points: • Both sides discussed the issues regarding the Audio-visual Co-production, Bilateral Investment Treaty, market access for agricultural products, a cooperation framework on
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures, cooperation
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in the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and exploring way to promote tourism and people to people contact. • Also agreed to expand and diversify the bilateral trade relationship through enhanced cooperation in pharmaceutical, medical equipment, healthcare, agro-products, fisheries, food processing and aerospace industry etc. • Two Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed to foster the cooperation in the domain of Electronics, Computer Software and Telecommunications and Information Technologies and Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology. HISTORICAL TIES: • India and Mexico have European connections of the colonial era. • Mexico was the 1st Latin American country to recognise India after Independence and establish diplomatic relations in 1950. • Mexico Wheat varieties used in India-Mexico hybrids were the backbone of India’s Green Revolution in the 1960s. • Both countries are the member of the G-20.
INDIA’S EXPORTS: Vehicles and auto parts, organic chemicals, electrical machinery and electronic equipment, aluminium products, readymade garments, iron and steel products and gems and jewellery.
INDIA’S IMPORT: Crude Oil, electrical goods and machinery, organic chemicals, vehicles and auto parts and iron and steel.
WAY FORWARD: India and Mexico have striking similarities in geo-climatic conditions, biodiversity, physiognomy and people, cultural and family values. Both are heirs to a great civilization heritage and contacts between them go back centuries.
Both the countries are non-permanents members of the Security Council for the period 2021-2022, which is a good opportunity to set aside their differences on global government issues and work closely on areas of mutual interests.
2. Indo-US 2+2 meeting will have many geo-strategic and economic concerns for India.
Discuss
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WHAT IS THE AGENDA:
• The meeting will be between External Affairs Minister and Defence Minister of India, and US Secretary of States and Defence Secretary. • BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement ) is a pact that would lay the foundation for deeper military cooperation. BECA: • It largely pertains to geospatial intelligence and sharing information on maps and satellite images for defence. • Signed on October 2020, BECA will allow India to use the Us’s advanced geospatial intelligence. • This will enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and navigation and targeting. • This could be a key for Air Force-to Air Force cooperation. LEMOA:
• The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) was signed between India and the USA in August 2016. • This is extremely useful for Navy-to-Navy cooperation, since the US and India are cooperating closely in the Indo-Pacific. COMCASA:
• The Communication Compatibility and security Agreement was signed in sep 2018 after the first 2+2 dialogue. • It allows the US to provide India with its encrypted communications equipment and systems. • India and US military commanders, aircraft and ships can communicate through secure networks in peace and war. • It paved the way for transfer of communication security from the US to India to CONTEXT:facilitate India and “interoperability’ USA are preparing between for the their third forces 2+2 ministerial meeting.
3. What do these three pacts put together mean?
• LEMOA means one partner trusts the other enough to express its valuable assets. 5
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• COMCASA means one is confident that it can rely on encrypted system to connect the two militaries. • BECA means it can share highly classified information in real time without fear of being compromised. • All this signals the level of trust that has developed between the two countries and their militaries, faced with an aggressive China.
“Due to on-going COVID-19 pandemic and Ladakh crisis” comment on how India and China have changed the foreign policy with regards to West Asia?
INTRO: Global circumstances like - Deteriorating U.S.-China ties, COVID-19 pandemic and Ladakh crisis forcing a drastic change in the geopolitical approach of both India and China who are becoming more realistic in their foreign policy.
India's approach towards west Asia since 2014
• The powerful and oil-rich Gulf states looked for investment alternatives away from the West to deepen their own strategic depth. This led to increased investments by gulf countries in India.
• While engagements with Israel moved steadily forward, Iran lagged behind, bogged down by U.S. sanctions, which in turn significantly slowed the pace of India-Iran engagements.
China's Approach
• China has tried to capitalise around the thinking in the Gulf that the American security safety net is not absolute, and they need to invest more in others.
• Further gulf economies are looking for alternative markets to sell the oil in the coming decades. For this India and China are the obvious choices.
Contrast in approach of India and China
• China is no longer going to play a passive role and offering an alternative model for “investment and influence.
Example - China - Iran deal $400 Billion deal of 25 years.
• India maintains a balanced approach in its approach towards West Asia. India's outreach towards Gulf countries and investments by Saudi and UAE are India's recognition of its economic realities.
Thus, it can be seen that both these countries are following a realistic approach when it comes to West Asia.
4. “The Pakistan government is on the verge of declaring Gilgit-Baltistan a province of
Pakistan”. Write a note on how it will impact India?
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Where was Gilgit Baltistan before partition? • Technically speaking Gilgit-Baltistan was a part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at the time of Partition although Dogra rule sat very lightly on this region. • Much of it, particularly Gilgit, because of its strategic importance in the context of the Great Game in Central Asia, had been leased to the British by the Maharaja and was under the direct control of the British government until the lapse of suzerainty. • Gilgit had its own British-officered local army, the Gilgit Scouts, which switched allegiance to Pakistan within a week of the Maharaja’s accession to India.
How has Pakistan Governed this region since? • From the beginning Gilgit-Baltistan was governed as a separate entity by Pakistan and not as a part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). • Islamabad had hesitated to declare it a province of Pakistan because of its claim that J&K is disputed territory and its future must be decided by a plebiscite among all its inhabitants. Why change status now?
• There are several reasons why Islamabad has now decided to formally integrate Gilgit- Baltistan into Pakistan. First, the revocation of Article 370 by India and the bifurcation of the State into two Union Territories have sent a clear message that the Kashmir dispute is not only dead but also buried as far as New Delhi is concerned. Pakistan’s imminent move, transforming Gilgit-Baltistan’s de facto status into a de jure one, is a clear riposte to the Indian decision. • Second, public opinion in Gilgit-Baltistan has long been in favour of full integration into Pakistan as a province as the predominantly Shia and ethnically distinct population of the region has very little in common with PoK. Islamabad feels that by declaring it a province will assuage domestic dissatisfaction on this score. • Third, China has been encouraging Islamabad to turn Gilgit-Baltistan into a province. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) runs through Gilgit-Baltistan and China has invested heavily in the region. In view of India’s continuing claim to the area, Beijing is interested in delinking Gilgit-Baltistan formally from Kashmir so that its investment does not
remain hostage to the possibility of another round of India-Pakistan hostilities over Kashmir.
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• China also wants to repay India in its own coin following New Delhi’s decision to separate Ladakh from J&K. Beijing views the Indian move as the first step towards India attempting to enforce its claim on Aksai Chin, currently under Chinese occupation. • In addition to CPEC, China considers Gilgit-Baltistan very important because of its strategic location. It is contiguous to Ladakh as well as Xinjiang and could act as a staging post against India if a major conflict erupts in Ladakh. Beijing possibly presumes that Pakistan will agree to a Chinese military presence in Gilgit-Baltistan because Islamabad would like to see India embroiled simultaneously in a two-front war — in Ladakh and Gilgit — with China. • There is already substantial Chinese civilian presence in Gilgit-Baltistan related to CPEC projects. China is interested in stationing military personnel as well. Delinking the region from the Kashmir dispute would make it easier for the international community to accept Chinese presence in Gilgit-Baltistan. It would also serve Pakistan’s purpose of getting back at India for abrogating Article 370 as well as complicating India’s strategic environment by the implicit threat of turning it into a Chinese staging ground. • India must calibrate its response carefully because merely by turning up the rhetorical heat, it may play into Chinese and Pakistani hands and escalate the situation. Rhetoric must always be determined by a meticulous assessment of capability.
5. India and Myanmar have shared cultural roots and historical relations, apart from the strategic, economic, social and political ties. Discuss.
• The recent visit of Foreign Secretary and Chief of the Army Staff to Myanmar reflected India’s multidimensional interests in the country and the deepening of ties between Delhi and Naypyidaw. India’s Myanmar policy: 1. Non-interference in internal politics 2. Engagement rather than criticising 3. Balancing influence of China 4. Strategic Infrastructure development 5. Border security and development
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Importance of Myanmar for India:
• Myanmar is key in linking South Asia to Southeast Asia. Myanmar is a member of both ASEAN as well as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which bridges South and South-East Asia. • Myanmar stands at the confluence of India’s Neighbourhood First and Act East Policy and India-Myanmar partnership is at the heart of India’s vision to create a connected and cooperative neighbourhood. • Connectivity projects through Myanmar help India overcome its Chicken-neck dilemma (Siliguri Corridor). Myanmar is also necessary for the development of North-Eastern India. • A bust of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Mandalay Jail is a symbolic gesture for a closer relationship and understanding mutual existence. • Between 1908 and 1914, Bal Gangadhar Tilak spent 6 years in Mandalay Prison for defending the actions of revolutionaries Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki. • Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki had tried to assassinate the District Judge, Mr. Kingsford by throwing bombs at the carriage in which he was supposed to travel.
GS 3 ➢ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 1. Prepare a short note on World Bank report on contraction of Indian GDP 2020-21. CONTEXT: Recently, the World Bank released its South Asia Economic Focus reportcwhich estimated that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can contract by 9.6% in 202-21.
This estimate is way below the earlier forecast of 3.2% contraction, made in June.
Contraction of Indian Economy in 2020-21: • The contraction is due to the impact of the national Lockdown against the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the income shock experienced by households and small urban
services firms.
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• The manufacturing and exporting industries are likely to be depressed, and the construction sector is also likely to experience a protracted slowdown. • This is due to limited pipeline of public sector infrastructure projects and reliance of these industries on migrant workers who have not yet returned to cities where they worked.
• Significant disruptions to jobs are likely to boost the poverty rate, with 2020 rates back to level s in 2016. • The biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report was released by the World Bank which stated that COVID -19 can add around 27-40 million new poor in Sub-Saharan Africa and around 49-57 million in South Asia region, causing over 1.4% of the world’s population to fall into extreme poverty. • The demand slowdown could lead to rising loan non-payment and risk aversion impacting the financial markets. • Other concerns include health care system capacity constraints, raising food prices, sharp drops in earnings of informal workers, impact on the MSMEs etc. SOUTH ASAIN SCENARIO: • The entire South Asia region may face its worst-ever recession. • The regional GDP is estimated to contract by 7.7% in 2020, which stayed above 6% annually in the past five years. • This recession will be different from previous ones as earlier downturns were mainly due to falling investments and exports but this pandemic-induced recession is due to a decline in private consumption. • Private consumption, which has been traditionally the backbone of demand in South Asia and a core indicator of economic welfare, will decline by more than 10% and will spike the poverty rates. • A decline in remittances is also expected to accelerate the loss of livelihoods for the poorest
WAY FORWARD: The World Bank urged government to design universal social protection as well as policies that support greater productivity, skills development and human capital.
Amid a sudden and steep economic impact from the pandemic, South Asian government proactively stabilize the economy through monetary easing, fiscal stimulus, and supportive financial regulation, but the situation is fragile. The government need to address the deep- seated vulnerabilities of their informal sectors through smart policies and allocate their
scarce resources wisely.
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2. Define Electoral Bonds and its utility. DEFINATION: It’s like a promissory note, that can be brought by any Indian Citizen or company incorporated in India from selected branches of State Bank of India. The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice. The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest.
ELEGIBLITY: • Party has to be registered under section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951. • Has to secure at least 1% of the votes polled in the most recent General Elections
or Assembly elections. • Than the party will be allotted a verified account by the ECI and the electoral bond transactions can be made only through this account.
ADVANTAGE:
• It brings transparency as it keeps a tab on the use of black money for funding
elections. • As the electoral bonds will not bear the name of the donor the political party might not be aware of the donor’s identity.
CONCERNS:
• The civil rights societies opine that the concept of donor “anonymity” threatens
the very spirit of democracy. • Indian, Foreign and even shell companies can donate to political parties. • Public will have no idea how and who is funding the political party.
• As the identity is kept anonymous it could lead to an influx of black money.
3. Explain how certain Public Sector Unit’s (PSUs) buy-backs can help cash-strapped
government to raise funds? BACKGROUND = India has asked at least eight state-run companies to consider share buy- backs in the fiscal year to March 2021, as New Delhi searches for ways to raise funds to rein in its fiscal deficit. The firms asked include miner Coal India, power utility NTPC, minerals producer NMDC and Engineers India Ltd. “Buy-back is an important tool in our strategy and it helps in building market price,”
Why the need?
• India is unlikely to be anywhere near its fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP for 2020/21 as COVID19 curbs hit tax collections and delayed efforts to privatise Bharat Petroleum Corp. and flag carrier Air India. • In February, the government had set itself a target of raising more than $27 billion from
privatisations and sale of minority stakes in state-owned companies this fiscal.
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However, the oil sector may not be able to do buy- backs, as the government’s stake is just sufficient to ensure its position as a majority holder. “The government stake in these companies is about 51% and there is a competing claim on their cash in the form of huge capex commitment and dividend payments”.
But for those with sufficient funds and capital expenditure below target for this fiscal year, the government could seek approval from the Cabinet to prune its stake to less than 51% in individual firms without giving up control. India had tasked 23 state-run companies with capital expenditure of ₹1.65 trillion ($22.5 billion) this fiscal year, but some firms face spending challenges as the world’s second most populous nation adds virus infections.
The Centre had asked PSUs to either meet their targets for capital expenditure or “reward the shareholder in the form of a dividend”.
4. Prepare a short note on steps taken by government to maximize liquidity for MSMEs? • The government is unlikely to extend the Rs 3 lakh crore-Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSME sector beyond October even though the sanctioned amount so far is only nearly 65 per cent of the target. • The scheme is meant to provide financial support to businesses, primarily Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), impacted by slowdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. • The objective is to provide support to all those affected and if there are no takers for the scheme, there is no need to extend the scheme even though there is some room left. • On August 1, the government widened the scope of the Rs 3 lakh crore-scheme by doubling the upper ceiling of loans outstanding and including certain loans given to professionals like doctors, lawyers and chartered accountants for business purposes under its ambit. • To ensure more companies can benefit from the scheme, it was decided to increase the upper ceiling of loans outstanding as on February 29 for being eligible under the scheme from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore. • The maximum amount of Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) funding under the scheme was correspondingly increased from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore. • Under the scheme, 100 per cent guarantee coverage will be provided by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) borrowers in the form of GECL facility. • The scheme will be applicable to all loans sanctioned under GECL facility during the period
from the date of announcement of the scheme to October 31 or till the amount of Rs 3 lakh
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5. What is Compound Conundrum and write the outcome of the recent judgement for Retailer and MSME’s and its way forward?
• The Centre’s scheme to bear the difference between the compound interest and simple interest on retail and MSME loans availed by borrowers whose aggregate outstanding borrowings were less than ₹2 crore between March 1 and August 31, has come not a day too soon. • In spelling out the norms for lenders to identify eligible beneficiaries and then ensure that the extra ‘interest on interest’ be refunded by November 5, the government has clearly been spurred by the Supreme Court’s admonition to expedite relief to small borrowers. • With the top court having pointedly referenced the approaching festival of lights when it said “the common man’s Diwali” was in the government’s hands, the Centre has ended up setting a really tight deadline of less than two weeks for banks and NBFCs to credit the differential amount to the borrowers’ accounts. • The lenders have their task cut out to make sure that they pick out all the eligible loans — education, housing, consumer durables, automobiles, consumption, credit card borrowings, as well as credit provided to MSMEs — and that the borrowings had not turned into non- performing assets as on February 29. • They will then have to refund the difference between the compound interest charged for the six-month period and the simple interest. • In making all the specified borrowers eligible for the ‘ex-gratia’, the government has sought to ensure equity between those who may have availed of the repayment moratorium and
others who had opted to continue to service their borrowings.
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Outcome of the judgement for Retailers and MSME’s ? • The move, however, has understandably evoked both relief and some disquiet. • Retail borrowers, especially those who continued to meet their EMI commitments notwithstanding the disruptions caused by the pandemic and lockdowns, stand to marginally benefit from the government’s payment and will be a relieved lot. • On the other hand, MSMEs may find the assistance far too small to make a material difference, given the scale of economic hardship they have had to endure — from demand destruction, to material and labour shortages and regulatory woes. • Given that these businesses provide substantial direct and indirect employment and also generate valuable tax revenue, it would have made far greater economic sense for the government to have categorised them separately. Conclusion: • The additional fiscal impact should be seen against the benefit that would accrue were even a reasonable number of these enterprises to remain viable and resume their contribution to the national economy. • Also, the ₹2-crore limit for retail loans provides succour to not just ‘vulnerable’ borrowers but creates a moral hazard by benefiting the well-heeled too. • All eyes will now be on the Court when it resumes hearing the matter next month.
➢ ENVIRONMENT 1. Prepare a short on Xoo. CONTEXT: Recently, scientist from the Centre for Plant Molecular Biology (CPMB) have uncovered the mechanism by which a bacterium called Xoo interacts with the rice plants and causes diseases. Xanthomonas oryzaepv. Oryzae(Xoo) causes a serious bacterial leaf blight disease in rice. It is also known as Bacterial Blight. Xoo is a gram-negative bacteria.
Transmission: • Xoo infection causes huge yield losses to rice cultivation across the world. • The infection initiates from the leaf sheath and eventually spreads to mature leaves through the water flow under optimum temperature and high humidity conditions (Vascular disease). • Science rice paddies are flooded throughout most of the growing seasons, Xoo may easily spread among crops; bacteria travel through the water from infected plants to the roots and leaves of neighbouring rice plants. • Wind may also help spread the Xoo bacteria to other plants and rice paddies. • In addition to rice, Xoo may infect other plants, such as rice cut-grass (Leersia oryzoides) Chinese sprangletop (leptochloa chinensis) and common grass and weeds.
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PREVENTION: • The most common method is to cultivate the rice varieties with genes that confer resistance to Xoo infection. • Over 30 resistance genes, termed Xa1 to Xa33 have been identified in rice plants and Xa21 have been integrated into the genomes of commercial rice strains. • However, thus method involves breeding or gene manipulating techniques that are laborious and time consuming. • Also, the introduced resistance genes provide only race-specific resistance that will prevent infection by only specific strains of Xoo. NEW APPROACH: • Scientist from Central for Plant Molecular Biology (CPMB), Osmania University, Hyderabad are working to identify and develop few molecules which are derived either from the Xoo bacterium or from the infected rice cell walls. • Treatment of rice with cellulose, a cell wall degrading enzyme secreted by Xoo induces rice immune responses and protect rice from subsequent infections by Xoo. • The cellulose protein has the features of a typical vaccine as it is potent elicitor of rice immune responses.
2. Prepare a short note on World Cotton Day. CONTEXT: The 2nd World Cotton Day was observed on 7th October ,2020. BACKGROUND: At the initiative of the Cotton-4 (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali), the WTO hosted on 7TH October 2019 the launch of the World Cotton Day in collaboration with the secretariats of the UN FAO UNCTAD, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the International Cotton Advisory Committee(ICAC).
OBJECTIVE: To recognize the importance of cotton as a global commodity grown in over 75 countries across five continents and to highlight its central role in job creation and maintaining economic stability in several least-developed countries.
KASTURI COTTON: It’s the name given to India’s premium Cotton in the world cotton trade. The kasturi Cotton brand will represent Whiteness, Brightness, Softness, Purity, Luster, Uniqueness and Indianans.
3. To whom and how is a ‘Blue Flag Tag’ awarded and why is it current news? A ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ecotourism model to provide tourists clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, safe and healthy environment and sustainable development of
the area.
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The certification is awarded by the Denmark based agency based on 33 stringent criteria in four major heads:
1. Environment education and Information 2. Bathing water quality
3. Environment conservations and management 4. Safety and services
4. Prepare a short note on Synedrella Yellow Vein Cleaning Virus. COMTEXT: Recently, a new study with researchers from National Centre of Biological Science (NCBS-TIFR), Bengaluru, has discovered a new step in the arms race between the viruses called Syndrella Yellow Vein Cleaning Virus and the plants it attacks. • The virus is named after Synderella nodiflora (the plant from which researchers isolated and discovered the virus for the 1st time. • The virus can also infect tobacco, tomato plants. • It is one of the 400 viruses belonging to Begomo virus Family.
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Fighting between plants and the virus: • The virus released BetaC1 protein infecting the plant and for its intercellular movement within the plants. • The plant attacks /tags ubiquition protein to degrade the BetaC1 protein. • Ubiquition protein is a small protein which tags itself to another large protein to modify its functions. This process is called Ubiquitination. • The virus hijacks the plants machinery and attaches a SUMO protein of the plant to its BetaC1 protein. • SUMO protein is small Ubiquitin-like modified protein i.e, a small protein similar to ubiquitin which attaches itself to another large protein to modify its function, this process is called SUMOylation. • But unlike ubiquitin, the SUMO protein doesn’t degrade BetaC1 , rather it stabilizes the BetaC1 protein.
5. Write a short note on how the ‘red light on, gaadi off’ campaign contributes to pollution control? • Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the odd-even vehicle rationing policy will be used as a “last weapon” if everything else fails in the fight against air pollution in the city of Delhi. And on that note said that the government will launch an awareness programme from October 21 about the “red light on, gaadi off” campaign to reduce air pollution.
• The air quality of Delhi, Gurugram and Noida were in the ‘poor’ category according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. • The campaign will be active from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. As many as 100 busy traffic intersections have been selected for the purpose. A total of 2,500 environment marshals will be deployed at these junctions. • People who are not turning off their vehicles at red lights will be given a rose and environment marshals will appeal to them to turn off their vehicles. • Meanwhile, the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority is to review emission standards of eight thermal power plants in the two States and inform them. And may have to direct closure of the plants, which do not meet 2015 standards as air quality deteriorates in the coming days.
6. Prepare a short note on the benefits of Heeng Cultivation in India. CONTEXT: Scientists at CSIR-Institute of Himalaya Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur are on a mission to grow heeng (asafoetida) in the Indian Himalayas.
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• IHBT is the only laboratoty of the council of scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
in Himachal Pradesh. • Heeng is a herbaceous plant of the umbelliferae family. It is a perennial plant whose oleo gum resin is extracted from its thick roots and rhizome. The plant stores most
of its nutrients inside its deep fleshy roots. • It is endemic to Iran and Afghanistan, which are also the main global suppliers of it. It is very popular in India and is used in cooking.
• It thrives in dry and cold desert conditions. The plant can withstand a maximum temperature between 35 and 40 degree, whereas during winters, it can survive in temperatures up to minus 4 degree. • Regions with sandy soil, very little moisture and annual rainfall of not more than 200mm are considered conducive for heeng cultivation. • It also has medicinal properties, including relief for digestive, spasmodic and stomach disorders, asthma and bronchitis.
• The herb is used to help with painful or excessive bleeding during menstruation and premature labour. • There is no production of heeng in India and currently about 1200 tons of raw
heeng worth Rs 600 crore is being imported from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan.
INDIA’S HEENG CULTIVATION PROJECT: • As in India heeng is not cultivated, in 2017 IHBT approached the National Bureau of
Plany Geneyic Resources (NBPGR) with an experimental project idea to cultivate heeng in the Himalayas. • In June 2020, the IHBT inked a Memorandum of understanding with the agriculture ministry of Himachal Pradesh to jointly cultivate the heeng. • The agriculture ministry has identified four location in the Lahul-spiti valley and has distributed heeng seeds to seven farmers in the region. • However, the challenge for the scientists is that heeng seeds remain under a
prolonged dormant phase and the rate of seed germination is just 1%.
7. What are the reformative steps taken by the government to increase the Millet production in more efficient manner? • Millets also known as Super food and its production is seen as an approach for sustainable agriculture and a healthy world. Multidimensional benefits associated with , millets and address the issue related to nutrition security, food systems security and farmers welfare. • In 2018 Millet has been declared as the National Year if Millets and India has called for declaring 2023 as the “International Year of Millets”. • But in general perception it is considered as the “poor person’s food”. Therefore, it is necessary to re-brand coarse cereals/millets as nutri-cereals and promote their
production and consumption.
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MILLETS PRODUCTION IN INDIA: • The three major millets are jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet), and ragi (finger millet). • Along with that, India grows a rich array of bio-genetically diverse and indigenous varieties of “small millets” like kodo, kutki, chenna and sanwa. • Major production includes: Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana. • As Millets are resistant to climatic stress, pests and diseases, this makes them a sustainable food source for combating hunger in changing world climate. • Millets are not water or input-intensive, making them a sustainable strategy for addressing climate change and building resilient agri-food systems. • It has high dietary fibre, nutri-cereals (iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium, copper, vitamins and antioxidants. • It helps in healthy development in children and also reduces the risk of heart diseases. • It can easily be grown on dry, low-fertile, mountainous, tribal and rain-fed areas. • Millets are good for soil and have shorter cultivation cycles and require less cost- intensive cultivation.
STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT: • Increase in MSP : The govt has hiked the MSP of millets, which came as a big price incentive for farmers. • To provide a steady market for the produce, the govt has included millets in the public distribution system. • The govt has introduced provision of seed kits and inputs to farmers, building value chains through Farmer Producer Organisations and supporting the marketability of millets. • The ministry of Women and Child Development has been working at the intersection of agriculture and nutrition by setting up nutri-gardens, prompting research on the interlink ages between crop diversity and dietary and running a behaviour change to generate consumer demand for nutri-cereals.
8. ‘Climate Change’ is a global problem. How will India be affected by climate change? How Himalayan animals in some states of India will be affected by climate change? • Climate change is one of the largest threats currently faced globally, which has the capacity to change the face of the globe due to its ill effects. In this regard, the
phenomenon is given the highest importance when it comes to tackling it.
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Threats to Himalayan Brown Bears: • According to study conducted by Zoological Survey of India, there is a massive decline of 73% of the bear's habitat by 2050. The habitat of the brown bear is most vulnerable to global warming, as the elevation on which the bear resides is getting warmer faster than other elevation zones of Himalayas. ➢ Habitats will become uninhabitable ➢ Loss of connectivity of protected areas
Himalayan Brown Bears: o This bear is heavier built and has a brown coat. o One of the largest carnivores in the highlands of Himalayas. o IUCN status: Least Concern o The Himalayan brown bear in India is found through the Western Himalayan states of Jammu & • Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand at alleviation of 3000-5000 m. They have also been • Observed in southern and western Ladakh, in the upper Suru and Zanskar valleys. o The best place to find them in India is the Greater Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh • although they are very difficult to spot as they spend most of their time above the tree line in alpine Scrubs and meadows. In fact, these bears are one of the least arboreal bear species, meaning they spend more time on ground than on trees.
9. What is wetland? Explain the Ramsar concept of ‘wise use’ in the context of wetland conservation. Cite two examples of Ramsar sites from India. DEFINITION: A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil.
Ramsar “Wise use concept” requires that wetlands’ ecological character should be maintained within the framework of sustainable development. This concept recognizes that: • Developmental activities are inevitable in wetland areas such as construction of roads,
electricity infrastructure, schools and hospitals for poor families.
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• Economic activities are also inevitable in wetland areas such as fisheries, farming and tourism. • Such activities aid in human development and economic development in a wetland area. • And for these activities, wetland’s land, water and bio-resources will have to be used. • However, these resources should not be used in a manner that wetland’s ecological character is harmed. • Recently, Kabartal Wetland (Bihar) and Asan conservation Reserve (Uttrakhand) haven been designated as Ramsar sites, making them ‘Wetlands of International Importance’
CONCLUSION:
a. Wetland conservation is crucial for protecting biodiversity and mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change. b. At the same time, due to high level of poverty & population, it’s not possible for developing countries & Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to keep wetlands in pristine conditions completely free from human activities. 2. The “wise use” concept of Ramsar convention is a notable attempt made to strike balance between these two opposing aspects.
10. Prepare a short note on Aenigmachanna Gollum? CONTEXT: A 100million-ear-old fish has been discovered in Kerala.
• Aenigmachanna Gollum belongs to an old family of fish, called dragon snakeheads, which retains its primitive characteristics after all these millennia. • it looks like a dragon, swims, like an eel, and has remained hidden for a hundred million years. • Aenigmachanna is a Gondwanan lineage, which has survived break-up of the supercontinent, which India separating from Africa at around 120 million years ago. • It was found in the part of western ghat I,e, Sri Kanka Hotspot, which is among the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world. • It is endemic to the Indian state of kerala.
11. What are the main concerns with the Farms bills (2020). Can states amend central laws and is centre empowered to make law on the state subject? • Punjab’s efforts to enact State amendments to override the effects of the Centre’s new agriculture laws epitomise the difficulties in managing the conflict between liberalising
the farm sector and protecting the small and marginal farmer from the agonies of the
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• The issue also flags the consequences of not having a wide and informed debate before introducing far-reaching changes. • Punjab has been the hub of the opposition to the Centre’s legislative exercise to change the basics of trade and commerce in agriculture. • The Akali Dal, the main opposition in the State, eventually withdrew its Cabinet minister and later walked out of the NDA government at the Centre. • Punjab argues that the central Acts would cause “grave detriment and prejudice” to agricultural communities.
MAIN CONCERNS:
• The Bills cite an agriculture census of 2015-16 to argue that 86.2% of farmers own less than five acres — a majority of them less than two acres — and that with limited or no access to multiple markets, they would be handicapped while negotiating fair price contracts with private players. • Making efforts to buy farm produce at less than the MSP or harassing farmers in a bid to persuade them to enter into such contracts have been sought to be made punishable offences, with a jail term of at least three years. • The Bills also seek to overturn the Centre’s move to remove the fee on trade and transactions that take place outside markets functioning under APMCs. • A key issue raised by Punjab’s proposed amendments is whether they are legally valid and where they stand in the teeth of the Centre’s legislation.
Can States amend central Laws and Is centre empowered to make law on state subject:
• States can indeed amend central laws enacted under the Concurrent List, subject to the condition that provisions repugnant to the parliamentary Acts will have to get the President’s assent, without which they do not come into force. • The Punjab Bills note that agriculture is under the legislative domain on the States, as the
subject falls under the State List in the Seventh Schedule.
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• The Centre has enacted its farm sector Bills by invoking Entry 33(b) in the Concurrent List, which concerns trade and commerce in, and production, supply and distribution of, “foodstuffs”. • By stretching the entry’s meaning to include agriculture, Parliament has managed to pass laws in the domain of the States.
CONCLUSION:
• In these circumstances, States aggrieved by the farm sector laws will either have to go the Punjab way to adopt Bills that would require presidential assent, as Rajasthan has decided to do, or challenge the validity of the central laws in the Supreme Court, as Chhattisgarh is said to be considering. • Whatever the outcome, clear from the groundswell of opposition across the country is that a cavalier and centralised approach to issues that affect millions of farmers ill-serves a diverse country.
12. What is Stubble burning and steps taken by the government to stop stubble burning? • Stubble burning refers to the practice of farmers setting fire to plant debris that remain in farms after harvest. • Before 1980s, farmers used to till the remaining debris back into the soil after harvesting the crops manually. • The origin of stubble burning can be traced to the advent of the Green revolution and mechanised harvesting, which utilized the combined harvesting technique. • The green revolution increased rice and wheat production, which simultaneously increased stubble post-harvest. • However, the popular combined harvesting technique was not efficacious as machines left behind one-foot-tall stalks.
IMPACT OF STUBBLE BURNING:
• It is practised predominantly by farmers in north India. • It releases harmful gases including oxide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. • In recent years, this practice has created vast smoke blankets across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and numerous neighbouring states, including Delhi. This directly exposes millions of people to air pollution. • As per a TERI (The Energy and Resources Institution) report 2019 the air pollution in New Delhi and other parts if north India was 20 times highest than the safe threshold level as prescribed by the World Health Organization. • Stubble Burning also has a deleterious impact on soil fertility, destroys organic fertilizers and reduces ground water levels • During pandemic it could worsen the situation by making lungs weaker and people more susceptible to disesese. STEPS TAKEN TO STOP:
• In 2013 it was banned by Punjab government.
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• In 2015, the National Green Tribunal imposed a ban on Stubble Burning in Rajasthan, UP, Haryana and Punjab and directed govt to assist farmers by obtaining equipment like happy seeders and rotavator. • It is an offence under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and the Air (Protection and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981. • Now the Union govt has brought out an ordinance to set up a permanent commission for air quality management, which will replace the Justice Madan B. Lokur Commission.
WAY FORWARD:
• A revolution in timely stubble removal is the need of the hour. • The action plan of Punjab and Haryana appears to focus more on setting up Custom Hiring Centres which will facilitate farms removing stubble by providing them with machinery such as the happy seeder, rotavator, paddy straw chopper etc. on rent along with the supply of more balers. • As per a study by the International Maizer and Wheat Improvement Centre, the application of happy seeders and super SMS machines can improve agricultural productivity by 10% to 15% while reducing labour costs and allowing the soil to become more fertile. CONCLUSION: • This year the Union Govt is testing an innovative methos, the PUSA decomposer, developed at the Indian Agricultural Research Intitute, PUSA. • The PUSA decomposer is a set of 4 tablets made by extracting fungi strains that help the paddy straw to decompose at a much faster rate than usual, giving farmer’s the option to shred the straw, spray a solution containing the fingal strains and mix it with the soil for decomposition. • If it becomes successful it will be a new revolution in farming. This has the potential to both reduce air pollution and increase soil fertility.
➢ SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1. What is the working mechanism and efficiency of the FELUDA paper-strip test for SARS- CoV-2 diagnosis? BACKGROUND = The FELUDA paper-strip test and the COVIRAP are the two indigenously developed test to detected COVID-19 virus. The former developed by the CSIR-IGIB and the later by IIT-Kharagpur.
FELUDA – uses CRISP-Cas9 Technology
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COVIRAP – Uses Paper Strips dipped into Reaction products – Coloured Lines Detect
COVID-19
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2. Prepare a short note on OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and its significance. Context: Rexently, NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft brief touched down on the s urface of asteroid Bennu to collect rock and dust samples.
• OSIRIS-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretaton, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission.
• It aims to travel to a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu and bring a small sample back to Earth for study by 2023. • The significance is that the material returned is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of origin compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth. • The name Bennu comes from an Egyptian deity related to the Sun, often depicted as a gray heron. • The asteroid was discovered by a team from the NASA-funded Lincoln Near-Earth Astroid Research team in 1999. And its believed that it is roughly 4.5 billion year old.
• Because of the Bennu’s age it is likely to contain material that contains molecules that were present when life first formed on Earth, where life forms are based on carbon atom chains.
3. What is Deepfakes and what can be done to counter its misuse? • Deepfakes are fake videos or audio recordings that look and sound just like the real thing. • While the act of faking content is not new, deepfakes leverage powerful techniques from machine learning and artificial intelligence to manipulate or generate visual and audio content with a high potential to deceive. • The main machine learning methods used to create deepfakes are based on deep learning and involve training generative neural network architectures, such as autoencoders or generative adversarial networks (GANs)
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REAL DEEPFAKE
What has aided the growth of deep fakes? • Access to commodity cloud computing, algorithms, and abundant data has created a perfect storm to democratise media creation and manipulation. • Deepfakes are a new tool to spread computational propaganda and disinformation at scale and with speed. Demerits: • They make it possible to fabricate media — swap faces, lip-syncing, and puppeteer — mostly without consent and bring threat to psychology, security, political stability, and business disruption. • Use against women: ➢ The very first use case of malicious use of a deepfake was seen in pornography, inflicting emotional, reputational, and in some cases, violence towards the individual. ➢ Pornographic deepfakes can threaten, intimidate, and inflict psychological harm and reduce women to sexual objects. Deepfake pornography exclusively targets women. • Threat to internal security: ➢ A deepfake could act as a powerful tool by a nation-state to undermine public safety and create uncertainty and chaos in the target country. ➢ It can be used by insurgent groups and terrorist organisations, to represent their adversaries as making inflammatory speeches or engaging in provocative actions to stir up anti-state sentiments among people. Solution: • Multi-stakeholder and multi-modal approach Collaborative actions and collective techniques across legislative regulations, platform policies, technology intervention, and media literacy can provide effective and ethical countermeasures to mitigate the threat of malicious deepfakes. • Role of Media: ➢ Media literacy for consumers and journalists is the most effective tool to combat disinformation and deepfakes.
➢ Media literacy efforts must be enhanced to cultivate a discerning public.
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➢ As consumers of media, we must have the ability to decipher, understand, translate, and use the information we encounter. Even a short intervention with media understanding, learning the motivations and context, can lessen the damage. Improving media literacy is a precursor to addressing the challenges presented by deepfakes.
• Creating regulations: ➢ Meaningful regulations with a collaborative discussion with the technology industry, civil society, and policymakers can facilitate disincentivising the creation and distribution of malicious deepfakes. ➢ We also need easy-to-use and accessible technology solutions to detect deepfakes, authenticate media, and amplify authoritative sources. Deepfakes can create possibilities for all people irrespective of their limitations by augmenting their agency. However, as access to synthetic media technology increases, so does the risk of exploitation. Deepfakes can be used to damage reputations, fabricate evidence, defraud the public, and undermine trust in democratic institutions.
To counter the menace of deepfakes, we all must take the responsibility to be a critical consumer of media on the Internet, think and pause before we share on social media, and be part of the solution to this infodemic.
4. Apart from being a marker of potential life, water is a precious resource in deep space. Discuss
Context: Water molecules, discovered in Clavius Crater in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. • And it is the first time water has been detected on the sunlit side, showing it is not restricted to the shadowy regions. • This was confirmed by NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Significance of the discovery: • Apart from being a marker of potential life, water is a precious resource in deep space. • For astronauts landing on the Moon, water is necessary not only to sustain life but also for purposes such as generating rocket fuel. • If space explorers can use the Moon’s resources, it means they need to carry less water from Earth. How could the water have formed? • Space rocks carrying small amounts of water could have bombarded the Moon. • Alternatively, the Sun’s solar wind could have carried hydrogen, which then reacted with minerals in the lunar soil to create hydroxyl, which later transformed into water. About SOFIA: • SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner that flies at altitudes up to 45,000 feet. It is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. • It has an infrared camera that picks up the wavelength unique to water molecules. • SOFIA’s mission is to look at dark and distant objects. The Moon, on the other hand, is
so close and bright that it fills the SOFIA guide camera’s entire field of view.
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Chandrayaan-1 and water discovery:
• ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 mission has already provided evidence for the existence of water. • In 2009, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard Chandrayaan-1 found water molecules in the polar regions. What next?
• SOFIA will look for water in additional sunlit locations to learn more about how the water is produced, stored, and moved across the Moon. • Meanwhile, NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will carry out a mission to create the first water resource maps of the Moon.
SNIPPET ➢ Economic Development 1. What do the country’s GST collections tell about its sustainability? • Revenue collections from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in September hit ₹95,480 crore, the highest in this financial year so far, indicating that economic activity is picking up steam in tandem with the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions necessitated by
the COVID-19 pandemic.
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• Economists were cautious about reading the healthier numbers as a sign of a sustainable rebound from the sharp 23.9% contraction in the country’s gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2020-21. The uptick in GST collections had come as a relief, although it was likely driven by “a combination of pent up demand and inventory restocking, and thus its sustainability remains unclear”.
2. What contains the Current Account of a country and what does its surplus indicate? • India recorded a surplus of $19.8 billion (3.9% of GDP) in its current account balance in the first quarter of FY21, on top of a surplus of $0.6 billion (0.1% of GDP) in the preceding quarter, according to RBI data. A deficit of $15 billion (2.1% of GDP) was recorded a year earlier.
• The surplus in the current account in the first quarter of 2020-21 was on account of a sharp contraction in trade deficit to $10 billion due to a steeper decline in merchandise imports relative to exports on a year-on-year basis. • The current account surplus in Q1 was well above our expectations, as the fall in remittances was remarkably muted, despite the adverse economic conditions globally amid the on-going pandemic. • With domestic and global lockdowns to fight COVID-19 [having] a differentiated impact on exports and imports, the merchandise trade deficit shrunk to just $10 billion in Q1, most of which was accounted for by the net oil balance.
➢ Science and technology 1. Prepare a short note on the Russia’s First floating nuclear reactor. CONTEXT: Russia launched the world’s first floating nuclear reactor, sending it on an epic
journey across the Arctic, despite environmentalists warning of a “Chernobyl on ice”.
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2. What is FEDOR Robot? CONTEXT: Russia has launched an unmanned rocket into space.
KEY FACTS: it is carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts in the International Space Station.
FEDOR stands for “Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research”, the Skybot F-850 is the humanoid robot to be sent to ace by Russia.
The robot’s main purpose is to be used in operations that are especially dangerous for humans onboard spacecraft and in outer space. FEDOR, also called as ‘an assistant to the ISS crew’.
SIGNIFICANCE:
• FEDOR copies human movements, a key skill that allows it to remotely help astronauts or even on Earth to carry out tasks while the humans are strapped into an exoskeleton. • FEDOR is described as potentially useful on Earth for working in high radiation environments, demining and tricky rescue mission.
BACKGROUND:
• FEDOR is not the first robot to go into space. • In 2011, NASA sent up Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot developed with General Motors that had a similar aim of working in high-risk environments. • In 2013, Japan sent up a small robot called Kirobo along with the ISS’s first Japanese space
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3. What is Super Conductor? Discuss the recent discovery of the first room-temperature superconductor and its applications? • The superconductor was formed by squeezing carbon, hydrogen and sulphur between the tips of two diamonds and hitting the material with laser light to induce chemical reactions. • At a pressure about 2.6 million times that of Earth’s atmosphere, and temperatures below about 15 degree C, the electrical resistance vanished. • However, the new material’s superconducting superpowers appear only at extremely high pressures, limiting its practical usefulness. • All superconductors previously discovered had to be cooled, making them impractical for most uses. • But, the recently discovered superconductor can operates at room temperature – the material is superconducting below temperatures of about 15 degree C. • Superconductor transmits electricity without resistance, allowing current to flow without any energy loss. • When superconductivity was discovered in 1911, it was found only at temperatures close to absolute cero (-273.15 degree C). APPLICATIONS: • If a room-temperature superconductor could be used at atmospheric pressure, it could save vast amounts of energy lost to resistance in the electrical grid. • And it could improve current technologies, from MRI machines to quantum computers to magnetically levitated trains. Dias envisions that humanity could become a “superconducting society.”
➢ SECURITY 1. Prepare a short note on ICGS Kanaklata Barua. • The Indian Coast Guard’s newly commissioned ship, ICGS Kanaklata Barua, has been named after a 17-year-old freedom fighter from Assam who died during the Quit India Movement in 1942. The ship is the fifth in a series of fast patrol vessels (FPV) belonging to the Coast Guard. • Barua was shot dead while leading a group of around 5,000 people to hoist the Indian flag — a slightly different version of the Tricolour that now represents India — at a police station. • Her story of grit and gallantry has a legendary status in Assam — from schools being named
after her to a life-size statue that adorns a park in the state.
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LED A “DEATH SQUAD” • Barua was born to Krishna Kanta Barua and Korneswari Barua on 22 December 1924 at Barangabari village of Gohpur sub-division in Sonitpur district. Orphaned at the age of 13, she dropped out of the third standard to take care of her siblings. • This was the time when the freedom struggle was gaining momentum in Assam, and more and more women were taking part in the movement. • Many of these women became members of what were then known as the ‘Shanti Bahini’ and the ‘Mrityu Bahini (a death/suicide squad)’. While the Shanti Bahini worked to maintain peace, members of the Mrityu Bahini prepared themselves to face death while hoisting the national flag in police stations. • Barua wanted to join Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj, but wasn’t allowed because she was a minor. While Mrityu Bahini, too, comprised members aged above 18 years, Barua’s zeal to serve the country made her an exception, and she was inducted. She was subsequently made the leader of the women’s cadre of the Mrityu Bahini. • Barua’s sacrifice became a source of inspiration for many women and she went on to become a “symbol of patriotism of Assamese womanhood”. THE SHIP - The ship named after Barua was commissioned in Kolkata last week and has been built by the state-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited. Earlier, an FPV named after Barua was decommissioned in 2017 after 20 years of service.
The other four in the series of FPVs are ICGS Priyadarshini (named after former PM Indira Gandhi), ICGS Annie Besant (reformer-activist), ICGS Kamala Devi (named after social reformer Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay), and ICGS Amrit Kaur (activist-politician). FPVs are suited for patrolling, maritime surveillance, anti-smuggling, anti-poaching operations, for fishery protection, as well as rescue and search missions.
2. Prepare a short note on Atal Tunnel and its strategic importance. • Recently Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the world’s longest tunnel in Himachal Pradesh which is above 10,000 feet and it is names after former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. • The tunnel is considered to be strategic as it reduces the distance between Manali in Himachal Pradesh and Leh in Ladak by 46 km and the travel time by 4 to 5 hours. • The total length of this Tunnel is 9.02 km. • It is built in the Pir Panjal range which forms the part of Lesser Himalayas or Middle Himalayas or Himadri (3000 m) of Himalayas.
HIMALAYS DIVIDED INTO 4 PARTS:
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STRATIGIC IMPORTANCE: 1. It’s a 9kn long tunnel- world’s longest highway tunnel above the altitude of 10,000 feet (3000 m). 2. Remain open all throughout the year. 3. Provide all-weather connectivity to our troops stationed in Ladakh, and residents of Lahaul and spiti valley. 4. The tunnel will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by some 46 km. 5. A journey from Manali to Lahaul and Spiti Valley would now be covered in little over ten
minutes.
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1. A telephone at every 150 mtrs 2. A fire hydrant every 60 mtrs 3. Emergency exit every 500 mtrs 4. Turning cavern every 2.2 km 5. Air quality monitoring system every 1 km 6. Broadcasting system and automatic incident detection with CCTV cameras every 250 mtrs
3. What is Diffie-Hellman key exchange. CONTEXT: In many television news channels, shared leaked WhatsApp chats of film actors in their coverage of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s passing away. It prompted Facebook- owned WhatsApp to come out with a statement on its use of end-to-end encryption to secure user messages. • Since 2016, WhatsApp has installed an end-to-end encryption system, which “ensures only you and the person you’re communicating with can read what’s sent, and nobody in between, not even WhatsApp”. • The technology that forms the basis for this is called the ‘Diffie-Hellman key exchange’. • This method securely exchanges cryptographic keys over a public channel and was one of the first public-key protocols as conceived by Ralph Merkle and named after Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman. • DH is one of the earliest practical examples of public key exchange implemented within the field of cryptography. • The method allows two parties that have no prior knowledge of each other to jointly establish a share secret key over an insecure channel. This key can then be used to encrypt subsequent communication using a symmetric key cipher.
4. Prepare a short note on World Space Week. CONTEXT: While celebrating WSW, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has announced it would soon launch a dynamic, impact-based cyclone warning system. The warning system aims at minimizing losses and damage to property due to the cyclones that hit Indian coasts every year. World Space Week is an International celebration of science and technology and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. It is coordinated by the United Nations with the support of the World Space Week Association (WSWA), non-profit organisation. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared in 1999 that World Space Week would be held each year from 4th-10th October. These dates commemorate two events: 4TH October 1957: Launch of the human- made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, thus operating the way for space exploration. 10th October 1967: The signing of the Outer Space Treaty (Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space including the Moon and other celestial bodies).
2020 Theme: “Satellite Improve Life”
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It shows the importance of satellites in daily life and how human lives are affected by satellite such as in communications, environmental monitoring, transportation, weather forecasting, telemedicine, Science etc. INDIA example: EMISAT, RISAT-2B, Cartosat-3, Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 etc. Objective: • Provide unique leverage in Space outreach and education. • Educate people around the world about the benefits that they receive from space. • Encourage greater use of space for sustainable economic development . • Demonstrate public support of space programs. • Excite young people about science, technology, engineering and math. • Foster international cooperation in the space sector.
5. Prepare a short note on 36TH NSG Raising Day and its importance. CONTEXT: National Security Guard (NSG) Raising Day is celebrated on 16th October. • The decision to form an anti-terror federal contingency force was taken in 1984 when militancy in Punjab was at its peak. The NSG came into existence through the National Security Act, 986. • The NSG is an anti-terrorist force. They are been given the specific role to handle all the facets of terrorism in any part of the country as a federal contingency force. • They also informally referred as the “BLACK CATS” because of their all-black uniforms. • It has two complementary elements: ➢ Special Action Group (SAG) comprising army personnel ➢ Special Rangers Group (SRG) comprising personnel’s drawn from state police and central armed police force. • It is modelled on the elite anti-terror forces GSG-9 of Germany and SAS of the United Kingdom. • In 2020 the central decided to remove the NSG from providing security to VIPs, a task which it was not supposed to perform when it was originally formed.
6. Prepare a short note on India-Sri Lanka naval maritime exercise. CONTEXT: SLINEX-20 the 8th edition of annual India-Sri Lanka bilateral naval maritime exercise will be held at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. • The 7th edition was conducted off Visakhapatnam in Sep 2019. SLINEX series of bilateral maritime exercise were initiated in 2005. • The exercise aims to enhance interoperability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies. • It exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain. • The exercise is being conducted in a non-contact ‘at-sea-only’ format in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic. • The exercise plays a significant role in strengthening bilateral ties and also reiterating India’s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’.
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Important Bilateral and Multilateral Defence Exercise INDRA India-Russia Naval Exercise
MALABAR US-India-Japan Naval Exercise
VARUNA France and India Naval Exercise
SIMBEX India and Republic of Singapore Naval Exercise
IBSAMAR India, Brazil and South Africa Naval
Exercise
KONKAN India and Britain Naval Exercise
AUSINDEX India and Australia Naval Exercise
NASEEN AL-BAHR India-Oman Naval Exercise
7. What is the significance of BrahMos Surface to Surface Cruise Missile in face of the Indo- China standoff at the border? • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired the BrahMos surface-to-surface cruise missile with an indigenous booster and air frame sector, along with other sub-systems made within the country. • The supersonic missile is one of the prime precision-strike missiles used by all three forces, the Army, Navy and the Air Force. • The BrahMos Land-Attack Cruise Missile (LACM) was cruising at a top speed of Mach 2.8. The missile weighs around 2.5 tonnes and has a strike range of approximately 300 km. • The test comes at a time when BrahMos has been deployed in Ladakh as well as the Eastern Sector in Arunachal Pradesh to tackle any threats in the ongoing standoff with China.
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