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News @ a glance POLITY ...... 3 2) Russia registers coronavirus vaccine - 1) National Human Rights Commission Sputnik V ...... 17 (NHRC) ...... 3 3) HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) ...... 18 2) Inclusion of more languages in 4) Next-Generation Sequencing ...... 19 Governance ...... 4 5) HAL Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) ...... 20 3) Daughters have an equal birthright to 6) National Expert Group on Vaccine inherit property ...... 5 Administration for coronavirus (COVID- ENVIRONMENT ...... 7 19) ...... 21 1) World elephant day ...... 7 ART & CULTURE ...... 22 2) Tree loss in Arunachal threatens hornbills . 8 1) ...... 22 3) Fishing cat collaring project to begin in PIB ANALYSIS ...... 23 A.P.’s Coringa ...... 9 1) UMANG APP ...... 23 ECONOMY ...... 11 2) Krishi Megh ...... 23 1) RBI surplus transfer ...... 11 3) PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi 2) Index of Industrial Production...... 11 (PM SVANidhi) ...... 24 3) “Transparent Taxation-Honouring the 4) National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority24 Honest” platform ...... 11 5) Naval Innovation and Indigenisation INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ...... 13 Organisation ...... 25 1) Indus Water Treaty ...... 13 6) Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi 2) ’s new political map ...... 13 Pariyojana (PMBJP) ...... 25 3) ’s assistance to the Maldives ...... 14 7) World Biofuel Day ...... 26 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ...... 16 1) The magnetic field of the Sun measured ... 16

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News in Depth AIR NEWS ...... 28 4) A self-reliant foreign policy ...... 34 1) Asprational Districts Programme ...... 28 5) India’s population data and fertility 2) Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana ...... 29 decline ...... 34 THE HINDU EDITORIALS ...... 30 INDIAN EXPRESS EXPLAINED ...... 36 1) The WHO’s relevance is fading ...... 30 1) The Pendency of cases and the role of 2) Landslides in ...... 31 Virtual Courts ...... 36 3) Historic ratification...... 32

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News @ a glance POLITY

1) National Human Rights broad mandate, pluralism in Commission (NHRC) membership, broad functions, adequate About NHRC: powers, adequate resources, cooperative . NHRC of India is an independent methods and engage with international statutory body established on 12 bodies. October 1993 as per provisions of . Full compliance with the Paris Principles Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, provides NHRIs with international later amended in 2006. recognition. . It is the watchdog of human rights in the country, i.e. the rights related to life, Functions of NHRC: liberty, equality and dignity of the . The National Human Rights Commission individual guaranteed by Indian Functions: Constitution or embodied in the . Inquire, on its own or a petition presented international covenants and enforceable to it by a victim or any person on his by courts in India. behalf, into a complaint of- i ) violation of human rights or abetment or What Are Human Rights? ii) negligence in the prevention of such . Human rights are rights inherent to all violation, by a public servant; human beings, regardless of race, sex, . Intervene in any proceeding involving any nationality, ethnicity, language, allegation of violation of human rights religion, or any other status. Human pending before a court with the approval rights include the right to life and liberty, of such court; freedom from slavery and torture, . Visit, under intimation to the State freedom of opinion and expression, the Government, any jail or any other right to work and education, and many institution under the control of the State more. Everyone is entitled to these Government, to study the living condition rights, without discrimination. of the inmates and make . NHRC was established in conformity with recommendations thereon ; the Paris Principles, adopted for the . Review the safeguards by or under the promotion and protection of human Constitution or any law for the time being rights held in Paris in October 1991, and in force for the protection of human rights endorsed by the General Assembly of the and recommend measures for their United Nations. effective implementation; . Review the factors, including acts of What does the Paris Principles say? terrorism that inhibit the enjoyment of . The Paris Principles are the international human rights and recommend minimum standards for effective, appropriate remedial measures; credible National Human Rights . Study treaties and other international Institutions (NHRIs). instruments on human rights and make . They require that NHRIs have recommendations for their effective independence in law, membership, implementation; operations, policy and control of . Undertake and promote research in the resources. field of human rights; . They also require that NHRIs have a

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. Spread human rights literacy among number of genuine grievances go various sections of society and promote unaddressed. awareness of the safeguards available for . State human rights commissions cannot the protection of these rights through call for information from the national publications, the media, seminars and government, which means that they are other available means; implicitly denied the power to investigate . Encourage the efforts of non - armed forces under national control. Governmental organizations and . Also, the National Human Rights institutions working in the field of human Commission powers related to violations rights; of human rights by the armed forces have Structure of NHRC been largely restricted. . According to the Protection of Human . Another major problem is that it is Rights (Amendment), 2019 Act, NHRC flooded with too many complaints, and consists of a Chairperson, who has been a are finding it difficult to address the Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the increasing number of complaints. Supreme Court. Why in News? . Members of NHRC: One member who is, . The National Human Rights Commission or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court has sought an action-taken report within of India and One member who is, or has four weeks from the Centre and the been, the Chief Justice of a High Court. government on a . NHRC includes chairpersons of various complaint by Bhopal gas tragedy commissions such as the National survivors demanding the monthly Commission for Scheduled Castes, pension of ₹1,000 to each widow of National Commission for Scheduled victims that was discontinued in Tribes, and National Commission for December 2019. Women, National Commission for Backward Classes, the National 2) Inclusion of more languages in Commission for the Protection of Child Governance Rights, and the Chief Commissioner for Constitutional provisions related to Official Persons with Disabilities as ex officio languages members. . Part XVII of the Indian constitution deals . Adding to the Act, NHRC also includes with the official languages in Articles 343 three persons knowing human rights to to 351. be appointed of which at least one will be . Article 343(1): Under this provision of a woman. the Constitution of India, in . The Chairperson and the members of the Devanagari script shall be the official NHRC are appointed for 3 years or till language of the Union. the age of 70 years, whichever is . Article 343(2): Provided that English earlier. shall also be continued to be used in . They can be removed only on the charges official work of the Union for 15 years of proved misbehaviour or incapacity if from the date of commencement of the proved by an inquiry conducted by a constitution, i.e., up to the 25th of Supreme Court Judge. January 1965. Limitations of NHRC . Article 343(3): Made provisions for the . The NHRC can only make continuation of English even after 25th recommendations, without the power to January 1965 by empowering the enforce decisions. This lack of authority parliament to make laws to that effect. gives an outright rejection of any . Article 344(1): provides for the recommendation or partial compliance. constitution of a Commission by the . Under the Act, human rights commissions President on the expiration of five years cannot investigate an event if the from the commencement of the complaint was made more than one year Constitution. after the incident. Therefore, a large

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. Article 351: It provides for the spread of . The was added in 1967. the Hindi language to develop it so that it . Thereafter three more languages viz., may serve as a medium of expression for Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were all the elements of the composite culture included in 1992. of India. . Subsequently, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and The Official Languages Act, 1963 Santhali were added in 2004. . The Act was passed which provided for Advantages of Recognition in Eighth the continued use of English even after Schedule the said date in 1965. . If included in the Eighth Schedule, the . As per the Act, both English and Hindi language would get the following benefits: shall be used for certain specified o Recognition from the Sahitya Akademi. purposes like resolutions, rules, general o Translation of the literary works into other orders, notifications, press communiqués, languages. administrative and other reports, licenses, o Members of Parliament (MP) and Member tenders, etc. of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) could Committee on Official Language use it in Parliament and State Assemblies, . Seeing the diverse nature of dialects and respectively. languages, the Pahwa (1996) and o Option to take competitive exams in that Sitakant Mohapatra (2003) language including all-India competitive Committees were formed by the examinations like the Civil Services exam. government to evolve a set of objective o Special funds from the Central government. criteria for inclusion of more languages in o The teaching of the language in primary the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. and high school. The reports of the committees are still under the government's consideration in consultation with the concerned 3) Daughters have an equal Minorities/Departments. birthright to inherit property Why in News? What is coparcenary property in Hindu . Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde recently law? said that the government should consider . A Joint Hindu Family or Hindu Undivided amending the Official Languages Act of Family (HUF) means all people linearly 1963 to include more vernacular descending from a common ancestor, languages in governance, and not just including wives and unmarried daughters. confine it to Hindi and English. . But a Hindu coparcenary is a much . The court was hearing an appeal filed by narrower group. It consists of the the Union of India challenging the legality ‘propositus’ (the person from whom a of a High Court judgment to line of descent is traced) and three of his translate the draft Environment Impact descendants. Assessment (EIA) notification of 2020 . Coparcenary property is the one which is into all 22 vernacular languages in the inherited by a Hindu man from his father, Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. grandfather, or great grandfather. The Eighth Schedule property in coparcenary is held as joint . The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution owners, and only a coparcener has a right consists of the following 22 languages: to demand a partition of this property. o Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) . According to the Hindu Succession Act, Hindi, (5) , (6) Kashmiri, (7) 1956, the coparceners included only Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, males as legal heirs (sons, grandsons, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) and great-grandsons) who are holders of Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) joint property. Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) (19) Bodo, . According to the Act, a daughter was not (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) to be considered a coparcener. Dogri. . The law applied to everyone who is not a . Of these languages, 14 were initially Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by included in the Constitution.

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religion. Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and . Prakash v Phulwati (2015): The followers of Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj Supreme Court had held that if the are also considered Hindus for this law. coparcener (father) had passed away 2005 Amendment before 9 September 2005 (the date on . The 1956 Act was amended in 2005 and which the amendment came into effect), women were recognised as his daughter would have no right to the coparceners for property partitions. coparcenary property. . The 2005 amendment to Section 6 of the . However, in the Danamma v. Amar case Hindu Succession Act essentially gave in 2018, the SC held that the two equal rights to daughters in ancestral daughters in this matter would get a share property. It allowed daughters to be in the property, even if their father had recognised as coparceners by birth in the passed away in 2001. family, similar to sons. Why in News? How does it work? . The Supreme Court recently announced . For instance, Ram, a father of three, that daughters, like sons, have passed away without leaving behind a coparcenary rights on the property of will. His two sons, Ramesh and Karan their parents even if the latter died would be deemed coparceners and before the Hindu Succession possess an undivided interest in the (Amendment) Act, 2005 came into property, whereas his married daughter force. Neha would possess no such interest . The apex court said that a daughter is before the 2005 Amendment. entitled to equal property rights under . Conversely, following the 2005 the amended Hindu Succession Act and amendment, Neha would not only be that the law would have retrospective considered a member but also a effects. coparcener and would receive similar Way Forward interest in the property as Ramesh and . Traditional Business Families which have Karan irrespective of her sex and marital not yet recognised the rights of daughters status. will now have to accommodate the rights . This allows a woman to stake a claim of daughters in sharing wealth and upon the partition of the coparcenary allowing them to take part in the family property in her family of birth, even after business. If they fail to do so, daughters marriage. can claim their right by filing a petition in What was the issue? the Court. . While the 2005 law granted equal rights . The judgment further reinstates faith in to women, questions were raised in the judicial system by making it loud and multiple cases on whether the law applied clear that daughters can no longer be retrospectively, and if the rights of deprived of their rights to ancestral women depended on the living status of property, no matter when they were born. the father through whom they would For doubts and queries email us at inherit. [email protected] Supreme Court Judgements

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ENVIRONMENT 1) World elephant day (v) SMS alerts to nearby villagers about the About whereabouts of elephants. . It is the concept which was started in . It also appreciates the 2012 by filmmaker Patricia Sims and Government for buying private land Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of (25.37 acres of private land was Thailand to spread awareness and purchased at Edayarahalli-Doddasampige necessity for conservation of elephants. ) for elephant corridor initiative. . Since then August 12 is celebrated as Challenges : World Elephants Day. . The biggest challenge in managing the . World Elephant Day is the vehicle by conflict is the physical barrier in the which organizations and individuals rally moving pathways of elephants. Eg: together to give voice to the issues various types of fencing threatening elephants. . Population management is the key issue About Elephants because only 22% of the elephant habitat . There are two species of elephants, is under protected area. Majority of African and Asian, and while they are elephant corridors are under non- similar in physiology, they are too protected areas due to which elephants biologically different to interbreed. migrate to the other areas because it . According to IUCN, the Asian elephant is requires fodder around 300kg. classified as endangered with less than . In eastern India, due to various problems 40,000 remaining worldwide. like mining, increasing cultivation, decline . The African elephant (Forest and in bamboo forest cover, the human- Savannah) is a vulnerable species with elephant issue has reached its peak. less than 400,000 remaining worldwide. How to balance economic development and Why in the news? wildlife ecology at the same pace? . India has the largest number of wild . Wildlife management should be Asian Elephants, estimated at 29,964 prioritized along with the economic according to the 2017 census by Project development and decisions regarding Elephant which is almost 60% of the both should go hand in hand along with global Asian Elephant population. various scientific decisions. . Every year around 500 humans die and . Both the economic development and millions-worth of crops, the property is wildlife ecology can go hand-in-hand if a damaged. Even many elephants too lose balance is struck off between both their life in this conflict. To ease it the aspects. Ministry of Forests, Environment, and Way Forward: Climate Change has published a guide to . The Mitigation measures should be prevent and mitigate Human-Elephant implemented by policy makers as well as conflict as well as mark World Elephant via community participation. Day. . The decisions regarding the management . The guide includes best practices level should be made by considering followed in the country to offer strategies science along with pragmatism. which provide site-specific solutions. . The pre-existing corridors needs to be . Some strategies which are mentioned in enlarged the document are : . Though contraceptive measures are (i) Elephant-proof trenches in , costly, there is a record that it proves to (ii) Hanging fences and rubble walls in be worthy at some point of time. Karnataka, . The translocation of animals from a (iii) Use of chilli smoke in north densely populated region to a less (iv) Playing the sound of bees or carnivores in populated region can help in minimising Assam the conflict to some extent.

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. Hence, the issues need to be looked upon 2) Tree loss in Arunachal comprehensively and an integrated threatens hornbills approach is needed to save the animal as Hornbills well as the humans

. Hornbills are a family of tropical and sub- hornbill and the White-throated brown tropical birds which are found extensively hornbill are restricted to this region in , Asia and Melanesia. within India, although they have a wider . Famously dubbed as the ‘Farmers of the distribution in South-east Asia. Forest’, these frugivores (fruit-eating . The Narcondam hornbill is found only on birds) help in seed dispersal of several Narcondam island in the Bay of endemic trees and are important for Bengal. survival and upkeep of entire forests. . The Indian grey hornbill occurs in the . In India, 9 subspecies of hornbills are Indian subcontinent, while the Malabar found. They are: The Great Hornbill, Pied Hornbill is found only in India and Rufous-necked Hornbill, Wreathed Sri Lanka. Hornbill, Narcondam Hornbill, Malabar . The Malabar grey hornbill is endemic to Pied Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, the Western Ghats. White-throated Brown Hornbill, Malabar Papum Reserve Forest (RF) Grey Hornbill, and the Indian Grey Hornbill. . Among them, the Great Hornbill is the largest species in the country. . Five species are found in the northeastern states of which the Wreathed hornbill, Rufous-necked

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. Fishing cats live primarily in wetland areas, both marshes and swamps. . Wetlands are the favorite habitats of the fishing cat. In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of . It is an Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the Arunachal Pradesh. Himalayas along the Ganga and . It lies adjacent to Pakke Tiger Reserve of Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Arunachal Pradesh. This forest typically Western Ghats. contains Sub-tropical Dry Evergreen and . The fishing cat is listed as Vulnerable on Semi-evergreen Forests, while the higher the IUCN Red List, which means that it areas are under Subtropical Broadleaf Hill faces a high threat of extinction in the Forest cover. wild. . It is very special to the Hornbill Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary population as this reserve forest is home to 3 hornbills subspecies; i.e. Great, Wreathed and Oriental Pied. Why in the news? . In the last 5 years (2013-2017), the papum reserve forest has declined by 24% of its total forest area. Annually this forest is losing upto 8 sq.km. . Illegal logging, deforestation, ethnic conflicts, agricultural expansion, conversion to plantations etc. have caused the hornbill population of the region to decline in drastic ways. . The hornbills are hunted here by local tribes for using their beaks and feathers to use them as headgear. There has been a push to promote synthetic feathers and beaks among these tribes so that they stop hunting hornbill species. . Experts have been asking to promote conservation and maintenance of these forests to conserve these hornbill species. . 3) Fishing cat collaring project to . Coringa Sanctuary, a part of Godavari Mangroves in Andhra Pradesh, was begin in A.P.’s Coringa declared in 1978 as a wildlife sanctuary to Fishing Cat conserve the mangrove vegetation of the estuary.

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. The sanctuary is formed in the delta and . A team of experts from Wildlife Institute estuary region of Godavari river which of India (WII) is preparing to put merges into the Bay of Bengal. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) . The Coringa Sanctuary is the second- collars on fishing cats in Coringa Wildlife largest stretch of mangroves along the Sanctuary. Eastern Coast of India, with a unique . Coringa has around 115 fishing cats. This ecosystem, flora and fauna, rare project will help us to understand the mangrove species, as also otters, fishing species’ ecology, home range, behaviour cats, sea turtles etc. in different seasons, feeding habits, . It is also adobe to many migratory bird threats, movements and use of space. species coming from Europe, North and For doubts and queries email us at Central Asia. [email protected] Why in the news?

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ECONOMY 1) RBI surplus transfer assess the adequate size of capital Background reserves that the RBI should hold. . According to Section 47 of the RBI Act, Recommendations of the committee: the profit of the RBI has to be transferred . The committee, in its final report to the government periodically. submitted in 2019, recommended that the . However, before transferring, some RBI should maintain a Contingent Fund amount of the profit is kept aside for between 5.5-6.5% of the RBI’s total maintaining reserves of the RBI. assets. What constitutes RBI’s reserves? . The committee also recommended . RBI’s reserves fall under four main heads: transferring the full net income of the RBI the Contingency Fund (CF), the of Rs 1,23,414 crore for the fiscal year Currency and Gold Revaluation 2018-19 to the Centre. Account (CGRA), the Asset 2) Index of Industrial Production Development Fund (ADF) and the About IIP Investment Revaluation Account (IRA). . Index of Industrial Production (IIP) . CF is the corpus created to take care of details out the growth of various sectors unexpected and unforeseen in an economy such as mineral mining, contingencies, including depreciation in electricity and manufacturing. the value of securities held, systemic risks . It is compiled and published every month and risks arising out of monetary and by the Ministry of Statistics and exchange rate policy operations. Programme Implementation. . The ADF corpus is meant to be drawn . The current base year is 2011-2012. upon for investments in subsidiaries and . The Eight Core Industries (Coal, Crude Oil, to meet internal capital expenditure etc. Natural Gas, Refinery Products, . Of these, the CGRA and the IRA are Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity) ‘notional’ in the sense that they are there comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of to reflect the movements in the market items included in the IIP. prices of the asset classes (mainly gold, Why in News? foreign currency and investments) to . According to the latest Index of Industrial which they relate. No cash flow is Production data, India's industrial output involved in their case and the net credit contracted 16.6% year-on-year in June, balance in the CGRA account only shrinking for the fourth month in a row. indicates the unrealised or potential gain . The data indicated some recovery in some from the disposal by sale of those assets sectors that were hit by lockdowns today. imposed to curb the spread of Why in News? coronavirus. . The board of the RBI has approved the 3) “Transparent Taxation- transfer of ₹57,128 crores as surplus to Honouring the Honest” the government for the accounting year 2019-20. It has decided to maintain a platform Contingency Fund of 5.5 per cent as the What’s in the news? minimum threshold as recommended by . Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently the Bimal Jalan committee. launched the “Transparent Taxation -- . Last year, the central bank had Honouring the Honest” platform aimed transferred ₹1.76 lakh crore, which at easing compliance and expediting included ₹1.23 lakh crore as dividend and refunds, benefiting honest taxpayers. ₹52,637 crores of excess provisions. . Three main features of the platform are Bimal Jalan Committee faceless assessment, faceless appeal . The Bimal Jalan Committee on Economic and taxpayers' charter. Capital Framework was set up in 2018 to Objectives

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. The faceless assessment system seeks to . It also defines the commitment of the tax eliminate corrupt practices by doing away department and the expectations of the with the territorial jurisdiction of income- taxpayers. tax offices. With the help of technology, . Mr Modi said taxpayers’ charter was also the cases of scrutiny will now be a vital step in the country’s development, allocated randomly to any official in in terms of bringing about a balance any part of the country. The document between the responsibilities and the identification numbers will be issued taxpayers’ duties and also fixing the from the central database. government’s responsibilities. . Review of orders will also be done by . He appealed to those not paying taxes another team at some other place, chosen despite the capability to come forward randomly using data analytics and and commit themselves to the cause of artificial intelligence. making the country self-reliant. . The platform would instil a sense of . Although the taxpayer base had expanded fairness and fearlessness in the by 2.5 crores in the past six-seven years, it taxpayers. was a matter of grave concern that only Taxpayers’ charter about 1.5 crore people were paying . The taxpayers' charter outlines the rights income-tax in a country of over 130- and duties of an honest taxpayer. crore population. For doubts and queries email us at [email protected]

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1) Indus Water Treaty . Among the key points on the table was What is the Indus Water Treaty (IWT)? evolving a procedure to solve differences . Signed in the year 1960 by former Prime on technical aspects governing the Minister and the construction of the Ratle run-of-the- then President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, river (RoR) project on the Chenab in the the Indus Water Treaty is an agreement Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. that was made to chalk out the control . According to the terms of the IWT, India over the 6 rivers that run across India and has the right to build RoR projects on then Pakistan into the Indus basin. the three ‘western’ rivers — the . This treaty was signed following the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus — provided partition of the subcontinent. it does so without substantially . On an international level, the IWT has impeding water flow in Pakistan been seen as one of the most successful downstream. cases of conflict resolution. It is so . Pakistan believes that the project’s because India and Pakistan, ever since current design does pose a serious IWT was signed, have engaged in 4 major impediment and has told the World Bank wars but the treaty has stayed in place. that it wants a Court of Arbitration Which rivers belong to India and which (CoA) set up to decide on the issue. India ones to Pakistan? says this is only a technical issue and . Before 1960, to sort out the water sharing mutually solvable. issue, the Inter-Dominion accord was laid down to release enough waters to 2) Pakistan’s new political map Pakistan from India in return for annual Background payments. However, the problem with . On August 4, Pakistan Prime Minister this arrangement was soon realised. A Imran Khan announced a new political new alternative solution was considered map of Pakistan. necessary. . The new political map of Pakistan has . The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in claimed the entire region of Jammu 1960 after nine years of negotiations and Kashmir stretching to the edge of between India and Pakistan with the help Ladakh. of the World Bank, which is also a . The map also claims Junagarh and signatory. Manavadar, a former princely State and . Precise details were laid out about how territory, respectively, that are part of the water will be divided. present-day . . While Jhelum, Chenab and Indus (3 . It leaves out a claim line at the eastern western rivers) were allocated to end of J&K indicating Pakistan’s Pakistan, India received the control of willingness to make China a third party in Ravi, Beas and Sutlej (3 eastern rivers). the Kashmir issue. . The treaty also stated that aside from . This runs counter to the Simla certain cases such as specified domestic, Agreement which treated Kashmir as a non-consumptive and agricultural use bilateral matter. permitted to India, no storage and . Pakistan also claimed the entire territory irrigation systems can be built by India on and water bodies that fall in the Sir Creek the western rivers. region in the westernmost part of India. Why in News? . Sir Creek is a 96-km strip of water . India has refused a request by Pakistan to disputed between India and Pakistan in hold a meeting on issues around the Indus the Rann of Kutch marshlands. The Water Treaty at the Attari check-post Creek opens up in the Arabian Sea and near the India-Pakistan border. roughly divides the Kutch region of Gujarat What is the issue? from the Sindh Province of Pakistan.

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What will be the impact of this o A mutual commitment to the peaceful cartographical warfare? resolution of all issues through direct . The map is likely to lead to changes in bilateral approaches. Pakistan’s position on territorial disputes o To build the foundations of a cooperative with India. By demanding the entire relationship with a special focus on Jammu and Kashmir region, Mr Khan is people to people contacts. changing the main features of Pakistan’s o To uphold the inviolability of the Line of Kashmir discourse as it includes the Control in Jammu and Kashmir, which is a Jammu region prominently. most important Confidence-building . The inclusion of Junagarh and Manavadar measure (CBMs) between India and opens fundamental issues of territorial Pakistan, and a key to durable peace. sovereignty of India. 3) India’s assistance to the . Manavadar, a princely territory, joined Maldives India on February 15, 1948, and Indian What’s in the news? troops marched into Junagarh in . During a recent meeting held between September that year incorporating it into External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Indian territory. Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla . By normalising Islamabad’s claims over Shahid, India committed to the Maldives a these former princely territories, Pakistan five-pronged package including is most likely to assert its rights over the infrastructure worth $500 million, a former princely State of as direct cargo ferry service, creation of an well. air travel bubble, uninterrupted supply of Are there any claims on its western essential commodities and additional borders? financial aid of $250 million to help the . The map is silent about territorial claims cash-strapped economy. in the west and northwest of Pakistan. It . Responding to a request from the indicates Islamabad’s acceptance of the Maldives government, India also decided Durand Line as the border with to support the implementation of Greater Afghanistan. Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP) India’s response through a financial package consisting of . India’s Ministry of External Affairs a grant of $100 million and a new line of responded to Pakistan’s new political map credit of $400 million. as an exercise in “political absurdity”. . This will be the largest civilian Related information infrastructure project in the Maldives, Simla Agreement connecting Malé (the capital) with three . The Simla Agreement signed by Prime neighbouring islands — Villingili, Minister Indira Gandhi and President Gulhifalhu (where a port is being built Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan on 2nd under Indian line of credit) and Thilafushi July 1972 was much more than a peace (new industrial zone) – by the treaty seeking to reverse the construction of a bridge-and-causeway consequences of the 1971 war (i.e. to link spanning 6.7 km. bring about withdrawals of troops and an . The air travel bubble between India and exchange of PoWs). Maldives is expected to facilitate the . It was a comprehensive blueprint for movement of people for employment, good neighbourly relations between India tourism and medical emergencies. The and Pakistan. Maldives is the first neighbouring . Under the Simla Agreement, both country with which an air bubble is being countries undertook to abjure conflict and operationalised. confrontation which had marred relations . ‘Air bubble’ is a bilateral agreement in the past, and to work towards the between India and other countries that establishment of durable peace, allows both to fly their national carriers to friendship and cooperation. and from each other’s soil. The nations . The following principles of the Agreement are particularly noteworthy:

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under this deal have eased entry waters, has become a focal point in restrictions. China’s Belt and Road Initiative aimed Impacts at building trade and transport links . The recent announcements indicate across the region. stepping up of New Delhi’s diplomatic . Refer Pulse #9 edition for details on Belt efforts in a region China has also been and Road Initiative. focusing recently. For doubts and queries email us at . The Indian Ocean island nation, popular [email protected] with tourists for its beaches and turquoise

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1) The magnetic field of the Sun . The corona extends outwards for more measured than a solar radius. It is the upper region of the solar atmosphere. The upper About the Sun corona gradually turns into the solar . The Sun can be split into two regions: wind, a flow of plasma that moves . The interior is a sphere with radius R = outward through our solar system into 7x108m. There are three main parts to interstellar space. The solar wind is, in a the Sun's interior: sense, just an extension of the Sun's . The core is at the centre. It the hottest atmosphere that engulfs all of the region, where the nuclear fusion planets. reactions that power the Sun occur The puzzle of the solar atmosphere . The radiative (or radiation) zone - Its name is derived from the way energy is carried outward through this layer, carried by photons as thermal radiation. . The convective (or convection) zone - It is also named after the dominant mode of energy flow in this layer; heat moves upward via roiling convection.

. The temperature at the core of the Sun is nearly 15 million degrees Celsius, while that at its surface layer, photosphere, is merely 5,700 degrees C. . The natural thing to expect is that still further outwards, in its atmosphere, known as the corona, the temperatures would be comparable to that at the surface (photosphere). . However, the temperature of the corona is much higher. . It starts increasing outside the photosphere, reaching a value of about one million degrees or more in the . The atmosphere lies on top and has the corona. following layers (from innermost to Eruptions of the Sun outermost): . Another puzzle is a set of questions about . The photosphere is about 300 km thick. the mechanisms of eruptions of the Sun, Most of the Sun's visible light that we see such as solar flares and coronal mass originates from this region. It is the ejections. boundary between the Sun's interior and . These are driven by magnetic the solar atmosphere. reconnections happening in the Sun’s . The chromosphere is about 2000 km corona. thick. We only see this layer and the other . Solar flares are an explosion of energy outer layers during an eclipse. It is the caused by tangling, crossing or lower region of the solar atmosphere. reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots (darker and cooler spots).

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. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large . Clinical development is when the expulsions of plasma and magnetic vaccine is first tested in humans. field from the Sun’s corona. . It covers four stages over several years, . Magnetic reconnection is a process where from initial clinical trials in humans oppositely polarity magnetic field lines (phase I) right through to introduction connect and some of the magnetic energy and beyond (phase IV). is converted to heat energy and also . Clinical development is built on rigorous kinetic energy which leads to the ethical principles of informed consent generation of heating, solar flares, solar from volunteers, with an emphasis on jets, etc. vaccine safety as well as efficacy. Why in News? Phases of clinical development . Significant advancement has been made . Vaccines take several years to develop, by an international team of solar and their development typically proceeds physicists who have measured the through three phases of clinical trials. global magnetic field of the Sun’s . In Phase 1, small groups of people receive corona, or outer atmosphere, for the the trial vaccine. very first time. . During Phase 2, the clinical study is News in Detail expanded and the vaccine is given to . Since popular attempts to explain these people who have characteristics (such as solar puzzles invoke the magnetic field of age and physical health) similar to those the corona, the present work will help for whom the new vaccine is intended. understand and verify these theories . In Phase 3, the vaccine is given to several better. thousand people and tested for efficacy . The team used the improved and safety. measurements of the Coronal Multi- . During this phase, participants either channel Polarimeter (CoMP) and receive the vaccine or a placebo. advanced data analysis to measure the . The efficacy of the vaccine is determined coronal magnetic field. by comparing the prevalence of infection . CoMP is an instrument operated by the in the group that was administered the High Altitude Observatory of the U.S. at vaccine with the one which received a Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, Hawaii. placebo. . It is very important to measure the . The hypothesis that those in the vaccine corneal magnetic fields regularly since the group will be infected significantly less is solar corona is highly dynamic and varies thus tested. within seconds to a minute time scale. Definitions of placebo . While photospheric magnetic fields are . a usually pharmacologically inert measured regularly from space, the preparation prescribed more for the measurement of global coronal magnetic mental relief of the patient than for its fields was missing in the past since the actual effect on a disorder coronal magnetic fields are very weak. . an inert or innocuous substance used 2) Russia registers coronavirus especially in controlled experiments vaccine - Sputnik V testing the efficacy of another substance Stages of vaccine development (such as a drug) . Development of vaccines can be Why in News? simplified into two broad stages: . Russia became the first country to . Pre-clinical development is research officially register a coronavirus carried out in lab assays and on animals. vaccine and declare it ready for use, It includes: despite international scepticism. . Identification (discovery) of relevant News in Detail antigens (e.g. screening) . President Vladimir Putin emphasized that . Evaluation of vaccine efficacy in test the vaccine underwent the necessary tubes and animals tests and has proven efficient, offering lasting immunity from the coronavirus.

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. The vaccine will be marketed under the Chiefs of Armed forces (Army, Navy, name 'Sputnik V' on foreign markets. Airforce), Defence Secretary, Secretaries . Large-scale production of the vaccine is of Defence Research & Development and expected to start in September, and mass Defence Production, Chief of Integrated vaccination may begin as early as October. Staff Committees, and Director General Concerns (Acquisition). . The vaccine has been approved before the . The objective of the Defence Acquisition final stages of clinical trials -Phase 3 trials Council is to ensure expeditious — which normally last for months and procurement of the approved involve thousands of people— to test requirements of the Armed Forces in safety and efficacy are over. terms of capabilities sought, and time . Scientists in Russia and abroad have frame prescribed, by optimally utilizing expressed caution that the rush to start the allocated budgetary resources. using the vaccine could backfire. . The functions of the DAC include: . in-principle approval of 15 Year Long- 3) HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft Term Integrated Perspective Plan for Defence Forces; (BTA) . accord of Acceptance of Necessity to About acquisition proposals; . categorization of the acquisition proposals relating to 'Buy' (outright purchase), 'Buy & Make' (purchase followed by licensed production/ indigenous development) and 'Make' (indigenous production and R&D); . decisions regarding Transfer of Technology under 'Buy & Make' category of acquisition proposals; and . Field Trial evaluation. Why in News? . The Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath . HTT-40 (Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40) Singh, approved defence procurements is a new basic training aircraft being worth ₹8,722.38 crores, including 106 developed by Hindustan Aeronautics HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA) for Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force the Indian Air Force (IAF). (IAF). News in Detail . The new aircraft will replace the ageing . Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has fleet of HAL HPT-32 Deepak trainers that successfully developed HTT-40 are in service with the IAF. prototypes and the certification process is . The aircraft will be primarily used for underway. basic flight training, aerobatics, . The DAC also approved the procurement instrument flying and close-formation of an upgraded version of Super Rapid flights, whereas its secondary roles will Gun Mount (SRGM), which is fitted as the include navigation and night-flying. main gun on board Navy and Coast Guard About Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) warships from Bharat Heavy Electricals . The Defence Acquisition Council was Limited (BHEL). created as an overarching structure for . The upgraded version of SRGM has overall guidance of the defence enhanced capability to perform against procurement planning process. fast manoeuvring targets such as missiles . Composition of DAC: Defence Minister and fast attack crafts and increase the as the chairman, other members maximum engagement range. including Minister of State for Defence, . Besides, the DAC approved procurement of 125 mm APFSDS (Armour Piercing

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Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) of very large data sets, often in the ammunition for the Army as a ‘design gigabase range (1 gigabase = and development Case’. 1,000,000,000 base pairs of DNA). . The ammunition being procured will have Why in News? a 70% indigenous content. . To speed up testing as well as improve 4) Next-Generation Sequencing the accuracy of testing for coronavirus What is a Genome? (COVID-19) positive cases, the Council of . A genome is an organism’s complete set Scientific and Industrial Research of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), including (CSIR) is working on developing “mega all of its genes. labs.” . Each genome contains all of the . These labs will have large machines called information needed to build and maintain Next Generation Sequencing machines that organism. (NGS). . In humans, a copy of the entire genome— About CSIR more than 3 billion DNA base pairs—is . The CSIR, known for its cutting edge contained in all cells that have a nucleus. R&D knowledgebase in diverse S&T What is Genome sequencing? areas, is a contemporary R&D . Genome sequencing is figuring out the organization. order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a . CSIR was established by the Government genome—the order of adenine (A), of India in 1942 as an autonomous cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T) body that has emerged as the largest that make up an organism's DNA. research and development organisation . The nucleotide sequence is the most in India. fundamental level of knowledge of a . Although it is mainly funded by the gene or genome. Ministry of Science and Technology, it . No understanding of genetic function or operates as an autonomous body evolution could be complete without through the Societies Registration Act, obtaining this information. 1860. First-Generation Sequencing Technology . CSIR covers a wide spectrum of science . The so-called first-generation sequencing and technology – from radio and space technologies, which emerged in the physics, oceanography, geophysics, 1970s, included the Maxam-Gilbert chemicals, drugs, genomics, method and the Sanger method (or biotechnology and nanotechnology to dideoxy method). mining, aeronautics, instrumentation, . The Sanger method became the more environmental engineering and commonly employed of the two information technology. approaches. . CSIR has put in place CSIR@80: Vision & Next-Generation Sequencing Technology Strategy 2022 – New CSIR for New . Next-generation (massively parallel, or India. second-generation) sequencing technologies have largely supplanted News in Detail first-generation technologies. . The NGS machines, which are also used . These newer approaches enable many for sequencing human genomes, will be DNA fragments (sometimes on the order repurposed to sequence 1,500-3,000 of millions of fragments) to be sequenced viral genomes at a go for detecting the at one time and are more cost-efficient SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus. and much faster than first-generation . The CSIR has partnered with the U.S.- technologies. based Illumina, a company that . The utility of next-generation specialises in the manufacture of NGS technologies was improved significantly machines. by advances in bioinformatics that . Five such sequencers, costing ₹4 crores allowed for increased data storage and each, are currently available in India. facilitated the analysis and manipulation Advantage over RT-PCR

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. Used optimally and with appropriate of one of the primers during the PCR modifications, these genome sequencing reaction and to give a fluorescent signal machines can substantially detect the during the reaction. possible presence of the virus even in several instances where the traditional RT-PCR (reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction) tests miss out.

About real-time PCR 5) HAL Light Combat Helicopter . A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR), also known as (LCH) quantitative polymerase chain reaction About LCH (qPCR), is a laboratory technique of molecular biology based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). . It monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule during the PCR (i.e., in real-time), not at its end, as in conventional PCR.  This is primarily because the RT-PCR test identifies the SARS-CoV-2 virus by exploring only specific sections of the virus whereas the genome method can read a bigger chunk of the virus genome.  Therefore genome method provides more certainty that the virus in question is indeed the particular coronavirus of . The light combat helicopter (LCH) was interest. designed and built indigenously by  It can also trace the evolutionary Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). history of the virus and track . It is a two-seater attack helicopter mutations more reliably. derived from the existing Dhruv  Unlike the RT-PCR that needs primers and helicopter. probes — a key hurdle in operationalising . The LCH can be deployed in various roles, such tests on a mass scale early on in the including tracking slow-moving aerial pandemic — the NGS does not need targets, insurgency, destroying enemy primers and probes, and only needs defences, search and rescue, anti-tank and custom reagents. scouting. Primers . The LCH is effective as both an anti- . A primer is a short, single-stranded infantry and anti-armour helicopter. DNA sequence used in the polymerase . It is the lightest attack helicopter in the chain reaction (PCR) technique. world designed and developed by HAL to . In the PCR method, a pair of primers is meet the specific and unique used to hybridize with the sample DNA requirements of Indian Armed Forces. and define the region of the DNA that will . According to HAL, the LCH is a potent be amplified. weapon platform with state of the art . Primers are also referred to as systems and highly accurate weapons oligonucleotides. capable of hitting any type of target by . Probes day or night. . Probes are fluorescently labelled DNA . Other features of the LCH include its oligonucleotides. ability to operate in the complete ‘Area of . They are designed to bind downstream Responsibility’ (AOR) and altitudes and

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can carry adequate weapon load at high . The panel would consider the logistics altitudes under varied conditions. and ethical aspects of procurement and . The IAF and the Army together need administration of COVID-19 vaccine. around 160 LCHs and the Defence . The committee would engage with all Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved stakeholders, including State an initial batch of 15 LCHs. governments and vaccine manufacturers. First meeting . India would leverage domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity as well as engage with all international players for the early delivery of vaccines in India as well as in low and middle-income countries, the first-ever meeting of the panel decided. . The meeting was chaired by Dr V.K. Paul, Member, Niti Aayog, along with Secretary (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) as co-Chair. . The expert group deliberated on a “conceptualisation and implementation mechanism” to create a Why in News? digital infrastructure for inventory . Amid the ongoing stand-off on the border management and delivery mechanism with China in Ladakh, two indigenous of the vaccine, including tracking of the Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) has been vaccination process, with particular focus deployed for operations at high altitude in on the last-mile delivery. Leh at short notice to support Indian Air . The expert group discussed the financial Force (IAF) missions. resources required for procurement of 6) National Expert Group on COVID-19 vaccine and various options of financing the same. Vaccine Administration for . India’s support to its key neighbours and coronavirus (COVID-19) development partner countries for Why in News? COVID-19 vaccines was also deliberated . The Health Ministry formed an expert upon. committee on vaccine administration, For doubts and queries email us at under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog [email protected] member V.K. Paul. About the panel

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ART & CULTURE 1) Mushaira . The Mushaira form of Urdu poetry took About mushaira shape in the 18th century in the Mughal . Mushaira, also called mehfil or Mushairi, Court. is an Urdu poetic symposium. Why in News? . It is an event where poets gather to . Eminent Urdu poet Rahat Indori (1950- perform their works. 2020) succumbed to COVID-related . A mushaira is a beloved part of the complications recently. Culture of North India, Pakistan and . He was an unwavering light that kept the the Deccan, particularly among the ‘mushaira’ poetry alive for generations. Hyderabadi Muslims, and it is greatly For doubts and queries email us at admired by participants as a forum for [email protected] free self-expression.

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PIB ANALYSIS

1) UMANG APP (EPFO) services, Aadhar, Pension, About UMANG ePathshala, e- Land Records, Crop . UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for Insurance, etc. New-age Governance) is developed by the Why in News? Ministry of Electronics and . UMANG has been a big hit among Information Technology (MeitY) and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation National e-Governance Division (EPFO) subscribers enabling them to (NeGD) to drive Mobile Governance in utilize services during COVID-19 India. pandemic from the comfort of their . UMANG provides a single platform for all homes in a hassle-free manner. Indian Citizens to access pan India e-Gov About EPFO services ranging from Central to Local . EPFO is one of the World's largest Social Government bodies and other citizen- Security Organisations in terms of centric services. clientele and the volume of financial . Launched in 2017, at present, about 660 transactions undertaken. services from 127 departments & 25 . It is a statutory body that manages the states and about 180 utility bill payment provident fund and pension accounts for services are live and more are in pipeline. the workforce engaged in the organized UMANG user base has crossed 2.1 Crore sector in India. including Android, iOS, Web and KaiOS. . It implements the Employees’ Provident Key features Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, . Unified Platform: It brings together all 1952. government departments and their . The Employees’ Provident Fund and services on a single platform to provide Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 better and easier services to citizens. provides for the institution of provident . Mobile-First Strategy: It aligns all funds for employees in factories and government services with the mobile-first other establishments. strategy to leverage mobile adoption . It is administered by the Ministry of trends. Labour & Employment. . Integration with Digital India Services: It provides seamless integration with 2) Krishi Megh other Digital India Services like Aadhaar, About : DigiLocker, and PayGov. Any new such . Krishi Megh is the data recovery centre service will automatically be integrated of Indian Council of Agricultural with the platform. Research. . Uniform Experience: It is designed to . The data recovery centre has been set up enable citizens to discover, download, at National Academy of Agricultural access, and use all government services Research Management (NAARM), easily. Hyderabad. . Secure and Scalable: It supports . Krishi Megh has been set up under the Aadhaar-based and other authentication National Agricultural Higher Education mechanisms for service access. The Project (NAHEP). sensitive profile data is saved in an . The National Agricultural Higher encrypted format and no one can view Education Project is funded by both the this information. government of India and the World Services provided by the app Bank. . It is a unified application that can be used . The overall objective of the project is to to avail several pan India e-government provide more relevant and high-quality services such as: Filing income tax, education to the agricultural university Employees Provident Fund Organization

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students that is in tune with the New Finance Institutions and SHG Banks. Small Education Policy - 2020. Industries Development Bank of India Key Features: (SIDBI) is the implementation partner for . Krishi Megh has been built to mitigate the the scheme. risk, enhance the quality, availability and About SIDBI accessibility of e-governance, research, . SIDBI set up under an Act of Parliament, extension and education in the field of acts as the Principal Financial agriculture in India. Institution for Promotion, Financing . It is equipped with the latest technologies and Development of the Micro, Small like artificial intelligence and deep and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector learning software for building and as well as for coordination of functions of deploying deep learning-based institutions engaged in similar activities. applications through image analysis, . It aims to facilitate and strengthen credit disease identification in livestock, etc. flow to MSMEs and address both financial . This will enable providing real-time data and developmental gaps in the MSME to the researchers. ecosystem. Why in News? . Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Why in News? Welfare launched the Krishi Megh . The number of loan sanctions and several (National Agricultural Research & applications received under PM Street Education System -Cloud Infrastructure Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM and Services). SVANidhi) scheme has crossed the mark 3) PM Street Vendor’s of 1 lakh and 5 lakhs respectively within 41 days of commencement of the lending AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM process on July 02, 2020. SVANidhi) 4) National Pharmaceutical About: . PM SVANidhi was launched by the Pricing Authority Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs About NPPA for providing affordable Working Capital . National Pharmaceutical Pricing loan to street vendors to resume their Authority (NPPA), was established in livelihoods which have been severely 1997 as an independent body of experts affected due to COVID-19 induced as per the decision taken by the Cabinet lockdown. committee in 1994 while reviewing Drug Objectives of the Scheme Policy as a regulator for pricing of drugs. . To facilitate working capital loan up to Rs . It has been constituted as an attached 10,000 at a subsidized rate of interest; office of the Department of . To incentivize regular repayment of the Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of loan; and Chemicals & Fertilizers. . To reward digital transactions. . The Authority has been entrusted with Key features of the Scheme the task of . Initial working capital of up to Rs o Fixation/revision of prices of 10,000/- pharmaceutical products (bulk drugs and . Interest subsidy on timely/ early formulations), repayment @ 7% o Enforcement of provisions of the Drugs . Monthly cash-back incentive on digital (Prices Control) Order. transactions o Monitoring of the prices of controlled and . Higher loan eligibility on timely decontrolled drugs in the country. repayment of the first loan . The NPPA currently fixes prices of drugs . No collateral security is required. placed in the National List of Essential . Lending Institutions: Scheduled Medicines (NLEM) under Schedule-I of Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, the DPCO. Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, . Non-scheduled drugs are allowed an Non-Banking Financial Companies, Micro- increase of up to 10 per cent in prices

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every year, which is monitored by the disruptive technology in an accelerated NPPA. time frame. . NPPA can also fix the price for non- Significance scheduled drugs by invoking . The NIIO puts in place dedicated extraordinary powers in the public structures for the end-users to interact interest, under the Drugs (Prices Control) with academia and industry towards Order, 2013. fostering innovation and self-reliance in Why in News? defence in keeping with the vision of . A Price Monitoring and Resource Unit Atmanirbhar Bharat. (PMRU) has been set up in Karnataka Why in News? under the aegis of the National . Recently, the Naval Innovation and Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) has been launched by the Defence Minister of About Price Monitoring and Resource India. Unit A compendium (concise collection of . PMRUs are societies registered under the . information) of Indian Navy’s Societies Registration Act having its indigenisation perspective plans titled Memorandum of Association/ Bye-laws. ‘SWAVLAMBAN’ was also released. . The primary function of PMRUs is to

assist NPPA in monitoring the prices of drugs, ensuring the availability of 6) Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya drugs and raising consumer Janaushadhi Pariyojana awareness. (PMBJP) . PMRU will function at the State level About PMBJP under the direct supervision of the State . Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Drug Controller for increasing outreach Pariyojana (PMBJP) is a campaign of NPPA. launched by the Department of . The Board of Governors of PMRU Pharmaceuticals to provide quality includes the representatives from the medicines at affordable prices to the Central Government and State masses. Government concerned and other . PMBJP stores have been set up to provide stakeholders. generic drugs, which are available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality 5) Naval Innovation and and efficacy as expensive branded drugs. Implementing Agency: Indigenisation Organisation . Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) About NIIO is the implementing agency for PMBJP. . It will provide dedicated structures for the end-users to interact with academia About BPPI and industry towards fostering . The Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India innovation and indigenisation for self- comprising all the Pharma CPSUs under reliance in defence. the Department of Pharmaceuticals was . It is a three-tiered organisation: established in 2008. o The Naval Technology Acceleration . It aims to bring about effective Council (N-TAC) will bring together the collaboration and cooperation in twin aspects of innovation and furthering the working and resources of indigenisation and provide apex level these organizations. directives. Objective: o A working group under the N-TAC will . Making quality medicines available at implement the projects. affordable prices for all, particularly the o A Technology Development poor and disadvantaged, through Acceleration Cell (TDAC) has also been exclusive outlets "Jan Aushadhi created for the induction of emerging Kendras", to reduce out of pocket expenses in healthcare.

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Who can open a Jan Aushadhi Kendras? . Biofuels have the benefits of reducing . State Governments or any organization / import dependency on crude oil, a reputed NGOs / Trusts / Private hospitals cleaner environment, additional / Charitable institutions / Doctors / income to farmers and employment Unemployed pharmacists/ individual generation in rural areas. entrepreneurs are eligible to apply for . The biofuels programme is also in new Jan Aushadhi stores. synergy with the Government of India . The applicants shall have to employ one B initiatives for Make in India, Swachh Pharma / D Pharma degree holder as Bharat and enhancing farmers’ income. Pharmacist in their proposed store. Categories of Biofuels . They can be set up at any suitable place . First-generation biofuels: These are within Government hospital or Private made from food sources such as sugar, hospital premises or anywhere outside starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using the premises. conventional technology. Common first- Why in News? generation biofuels include Bioalcohols, . More than 5 crores Sanitary Napkins Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, Biogas. distributed from Jan Aushadhi Kendras to . Second-generation biofuels: These are underprivileged women at a minimum produced from non-food crops or price of Rs.1 each. portions of food crops that are not edible and considered as wastes, e.g. 7) World Biofuel Day stems, husks, wood chips, and fruit skins About World Biofuel Day and peeling. Thermochemical reactions or . World Biofuel Day is observed every year biochemical conversion processes are on 10th August to create awareness about used for producing such fuels. Examples the importance of non-fossil fuels as an include cellulose ethanol, biodiesel. alternative to conventional fossil fuels . Third-generation biofuels: These are and to highlight the various efforts made produced from microorganisms like by the Government in the biofuel sector. algae. Example- Butanol. . This day also honours the research . Fourth Generation Biofuels: In the experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel who ran production of these fuels, crops that are an engine with peanut oil in the year genetically engineered to take in high 1893. His research experiment had amounts of carbon are grown and predicted that vegetable oil is going to harvested as biomass. Crops are then replace fossil fuels in the next century to converted into fuel using second- fuel different mechanical engines. generation techniques. The fuel is pre- . The World Biofuel Day has been observed combusted and the carbon is captured. by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Then the carbon is geo-sequestered, ie, Gas since 2015. the carbon is stored in depleted oil or gas What are Biofuels? fields or unmineable coal seams. . Biofuels are environment-friendly fuels Important Biofuel types in India and their utilization would address global . Bioethanol: Ethanol produced from concerns about containment of carbon biomass such as sugar-containing emissions. materials, like sugarcane, sugar beet, . Biofuels are derived from renewable sweet sorghum etc.; starch containing biomass resources and, therefore, materials such as corn, cassava, rotten provide a strategic advantage to promote potatoes, algae etc.; and, cellulosic sustainable development and to materials such as bagasse, wood waste, supplement conventional energy sources agricultural and forestry residues or other in meeting the rapidly increasing renewable resources like an industrial requirements for transportation fuels waste; associated with high economic growth, as . Biodiesel: a methyl or ethyl ester of fatty well as in meeting the energy needs of acids produced from non-edible vegetable India’s vast rural population. oils, acid oil, used cooking oil or animal fat and bio-oil;

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. Advanced biofuels: Fuels which are material will qualify as "Advanced o produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks Biofuels". (i.e. agricultural and forestry residues, e.g. . Bio-CNG: A purified form of bio-Gas rice & wheat straw/corn cob s & whose composition & energy potential is stover/bagasse, woody biomass), non- similar to that of fossil-based natural gas food crops (i.e. grasses, algae), or and is produced from agricultural industrial waste and residue streams residues, animal dung, food waste, MSW o having low CO2 emission or high GHG and Sewage water. reduction and do not compete with food Why in News? crops for land use. Fuels such as Second . A webinar on the occasion of the World Generation (2G) Ethanol, Drop-in fuels, Biofuel day was organized by the Ministry algae-based 3G biofuels, bio-CNG, bio- of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with the methanol, Di Methyl Ether (DME) derived theme “Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar from bio-methanol, bio-hydrogen, drop-in Bharat”. fuels with MSW as the source/feedstock For doubts and queries email us at [email protected]

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News in Depth AIR NEWS 1) Aspirational Districts . Officers at the level of Joint Secretary / Programme Additional Secretary have been nominated to become the ‘Central About the programme Prabhari Officers’ of each district. . Launched in January 2018, the . States have appointed state-nodal and Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) Prabhari officers. is one of the largest experiments on . An Empowered Committee under the outcomes-focused governance in the Convenorship of the CEO, NITI Aayog will world. help in the convergence of various . Spread across 115 of India’s socio- government schemes and streamlining of economically challenged districts, the efforts. ADP is Niti Aayog’s flagship initiative to Focus Areas improve health, nutrition, education, and . To enable optimum utilization of their economic outcomes. potential, this program focuses closely on Core Strategy improving people’s ability to participate . The broad contours of the programme are fully in the vibrant economy. Convergence (of Central & State . Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Skill Development, and Basic Collectors), and Competition among Infrastructure are this programme’s core districts driven by a spirit of mass areas of focus. Movement. Baseline Ranking . With States as the main drivers, this . The objective of the program is to program will focus on the strength of each monitor the real-time progress of district, identify low-hanging fruits for aspirational districts based on 49 immediate improvement, measure indicators (81 data-points) from the 5 progress, and rank districts. identified thematic areas. Selection of districts . Districts are aspiring to first catch-up . 115 districts were identified from 28 with the best district within their State, states using a composite index of key data and subsequently aspire to become one of sets that included deprivation the best in the country, by competing enumerated under the Socio-Economic with, and learning from others in the Caste Census, key health and education spirit of competitive & cooperative sector performance and state of basic federalism. infrastructure. Why in News? Institutional framework . Recently, Micro, Small and Medium . NITI Aayog anchors the programme with Enterprises Minister Nitin Gadkari support from Central Ministries and the emphasised upon improving MSME State Governments. footprint in 115 aspirational districts. . While NITI Aayog is steering the initiative . He said, their contribution to GDP is in 30 districts, various central ministries presently negligible, but if focused oversee 50 districts besides the Ministry attention is given to them, they can uplift of Home Affairs, which focuses on 35 the employment scene in a big way. Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts.

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2) Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram (i) As far as possible, elimination of poverty, Yojana but reduction in its incidence by at least 50% within three years. About the scheme (ii) Universal adult literacy . Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (iii) 100% enrolment and retention of (PMAGY) aims at integrated children at the elementary stage (I-VIII). development of selected villages (iv) Reduction of infant mortality rate (per having more than 50% Scheduled thousand live births) to 30 and maternal Caste (SC) population through mortality rate (per lakh) to 100, by 2012. implementation of existing scheme of (v) Village should fulfill the Nirmal Gram Central and State Governments in a Puraskar norms of the Deptt. Of Drinking convergent manner and by utilization of Water Supply, M/o Rural Development, ie, gap filling funds provided as Central these villages should be 100 % open Assistance. defecation free . The scheme was launched in 2009-10 on (vi) Access to safe drinking water facility to all a pilot basis, for the integrated villagers on a sustainable basis. development of 1000 villages in 5 States (vii) 100% institutional deliveries for pregnant viz. Himachal Pradesh, , , women Tamil Nadu and Assam and further (viii) Full immunisation of children extended in 2015 to another 1500 villages (ix) Achieving all weather road connectivity to in 11 states. the village . The Government of India is planning to (x) 100% registration of deaths and births in cover all the eligible 26968 villages by the village the end of 2024-25. (xi) No child marriages, and child labour . Works and programmes taken up under (xii) No public consumption of liquor and PMAGY in the identified States include other intoxicating substances inter alia, construction of village roads, (xiii) 100% allotment of Pradhan Mantri community halls/meeting places, Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMGAY) houses to community toilets, drainage works, all eligible families installation of hand pumps, solar powered Why in News? street lights, drinking water scheme etc. . Several projects have been identified in . As per scheme, for a village to be declared the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir as Adarsh village a minimum of three of under Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram the targets listed below have to be Yojana. achieved by the end of the third year of For doubts and queries email us at implementation of PMAGY:- [email protected]

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THE HINDU EDITORIALS . 1) The WHO’s relevance is fading Relying on rich member states Context: . WHO is funded through assessed . COVID-19 has infected more than 19 contributions made by the member states million people, claimed over 0.7 million and voluntary contributions from lives and devastated economies. member states and private donors. . As the pandemic transcends geopolitical . While assessed contributions can be spent boundaries, timely global health as per the organisation’s priorities interventions by the World Health approved at the World Health Assembly, Organization (WHO) duly supported by the irregular voluntary contributions are governments play a crucial role. allocated in consultation with the donors. Criticism of WHO’s role . While voluntary contributions accounted Slow response for nearly 80% of the budget in 2018-19, . The WHO was expected to play the dual assessed contributions merely constituted role of a think tank and oversee global 17% of the total budgetary support. responses to public health emergencies. . The challenges owing to constrained . The earliest COVID-19 positive case in finances restrict autonomy in decision- China was reported in November, but making by favouring a donor-driven China informed the WHO about the agenda. disease only in January. Conclusion: . With the WHO country representative . Many countries, especially in Africa and stationed in Beijing, it is unlikely that Asia, rely predominantly on the WHO for widespread transmission went unnoticed. enforcing policy decisions governing . An early warning and timely policy public health. measures by the WHO would have . Hence, WHO should not betray that trust forewarned countries and set their because of political leanings and financial preparatory efforts in motion for compulsions. mounting a decisive response strategy. About the World Health Organisation Ignoring hint of other countries . WHO the United Nations’ specialized agency . Though confirmed cases were reported for Health came into force on 7 April 1948, a from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the date we now celebrate every year as World U.S. in January, the WHO continued to Health Day. downplay the severity of the virus. . There are more than 190 Member States, . WHO declared the pandemic as a public 150 country offices, six regional offices. health emergency of international . It has its headquarters in Geneva, concern only on January 30. Switzerland. . It ignored Taiwan’s hints of human-to- . The primary role of WHO is to direct and human transmission and requests on coordinate international health within the sharing relevant information. United Nations system. Fading relevance . The objective of WHO is the attainment by . The WHO has been reduced to a all peoples of the highest possible level of coordinating body, beholden to the health. interests of rich member states. Main functions . Its functional efficiency has been . To act as a directing and coordinating disadvantaged with authority on international health work . organisational lethargy . To ensure valid and productive technical . absence of decisive leadership cooperation, and . bureaucratic laziness . To promote research. . underfunded programmes . To assist the Governments, upon request, in . inability to evolve to meet the needs of strengthening health services. the 21st century. . To promote cooperation among scientific

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Northwest and Northeast India and the and professional groups which contribute to Western Ghats are two regions of high the advancement of health. vulnerability and are landslide-prone. . WHO also proposes conventions,

agreements, and regulations and makes Landslide in Kerala recommendations about international . The occurrence of the landslide is Kerala nomenclature of diseases, causes of death, is due to and public health practices. . Heavy monsoonal rainfall -Most districts . It develops, establishes, and promotes have received three or four times more international standards concerning foods rain than what is normal. and biological, pharmaceutical, and similar The hilly topography of the state substances. . Quarrying and the unscientific cutting of . slopes into hills aggravating the risk of soil erosion. 2) Landslides in Kerala . Data from the Geological Survey of India Context: showed that Kerala had experienced 67 . The landslide in Idukki district of Kerala major landslide events and several minor has so far claimed 22 lives and rendered ones from 1961-2013. several homeless. . As part of a National Landslide What is a landslide? Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) . A landslide is defined as the movement of programme, the agency mapped several a mass of rock or debris down a slope. States in the Western Ghats, North- Landslides are a type of mass wasting (a eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir and geomorphic process) which denotes any Uttarakhand to assess how vulnerable down-slope movement of soil and rock their districts were. under the direct influence of gravity. . Nearly 13,000 square kilometres were The reason behind the occurrence of mapped until 2018 and 6,000 were to be landslides covered in 2019-20 in Kerala, according . Earthquake to the programme website. . Heavy rainfall and snowfall . Nearly 13 of the State’s 14 districts were . Shocks and Vibrations prone to landslides. . Soil erosion . Kerala became particularly vulnerable . Anthropogenic activities i.e., unplanned due to the high population density over construction activities, forest cutting etc. 800 per square kilometre compared to other States that also faced high landslide risk. About National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) . Geological Survey of India has launched and undertook a national programme on landslide susceptibility mapping – Macro scale (1:50,000) National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) to cover the 0.42 million sq. km landslide-prone areas of the country. . This national programme was formally launched in 2014. . Aims and Objectives . To create a dynamic National Landslide Zone Map Susceptibility Geodatabase for India . A general landslide hazard map of India . To prepare GIS-based seamless Landslide shown here marks the areas of different Susceptibility Maps of India on 1:50,000 hazard zones in various states of India; scale one may note that Himalayas of

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. To prepare a nation-wide repository on . ILO Convention No. 182 is the first ILO GIS-based Landslide Inventory Convention to achieve universal . To help State and district authorities ratification. incorporate the risk of landslides into . It was also the most rapidly ratified zoning laws. Convention in the history of the ILO, with How should Kerala be prepared? the majority of ratifications occurring . Operationalising the State’s disaster within the first 3 years after it was management apparatus and allocating adopted in 1999. funds for preparedness are key policy About the International Labour responses. Organisation . Kerala also must double down on . ILO was created in 1919, as part of the enforcing regulations and observing Treaty of Versailles that ended World War zoning laws as well as ensuring that I. slopes carved into hilly terrain have . It became the first specialized agency of adequate provisions for draining water. the UN in 1946. . It should be clear that development goals . ILO is the only tripartite U.N. agency are pursued without breaching which brings together governments, environment regulations. employers and workers of 187 member Related information States, to set labour standards, develop . The National Institute of Disaster policies and devise programmes Management (NIDM) organized the 1st promoting decent work for all women and International Conference on “Landslides men. Risk Reduction and Resilience" on 28th . India is a founder member of the ILO. November 2019 in New Delhi. . It is headquartered in Geneva, . The aim was to bring together all Switzerland. stakeholders including relevant ministries, universities, as well as experts About International Labour Standards to discuss/debate/disseminate practically . International labour standards are legal useful knowledge, experiences, instruments drawn up by the ILO's information and innovations for constituents (governments, employers landslides risk reduction and resilience at and workers) and setting out basic national and international levels. principles and rights at work. About National Institute of Disaster . They are either Conventions (or Management Protocols), which are legally binding . NIDM comes under the Ministry of Home international treaties that may be ratified Affairs and is located in New Delhi. by member states, or recommendations, . Under the Disaster Management Act 2005, which serve as non-binding guidelines. NIDM has been assigned nodal . In many cases, a Convention lays down responsibilities for human resource the basic principles to be implemented by development, capacity building, training, ratifying countries, while a related research, documentation and policy Recommendation supplements the advocacy in the field of disaster Convention by providing more detailed management. guidelines on how it could be applied. 3) Historic ratification Eight core conventions of ILO Context: . The ILO Governing Body has identified . For the first time in the International eight “fundamental” Conventions, Labour Organization (ILO)’s 101-year covering subjects that are considered to history, a labour standard has been be fundamental principles and rights at universally ratified, with the Kingdom of work which are as follows Tonga being the last to ratify Convention . Freedom of Association and Protection of 182. the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 News in detail (No. 87) . Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)

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. Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) . appropriate facilities for the protection of (and its 2014 Protocol ) children, and adolescents who work. . Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, . To achieve the elimination of child labour, 1957 (No. 105) laws setting minimum ages for work . Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. should be embedded in such 138) comprehensive policy responses. . Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, Convention No. 182 1999 (No. 182) . Convention No. 182 helped to focus the . Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 international spotlight on the urgency of (No. 100) action to eliminate as a priority, the worst . Discrimination (Employment and forms of child labour without losing the Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) long term goal of the effective elimination India and the ILO of all child labour. . Freedom of Association and Protection of . Convention No. 182 requires countries to Right to Organised Convention (No.87) take ratifying countries to take . Right to Organise and Collective immediate, effective and time-bound Bargaining Convention (No.98) measures to eliminate the worst forms of . These two have not been ratified by India child labour as a matter of urgency. while the other six have been ratified by Recommendation No. 190 India. . Recommendation No. 190, which Conventions related to child labour accompanies Convention No. 182, . The two ILO Conventions on child labour recommends that any definition of are Convention No.138 on Minimum Age “hazardous work” should include: and Convention No. 182 on the Worst . work which exposes children to physical, Forms of Child Labour. psychological or sexual abuse; . These Conventions are “fundamental” . work underground, underwater, at Conventions. This means that, under the dangerous heights or in confined spaces; ILO Declaration on Fundamental . work with dangerous machinery, Principles and Rights at Work , all ILO equipment and tools or carrying heavy member States have an obligation to loads; respect, promote and realize the abolition . exposure to hazardous substances, agents of child labour, even if they have not or processes, or to temperatures, noise ratified the Conventions in question. levels or vibrations damaging to health; Convention No. 138 . work for long hours, night work, and . The aim of ILO Convention No.138 on the unreasonable confinement to the minimum age is the effective abolition of premises of the employer. child labour by requiring countries to: Significance of these conventions . establish a minimum age for entry into . Millions of young boys and girls have work or employment; and been rescued from hazardous conditions . establish national policies for the of work. elimination of child labour. . These have resulted in significant Recommendation No. 146 increases in enrolments in primary . Recommendation No. 146 which education. accompanies Convention No. 138, . Still…. stresses that national policies and plans . However, an estimated 152 million are should provide for: trapped in child labour and 72 million of . poverty alleviation and the promotion of them are engaged in hazardous work. decent jobs for adults, so that parents do Way forward: not need to resort to child labour; . Current efforts would have to be stepped . free and compulsory education and up significantly to achieve the ambitious provision of vocational training; goal of total abolition of the scourge of . extension of social security and systems child labour by 2025. for birth registration; and . As the world prepares to designate 2021 as the year to abolish child labour,

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governments must seize the moment to geopolitical circumstances compelled it to instil hope in future generations. enter into de facto alliance-like 4) A self-reliant foreign policy cooperation with major powers. Introduction . Rather, India secured its freedom, . Self-reliance is the theme of India’s 74th sovereignty and territorial integrity by . manoeuvering the great power equations. . This concept is commonly associated with Strategic autonomy now the economy and production of key goods . Although there is no outright war with and services within the country. But it China in the wake of its incursions across also has a parallel dimension in the the Line of Actual Control, India is at a domain of foreign policy. point where significant changes can . As the domestic goal is to reduce happen about strategic autonomy. dependence on imports for critical . Fears that proximity to the U.S. will lead commodities in the economic perspective, to loss of India’s strategic autonomy are the foreign policy should focus on overblown because independent India has attaining ‘strategic autonomy’. never been subordinated to a foreign Changing world order and India hegemon. . India has historically remained as an Way forward independent developing country which . India should stay as an independent does not take orders from or succumb to power centre using intensified pressure from great powers. cooperation with middle powers in Asia . The need for autonomy in making foreign and around the world. policy choices has remained constant . India depending on the U.S. to since then where the world order was counterbalance China would constrict bipolar (1947 to 1991), unipolar (1991 to India’s ties with Iran and Russia and 2008, when the U.S. entered a long cycle efforts to speed up indigenous defence of economic crises and China caught up modernisation. with it in overall power), or multipolar . A wide basket of strategic partners, (present times). including the U.S., with a sharper focus on Showing flexibility in strategic autonomy constraining China, is the only viable . Strategic autonomy has often been diplomatic way forward in the current adjusted in India’s history as per the emerging multipolar world order. changing geopolitical situation. In . By deploying ‘multi-vector’ foreign policy moments of crisis, India has reinterpreted neither by isolating nor alliance with one freedom and shown flexibility for great power, but in variable combinations survival. For instance, with several like-minded partners, self- Indo-China War reliance can attain its maximum potential. . During the 1962 war with China, India 5) India’s population data and had to appeal to the U.S. for emergency fertility decline military aid to stave off the Chinese from . A new study prepared by the Seattle- “taking over the whole of Eastern India.” based Institute for Health Metrics and Indo- Pakistan War Evaluation (IHME) says that India’s . In the build-up to the 1971 war with population will reach 1.61 billion by 2048 Pakistan, India had to enter a Treaty of and at the end of 21st century it will Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with decline to 1.09 billion. the Soviet Union to ward off both China . On the contrary, the UN projects it to be and the U.S. 1.64 billion by 2050 and 1.45 billion by Kargil war 2100. . India welcomed a direct intervention by Fertility decline the U.S. to force Pakistan to back down in . Regardless of the projections, India’s the Kargil war,1999. demographic future contains a peaking . In all the above examples, India did not and subsequently declining population become any less autonomous when driven by sharp reduction infertility.

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. In the 1950s, India’s total fertility rate . Financially independent women and (TFR) was nearly six children per woman; overall prosperity today it is 2.2. . For example, Bihar, with the highest TFR . The massive push for family planning of 3.2, had the maximum percentage of coupled with forced sterilisation during illiterate women at 26.8%, while Kerala, the Emergency barely led to a 17% where the literacy rate among women is decline in TFR from 5.9 in 1960 to 4.9 in 99.3%, had among the lowest fertility 1980. rates. . However, between 1992 and 2015, it had . Aspirations for children that seems to fallen by 35% from 3.4 to 2.2. drive fertility decline. For instance, Indian parents seem to demonstrate increased Total Fertility Rate rather than decreased commitment to . Total fertility rate (TFR) refers to the family by reducing the number of children total number of children born or likely to and investing more in each child. be born to a woman in her lifetime if she What does this mean for policymakers? were subject to the prevailing rate of . For India, the demographic dividend age-specific fertility in the population. could spell faster economic growth and . TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is higher productivity. Hence the called Replacement-level fertility (UN, government needs to engineer its policies Population Division). This is the value at to harness the opportunity. which a population exactly replaces itself . Demographic dividend refers to the from one generation to the next, without economic growth potential that can result migration. from shifts in a population’s age structure, . India’s Total Fertility Rate is 2.2 in the mainly when the share of the working-age year 2019. population is larger than the non- Reasons for fertility decline working-age share of the population. . Family planning programme . It must also formulate policies to take . Punitive policies including care of higher medical costs as the . denial of maternity leave for third and population ages and productivity shrinks. subsequent births, . As more people live away from their . limiting benefits of maternity schemes parents, India will also need to have an and affordable social security system that . ineligibility to contest in local body provides pension to the elderly and takes elections for individuals with large care of their daily needs and medical families. expenses. . The socio-economic transformation of India since the 1990s has played an For doubts and queries email us at: important role. [email protected] . Higher education . Increased mobility . Late marriage

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RSTV BIG PICTURE 1) The Pendency of cases and the might help in reducing the burden of piled role of Virtual Courts cases. o The litigants will get rid of various . Recently, the Vice President of India problems like travelling, the issue of expressed concern over mounting physical documents, etc. pendency of cases from the Supreme o Overcrowding of courts can be avoided Court to the lower courts. . The supreme court has also passed an A Glance at the Crux of the issue order under Article 142 of the Indian . According to National Judicial Data Grid, constitution mandating High courts and the number of pending cases in all the district courts to frame guidelines for courts are as follows: virtual hearing due to which justice can . In Supreme Court, around 60,450 cases be delivered on time. are pending while in High court around . Post COVID-19, the use of Information 45,12,800 cases are pending and around and Communication Technology (ICT) 85% of the cases are pending for more has increased by courts for hearing of than 1 year while in District and cases. subordinate courts around 2,89,96000 . There is a possibility that in future only cases are pending out of which 80% cases important cases which require recorded are pending for more than 1 year. evidence and constitutional cases will be . As far as the number of Judges is heard via physical court rather than all concerned, the strength varies around 34 the other cases will be heard by virtual in Supreme court, 1079 sanctioned judges courts. in High court out of which 396 seats are . The major problem lies with a physical vacant while in the district and court is the frequent adjournments subordinate courts the strength of the which can be avoided by the virtual judges is around 22,677 out of which courts. 6000 seats are vacant. . Thus, the virtual courts can be more . Due to the delay in the appointment affordable as well as accessible for the process of judges, there is a delayed people. justice and even the Judge to population What are the major concerns with the ratio has not increased up to the Virtual court? desired level and as a result, the cases . The major problem with the virtual court get piled up creating a huge pendency in is the technical glitches as well as cases. network issues which might disrupt the . There have been efforts to reduce the regular working of the courts. pendency of judges by the government . The use of technology has created a and various measures like improvement digital divide in the legal profession as in infrastructure, In-service training and the older generation of lawyers might not orientation program, etc has been taken be comfortable in using the gadgets as the but still, there is a significant delay in the younger generation. appointment of judges. . The problem of public interest litigation How can a virtual court play the role of an (PIL) is a major challenge to the actual physical court? physical court as well as with the virtual . The pandemic situation has been a court as in many cases PILs have become blessing with disguise and has posed a private interest litigations for personal, new opportunity to get the judiciary on pecuniary and political interests. par with the technology which may . Thus, lack of infrastructure, as well as prove to be helpful in future especially for certain mindset problems in the judiciary, several reasons such as: poses a challenge for the swift working of o Virtual courts might give the lawyers the the virtual courts. accessibility to all the courts instead of Way Forward being confined to a specific court and it

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. There is a need for a hybrid model . The judges' population ratio needs to where the courts can identify the be increased. particular cases that can be solved via the Conclusion : virtual court or physical court. . There are various concerns for the virtual . The identification of genuine litigants court as far as the mindset of the people is and the mechanism for identifying the concerned but it can prove as the flavourous PIL’s is the need of the hour. opportunity to reduce the pendency of . The special courts have proved to be cases as well providing speedy and efficient in speedy disposal of cases affordable justice to the people. and can be continued even in the form For doubts and queries email us at of virtual courts. [email protected] . There is a need for technology enrichment and the technical glitches need to be sorted out.

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. https://pmsvanidhi.mohua.gov.in/Default /ViewFile/?id=FAQEng.pdf&path=MiscFil es . 4)https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseP age.aspx?PRID=1645545 . 5)https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseP age.aspx?PRID=1645549 . https://www.newindianexpress.com/nati on/2020/aug/13/indian-navy-sets-up- own-organization-niio-to-fulfill-its- technological-requirements- 2183085.html . 6)https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseP age.aspx?PRID=1646153

AIR . http://newsonair.com/News?title=J%26 K%3a-424-PMAGY-works-identified-for- 31-villages-of-Udhampur- district&id=396863 . http://newsonair.com/News?title=Gadka ri-emphasises-upon-improving-MSME- footprint-in-115-aspirational- districts&id=396807

ART and CULTURE . https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation al/renowned-urdu-poet-rahat-indori- dies-aged-70/article32326839.ece . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushaira

RSTV . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5 FEec_ZlqZ8

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