INDEX Polity, Bills, Acts and Judgments

1. Virtual Courts Vs Online Courts (PIB) 2. Ordinance-Making Power of Governor (Article 213 of the Constitution) (TH) 3. Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for Defection (TH) 4. HC permits transgender to contest panchayat poll from women’s category (TH) 5. SC says ‘no’ to intense Judicial Review (TH) 6. What are Bypolls? (TH) 7. SC examines constitutional validity of laws enacted by States (TH) 8. SC notice to Centre on plea to debar legislators (TH) 9. Haryana Panchayati Raj Act provisions arbitrary (TH) 10. Simultaneous Elections: “One nation, one election” (TH) 11. Duration of Panchayats and State Election Commission (TH) 12. Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) (PIB) 13. Regional Connectivity Scheme – UdeDesh Ka AamNagrik (PIB) 14. Year End Review: 2020- Department of Telecommunications (PIB) 15. National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA) (PIB) 16. Year End Review 2020: Ministry of Law and Justice (PIB) 17. Special Marriage Act, 1954 (IE) 18. What is Question Hour? (TH) 19. Privilege Motion (TH) 20. 11th National Voters’ Day (NVD) (PIB) 21. Establishment of three capitals (TH) 22. DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019(TH) 23. Official Secrets Act (TH) 24. What is the Collegium system of appointing judges to the High Court and Supreme Court? (TH) 25. State Election Commission (TH) 26. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 (IE)

Art, Culture and History January 2021

1. The battle of Bhima-Koregaon (TH) 2. Sambhaji Maharaj (TH) 3. Jagdish Chandra Bose (PIB) 4. Kalaripayattu (TH) 5. Toda Tribe (TH)

6. Indian New Years (PIB) 7. Thiruvalluvar Day 2021: History, significance and all you need to know about the iconic poet (PIB) 8. Lala Lajpat Rai(TH)

Agriculture, Geography, Environment and Biodiversity - January 2021

1. Dzukou Valley (TH) 2. Severe Cold Wave, Cold Wave and Cold Day (TH) 3. Migratory birds have been found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Pong Dam (IE) 4. Red Sanders (TH) 5. DeeporBeel: Assam’s only Ramsar site (TH) 6. Western Disturbances: Origin, spread, effects and climate change (PIB) 7. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Animal Welfare Board (TH) 8. Install smog towers at big work sites: SC (TH) 9. Asian Waterbird Census-2021 (TH) 10. Govt. approves advisory for management of Human-Wildlife Conflict across the country (PIB) 11. Gangetic River Dolphin (TH) 12. Ken-Betwa link soon (TH) 13. Dzukou Valley (TH) 14. SC takes cognisance of contamination of rivers (TH) 15. Forest Fires in India: Causes, Effects and Spread (IE) 16. Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) (TH) 17. Ammonia in Water Bodies (TH) 18. Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016(TH) 19. Green Taxation in India (TH) 20. Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) (TH) 21. Elephant Corridor Case (TH)

Economy

1. Index of Eight Core Industries (TH) 2. Anti-Dumping Duty (TH) 3. Financial Action Task Force (FATF) (TH) 4. IFSCA becomes member of IOSCO (PIB) 5. India’s first Social Impact Bond (SIB) (livemint) 6. Balance of Payment (BOP) (TH)

7. Regulation S bonds and the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) (TH) 8. National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) (PIB, TH) 9. OPEC Vs OPEC + and the Two Most Popular Grades of Crude Oil (TH) 10. India’s seventh Trade Policy Review (TPR)(PIB) 11. USTR slams India’s digital tax, holds off on tariffs; ‘301’ trade probe and Equalisation Levy(TH) 12. Indian Economy: Recent issues (TH, PIB) 13. Revised Liquidity Management Framework(TH) 14. Explained: Types of Economic Recoveries (IE) 15. Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA)(PIB) 16. The concepts of Bad Bank and Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) (IE) 17. SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) (TH) 18. Grant for Rural Local Bodies (PIB)

International Relations

1. The Brexit Deal (TH) 2. Iran plans to enrich uranium well beyond the threshold set by 2015 Vienna accord (TH) 3. Vietnam buys Indian rice for first time in decades (TH) 4. Gulf leaders sign deal to end years-long dispute (TH) 5. China holds third edition of South Asia multilateral meet (TH) 6. The Al-Ula conclave (TH) 7. Kalapani Boundary Dispute(TH) 8. S-400 Triumf Air-Defense System and CAATSA (TH) 9. Darfur Region (TH) 10. Palestinians face discrimination by Jewish Authorities (TH) 11. West Asia Peace Conference(TH) 12. New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START Treaty) (TH)

Science and Technology, Defence, Space

1. Swine Flu Vs Bird Flu (TH) 2. The Concept of Lightning (IE) 3. Why people with prior infection still need vaccination (TH) 4. India and the race for vaccine development (TH) 5. FSSAI slashes limit for transfat levels in foods (TH) 6. Kerala on alert after bird flu in two districts (TH) 7. India, Antarctica, Arctic and More (PIB)

8. Pfizer skipped meeting with expert panel thrice, says Health Ministry (TH) 9. Explained: Bird flu and its spread to other animals including humans (IE) 10. Explained: The return of bird flu (IE) 11. National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications (TH) 12. Identical twins aren’t perfect clones, study shows (TH) 13. Why haven’t crocodiles evolved since the age of the dinosaurs? (TH) 14. Bacterial haute couture (TH) 15. How old is the universe? (TH) 16. Light Detection and Ranging Survey (LiDAR) (PIB) 17. Tapas and SWiFT UAVs (PIB) 18. The first report of a primary deposit of vanadium in India (TH) 19. Smellicopter: An autonomous drone inspired by Moths (TH) 20. Spintronics (PIB) 21. All about Clinical Trials in India (TH) 22. What are Deepfakes? (TH) 23. Ballistic Missile (TH) 24. Akash-NG (New Generation) Missile (PIB) 25. Joint Military Exercise in Andaman Sea (PIB) 26. All about Lithium and Lithium-ion Batteries (PIB) 27. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) (PIB) 28. How Radioactive Isotopes are Used in Medicine (PIB)

Schemes, Policies, Initiatives, Awards and Social Issues

1. Pradhan Mantri KisanUrja Suraksha evamUtthanMahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme (PIB) 2. Major e-Governance Programmes (PIB) 3. 1000 Springs Initiative (PIB) 4. UJALA and SLNP complete six years (PIB) 5. PM to Inaugurate PravasiBharatiya Divas Convention 2021 (PIB) 6. Year End Review- 2020: Ministry of Labour and Employment (PIB) 7. Year End Review- 2020: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports 8. Year End Review 2020- Ministry of Panchayati Raj (PIB) 9. Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of the Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) India Forum- 2021 (PIB) 10. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) (PIB) 11. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) (PIB) 12. Kayakalp Award (PIB) 13. Pradhan Mantri FasalBimaYajana (PMFBY)(PIB)

14. Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) (PIB) 15. Polio immunisation drive postponed (TH) 16. Phase-II of “Grid Connected Rooftop and Small Solar Power Plants Programme” (PIB) 17. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0 (PIB) 18. Year Ender 2020---Department of Biotechnology (DBT) (PIB) 19. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PIB) 20. All about Padma Awards (TH) 21. PRAGATI – Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PIB) 22. Pradhanmantri Jan Vikas Karykram (PMJVK) (PIB) 23. Ethanol Blended with Petrol Programme (PIB) 24. Agreement for financial support to STARS project (PIB) 25. Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) (PIB)

Indices, Reports, Surveys, Committees and Organisations

1. Digital Payments Index (DPI) (TH) 2. Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and theIntegrity Index (TH) 3. Asian Development Bank (ADB)(PIB) 4. Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog(RKA)(PIB) 5. New Development Bank (NDB) (PIB) 6. International Solar Alliance(ISA) (PIB) 7. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), ISI mark and Eco Mark (PIB) 8. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO): World food price index (TH) 9. World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and Avian influenza (TH) 10. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) (TH) 11. Organisations in news:APEDA and IFAD (PIB) 12. Food Corporation of India (FCI)(PIB) 13. Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)(PIB) 14. National Startup Advisory Council (PIB) 15. Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) (TH) 16. International Labour Organization (ILO) (TH) 17. Innovation Index (PIB) 18. All about the Law Commission of India (TH) 19. International Energy Agency (IEA) (PIB)

Miscellaneous

1. Justice Clocks (PIB)

2. One Nation One Application: National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) (PIB) 3. National Youth Parliament Scheme (PIB) 4. National Metrology Conclave 2021 (PIB) 5. Police K9 Cell (TH) 6. Swasthya (PIB) 7. C40 Cities (TH) 8. Woolly rhino from the Ice Age found in Russia (TH) 9. New insights on Malaria (TH) 10. The first life forms (TH) 11. Tampon Tax (TH) 12. Prayaas Initiative (TH) 13. National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) (PIB) 14. System for Assessment, Awareness & Training for Hospitality Industry: (SAATHI) (PIB) 15. East Container Terminal (ECT) (TH) 16. Toycathon 2021 (PIB) 17. Swasth Vayu (PIB) 18. Magneto-telluric (MT) (PIB) 19. Global Economic Prospects (GEP) Report (TH) 20. Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1 (PIB) 21. Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project (PIB) 22. New Industrial Development Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir (J&K IDS, 2021) (PIB) 23. National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) (PIB) 24. Digital Calendar and Diary of Government of India (PIB) 25. Chameli Devi Jain Award 2020 (TH) 26. Mukundpura CM2 (TH) 27. National Youth Festival (PIB) 28. Sea Vigil 21 (PIB) 29. Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) (PIB) 30. Khadi Prakritik Paint (PIB) 31. CollabCAD Software (PIB) 32. SWITCH UAV (TH) 33. Naga Nakti Bird Sanctuary (TH) 34. ParakramDiwas(PIB) 35. Indo-French Exercise Desert Knight-21 (PIB) 36. Inequality Virus Report(TH) 37. Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (TH) 38. Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant(PIB)

39. Prabuddha Bharata (PIB) 40. Export of Chili and Turmeric (PIB)

Polity, Bills, Acts and submitted digitally; arguments are heard over videoconferencing; witnesses give Judgments their testimony remotely over videoconferencing and Judge decides the 1. Virtual Courts Vs Online Courts (PIB) case online either presiding from the • Nine virtual Courts have been set up at physical Courtroom or from some other Delhi (2 courts), Faridabad (Haryana), place. Pune & Nagpur (Maharashtra) Kochi o A copy of the Order or the Judgement (Kerala), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Gauhati is made available on the website of (Assam) and Bengaluru (Karnataka) to try the Court or through some electronic traffic offences. means. • The concept is aimed at reducing the • In comparison, online courts have footfalls in the court by eliminating the asynchronous hearings, while in virtual presence of the violator or advocate in the courts the interactions are synchronous. court. o What that means is that while in virtual • Virtual court can be managed by a virtual courts the advocates, judges, judge (which is not a person but an witnesses and litigants are all required algorithm) whose jurisdiction can be to be present or available at the time extended to the entire state and working of the hearing, in online courts this hours can be 24X7. isn’t the case. • As on 08.12.2020, these courts have • In such a system of hearing, all the handled 35,02,896 cases and realised participants are not needed to be present Rs.130.72 Cr in fines. together or simultaneously for the hearing • In November 2020, Delhi High Court has to proceed and the evidence can be issued “Digital NI Act Courts-Project presented to judges without the need for Implementation Guidelines” and their synchronous availability. operationalization is expected soon to have • At the risk of eliminating nuances, while Virtual Courts dealing with Negotiate virtual courts are basically mechanisms of Instruments Act cases. conducting a court over videoconferencing, • Besides being environmentally friendly as online courts are a relatively more cases are adjudicated in a paperless advanced means of justice delivery. manner, it has led to saving of judicial • As far as the legal sanctity of virtual courts manpower and added to convenience of or videoconferencing is concerned – it was citizens. provided for by the Supreme Court in its Distinction between virtual courts and April 6, 2020 order invoking article 142 of online courts the Constitution. • In Virtual Courts, Plaint and other • This order covered all the High Courts, and documents such as vakalatnama, written they were in fact endowed with the submissions are filed electronically; Court discretion of adopting such a technology fees are paid electronically; Evidence is basis to their own needs customisation in

view of the evolving pandemic scenario in • He can promulgate an ordinance only when different states. he is satisfied that circumstances exist o Model rules were drafted and which render it necessary for him to take circulated as well amongst all the High immediate action. Courts while the District or lower • His ordinance-making power is co- courts were to adopt rules as extensive with the legislative power of the prescribed by their parent High Courts. state legislature. • In Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar and Ors. v. o This means that he can issue State of Maharashtra and Ors, the ordinances only on those subjects on Supreme Court stated — “… Public trial in which the state legislature can make open Court is undoubtedly essential for the laws. healthy, objective and fair administration of • An ordinance issued by him has the same justice. Trial held subject to the public force and effect as an act of the state scrutiny and gaze naturally acts as a check legislature. against judicial caprice or vagaries and • An ordinance issued by him is subject to serves as a powerful instrument for creating the same limitations as an act of the state confidence of the public in the fairness, legislature. objectivity, and impartiality of the o This means that an ordinance issued administration of justice.” by him will be invalid to the extent it makes any provision which the state 2. Ordinance-Making Power of Governor legislature cannot make. (Article 213 of the Constitution) (TH) • He can withdraw an ordinance at any time. • Context: An editorial. • His ordinance-making power is not a Analysis discretionary power. • Governor can promulgate an ordinance o This means that he can promulgate or only when the legislative assembly (in case withdraw an ordinance only on the of a unicameral legislature) is not in session advice of the council headed by the or (in case of a bicameral legislature) when chief minister. both the Houses of the state legislature are • An ordinance issued by him should be laid not in session or when either of the two before the legislative assembly or both the Houses of the state legislature is not in Houses of the state legislature (in case of a session. bicameral legislature) when it re o The last provision implies that an assembles. ordinance can be promulgated by the o An ordinance issued by him ceases to governor when only one House(in operate on the expiry of six weeks case of a bicameral legislature) is in from the reassembly of the state session because a law can be passed legislature. by both the Houses and not by one o It may cease to operate even earlier House alone. than the prescribed six weeks, if are solution disapproving it is passed by

the legislative assembly and is agreed the assembly would amount to to by the legislative council (in case of violation of the Constitution and the a bicameral legislature). ordinance sore promulgated is liable to • If the Houses of the state legislature are be struck down. summoned to reassemble on different • The Ordinance making power does not dates, the period of six weeks is calculated constitute the President or the Governor from the later of those dates. into a parallel source of law making or an o This means that the maximum life of independent legislative authority. an ordinance can be six months • Governor cannot make an ordinance and six weeks, in case of non- without the instructions from the President approval by the state legislature (six in three cases: months being the maximum gap o (a) If a bill containing the same between the two sessions of provisions would have required the Legislative Assembly). previous sanction of the President for • If an ordinance is allowed to lapse without its introduction into the state being placed before Legislative Assembly, legislature. then the acts done and completed under it, o (b) If he would have deemed it before it ceases to operate, remain fully necessary to reserve a bill containing valid and effective. the same provisions for the • An ordinance like any other legislation, can consideration of the President. be retrospective, that is, it may come into o (c) If an act of the state legislature force from a back date. containing the same provisions would o It may modify or repeal any act of have been invalid without receiving the state legislature or another ordinance. President’s assent. o It can alter or amend a tax law also. • In justification of the ordinance making o However, it cannot be issued to power of the President/Governor, Dr. B.R. amend the Constitution. Ambedkar said in the Constituent Assembly • There is no established practice requiring that the mechanism of issuing an ordinance the Governor (or the President under Article has been devised in order to enable the 123 of the Constitution) to state the Executive to deal with a situation that may circumstances for immediate action. suddenly and immediately arise when the • The court can inquire whether Parliament/state legislature is not in circumstances existed that enabled the session. Governor to be satisfied of the necessity of o It must be clarified here that the promulgating an ordinance. ordinance-making power of the o The Supreme Court in the D.C. President/Governor has no necessary Wadhwa case (1987)ruled that connection with the national successive repromulgation of emergency envisaged in Article 352. ordinances with the same text without o The President/Governor can issue an any attempt to get the bills passed by ordinance even when there is no war

or external aggression or armed • A majority view of the Supreme Court said rebellion. the government was “entitled to commit errors or achieve successes” in policy 3. Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for matters without the court’s interference as Defection (TH) long as it follows constitutional principles. • Context: Congress through its advocates Analysis complained about the delay of over a year • The doctrine of separation of powers and a half by the State Assembly Speaker implies that each pillar of democracy – the to decide the disqualification petitions filed executive, legislature and the judiciary – against 10 Congress MLAs who defected to perform separate functions and act as the BJP in July 2019. The Supreme Court separate entities. Bench scheduled the case for hearing in • The doctrine is a part of the basic structure the second week of February. of the Indian Constitution even though it is • For further details refer to 28th Nov file. not specifically mentioned in its text. • Thus, no law may be passed and no 4. HC permits transgender to contest amendment may be made to the panchayat poll from women’s category (TH) Constitution deviating from the doctrine. • Context: The Bombay High Court’s • Different agencies impose checks and Aurangabad Bench has allowed a balances upon each other but may not transgender to contest village panchayat transgress upon each other’s functions. polls in women’s category, saying that such • Thus, the judiciary exercises judicial review persons have the right to “self-perceived over executive and legislative action, and gender identity”. the legislature reviews the functioning of • The court in its order said that the Union the executive. government has introduced the • There have been some cases where the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) courts have issued laws and policy related Act, 2019, and has permitted a transgender orders through their judgements. These person to have a right to self-perceived include gender identity. o the Vishakha case where guidelines • Transgender Persons (Protection of on sexual harassment were issued by Rights) Act, 2019 was covered in 15th the Supreme Court. July file. o the order of the Court directing the Centre to distribute food grains (2010). 5. SC says ‘no’ to intense Judicial Review o the appointment of the Special (TH) Investigation Team to replace the High • Context: Supreme Court refused to treat Level Committee established by the the Central Vista project as a unique one Centre for investigating black money requiring greater or “heightened” judicial deposits in Swiss Banks. review. • In 2007 SC noted that, “Courts cannot create rights where none exist nor can

they go on making orders which are o To authorize the disinterest of incapable of enforcement or violative of organizational achievement. other laws or settled legal principles. o Guardian of public interest. With a view to see that judicial activism does not become judicial adventurism the 6. What are Bypolls? (TH) courts must act with caution and proper • Context:Bye Election to the Andhra restraint. It needs to be remembered that Pradesh Legislative Council and other courts cannot run the government. The States. judiciary should act only as an alarm bell; it Analysis should ensure that the executive has • By-elections or by polls are used to fill become alive to perform its duties.” elected offices that have become vacant • The power of judicial review is between general elections. significantly vested upon the High • Under the following circumstances, by polls Courts and the Supreme Court of India. can occur for a seat: o Under Article 13 of the Indian o When the incumbent dies or resigns. Constitution, the compulsion of o When the incumbent becomes judicial review was described in ineligible to continue in office. fundamental rights in Part III. o When a constituency election is o It is stated that the State or the invalidated by voting irregularities. Union shall not make such • When a candidate wins a seat after the by rules/acts that are inconsistent with polls he or she will remain in office till the or in derogation of the fundamental Lok Sabha/Assembly dissolves. rights. If any law made by the • A person cannot be a member of both Parliament or the State Legislature Houses of Parliament at the same time contravenes the provisions of this under the Representation of People Act Article 13, it shall be void. (1951). Meaning of Judicial Review o If a person is elected to both the • Judicial Review can be understood as a Houses of Parliament, he must form of court proceeding, where the intimate within 10 days in which House lawfulness of a decision or action is he desires to serve. reviewed by the judge. o If a sitting member of one House is • The main concern behind Judicial Review also elected to the other House, his is that whether the law has been seat in the first House becomes correctly applied with and right vacant. procedures have been followed. o If a person is elected to two seats in a • Judicial review has evolved in three House, he should exercise his option dimensions, namely: for one, otherwise, both seats become o To protect the legality of essential vacant. rights under Part III of the Indian Constitution.

7. SC examines constitutional validity of defender of the fundamental rights of laws enacted by States (TH) the citizens. • Context:The Supreme Court agreed to • The Supreme Court is empowered to issue examine the constitutional validity of laws writs including habeas corpus, mandamus, enacted by States, such as Uttar Pradesh prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari for and Uttarakhand, that criminalise religious the enforcement of the fundamental rights conversion via marriage and mandate prior of an aggrieved citizen. official clearance before marrying into • In this regard, the Supreme Court has another faith. original jurisdiction in the sense that an • The laws under question Prohibition of aggrieved citizen can directly go to the Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, Supreme Court, not necessarily by way of 2020 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of appeal. Religion Act, 2018 are in violation of the o However, the writ jurisdiction of the fundamental rights of dignity and liberty Supreme Court is not exclusive. The enshrined under Article 21. high courts are also empowered to • They had been enacted despite a series of issue writs for the enforcement of the judgments by the Supreme Court, including Fundamental Rights. in the Hadiya case, that right to marry a o It means, when the Fundamental person of one’s choice was part of an Rights of a citizen are violated, the adult’s privacy. aggrieved party has the option of • Under these laws, a person marrying into moving either the high court or the another faith should give a month’s prior Supreme Court directly. notice to the authorities, then there will be • There is also a difference between the writ an inquiry. All these provisions are jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and that oppressive. of the high court. The Supreme Court can • Petitioners have approached SC under issue writs only for the enforcement of the Article 32 of the Constitution Fundamental Rights and not for other purposes. o The high court, on the other hand, can issue writs not only for the enforcement of the fundamental rights but also for other purposes. o It means that the writ jurisdiction of the high court is wider than that of the Supreme Court.

Analysis • Parliament can confer on the Supreme Writ Jurisdiction of the SC Court, the power to issue writs for other • The Constitution has constituted the purposes also. Supreme Court as the guarantor and

On what grounds can SC examine any falls within Union List, then the Law/rules made by the central and the state incidental encroachment by the governments? Central law on the subject mentioned • Legislative Competence: A law must be in the State List does not make it challenged in the Court if it is in excess of invalid. the legislative competence of the framing o Doctrine of Colorable Legislation: authority. Competence can be checked by The literal meaning of Colorable checking the subject matter of the law Legislation is that under the ‘color’ or forms part of which of the three Lists and ‘appearance’ of the power conferred has the competent authority framed the law for one particular purpose, the on that matter. legislature cannot seek to achieve • Violation of Rights: The Court can check some other purpose which it is whether a particular law violates which kind otherwise not competent to legislate of rights- whether Fundamental or on. It comes into play when a Constitutional rights? Legislature does not possess the • Violation of the Constitution: The Court power to make laws upon a particular can test a law if it is ultra-vires the subject but it indirectly makes law on Constitution. In this regard, there are it. following Doctrines which have been evolved by the SC over a period of time: 8. SC notice to Centre on plea to debar These are as under: legislators (TH) o Doctrine of Basic Structure: The • Context: The Supreme Court asked the Doctrine of Basic Structure signifies Centre and the Election Commission of the basic features of the Constitution, India (EC) to respond to a plea to debar which cannot be changed/amended, legislators, disqualified under the Tenth as they form the foundation of the Schedule, from contesting byelections Constitution on which its core during the rest of the tenure of the House. principles/existence stands. • The petitioner referred to recent events in o Doctrine of Pith & Substance: Pith Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. means ‘true nature’ or ‘essence of Analysis something’ and Substance means ‘the • Article 164 (1) (b):A member of the most important or essential part of Legislative Assembly of a State or either something’. Doctrine of Pith and House of the Legislature of a State having Substance says that where the Legislative Council belonging to any question arises of determining whether political party who is disqualified for being a a particular law relates to a particular member of that House under the Tenth subject (mentioned in one List or Schedule shall also be disqualified to be another), the Court looks for the appointed as a Minister for duration of the substance (i.e., the essential feature) period commencing from the date of his of the matter. Thus, if the substance disqualification till the date on which the

term of his office as such member would 10. Simultaneous Elections: “One nation, expire or where he contests any election to one election” (TH) the Legislative Assembly of a State or • Context: Legal luminaries Soli Sorabjee either House of the Legislature of a State and Mahesh Jethmalani spoke in favour of having Legislative Council, as the case may holding simultaneous elections, during a be, before the expiry of such period, till the webinar. date on which he is declared elected, Analysis whichever is earlier. What are simultaneous polls? • Article 361 (B):A member of a House • The terms of Legislative Assemblies and belonging to any political party who is the Lok Sabha may not synchronise with disqualified for being a member of the one another. House under the Tenth Schedule shall also o Currently, elections to the state be disqualified to hold any remunerative assemblies and the Lok Sabha are political post for duration of the period held separately — that is whenever commencing from the date of his the incumbent government’s five-year disqualification till the date on which the term ends or whenever it is dissolved term of his office as such member would due to various reasons. expire or till the date on which he contests • But the idea of “One Nation, One Election” an election to a House and is declared envisages a system where elections to all elected, whichever is earlier. states and the Lok Sabha will have to be • Note: Tenth Schedule of the Constitution held simultaneously. for Defection and Disqualifications for o The idea of reverting to membership was covered simultaneous polls was first comprehensively in 28th Nov file. mooted in the annual report of the Election Commission in 1983. 9. Haryana Panchayati Raj Act provisions • This would mean that the voters will arbitrary (TH) cast their vote for electing members of • Context: Terming the provisions in the the LS and the state assemblies on a Haryana Panchayati Raj (Second single day. Amendment) Act, 2020 as arbitrary and Background unconstitutional, senior Congress leader • The first general elections to Lok Sabha Karan Singh Dalal has asked Governor and all State Legislative Assemblies were Satyadev Narayan Arya to get the Act held together in 1951-52. That practice annulled. continued over three subsequent general • Mr. Dalal has pointed out that sub-Section elections held in the years- 1957, 1962 and 3 of Section 9 of the Act caps the 1967. participation of women in local bodies at o However, due to the premature 50%. dissolution of some Legislative • For details, refer to 8th Nov file. Assemblies in 1968 and 1969, the cycle got disrupted for the first time.

o After 1967, elections to State • Impact to voter behaviour: Indian voters are Assemblies and Parliament have been not mature / informed enough to held separately. differentiate between the voting choices for Adverse impacts of the existing electoral State Assembly and Lok Sabha in case cycle simultaneous elections are held. • Impact on development programs and o As a result, voter behaviour gets governance due to imposition of Model influenced and he/she may vote for Code of Conduct by the Election the same political party, which in most Commission. cases may be larger national parties. • Frequent elections lead to massive Duties of Election Commission of India expenditures by Government and other • It is mandated to conduct elections for stakeholders. State Assemblies, Legislative Council, Lok • It disrupts normal public life. Sabha, Rajya Sabha, President, Vice- • It can perpetuate caste, religion and President. communal issues across the country. • Also, Enumeration of votes, verification of • Engagement of security forces for voters’ list and delimitation of significantly prolonged periods. constituencies is undertaken by Election • Frequent elections adversely impact the Commission of India. focus of governance and policy making. Key draft recommendations of the Law Why do some support? Commission • Simultaneous polls will reduce enormous • The Law Commission of India costs involved in separate elections. (Chairman: Justice B.S. Chauhan) • The system will help ruling parties focus on released its draft report on governance instead of being constantly in Simultaneous Elections on August 30, election mode. 2018. • Simultaneous polls will boost voter turnout. • The Commission noted that simultaneous What are the arguments against it? elections cannot be held within the existing • National and state issues are different, and framework of the Constitution. holding simultaneous elections is likely to o Simultaneous elections may be affect the judgment of voters. conducted to Lok Sabha and state • Since elections will be held once in five Legislative Assemblies through years, it will reduce the government's appropriate amendments to the accountability to the people. Repeated Constitution, the Representation of the elections keep legislators on their toes and People Act 1951, and the Rules of increases accountability. Procedure of Lok Sabha and State • When an election in a State is postponed Assemblies. until the synchronised phase, President’s o The Commission also suggested that rule will have to be imposed in the interim at least 50% of the states should ratify period in that state. This will be a blow to the constitutional amendments. democracy and federalism.

• The Commission noted that holding • The Commission recommended that simultaneous elections will: appropriate amendments be made to o (i) save public money, provide that any new Lok Sabha/Assembly o (ii) reduce burden on the formed after mid-term elections, will be administrative setup and security constituted only for the remainder of the forces, previous term, and not the entire five years. o (iii) ensure timely implementation of Amendment to anti-defection laws government policies, and • The Commission recommended that o (iv) ensure that the administrative appropriate amendments be made to anti- machinery is engaged in development defection laws to ensure that all activities rather than electioneering. disqualification issues (arising from Immediate Challenges to Simultaneous defection) are decided by the presiding Elections and their Remedies officer within six months. No-confidence motion • The Commission noted that a no- 11. Duration of Panchayats and State confidence motion, if passed, may curtail Election Commission (TH) the term of Lok Sabha/ state assembly. • Context: A.P. High Court stayed gram • It recommended replacing the ‘no- panchayat elections and suspended State confidence motion’ with a ‘constructive vote Election Commission (SEC) order for polls of no-confidence’, through appropriate in February ‘in the interest of public health.’ amendments. Analysis • In a constructive vote of no confidence, the Duration of Panchayats government may only be removed if there • The 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 provides is confidence in an alternate government. for a five-year term of office to the • It further suggested the option of limiting panchayat at every level. However, it can the number of such motions during the term be dissolved before the completion of its of the House/ Assembly. term. Hung House/ Assembly • Further, fresh elections to constitute a • If no party secures a majority to form the panchayat shall be completed government, it may result in a hung House/ o (a) before the expiry of its duration of Assembly. five years; or • In order to prevent this, the Commission o (b) in case of dissolution, before the recommended that the President/ Governor expiry of a period of six months from should give an opportunity to the largest the date of its dissolution. party along with their pre or post-poll • But, where the remainder of the period (for alliance to form the government. which the dissolved panchayat would have • If the government can still not be formed, continued) is less than six months, it shall an all-party meeting may be called to not be necessary to hold any election for resolve the stalemate. If this fails, mid-term constituting the new panchayat for such elections may be held. period.

• Moreover, a panchayat constituted upon 12. Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund the dissolution of a panchayat before the (PMNRF) (PIB) expiration of its duration shall continue only • Context: The Prime Minister, Shri for the remainder of the period for which the Narendra Modi has approved an ex-gratia dissolved panchayat would have continued of Rs. 2 lakh each from Prime Minister’s had it not been so dissolved. National Relief Fund for the next of kin of • In other words, a panchayat reconstituted those who have lost their lives due to the after premature dissolution does not enjoy tragic hospital fire in Bhandara, the full period of five years but remains in Maharashtra. He has also approved Rs. office only for the remainder of the period. 50,000 to those seriously injured. State Election Commission Analysis • The superintendence, direction and control • In pursuance of an appeal by the then of the preparation of electoral rolls and the Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in conduct of all elections to the panchayats January, 1948, the Prime Minister’s shall be vested in the state election National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was commission. established with public contributions to • It consists of a state election commissioner assist displaced persons from Pakistan. to be appointed by the governor. • A very large proportion of the funds stands • His conditions of service and tenure of committed to be utilized in a phased office shall also be determined by the manner for various schemes announced by governor. PM. • He shall not be removed from the office o The resources of the PMNRF are now except in the manner and on the grounds utilized primarily to render immediate prescribed for the removal of a judge of the relief to families of those killed in state high court. natural calamities like floods, cyclones o A judge of a high court can be and earthquakes, etc. and to the removed from his office by the victims of the major accidents and president on the recommendation of riots. the Parliament. o Assistance from PMNRF is also o This means that a state election rendered, to partially defray the commissioner cannot be removed by expenses for medical treatment like the governor, though appointed by heart surgeries, kidney him. transplantation, cancer treatment and • His conditions of service shall not be varied acid attack etc. to his disadvantage after his appointment. • The fund consists entirely of public • The state legislature may make provision contributions and does not get any with respect to all matters relating to budgetary support. elections to the panchayats. o PMNRF accepts only voluntary donations by individuals and institutions.

o Contributions flowing out of budgetary sources of Government or from the balance sheets of the public sector 14. Year End Review: 2020- Department of undertakings are not accepted. Telecommunications (PIB) o Conditional contributions, where the National Broadband Mission donor specifically mentions that the • The government announced a new amount is meant for a particular ‘mission’ - National Broadband Mission - purpose, are not accepted in the aimed at: Fund. o providing broadband access in all • The corpus of the fund is invested in villages and remote areas in the various forms with scheduled commercial country by 2022; banks and other agencies. o entailing investments of around ₹7 • The disbursement out of the fund is made lakh crore ($100 billion) from various at the discretion of the Prime Minister, and stakeholders, including ₹70,000 crore in accordance with the Prime Minister's from Universal Service Obligation directions. Fund (USOF); • PMNRF has not been constituted by the o significantly improving quality of Parliament. services for mobile and internet; • The fund is recognized as a Trust under the o laying incremental 30 lakh route km of Income Tax Act and the same is managed Optical Fiber Cable; and by Prime Minister or multiple delegates for o increasing tower density from 0.42 to 1 national causes. tower per thousand of population by • PMNRF is exempt under Income Tax Act, 2024. 1961 for return purposes. • Additionally, a Broadband Readiness Index • Contributions towards PMNRF are notified will be developed to measure the for 100% deduction from taxable income availability of digital communications under section 80(G) of the Income Tax Act, infrastructure within a State/UT. 1961. BharatNet Project • Prime Minister is the Chairman of PMNRF • National Optical Fiber Network (NoFN) and is assisted by Officers/ Staff on (now renamed as BharatNet) project was honorary basis. launched in 2012. • The project involves connecting all the 13. Regional Connectivity Scheme – 2,50,000 gram panchayats (GPs) in the UdeDesh Ka AamNagrik (PIB) country through optical fibre to the block • Context: First direct flight between headquarters for provision of both Kalaburagi to Tirupati flagged off under bandwidth and dark fiber (A dark fibre or under the RCS-UDAN (Regional unlit fibre is an unused optical fibre, Connectivity Scheme – UdeDesh Ka available for use in fibre-optic AamNagrik) communication) on a universal and non- • Covered in detail in 9th Oct file. discriminatory basis.

• The network is capable of providing over power lines, radio and satellite scalable bandwidth of up to 1 GBPS media. upgradeable to 10 Gbps at a later stage. o OFC over electricity poles is a new • The project is a Centre-State collaborative element of the BharatNet strategy as project, with the States contributing free the mode of connectivity by aerial Rights of Way for establishing the Optical OFC has several advantages, Fibre Network. including lower cost, speedier • Under BharatNet project around 1.50 lakh implementation, easy maintenance Gram Panchayats (GPs) have already been and utilization of existing power line connected with high speed broadband infrastructure. connectivity which will help in launching • Phase-2 of the project is 100 percent various services in the rural areas. Made in India as from fibre to design to • As on 28.12.2020, Wi-Fi hotspots have software everything has been spearheaded been installed in GPs and about 4.8 Lakh by C-DoT (Centre for Development of Fiber to The Home (FTTH) broadband Telematics). connections have been provided. In • The last mile connectivity to citizens was addition to Wi-Fi hotspots, the number of proposed to be provided creating Wi-Fi GPs taken on SWAN (State Wide Area hotspots in gram panchayats. Network) stands at 5330. • In the third phase from 2019 to 2023, • The scope of BharatNet has now been state-of-the-art, future-proof network, enhanced to connect all 6 Lakh inhabited including fiber between districts and blocks, villages in the country. with ring topology to provide redundancy • To leverage the potential and would be created. entrepreneurship of private sector, a major • The network will be used for various citizen part of the roll out is being done through centric services such as e-health, e- Public Private Partnership. education, e-medicine etc. • Three Phases • The government is also aiming to convert at • For the purpose of implementation, the least 15% of the total villages to digital Bharatnet project covering all 2,50,000 village in the next 3-4 years. Gram Panchayats has been divided in to • Digital Village, which was conceptualised three Phases. by the Common Service Centre (CSC) SPV • BharatNet phase-1 was completed in under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, is December 2017, by covering about one a village where citizens can avail various e- lakh Gram Panchayats covering 3 lakh services of the central and the State villages. governments, as well as of private players. • Under Phase-II, targeted to be completed o These include banking, insurance, by March 2019, connectivity will be tele-medicine, pension and e- provided to remaining 1.5 lakh GPs in the governance services. Such villages country using an optimal mix of are also equipped with LED bulb underground fibre, optic fibre cable (OFC)

assembly unit, sanitary napkin unit, services to women, like broadband access and rural-Wifi infrastructure. to women SHGs. • In the interim budget 2019-20, the Finance Objective of USOF Minister had announced the government’s • Economic: Network extension & stimulate target of one lakh villages as Digital uptake of the ICT services Villages over the five years. • Social: Mainstreaming the underserved & GramNet, NagarNet and JanWiFi un-served areas/groups by bridging the • GramNet will be connecting all key rural Access Gap. development institutions with 10 Mbps • Political: To enable citizens exercise their upgradeable to 100 Mbps in the future. political rights in an informed way and • NagarNet will be establishing 1 million • Constitutional: Equitable distribution of the public Wi-Fi Hotspots in urban areas. fruits of the telecom/digital revolution and • JanWiFi aims at establishing 2 million Wi- fair allocation of national resource (pooled Fi Hotspots in rural areas. USO levy) via targeted subsidies. Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) Other Projects and Initiatives • The entire project is being funded by • Submarine Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) Universal Service Obligation Fund Connectivity between Chennai and (USOF), which was set up for improving Andaman & Nicobar Islands. telecom services in rural and remote areas • Submarine OFC Connectivity between of the country. Kochi and Lakshadweep. • It is a non-lapsable fund. • Comprehensive Telecom Development • Credits to this fund require parliamentary Plan for North Eastern Region (NER): In approval. order to provide connectivity to uncovered • It has been created under department of areas of North Eastern Region (NER), the telecommunications, Ministry of Department is executing a project to install communication and information of 2004 towers to cover 2128 villages and technology. National Highways. • The resources for meeting the Universal • Mobile connectivity to uncovered villages of Service Obligation (USO) would be raised and Ladakh through a 'Universal Access Levy (UAL)', • 4G service in Aspirational Districts which would be a percentage of the • Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface revenue earned by the operators under (PM-WANI): covered in detail in 10th Dec various licenses. file. • The Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, • A web-based portal, "SARAL SANCHAR" 2003 gives statutory status to the (Simplified Application for Registration and Universal Service Obligation Fund Licenses) for issuing of various types of (USOF). Licenses and Registration Certificates for • The Fund has a provision for allocation OSPs (Other Service Providers) has been under gender budgeting, for providing developed by the Department of Telecommunications.

• The Ministry of Power has launched a 15. National Energy Conservation Awards scheme in 1991, to give national (NECA) (PIB) recognition through awards to industries • Context: Ministry of Power, in association and establishments that have taken special with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), efforts to reduce energy consumption while organised the 30th National Energy maintaining their production. Conservation Awards (NECA) function. • The awards were given away for the first time on December 14, 1991, which was declared as the `National Energy Conservation Day'. • The annual energy conservation awards recognize innovation and achievements in energy conservation by the industries, buildings, zonal railways, state designated agencies; manufacturers of BEE star labeled appliances, electricity distribution companies, municipalities etc. • 17 sectors covering 5 categories - Industry, buildings, Transport, Instituions and Appliances are included in the Awards. • Electrical energy savings is calculated in

terms of equivalent avoided capacity (mw) • During the event, the Standards and per year by the participating units through Labelling Programme for Air Compressors implementation of energy saving projects. and Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV on Standards & Labeling Programme voluntary basis was initiated. • The Standards & Labeling Programme is • BEE has developed a Management one of the major thrust areas of BEE. Information System (MIS) portal namely • A key objective of this scheme is to provide State-wise Actions on Annual Targets the consumer an informed choice about the and Headways on Energy Efficiency energy saving and thereby the cost saving (SAATHEE) which will facilitate real-time potential of the relevant marketed product. monitoring of the progress of • The scheme targets display of energy implementation of various Energy performance labels on high energy end use Conservation endeavours at State level. equipment & appliances and lays down • BEE is a statutory body under Ministry of minimum energy performance standards. Power which is mandated to implement • Presently, S&L program covers star rating policy and programmes in energy efficiency for 26 appliances/equipment. List of the and conservation. appliances covered under the ambit of Star Analysis Labeling is as given below: National Energy Conservation Awards

Mandatory 24. Solar Water Heater Voluntary Appliances Appliances 25. Light Commercial

1.Room Air Conditioner 11. Induction Motors AirConditioners 26. Deep freezers 2.Frost Free 12. Pump Sets • The labels have been designed after a Refrigerators great deal of research. The labels contain a number of items. The highlight though is 3.Tubular the ‘STARS’. More is the stars more Florescent 13. Ceiling Fans efficient is the appliance. Lamp • An additional aspect that you must know 4. Distribution about the labelling program is that it is 14.LPG -Stoves Transformer getting updated every year. A BEE 5 star rated model in 2020 may be equivalent to 5.Room Air BEE ¾ star model in 2021. Conditioner 15. Washing Machine • The star rating plan is different for products (Casettes, Floor manufactured/imported or assembled in Standing) different years.

6. Direct Cool 16. Computer • Although BEE star rated appliances do Refrigerator (Notebooks/Laptops) comply with Indian Standards, but higher star rating does not mean better quality. 17. Ballast (Electronic/ 7. Color TV Magnetic) 16. Year End Review 2020: Ministry of Law and Justice (PIB) 18. Office equipment's 8.Electric Election Laws and Electoral Reforms (Printer, Copier, Geysers • The Acts in connection with the conduct of Scanner, MFD's) elections to Parliament, state legislatures

9. Variable and to the offices of the President and the 19. Diesel Engine Capacity Vice-President are: Driven Mono-set Inverter Air o (i) The Representation of the People Pumps conditioners Act, 1950; o (ii) The Representation of the 10. LED Lamps 20. Solid State Inverter People Act, 1951; o (iii) The Presidential and Vice- 21. DG Sets Presidential Elections Act, 1952;

22. Chillers o (iv) The Delimitation Act, 2002; o (v) The Andhra Pradesh Legislative 23. Microwave Oven Council Act, 2005; and

o (vi) The Tamil Nadu Legislative • Therefore, in pursuance of the mandate as Council Act, 2010. contained in said 2019-Act and in • The Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of accordance with the provisions of Section 3 India [also known as anti-defection Law] of the Delimitation Act, 2002 the Centre and the Parliament (Prevention of Government has constituted a Delimitation Disqualification) Act, 1959 also deal with Commission vide notification published in the respective issues relating to the elected the Gazette of India on 06th March, 2020 for representative in the Parliament and the the purpose of delimitation of Assembly and State Legislatures. Parliamentary constituencies in the Union • These are administrated by the Legislative territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Department, Ministry of Law and Justice. States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Delimitation of Constituencies Manipur and Nagaland. • The first Delimitation Commission in India India Code Information System (ICIS) was constituted in 1952, the second in • India Code Information System (ICIS), 1962, the third in 1973 and the fourth in the available over Internet, a one stop digital year 2002. repository of all the Central and State • The present delimitation, as carried out in Legislation including their respective fourth delimitation exercise, is based on subordinate legislations, has been 2001 census. developed with the help of National Delimitation of Constituencies in UT of Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Jammu and Kashmir and certain States in guidance of Law and Justice (Legislative North-East India Department). • After the enactment of Jammu and Kashmir • It is an important step in ensuring legal (Reorganisation) Act, 2019 the erstwhile empowerment of all citizens as well as the State of Jammu and Kashmir has been object of ONE NATION – ONE bifurcated into two Union territories, viz. PLATFORM. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with • The main object of this system is to provide Legislative Assembly and the Union a one stop repository of all the Acts and Territory of Ladakh without Legislative Legislations in India in the latest and Assembly. updated format as and when required by • In terms of special provision as the general public, lawyers, judges and all contemplated in Section 62 of said 2019- other interested parties and to avoid private Act the readjustment of the constituencies publishers from exploiting the general in the successor Union territory of Jammu public with enormous prices by claiming and Kashmir into Assembly Constituencies published updated laws as their shall be carried out on the basis of 2011- copyrighted work. census figures by a Delimitation • Till date, Central Acts from the years 1838 Commission to be constituted under the to 2020 total 857 Central Acts have been provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002 as updated and uploaded in (ICIS)for general amended by said 2019-Act. public.

o It says that neither of the parties should have a spouse living. 17. Special Marriage Act, 1954 (IE) o Both the parties should be capable of • Context:In a judgment removing giving consent; should be sane at hindrances to inter-faith marriages, and the time of marriage. likely to have a bearing on the set of laws o The parties shall not be within the enacted by some states including Uttar prohibited degree of relations as Pradesh that prohibit religious conversion prescribed under their law. for marriage, the Allahabad High Court o While considering the age, the male has ruled that couples seeking to must be at least 21 and the female solemnise their marriage under the be 18 at least. Special Marriage Act, 1954 can choose Publishing marriage details made optional not to publish the mandatory 30-day • The recent verdict by Allahabad High Court notice of their intention to marry. made it optional for the parties to the • Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act, the intended marriage to make a request in legislation that allows solemnisation of writing to the Marriage Officer to publish or marriages irrespective of the religion of the not to publish a notice under Section 5 and couple, requires parties to give a 30-day 6 of the Act of 1954. public notice of their intention to marry. The Section 5 and 6 public notice is displayed at the office of the • The provision for mandatory publication marriage officer, inviting potential of notice, derived through “simplistic objections to the marriage. reading” of the particular law, • Anyone having any objection to the “would invade the fundamental rights of marriage can file against it within a period liberty and privacy, including within its of 30 days. If any such objection against sphere freedom to choose for marriage the marriage is sustained by the marriage without interference from state and non- officer, the marriage can be rejected. state actors, of the persons concerned”. Analysis • The court also noted that despite the About Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954 secular law for marriage, a majority of • The Special Marriage Act is a central marriages in the country happen as per legislation made to validate and register religious customs. It said that when inte-rreligious and inter-caste marriages marriages under personal law do not in India. require a notice or invitation for • It allows two individuals to solemnise their objections, such a requirement is marriage through a civil contract. obsolete in secular law and cannot be • No religious formalities (like marriage forced on a couple. ceremonies or faith conversion etc.) are Directives for Marriage officer to be carried out under the Act. • In case the parties do not make such a • But there are certain conditions laid down request for publication of notice in writing, in Section 4 of the Act: the Marriage Officer shall not publish any

such notice or entertain objections to the Thomas Isaac in connection with the intended marriage and proceed with the breach of privilege notice moved against solemnization of the marriage. him. o However, in case the officer has any Analysis doubt, he could ask for appropriate Committee on Ethics details/proof as per the facts of the • Parliament and each of the state legislature case. consists of Committee on Ethics. • Recently rulings by the Supreme Court Functions based on which this judgement came: • The Committee shall have the following o Aadhaar case (2017) which made functions, namely: the right to privacy a fundamental o to oversee the moral and ethical right under Article 21 of the conduct of members; Constitution of India. o to prepare a Code of Conduct for o Hadiya Marriage Case (2018) which members and to suggest amendments held that the right to choose a or additions to the Code from time to partner is a fundamental right. time in the form of reports to the o Navtej Singh Johar vs. Union of Council; India case (2018) in which the court o to examine cases concerning the decriminalised homosexuality striking alleged breach of the Code of Conduct down the Section 377 of IPC. by members as also cases concerning allegations of any other ethical 18. What is Question Hour? (TH) misconduct of members; and • Context: The Question Hour, which had o to tender advice to members from time been suspended by the government during to time on questions involving ethical the monsoon session, will resume when standards either suo motu or on Parliament meets for the Budget session receiving specific requests. from January 29. Powers of Committee on Ethics • The government had claimed that the • Committee is empowered to suspension of the Question Hour, which recommend the imposition of sanctions, gives the Opposition an opportunity to hold where it has been found the government accountable, was an o that a member has indulged in additional precautionary measure to tackle unethical behaviour or the COVID-19 pandemic. o that there is other misconduct or • For details, refer to 14th Sep and 3rd Sep o the member has contravened the file. Code/Rules, • The Committee may recommend the 19. Privilege Motion (TH) imposition of one or more of the following • Context: The Privileges and Ethics sanctions: Committee of the Assembly, has given a o censure clean chit to Kerala Finance Minister T.M. o reprimand

o suspension from the House for a o Those that are enjoyed by each House specific period of Parliament//State Legislature o any other sanction as determined by collectively; and the Committee to be appropriate. o Those that are enjoyed by the Parliamentary privileges and privileges of members individually. State Legislature Collective Privileges • Parliamentary privileges (Article 105 of the • The privileges belonging to each House Constitution)/privileges of State Legislature of the Parliament/State Legislature (Article 194 of the Constitution) are special collectively are: rights, immunities and exemptions enjoyed • It has the right to publish its reports, by the two Houses of Parliament/State debates and proceedings and also the right Legislatures, their committees and their to prohibit others from publishing the same. members. o The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 • They are necessary: restored the freedom of the press to o To secure the independence and publish true reports of parliamentary effectiveness of their actions; proceedings/proceedings of the State o To maintain their authority, dignity and Legislature without prior permission of honour; and the House. o To protect their members from any o But this is not applicable in the case of obstruction in the discharge of their a secret sitting of the House. parliamentary responsibilities. • It can exclude strangers from its own • The Constitution has also extended the procedure and hold secret sittings to parliamentary privileges/privileges of State discuss some important matters. Legislature to those persons who are • It can make rules to regulate its own entitled to speak and take part in the procedure and the conduct its business and proceedings of a House of Parliament/State to adjudicate upon matters. Legislature or any of their committees. • It can punish members as well as outsiders o These include the Attorney General of for breach of its privileges or its contempt India/Advocate General of the State by reprimand, admonition or imprisonment and Union/State Ministers. (also suspension or expulsion, in case of • It must be noted that the parliamentary members). privileges do not extend to the • It has the right to receive immediate President/Governor who are also integral information of the arrest, detention, part of the Parliament/State Legislature. conviction, imprisonment and release of a Classification member. • Parliamentary privileges/privileges of State • It can institute inquiries and order the Legislature can be classified into two broad attendance of witnesses and send for categories: relevant papers and records. • The courts are prohibited to inquire into the proceedings of a House or its committees.

• No person (either a member or outsider) contempt of the House without specifically can be arrested, and no legal process (civil committing a breach of privilege. Similarly, or criminal) can be served within the actions which are not breaches of any precincts of the House without the specific privilege but are offences against permission of the presiding officer. the dignity and authority of the House Individual Privileges amounts to contempt of the House. • The privileges belonging to the member Sources of Privileges individually are: • Originally, the Constitution (Article 105) • They cannot be arrested during the session expressedly mentioned two privileges, that of Parliament/State Legislature and 40 is, freedom of speech in Parliament/State days before the beginning and 40 days Legislature and right of publication of its after the end of a session. proceedings. o This privilege is available only in civil • With regard to other privileges, it provided cases and not in criminal cases or that they were to be the same as those of preventive detention cases. the British House of Commons, its • They have freedom of speech in committees and its members on the date of Parliament/State Legislature. its commencement (26th January 1950), o No member is liable to any until defined by Parliament. proceedings in any court for anything • It should be noted that the Parliament, till said or any vote given by him in now, has not made any special law to Parliament/State Legislature or its exhaustively codify all the privileges. committees. • They are based on five sources: o This freedom is subject to the o Constitutional provisions; provisions of the Constitution and to o Various laws made by Parliament; the rules and standing orders o Rules of both the Houses; regulating the procedure of o Parliamentary conventions; and Parliament/State Legislature. o Judicial interpretations. • They are exempted from jury service. Who can move a privilege motion? How? o They can refuse to give evidence and • A notice is moved in the form of a motion appear as a witness in a case pending by any member of either House against in a court when Parliament/State those being held guilty of breach of Legislature is in session. privilege. Breach of Privilege and Contempt of the What are the rules governing privilege? House • A member may, with the consent of the • Normally, a breach of privilege may amount Speaker or the Chairperson, raise a to contempt of the House. Likewise, question involving a breach of privilege contempt of the House may include may either of a member or of the House or of a include a breach of privilege also. committee thereof. • Contempt of the House, however, has • The rules however mandate that any notice wider implications. There may be a should be relating to an incident of recent

occurrence and should need the Informed’, envisages active and intervention of the House. participative voters during elections. • Notices have to be given before 10 am to • The National Voters’ Day has been the Speaker or the Chairperson. celebrated on January 25 every year since What is the role of the Speaker/Rajya 2011, all across the country to mark the Sabha Chair? foundation day of Election Commission of • The Speaker/RS chairperson is the first India, i.e., 25th January 1950. level of scrutiny of a privilege motion. o The main purpose of the NVD • The Speaker/Chair can decide on the celebration is to encourage, facilitate privilege motion himself or herself or refer it and maximize enrolment, especially to the privileges committee of Parliament. for the new voters. • If the Speaker/Chair gives consent, the o New voters are felicitated and handed member concerned is given an opportunity over their Elector Photo Identity Card to make a short statement. (EPIC) in the NVD functions. What percentage of privilege notices are • During the event, the Honourable President rejected? of India confers the National Awards for • A large number of notices are rejected, with the Best Electoral Practices on State and penal action recommended in only a few. District level officers for their outstanding What is the privileges committee? performance in the conduct of elections in • In the Lok Sabha, the Speaker nominates a different spheres. committee of privileges consisting of 15 o National Awards are also given to members as per respective party strengths. important stakeholders like national • In the Rajya Sabha, the deputy chairperson icons, CSOs and media groups for heads the committee of privileges, that their valuable contribution towards consists of 10 members. voters’ awareness. What is the punishment in case of breach • Chalo Karen Matdaan: It is a comic book of privilege or contempt of the House? which aims at voter education in a fun and • The house can ensure attendance of the thought-provoking way. Targeting young, offending person. new and future voters, this comic contains • The person can be given a warning and let interesting and relatable characters to go or be sent to prison as the case may educate voters at large on electoral be. processes.

20. 11th National Voters’ Day (NVD) (PIB) 21. Establishment of three capitals (TH) • Context: Election Commission of India • Context:The establishment of three celebrated 11th National Voters Day on capitals (Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and 25th January 2021. Kurnool as legislative, executive and Analysis judicial capitals) will lead to balanced • The theme for this year’s NVD, ‘Making Our development of all regions in Andhra Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Pradesh, Governor

BiswaBhusanHarichandan said in his on the DNA Technology (Use and Republic Day address. Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 on the Analysis grounds that it does not take into account • Andhra Pradesh has borrowed the idea of their concerns over privacy violations. three decentralised capitals from South • They say if enacted, the Bill will target Africa.Three cities serve as capitals of the Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis by way of country– Pretoria (executive), Cape Town DNA sample collection and indefinite (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial). storage. o In South Africa, the unique feature of Analysis its trio of capitals arose out of the • In Aug 2020, the Parliamentary Standing settlement at the end of the second Committee on Science and Technology, in Anglo-Boer War. a draft report, has called the DNA • Several countries in the world have Technology Regulation Bill “premature”. implemented the concept. • The Bill proposes DNA sampling and • In Sri Lanka, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is profiling of citizens accused of crime or the official capital and seat of national reported missing and storing their unique legislature, while Colombo is the de facto genetic information for administrative seat of national executive and judicial purposes. bodies. • The committee said in the absence of a • Malaysia has its official and royal capital robust data protection legislation, the and seat of national legislature at Kuala security of a huge number of DNA profiles Lumpur, and Putrajaya is the administrative that will be placed with the National DNA centre and seat of national judiciary. Data bank and its regional centres is • Among Indian states, Maharashtra has questionable. two capitals– Mumbai and Nagpur (which • The draft report also red-flagged certain holds the winter session of the state provisions of the Bill. assembly). o The Bill permits retention of DNA • Himachal Pradesh has capitals at Shimla found at a crime scene in perpetuity, and Dharamshala (winter). even if conviction of the offender has • The former state of Jammu & Kashmir been overturned. had Srinagar and Jammu (winter) as o The committee urged the government capitals. to amend the provisions to ensure that if the person has been found innocent 22. DNA Technology (Use and Application) his DNA profile must be removed Regulation Bill, 2019(TH) immediately from the data bank. • Context: Asaddudin Owaisi, president of o The committee recommended that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen independent scrutiny must be done of (AIMIM), and CPI leader BinoyViswam the proposals to destroy biological have filed dissent notes to the samples and remove DNA profiles parliamentary standing committee’s report from the database.

• The Bill also provides that DNA profiles for magistrate can override consent, civil matters will be stored in the data which could become a fatal flaw. banks, but without a clear and separate DNA Technology Regulation Bill, 2019 index. • The DNA Technology (Use and Application) o The committee questioned the Regulation Bill, 2019 provides for the necessity for storage of such profiles, regulation of use of DNA technology for pointing out that this violates the establishing the identity of certain fundamental right to privacy and does persons. not serve any public purpose. Use of DNA Data • The committee, in its draft report, pointed • Under the Bill, DNA testing is allowed only out that DNA profiles can reveal extremely in respect of matters listed in the Schedule sensitive information of an individual such to the Bill. as pedigree, skin colour, behaviour, illness, • These include offences under the Indian health status and susceptibility to diseases. Penal Code, 1860, and for civil matters • The report also red-flagged disregard to an such as paternity suits. individual’s privacy and other safeguards. • Further, the Schedule includes DNA testing o The Bill proposes to store DNA for matters related to establishment of profiles of suspects, undertrials, individual identity. victims and their relatives for future Collection of DNA investigations. • Authorities are required to obtain consent o While there is a good case for a DNA for collection in certain situations. database of convicts, so that repeat • For arrested persons, authorities are offenders may be easily identified, required to obtain written consent if the there is no legal or moral justification offence carries a punishment of up to seven for a database with DNA of the other years. categories as noted above, given the • If the offence carries more than seven high potential for misuse. years of imprisonment or death, consent is • In the Bill, if a person is arrested for an not required. offence that carries punishment up to seven • If consent is not given in these cases, the years, investigation authorities must take authorities can approach a Magistrate who the person’s written consent before taking may order the taking of bodily substances the DNA sample. But this consent is only of such persons. “perfunctory”, the report said. DNA Data Bank o The Bill refers to consent in several • The Bill provides for the establishment of a provisions, but in each of those, a National DNA Data Bank and Regional magistrate can easily override DNA Data Banks, for every state, or two or consent, thereby in effect, making more states. consent perfunctory. • Every Data Bank will be required to o There is also no guidance in the Bill on maintain indices for the following categories the grounds and reasons when the of data:

o (i) a crime scene index, is commonly associated with DNA testing in o (ii) a suspects’ or undertrials’ index, forensic laboratories, paternity disputes o (iii) an offenders’ index, or missing persons cases. o (iv) a missing persons’ index, and o (v) an unknown deceased persons’ 23. Official Secrets Act (TH) index. • Context: The Congress filed complaints Removal of DNA profiles with the Mumbai Commissioner of Police • The Bill provides for removal of the DNA demanding action against Republic TV profiles of the following persons: Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami under the o (i) of a suspect if a police report is filed Official Secrets Act. or court order given, • In a memorandum submitted to Police o (ii) of an undertrial if a court order is Commissioner Param Bir Singh, the given, and Congress highlighted the WhatsApp chats o (iii) on written request, for persons that are part of the chargesheet filed in the who are not a suspect, offender or alleged TRP scam case. undertrial, from the crime scene or Analysis missing persons’ index. What is the Official Secrets Act? DNA Regulatory Board • OSA has its roots in the British colonial • The Bill provides for the establishment of a era. The original version was The Indian DNA Regulatory Board, which will Official Secrets Act (Act XIV), 1889. supervise the DNA Data Banks and DNA • This was brought in with the main laboratories. objective of muzzling the voice of a large • The Secretary, Department of number of newspapers that had come up in Biotechnology, will be the ex officio several languages, and were building Chairperson of the Board. political consciousness. • The Board will comprise additional o It was amended and made more members including: stringent in the form of The Indian o (i) experts in the field of biological Official Secrets Act, 1904, during Lord sciences, Curzon’s tenure as Viceroy of India. o (ii) Director General of the National o In 1923, a newer version was notified. Investigation Agency and The Indian Official Secrets Act (Act No o (iii) the Director of the Central Bureau XIX of 1923) was extended to all of Investigation. matters of secrecy and confidentiality Do you know? in governance in the country. • A typical adult has over three billion • It broadly deals with two aspects — characteristics in her DNA and only about a spying or espionage, covered under dozen characteristics (13 to be precise) Section 3, and disclosure of other secret are required for a DNA profiling database. information of the government, under • Short tandem repeat (STR) analysis is a Section 5. technique used in genetic identification and

• Under Section 5, both the person not attract the provisions of the Act if the communicating the information and the publication thereof is in the interest of the person receiving the information can be public and no question of national punished. emergency and interest of the State as • For classifying a document, a government such arises”. Ministry or Department follows the Manual o The Law Commission, however, did of Departmental Security Instructions, not recommend any changes to the 1994, not under OSA. Act. o Also, OSA itself does not say what • In 2006, the Second Administrative a “secret” document is. Reforms Commission (ARC) • It is the government’s discretion to decide recommended that OSA be repealed, and what falls under the ambit of a “secret” replaced with a chapter in the National document to be charged under OSA. Security Act containing provisions relating • It has often been argued that the law is in to official secrets. direct conflict with the Right to Information Act, 2005. 24. What is the Collegium system of Between the RTI Act and OSA, which has appointing judges to the High Court and primacy? Supreme Court? (TH) • Section 22 of the RTI Act provides for its • Context: The Supreme Court questioned primacy vis-a-vis provisions of other laws, the government about the delay in clearing including OSA. So, if there is any Collegium recommendations for judicial inconsistency in OSA with regard to appointments to various High Courts. furnishing of information, it will be Analysis superseded by the RTI Act. • Also, in May 2019, a nine-judge Bench of • However, under Sections 8 and 9 of the the Supreme Court has dismissed a bunch RTI Act, the government can refuse of petitions seeking a review of the court’s information. judgment in the Second Judges Case in o Effectively, if the government classifies 1993, which led to the collegium system of a document as “secret” under OSA appointment of judges. Clause 6, that document can be kept • The 1993 judgment was the basis on which outside the ambit of the RTI Act, and a five-judge Constitution Bench declared the government can invoke Sections 8 the National Judicial Appointments or 9. Commission Act (NJAC) and the Has there been any effort to change Constitutional (Ninety-Nine Amendment) provisions of OSA? Act, 2014 unconstitutional in October 2015. • In 1971, the Law Commission in its report Collegium System of appointing judges on ‘Offences Against National Security’, • The Collegium is the system of observed that “it agrees with the appointment and transfer of judges that contention” that “merely because a circular has evolved through judgments of the is marked secret or confidential, it should Supreme Court, and not by an Act of

Parliament or by a provision of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Constitution. Association Vs Union of India 1993 • The Constitution confers the power of judgement. appointment of judges on the President of o In its landmark 1993 judgment, the India (i.e., the Government of India) to be apex court held that the independence made in consultation with the Chief Justice of the judiciary, which is part of the of India and other judges of the Supreme basic structure of the Constitution, was Court and the High Courts. being undermined by the primacy of • The Supreme Court Collegium is headed the executive in key appointments. by the Chief Justice of India and comprises • First Judges Case: Primacy of the Chief four other seniormost judges of the court. Justice of India (CJI) was not really to be • A High Court Collegium is led by its Chief found in the Constitution. Justice and four other seniormost judges of o In the First Judges Case (1981), the that court. apex court held (4-3) that in the o Names recommended for appointment appointment of a judge of the by a High Court Collegium reaches the Supreme Court or the High Court, the government only after approval by word “consultation” in Article 124(2) the CJI and the Supreme Court and in Article 217(1) of the Collegium. Constitution does not mean • Judges of the higher judiciary are “concurrence”. appointed only through the Collegium o In the event of a disagreement, the system — and the government has a role “ultimate power” would rest with the only after names have been decided by Union Government and not the CJI. the Collegium. o The First Judges Case, therefore, was o The government’s role is limited to an instance where the apex court getting an inquiry conducted by the acted against its own interests. Intelligence Bureau (IB) if a lawyer is • Second Judges Case: A specific to be elevated as a judge in a High procedure called ‘Collegium System’ for the Court or the Supreme Court. appointment and transfer of judges in the o It can also raise objections and seek higher judiciary. clarifications regarding the Collegium’s o In the Second Judges Case (1993), choices, but if the Collegium the court (7-2) overruled the First reiterates the same names, the Judges Case, holding that in the event government is bound, under of conflict between the President and Constitution Bench judgments, to the CJI with regard to appointments of appoint them as judges. Judges, it was the Chief Justice of • This system of appointments emerged out India whose opinion would not only of three rulings of the Supreme Court have primacy, but would be collectively passed known as the Three determinative in the matter. Thus, the Judges Case, culminating in the historic

President’s recommendation was Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of High made non-binding. Court,” says Article 217. o The 1993 verdict also gave birth to the Collegium System. This was the 25. State Election Commission (TH) collection of the CJI and the two most • Context: The Andhra Pradesh government senior judges of the SC or the HC, has “objected” to the censure notices depending on the case. issued by the State Election Commissioner o What this did was in effect “moderate” to two senior IAS officials over preparations the CJI’s powers when it comes to the for the local body elections. appointment of judges. • The State Election Commissioner had • Third Judges Case: Recommendation reached the conclusion that the two senior should be made by the CJI and his four IAS officers were responsible for the seniormost colleagues, instead of two. adoption of old (2019) electoral rolls which • Finally, in the Third Judges Case (1998), jeopardised the right of nearly 3.6 lakh the SC reaffirmed its 1993 judgement and youth who attained 18 years as on January expanded the Collegium to include the CJI 1, 2021, to vote, and there was nothing and the four most-senior judges of the court personal about it. after the CJI. Analysis What does the Constitution say? • The superintendence, direction and control • The procedure listed in the Constitution for of the preparation of electoral rolls and the judicial appointments comes under Articles conduct of all elections to the panchayats 124(2) and 217. shall be vested in the state election • Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be commission. appointed by the President by warrant • It consists of a state election commissioner under his hand and seal after consultation to be appointed by the governor. with such of the Judges of the Supreme • His conditions of service and tenure of Court and of the High Courts in the States office shall also be determined by the as the President may deem necessary for governor. the purpose and shall hold office until he • He shall not be removed from the office attains the age of sixty-five years. except in the manner and on the grounds • "Provided that in the case of appointment of prescribed for the removal of a judge of the a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the state high court. Chief Justice of India shall always be o A judge of a high court can be consulted,” says Article 124(2). removed from his office by the • “Every Judge of a High Court shall be president on the recommendation of appointed by the President by warrant the Parliament. under his hand and seal after consultation o This means that a state election with the Chief Justice of India, the commissioner cannot be removed by Governor of the State, and, in the case of the governor, though appointed by appointment of a Judge other than the him.

• His conditions of service shall not be varied Protection of Children from Sexual to his disadvantage after his appointment. Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 • The state legislature may make provision • The Act deals with sexual offences against with respect to all matters relating to persons below 18 years of age, who are elections to the panchayats. deemed as children. • The Act for the first time, defines 26. Protection of Children from Sexual “penetrative sexual assault”, “sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 (IE) assault” and “sexual harassment”. • Context: Bombay HC’s interpretation of • Speedy trial of offences through POCSO risks making the law redundant. appointment of Special Public Analysis Prosecutors and designated Special • Recently, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay Courts. High Court in the case of Satish • The Act provides for stringent punishments BanduRagde v. The State of Maharashtra which have been graded as per the held that “skin-to-skin” contact is essential gravity of offence. to constitute the offence defined under • The Act deems a sexual assault to be Section 7 of the Protection of Children from “aggravated” under certain circumstances, Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) such as when the abused child is mentally which deals with sexual offences against ill or when the abuse is committed by a minors. person in a position of trust or authority vis- • The POCSO Act was enacted with the a-vis the child, like a family member, police specific intention of protecting children from officer, teacher, or doctor. sexual assault and sexual harassment. It • The Act provides for a dedicated ‘Online took into consideration the standards Complaint System (e-baalnidaan)’ to prescribed by the Convention on the ensure timely/speedy redressal of Rights of the Child adopted by the complaints of various violations and General Assembly of the United Nations deprivation of child rights. to which the Indian government acceded to • The Act also provides for mandatory on December 11, 1992. reporting of sexual offences. • The Act acknowledges the special • The police are also required to bring the vulnerability of children and that special matter to the attention of the Child Welfare protection, above and beyond that provided Committee (CWC) within 24 hours of in the IPC, is required when the victim is a receiving the report. child. • It provides for special courts that conduct o Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, the trial in-camera and without revealing 1860, which deals with outraging the identity of the child. modesty of women and provides for a • The Act stipulates that a case of child lesser sentence in comparison to sexual abuse must be disposed of within POCSO. one year from the date the offence is reported.

• The Act provides for the Special Court to determine the amount of compensation to be paid to a child who has been sexually abused, so that this money can then be used for the child’s medical treatment and rehabilitation. Recent Amendments

• The amended Act provides death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children and greater punishments for other crimes against minors. o The Bill justifies this by referring to the judgments of the Supreme Court in Machhi Singh (1983) and Devender Pal Singh (2002) in which the court has held that the death penalty can be awarded only in rarest of rare cases. • It makes offences against children gender neutral.

Art, Culture and History • There was a lot of interference from the British Residents in the internal affairs, January 2021 particularly regarding succession.

1. The battle of Bhima-Koregaon (TH) • In a bid to increase revenue, Peshwa Baji • Context: The battle of Bhima-Koregaon, Rao introduced certain stringent measures. one of the last battles in 1818 of the Third The British accused him of Anglo-Maratha War which culminated in the maladministration. Peshwa’s defeat, should be included in • The Marathas decided to go to war to retain history textbooks, said the Union Minister of their freedom. State for Social Justice and Empowerment. • Peshwa Baji Rao II tried to form a Analysis confederacy of the Maratha chiefs against • A small village in Pune district of the English. He roped in the support of the Maharashtra, Bhima-Koregaon is Pathan chief Amir Khan and the Pindaris. associated with an important phase of • Peshwa Baji Rao II’s forces, supported Maratha history. by those of Mudhoji II Bhonsle of • On January 1, 1818, a Dalit-dominated Nagpur and Malharrao Holkar III of British Army had defeated a Peshwa army, Indore, rose against the East India led by Peshwa Bajirao II, in Koregaon. Company. • The battle attained a legendary stature for • Pressure and diplomacy convinced the Dalits, who consider the win as a victory of fourth major Maratha leader, Daulatrao the Mahars(a Scheduled Caste) against the Shinde of Gwalior, to remain neutral even injustices perpetuated by the Brahminical though he lost control of Rajasthan. Peshwas. • British eventually won resulting in the break • A pillar, known as Vijay Sthamb (victory up of the Maratha Empire. pillar), was installed by the East India • On June 3, 1818, the Peshwa surrendered Company in memory of those who fought and was captured and placed in a small for them in the battle. estate at Bithur, near Kanpur. • Every year on January 1, the Ambedkarite • Most of his territory was annexed and Dalits gather at Bhima Koregaon to pay became a part of the Bombay Presidency. their respect at the Vijay Sthamb (victory All the Maratha powers had surrendered. pillar). Third Anglo-Maratha War 2. Sambhaji Maharaj (TH) Sequence of Events • Context: The controversy has erupted over • The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1818) renaming Aurangabad city as came about because of conflict between ‘Sambhajinagar’ in Maharashtra. the British and the Pindaris. Opposition parties are criticising this as a • The British suspected that the Marathas ploy to divide the Hindu and Muslim were providing help to the Pindaris, who communities. were mercenaries fighting for the Marathas. • Sambhaji in his short rule spanning nine years, gained recognition for his valour and

patriotism. He continues to be celebrated, Aurangzeb’s plans to expand into the particularly in Maharashtra, as the ruler Deccan. who chose death over conversion. o Burhanpur was an important Analysis trading center and Sambhaji’s attack came as a huge blow for the Mughals. • For the next six years, between 1682 and 1688, the Marathas under Sambhaji and the Mughals under Aurangzeb were engaged in multiple battles in the Deccan. o The Mughals wanted to acquire possession over the forts held by

Marathas in Nashik and Baglana A dramatic accession regions. In 1682, they attacked the • The eldest son of the Maratha emperor, Ramsej fort near Nashik. However, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Sambhaji was the despite months of failed attempts, the second ruler of the kingdom after his Mughals failed to take control of the father’s death. fort and were forced to retreat. The • Chhatrapati Shivaji passed away in April Ramsej fort had become an 1680, and for a good nine months important morale booster for the Sambhaji was involved in a bitter accession Marathas. struggle with his half-brother Rajaram, who Battles with other important 17th century was 10 at the time. Soyrabai, Sambhaji’s dynasties in India stepmother and the mother of Rajaram, • The Marathas under Sambhaji also came plotted against to keep him away from the into conflict with the Abyssinian Siddi rulers throne. who wished to acquire control over the • Ultimately though, Sambhaji gained the Konkan coast. support of Maratha commander-in-chief o Sambhaji fought them, restricting their Hambirrao Mohite and in January 1681 presence to the island of Janjira, was officially crowned ruler of the located in the present-day Raigad Marathas. Rajaram, Soyrabai, and their district of Maharashtra. The Siddis associates were put under house arrest. were also stopped from intruding into Face-off with the Mughals Maratha regions. • The Mughals were the staunchest enemies • Sambhaji also led a campaign on the of the Marathas during Sambhaji’s reign. Portuguese colony of Goa in late 1683. • One of the first major actions taken by o The Portuguese colonists were Sambhaji against the Mughals, was when thoroughly weakened by the Maratha his forces attacked Burhanpur, a wealthy raid, and sought help from the Mughal city in Madhya Pradesh. Mughals. o Sambhaji had planned the attack, being aware of Mughal emperor

o Sambhaji was forced to retreat from Analysis Goa in January 1684, with the arrival Sir J C Bose of the Mughal army and navy. • Inspired by lofty nationalistic ideals, Bose • In 1681, Sambhaji also attempted to take Institute was set up in 1917 in Calcutta by control over Mysore, then ruled by the Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858 - 1937), Wodeyar king Chikkadevaraja. However, the founder of modern science in the Indian he was driven back from there. subcontinent. Sambhaji capture and surrender to death o It is Asia's first modern research • In the autumn of 1687, the Mughal and centre devoted to interdisciplinary Maratha forces faced each other in the research. dense forests near Wai and • On this occasion, he delivered his famous Mahabaleshwar in Deccan India. The address "The voice of life" and dedicated Battle of Wai, as it came to be called, the institute to the service of the nation. was won by the Marathas • Bose’s Galena detector was the first • The Maratha commander-in-chief, and one semiconductor device and photovoltaic cell. of the most important supporters of • He also designed the earliest waveguide Sambhaji, Hambirrao Mohite, was killed in and Horn Antenna, an integral part of this Battle of Wai. present-day microwave engineering and o The execution of Mohite, came a blow astronomy. to them, and a large number of • Sir J.C. Bose demonstrated his wireless Maratha troops began deserting millimeter wave (microwave) experiments Sambhaji. at the Royal Institution, London in January • In January 1689, Sambhaji was captured 1897. by Mughal forces. Sambhaji was asked by o This predates the wireless Aurangzeb to surrender all his forts and experiments at Salisbury Plain in May treasures, and finally to convert to Islam. 1897 by Marconi, to whom the Nobel Sambhaji refused to do so, and as result prize was however awarded. was put to a torturous death. o Most notably, in 1895, he was the first to demonstrate the wireless 3. Jagdish Chandra Bose (PIB) transmission and reception of • Context: Many times, research might not electromagnetic waves at Presidency fulfil its immediate goal but the same College (now Presidency University), research can become path-breaking in Kolkata. some other sector. • Indeed, Bose was a pioneer of multimedia • The Prime Minister illustrated this point by communication in every way. the example of Jagdish Chandra Bose • He was the first Asian to be awarded a US whose microwave theory could not be patent in 1904. taken forward commercially but today, the • Bose and the legendary mathematician entire radio communication system is Ramanujam were also the first Asian based on that.

fellows of the Royal Society, London as • He was neither awarded Nobel Prize nor well as those of Vienna and Finland. Bharat Ratan. • Bose has been recognized by Institute of Electrical and Electronics 4. Kalaripayattu (TH) Engineers (IEEE) as a father of radio and • Context:Kalaripayattu, considered the wireless communication. oldest surviving martial art of the country, o His work was also commemorated by with a legacy of more than 3,000 years, is IEEE as the oldest "milestone set to see a surge in popularity with the achievement" from Asia. establishment of an academy in the Kerala • He was a member from Asia on the capital. International Committee on Intellectual Analysis Cooperation of the League of Nations along Indian Martial Arts with Einstein, Curie and Millikan. • India has a long history of martial arts. • Besides being a physicist par excellence, • Shaolin Kung Fu, a term that includes a another remarkable contribution of J. C. large variety of Chinese martial arts, traces Bose was that he was the first in the its lineage to Bodhidharma, the Indian world to initiate interdisciplinary monk who, according to popular legend, research by probing plants from the introduced Buddhism to China during the vantage point of physics - an integrated 6th century AD. biophysical view of life that is in vogue. • Sadly, while Chinese and Japanese fighting o His studies on coherer led to the forms such as kung fu and ju-jitsu have discovery of the common nature of the become national institutions, many of electric response to external stimuli by India’s ancient fighting techniques languish both living and inanimate objects. as forgotten art forms. o Many of these experiments were Kalaripayattu possible because of his design and fabrication of novel instruments like crescograph, photosynthetic bubbler, soshnugraph etc. • Two of his famous books are “Response in the Living and Non-Living” (1902) and “The Nervous Mechanism of Plants” (1926). o The latter book was dedicated to his friend the great poet and Asia's first • Often known as the ‘Mother of All Martial Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. Arts’, this 3000-year old art formoriginating Tagore's great admiration of Bose from Kerala, draws inspiration from the raw reflects in his poems. power, swift movements and sinuous • He is also considered the father of Bengali strength of majestic animals – the lion, science fiction. tiger, elephant, wild boar, snake and crocodile.

• The term ‘kalari’ refers to the place where junction of the Eastern and the Western this combat style is taught while ‘payattu’ Ghats in Tamil Nadu State of India. means to practise. • It has been inferred that the Toda people • This combat style has different levels are not aborigines, but came probably through which one learns how to fight, with as conquerors or immigrants from the and without, hand-held weapons. sea. • This legendary warrior art form most was • Of all the tribes of South India, the Todas recently popularised by 76-year-old of the Nilgiris remain as the most widely Meenakshiamma’s heroic exhibition of studied ethnic group till date, owing to its swordplay against a man half her age. o unique physical characteristics (such as tall stature, fair complexion, 5. Toda Tribe (TH) pointed and long nose), • Context: A fashion label collaborates with o culture traits (such as half-barrel the reclusive Toda tribe of The Nilgiris to shaped huts, buffalo-centred celebrate ethnic motifs and embroidery culture, lacto-vegetarianism, • These tribals in the Nilgiris are working with weaving of embroidered shawl, the the fashion brand on their famous Toda putkuli) and linguistic embroidery, which has been awarded features (Toda language has the GI tag. characteristics of proto-Dravidian • A Dravidian ethnic group of the Nilgiris, the language). Toda people live in small huts made with • Toda lands are part of The Nilgiri bamboo and mud called munds. Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO- • There are currently about 2,000-odd Todas designated International Biosphere living in the district. Reserve and their territory has been Analysis declared as UNESCO World Heritage • Todas, a tribal group in the higher altitudes Site. of the Nilgiris, settled there 3,500-4,000 years ago when a climate change occurred in southern India. o This buffalo-tending pastoral community is widely believed to be the earliest people to move into the upper Nilgiri plateau perhaps during the 1st century AD. • It remained relatively isolated, until Figure 1 Munds: House of Toda People ‘discovered’ during the early 19th century • Todas mostly have large herd of buffaloes. by the erstwhile British administration. Their livelihood is mainly by producing milk • The Toda people are living only on the products. upper plateau of the Nilgiri hills with an • And they are also experts in silver-smith average elevation of 2300 ft. at the works. This tribe lives in munds, which

consist of five buildings or huts, out of fabric is beautifully enriched with rich red which they use three as dwellings, one as a and black motifs. dairy and the other as shelter for the calves • Poothukuli holds a very important role at night. in their festivals and funerals. • Todas have belief that they were the descendants of the Pandavas. True to that 6. Indian New Years (PIB) belief, they follow polyandry (polygamy in • Context:The Prime Minister greeted people which a woman has more than one on the occasion of Lohri and Pongal. husband) Analysis Toda tribes are vegetarians. People do not • New Year is celebrated all across the world eat meat, eggs which can hatch (fertilised on January 1. This, however, is in eggs) and fish but some villagers eat fish. accordance with the Gregorian calendar. They make Buffalo milk into butter, butter milk, • It's the harvesting season which is yogurt, cheese and drink it plain. Rice is the mostly synonymous with the new year main food which is eaten with dairy and celebrations in India. curries. • Being a diverse nation, new year in India is celebrated in various regions at various times of the year depending on solar or lunar calendars. • As per the solar calendar, the new year is celebrated during the spring harvest time on April 13/14/15 as Vaisakhi or Baisakhi in north and central India, Rongali Bihu in Assam, Tamil Putthandu in Tamil Nadu, Vishu in Kerala, Bishuva Sankranti in

Odisha and PoilaBoishakh in Bengal. Puthukuli – An embroidery art practiced by • As per the lunar calendar, new year is the Toda tribes celebrated in various parts of India during • Todas can be easily identified with their March/April. dressing style. Toda Tribe dress consists o Ugadi is the New Year's Day for the of a single piece of cloth for both men and Hindus of Maharashtra, Andhra women. Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. • These shawls are adorned with the Toda o GudiPadwa is celebrated in embroidery, called Poothkuli or Maharashtra, Goa and Konkan belt as Puthukuli. new year. • The style of work is called Pugur in Toda o Sajibu Cheiraoba in Manipur, Navreh language (meaning flower) using red and in Kashmir and Cheti Chand is black threads on a white background giving celebrated by Sindhi Hindus as new a rich effect. year. • Todas generally create their tattoo motifs and patterns using these threads.A white

o In Gujarat, BestuVaras is celebrated • Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu is the major around October/November time as among the other and most popular Bihu new year. festival celebrated as the Assamese New Difference Between the Lunar Calendar & Year in mid April along with Spring season. the Solar Calendar • Hareli and Cher-Chera: Chhattisgarh • The difference between the lunar calendar and the solar calendar is the celestial body used to measure the passage of time. • The lunar calendar uses the phases of the moon to measure time, usually measuring the time from new moon to new moon as one month. • The time required for the Earth to rotate

around the Sun is one solar year. • Vishu and Onam: Kerala • The solar calendar typically measures the  The ancient festival (Onam) has a time between vernal equinoxes. significance of homecoming of the Some major harvest festivals of India legendary Emperor Mahabali and Baisakhi harvest of rice and rain flowers in • Baisakhi Festival falls on April 14th and Kerala. marks the beginning of the solar year in • Nuakhai/Nabanna: Odisha Punjab/Haryana. • For farmers of these States, Baisakhi marks the time for harvest of rabi crops. • Baisakhi has special significance for Sikhs as on this day in 1699, their tenth Guru Gobind Singh Ji organized the order of the Khalsa. Bihu: Assam • Kut: By Kuki-Chin tribes of Manipur

• Bihu is the national festival of Assam • TokhuEmong: By the tribes of LothaNagas celebrated three times in a year, Maagh • Pongal: Tamil Nadu Bihu in January, Bohaag Bihu in April and • Bhogi: Andhra Pradesh Kaati Bihu in October. • Uttarayan: Gujarat, Associated with flying of colourful kites

• Navroz:Parsis in India celebrate New Year o The text is divided into three parts with or Navroz. teachings on dharma, artha, and kama (virtue, wealth and love). 7. Thiruvalluvar Day 2021: History, • A statue of Valluvar was also erected significance and all you need to know outside the School of Oriental and African about the iconic poet (PIB) Studies in Russell Square, London. • Context: Tamil Nadu celebrates Thiruvalluvar Day today (15th Jan) in honour 8. Lala Lajpat Rai(TH) of the Saint Poet Thiruvalluvar. • Context: The Prime Minister has paid Analysis tributes to Lala Lajpat Rai ji on his Jayanti. • Thiruvalluvar, a poet and philosopher, is Analysis regarded as a cultural icon by Tamils. Safety-valve theory • His most popular work is Thirukkuṛaḷ, a • In his Young India published in 1916, the collection of couplets on ethics, politics, Extremist leader Lala Lajpat Rai used the economy and love. safety-valve theory to attack the • Thiruvalluvar Day was first celebrated on Moderates in the Congress. Having May 17 and 18 in 1935. discussed the theory at length and • In the present time, it is usually observed suggested that the Congress ‘was a either on January 15 or 16 in Tamil Nadu product of Lord Dufferin’s brain,’ he argued and is a part of Pongal celebrations. that ‘the Congress was started more with Who is Thiruvalluvar? the object of saving the British Empire from • While not much is known about danger than with that of winning political Thiruvalluvar’s life, speculations about it liberty for India. The interests of the British have been largely deduced from his work Empire were primary and those of India Thirukkural and other Tamil texts. only secondary.’ • Earliest references of the poet are found in Swadeshi Movement the text TiruvalluvaMaalai. • Lala Lajpat Rai spread the Swadeshi • Legends say he may have lived in the town message in Punjab and other parts of of Mylapore, a neighbourhood in present- northern India. day Chennai and flourished between the • The militant nationalists, led by Tilak, 4th century and 6th century. Bipin Chandra Pal, Lajpat Rai and o Though the period in which he lived is Aurobindo Ghosh, were in favour of also widely debated with some extending the movement to the rest of India accounts saying that he lived from 8th and carrying it beyond the programme of to 9th century. just Swadeshi and boycott to a full-fledged • Thiruvalluvar’s primary work Thirukkural political mass struggle. contains 1330 couplets (kurals) that are • In Rawalpindi, in Punjab, the arsenal and divided into 133 sections of 10 couplets railway engineering workers went on strike each. as part of the 1907 upsurge in the Punjab

which had led to the deportation of Lajpat was being played by British and other Rai and Ajit Singh. foreign agitators sent to India by the Formation of the All India Trade Union Communist International, the Government Congress (AITUC) in 1920 proposed to acquire the power to deport • Lokamanya Tilak, who had developed a ‘undesirable’ and ‘subversive’ foreigners. close association with Bombay work., was • Nationalists of all colours, from the one of the moving spirits in the formation of moderates to the militants, united in the AITUC, which had Lala Lajpat Rai, the opposing the Bill. famous Extremist leader fromPunjab, as • Lala Lajpat Rai said, ‘Capitalism is only its first president and Dewan Chaman Lal, another name for Imperialism . . . We are in who was to become a major name in the no danger from Bolshevism or Indian labour movement, as its General Communism. The greatest danger we are Secretary. in, is from the capitalists and exploiters.’ • Lajpat Rai was among the first in India to Hindustan Socialist Republican Army link capitalism with imperialism and (HSRA) emphasize the crucial of the working class • Even though, as we shall see, the HSRA in fighting this combination. He said on 7 and its leadership was rapidly moving away November, 1920: ‘India... has... been bled from individual heroic action and by the forces of organized capital and is assassination and towards mass politics, today lying prostrate at its feet. Militarism Lala Lajpat Rai’s death, as the result of a and Imperialism are the twin-children of brutal lathi-charge when he was leading an capitalism; they are one in three and three anti-Simon Commission demonstration at in one. Their shadow, their fruit and their Lahore on 30 October her 1928, led them bark all are poisonous. It is only lately that once again to take to individual an antidote has been discovered and that assassination. antidote is organized labour.’ • The death of this great Punjabi leader, • Lala Lajpat Rai said: ‘Revolutions and popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab, was revolutionary movements are only natural . seen by the romantic youthful leadership of . . there can be no progress in the world the HSRA as a direct challenge. And so, on without revolutions and revolutionary 17 December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad movements.” and Rajguru assassinated, at Lahore, Swaraj Party Saunders, a police official involved in the • Lajpat Rai and Madan Mohan Malaviya lathi charge of Lab Lajpat Rai. In a poster, separated themselves from the Swaraj put up by the Hindustan Socialist Party on Responsivist as well as communal Republican Army (HSRA) after the grounds. assassination, the assassination was Public Safety Bill in 1928. justified as follows: ‘The murder of a leader • Frightened by the spread of socialist and respected by millions of people at the communist ideas and influence and unworthy hands of an ordinary police believing that the crucial role in this respect official . . . was an insult to the nation. it

was the bounden duty of young men of India to efface it. . . We regret to have had to kill a person but he was part and parcel Hindu communal solidarity • Lajpat Rai, Madan Mohan Malaviya and N.C. Kelkar joined the Hindu Mahasabha and argued for Hindu communal solidarity.

Agriculture, Geography, • The showers will most likely cause a rise in the minimum temperature by a few Environment and notches. Biodiversity - January 2021 • A severe cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature dips to 2 degrees 1. Dzukou Valley (TH) Celsius or the departure is more than 6.4 • Context: The Indian Air Force has degrees from the normal. engaged an Mi-17V5 helicopter to tame a Cold Day massive wildfire in Dzukou Valley, a • In the plains of north India, foggy conditions popular trekking destination on the prevail during winter for several days or Manipur-Nagaland border. weeks. • Tribals burn down forest areas for hunting • The minimum temperature on these days the terrified wild animals and doing shifting remains above normal, while maximum cultivation. There are some disputes temperature remains much below normal. between Manipur and Nagaland which also • When maximum temperature is less than or lays claim to the valley. equal to 16°C in Plains, it will be declared Analysis “Cold Day.” • Dzuko Valley in Nagaland also called the Cold Wave (valley of flowers of North East) is more • Wind chill is a measurement of the rate of popular with trekkers for its interesting and heat loss from your body when you're challenging trekking circuits. exposed to low temperatures combined • It prides itself for being one of the most- with wind. visited tourist sites in not only Nagaland but • Wind chill factor is taken into account the entire Northeast India. while declaring the cold wave situation. • Dzüko Lily- a flower is found only in this • The wind chill effective minimum valley. These rare flowers begin to bloom temperature (WCTn) is defined as the during the onset of monsoon season. effective minimum temperature due to wind flow. 2. Severe Cold Wave, Cold Wave and Cold • For example, when the minimum Day (TH) temperature is 15 degree Celsius and the • Context: The India Meteorological wind speed is 10 mph, WCTn will be 10.5 Department declared that Delhi was under degree Celsius (it is calculated using a the spell of a severe cold wave, but relief formula not relevant for UPSC). from the dipping mercury was on the • When WCTn is 0°C or less, Cold Wave horizon as light rain is expected under the should be declared irrespective of normal influence of a western disturbance between minimum temperature of the station. January 3 and January 5. o However, this criterion is not Analysis applicable for those stations whose normal minimum temperature is below 0°C.

3. Migratory birds have been found dead • DeeporBeel is an open lake basin under mysterious circumstances at the connected with a set of inflow and outflow Pong Dam (IE) channels. • More than 750 migratory birds have been • DeeporBeel has both biological and found dead under mysterious environmental importance besides being circumstances at the Pong Dam lake in the only major storm-water storage basin Kangra in recent days. for Guwahati city. Pong-Dam • It is considered one of the staging sites for • A reservoir has been constructed on the migratory birds in India; and some of the river Beas in the wet land of Shivalik hills of large congregations of aquatic birds in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, which Assam during winter. has been named as Maharana Pratap • Because of the richness of avian fauna it Sagar. enjoyed, DeeporBeel has been selected as • It is also known as Pong reservoir or Pong one of the Important Bird Area (IBA) sites Dam. by Birdlife International. • This reservoir or lake is a famous wildlife • DeeporBeel has also been designated as a sanctuary and one of the international Ramsar Site in November 2002. wetland sites declared by Ramsar Convention in India. 6. Western Disturbances: Origin, spread, effects and climate change (PIB) 4. Red Sanders (TH) • Context: Western disturbances to be bring • Context: 34 red sanders smugglers caught rain in north-western parts of India. in Andhra Pradesh. Analysis • This topic has already been covered • Western disturbances (WDs) are extra comprehensively in 14th Sep file. tropicalmid-tropospheric cyclonic circulations most often 5. DeeporBeel: Assam’s only Ramsar site embedded in the subtropical westerly (TH) jetstream (STWJ). • Context: Authorities ban community fishing Why are they named so? in DeeporBeel, a wetland on the south- • The word ‘disturbance’ is used because the western edge of Guwahati and Assam’s air within low pressure systems (fronts, only Ramsar site, to prevent over- depressions and cyclones) tends to be exploitation. unstable or disturbed. Analysis • And ‘western’ refers to the direction from DeeporBeel Wildlife Sanctuary which they originate vis-à-vis India. • DeeporBeel (Beel means wetland or large How do western disturbances originate? aquatic body in Assamese) located in • WDs are caused by pronounced Guwahati and is considered one of the temperature differences between higher large and important riverine wetlands in the and lower latitudes. Brahmaputra Valley of lower Assam, India.

• The transfer and interaction of warm and the east in the middle latitudes between 30 cold air creates an area of low pressure in and 60 degrees latitude. the mid-latitudes, usually over the • After covering thousands of miles, these Mediterranean Sea. moisture-laden WDs eventually come up • Provided other conditions remain against the mighty Himalayas and are favourable, chances of WD intensification blocked. are higher when there is greater o As a consequence, the moisture meridional (north versus south) gets trapped and precipitation is shed temperature difference. in the form of snow and rain over • Other factors that determine the strength of northwest India, and sometimes other WDs are: parts of north India. o the location and intensity of the jet When are western disturbances the stream and strongest? o the amount of moisture being carried • They are most prominent during the winter, by the low-pressure system. when the STWJ is situated over south Asia and as westerlies are stronger in winter, but can occur at any time of year. • Their effect is minimal during the monsoon months in India. What are the effects of western disturbances? • Western Disturbances along with their induced systems are the principle rain producing systems during non-monsoonal

months over Northwest India including Where do western disturbances originate Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, from? as well as almost all extreme • They typically originate over western precipitation events in the region; but Eurasia (Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea mostly rely on local sources of moisture and Caspian Sea) before propagating (e.g. the Arabian Sea). downstream across Pakistan and northern o Induced systems are secondary low India. pressure areas or cyclonic circulations • They originate as perturbations induced by the primary WD. (disturbances) in the subtropical jet, • Their effect sometime extends up to typically over the Mediterranean, growing Gangetic plains and Northeast India. baroclinically on approach to the • They are also responsible for bringing subcontinent. snowfall in the higher reaches of Jammu & • They are driven by westerlies, which Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and are prevailing winds from the west toward Uttarakhand.

• Most of the moisture is shed between • These are advective (horizontal movement November and March. of a mass of fluid such as air or an ocean o The influence of WDs is strongest current), not convective systems, so they from December to February, when don’t have a lot of energy and usually don’t there can be as many as 5-6 WDs cause heavy precipitation. every month. • However, anomalies do exist. • The formation of fog starts and slowly the o WDs had a role to play in the Leh cold wave occurs spreading to southwards cloudburst of 2010, Uttarakhand in the country. rains of 2013, and the J&K floods of • WDs are also associated with cloudy skies 2014. and an increase in night-time WDs and Climate Change temperatures (due to trapping of heat • The lack of data and understanding of the reradiated by the earth's surface by the mechanics of WDs has also led to debates clouds) in parts of north India. about the impact of global warming and • They can also cause strong winds that help climate change on western disturbance disperse suspended pollutants in the smog- formation and intensity. filled cities of the region, including New • In an age where droughts, crop failure and Delhi. melting glaciers are becoming all too • It is worth mentioning here that although common, studying these linkages more the effects of WDs are rarely seen after closely will allow scientists to get deeper spring (March-April), due to the northward insights into western disturbances, how movement of the jet stream above India, in they may have changed over the years, some cases (which we will read about and most importantly, what we can do ahead), WDs can persist even outside the about it. traditional winter months. • Precipitation from western disturbances replenishes the Himalayan glaciers, 7. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, preserves the natural ecosystem, helps rabi 1960 and Animal Welfare Board (TH) crops like wheat, and assists hydropower • Context: The Supreme Court asked the generation. Centre to “delete” its law, which allowed • Light rain under the influence of western authorities to seize cattle on a mere disturbance provides relief from the severe suspicion that they suffered cruel treatment cold wave conditions in the north-western at the hands of their owners or were being parts of India. primed for slaughter. Do western disturbances cause extreme • As per rules framed under the Prevention of weather? Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 these animals • WDs are not usually associated with would then be lodged in ‘gaushalas’ as disasters, since they not high-intensity “case property” to await the court’s verdict. weather systems. • In short, a farmer, a livestock owner or a cattle trader loses his animals even before

they were found guilty of cruelty towards constitution, funding, and functioning of them. the animal welfare board. Analysis Animal Welfare Board Salient features of the Prevention of • The Animal Welfare Board of India is a Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 statutory advisory body under Ministry o This act provides for punishment for of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and causing unnecessary cruelty and Dairying. suffering to animals. • It established by the Central Government o This act defines animals and different purporting to provide for animal welfare and forms of animals. extending protection against animals from o This Act enshrines the provisions unnecessary pain or suffering. relating to the establishment of an • It was the first of its kind to be established animal welfare board, its by any Government in the world. constitution, powers, and functions. • It is permanently chaired by a senior official o This act discusses different forms of of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and cruelty, exceptions, and killing of a Climate Change (MoEF). suffering animal in case any cruelty • ShrimatiRukmini Devi Arundalepioneered has been committed against it, so as the setting up of the Board. to relieve it from further suffering. o The headquarters of the Animal o This act provides the guidelines Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has relating to experimentation on animals been shifted from Chennai to for scientific purposes. Haryana's Ballabhgarh for "better o This act enshrines the provisions coordination " between the relating to the exhibition of the environment ministry and the board. performing animals, and offences Some important Functions of the Board committed against the performing o To advise the Government or any local animals. authority or other person on o This Act provides for the limitation improvements in the design of period of 3 months beyond which no vehicles so as to lessen the burden prosecution shall lie for any offences on draught animals. under this Act. o To impart education in relation to the • According to this Act an animal refers to humane treatment of animals. any living creature excluding a human o To advise the Government or any local being. Therefore, this definition is authority or other person in connection comprehensive and exhaustive. For with slaughter of animals so that animals, it refers not solely to mammals, unnecessary pain or suffering is but also includes birds, reptiles, etc. eliminated in the pre- slaughter stages • Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 as far as possible enshrines the provisions relating to the o To ensure that unwanted animals are destroyed by local authorities,

whenever it is necessary to do so, Suffering alleviation; of either human either instantaneously or after being beings, animals, or plants. rendered insensible to pain or suffering. 8. Install smog towers at big work sites: SC o To give financial assistance and other (TH) assistance to Animal Welfare • Context: The Supreme Court ordered the Organisations functioning in any local Centre to issue directions for the mandatory area or to encourage the formation of installation of smog towers in all major Animal Welfare Organisations in any development projects, including the local area. construction of the new Parliament building. o To give financial and other assistance Analysis to animal hospitals whenever the Recommendations of the High Level Board think it is necessary to do so. Committee (HLC) to control air pollution in • The AWBI, however, does not have the Delhi right to prescribe punishments or fines for • Painting roads with photocatalytic coating violations of the PCA Act but can pursue to clean air, using anti-smog guns at legal action. construction sites to reduce dust pollution o It has in the past led litigation to and setting up of a 20 metre-high ‘smog disallow the use of bulls in Jallikattu in tower’ with air purifiers are among the pilot Tamil Nadu. projects suggested by a High Level • The Board consists of 28 Members. The Committee (HLC) to the Supreme Court to term of office of Members is for a period of control air pollution in Delhi and NCR. 3 years. Painting roads • The Board grants recognition to the • Photocatalytic paints can remove pollutants newly started Animal Welfare from the air in the presence of sunlight and Organisations (AWOs). ultraviolet (UV) rays. Funds of the Board shall consist of: • It can be applied on a range of surfaces, • Governmental grants allocated to it time such as roofing tiles or even on the surface and again; of roads. • Contributions, donations, gifts, • Photocatalytic paints contain titanium subscriptions, etc. made to the Board by dioxide [TiO2] which acts as a catalyst any individual or local authority. when exposed to UV rays and removes • Note: Nothing in this Act shall affect the atmospheric pollutants. experimentation (including operations) • The catalyst converts the pollutants into on animals for the purpose of other species. o combating any disease or o But there is a risk that nano materials o advancement through the new present in these paints may result in discovery of physiological knowledge; production of other undesirable o or knowledge which will be useful for species such as nitrous acid and decreasing the mortality rate; or

formaldehyde, which will have adverse • Anti-smog gun is a device that sprays health impacts. nebulized/ atomised water droplets into the Smog tower air through high pressure propellers, which • The HLC has also suggested that a pilot help particles to settle down. project of “smog tower.” • The gun is attached to a water tank built on • The committee said in its report that smog a movable vehicle, which can be taken to towers, as per the current knowledge and various parts of the city. experience, may not provide a viable • Anti-smog guns may be effective in solution to improve air quality on a large controlling localised dust during the period scale, they are suitable for a localised of application and more suitable to high effect only. dust emission zones such as large • The system comprises a series of specially- construction sites. adapted greenhouses situated at the base Oxy furnace of the tower, which suck in polluted air and • Oxy furnace uses only oxygen as fuel heat it using solar energy. instead of atmospheric air (which contains • The heated polluted air then passes nitrogen), thus reducing the production of through multiple layers of filters before it is NOx by about 90% in industries. released back into the environment. • But the committee also said that NOx is • China had, last year, set up the world’s mostly released in urban centres from largest air purification tower in the city of vehicles and not industries. Xi’an. According to reports, the 100 metre- Wireless Sensor Network high tower was able to make significant • Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) improvements to Xi’an’s air quality. technology to monitor air pollution is still in • Recently, a group of environmentalists developmental stage and IIT and NEERI have written an open letter to the Supreme are reviewing its performance. Court, urging it not to direct the Centre or • The committee has informed that WSN the States to spend public money on may be used as an indicative monitoring “expensive” and “inefficient” smog towers, tool for a few activities like mining, large which will “only benefit the manufacturers construction sites, to supplement air quality and sellers”. data and report to regulator for conducting • India’s leading air pollution scientists and further investigation. researchers unanimously say that outdoor LiDAR air purifiers are inefficient to the point of • LiDAR or Light Detection and Ranging is a being useless. high-end application of LASER-based • These are ineffective in bringing down technology for monitoring pollution. PM2.5 levels and may even add to pollution • The HLC has recommended that this when the dirty filters are disposed off in our technology may be adopted for vertical already overflowing landfills and burnt. monitoring at a few places to track Anti-smog gun transport of pollutants at higher altitude. Smog Free Project

• It is created by Dutch artist problems that are exacerbated by their DaanRoosegaarde in 2016 as a means of landscapes purifying air.It also turns particulate matter it Harmful Effects of Smog into jewellery by compressing 1,000 cubic • Not only does smog reduce visibility and meters of polluted air into rings, which create an unattractive haze on the horizon, visitors can purchase. it also has negative health effects. What is Smog? • Smog also affects plants and animals. • Smog is a kind of air pollution, originally o The ground level ozone present in the named for the mixture of smoke and fog in smog also inhibits plant growth and the air. causes immense damage to crops and • Today, smog generally refers to forests. photochemical smog, which is the haze • Heavy smog is responsible for decreasing created when sunlight reacts with the UV radiation greatly. nitrogen oxides and volatile organic o Thus, heavy smog results in a low compounds that can be found in fossil fuel production of the crucial natural emissions from automobiles, factories, and element vitamin D leading to cases of power plants. rickets among people. • These reactions create ground-level ozone • Smog has also been known to cause and tiny particles in the air, known as corrosive damage to buildings and particulate matter. vehicles. • Smog can form in almost any climate where industries or cities release large 9. Asian Waterbird Census-2021 (TH) amounts of air pollution. • Context: The two-day Asian Waterbird o However, it is worse during periods of Census-2021 commenced in Andhra warmer, sunnier weather when the Pradesh recently under the aegis of experts upper air is warm enough to inhibit from the Bombay Natural History Society vertical circulation. (BNHS), covering at least two dozen sites, • During the winter months when the wind including Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, speeds are low, it helps the smoke and fog Kolleru Lake and Krishna Sanctuary. to become stagnate at a place forming • Dr. Sathiyaselvam, who had previously smog. explored the avian diversity in the Godavari • Certain landscapes can also contribute to estuary, said more study was still required smog problems. For example, large cities to establish that the Indian Skimmer located in basins surrounded by mountains breeds on the Kakinada coast, which are more likely to have problems with supports a great number of Indian smog, because smog gets trapped in the Skimmer. valley where it can't be blown away by Analysis winds. • Every January, thousands of volunteers o Delhi, Los Angeles and Mexico City across Asia and Australasia visit wetlands are cities known for having smog in their country and count waterbirds. This

citizen science programme is the Asian • The information collected is available to a Waterbird Census (AWC). wide range of government agencies and • The AWC is an integral part of the global non-government organizations and waterbird monitoring programme, the contributes to conservation activities from International Waterbird Census (IWC), the local to global level, including: coordinated by Wetlands International. o the Ramsar Convention on • This is the 51st annual round of the Wetlands, in identifying and International Birds Census and the 31st monitoring wetlands of international round of the Asian Birds Census. importance; • It runs in parallel with other regional o the Convention on Migratory programmes of the International Waterbird Species (CMS), by monitoring the Census in Africa, Europe, West Asia, the status of migratory waterbirds and Neotropics and the Caribbean. their habitats; • The AWC was initiated in 1987 in the Indian o the Convention on Biological subcontinent and since has grown rapidly Diversity’s (CBD) goal in to cover major region of Asia, from conservation and sustainable use of Afghanistan eastwards to Japan, Southeast biodiversity; Asia and Australasia. o implementation of the East Asian- o The census, thus covers the entire Australasian Flyway Partnership East Asian – Australasian Flyway and Initiative (EAAFP) and Central Asian a large part of the Central Asian Flyway Action Plan through Flyway. monitoring important and Flyway o There are four separate regional Network sites; schemes of the IWC that represent the o BirdLife International’s Important major flyways of the world: Africa- Bird Area (IBA) Programme; Eurasia, Asia-Pacific, Caribbean and o IUCN/BirdLife International’s Global Neotropics. Species Programme (Red List); • The census has the following o Wetlands International’s Waterbird objectives: Population Estimates programme. o to obtain information on an annual  Bird population is a criterion for basis of waterbird populations at declaring a place as a Ramsar site. wetlands in the region during the non-  Wetlands International is the only breeding period of most species global not-for-profit organisation (January), as a basis for evaluation of dedicated to the conservation and sites and monitoring of populations; restoration of wetlands. o to monitor on an annual basis the  2020 was a special year for status and condition of wetlands; biodiversity as it marked the end of the o to encourage greater interest in landmark Aichi 2020 Biodiversity waterbirds and wetlands amongst Targets, that governments around the citizens. world had agreed several years ago.

financial support under Centrally sponsored 10. Govt. approves advisory for Scheme-Development of Wildlife Habitat. management of Human-Wildlife Conflict o Now, there are 22 wildlife species across the country (PIB) under recovery programme for • Context: The Standing Committee of critically endangered species. National Board of Wildlife (SC-NBWL) in its National Board for Wildlife 60th meeting approved the advisory for • The Indian Board for Wildlife was management of Human-Wildlife Conflict constituted under the Wildlife (Protection) (HWC) in the country. Act, 1972. Analysis o Amendment of the Act in 2002, • The advisory makes important prescriptions incorporated a provision for the for the States/ Union Territories for dealing constitution of the National Board for with Human-Wildlife conflict situations and Wildlife, replacing the Indian Board for seeks expedited inter-departmental Wildlife. coordinated and effective actions. • It is an apex body to review all wildlife- • Some of the important approvals took place related matters and approves projects in during the meeting are: and around national parks and sanctuaries. o empowering gram panchayats in • The National Board for Wild Life is chaired dealing with the problematic wild by the Prime Minister, Union Minister of animals as per the section 11 (1) (b) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; the vice-chairman of the Board. o utilising add-on coverage under the • The Board is responsible for promotion of Pradhan Mantri FasalBimaYojna for conservation and development of wildlife crop compensation against crop and forests. damage due to HWC; • In September 2013, the National Board for o augmenting fodder and water sources Wildlife (NBWL), the apex advisory body to within the forest areas; the central government on all wildlife- o payment of a portion of ex-gratia as related matters, said no to new roads interim relief within 24 hours of the through protected forests, but was open to incident to the victim/family. the widening of existing roads with o formulation and implementation of adequate mitigation measures irrespective special plans for improved stall-fed of the cost, only if alternative alignments farm animal etc. were not available. • Some of the other important approvals took • The government accepted this as policy in place during the meeting are, inclusion of December 2014. In February 2018, the Caracal, a medium size wild cat found in NBWL made it mandatory for every some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, road/rail project proposal to include a into the list of critically endangered species wildlife passage plan as per guidelines for taking up conservation efforts with framed by Wildlife Institute of India, an

autonomous wildlife research body under Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, the Environment Ministry. Jharkhand and West Bengal. o However, features like underpasses o The upper Ganga River (in Uttar are unlikely to suffice in dense wildlife- Pradesh), Chambal River (Madhya rich forests where too many animals Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh), Ghaghra compete for space. and GandakRivers (Bihar and Uttar • Natural Gas would soon be extracted from Pradesh), Ganga River, from Varanasi Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary in Tripura to Patna (Uttar Pradesh and Bihar), following National Wildlife Board's Son and Kosirivers (Bihar), clearance. Brahmaputra from Sadia (foothills of Arunachal Pradesh) upto Dhubri 11. Gangetic River Dolphin (TH) (on the Bangladesh border) and Kulsi • Context: A video showing group of men River, a tributary of the and boys in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh Brahmaputra River, form ideal district beating to death a Gangetic river habitats for the Ganges river dolphin. dolphin surfaced on social media. • The Gangetic Dolphins are generally blind • The Gangetic River Dolphin- An and catch their prey in a unique manner. endangered species, is recognised as They emit an ultrasonic sound which the National Aquatic Animal. reaches the prey. Analysis o The dolphin then registers this image About Gangetic dolphin in its mind and subsequently catches • Gangetic river dolphins are found in the hold of its prey. rivers systems of Ganga, Brahmaputra, o Their eyes lack a lens and therefore Meghna and Karnaphuli- Sangu in Nepal, function solely as a means of India and Bangladesh. detecting the direction of light. • It is the only surviving freshwater o It uses echo-location to navigate dolphin in India. and hunt. Like bats, they produce • The Ganges River dolphin is classified as high-frequency sounds which helps endangered by the IUCN Red List and them ‘see’ objects when the sound has been included in the Schedule I for waves bounce off them. the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. • Because of the sound it produces when • Being a mammal, the Ganges River dolphin breathing, the animal is popularly referred cannot breathe in the water and must to as the 'Susu'. surface every 30-120 seconds. • The species is found exclusively in • Ganges river dolphins prefer deep waters, freshwater habitat. in and around the confluence of rivers. • River Dolphins are solitary creatures and • The distribution range of the Ganges females tend to be larger than males. river dolphins in India covers seven • The Ganges River dolphin (Susu) is among states namely, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, the four "obligate" freshwater dolphins - the other three are: the baiji now likely

extinct from the Yangtze river in China, Interlinking of Rivers, National Water the bhulan of the Indus in Pakistan and Development Agency (NWDA) and National the boto of the Amazon River in Latin Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA) America. • The National Water Development Agency o Obligate species: Restricted to a (NWDA) is a Registered Society under the particular condition of life; for example, Ministry of Jal Shakti. dependent on a particular habitat to be • It has been set up to: able to breed o carry out detailed studies, surveys and • Although there are several species of investigations in respect of Himalayan marine dolphins whose ranges include and Peninsular Components of some freshwater habitats, these four National Perspective for Water species live only in rivers and lakes. Resources Development; • The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin o explore the feasibility of linking sub- Sanctuary (VGDS), from Sultanganj to basins of rivers in States like Bihar; Kahalganj on the Ganga in Bihar is the only o take up the work for preparation of dolphin sanctuary in the country. Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Ken- • National Waterway-1 connecting Haldia to Betwa link, which is one of the priority Varanasi passes through it. links under Peninsular Component of • The National Mission for Clean Ganga National Perspective Plan; celebrates October 5 as National Ganga o to undertake the work of preparation of River Dolphin Day. DPRs of intra-State links; • Once present in tens of thousands of o undertake completion of water numbers, the Ganges river dolphin has resources projects under Pradhan dwindled abysmally to less than 2000 Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana during the last century owing to direct (PMKSY); and killing, habitat fragmentation by dams o act as a repository of borrowed fund or and barrages and indiscriminate fishing. loan from Banks / other institutions for the execution of projects. 12. Ken-Betwa link soon (TH) Inter-Linking of Rivers • Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh • The National Perspective Plan (NPP) was Shekhawat on Saturday said people would prepared by the then Ministry of Irrigation, soon get good news regarding the Ken- now Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR Betwa river interlinking project as the (now the Ministry of Jal Shakti) for water governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar resources development through inter basin Pradesh were close to an agreement on it. transfer of water, for transferring water from • He said discussions on the project were water surplus basins to water-deficit basins. underway and now “some minor issues are • Under the NPP, the National Water left for which there is need for Development Agency (NWDA) has clarifications”. identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular Analysis Component & 14 under Himalayan

Component) for preparation of Feasibility o The project involves deforestating a Reports. portion of the Panna Tiger reserve in • No State except Kerala is opposing the Madhya Pradesh. Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) Programme. o A new proposed irrigation project will • Further Kerala Government is opposing submerge more than three lakh trees only Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar link which in the Palamau Tiger Reserve concerns the State. (Jharkhand). Ken-Betwa link project • The project involves building a 77-metre tall • The Ken-Betwa link project, country's first and a 2-km wide Dhaudhan dam and a river interlinking project, envisages 230-km canal for both irrigation and diversion of surplus waters of Ken basin in drinking water supply. Madhya Pradesh to water deficit Betwa • It had been cleared by the apex wildlife- basin in Uttar Pradesh to help irrigate the regulator, The National Board for Wildlife, drought-prone Bundelkhand region and the in 2016. adjoining areas. • Ken Betwa Link Project Phase-I (Madhya o Both the rivers originate in Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh) is one of the Pradesh but empties themselves into 16 National Projects in India. Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh. National Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA) • The Central government is working on the establishment of an exclusive body to implement projects for linking rivers. • To be called the National Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA), the proposed body is expected to take up both inter-State and intra-State projects. • It will also make arrangements for generating up funds, internally and externally. • An official of the National Water

• The ₹18,000-crore project has been mired Development Agency (NWDA), which is in several hurdles. The most recent one is a responsible for the formulation of disagreement between the States on the proposals of the linking of rivers, said an share of water and difficulty in acquiring updated draft Cabinet note has been circulated to other Ministries in the Central non-forest land. government. • Other than differences between the States, • The subject of establishment of the there are outstanding environmental Authority was discussed at the last meeting obstructions too. of the Special Committee on Inter-Linking

of Rivers (ILR) headed by Union Minister of • Dzüko Lily- a flower is found only in this Jal Shakti. valley. These rare flowers begin to bloom • Once approved, the projects will be during the onset of monsoon season. pursued as national projects, wherein the Centre will absorb 90% of the cost and the 14. SC takes cognisance of contamination States concerned the rest. of rivers (TH) • As of now, six ILR projects — the Ken- • Context:The Supreme Court took suo motu Betwa, Damanganga- Pinjal, Par-Tapi- cognisance of the contamination of rivers Narmada, Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga, by sewage effluents through lapses Mahanadi-Godavari and Godavari-Cauvery committed by municipalities, saying “open (Grand Anicut) — have been under surface water resources including rivers are examination of the authorities. the lifeline of human civilisation”. • With regard to the peninsular rivers, the Analysis Centre has chosen to focus on the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Godavari-Cauvery link than the earlier and Environmental Jurisprudence proposal to link the Mahanadi-Godavari- • CPCB is a statutory organisation Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery rivers. constituted under the Water (Prevention o The latter has eluded consensus given and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. reservations from Odisha, officials o Further, CPCB was entrusted with the said. powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of 13. Dzukou Valley (TH) Pollution) Act, 1981. • Context:The wildfire at Dzukou Valley, • It serves as a field formation and also straddling the Manipur-Nagaland border, provides technical services to the Ministry has been doused after it raged for two of Environment and Forests for the weeks. provisions of the Environment Analysis (Protection) Act, 1986. • Tribals burn down forest areas for hunting Principal functions of the CPCB are: the terrified wild animals and doing shifting o to promote cleanliness of streams and cultivation. wells in different areas of the States by • There are some disputes between Manipur prevention, control and abatement of and Nagaland which also lays claim to the water pollution, and valley. o to improve the quality of air and to • Dzuko Valley in Nagaland also called the prevent, control or abate air pollution in (valley of flowers of North East) is more the country. popular with trekkers for its interesting and • One of the mandates of CPCB is to collect, challenging trekking circuits. collate and disseminate technical and • It prides itself for being one of the most- statistical data relating to water pollution. visited tourist sites in not only Nagaland but • Ambient air quality refers to the condition or the entire Northeast India. quality of air surrounding us in the outdoors.

• National Ambient Air Quality Standards are • The Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is the standards for ambient air quality set by a measure of the oxygen required by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) aerobic (requiring oxygen) micro-organisms that is applicable nationwide. to biochemically oxidize the organic matter • The CPCB has been conferred this power by present in the waste and is expressed in the Air (Prevention and Control of mg/l. Pollution) Act, 1981. What is Environmental Protection Charge More river stretches are critically polluted: (EPC) & who has to pay EPC? Central Pollution Control Board • In 2016, the Supreme Court imposed Environment Protection Charge (EPC) of 1% on the sale of 2000cc and above diesel cars which will be registered in Delhi-NCR. What is PUC? • PUC (Pollution Under Control) is a Certification Mark issued to certify that motor vehicles in India meet emission and pollution control norms. • After the expiry of period of one year from the date of first registration, every motor vehicle is required to carry a valid PUC Certificate & subsequently after every six months. What is eutrophication? • Eutrophication is the process of the • The CPCB, since the 1990s, has a excessive increase in nutrients, such as programme to monitor the quality of rivers phosphate and nitrate, in water due to the primarily by measuring BOD(Biochemical direct depositing of non-treated sewage. Oxygen Demand), which is a proxy for What are the criteria to identify an industry organic pollution — the higher it is, the under grossly polluting industry (GPI) worse the river. category? • The health of a river and the efficacy of • GPIs were identified as Industries water treatment measures by the States discharging effluents into a water course and municipal bodies are classified and a) handling hazardous substances, or depending on BOD, with a BOD greater b) effluent having BOD load of 100 Kg per than or equal to 30 mg/l termed ‘priority 1,’ day or more, or c) a combination of (a) and while that between 3.1-6 mg/l is ‘priority 5.’ (b). • The CPCB considers a BOD less than 3 What is CEPI? mg/l an indicator of a healthy river. • A Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Frequently Asked Questions Index (CEPI), which is a rational number to What is BOD? characterize the environmental quality at a

given location following the algorithm of country as critically polluted areas. These source, pathway and receptor have been are: developed. o Bhadravati (Karnataka), • The index captures the various health o Chembur (Maharashtra), dimensions of environment including air, o Digboi (Assam), water and land. o Govindgarh (Punjab), What is CPA? o Greater Cochin (Kerala), • CPA Stands for Critically Polluted Areas. o Kala-Amb (Himachal Pradesh), • It means the areas where the pollution level o Parwanoo (Himachal Pradesh), is more than 70 %. o Korba (Madhya Pradesh), What is NAMP? o Manali (Tamil Nadu), • National Air Quality Monitoring Programme o North Arcot (Tamil Nadu), (NAMP) is a nation-wide programme for o Pali (Rajasthan), monitoring of ambient air quality. o Talcher (Orissa), • CPCB has established a NAMP which o Vapi (Gujarat), presently comprises of 614 monitoring o Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), stations covering 257 cities in 29 states & 5 o Dhanbad (Bihar), UTs. o Durgapur (West Bengal), • Under NAMP three major pollutants viz. o Howrah (West Bengal), PM10 (Particulate Matter having an o Jodhpur (Rajasthan), aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to o Nagda- Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh), 10 µm), Sulphur dioxide (SO2) and o Najafgarh Drain (Delhi), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have been o PatancheruBollaram (Andhra identified for regular monitoring at all Pradesh), locations. o Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh), What is NWMP? o Ankleshwar (Gujarat), • National water Quality Monitoring o Tarapur (Maharashtra) Programme (NWMP) is a nation-wide What are the measures for control of noise programme for monitoring of water quality. pollution? • CPCB in collaboration with concerned • Ambient standards in respect of noise for SPCBs/PCCs established a nationwide different categories of areas (residential, network of water quality monitoring commercial, industrial) and silence zones comprising 2500 stations in 28 States and 6 have been notified under the Environment Union Territories. (Protection) Act, 1986. How many critically polluted areas have • Noise limits have been prescribed for been identified? automobiles, domestic appliances and • The Central Pollution Control Board in construction equipment at the consultation with State Pollution Control manufacturing stage. Boards has identified 24 areas in the

• Standards have been evolved and notified o Thermal Power Plants for the gen sets, fire crackers and coal o Zinc Smelter mines. What are the incentives to the industries What steps have been taken to control for pollution control? noise pollution due to loud-speakers? • Commissioning of the stand-by power • The Govt. of India has enacted Noise supply systems by chlor-alkali plants Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, reduce mercury emission due to power 2000 vide S.O.123(E), dated 14th failures. February, 2000. • Introduction of blending system for coal • The Rule deals with provisions to control homogenisation in cement plants. noise pollution due to loud-speakers and • Conversion of single hood to the double public address system, as given below: hood system in copper smelters to reduce o A loud speaker or a public address the fugitive emissions system shall not be used except after • Biomethanation of the effluents in obtaining written permission from the distilleries. authority. • Solar evaporation ponds in small-scale o A loud speaker or a public address water polluting units not having Common system shall not be used at night Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in the (between 10.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.) proximity. except in closed premises for • Conversion of the open hearth furnaces communication within e.g. auditoria, (OHF) to the basic oxygen furnaces (BOF) conference rooms, community halls and introduction of the dry system (instead and banquet halls. of wet) for the quenching of the hot coke in What are the 17 Categories of the major iron & steel plants polluting industries? • Commissioning of chemical recovery plants o Aluminium Smelter (CRPs) by pulp & paper industries; and o Caustic Soda Environment Authorities o Cement • In addition to Pollution Control Boards, 5 o Copper Smelter Environmental Authorities have been o Distilleries constituted under the Environment o Dyes & Dye Intermediates (Protection) Act 1986. These are: o Fertilizer o The Central Ground Water Authority - o Integrated Iron & Steel Aqua Culture Authority o Tanneries o Dahanu Taluka Environment o Pesticides (Protection) Authority o Petrochemicals o Environment Pollution (Prevention & o Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Control) Authority for National Capital o Pulp & Paper Region of Delhi o Oil Refineries o Sugar

o Loss of Ecology (Prevention and • These principles have been accepted as a Payment of Compensation) Authority part of the law of the land as article 21 of for State of Tamil Nadu. the Constitution of India guaranteed the o National Environment Appellate protection of life and personal liberty. Authority,1997 • There is also a constitutional mandate to What are the laws enforced by of the protect and improve the environment under Pollution Control Boards? articles 47, 48-A and 51-A (g). • The Central and State Pollution Control • Article 47. The State shall regard the Boards were set up for enforcement of the raising of the level of nutrition and the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) standard of living of its people and the Act, 1974. improvement of public health as among its • Over the years, the Boards have been primary duties and in particular, the State assigned additional responsibilities which shall endeavour to bring about prohibition include the following: of the consumption except from medicinal o Water (Prevention & Control of purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs Pollution) Cess Act, 1977. which are injurious to health. o Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) • Article 48A. The State shall endeavour to Act, 1981 protect and improve the environment and to o Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 safeguard the forests and wild life of the and Rules made thereunder country. o Hazardous Waste (Management & • Article 51A(g). To protect and improve the Handling) Rules1989. natural environment including forests, o Manufacture, storage and Import of lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 compassion for living creatures. o Bio-medical Waste (Management & • Apart from the constitutional mandate to Handling) Rules, 1998 protect and improve the environment there o Municipal Solid Waste (Management are plenty of post-independence & Handling) Rules, 2000. legislations on the subject but more o Plastic wastes Rules, 1999 relevant enactments for our purpose are: o Coastal Regulation Zone Rules, 1991 The Water (Prevention and Control of o Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 Pollution) Act, 1974 (the Water Act), The Environmental Jurisprudence Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) • The Supreme court in Vellore Citizens Act, 1981 (the Air Act) and the Environment Welfare Forum v. Union of India case Protection Act 1986 (the Environment Act). reiterated and declared in unequivocal terms that ‘the precautionary principle 15. Forest Fires in India: Causes, Effects and the polluter pays principle’ are part and Spread (IE) of the environmental jurisprudence of this • Context: Forest fires in Himachal Pradesh. country. Analysis

• The Forest Survey of India's data on forest • India’s monsoons are largely responsible fire attribute around 50% of the forest areas for the seasonal nature of forest fires in as fire prone. However, only 6.17% of the the country. forests are prone to severe fire damage. • For most of India, forest fires peak during the dry months of March or April before the arrival of the monsoon. Forest fires result from a combination of natural and social factors. The forest fire triangle in figure 1.3 illustrates how these factors are interrelated.

Fig: Map of India showing the districts with regular interval of forest fire • A large fraction of India's deciduous and semi-deciduous forests is characterized

by open and frequently burned stands. o To reduce water stress, the deciduous • Local topography influences the difficulty of trees shed their leaves during the dry fire prevention and suppression and can season. raise the potential for out-of-control fires. o These fuels, together with the grass o Moving up steep slopes, fires can layer, allow the development of low- spread at several times the rate they and medium-intensity surface fires would on level ground. almost every year. o Winds in rugged terrain can change o The Himalayan regions and the dry direction quickly or blow harder, and deciduous forests of India, particularly fuels may dry out faster on south- in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, facing slopes. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, • By comparison with dry deciduous forests, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and there is a greater potential for intense fire Odisha are ecologically sensitive behaviour in India’s subtropical pine areas and are most affected by these forests. Pine needles degrade slowly and fires. have a high resin content. More specifically the causes of forest fires in India are:

• Natural Causes: o Wildfires release chlorine-containing o Lightening compounds. Some of these can reach o Rubbing of dry sticks the ozone layer, and cause o Friction due to rolling stones photocatalytic ozone depletion. • Man- Made Causes: o Forest fires and volcanic eruptions are o Shifting Cultivation the largest producer of dioxins in the o Covering up Illicit felling of trees world. o Clearing path through the forest  Dioxins are carcinogenic bio- o Tribal Traditions accumulative toxins, that are able to • The following are among the advantages persist in the environment for a of natural forest fires: prolonged period of time. o Wildfires are sometimes a natural Forest Fire Alert System process, and help forests by • The Forest Fire Alert System is part of the promoting flowering, branching and Large Forest Fire Monitoring Programme seedling establishment. that was launched by the Forest Survey of o Fires that are limited to the surface India (FSI) in January 2019 using near real may help in the natural regeneration of time data from the SNPP-VIIRS satellite. forests. • Fully automated Forest Fire Alert System o The heating of the soil may result in 3.0 disseminates its alert system for 20 helpful microbial activity, and hasten states at beat level and 2 states at Range decaying processes that are useful for level. In case of the rest of the States/UT’s, the vegetation. alerts are sent up to District level in the o Fire helps revive dormant seeds of absence of Administrative boundary many species. information from State Forest Departments. o Some young woody trees survive • Forest Survey of India has been using ground fires and have higher growth spatial information (MODIS and rates immediately post-fire, until they SNPPVIIRS sensors on-board Aqua and reach a certain height. Terra Satellites of NASA) to find and report o Fires helps suppressing invasive forest fires in the nascent stage and provide species. quick and reliable signals to SFDs and  Bandipur National Park in Karnataka general public to initiate preventive experienced large-scale forest fires measures at their end. recently. o Each of the MODIS satellites has two • The following are among the passes over India daily. disadvantages of forest fires: • The Draft Forest Policy, 2018, does o Forest fires are one of the most mention forest fires as a threat and has important causes of land degradation proposed the mapping of vulnerable areas that lead to biodiversity loss, along with developing and strengthening deforestation and desertification early warning systems. processes.

• Uncontrolled fires are a complex problem • The analysis showed that extremely fire that require a comprehensive and long-term prone areas account for 3.89% of total policy. This requires more effective forest cover, very highly fire prone areas coordination with local communities — the account for 6.01% and highly fire prone primary forest users in India. It demands areas for 11.50%. Together, the three proper co-ordination mechanisms between categories come to 21.40 % of forest cover. the state governments, the forest • The seven States of the north-eastern departments, and the MoEF&CC. region accounted for about one-third of fire • These fires should be treated as disasters alerts in the country. so that disaster management authorities o Mizoram, a small State, recorded the can play a major role in preventing them. highest number of fire alerts. o The National Forest Commission of • One of the major reasons for forest fires in 2006 too suggested that all fires that the north-east is slash-and-burn cultivation, burn an area larger than 20 sq km, commonly called jhoom or jhum cultivation. should be declared a state disaster. The fires happen between the months of • The new Real Time Forest Alert System of January and March. India, that lists potential fire spots across • The north-east has tropical evergreen the country, must be taken seriously by the forests and, unlike the dry deciduous state forest departments. forests of central India, these are not likely India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2019 to catch fire easily. and Forest fires • In India, most forest fires are restricted to • About 21.40% of forest cover in India is the forest floor and are well controlled by highly to extremely fire prone, with forests beating the fire with the help of the local in the north-eastern region and central India community. being the most vulnerable, the 2019 report • As per the data from the National Forest by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has Inventory program of FSI, 9.89% of forest said. areas are heavily affected and 54.40% • The forest fire points (FFP) were analysed mildly affected due to forest fires. using a moderate resolution imaging o Therefore, almost two thirds of our spectroradiometer (MODIS). forest areas are vulnerable to forest fires. • Forest fires are difficult to predict in advance, as almost all fires are caused by people in our country, unlike the case in many Western countries.

• The forest types most affected by fires: like laying out an alternative road (Hunsur

to Kutta), deployment of additional staff and 16. Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) (TH) infrastructure development. Analysis India’s policy • For years, the two National Highways, NH • In September 2013, the National Board for 181 (linking Karnataka with Tamil Nadu) Wildlife (NBWL), the apex advisory body to and NH 766 (linking Karnataka with the central government on all wildlife- Kerala), cutting through the tiger reserve related matters, said no to new roads had turned into a deathtrap for the wildlife, through protected forests, but was open with more than 40 different species of to the widening of existing roads with animals getting killed every year on the adequate mitigation measures road. irrespective of the cost, only if • It was then that the Karnataka High Court, alternative alignments were not hearing a writ petition in 2009, ordered available. The government accepted this closure of the NHs for night traffic, thus as policy in December 2014. upholding the animals’ right to live. • In February 2018, the NBWL made it • However, the ban on night traffic, even mandatory for every road/rail project though hailed by Tamil Nadu, has not gone proposal to include a wildlife passage plan well with the neighbouring Kerala, which as per guidelines framed by Wildlife has based its argument on the reason that Institute of India, an autonomous wildlife its mountain district’s economy, research body under the Environment predominantly supported by tourism, has Ministry. gone for a toss. Bandipur Tiger Reserve • Karnataka, on the other hand, has been • The Bandipur, Nagarahole, Wayanad, complying with all the orders of the courts, Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam Tiger

Landscape is spread across the states of been protected under the broad rubric Karnataka (Bandipur-Nagarahole), Tamil of the right to life (Article 21 of the Nadu (Mudumalai-Sathyamangalam) and Constitution),” a three-judge Bench led by Kerala (Wayanad). the Chief Justice had said. • The Bandipur Tiger Reserve along with • Ammonia is one of several forms of Nagarahole, Mudumalai, nitrogen that exist in aquatic environments. Sathyamangalam& Wayanad Landscape is Unlike other forms of nitrogen, which can the source population in the Western Ghats cause nutrient over-enrichment of a water landscape complex, having one of the body at elevated concentrations and largest Wild population of Tigers in the indirect effects on aquatic life, ammonia world. causes direct toxic effects on aquatic life. • The Bandipur Tiger Reserve forms a very Analysis important component of 5520.00 Sq. Km. Ammonia and its sources landscape, the first Biosphere Reserve in • Ammonia is a common industrial chemical the country i.e. Nilgiri Biosphere used: Reserve, notified under the Man and o for synthesis of nitrogen-containing Biosphere (MAB) Programme of the IUCN. organic and inorganic chemicals • This Landscape of Bandipur, Nagarahole, o for manufacture of fertilisers Mudumalai& Wayanad complex is home to o for use as a fertiliser itself by direct single largest Asian Elephant population in injection into soils the world. • The most common sources of ammonia entering surface waters and groundwaters are domestic sewage and industrial effluents. • Natural sources of ammonia include the 17. Ammonia in Water Bodies (TH) decomposition or breakdown of organic • Context: The Supreme Court had taken waste matter, gas exchange with the suo motu cognisance of the contamination atmosphere, forest fires, animal and human of rivers by sewage effluents through waste, and nitrogen fixation processes, lapses committed by municipalities, saying atmospheric lightning and volcanicism. “open surface water resources including • Ammonia can enter the aquatic rivers are the lifeline of human civilisation”. environment via direct means such as • It was concerned about increased ammonia municipal effluent discharges and the level which has impaired water treatment excretion of nitrogenous wastes from plants and a drinking water and health animals, and indirect means such as crises loom large in Delhi. nitrogen fixation, air deposition, and runoff • “Deterioration of quality of fresh water has from agricultural lands. a direct co-relation with the quality of public • Ammonia is the preferred nitrogen- health... The right to clean environment, containing nutrient for plant growth. and further, pollution-free water, has Ammonia can be converted to nitrite (NO2)

and nitrate (NO3) by bacteria, and then stipulated in the Biomedical Waste used by plants. Nitrate and ammonia are Management Rules 2016 and by the the most common forms of nitrogen in Central Pollution Control Board. aquatic systems. Nitrate predominates in Analysis unpolluted waters. Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, Harmful effects of Ammonia 2016 • When ammonia is present in water at high • These rules are one of the six categories enough levels, it is difficult for aquatic of waste management rules brought out organisms to sufficiently excrete the by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and toxicant, leading to toxic buildup in internal Climate Change (MoEFCC), as it has tissues and blood, and potentially death. earlier notified plastic, e-waste, solid-waste, • Environmental factors, such as pH and hazardous and construction and demolition temperature, can affect ammonia toxicity to waste management rules. aquatic animals. Toxicity increases as pH • Biomedical waste comprises human & decreases and as temperature decreases. animal anatomical waste, treatment • Plants are more tolerant of ammonia than apparatus like needles, syringes and other animals, and invertebrates are more materials used in health care facilities in the tolerant than fish. process of treatment and research. • Hatching and growth rates of fishes may be • However, it shall not apply to: affected. o radioactive wastes, o In the structural development, o wastes covered under the MSW changes in tissues of gills, liver, and Rules, 2000, kidneys may also occur. o lead acid batteries, • Toxic concentrations of ammonia in o hazardous wastes, humans may cause loss of equilibrium, o e-waste, convulsions, coma, and death. o hazardous microorganisms • Total bio-medical waste generation in the 18. Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, country is 484 TPD (tonnes per day), out of 2016(TH) which 447 TPD is treated. • Context: The National Green Tribunal • Scientific disposal of Biomedical Waste (NGT) has directed biomedical waste through segregation, collection and management facilities in the country to treatment in an environmentally sound obtain authorisation from State pollution manner minimises the adverse impact on control boards while asking the Central health workers and on the environment. Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to ensure Salient features of BMW Management strict compliance of biomedical waste Rules, 2016, as amended in 2018: management rules. • The ambit of the rules has been expanded • All biomedical waste needs to be disposed to include vaccination camps, blood of in colour coded categories — yellow, donation camps, surgical camps or any red, white and blue — as per the guidelines

other healthcare activity undertaken a separate account and will be used for outside the healthcare facility; tackling pollution. • Establish a Bar-Code System for bags or o Personal vehicles to be charged with containers containing bio-medical waste for green tax at the time of renewal of disposal; registration certification after 15 years; • Bio-medical waste has been classified in to o Higher green tax (50% of road tax) for 4 categories instead 10 to improve the vehicles being registered in highly segregation of waste at source; polluted cities; • Chlorinated plastic bags and gloves will not o Differential tax will also be charged be used beyond March 27, 2019; (Will depending on fuel (petrol/ diesel) and eliminate the emission of dioxin and furans the type of vehicle; from burning of such wastes) o Vehicles like strong hybrids, electric • Inclusion of emissions limits for Dioxin and vehicles and those running on furans; alternate fuels like CNG, ethanol and • State Government to provide land for LPG will be exempted. setting up common bio-medical waste • Transport vehicles older than eight years treatment and disposal facility; could be charged with green tax at the time • No occupier shall establish on-site of renewal of fitness certificate at the rate of treatment and disposal facility, if a 10 to 25% of road tax. service of `common bio-medical waste • Public transport vehicles, such as city treatment facility is available at a distance buses, will be paying lower Green Tax, the of seventy-five kilometre. ministry noted adding, meanwhile, vehicles Monitoring and Implementation of BMW used in farming, such as tractor, harvestor, Management Rules, 2016 tiller, etc to be exempted entirely. • Ministry of Environment, Forest and • The proposal will now go to the states for Climate Change shall review the consultation before it is formally notified. implementation of the rules in the country • The Ministry also approved the policy of once in a year through the State Health deregistration and scrapping of vehicles Secretaries, CPCB and SPCBs. owned by the Government department and PSU, which plied on the road for 15 years 19. Green Taxation in India (TH) or more. It is to be notified, and will come • Context: In a bid to curb pollution and into effect from April 1, 2022. motivate people to switch to environment- Ecotax/green tax friendly alternatives, the road transport • An ecotax/green tax is a tax whose tax ministry has decided to impose additional base is defined so as to internalise the taxes on old vehicles that are unfit for roads negative externality generated either from as 'green taxes'. the production/consumption/ extraction Analysis behaviour in an economy. • According to the ministry, the revenue Clean Environment Cess collected from the green tax will be kept in

• India’s Clean Environment Cess or coal ecosystem, wildlife protection and cess acts as a carbon tax. infrastructure development. • The coal cess is levied on coal, lignite and • The Fund can also be used for catchment peat at the rate of ₹ 400 for every tonne of area treatment, wildlife management, forest coal produced or imported, and the funds fire prevention, soil and moisture raised are managed by the National Clean conservation work in the forest....it cannot Environment Fund (NCEF), which was be used for payment of salary, travelling known as the National Clean Energy Fund allowances, making buildings and buying earlier. office equipment for forest officers. Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, • The balance with both funds will be non- 2016 lapsable and get interest as per a rate • It is defined as afforestation done in lieu of declared by the central government on a the diversion of forest land for non forest yearly basis. use under the Forests (Conservation) Act, Independent authority 1980. • The CAF Act 2016 also established an • The Compensatory Afforestation Fund independent authority — the Act, 2016, establishes dedicated, non- Compensatory Afforestation Fund lapsable interest bearing funds - the Management and Planning National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Authorityunder the chairmanship of the under the Public Account of India, and a Union Minister of Environment & State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Forests for monitoring, technical under the Public Account of each state. assistance and evaluation of • These Funds will receive payments for: compensatory afforestation activities— o (i) compensatory afforestation, to execute the fund. o (ii) net present value of forest (NPV), Issues and • While the government is prompt in o (iii) other project specific payments. collecting such taxes, it seems to have a • The amount to be paid depends on the lackadaisical approach in utilizing them for economic value of the goods and services stated goals. Substantial resources have that the razed forest would have provided. been diverted from the NCEF towards o These include timber, bamboo, myriad government schemes though it was firewood, carbon sequestration, soil originally instituted to fund research and conservation, water recharge, and development in the field of clean energy seed dispersal. technologies. • The National Fund will receive 10% of • A detailed list of projects recommended for these funds, and the State Funds will NCEF funding available since 2011 shows receive the remaining 90%. that most of the money has been directed • These Funds will be primarily spent on towards various government missions such afforestation to compensate for loss of as the Green India Mission, the Jawaharlal forest cover, regeneration of forest Nehru National Solar Mission, installation of

solar photovoltaic plants or solar water endangered turtle species, particularly heater systems, etc. A large part of the fund where a managed breeding component is is also lying unutilized. included in their overall survival strategy. • Thus, the use of NCEF money to provide • Today the TSA supports projects or for budgetary shortfall in any environment- programs – both wild and captive - that related programme is defeating its original benefit 21 of the World’s 25 Most purpose, which was to provide loans or Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater viability gap funding for new renewable Turtles. technologies. Even afforestation efforts • TSA’s conservation actions utilize a three- seem to be suffering from a similar pronged approach: situation. o 1) Restoring populations in the wild Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) where possible, • Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of o 2) Securing species in captivity Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate through assurance colonies, and Change (MoEF&CC) has been constituted o 3) Building the capacity to restore, under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980. secure and conserve species within • It has both official as well as unofficial their range country members, the Director General of • On May 23, 2020, World Turtle Day, a Forests as the Chairman. number of conservation agencies launched • The FAC is an apex body tasked with a citizen science initiative, a mobile-based adjudicating requests by the industry to application called KURMA, aimed at turtle raze forest land for commercial use. conservation. 20. Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) (TH) • The Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) was 21. Elephant Corridor Case (TH) formed in 2001 as "an IUCN partnership for • Context: The Supreme Court appointed sustainable captive management of conservationist Nandita Hazarika as freshwater turtles and tortoises." Member of a Technical Committee • The TSA arose in response to the rampant constituted by it on October 14 last year to and unsustainable harvest of Asian turtle hear complaints by land owners against the populations to supply Chinese markets, a action taken by the Nilgris Collector, which situation known as the Asian Turtle Crisis. included sealing of their buildings and • Recognizing that some species of turtles allegations about the “arbitrary variance in and tortoises were unlikely to survive acreage of the elephant corridor.” without well-managed populations, the TSA • On October 14, the top court upheld the was charged with developing breeding Tamil Nadu government’s authority to notify programs for the most critically endangered an ‘elephant corridor’ and protect the of the world's chelonian species. migratory path of the animals through the • Although the TSA was organized in Nilgiri biosphere reserve. response to the Asian Turtle Crisis, the group is well positioned to respond to other

o The reserve is the largest protected forest area in India, spanning across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. • The corridor is situated in the ecologically fragile Sigur plateau, which connects the Western and the Eastern Ghats and sustains elephant populations, a “keystone species”, and their genetic diversity. o The elephants cross the plateau in search of food and water.

Economy

1. Index of Eight Core Industries (TH) • Context: The Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released Index of Eight Core Industries for the Month of November, 2020. • Output from India’s eight core sectors hit a three-month low in November, contracting 2.6% in the festive month with coal, fertilizers and electricity the only sectors to record positive growth on a year-on-year basis, suggesting the economy is still not out of the woods. • The good news is that the Index of Eight Core Industries was revised upwards for both August and October, based on updated data inputs received by the Office of Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade that compiles the data. Analysis Core Industries • Index of Eight Core Industries has the base: 2011-12. • The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 % of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). • The data relating to core industries is released by the Office of the Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. • The Index of Eight Core Industries is a monthly production index, which is also considered as a lead indicator of the monthly industrial performance. • Since April, 2014, Electricity generation data from Renewable sources are also included. • Since March 2019, a new steel product called Hot Rolled Pickled and Oiled (HRPO) under the item ‘Cold Rolled (CR) coils’ within the production of finished steel has also been included. • The eight core industries are, in descending order of their weights: o Petroleum Refinery Products (weight: 28.04%) o Electricity (weight: 19.85%) o Steel (weight: 17.92 %) o Coal production (weight: 10.33 %) o Crude Oil (weight: 8.98 %) o Natural Gas (weight: 6.88 %) o Cement (weight: 5.37%) o Fertilizer (weight: 2.63 %) Aluminium sector as India’s ninth core industry • The Centre must actively consider classifying the aluminium sector as India’s ninth core industry, according to a report by VK Saraswat, NITI Aayog member, and Aniruddha Ghosh, a Delhi-based economist. • The aluminium sector contributes to nearly 2 per cent of manufacturing GDP and is a high direct and an indirect employment multiplier creating close to 800,000 jobs.

2. Anti-Dumping Duty (TH) • Context:The designated authority under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recommended the levy of anti-dumping duty on viscose spun yarn imported from China, Vietnam and Indonesia. • The Indian Manmade Yarn Manufacturers Association had sought the levy as import of viscose yarn from these countries was hurting domestic manufacturers. After an investigation, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies has recommended the move. Analysis • Binding tariffs, and applying them equally to all trading partners (most-favoured-nation treatment, or MFN) are key to the smooth flow of trade in goods. • The WTO agreements uphold the principles, but they also allow exceptions — in some circumstances. • Three of these issues are: o actions taken against dumping (selling at an unfairly low price); o subsidies and special “countervailing” duties to offset the subsidies; o emergency measures to limit imports temporarily, designed to “safeguard” domestic industries. Countervailing Duty (CVD) • It is an additional import duty imposed on imported products (by the importing country) when such products enjoy benefits like export subsidies and tax concessions in the country of their origin. • The objective of CVD is to nullify or eliminate the price advantage (low price) enjoyed by an imported product when it is given subsidies or exempted from domestic taxes in the country where they are manufactures. • The WTO permits member countries to impose countervailing duty when the exporting country gives export subsidy. Anti-Dumping Duty • Dumping is a process where a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges on its own home market. • An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value. • Typically, anti-dumping action means charging extra import duty on the particular product from the particular exporting country in order to bring its price closer to the “normal value” or to remove the injury to domestic industry in the importing country. • Anti-dumping duty is imposed on the basis of margin of dumping which can vary across countries, producers or exporters. o Accordingly, there are variable rates of anti-dumping duty on different exporting countries, producers or exporters. • The use of anti-dumping measure as an instrument of fair competition is permitted by the WTO.

• The WTO agreement allows governments to act against dumping where there is genuine (“material”) injury to the competing domestic industry. o In order to do that the government has to be able to show that dumping is taking place, calculate the extent of dumping (how much lower the export price is compared to the exporter’s home market price), and show that the dumping is causing injury or threatening to do so. • Disputes in the anti-dumping area are subject to binding dispute settlement before the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO. Anti-Dumping and Customs Duty • Although anti-dumping duty is levied and collected by the Customs Authorities, it is entirely different from the Customs duties not only in concept and substance, but also in purpose and operation. • The following are the main differences between the two: • Anti-dumping and the like measures in their essence are linked to the notion of fair trade. o The object of these duties is to guard against the situation arising out of unfair trade practices while customs duties are there as a means of raising revenue and for overall development of the economy. • Customs duties fall in the realm of trade and fiscal policies of the Government while anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures are there as trade remedial measures. • Anti-dumping duties are not necessarily in the nature of a tax measure inasmuch as the Authority is empowered to suspend these duties in case of an exporter offering a price undertaking. Thus, such measures are not always in the form of duties/tax. • Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties are levied against exporter/country in as much as they are country specific and exporter specific as against the customs duties which are general and universally applicable to all imports irrespective of the country of origin and the exporter. Extent of anti-dumping duty • Under the WTO arrangement, the National Authorities can impose duties up to the margin of dumping i.e. the difference between the normal value and the export price. • The Indian law also provides that the anti-dumping duty to be recommended/levied shall not exceed the dumping margin. • The anti-dumping duty cannot be levied retrospectively beyond 90 days from the date of issue of Notification imposing duty. Authority for Anti-Dumping • Anti-dumping and anti-subsidies & countervailing measures in India are administered by the Directorate General of anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) functioning in the Dept. of Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the same is headed by the "Designated Authority". • The Designated Authority's function, however, is only to conduct the anti-dumping/anti-subsidy & countervailing duty investigation and make recommendation to the Government for imposition of anti-dumping or anti subsidy measures.

• Such duty is finally imposed/levied by a Notification of the Ministry of Finance. o Thus, while the Designated Authority (in the Department of Commerce) recommends the anti-dumping duty, provisional or final, it is the Ministry of Finance, Dept. of Revenue which acts upon such recommendation within three months and imposes/levies such duty. • Safeguard measures, on the other hand, are administered by another Authority namely, Director General (Safeguard), which functions under the Dept. of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. • The Standing Board of Safeguards (chaired by the Commerce Secretary) considers the recommendations of the DG (Safeguards) and then recommends the impositions of the Safeguard Duty as it deems fit, to the Ministry of Finance which levies the duty. Minimum Level of Imports Individual exporter: • Any exporter whose margin of dumping is less than 2% of the export price shall be excluded from the purview of anti-dumping duties even if the existence of dumping, injury as well as the causal link is established. Country: • Further, investigation against any country is required to be terminated if the volume of the dumped imports, actual or potential, from a particular country accounts for less than 3% of the total imports of the like product. o However, in such a case, the cumulative imports of the like product from all these countries who individually account for less than 3%, should not exceed 7% of the import of the like product. APPEAL • The law provides that an order of determination of existence degree and effect of dumping is appealable before the Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT). • However, as per the judicial view, only the final findings/order of the Designated Authority/Ministry of Finance can be appealed against before the CEGAT. • Appeal cannot lie against the Preliminary findings of the Authority and the provisional duty imposed on the basis thereof. • The Appeal to the CEGAT should be filed within 90 days.

3. Financial Action Task Force (FATF) (TH) • Context:The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had deferred its once-a-decade evaluation of India’s anti-money laundering regime scheduled for this year, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, and indicated that the onsite review to be conducted by global experts may now take place in early 2021. • The FATF undertakes peer reviews of each member on an ongoing basis to assess the implementation of its recommendations and provides a detailed analysis of each country's system for preventing criminal abuse of the financial system. The FATF review of India will happen [in 2021].

Analysis • FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by a Group of Seven (G-7) Summit in Paris. o G-7 Countries: Canada, U.S., U.K., Italy, France, Germany and Japan – the seven largest advanced economies. o Earlier it was G-8 when Russia was suspended from it because of Russia's annexation of Crimea, a part of Ukraine. • It helps in combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. • The FATF's decision making body, the FATF Plenary, meets three times per year. • The FATF monitors: o the progress of its members in implementing necessary measures, o reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures, and o promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally. • In collaboration with other international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse. • The FATF is an international policy-making body. It does not take a role in law enforcement matters, investigations or prosecutions. • The FATF does not address at all issues related to low tax jurisdiction or tax competition. The FATF mandate focuses only on the fight against laundering of proceeds of crimes and the financing of terrorism. FATF Members and Observers • The FATF currently comprises 39 members (37 countries including China and India and 2 regional organisations - European Commission, Gulf Co-operation Council), representing most major financial centres in all parts of the globe. o Pakistan is not a member of FATF. • From the Indian sub-continent, India is the only member of FATF. • FATF Observers: Indonesia.

4. IFSCA becomes member of IOSCO (PIB) • The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has become an Associate Member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). • The IOSCO is the international organization that brings together the world's securities regulators, covering more than 95% of the world’s securities markets, and is the global standard setter for the securities sector. o IOSCO works closely with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in setting up the standards for strengthening the securities markets. o The IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation have been endorsed by FSB as one of the key standards for sound financial systems.

• The membership of IOSCO would provide IFSCA the platform to exchange information at the global level and regional level on areas of common interests. • Further, the IOSCO platform would enable IFSCA to learn from the experiences and best practices of the regulators of other well established financial centres.

5. India’s first Social Impact Bond (SIB) (livemint) • In what is claimed to be a maiden innovative move on civic terrain, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has signed an MoU with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India to co-create India’s ‘first Social Impact Bond (SIB)’. • This SIB will support the PCMC in improving healthcare services for local residents, especially with respect to the pandemic, while incurring minimum investment risks, said UNDP. • This is the first time that a government body will act as the ‘outcome funder’ in a bond, whereas traditionally most government-funded public projects require large and early investments by the government with a substantial gestation period of outcomes and involve various kinds of risks.

6. Balance of Payment (BOP) (TH) • Context: The trade deficit (the difference between imports and exports) at $15.71 billion was highest since July 2020. The country had witnessed trade surplus in June 2020.

Analysis • Balance of Payment (BOP) statement acts as an economic indicator to identify the trade deficit or surplus situation of a country. • Analyzing and understanding the BOP of a country goes beyond just deducting the outflows of funds from inflows. • There are various components of BOP and fluctuations in these accounts which provide a clear indication about which sector of the economy needs to be developed. What is ‘Balance of Payment’? • Balance of Payment (BOP) is a statement which records all the monetary transactions made between residents of a country and the rest of the world during any given period. • This statement includes all the transactions made by/to individuals, corporates and the government and helps in monitoring the flow of funds to develop the economy.

• When all the elements are correctly included in the BOP, it should sum up to zero in a perfect scenario. o This means the inflows and outflows of funds should balance out. However, this does not ideally happen in most cases. • BOP statement of a country indicates whether the country has a surplus or a deficit of funds i.e. when a country’s export is more than its import, its BOP is said to be in surplus. On the other hand, BOP deficit indicates that a country’s imports are more than its exports. • Tracking the transactions under BOP is something similar to the double entry system of accounting. This means, all the transaction will have a debit entry and a corresponding credit entry. Why balance of payment is vital for a country? • BOP of a country reveals its financial and economic status. • BOP statement can be used as an indicator to determine whether the country’s currency value is appreciating or depreciating. • BOP statement helps the Government to decide on fiscal and trade policies. • It provides important information to analyze and understand the economic dealings of a country with other countries. • By studying its BOP statement and its components closely, one would be able to identify trends that may be beneficial or harmful to the economy of the county and thus, then take appropriate measures.

7. Regulation S bonds and the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) (TH) • Context: The Exim Bank is in the dollar money market with a seven-year bond issue, selling Reg S bonds worth at least $1 billion. • Regulation S bonds are issued by foreign issuers in the U.S. debt market and are denominated in U.S. dollars, but resident American citizens cannot subscribe to them. Analysis • Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) is a specialized financial institution, wholly owned by Government of India, set up in 1982, for financing, facilitating and promoting foreign trade of India. • EXIM Bank extends Lines of Credit (LOCs) to overseas financial institutions, regional development banks, sovereign governments and other entities overseas, to enable buyers in those countries to import developmental and infrastructure projects, equipments, goods and services from India, on deferred credit terms. • EXIM Bank has laid strong emphasis on enhancing project exports, the funding options for which have been enhanced with introduction of the Buyer's Credit-National Export Insurance Account (BC-NEIA) program. • The Bank facilitates two-way technology transfer by financing import of technology into India, and investment abroad by Indian companies for setting up joint ventures, subsidiaries or undertaking overseas acquisitions.

• The Bank provides assistance in helping Indian firms in their globalization efforts by locating overseas distributor(s)/ buyer (s)/ partner (s) for their products and services. • Exim Bank also lays special emphasis on enhancing export capabilities and international competitiveness of Indian companies through its various Advisory Services.

8. National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) (PIB, TH) • Context: Finance Minister chaired review meeting of the National Infrastructure Pipeline. • The NIP is a part of the Government of India’s initiative to provide world-class infrastructure to its citizens and enhance the ease of living. • For details, refer to 23rd Dec file.

9. OPEC Vs OPEC + and the Two Most Popular Grades of Crude Oil (TH) • Context: Brent crude oil prices rose to their highest since February 2020 after Saudi Arabia agreed to reduce output more than expected in the meeting with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers that form the group known as OPEC+. • Reductions agreed to by Saudi Arabia were included in a deal to persuade other producers in the OPEC+ group to hold output steady. • With corona virus infections spreading rapidly in many parts of the world, producers are trying to support prices as demand takes a hit from new lockdowns. Analysis The Two Most Popular Grades of Crude Oil • When it comes to physical oil, there are different grades. • The most popular traded grades are Brent North Sea Crude (commonly known as Brent Crude) and West Texas Intermediate (commonly known as WTI). • WTI is the benchmark crude for North America. • Brent refers to oil that is produced in the Brent oil fields and other sites in the North Sea. • Brent Crude's price is the benchmark for African, European, and Middle Eastern crude oil. o The pricing mechanism for Brent dictates the value of roughly two-thirds of the world's crude oil production. o The supply of this crude Brent Oil is waterborne, it’s easy to transport to distant locations. • Since both types of oil are used as benchmarks, different countries will use them in different manners. Asian countries tend to use a mixture of Brent and WTI benchmark prices to value their crude oil. Sulfur in Oil • Oil contains sulfur, and the percentage of sulfur in crude oil dictates the amount of processing needed to refine the oil into energy products. o "Sweet crude" is a term that refers to crude oil that has less than 1% sulfur.2 • The sulfur content of both Brent and WTI is well under 1%, making them both “sweet.” • They are also less dense (“lighter”) than many of the crude oils extracted elsewhere.

• Both of these characteristics make them easier to refine and more attractive to petroleum product producers. • One Barrel is the unit of volume for crude oil and petroleum products. One barrel equals approximately 159 liters. OPEC Vs OPEC+ (TH) • For details, refer to 10th Nov file.

10. India’s seventh Trade Policy Review (TPR)(PIB) • Context: India’s seventh Trade Policy Review (TPR) began 6th January 2021 at the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Analysis • The TPR is an important mechanism under the WTO’s monitoring function, and involves a comprehensive peer-review of the Member’s national trade policies. India’s last TPR took place in 2015. • India has advocated a short-term package of effective measures at the WTO that includes: o a temporary waiver of certain TRIPS provisions to increase manufacturing capacity and ensure timely and affordable availability of new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19; o a permanent solution for Public Stockholding (PSH) for food security purposes to address food security concern; and o a multilateral initiative that provides for easier access to medical services under mode-4 to facilitate easier cross-border movement of health care professionals. Analysis • These reviews are part of the Uruguay Round agreement, but they began several years before the round ended. • Annex 3 to the Marrakesh Agreement, agreed by Members in April 1994, placed the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) on a permanent footing as one of the WTO’s basic functions. • Initially they operated under General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and, like GATT, they focused on goods trade. o With the creation of the WTO in 1995, their scope was extended, like the WTO, to include services and intellectual property. • The objectives of the TPRM, as expressed in Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement, include: o to increase the transparency and understanding of countries’ trade policies and practices, through regular monitoring o to improve the quality of public and intergovernmental debate on the issues o to enable a multilateral assessment of the effects of policies on the world trading system. • All WTO members are reviewed, the frequency of each country’s review varying according to its share of world trade.

o The Annex mandates that the four Members with the largest shares of world trade (currently the European Union, the United States, Japan and China) be reviewed each three years, the next 16 be reviewed each five years, and others be reviewed each seven years. o A longer period may be fixed for least-developed country Members. How the reviews are organized • The reviews take place in the Trade Policy Review Body which is actually the WTO General Council — comprising the WTO’s full membership — operating under special rules and procedures. o The reviews are therefore essentially peer-group assessments, although much of the factual leg-work is done by the WTO Secretariat. • Reviews are conducted by the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) on the basis of a policy statement by the Member under review and a report prepared by economists in the Secretariat's Trade Policy Review Division.

11. USTR slams India’s digital tax, holds off on tariffs; ‘301’ trade probe and Equalisation Levy(TH) • Context: Digital services taxes imposed by France, India, Italy and Turkey discriminate against big U.S. tech firms, such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.com and are inconsistent with international tax principles, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)’s office said on Wednesday (7 Dec 2021), paving the way for potential retaliatory tariffs. Analysis • USTR, releasing the findings of its “Section 301” investigations into the digital taxes, said it was not taking specific actions at this time, but “will continue to evaluate all available options.” • India on Thursday said the 2% equalisation levy does not discriminate against U.S. companies as it applies equally to all non-resident e-commerce operators irrespective of their country of residence, Press Trust of India reported. • In a statement, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said the purpose of the levy is to ensure fair competition, reasonableness and exercise the ability of governments to tax businesses that have a close nexus with the Indian market through their digital operations. • It also does not have extraterritorial application as it applies only on the revenue generated from India, the ministry said. ‘301’ trade probe • The ‘301’ probe is a trade tool authorized by Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974 which the U.S. uses to assert its rights under trade agreements if it decides American industries are facing “unfair” foreign trade practices. • Having used the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism alone in recent times, the U.S., under the Trump administration, has brought the 301 back into use, launching a 2017 probe against China. Equalisation Levy in News: 8th July 2020

• The government is exploring changes to the equalisation levy, and may stop charging the tax on digital transactions either partially or in its entirety for a year, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. • The government is doing a cost-benefit analysis and has reached out to stakeholders to figure out if it needs to suspend or shelve the 2% equalisation levy imposed this fiscal year on any purchase by an Indian or India-based entity through an overseas ecommerce platform. • The 2% equalisation levy in its current form is too widely worded, needs clarity and could be challenged as lacking constitutional validity as it brings thousands of transactions made online under its scope. • The 2% equalisation levy was introduced in the 2020-21 Budget and came into effect from April 1. • Many Indian startups and stakeholders are also pushing to shelve or reduce the 6% equalisation levy, the so-called Google tax, charged on the advertising revenue that overseas companies such as Google, Facebook and Netflix generate from India. • The burden of this tax eventually falls on the local startups and others who advertise on these platforms, as most digital majors pass on it to them. • The equalisation levy, introduced in 2016 Union Budget, is a direct tax on payments made by residents to non-resident companies for online advertisement, provision of digital and advertising space or any other facility or service for online advertisement. • India is the first country to impose such a levy, post the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) action plan. • A tax panel has recommended expanding the ambit of this levy to cover a wide gamut of transactions including online marketing, cloud computing, website designing, hosting and maintenance, platforms for sale of goods and services, and online use of or download of software and applications. • At a time when all of these players are expanding their presence in India, it only makes sense to shelve the 6% equalisation levy, and instead make regulations to make sure global digital companies have Indian legal entities, invoice from here and pay GST and other taxes just like Indian companies. • The government is also looking to introduce personal data protection Bill that would require these players to have their servers and data in India. If these companies have an India presence, they could face both direct taxes like income tax and indirect taxes such as GST, and also on a much larger portion of their revenue.

12. Indian Economy: Recent issues (TH, PIB) • Context: India’s fiscal deficit for the year ending in March is likely to exceed 7% of gross domestic product, as revenue collections suffered from a lockdown and restrictions to rein in the spread of COVID-19. • India’s real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is estimated to contract by 7.7% in 2020-21, with GVA (Gross Valued added) shrinking by 7.2%, advance estimates released by the National Statistical Office on Thursday show.

• India’s economy had expanded 4.2% in 2019-20, but entered a recessionary phase with two successive quarters of sharp contraction triggered by the COVID-19 lockdowns. • The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has also released the First Advance Estimates of National Income at both Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices, for the financial year 2020-21 along with the corresponding estimates of expenditure components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). How to read GDP data - GVA vs GDP • There are two main ways in which the Central Statistics Office (CSO) estimates economic growth: Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). • GVA is from the supply side — that is, by mapping the value-added (in rupee terms) by the various sectors in the economy. o GVA tracks the income generated for all the workers in the economy. • The GDP is arrived at from the demand side. o It is calculated by mapping the expenditure made by different categories of spenders. • Broadly speaking, there are four sources of expenditure in an economy — namely, private consumption, government consumption, business investments, and net exports (exports minus imports). • Because the GDP maps final expenditure, it includes both taxes and subsidies that the government receives and gives. o This component, net taxes, is the difference between GVA and GDP. • Typically, GDP is a good measure when you want to compare India with another economy, while GVA is better to compare different sectors within the economy. • GVA is more important when looking at quarterly growth data, because quarterly GDP is arrived at by apportioning the observed GVA data into different spender categories. Fiscal deficit and other economy related terms • Gross Fiscal Deficit is defined as the excess of total expenditure of the government over the total non-debt creating receipts. • Net fiscal deficit can be arrived at by deducting net domestic lending from gross fiscal deficit. • Revenue deficit arises when the government’s actual net receipts is lower than the projected receipts.

o Revenue deficit signifies that government’s own earning is insufficient to meet normal functioning of government departments and provision of services. o An increase in the ratio of revenue deficit to gross fiscal deficit indicates an increase in the utilization of borrowed funds for revenue purposes. o It indicates increase in liabilities of the Central Government without increase in the assets of that Government. o The difference between fiscal deficit and revenue deficit is the government’s capital expenditure. • Effective Revenue Deficit o In the 2012-13 budget, the concept of effective revenue deficit was introduced that excluded grants for the creation of capital assets from conventional revenue deficit. o Effective Revenue Deficit is the difference between revenue deficit and grants for creation of capital assets.  Grants for creation of capital assets are defined as “the grants-in-aid given by the Central Government to the State Governments, constitutional authorities or bodies, autonomous bodies and other scheme implementing agencies for creation of capital assets which are owned by the said entities”. o The concept of effective revenue deficit has been suggested by the Rangarajan Committee on Public Expenditure. o It is aimed to deduct the money used out of borrowing to finance capital expenditure. o The concept has been introduced to ascertain the actual deficit in the revenue account after adjusting for expenditure of capital nature. o Focusing on this will help in reducing the consumptive component of revenue deficit and create space for increased capital spending. • Trade deficit: A nation has a trade deficit if the total value of goods and services it imports is greater than the total value of those it exports. • Primary Deficit: It is the difference between the current year’s fiscal deficit (total income – total expenditure of the government) and the interest paid on the borrowings of the previous year. o Primary Deficit = Fiscal Deficit (Total expenditure – Total income of the government) – Interest payments (of previous borrowings). o Fiscal deficit is also defined as the difference between the total expenditure of the government and its total income. o What does Primary Deficit indicate? Primary deficit is measured to know the amount of borrowing that the government can utilize, excluding the interest payments. o A decrease in primary deficit shows progress towards fiscal health. o Note that the difference between the primary deficit and fiscal deficit reflects the amount of interest payment on public debt generated in the past. o Hence, when the primary deficit is zero, the fiscal deficit becomes equal to the interest payment. This means that the government has resorted to borrowings just to pay off the interest payments. Further, nothing is added to the existing loan.

• Budget Deficit and Monetized Deficit are the deficits on the basis of financing. o Fiscal Deficit, Primary Deficit, Revenue Deficit and Effective Revenue Deficit are the deficits on the basis of type of transactions. • Factor income: It is determined by subtracting income made by citizens of a country on their foreign investments from income earned by foreigners on their investments within the country. • Current/Financial transfers: Theyinclude interest earnings, foreign remittances, donations, aids and grants, official assistance, pensions etc. • Current account deficit/balance: trade deficit + factor income + financial transfersOR • CAD/CAB = (X−M) + (NY+NCT) where: o X = Exports of goods and services o M=Imports of goods and services o NY=Net income abroad o NCT=Net current transfers • Balance of payments: The balance of payments is the sum of all transactions between a nation and all of its international trading partners. Fiscal expansion • Fiscal expansion is generally defined as an increase in economic spending owing to actions taken by the government. • Expansionary fiscal policy can also lead to inflation because of the higher demand in the economy. • A general increase in overall spending can cause the cash flow leaving the country to increase as consumers and the government both purchase more. This increases the debit side of the balance of payments. • Fiscal expansion generally worsens theInflation and Balance of payments.

13. Revised Liquidity Management Framework(TH) • Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it had decided to restore normal liquidity management operations in a phased manner and would conduct variable rate reverse repo auction of ₹2 lakh crore on January 15. • In February, RBI had announced a revised Liquidity Management Framework, but had temporarily suspended it in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. Analysis • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 February 2020 revised the existing liquidity management framework through which it aimed to ensured adequate liquidity in the system so that sufficient credit is provided to all productive sectors in the economy. • There would be no fixed daily liquidity injection operations, but the central bank would act whenever the banking system requires money. • According to the revised framework, RBI has finalized weighted average call rate (WACR) as the single operating target and withdrawn the current provision of maintaining assured liquidity of 1% of net demand and time liability (NDTL). o The call rate is the interest rate at which banks lend overnight money to each other.

• With this move, RBI is looking to target call rate and keep it near the repo rate so that better transmission happens. • It will ensure enough liquidity to anchor the call rate at around the repo rate. o Which means if the call rate inches above the repo rate, it would signal liquidity deficit and the central bank will bring its tools to infuse liquidity. o Similarly, if the call rate is below the repo rate, that would mean the banking system has surplus liquidity. In that case, the central bank can operate to suck out the liquidity through its operations. • The liquidity management corridor will be retained at 50 basis points, which means the RBI can allow call rates to rise up to the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate (was at 5.40 per cent in Feb 2020 (for the sake of understanding only)) and reverse repo rate (was at 4.90 per cent in Feb 2020), while the repo rate remains at the middle (was at 5.25 per cent in Feb 2020). • Earlier RBI had to maintain 1% NDTL liquidity to ensure that inter-bank call rate is near the repo rate. o Accordingly, the daily fixed rate repo and four 14-day term repos every fortnight being conducted, at present, are being withdrawn,” the central bank had said. • Instruments of liquidity management will include “fixed and variable rate repo/reverse repo auctions, outright open market operations (OMOs), forex swaps and other instruments as may be deployed from time to time to ensure that the system has adequate liquidity at all times. • While getting rid of the 14-day fixed repo, the RBI said it will operate a 14-day term repo/reverse repo operation at a variable rate that would be conducted to coincide with the cash reserve ratio (CRR) maintenance cycle. o This would be the “main liquidity management tool for managing frictional liquidity requirements. Terms for Reference Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) • Banks need to hold some portion of their deposits in cash with the RBI. This ratio is called CRR. • If the RBI cuts CRR, banks will be left with more money to lend or invest. On the other hand, if the CRR is raised, banks will have lesser money to lend. • Banks do not earn any interest for maintaining CRR balance. Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) • Banks also have to invest a certain portion of their deposits in government securities with the RBI. This percentage is known as SLR. • Banks can earn return on these investments. The current SLR is 19.5% (for reference only; it keeps on changing). Repo rate • Repo rate refers to the rate at which commercial banks borrow money from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in case of shortage of funds at a fixed interest rate. • Technically, a repo is also known as “Repurchasing Option”.

o a. Banks provide eligible securities (securities recognized by the RBI and at the same time which are above the Statutory Liquidity Ratio limit). o b. RBI gives 1 day or overnight loan to the bank. o c. RBI charges an interest rate called repo rate from the bank. o d. Banks repay the loan after one day and repurchase the security it has given as collateral. • The higher the repo rate, the higher the cost of short-term money to the banks and vice versa. • Generally, whenever the repo rate is raised, banks pass the burden on to customers. Reverse Repo Rate • A Reverse repo rate is a rate which the RBI offers to banks when they deposit their surplus cash with the RBI for shorter periods. • In other words, it is the rate at which the RBI borrows from the commercial banks. • When banks have excess funds but don’t have any other lending or investment options, they deposit/lend the surplus funds with the RBI and earn interest on the deposited funds. • It is always lower than repo rate. • The Repo Rate increases the money supply while the Reverse Repo Rate decreases the money supply in the economy. Marginal Standing Facility (quantitative instrument) • Marginal Standing Facility is a liquidity support arrangement provided by RBI to commercial banks if the latter doesn’t have the required eligible securities above the SLR limit. • Under MSF, a bank can borrow one-day loans from the RBI, even if it doesn’t have any eligible securities excess of its SLR requirement. • In the case of MSF, the bank can borrow up to 1 % (can be changed by the RBI) below the SLR (means 1% of Net Demand and Time Liabilities or liabilities simply). • But the main condition is that for such borrowings the bank has to give higher interest rate to the RBI. • The interest rate for MSF borrowing was originally set at one percent higher than the repo rate. Now it is 0.25% higher than repo rate. • The Reserve Bank will reserve the right to accept or reject partially or fully, the request for funds under this facility. Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) • Banks also have to invest a certain portion of their deposits in government securities with the RBI. This percentage is known as SLR.

14. Explained: Types of Economic Recoveries (IE) K-shaped Recovery • The term ‘K-shaped recovery’ is used to describe what has been happening in varying degrees since the financial crisis of 2008: The growing gap between winners and losers among countries, economic sectors, companies, and, of course, people.

• For example: Industries like technology, retail, and software services have recovered from the industry and begun re-hiring, while the travel, entertainment, hospitality, and food services industries have continued to decline past March levels.

Other Major Types of Economic Recoveries Z-shaped Recovery • If the economic disruption was just for a small period wherein more than people’s incomes, it was their ability to spend that was restricted, it is possible to imagine a “Z”-shaped recovery.

• In this, the GDP — and here we are talking about absolute GDP, not GDP’s growth rate — actually overshoots the trend path because of the pent-up demand. o Imagine, deferred parties, salon visits, movies, purchase of new cars, houses and appliances etc. — all of them get bunched up together. V-shaped Recovery • But what if the economic disruption lasts longer resulting in several activities being forgone instead of being deferred? o For instance, even the monthly haircut — when you go to the salon after 3 months, you have already lost 2 haircuts-worth of economic activity forever!

• In such a scenario, and assuming incomes and jobs are not permanently lost, the economic growth recovers sharply and returns to the path it was following before the disruption. This is called a “V”-shaped recovery. U-shaped Recovery • But what will happen if this recovery is slower and takes more time because the economic disruption resulted in several jobs being lost and people losing incomes,drawing down on their savings etc.?

• Then the economy will follow a “U”-shaped path. In such a scenario, after the initial fall, the recovery is gradual before regaining its momentum. W-shaped Recovery • Since we are talking about a Covid-induced disruption, it makes sense to also look at a “W”- shaped recovery as well.

• This shape allows for the possibility of a V-shaped recovery, which is pegged back by a second wave of infections until of course, the economy recovers for the second time.

L-shaped Recovery • The last scenario is the one policy-makers most dread. It is called the “L”-shape recovery. • Here, simply put, the economy fails to regain the level of GDP even after years go by. • As the shape shows, there is a permanent loss to the economy’s ability to produce.

15. Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA)(PIB) • Context:BSNL & MTNL turns EBITDA positive within 1 year of approval of revival plan by Union Cabinet. What Is EBITA? • EBITA refers to the earnings of a company before interest, tax, and expenses of amortization are deducted.

• EBITA is a measure of company profitability used by investors. • It is helpful for comparison of one company to another in the same industry. • EBITA includes the cost of assets but excludes the associated financial costs; hence it can more accurately present a company’s performance. • A company's EBITA is considered by some analysts and investors to be a more accurate representation of its real earnings. • It removes from the equation the taxes owed, the interest on company debt, and the effects of amortization, which is the accounting practice of writing off the cost of an intangible asset over a period of years. • One benefit is that it more clearly indicates how much cash flow a company has on hand to reinvest in the business or pay dividends. • EBITA measures the profits of a company available for payment to its lenders, investors, funding for amortisation, and transfer to reserves. • EBITA provides a measurement of the operational efficiency of a company or increase in business activities or otherwise. • Another similar measure adds depreciation to the list of factors to be eliminated from the earnings total. That is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). EBITA vs. EBITDA • EBITA is not used as commonly as EBITDA, which adds depreciation into the calculation. • Depreciation, in company accounting, is the recording of the reduced value of the company's tangible assets over time. It's a way of accounting for the wear and tear on assets such as equipment and facilities. • Some companies, such as those in the utilities, manufacturing, and telecommunications industries, require significant expenditures in equipment and infrastructure, which are reflected in their books. • Both EBITA and EBITDA are useful tools in gauging a company's operating profitability. o Profitability is earnings generated throughout the ordinary course of doing business. • A clearer picture of the company's profitability may be gained if capital expenditures and financing costs are subtracted from the official earnings total. • Analysts generally consider both EBITA and EBITDA to be reliable indicators of a company’s cash flow. • However, some industries require significant investment in fixed assets. o Using EBITA to evaluate companies in those industries may distort a company's profitability by ignoring the depreciation of those assets. o EBITA is deemed to be a more appropriate measure of its operating profitability. o In other words, the EBITA measurement may be used instead of EBITDA for companies that have substantial capital expenditures which may skew the numbers.

16. The concepts of Bad Bank and Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) (IE)

• Context: With commercial banks set to witness a spike in NPAs, or bad loans, in the wake of the contraction in the economy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das recently agreed to look at the proposal for the creation of a bad bank. Analysis What’s a bad bank and how does it work? • Technically, a bad bank is an asset reconstruction company (ARC) or an asset management company that takes over the bad loans of commercial banks, manages them and finally recovers the money over a period of time. • The bad bank is not involved in lending and taking deposits, but helps commercial banks clean up their balance sheets and resolve bad loans. • The takeover of bad loans is normally below the book value of the loan and the bad bank tries to recover as much as possible subsequently. • Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had opposed the idea of setting up a bad bank in which banks hold a majority stake. • US-based Mellon Bank created the first bad bank in 1988, after which the concept has been implemented in other countries. • The bad bank concept is in some ways similar to an ARC but is funded by the government initially, with banks and other investors co-investing in due course. The presence of the government is seen as a means to speed up the clean-up process. Do we need a bad bank? • ARCs have not made any impact in resolving bad loans due to many procedural issues. • For complete details, refer to19th Dec file.

17. SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) (TH) • Context: State Bank of India (SBI) has executed two inter-bank short term money market deals with pricing linked to SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate). • SOFR is a replacement for USD LIBOR that may be phased out end-2021. Analysis Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) • It is a benchmark interest rate for dollar-denominated derivatives and loans that is replacing the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR). • It is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by Treasury securities. • The secured overnight financing rate, or SOFR, is an influential interest rate that banks use to price U.S. dollar-denominated derivatives and loans. • The daily secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) is based on transactions in the Treasury repurchase market, where investors offer banks overnight loans backed by their bond assets. • Benchmark rates such as the SOFR are essential in the trading of derivatives—particularly interest-rate swaps, which corporations and other parties use to manage interest-rate risk and to speculate on changes in borrowing costs. History of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR)

• Since its inception in the mid-1980s, the LIBOR has been the benchmark interest rate to which investors and banks peg their credit agreements. Comprising of five currencies and seven maturities, the LIBOR is determined by calculating the average interest rate at which major global banks borrow from one another. • The five currencies are the U.S. dollar (USD), euro (EUR), British pound (GBP), Japanese yen (JPY), and the Swiss franc (CHF), and the most commonly quoted LIBOR is the three-month U.S. dollar rate, usually referred to as the current LIBOR rate. • Following the financial crisis of 2008, regulators grew wary of overreliance on that particular benchmark. • LIBOR is based largely on estimates from global banks who are surveyed and not necessarily on actual transactions. • In addition, banking regulations after the financial crisis meant that there was less interbank borrowing happening, prompting some officials to express concern that the limited volume of trading activity made the LIBOR even less reliable. • Eventually, the British regulator that compiles LIBOR rates said it will no longer require banks to submit interbank lending information after 2021. • This update sent developed countries around the world scrambling to find an alternative reference rate that could eventually replace it. • In 2017, the Federal Reserve (Fed) responded by assembling the Alternative Reference Rate Committee, comprising several large banks, to select an alternative reference rate for the United States. The committee chose the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR), an overnight rate, as the new benchmark for dollar-denominated contracts. • The Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) vs. LIBOR • Unlike the LIBOR, there’s extensive trading in the Treasury repo market—roughly 1,500 times that of interbank loans as of 2018—theoretically making it a more accurate indicator of borrowing costs. • Moreover, the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) is based on data from observable transactions rather than on estimated borrowing rates, as is sometimes the case with LIBOR. • Transitioning to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) • For now, the LIBOR and the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) will coexist. • However, it’s expected that the latter will replace LIBOR over the next few years as the dominant benchmark for dollar-denominated derivatives and credit products. • On November 30, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced that LIBOR will be phased out and eventually replaced by June 2023. In the same announcement, banks were instructed to stop writing contracts using LIBOR by the end of 2021 and all contracts using LIBOR should wrap up by June 30, 2023. London Interbank Offered Rate(LIBOR) • LIBOR, which stands for London Interbank Offered Rate, serves as a globally accepted key benchmark interest rate that indicates borrowing costs between major global banks for short-term loans. • The rate is calculated and published each day by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

• It is based on five currencies including the US dollar, the euro, the British pound, the Japanese yen, and the Swiss franc, and serves seven different maturities—overnight/spot next, one week, and one, two, three, six, and 12 months. • LIBOR is also the basis for consumer loans in countries around the world, so it impacts consumers just as much as it does financial institutions.

18. Grant for Rural Local Bodies (PIB) • Context: The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released grants to the Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission to create community assets and improve financial viability of the RLBs. Analysis • The grants are provided to all the three tiers of Panchayati Raj - Village, Block and District to enable pooling of resources across villages and blocks. • The 15th Finance Commission has recommended two types of grants to the RLBs – basic and tied grants. • Basic grants are untied and can be used by the local bodies for location specific felt needs except for salary or other establishment expenditure. • The tied grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status and (b) supply of drinking water, rain water harvesting and water recycling. • The grants are meant to ensure additional funds to RLBs over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the State for sanitation and drinking water under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes like Swachh Bharat and Jal Jeevan Mission. • The States are required to transfer the grants to the RLBs within 10 working days of receipt from the Union Government. o Any delay beyond 10 working days requires the State Governments to release the grants with interest.

International Relations How does the European Union plan to enforce a level playing field? 1. The Brexit Deal (TH) • The U.K. is free to set its own standards • Context: What is in store for Britain and the on labour laws and environmental European Union after the former’s exit from protection. the trading bloc on January 31, 2020? o Access to EU markets could, however, What are the main features of the be restricted and tariffs imposed agreement? wherever arbitrators rule that • The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation businesses have been granted unfair Agreement, which came into force on advantage. January 1, 2021, retains the ‘zero tariffs’ • London has succeeded in breaking free and quotas trade regime of the past on from the jurisdiction of EU law and the all imports of goods. European Court of Justice, which U.K.’s o It thus averts the potentially euroscepticsregard as an affront to national catastrophic consequences for Britain sovereignty. of leaving the bloc without any o British and EU companies will be able agreement. to challenge state subsidies o A hard exit would have resulted in awarded to their rivals in relevant levies of 50% and higher and duties national courts if they suspect any on dairy and food products, besides violation of common provisions set out tariffs on manufactured goods. in the agreement. • Northern Ireland will continue to remain How serious could be the impact of the within EU jurisdiction, avoiding a exclusion of services from the accord? hardening of its border with the Republic of • As the services sector accounts for about Ireland. 80% of the U.K.’s economy, the fallout from • On access for EU fisheries to British seas leaving it outside the purview of the new — a contentious issue — the agreement accord will be hard. “recognises U.K. sovereignty over her o The agreement covers data flows in fishing waters”. some areas of policing and law What are some new hurdles the U.K. will enforcement, while decisions on face? personal data transmissions are to be • An exit from the customs union means dealt with separately. the return of customs controls at the U.K. o Given London’s status as the premier borders and checks on rules of origin to global financial hub, the exclusion of prevent abuse of the zero-tariffs regime. financial services from the agreement o The millions of customs is likely to cause uncertainty. declarations U.K. businesses will • Both sides have reached an have to complete from now onwards understanding that the terms of access to are estimated to cost around £7 billion each other’s markets would be subject to a annually. unilateral declaration by one party that the

regulatory framework of the other was • Under the nuclear deal, Iran agreed to have equivalent to its own. less than 300 kilograms of uranium enriched to a maximum of 3.67% far below 2. Iran plans to enrich uranium well beyond the 90% needed to produce weapons for the threshold set by 2015 Vienna accord 15 years. (TH) Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb • Context: Iran has informed the islands International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it intends to produce uranium enriched to up to 20% purity in its Fordow underground plant, well beyond the threshold set by the 2015 Vienna accord (Iran nuclear deal was reached in Vienna). Analysis • According to the latest report available from the UN agency, published in November, Tehran was enriching uranium to levels greater than the limit provided for in the Vienna agreement (3.67%) but not exceeding the 4.5% threshold, and still complied with the Agency’s very strict

inspection regime. • But there has been turmoil since the • Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser assassination in late November of Iranian Tunb islands are located in the Persian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Gulf near the entrance to the strategic Strait • In the aftermath of the attack, blamed on of Hormuz, through which a fifth of world oil Israel, hardliners in Tehran pledged a output passes. response and Parliament passed a • The islands are under Iranian control but controversial law calling for the production are also claimed by the UAE. and storage of “at least 120 kg per year of 3. Vietnam buys Indian rice for first time in 20% enriched uranium” and to “put an end” decades (TH) to the IAEA inspections intended to check • Context: Vietnam, the world’s third that the country is not developing an atomic biggest exporter of rice, has started bomb. buying the grain from rival India for the first What was agreed? time in decades after local prices jumped to • Under the accord, Iran agreed to limit its their highest in nine years amid limited sensitive nuclear activities and allow in domestic supplies. international inspectors in return for the Analysis lifting of crippling economic sanctions. • The purchases underscore tightening supplies in Asia, which could lift rice prices

in 2021 and even force traditional buyers • Those countries, along with Oman and of rice from Thailand and Vietnam to Kuwait, which have mediated between switch to India — the world’s biggest the two sides, signed a deal in Al-Ula, exporter of the grain. after Riyadh overnight re-opened its land, • Indian prices are very attractive. The sea and air borders to Doha. huge price difference is making exports • Note: Qatar crisis has been possible. Vietnam’s 5% broken rice is comprehensively explained in 5th Dec offered at about $500-$505 per tonne, File. compared to Indian prices of $381-$387. • Dwindling supplies and continued 5. China holds third edition of South Asia Philippine buying lifted Vietnamese rice multilateral meet (TH) export prices to a fresh nine-year high. • Context: China has held its third • Below are the countries that exported the multilateral dialogue with countries from highest dollar value worth of rice during South Asia to take forward closer 2019. cooperation on fighting COVID-19 and o India: (32.5% of total rice exports) coordinating their economic agendas, o Thailand: (19.2%) reflecting a new approach in Beijing’s o United States: (8.6%) outreach to the region. o Vietnam: (6.6%) Analysis o Pakistan: (5.6%) • The third dialogue, held virtually on January o China: (4.8%) 6, brought together every country in the o Italy: (2.9%) region barring India, Bhutan and the o Myanmar (Burma): (2.6%) Maldives, and was aimed at “anti-epidemic o Cambodia: (2%) cooperation and poverty reduction o Uruguay: (1.7%) cooperation. • All three dialogues have been attended by 4. Gulf leaders sign deal to end years-long Pakistan and Nepal, which are emerging as dispute (TH) two lynchpins in China’s regional strategy. • Gulf leaders signed a “solidarity and o The first such meeting was convened stability” deal on Tuesday (5 Jan 2021) by China in July 2020, and was after leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar attended by Pakistan, Nepal and publicly embraced, bringing Doha back into Afghanistan. the regional fold after a three-year-long rift. o This was followed by a grouping in • Saudi Arabia had led a coalition of November attended by China, countries in the Gulf and beyond to cut ties Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, Bangladesh. charging that it was too close to Iran and • The January 6 meeting was attended by all backed radical Islamist groups — five countries that have taken part in these allegations that Doha denied. dialogues — Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan,

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — and was a partners, Kuwait and Oman, ensured follow-up to the two earlier meetings. that the movement of goods and CPEC extension people was maintained. • At the July quadrilateral dialogue with Background to the boycott Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan, China • Ten years ago, the Arab Spring uprisings proposed extending the China-Pakistan across West Asia had thrown up popular Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan, demands for reform — an end to as well as taking forward an economic authoritarian rule and the restoration of corridor plan with Nepal, called the Trans- Arab “dignity” through freedom and Himalayan Multi-dimensional democracy. Connectivity Network. • Four leaders fell under these pressures, which also gave rise to two new 6. The Al-Ula conclave (TH) developments: one, Muslim Brotherhood- • Context: On January 5, the leaders of the affiliated parties came to power in Egypt Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) met at the and Tunisia; and, two, Saudi Arabia ancient town of Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia to decided to divert demands for domestic end the bitter discord that three of its reform by highlighting a threat from Iran. members — Saudi Arabia, the UAE and • Asserting that Iran had hegemonic designs Bahrain, along with Egypt — have had with across the region, the Kingdom shaped their partner, Qatar. opposition to Iran on sectarian basis and Analysis confronted it in theatres of its influence – • On June 5, 2017, the Arab Quartet, as they Syria and later Yemen. styled themselves, subjected Qatar to an • The Brotherhood, with its grassroots onerous diplomatic boycott and a total land, mobilisation and a political platform that sea and air embargo. marries Islamic principles with Western- • They accused Qatar of destabilising the style democracy, poses a serious challenge region with its support for Islamist groups. to the existing monarchical order that • They then presented Qatar with 13 provides no scope for popular participation. demands including severing ties with the o Hence, Saudi Arabia and the UAE Muslim Brotherhood, diluting relations with watched with horror the Brotherhood’s Turkey and Iran, and shutting down the Al electoral successes, culminating in Jazeera network, in order to normalise ties. Mohammed Morsi being elected • Viewing these demands as an President in Egypt in 2012. encroachment on its sovereignty, Qatar o Fearing that a successful Brotherhood rejected them. This led to the boycott. Now, administration would become a model three and a half years later, the boycott has for their countries as well, the two ended. GCC allies supported the Egyptian o With its huge resources, Qatar could army’s coup against Morsi in July weather the financial assault, while the 2013. backing of Turkey, Iran and two GCC Qatar and the Brotherhood

• Qatar, a GCC member, besides supporting from the Brotherhood than other GCC its independent television channel, Al members due to the influence of its Jazeera, that often criticises regional domestic Brotherhood-affiliated Al leaders, it is a major supporter of the Islah party. Brotherhood. o Again, its leaders are also keen to • After the events of 9/11, when the U.S. was emerge as major players in regional convinced of the need for wide-ranging affairs on the back of close links with reform in the region, it believed that the the U.S. They therefore see Qatar as Brotherhood, with its blend of Islam and a rival hindering their aspirations. democracy, could achieve change. Hence, • For further details, refer to theGulf Qatar’s backing for the Brotherhood from Cooperation Council (GCC) of 11th Dec. the early 2000s and later, specifically of International Relations Morsi, was in line with U.S. interests. • Recently, when the UAE and Bahrain 7. Kalapani Boundary Dispute(TH) “normalised” ties with Israel, both Qatar and • Context: Nepal has raised the Kalapani Turkey affirmed their support for Hamas, boundary dispute with India during the the Islamist party in power in Gaza. Joint Commission meeting. o The two countries are also partners in • Kalapani is a patch of land near the India- Libya, ranged against the group Nepal border, close to the Lipulekh Pass on backed by Egypt and the UAE in the the India-China border, which is one of the ongoing civil conflict. approved points for border trade and the Possible re-alignments route for the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra in • The most likely reason for the reconciliation Tibet. at Al-Ula is the incoming Biden presidency Analysis in the U.S.: it is expected that, besides • In June 2020, the Lower House of Nepal's reviving the nuclear agreement with Iran Parliament unanimously had voted for the and easing sanctions, Joe Biden could Second Constitution Amendment Bill, focus on Saudi Arabia’s dismal human which guarantees legal status for the new rights record and the war in Yemen. political map of the country that includes • Hence, the Saudi Crown Prince part of Indian territory in Uttarakhand. Mohammed bin Salman was anxious to project his conciliatory approach to the incoming administration by patching up with Qatar. • The reconciliation has evoked no enthusiasm from the other sponsors of the boycott. o The UAE has its own reasons for hostility towards Qatar. It has far greater concerns relating to the threat

Kalapani and the maps • India inherited the boundary with Nepal, established between Nepal and the East India Company in the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. o Kali river constituted the boundary, and the territory to its east was Nepal. The dispute relates to the origin of Kali.

• The territorial dispute stems from the fact that Nepal claims the land to the east of • Indian States of Uttarakhand, Uttar river Kali, which forms the country’s Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim western border. border Nepal. • As per Kathmandu’s understanding, the river originates from Limpiyadhura in the 8. S-400 Triumf Air-Defense System and higher Himalayas, giving it access to a CAATSA (TH) triangular-shaped land defined by • Context: As India prepares to receive the Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh and Kalapani. first batch of S-400 long-range air defence • India opposes the notion and says the system by year-end, the first group of origin of the river is much further down, Indian military specialists are scheduled to which reduces Nepal’s territorial demand. depart for Moscow soon to undergo training • Nepal’s has also released a new political courses on the S-400, the Russian official map that claimedKalapani, Embassy here said in a statement. Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh of • This topic has been comprehensively Uttarakhand as part of its sovereign covered in 16th Dec file. territory. • However, the emergence of this dispute 9. Darfur Region (TH) now has more to do with the domestic • Context: Sudanese troop presence helped political compulsions of Nepali leaders who restore calm in Darfur after three days of often use Nepali nationalism card, the flip inter-ethnic violence that claimed at least side of which is anti-Indianism, to create an 155 lives and displaced tens of thousands. anti-India rhetoric to gain politically in the domestic elections. • Indian Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is also an honorary general of the Nepal Army and vice-versa, highlighting the traditional ties between the two armies.

Israel Palestine Conflict • Israel occupied the West Bank, including Arab east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War of 1967. Today it is home to at least five million Palestinians defined by the United Nations as living under Israeli occupation. • Arab Israelis — Palestinians who stayed on their land following the Jewish state's creation in 1948 and their descendants — make up about 20% of Israel’s roughly nine million people. By law they have rights equal to those of Jewish citizens, but they

say that in practice they suffer • In July 2020, about 500 armed men discrimination in employment, housing, targeted the Masalit community in west policing and other essentials. Darfur’s Masteri town. • These incidents are a reminder of the unfinished task of restoring stability in Darfur racked by a conflict between the nation’s dominant Arab rulers and the African ethnic communities demanding greater autonomy from Khartoum. • Nertiti town in central Darfur has become the epicentre of the growing opposition in the region. • In another war in 1967, Israel occupied • Darfur is a desert plain in western part of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well Sudan. as most of the Syrian Golan Heights, and o The volcanic highlands of the Marrah Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. Mountains dominate the central part • Golan Heights, also called Al-Jawlān, is a of this plain. hilly area overlooking the upper Jordan o In the north, they merge into the River valley on the west. Libyan Desert. • The area was part of extreme south- western Syria until 1967, when it came 10. Palestinians face discrimination by under Israeli military occupation, and in Jewish Authorities (TH) 1981 Israel unilaterally annexed the part of • Context: An Israeli non-governmental the Golan it held. organisation has accused the Jewish state • Most Palestinian refugees and their of “apartheid” in its treatment of descendants live in Gaza and the West Palestinians. Bank, as well as in neighbouring Jordan, Analysis Syria and Lebanon.

• Neither they nor their descendants have 12. New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty been allowed by Israel to return to their (New START Treaty) (TH) homes - Israel says this would overwhelm • Context:Russian lawmakers approved the the country and threaten its existence as a extension of the last remaining nuclear Jewish state. Russia-U.S. arms control treaty (New • Israel still occupies the West Bank, and START treaty), an action that comes just although it pulled out of Gaza the UN still days before it’s due to expire. regards that piece of land as part of Analysis occupied territory. New START • Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem as its • The New START accord, signed in 2010, capital, while the Palestinians claim East limits the number of strategic nuclear Jerusalem as the capital of a future warheads that Russia and the United Palestinian state. Only the US recognises States can deploy and due to lapse in Israel's claim to the whole of the city. February 2021. • In the past 50 years Israel has built • It is a bipartisan process of verifiably settlements in these areas, where more reducing U.S. and Russian strategic than 600,000 Jews now live. nuclear arsenals. • Palestinians say these are illegal under • In August 2020, the U.S. and Russia international law and are obstacles to terminated the 1987 Intermediate-Range peace, but Israel denies this. Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty that had • Note: Boundary of Israel touches two limited the United States and Russia from seas namely Mediterranean Sea in the fielding land-based missiles with a range North and Red Sea in the South. between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, both conventional and nuclear. 11. West Asia Peace Conference(TH) o The INF Treaty was the first pact to • Russia backed a Palestinian proposal for a include intensive verification West Asia peace conference. measures, including on-site • The U.S. — which sided with Israel under inspections. the administration of Donald Trump — said • Now only one major bilateral agreement, it intended to “restore credible U.S. New START, limits the U.S. and Russian engagement with Palestinians as well as nuclear arsenals. Israelis”. • “The roughly 10 participants would include

Israel, the Palestinians, the four members

of the West Asia diplomatic quartet

(Russia, the UN, the U.S. and the EU),

along with four Arab states — Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and the UAE.

Science and Technology, o Influenza A viruses infect humans and many different animals. Defence, Space o Influenza B viruses circulates among

1. Swine Flu Vs Bird Flu (TH) humans and cause seasonal epidemics. • Context: Prohibitory orders were imposed o Influenza C viruses can infect both and a one-km radius area was declared a humans and pigs but infections are “zero mobility zone” in Rajasthan’s generally mild and are rarely reported. Jhalawar town on Thursday after over 50 o Influenza D viruses primarily affect crows were found dead because of avian cattle and are not known to infect or influenza. The mass death of crows was cause illness in people. also reported recently from Jodhpur. o Influenza type A viruses are of most Analysis significance to public health due to • H5N1 is a type of influenza virus that their potential to cause an influenza causes a highly infectious, severe pandemic. respiratory disease in birds called avian o Depending on the origin host, influenza (or "bird flu"). influenza A viruses can be classified • Human cases of H5N1 avian influenza as avian influenza, swine influenza, or occur occasionally, but it is difficult to other types of animal influenza transmit the infection from person to viruses. person. o Aquatic birds are the primary natural • Infected birds pass on H5N1 through their reservoir for most subtypes of saliva, nasal secretions, and faeces. influenza A viruses. • H5N8 first appeared in China in 2014. • A pandemic influenza strain is one that • The strain came from the H5N1 virus which humans have not been previously started its menace in China in 1996. exposed to, so people do not have Swine flu immunity to it. • The pandemic influenza strain, or swine Hs and Ns flu, that spread globally in 2009 was • Surface antigens (foreign proteins) haema referred to as H1N1. gglutinin • There are four major types of influenza (H) and neuraminidase (N) form the viral that infect humans, known as influenza A, coat of the H1N1 influenza viruses. B, C and D. • Viruses attach by their haemagglutinin o Influenza A and B can both cause onto receptors on the surface of cells in serious infections, and are the cause order to infect them, like a grappling hook. of what we call the flu. • The neuraminidase removes these o Influenza C viruses differ from receptors from infected cells at the right influenza A and B, and only cause a time to allow newly synthesised viruses to mild infection, so they don’t appear escape and spread. in vaccines.

• Among influenza A viruses there are 18 warming, deforestation, depletion of different types of haemagglutinin, from water bodies, concretisations, rising H1 to H18 and 11 different types of pollution and aerosol levels have neuraminidase, from N1 to N11. Each cumulatively pushed the environment virus has one type of H (such as H1) and to extremes. “And lightning is direct one type of N (such as N1). promulgation of these climatic • Influenza B strains do not circulate in extremities.” animals, so they cannot cause a • It has been observed that during pre- pandemic. But, like influenza A viruses, monsoon to initial monsoon, fatalities are they continually change, so we will never more to become immune to every strain. • farmers as they are out in the agriculture field or in orchards. 2. The Concept of Lightning (IE) • In the later part of the year—September Context: Lightning strikes have caused 1,771 onwards—majority died while standing deaths between April 1, 2019 and March 31, under tall trees or inside their huts. 2020, according to a report published on Lightning-an atmospheric phenomenon December 31 on lightning incidents in India. Lightning is a very rapid and massive The report has been prepared by Climate discharge of electricity in the atmosphere, Resilient Observing Systems Promotion some of which is directed at the earth’s Council (CROPC), a non-profit organisation surface. that works closely with India Meteorological Department (IMD). Analysis What does the report highlight? • Lightning strikes originate from Chotanagpur Plateau – the confluence of Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand—and extended to Bangladesh to Patkai plateau of

Meghalaya So, how does lightning occur? affecting other North eastern states. • Lightning is the process of occurrence The reason for death was that people of a natural ‘electrical discharge of very were caught short unawares and about 78 per cent deaths • duration and high voltage between a took place due to people standing under cloud and the ground or within a isolated cloud’, accompanied by a bright flash tall trees. About 22 per cent of the people and sound, and sometimes were struck in the open. thunderstorms. • The report mentions that the rapid • Inter cloud or intra cloud (IC) lightning degradation of environment like global which are visible and are harmless.

• It is cloud to ground (CG) lightning, which 2015. is harmful as the ‘high electric voltage and • There have been phenomenal losses of electric current’ leads to electrocution. animal life also from lightning strike. • Lightning is a giant discharge of • Lightening is not a notified disaster as per electricity accompanied by a brilliant flash the Ministry of Home Affairs of light and a loud crack of thunder. • The NDMA has issued comprehensive • The spark can reach over five miles (eight guidelines for preparations of Lightning kilometers) in length, raise the action temperature of the air by as much as • plans to states, but the large number of 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit (27,700 fatalities show the implementation also degrees Celsius), and contain a hundred needs a million electrical volts. • more ‘scientific and focused community • Lightning is not confined to thunderstorms. centric approach’ as well as convergence It's been seen in volcanic eruptions, of extremely intense forest • various departments. fires, surface nuclear detonations, Development of lightning heavy snowstorms, and in • Ice in a cloud may be key in the large hurricanes. development of lightning. • Every lightning strikes around a fixed • Ice particles collide as they swirl around in period and almost similar geographical a storm, causing a separation of electrical locations in similar patterns. charges. • As per the report, Kalbaishakhi— • Positively charged ice crystals rise to Norwesters, which are violent the top of the thunderstorm, and thunderstorms with lightning—claims life in negatively charged ice particles and eastern India; pre-monsoon lightning hailstones drop to the lower parts of the deaths occur mostly in Bihar, Jharkhand, storm. Enormous charge differences Chhattisgarh and UP. develop. What kind of technology is used to forecast • A moving thunderstorm also gathers lightning strikes? positively charged particles along the • Early lightning forecasts uses satellite ground that travel with the storm. observations, inputs from ‘network of • As the differences in charges continue to Doppler and other radars’, ‘lightning increase, positively charged particles rise detection Sensors’ among others. up tall objects such as trees, houses, and • This makes Lightning Forecast unique with telephone poles—and people. best possible lead time of even a week. • The negatively charged bottom part of the Relief and Preparedness Measures by the storm sends out an invisible charge toward Government the ground. • The Centre had increased compensation • When the charge gets close to the ground, for victims of natural disaster to Rs 4 lakh it is attracted by all the positively in charged objects, and a channel develops.

The subsequent electrical transfer in the homes are talking on the telephone at the channel is lightning. time. Some observations • A shelter that does not contain plumbing or • If your hair stands up in a storm, it could wiring throughout or some other be a bad sign that positive charges are mechanism for grounding from the roof to rising through you, reaching toward the ground is not safe. negatively charged part of the storm. Your • Victims of lightning do not retain the best bet is to get yourself immediately charge and are not "electrified." It is safe to indoors. help them. • The rapid expansion of heated air • Lightning can—and often does—strike causes the thunder. in the same place twice. Tall buildings • Since light travels faster than sound, the and monuments are frequently hit by thunder is heard after the lightning. lightning. • Not all lightning forms in the negatively • A motor car with a metal top can offer charged area low in the thunderstorm you some protection—but keep your cloud. Some lightning originates in the top hands from the metal sides. of the thunderstorm, the area carrying a • An umbrella can increase your chances large positive charge. Lightning from this of being struck by lightning if it makes you area is called positive lightning. the tallest object in the area. • Positive lightning is particularly • Always avoid being the highest object dangerous, because it frequently strikes anywhere—or taking shelter near or under away from the rain core, either ahead or the highest object. behind the thunderstorm. It can strike as far • Most people do not realize that they can be as 5 or 10 miles (8 or 16 kilometers) from struck by lightning even when the center of the storm, in areas that most people do not a thunderstorm is 10 miles (16 kilometers) consider to be a lightning-risk area. away and there are blue skies overhead. • In addition to the visible flash that travels • Some scientists think that lightning may through the air, the current associated with have played a part in the evolution of the lightning discharge travels along the living organisms. ground. Although some victims are struck o The immense heat and other energy directly by the main lightning stroke, many given off during a stroke has been victims are struck as the current moves found to convert elements into in and along the ground. compounds that are found in • A house or other substantial building offers organisms. the best protection from lightning. However, • Lightning also helps in nitrification people should avoid contact with (Nitrogen Cycle); it concerts the anything that conducts electricity, atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into nitrates including landline telephones. Most and nitrites. people hurt by lightning while inside their • Lightning can kill people or cause cardiac arrest. Injuries range from severe burns

and permanent brain damage to memory motorcycles. Whether in a building or loss and personality change. a car, keep all windows and doors • Difference Between Lightning and High closed. Voltage Electricity. 3. While inside, avoid anything that conducts electricity and is plugged High Factor Lightning into a wall socket -- phones, electrical Voltage outlets, lights, desktop computers, 25 kA typical, Usually televisions, stereos, and water faucets Energy millions of much (metal plumbing conducts electricity) Level volts lower are just some of the items to avoid. Portable devices such as wireless Time of Brief, Prolonged phones (stay away from the base Exposure instantaneous station that's plugged into the wall), Flashover, Deep, flashlights, unplugged laptop Pathway orifice internal computers, and personal MP3 players are all fine. Avoid metal door or Deep with Superficial window frames. Burns major and minor 4. If you're caught outside, go inside injury immediately. No safe options exist

outside. Run to your car or a safe Steps to follow in the event of lightening building as soon as you hear thunder. 1. Follow the 30/30 rule. Count the 5. Lightning can and does strike in the seconds after a lightning flash. If you same place twice -- hundreds of hear thunder within 30 seconds, seek times, really. Conditions that draw safe shelter (see step 2). Do not go lightning aren't likely to change. If outside again until 30 minutes after the lightning strikes close to you, do not last lightning strike. More than half of assume you are safe until the storm lightning-related deaths happen after passes. the thunderstorm has passed. The 6. Did you know that rubber shoes do danger exists whenever nothing to protect you from thunderstorms are in the area, even lightning? That talking on the when clear skies are directly telephone is the leading cause of overhead. lightning injuries inside the home? 2. Only use safe shelters. Full-size That standing under a tall tree is one buildings, such as houses or of the most dangerous places to take businesses, work best. Stay away shelter? from sheds or open shelters (picnic

awnings or baseball dugouts). Hard- 3. Why people with prior infection still need top cars, vans, and trucks work well, vaccination (TH) but not golf carts, soft-top convertibles (even with the top up), bicycles, or

• Context: Since vaccine shortage is • There is no evidence for how long on expected to last at least for a few months, it average protection from natural infection may seem appealing to delay or avoid lasts. vaccinating those who have been naturally infected. But does science support such a 4. India and the race for vaccine decision? development (TH) Analysis • Advanced biotechnology laboratories and • A small minority of those with even large-scale vaccine manufacturing facilities symptomatic infection do not end up made India a front runner, if not the best making high levels of antibodies, and bet, to win the vaccine race in the world another small minority of such naturally outside of China. infected people do not make long-lasting • We had two more advantages: antibodies. representation in two global initiatives– the • While highest levels of binding antibodies Global Pandemic Preparedness are seen in people with the most severe Monitoring Board and Coalition for disease, asymptomatic infections may Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the result in low antibody levels or even no latter advising the world to prepare for antibodies being measured in up to 20% of vaccine development. people. • India’s vaccine manufacturing facilities are • Vaccines are made to induce a good highly rated, globally. They have in-house immune response, which is expected to be research and development laboratories. more predictable than the response to However, they are concerned with research infection. of a practical nature, for refining processes • Another reason why skipping vaccination in and products, rather than basic and people already infected might not be fundamental research necessary for advisable is the way the virus in general designing new vaccine candidates. primes the immune system. • Immune responses to natural infection can 5. FSSAI slashes limit for transfat levels in be modified by immune evasion foods (TH) mechanisms of the virus. • Context: The Food Safety and Standards • But vaccine formulations do not include Authority of India (FSSAI) has capped the those viral tricks, and therefore, immune amount of trans fatty acids (TFA) in oils and responses to the vaccines are more likely fats to 3% for 2021 and 2% by 2022 from to be uniform and predictable. the current permissible limit of 5% through • “Yes, it is possible that vaccines can result an amendment to the Food Safety and in an immune response that does better Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on than natural infection. We have known this Sales) Regulations. for a long time,” adds a scientist. Analysis • The revised regulation applies to edible refined oils, vanaspati (partially

hydrogenated oils), margarine, bakery • Fat is needed to build cell membranes, shortenings and other mediums of cooking the vital exterior of each cell, and the such as vegetable fat spreads and mixed sheaths surrounding nerves. fat spreads. • Fats also play an important role in the • Transfats are associated with an increased regulation of body temperature, the risk of heart attacks and death from reduction of inflammation, muscle coronary heart disease. movement, blood clotting and brain • India has committed to eliminate trans development. fats from food supply by 2022. • Protein, carbohydrates and fats are the o When the World Health Organisation three essential nutrients that provide the called for a global ban on transfats by body with caloric energy. 2023, India announced that it would it o Although carbohydrates are the main do this a year before the deadline, by source of energy for the body, fats are 2022. the most energy dense of these • The Food Safety and Standards Authority nutrients. of India (FSSAI) has also launched a new o Containing 9 kcal per gram, fats mass media campaign, called “Heart provide roughly twice as much energy Attack Rewind”, the 30 second public and calories as proteins and service announcement (PSA), calling for carbohydrates which only provide 4 the elimination of industrially produced kcal per gram. trans fatty acids to less than 2% by the year o Vitamins and minerals do 2022 in a phased manner. not provide energy (calories), but • “Heart Attack Rewind” warns citizens they help to release energy from about the health hazards of consuming carbohydrate, protein, and fat. trans fat and offers strategies to avoid them o To date, there are 13 essential through healthier alternatives. vitamins: vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and What are Fats? 8 B vitamins. • Fat is a nutrient. It is crucial for normal • Any calories that are not immediately body function, and without it, we could not metabolized for energy are stored in the live. body as fat for future use. • Fats, which consist of a wide group of • Fat is stored throughout the body in fat compounds, are usually soluble in cells known as adipocytes. organic solvents and insoluble in water. • However, fat cells can increase and • All types of fats, regardless of whether they decrease in size depending on the amount are liquid or solid are called lipids. of fat that the body is storing. • Not only does fat supply us with energy, it Types also makes it possible for other nutrients to • All fats have a similar chemical structure: a do their jobs. chain of carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen • It helps to absorb some vitamins and atoms. minerals.

• What makes one fat different from another • Monounsaturated fats may lower LDL (low- is the length and shape of the carbon chain density lipoprotein - bad) cholesterol, and and the number of hydrogen atoms keep HDL (high-density lipoprotein - good) connected to the carbon atoms. cholesterol at higher levels. • Seemingly slight differences in structure o For instance, the Mediterranean diet, a translate into crucial differences in form well-researched and chronic disease- and function. risk lowering diet, is full of Saturated fats monounsaturated fats. • Saturated fats are solid at room Polyunsaturated fats temperature. • In polyunsaturated fats, there are a number • They are totally saturated, meaning that of spaces around each polyunsaturated fat each molecule of fat is covered in hydrogen molecule - they are not saturated with atoms. hydrogen atoms. • A large intake of saturated fats may • Polyunsaturated fats are essential fats. eventually raise cholesterol levels, which That means they're required for normal increases the risk of cardiovascular body functions but your body can't make disease and stroke. them. So you must get them from food. • A healthy diet includes less than 10 percent • Polyunsaturated fats are used to build cell of its calories from saturated fats. membranes and the covering of nerves. • It is mostly found in meat and milk They are needed for blood clotting, muscle products. movement, and inflammation. o However, unprocessed saturated • Monounsaturated fats are relatively stable, fats are an important part of a but they’re not quite as stable as saturated healthy diet and can be regularly fats. consumed. • Polyunsaturated fats are the least stable o An important and beneficial saturated fats as polyunsaturated fats have multiple fat is coconut oil, which has binding sites exposed, making them scientifically demonstrated health particularly open to oxidation. benefits. o It’s important to note that just Unsaturated fats because a fat is unstable doesn’t • Unsaturated fats, which include mean it’s bad for us. monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, o We should just handle less stable fats are liquid at room temperature. more carefully to make sure they don’t • They are mostly derived from plant oils oxidize or spoil. and are classed as "good" fats: o That means avoiding ones that are Monounsaturated fats heavily processed or exposed to high • Monounsaturated fat molecules are not heat. saturated with hydrogen atoms - each fat Omega 6 and Omega 3 molecule has only the space for one • A polyunsaturated fat has two or more hydrogen atom. double bonds in its carbon chain.

• There are two main types of o Naturally-occurring trans fats are polyunsaturated fats: omega-3 fatty acids produced in the gut of some animals and omega-6 fatty acids. and foods made from these animals • The numbers refer to the distance between (e.g., milk and meat products). the beginning of the carbon chain and the o Artificial trans fats are created in an first double bond. Both types offer health industrial process that adds hydrogen benefits. to liquid vegetable oils. They are • As they are polyunsaturated, our body also known as partially hydrogenated can’t produce omega 3s and omega 6s oils. on its own; we get them from food. Why do some companies use trans fats? • Polyunsaturated fats are good for our • Trans fats are easy to use, inexpensive to health, especially those from fish, known as produce and last a long time (give longer omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. shelf-life to the items prepared by them). • Omega-3 fatty acids protect against heart • Trans fats give foods a desirable taste and disease by lowering blood cholesterol texture. levels and possibly inflammation. • Many restaurants and fast-food outlets • Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may use trans fats to deep-fry foods because also help reduce the symptoms oils with trans fats can be used many times experienced by people who suffer from in commercial fryers. arthritis, joint problems in general, and How do trans fats affect health? some skin diseases. • Trans fats raise bad (LDL) cholesterol • Vegetable sources of omega 3s include levels and lower good (HDL) cholesterol cauliflower, walnuts and flaxseeds. levels. • Omega-6 fatty acids are mostly found in • Trans fats create inflammation, which is vegetable oils. linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, • An excessive intake of omega-6's may lead and other chronic conditions. to increased inflammation. • They contribute to insulin resistance, which What are trans fats? increases the risk of developing type 2 • The worst type of dietary fat is the kind diabetes.Even small amounts of trans known as trans fat. fats can harm health. • It is a by-product of a process called Cholesterol hydrogenation that is used to turn healthy • Cholesterol travels through the blood on oils into solids and to prevent them from proteins called “lipoproteins.” becoming rancid. • Two types of lipoproteins carry cholesterol • Trans fats have no known health benefits throughout the body: and that there is no safe level of • LDL (low-density lipoprotein), sometimes consumption. called “bad” cholesterol, makes up most of • There are two broad types of trans fats our body’s cholesterol. found in foods: naturally-occurring and o High levels of LDL cholesterol raise artificial trans fats. our risk for heart disease and stroke.

• HDL (high-density lipoprotein), or “good” cholesterol, absorbs cholesterol and carries 6. Kerala on alert after bird flu in two it back to the liver. The liver then flushes it districts (TH) from the body. • Kerala was placed on high alert after an o High levels of HDL cholesterol can outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in some lower our risk for heart disease and of the districts. stroke. • The presence of the H5N8 subtype of the Conclusion: Avoid the trans fats, limit the Influenza A virus was reported in ducks in saturated fats, and replace with essential many districts. polyunsaturated fats. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) • It has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts and orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. • It has been created for laying down science-based standards for articles of food. • Various Central Acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 etc. are

repealed after the commencement of FSS • Five of eight samples airlifted to the Act, 2006. National Institute of High Security • The Act also aims to establish a single Animal Diseases, Bhopal, tested positive reference point for all matters relating to for the virus. food safety and standards. • Culling of ducks in the infected regions • To this effect, the Act establishes an would be undertaken as per Central independent statutory authority - the guidelines. Food Safety and Standards Authority of Analysis India under the Ministry of Health and Bird Flu Family Welfare. • H5N1 is a type of influenza virus that • Food Safety and Standards Authority of causes a highly infectious, severe India and State Food Safety Authorities respiratory disease in birds called avian shall enforce various provisions of the Act. influenza (or "bird flu"). • FSSAI also contributes to the development • These flu viruses occur naturally among of international technical standards for birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the food, sanitary and phyto-sanitary viruses in their intestines, but usually do not standards. get sick from them. However, bird flu is

very contagious among birds and can make mild infection, so they don’t appear some domesticated birds, including in vaccines. chickens and ducks, very sick and kill them. o Influenza A viruses infect humans How does avian flu spread in birds? and many different animals. • Infected birds shed flu virus in their saliva, o Influenza B viruses circulates among nasal secretions, and feces (droppings). humans and cause seasonal Susceptible birds become infected when epidemics. they have contact with contaminated o Influenza C viruses can infect both excretions or surfaces that are humans and pigs but infections are contaminated with excretions. generally mild and are rarely reported. • Infected birds pass on H5N1 through their o Influenza D viruses primarily affect saliva, nasal secretions, and faeces. cattle and are not known to infect or • H5N8 first appeared in China in 2014. cause illness in people. • The strain came from the H5N1 virus which o Influenza type A viruses are of most started its menace in China in 1996. significance to public health due to Do avian flu viruses infect humans? their potential to cause an influenza • Bird flu viruses do not usually infect pandemic. humans, but several cases of human o Depending on the origin host, infection with bird flu viruses have occurred influenza A viruses can be classified since 1997. as avian influenza, swine influenza, or • Human cases of H5N1 avian influenza other types of animal influenza occur occasionally, but it is difficult to viruses. transmit the infection from person to o Aquatic birds are the primary natural person. reservoir for most subtypes of • While it can prove lethal for birds, the influenza A viruses. H5N8 strain of avian influenza has a • A pandemic influenza strain is one that lower likelihood of spreading to humans humans have not been previously compared to H5N1. exposed to, so people do not have Swine flu immunity to it. • The pandemic influenza strain, or swine Hs and Ns flu, that spread globally in 2009 was • Surface antigens (foreign proteins) haema referred to as H1N1. gglutinin • There are four major types of influenza (H) and neuraminidase (N) form the viral that infect humans, known as influenza A, coat of the H1N1 influenza viruses. B, C and D. • Viruses attach by their haemagglutinin o Influenza A and B can both cause onto receptors on the surface of cells in serious infections, and are the cause order to infect them, like a grappling hook. of what we call the flu. • The neuraminidase removes these o Influenza C viruses differ from receptors from infected cells at the right influenza A and B, and only cause a

time to allow newly synthesised viruses to • Pfizer’s vaccine has also been pre-qualified escape and spread. by the World Health Organization and is • Among influenza A viruses there are 18 being made available in several other different types of haemagglutinin, from countries. H1 to H18 and 11 different types of • It employs a technology platform in which a neuraminidase, from N1 to N11. Each small part of the SARS-CoV-2, called the virus has one type of H (such as H1) and messenger RNA, that normally gives one type of N (such as N1). instructions to cells to make protein, can • Influenza B strains do not circulate in instruct the body’s cells to make viral animals, so they cannot cause a proteins that can then trigger an immune pandemic. But, like influenza A viruses, response. they continually change, so we will never • This can reduce instances of adverse side become immune to every strain. effects without compromising on the immune system’s ability to launch a 7. India, Antarctica, Arctic and More (PIB) protective response that can protect against • Context: India launched the 40th scientific infection. expedition to Antarctica. • There have been challenges in keeping the • The Indian Antarctic expeditions began in m-RNA stable. 1981. • The technology also allows such vaccines • The Indian Antarctic programme has now to be made relatively quickly compared to credited to have built three permanent the current approaches of culturing virus research base stations in Antarctica— strain in chicken eggs. named Dakshin Gangotri, Maitri, and • However, a relative drawback is it requires Bharati. extreme sub-zero degree refrigeration that • As of today, India has two operational is not available in most of the world, research stations in Antarctica named including India. Maitri and Bharati. • “What is an mRNA vaccine” was • The National Centre for Polar and Ocean covered in 7th Nov file. Research (NCPOR), Goa, manages the entire Indian Antarctic program. 9. Explained: Bird flu and its spread to • This topic has been comprehensively other animals including humans (IE) covered in 14th Oct file. • Context: Bird flu has been reported among wild geese in Himachal Pradesh, crows in 8. Pfizer skipped meeting with expert panel Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and thrice, says Health Ministry (TH) ducks in Kerala. In Haryana, around one • Pfizer Inc, which has applied for approval to lakh poultry birds have died mysteriously market its RNA-based vaccine that has got in the last few days. the go-ahead in the U.S. and the U.K, has • In Himachal Pradesh’s Pong Dam Lake, not yet appeared for a presentation before around 1,800 migratory birds have been the Subject Expert Committee. found dead.

Analysis • Movement of infected poultry and migratory What is avian influenza? birds, and an illegal bird trade are believed • It is a highly contagious viral disease to be the causes of the spread. Some caused by Influenza Type A viruses mammals such as cats and lions were also which generally affects poultry birds infected. such as chickens and turkeys. • Subsequently, several other strains of • There are many strains of the virus – some the virus such as H5N2 and H5N8 of them are mild and may merely cause a jumped from animals to humans, thus low egg production or other mild symptoms becoming a global public health among chickens, while others are severe concern. and lethal. Does it spread easily to humans? How does the bird flu spread? • Generally, people coming in close contact • Wild aquatic birds such as ducks and with infected alive or dead birds have geese are the natural reservoir of Influenza contracted the H5N1 bird flu. A viruses and the central players in the • As per the WHO, H5N1 bird flu does not ecology of these viruses. usually spread from person to person. • Many birds carry the flu without • There is also no evidence, the WHO says, developing sickness, and shed it in their that the disease can be spread to people droppings. through properly prepared and cooked • Since birds excrete even while flying, they poultry food. The virus is sensitive to heat, provide “a nice aerosol of influenza virus, and dies in cooking temperatures. shedding it all over the world”. • H5N1 is severe and deadly – If the virus • From water birds, many of whom migrate mutates and becomes easily transmissible and travel long distances, the viruses are from person to person, say by altering its thus shape to grab human cells much more • further spread to poultry and terrestrial effectively, it can potentially cause a birds. pandemic. • Sometimes, the virus jumps over to • Also, flu viruses are more prone to mammals such as pigs, horses, cats and mutation because they have a dogs. segmented genome. When and how did the bird flu start • All known strains of flu – including the infecting humans? seasonal flu and the pandemic flu • Bird flu outbreaks have been affecting (including SARS Cov-2)– have jumped from poultry around the globe for decades, and birds to humans in this way. culling of infected birds has been a • In birds, virus generally infects the gut. common measure to contain the spread. • However, in Humans the avian influenza • But it was in 1997 when humans are first attacks the respiratory tract and may cause known to have contracted bird flu following severe respiratory illnesses such as an outbreak in a live bird market of Hong pneumonia or Acute Respiratory Distress Kong. It was the H5N1 strain of the virus. Syndrome (ARDS).

• For more details, refer to 5th Jan file. • Thus, the chances of humans contracting the virus from eating chicken and eggs is 10. Explained: The return of bird flu (IE) extremely rare. • Context: After bird flu (avian influenza) was confirmed in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya 11. National Mission on Quantum Pradesh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, Technologies and Applications (TH) high alert has been sounded in National Mission on Quantum Maharashtra. Several states have been Technologies and Applications reporting deaths of birds, including poultry • Context:The government in its budget birds, crows and migratory species. 2020 has announced a National Mission Analysis on Quantum Technologies & • The infection Bird flu or avian influenza is Applications (NM-QTA) with a total budget the name used to describe a viral infection outlay of Rs 8000 Crore for a period of five that is reported mostly in birds, but has the years to be implemented by the potential to affect humans and other Department of Science & Technology animals. The most common strain of the (DST). virus that causes severe respiratory Analysis disease in birds is H5N1; various other • Quantum mechanics was developed in the strains like H5N7, H5N8 too, cause early 20th century to describe nature in the infection. small — at the scale of atoms and • The virus was first reported in geese in elementary particles. China in 1996. Since then, outbreaks have • For over a century it has led to ubiquitous been reported periodically across the world. inventions such as lasers and • The H5N1 virus can jump species and semiconductor transistors. infect humans from the infected bird. • More than two years ago, the department • The high mortality rate in humans — of science and technology launched the almost 60 per cent — is the main cause of Quantum-Enabled Science and concern about the spread of bird flu. Technology (QuEST) programme with an • In its present form, human-to-human aim to develop technical capacity within the transmission/infection is not known — country to build quantum computers and human infections have been reported only communications systems comparable with among people who have handled infected the best in the world. birds or carcasses. • The first phase of the project was to build • The virus dies immediately if exposed to the infrastructure and acquire human temperatures over 70 degrees Celsius. resources to develop physical and • Unlike in South East Asian countries, both computation structures for improving meat and eggs in India are eaten well precision in quantum measurement. cooked, which sees them being exposed to o The eventual goal is to build quantum over 100 degrees Celsius. computers domestically.

• Google’s recently announced that it had algorithm that encrypts messages by achieved “quantum supremacy"—the ability relying on the factorization of two large to perform a calculation on a quantum prime numbers. While it is easy to multiply computer that is impossible on a two prime numbers, it is very difficult to conventional computer. factorize them. RSA encryption exploits this • Ordinary computers function using binary feature, making it impossible for even logic gates that can be either off or on. governments and private actors with near o This is why classical computers store infinite computational resources to decrypt information in bits—either as a 0 or 1. messages. • On the other hand, quantum computers can • Quantum field has not yet matured for store information as both a 0 and a 1 at the commercialization, due to the extreme same time using a quantum property called scientific challenges involved. superposition. • Quantum computers store and process • This means that with two quantum bits (or information using quantum two level qubits), information can be stored in four systems (quantum bits or qubits) which possible states of superposition, and as unlike classical bits, can be prepared in more qubits are added, the computational superposition states. power grows exponentially. • This key ability makes quantum computers • While this gives us more computing power, extremely powerful compared to quantum computers are error-prone. conventional computers when solving • The quantum state is delicate. It lasts for a certain kinds of problems like finding prime fraction of a second and is easily disrupted factors of large numbers and searching by tiniest of vibrations or variations in large databases. temperature. • The prime factorization quantum algorithm • This “noise" in calculations causes has important implications for security as it mistakes to occur, and unless we can make can be used to break RSA encryption, a them sufficiently error-free, quantum popular method for secure communication. computing will not be commercially viable. Promising future • Google’s breakthrough was to achieve • Besides computing, exploring the quantum sufficient control over the process to allow world promises other dramatic applications its experimental computer to outperform a including the creation of novel materials, traditional computer. As a result, its enhanced metrology, secure computer could solve in 200 seconds what communication, to name just a few. would take the world’s fastest o For example, China recently supercomputer 10,000 years. demonstrated secure quantum o Google’s Sycamore processor communication links between harnessed 53 qubits in its latest terrestrial stations and satellites. experiment. • And computer scientists are working • Take encryption, for example. Almost all towards deploying schemes for post- digital security today is based on the RSA quantum cryptography — clever schemes

by which existing computers can keep the air-conditioned server rooms of many communication secure even against offices or the stacks of central processing quantum computers of the future. units from desktops of yore that are • Quantum field has not yet matured for connected by ungainly tangled wires and commercialization, due to the extreme heaped in freezing rooms. scientific challenges involved. • Conventional computers process • Quantum computers store and process information in ‘bits’ or 1s and 0s, following information using quantum two level classical physics under which our systems (quantum bits or qubits) which computers can process a ‘1’ or a ‘0’ at a unlike classical bits, can be prepared in time. superposition states. • Quantum computers compute in ‘qubits’ (or • This key ability makes quantum computers quantum bits). They exploit the properties extremely powerful compared to of quantum mechanics, the science that conventional computers when solving governs how matter behaves on the certain kinds of problems like finding prime atomic scale. In this scheme of things, factors of large numbers and searching processors can be a 1 and a 0 large databases. simultaneously, a state called quantum • The prime factorization quantum algorithm superposition. has important implications for security as it • In a quantum computer, a number of can be used to break RSA encryption, a elemental particles such as electrons or popular method for secure communication. photons can be used (in practice, success Quantum Supremacy has also been achieved with ions), with • Recently, Google claimed to have achieved either their charge or polarization acting as ‘quantum supremacy’ (the term ‘quantum a representation of 0 and/or 1. Each of supremacy’ coined by theoretical physicist these particles is known as a qubit. John Preskill), which means that • While this accelerates the speed of researchers at Google had solved a really computation, a machine with less than a difficult problem in seconds with the help of 100 qubits can solve problems with a lot of quantum computers which a data that are even theoretically beyond the supercomputer could not. capabilities of the most powerful • Google’s quantum computer, named supercomputers. Because of quantum Sycamore, claimed ‘supremacy’ because it superposition, a quantum computer — if it reportedly did the task in 200 seconds that works to plan — can mimic several would have apparently taken a classical computers working in parallel. supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. • The ideas governing quantum computers What are quantum computers? have been around since the 1990s but • Quantum computers do not look like actual machines have been around since desktops or laptops that we associate the 2011, most notably built by Canadian word ‘computer’ with. Instead (and there company D-Wave Systems. are only a handful of them) they resemble How will it help us?

• The speed and capability of classical • In 2018, the Department of Science & supercomputers are limited by energy Technology unveiled a programme called requirements. Along with these they also Quantum-Enabled Science & need more physical space. Technology (QuEST) and committed to • Several encryption systems used in investing ₹80 crore over the next three banking and security applications are years to accelerate research. premised on computers being unable to • The ostensible plan is to have a quantum handle mathematical problems that are computer built in India within the next computationally demanding beyond a limit. decade. Quantum computers, in theory, can surpass • Phase-1 of the problem involves hiring those limits. research experts and establishing teams • A question critics raise is how the use of with the know-how to physically build such quantum computing and its ability to break systems. encryption codes will impact online banking. 12. Identical twins aren’t perfect clones, • However, if technological breakthroughs study shows (TH) were to pose a real threat to banking or • Context: Identical twins are not exactly financial operations, it is likely that banks genetically the same, new research shows. will harness quantum computers 15% of identical twins showed up to 100 themselves. genetic differences. Limitations • Previously, many researchers believed that • This does not imply that the quantum physical differences between identical twins computer can solve every challenging were related mostly to environmental problem thrown at it. factors, such as nutrition or lifestyle and not • A common ailment that many quantum because of mutations. computers share is that they have their own • A mutation means an alteration in a unique propensity to errors and are not as sequence of DNA – a tiny change that is amenable to executing real world problems not inherently good or bad, but can as super computers. influence physical features or susceptibility • However, the Google feat shows that to certain diseases. They can occur when a quantum computers are capable of a real cell divides and makes a slight error in world task. replicating DNA. • It gives confidence to private entrepreneurs Analysis and even academics to invest time and Cloning money to improving them and customise • Strictly speaking, cloning is the creation of them to real world problems. a genetic copy of a sequence of DNA or of Is India working on quantum computing? the entire genome of an organism. • There are no quantum computers in India o The copied material is called a clone. yet. o Geneticists have cloned cells, tissues, genes and entire animals.

• In the latter sense, cloning occurs naturally mitochondria in the cytoplasm of the in the birth of identical twins and other enucleated oocyte. multiples.  For the clone and the donor animal to • But cloning can also be done artificially in be exact genetic copies, the oocyte the laboratory via embryo twinning or too would have to come from the splitting: an early embryo is split in vitro so donor animal (or from the same that both parts, when transferred to a maternal line – mitochondria are uterus, can develop into individual passed on by oocytes). organisms genetically identical to each • In biomedical research, cloning is broadly other. defined to mean the duplication of any kind • In the cloning debate, however, the term of biological material for scientific study, ‘cloning’ typically refers to a technique such as a piece of DNA or an individual called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). cell. o SCNT involves transferring the • With the advent of recombinant DNA nucleus of a somatic cell into an technology in the 1970s, it became oocyte from which the nucleus and possible for scientists to create transgenic thus most of the DNA has been clones—clones with genomes containing removed. (The mitochondrial DNA in pieces of DNA from other organisms. the cytoplasm is still present). • Cloning happens all the time in nature—for o The manipulated oocyte is then example, when a cell replicates itself treated with an electric current in order asexually without any genetic alteration to stimulate cell division, resulting in or recombination. the formation of an embryo. • Prokaryotic organisms (organisms lacking a o The embryo is (virtually) genetically cell nucleus), such as bacteria and yeasts, identical to, and thus a clone of the create genetically identical duplicates of somatic cell donor. themselves using binary fission or budding. o Dolly was the first mammal to be • In eukaryotic organisms (organisms brought into the world using SCNT. possessing a cell nucleus) such as  Dolly, however, was not 100% humans, all the cells that undergo mitosis, genetically identical to the donor such as skin cells and cells lining animal. the gastrointestinal tract, are clones; the  Genetic material comes from two only exceptions sources: the nucleus and the are gametes (eggs and sperm), which mitochondria of a cell. Mitochondria undergo meiosis and genetic are organelles that serve as power recombination. sources to the cell. o Mitosis is the division of a cell into two  They contain short segments of DNA. daughter cells that are genetically In Dolly’s case, her nuclear DNA was identical to the parent cell. the same as the donor animal; other of o Meiosis is the division of a germ cell her genetic materials came from the into four sex cells (e.g. egg or sperm),

each with half the number of much as a warm-blooded animal like a chromosomes of the parent cell. bird or a mammal. o Mitosis is a means of asexual • This versatility could be one explanation reproduction, whereas meiosis is why crocodiles survived the meteor impact necessary for sexual reproduction. at the end of the Cretaceous period, in which the dinosaurs perished. 13. Why haven’t crocodiles evolved since o Crocodiles generally thrive better in the age of the dinosaurs? (TH) warm conditions because they cannot • The crocodiles of today look very similar to control their body temperature and those that lived during the Jurassic period require warmth from the environment. some 200 million years ago. • The next step for the team's research is to • Though lizards and birds have evolved and find out why some types of prehistoric diversified into many thousands of species, crocodile died out, while others didn't. crocodiles have only a few species – just 25. 14. Bacterial haute couture (TH) • Now, scientists explain how a particular • Cobalt, used in batteries, is toxic to living pattern of evolution known as the ‘stop– things. The metal seeps into the cells of start’ pattern andcertain environmental most bacteria and kills them. changes could explain why crocodiles • Researchers investigated what happened haven’t changed much. when Geobacter, a bacterium found in soil • The findings show that the limited diversity and sediment, encounters cobalt. of crocodiles and their apparent lack of • They found that the bacteria can extract the evolution is a result of a slow evolutionary metal from rust and coat themselves with it. rate. • The microbe’s ability can be used to extract o It seems the crocodiles arrived at a cobalt from batteries and recycle it. body plan that was very efficient and versatile enough that they didn't need 15. How old is the universe? (TH) to change it in order to survive. • A new study calculates that the cosmos is • The climate during the age of dinosaurs 13.77 billion years old, give or take 40 was warmer than it is today, and that may million years, which agrees with earlier explain why there were many more estimates made using the Planck satellite. varieties of crocodile than we see now. The astronomers used the Chilean • Prehistory also saw types of crocodile Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). we don't see today, including giants as • In 2019, others showed that the universe is big as dinosaurs, plant-eaters, fast hundreds of million years younger than this runners and serpentine forms that estimate, by measuring the movements of lived in the sea. galaxies, sparking off a debate. o Being able to draw energy from the sun means they do not need to eat as 16. Light Detection and Ranging Survey (LiDAR) (PIB)

• Context: National High Speed Rail • Airplanes and helicopters are the most Corporation Limited will be adopting Light commonly used platforms for acquiring Detection and Ranging Survey (LiDAR) LiDAR data over broad areas. technique using Laser enabled equipment • Two types of LiDAR are topographic and mounted on a Helicopter for conducting bathymetric. ground survey for the preparation of o Topographic LiDAR typically uses a Detailed Project Report for the proposed near-infrared laser to map the land, Delhi-Varanasi HSR corridor. while bathymetric LiDAR uses water- Analysis penetrating green light to also • The alignment or ground survey is a crucial measure seafloor and riverbed activity for any linear infrastructure project elevations. as the survey provides accurate details of • LiDAR systems allow scientists and areas around the alignment. mapping professionals to examine both • The aerial LiDAR survey technique, for the natural and manmade first time for any railway project in India, • A Prof. from the Department of was adopted for the Mumbai- Archaeology and Ancient History said that Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) the LiDAR technology has immense Corridor primarily because of its high potential for India, especially for agriculture accuracy. and geology-related applications, but our • The ground survey using aerial LiDAR for country has still not used it in archaeology. MAHSR alignment was done only in 12 weeks against the 10-12 months if had 17. Tapas and SWiFT UAVs (PIB) been done through traditional survey • Context: India’s Defence Research and methods. Development Organisation (DRDO) has LiDAR handed over retractable landing gear • LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection systems for the Tapas and SWiFT and Ranging, is a remote sensing method unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser Analysis to measure ranges (variable distances) to TAPAS-BH-201 the Earth. • These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics. • A LiDAR instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver.

• Rustom 2 (Rustom-II, also called TAPAS- BH-201, “Tactical Airborne Platform for

Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201“) is Development Agency (ADA) and Indian a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. UAV being developed by DRDO for the • SWiFT is a scaled down testbed intended Indian Armed Forces. to develop technologies required for DRDO • Once fully ready, the Rustom UAVs will Ghatak UCAV program, tentatively called replace Israeli Heron UAVs being used by Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Navy. (AURA). • Rustom-2 is comparable to the American- • The Ghatak UCAV will be capable of made MQ-1 Predator drone and can fly for releasing missiles, bombs and precision- 24 hours at stretch. guided munitions. • Rustom-2 is capable of carrying different • The full scale Ghatak prototype is expected combinations of payloads depending on the to conduct its maiden flight in 2024-25. mission objectives including synthetic aperture radar (SAR), electronic 18. The first report of a primary deposit of intelligence (ELINT) systems and vanadium in India (TH) situational awareness systems. • Context: Arunachal Pradesh, considered a • It has a satellite communications sleeping hydropower giant, is likely to (SATCOM) link to relay real time battlefield become India’s prime producer of information. vanadium, a high-value metal used in • The drone can loiter autonomously at high strengthening steel and titanium. altitudes performing real-time, high- Analysis resolution intelligence, surveillance and • Exploration being carried out by the reconnaissance (ISR) with its SAR and Geological Survey of India (GSI) has Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensors. placed the eastern Himalayan State on the Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWiFT) vanadium map of the country, and geologists are confident of identifying a deposit soon. • It is recovered as a by-product from the slag collected from the processing of vanadiferous magnetite ores (iron ore). • India is a significant consumer of vanadium, but is not a primary producer of the strategic metal. o According to data provided by the GSI,

• The Stealth Wing Flying Testbed (SWiFT) India consumed 4% of about 84,000 tonnes of vanadium produced across is a technology demonstrator for an the globe in 2017. China, which autonomous stealthy unmanned combat air produces 57% of the world’s vehicle (UCAV) being developed by Indian Ministry of Defence’s Aeronautical vanadium, consumed 44% of the metal.

• The expected grade of vanadium black pepper, parsley, dill weed, shellfish, mineralisation in Arunachal Pradesh is beer, wine and grain. comparable to the important vanadium • Vanadium is sold as a bodybuilding deposits of the world. supplement typically in the form of vanadyl o Vanadium mineralization in Arunachal sulfate. Pradesh is geologically similar to the • Around 80 percent of the vanadium “stone coal” vanadium deposits of produced is alloyed with iron to make a China hosted in carbonaceous shale. shock- and corrosion-resistant steel • The largest deposits are in China, additive. followed by Russia and South Africa. • Vanadium alloys are also used to make Facts About Vanadium nuclear reactors because of their low- neutron-absorbing properties. • The compound vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) can also be combined with gallium to form superconductive magnets, according to Jefferson Lab. When mixed with aluminum and titanium, vanadium can create a very strong alloy that is used for special applications such as dental implants and jet engines. • Vanadium has very colorful oxidation • Vanadium is a medium-hard, steel-blue states, including purple, green, blue and metal. yellow. • Although a lesser-known metal, it is quite • Since vanadium steel keeps its hardness at valuable in the manufacturing industry due high temperatures, it is used in circular to its malleable, ductile and corrosion- saws, drill bits, engine turbines and other resistant qualities. moving parts that produce high levels of • Vanadium rarely exists as a free element in heat. nature but can be found in about 65 • Vanadium can be used in the process of different minerals. refining uranium for nuclear purposes. o It also can be found in phosphate rock • Vanadium is present in a small number of and some crude oils. meteorites. • Vanadium can be detected

spectroscopically in the Sun's rays and 19. Smellicopter: An autonomous drone occasionally in the light of other stars. inspired by Moths (TH) • High doses of vanadium are toxic to • Context: Researchers at the University of humans, but scientists think we may need Washington and the University of Maryland the element in very small amounts for have developed the ‘smellicopter' an normal bone growth. autonomous drone that uses live antennae • Vanadium can be found in trace amounts in many types of food, including mushrooms,

from a moth to smell and avoid obstacles major agricultural pests, many others are as it travels in the air. important pollinators. • Moths can use their antennae to sense o Their hairy bodies make moths great chemicals in the environment. Incorporating pollinators — they pick up pollen from a live antenna from a moth as a sensor any flower they land on. makes this drone tune and search in rescue Do you Know? operations. It also helps navigate an area • While some moths suck nectar, others don't with unexploded devices. eat at all. Analysis • For instance, the adult Luna moth doesn't All about Moths even have a mouth. After it emerges from • Moths vary greatly in size, ranging in its cocoon, it lives for about a week. Its sole wingspan from about 4 mm (0.16 inch) to mission in life? To mate and lay eggs. nearly 30 cm (about 1 foot). • Though they lack noses, moths are expert • Highly adapted, they live in all the habitats sniffers. They detect odor molecules using except polar habitats. their antennae instead of through nostrils. • Compared with butterflies, moths have Male giant silkworm moths have elaborate, stouter bodies and duller colouring. feather-shaped antennae with hairlike scent • Moths also have distinctive feathery or thick receptors that allow them to detect a single antennae. molecule of a female moth's sex hormone • the moth life cycle has four stages: egg, from 7 miles (11 kilometers) away. larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and • Because of their abundance, moths are adult (imago). major players at the bottom of the food • The larvae and adults of most moth species chain. They're a huge source of food for are plant eaters. bats. o Larvae in particular do considerable • In some parts of the world, moths are a damage to ornamental trees and major food source for people, too. More shrubs and to many other plants of than 90 percent of people in some African economic importance. countries eat moth and butterfly caterpillars. o The bollworm and measuring o Caterpillars are packed with protein worm are two of the most destructive and healthy fats, and research shows types of moth larvae. that 100 grams of these insects • Some moths are notorious for their ability to provides more than 100 percent of the impersonate other animals. daily requirement of some vital • To avoid being eaten, some moths have minerals, such as potassium, evolved to look like less palatable insects, calcium, zinc and iron. such as wasps, tarantulas and the praying mantis. 20. Spintronics (PIB) • Some moths even mimic bird droppings. • Context: Scientists have produced electron • While some moths, particularly caterpillars gas (2d-electron gas(2DEG)) with ultra- such as the corn earworm, bollworm are high mobility, which can speed up transfer

of quantum information and signal from one • No new drug can be launched in India part of a device to another and increase without it undergoing clinical trial in the data storage and memory. country. Analysis • India has 17% of global population and • The need for attaining new functionalities in 20% of global disease burden. modern electronic devices has led to the • Less than 1.4% of all global clinical trials manipulation of property of an electron are done in India. called spin degree of freedom along with • Clinical trials are approved by the Drug its charge. Controller General of India (DCGI). • This has given rise to an altogether new • Recent revival of clinical trials in India is field of spin-electronics or ‘spintronics’. because of introduction of scientific and It has been realized that a phenomenon balanced guidelines that suit all called the ‘Rashba effect’, which consists of stakeholders. splitting of spin-bands in an electronic • India has begun harmonizing the clinical system, might play a key role in spintronic trial environment as per international devices. standards: • Due to the high mobility of the electron gas, o now 50% of the trials can be electrons do not collide inside the medium conducted in private hospitals, for a long distance and hence do not lose o there is no restriction of three trials per the memory and information. investigator and o Hence, such a system can easily o a formula for calculating financial remember and transfer its memory for compensation has been derived. a long time and distance. • The Clinical Trials Registry of India • In addition, since they collide less during (CTRI) - It is a free and online system for their flow, their resistance is very low, and registration all clinical trials being hence they don’t dissipate energy as heat. conducted in India. So, such devices do not heat up easily and o Any researcher who plans to conduct need less input energy to operate. a trial involving human participants, of any intervention as well as trials 21. All about Clinical Trials in India (TH) being conducted in the purview of • Context: The phase-3 clinical trial of the Department of AYUSH is Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine, expected to register the trial in the Covaxin, by a private hospital in the CTRI before enrolment of the first Bhopal-based Peoples College of Medical participant. Sciences & Research Centre appears to o Registration of clinical trials in the suffer from serious violations. CTRI is now mandatory. Analysis • Prerequisites of conducting a clinical Clinical Trials trial in India o Permission from the Drugs Controller General, India (DCGI).

o Approval from respective Ethics referred to as clinical trials, to judge its Committee where the study is safety and efficacy. planned. • With an average sample size of less than o Mandatory registration on the Clinical 100, phase I is the preliminary study of Trials Registry of India. safety, where the objective is to find the • The Drug Controller General of India is acceptable dose level which will not cause the main licensing authority. It issues the serious side-effects. permissions for new drugs and devices and • Phase II is a study of safety and efficacy oversees clinical trials. together, with a few hundred people or • The National Pharmaceutical Pricing even fewer. Authority sets drug prices. • Doses appearing to be simultaneously • The Drugs and Cosmetics Act has a effective and safe are forwarded for a special provision to accept international trial phase III study, which is a detailed data or other information, to allow import, evaluation of effectiveness in comparison and to waive the clinical trial requirement in to some existing treatment or some similar- the interest of public health. looking treatment having no effect (called • A clinical trial may also be waived for drugs placebo). that are approved and have been used in o Hundreds or even a few thousand other countries for many years. people are given either the vaccine or Informed consent process a placebo. • The informed consent process, the o They are then tracked over months to cornerstone of ethics in clinical trials. determine whether the people • Following the October 2013 Supreme Court receiving the vaccine get infected less order, the Indian regulator had in 2019 than people who get the control. made mandatory an audio-video recording o This stage even allows scientists to of the informed consent process of each look for rare side-effects that can’t be vulnerable individual participant before spotted in smaller, earlier stage trials. conducting clinical trials. • After the three phases, if the vaccine is • And a written consent from the participant found to be safe and effective, the study had to necessarily be taken before the report is forwarded to the regulatory audio-video recording of the informed agency, which, if convinced, permits its consent process. usage en masse. • In case of illiterate participants, an impartial • Phase IV is the postmarketing surveillance witness is required to be present during the stage. Such surveillance can only be entire informed consent process to append conducted after the drug is marketed. his/her signatures to the consent form. Central Drugs Standard Control Stages of a clinical trial Organization • In its developing stage, a vaccine must go • The Central Drugs Standard Control through three phases of rigorous Organisation (CDSCO), headed by the experimental testing on human beings, Drugs Controller General of India,under

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, that are either manipulated or wholly Government of India is the National generated by Artificial Intelligence. Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India. • India has not enacted any specific • Under the Drug and Cosmetics Act, the legislation to deal with deepfakes, though regulation of manufacture, sale and there are some provisions in the Indian distribution of Drugs is primarily the Penal Code that criminalise certain forms of concern of the State authorities while the online/social media content manipulation. Central Authorities are responsible for: • The Information Technology Act, 2000 o approval of New Drugs and Clinical covers certain cybercrimes. But this law Trials in the country, and the Information Technology o laying down the standards for Drugs, Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) o control over the quality of imported Rules, 2018 are inadequate to deal with Drugs, content manipulation on digital platforms. o coordination of the activities of State o (The guidelines stipulate that due Drug Control Organisations diligence must be observed by the o banning of drugs and cosmetics and intermediate companies for removal of providing expert advice with a view of illegal content.) bring about the uniformity in the • Blockchains are robust against many enforcement of the Drugs and security threats and can be used to digitally Cosmetics Act. sign and affirm the validity of a video or • Further CDSCO along with state regulators, document. is jointly responsible for grant of licenses of certain specialized categories of critical 23. Ballistic Missile (TH) Drugs such as blood and blood products, I. • Context: Pakistan has successfully test- V. Fluids, Vaccine and Sera. fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Why are guinea pigs used in medical ballistic missile- Shaheen-III, which can research? strike targets up to 2,750 km. • They have many biological similarities to • The launch of Shaheen-III missile was humans, beyond the simple fact that they “aimed at revalidating various design and are mammals, which make them useful in technical parameters of weapon system”, many fields of research. said a statement issued by the media wing • Studies on guinea pigs led to the of the Pakistani Army. discovery of: Analysis o Vitamin C • Ballistic missiles are powered initially by a o the tuberculosis bacterium rocket or series of rockets in stages (first adrenaline stage), but then follow an unpowered (without fuel) curved trajectory mostly 22. What are Deepfakes? (TH) above the atmosphere (second stage) • Deepfakes — synthetic media, meaning before descending to reach its intended media (including images, audio and video)

target (third stage). Thus, Ballistic positioning systems (GPS) and inertial missiles have three stages of flight. guidance. • A ballistic missile is only guided during Sriharikota v/s Wheeler Island the initial short boost phase, but minor • Sriharikota Island is located in Pulicat lake corrections can be made by means of (Andhra Pradesh). It houses India's satellite control motors. launch centre, Satish Dhawan Space • Ballistic missiles can carry either nuclear or Centre conventional warheads. • Abdul Kalam Island is located in Bay of • Ballistic missiles with range less than 1,000 Bengal, off the coast of Odisha. Formerly kilometers are also known as “tactical” known as Wheeler Island, missile test ballistic missiles. facility for the most of Indian missiles • Ballistic missiles with range between 1,000 including long range ones is available here. and 3,000 kilometers are also known as 24. Akash-NG (New Generation) Missile “theater” ballistic missiles. (PIB) • Ballistic missiles whose range is more than • Context: DRDO conducted the successful 5,500 kilometers (approximately 3,410 maiden launch of Akash-NG (New miles) are also known as intercontinental Generation) Missile from Integrated Test or strategic ballistic missiles (ICBMs) Range off the coast of Odisha. • Ballistic missiles first came into use during • The Akash-NG is a new generation World War II, when the Germans used Surface to Air Missile (SAM) meant for them to attack London. use by the Indian Air Force to intercept • They can be launched from ground, air, high-manoeuvring low radar cross- sea or submarine platforms. section aerial threats. How Cruise missiles, often in news, • The Akash-NG system has been developed different from Ballistic Missiles? with better deployability compared to other • Cruise missiles are unmanned vehicles that similar systems with canisterized launcher are propelled by jet engines, much like an and much smaller ground system footprint. airplane. • The new Akash system can defend an area • They can be launched from ground, air, of at least 10 times better compared to any sea or submarine platforms. short range SAM and is capable of • Cruise missiles remain within the engaging up to 10 targets simultaneously. atmosphere for the duration of their flight o The earlier variant has a maximum and can fly as low as a few meters off the range of 30 km, while Akash-NG can ground. strike targets up to 70 km. • Flying low to the surface of the earth Analysis expends more fuel but makes a cruise Akash Missile missile very difficult to detect. • Akash is India’s first indigenously designed, • Cruise missiles are self-guided and use developed and produced air defence multiple methods to accurately deliver their system. payload, including terrain mapping, global

• The short range multi-target engagement • It was conducted in Andaman & Nicobar capable missile was developed as part of group of islands. the Integrated Guided-Missile • The exercise involved participation of Naval Development Programme (IGMDP) other ships, amphibious troops of the Army and than Nag, Agni, Trishul, and Prithvi different types of aircraft from the Air force. missiles. • The exercise was aimed at validating • The supersonic Akash missile has a range India’s capabilities to safeguard the of around 25-30 km and up to the altitude of territorial integrity of its island territories. 18,000 metres. • It also sought to enhance operational • This missile uses high-energy solid synergy and joint warfighting capabilities propellant for the booster and ramjet-rocket amongst the three Services. propulsion for the sustainer phase. The missile system is highly mobile. 26. All about Lithium and Lithium-ion • Several variants of the missile — Akash Batteries (PIB) MK1, Akash-MK2 — with improved • Context: With electric vehicles fast accuracy and higher ranges are under becoming the new reality, Union Minister development by the DRDO. for MSME and Road Transport & Highways • The missile system was formally inducted has stressed the need to emerge as into the IAF and the Army in May 2015. pioneers in developing leading battery and power-train technologies. 25. Joint Military Exercise in Andaman Sea • Noting that the challenge we presently face (PIB) is the control on strategic reserves of • Context: Indian Armed Forces conducted a Lithium, which is used to manufacture large-scale conjoint military training Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used in exercise “KAVACH” along with “AMPHEX- vehicles, the Minister has called upon the 21” in the Andaman Sea and Bay of EV sector to shift towards a completely Bengal. indigenous battery technology in the Analysis coming years. Tri service Military ‘Exercise Kavach’ Analysis • The aim of the tri-service drill is to sharpen Lithium discovered in India: What does it operational synergy between the three mean for Renewables? services (Army, Navy and Air Force) • The Department of Atomic Energy, • The exercise will check the preparedness Government of India has discovered of all the agencies in dealing with an 1600kg Lithium in Mandla district of asymmetric threat. Karnataka. • Asymmetrical threats are unconventional o India is spending a considerable strategies and tactics adopted by a force. amount of money on Lithium import, Tri-service joint amphibious exercise which acts as a drain to the Forex. AMPHEX – 21 The import bill of Lithium has risen upto three-fold between 2017 to 2020.

• Lithium has widespread uses across • The element is promoted because it has a domains. It is added to glasses and lot of potential in the renewable sector of ceramics for resistance to temperature the modern energy spectrum, some of its fluctuation, it is used in heat-resistant advantages include: greases and lubricants, and it is alloyed • India has declared 350 GW by 2030 as its with aluminium and copper for light weight renewable energy goals. Lithium discovery aerial components. is a crucial step to making India self-reliant • Lithium is also used in psychiatric in the renewable sector and achieve the medications and in dental imprints. energy goals. • The lighter of two lithium isotopes is used in Four-fold jump in Li-ion battery imports the production of Tritium, a key component since 2016 (from an article in the Hindu of nuclear weapons. dated Feb 2020) • The most widespread and well-known use • India has quadrupled its imports of lithium- of Lithium is in the Lithium-ion (Li-ion) ion (Li-ion) batteries and more than tripled battery. its import bill on the product, vital for • Some of the most common applications of powering a range of devices from lithium-ion batteries are power backup cellphones to electric vehicles, from 2016- appliances, mobile phones, laptops, and 2018. other commonly used electric goods. • Indian manufacturers source Li-ion • India’s first Lithium plant has been set up at batteries from China, Japan and South Gujarat in 2021. Korea and the country is among the largest • The growing demand for Lithium in India is importers in the world. driven by the goal of Indian government to • The Indian Space Research Organisation become one of the largest electric vehicle (ISRO) manufactures such batteries but markets world over. volumes are limited and they are restricted o NITI Aayog has set an ambitious for use in space applications. target to increase the number of • In June 2018, Central Electro Chemical electric vehicles by 30 percent by Research Institute (CECRI) in Tamil Nadu’s 2030. Karaikudi, under the Council of Scientific & • While we have discovered 1600kg Lithium Industrial Research (CSIR) and RAASI reserves, other countries are far ahead in Solar Power Pvt Ltd signed a Memorandum Lithium discovery and export. of Agreement for transfer of technology for • Bolivia is the leading producer with 2.10 India’s first lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery crore tonnes lithium reserves, and project. Argentina has 1.70 crore tonnes of Lithium. • To promote indigenous development of • The Indian Space Research Organisation such batteries, the Union Cabinet in 2019 (ISRO) manufactures these batteries, but approved a programme, called a National their quantity is presently limited, and they Mission on Transformative Mobility and are severely restricted in use. Battery Storage in the NITI Aayog (chaired by CEO NITI Aayog) to “drive clean,

connected, shared, sustainable and holistic China in the Driver’s Seat mobility initiatives.” • China is home to 73% of the global lithium • Electric vehicles are expected to account cell manufacturing capacity, followed by the for a significant share in the growth of the U.S., far behind in second place with 12% Li-ion battery demand in India though of global capacity. reports say this is unlikely at least until o Note: Top producers of lithium in 2025, because electric cars are still the world as in 2019: significantly costlier than their combustion-  Australia: 51,000 MT engine counterparts.  Chile: 16,000 MT • The government has announced  China: 8,000 MT investments worth $1.4 billion to make India • China has a major advantage of cheap one of the largest manufacturing hubs for labor, which has allowed it to dominate electric vehicles by 2040. many manufacturing industries. What’s so special about lithium? o But China also has more lithium • In a lithium-ion battery, lithium metal reserves and much greater lithium migrates through the battery from one production than the U.S. (so at least electrode to the other as a lithium ion. two reasons) • Lithium is one of the lightest elements, and • The soft, silvery metal lithium is also known it has the strongest electrochemical as “white petroleum.” potential of any element. • Japan’s Sony was the company that first • This enables a lithium-based battery to commercialized the technology, but China pack a lot of energy storage in a small, light was able to catch up because of its ability battery. to manufacture the batteries at larger • As a result, lithium-ion batteries have scales and sell them for cheaper. become the battery of choice in many • For further details, refer to the “2019 consumer electronics such as laptops Nobel Prize in Chemistry” article in 10th and cell phones. October file. Lithium-ion Batteries Gain Momentum 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry • Because of the inherent advantages in • It will be awarded to John D. Goodenough, lithium-ion batteries, sales have grown M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino exponentially since the turn of the century. for the development of lithium-ion This has helped drive down costs batteries. consistently. • Through their work, this year’s Chemistry • However, one country has seized the Laureates have laid the foundation of a momentum and established a commanding wireless, fossil fuel-free society. market lead over its competitors in this • Dr. Whittingham, awarded this year’s space. But it’s not the U.S., where much of Chemistry Prize, used lithium’s enormous the critical research and development drive to release its outer electron when he that created the lithium-ion battery took developed the first functional lithium place. battery.

• Dr. Goodenough doubled the lithium advantage when not being used as battery’s potential, creating the right well. When not in use, the rate of self- conditions for a vastly more powerful and discharge is extremely low. The useful battery. leakage of harmful chemicals is a • Dr. Yoshino succeeded in eliminating pure common phenomenon in conventional lithium from the battery, instead basing it batteries. wholly on lithium ions, which are safer than o Low Maintenance - no periodic pure lithium. This made the battery discharge is needed; there is no workable in practice. memory. • The result was a lightweight, hardwearing o Specialty cells can provide very high battery that could be charged hundreds current to applications such as power of times before its performance tools. deteriorated. o Lithium-ion batteries can serve as a • The advantage of lithium-ion batteries is solution for varied power demands that they are not based upon chemical across the spectrum. It can range from reactions that break down the vast energy storage to portable energy electrodes, but upon lithium ions flowing storage solutions. They can thus be back and forth between the anode and used as large or small batteries. cathode. o One of the advantages of Li-ion • Lithium-ion batteries are used everywhere batteries is the fact that they come in from mobile phones to electric vehicles, all shapes and sizes, giving the users and also to store significant amounts of with many options to choose from energy from solar and wind power. according to their needs. The advantages/disadvantages of Lithium- • Limitations ion batteries over other batteries are: o Requires protection circuit to • Advantages maintain voltage and current within o High energy density - This implies Li- safe limits. ion batteries can last way longer o Subject to aging, even if not in use - between charges, while maintaining storage in a cool place at 40% charge high current output; this is because reduces the aging effect. lithium is highly reactive element, and o Transportation restrictions - a lot of energy can be stored in its shipment of larger quantities may be atomic bonds. subject to regulatory control. This o Do not need prolonged priming restriction does not apply to personal when new. One regular charge is all carry-on batteries. that's needed. o Expensive to manufacture - about o Relatively low self-discharge - 40 percent higher in cost than nickel- Lithium batteries have low self- cadmium. discharge, not only whilst being used, but lithium-ion batteries have a clear

o Not fully mature - metals and largest absolute burden of at least 11 of chemicals are changing on a these major neglected tropical diseases. continuing basis. Analysis o Petrol run vehicles use lead-acid What are “neglected tropical diseases”? batteries, and not Li-ion batteries, • There are four primary criteria that define because the latter is sensitive to an illness as a neglected tropical disease overheating. (NTD): o They also degrade faster in higher • First, there is a significant burden of temperatures and can even explode mortality and morbidity. on overheating. • Secondly, a majority of incidents occur in o Dependent on flammable and the world’s tropical and sub-tropical combustible materials, current Li-ion regions, and it particularly impacts the poor. batteries are susceptible to fire and • Thirdly, the disease is amenable to explosion incidents, most of which is treatment, as well as prevention. without any warning. • Finally, the overall level of investment in • One of the major Centres of ISRO, Vikram research addressing the disease, from Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), is prevention to diagnosis to treatment and offering to transfer the in-house developed rehabilitation, is exceptionally low in Li-ion cell technology to competent Indian comparison to its impact. Industries on non-exclusive basis to Some of the neglected tropical diseases establish Li-ion cell production facilities in identified by WHO are (please note that this the country. list keeps on changing, red coloured • This initiative is expected to enable Zero diseases might no longer be in the latest Emission Policy of India and accelerate the list): development of indigenous electric vehicle o Buruli ulcer industry. o Chagas disease o Dengue and Chikungunya 27. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) o Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) (PIB) o Echinococcosis • Context: On World Neglected Tropical o Foodborne trematodiases Diseases (NTD) Day, on 30th January o Human African trypanosomiasis 2021, more than 50 landmarks representing (sleeping sickness) 25 nations across the world will be lit up to o Leishmaniasis celebrate how far we have come together in o Leprosy (Hansen's disease) beating NTDs. India too will proudly join o Lymphatic filariasis these countries, by illuminating UNESCO o Mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and world heritage site Qutub Minar. other deep mycoses • 1 in 5 people around the world are affected o Onchocerciasis (river blindness) by NTDs. India is home to the world’s o Rabies o Scabies and other ectoparasites

o Schistosomiasis • Leprosy: A complex disease caused by o Soil-transmitted helminthiases infection mainly of the skin, peripheral o Snakebite envenoming nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory o Taeniasis/Cysticercosis tract and eyes. o Trachoma • Chagas disease: A life-threatening illness o Yaws (Endemic treponematoses) transmitted to humans through contact with • The following six NTDs can be controlled or vector insects (triatomine bugs), ingestion even eliminated through mass of contaminated food, infected blood administration of safe and effective transfusions, congenital transmission, medicines or other, effective interventions: organ transplantation or laboratory o Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm accidents. Disease) • Human African trypanosomiasis o Lymphatic Filariasis (sleeping sickness): A parasitic infection o Onchocerciasis spread by the bites of tsetse flies that is o Schistosomiasis almost 100% fatal without prompt diagnosis o Soil-transmitted Helminths (STH) and treatment to prevent the parasites (i.e., Ascaris, Hookworm, and invading the central nervous system. Whipworm) • Leishmaniases: Disease transmitted o Trachoma through the bites of infected female Neglected tropical diseases − Summary sandflies that in its most severe (visceral) • Dengue: A mosquito-borne infection form attacks the internal organs and in its causing flu-like illness that may develop most prevalent (cutaneous) form causes into severe dengue and cause lethal face ulcers, disfiguring scars and disability. complications. • Taeniasis and neurocysticercosis: An • Rabies: A preventable viral disease infection caused by adult tapeworms in transmitted to humans through the bites of human intestines; cysticercosis results infected dogs that is invariably fatal once when humans ingest tapeworm eggs that symptoms develop. develop as larvae in tissues. • Trachoma: A chlamydial infection • Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease): transmitted through direct contact with A nematode infection transmitted infectious eye or nasal discharge, or exclusively by drinking-water contaminated through indirect contact with unsafe living with parasite-infected water fleas. conditions and hygiene practices, which left • Echinococcosis: Infection caused by the untreated causes irreversible corneal larval stages of tapeworms forming opacities and blindness. pathogenic cysts in humans and • Buruli ulcer: A debilitating mycobacterial transmitted when ingesting eggs most skin infection causing severe destruction of commonly shed in faeces of dogs and wild the skin, bone and soft tissue. animals. • Yaws: A chronic bacterial infection affecting • Foodborne trematodiases: Infection mainly the skin and bone. acquired by consuming fish, vegetables

and crustaceans contaminated with larval o reduce by 75% the disability-adjusted parasites; clonorchiasis, opisthorchiasis life years (DALYs) related to NTD and fascioliasis are the main diseases. • Additionally, the road map will track 10 • Lymphatic filariasis: Infection transmitted cross-cutting targets and disease specific by mosquitoes causing abnormal targets that include: enlargement of limbs and genitals from o a reduction by more than 75% in the adult worms inhabiting and reproducing in number of deaths from vector-borne the lymphatic system. NTDs such as dengue, leishmaniasis • Onchocerciasis (river blindness): and others, Infection transmitted by the bite of infected o promote full access to basic water blackflies causing severe itching and eye supply, lesions as the adult worm produces larvae o sanitation and hygiene in areas and leading to visual impairment and endemic for NTDs and achieve greater permanent blindness. improvement in collecting and • Schistosomiasis: Trematode infections reporting NTD data disaggregated by transmitted when larval forms released by gender. freshwater snails penetrate human skin during contact with infested water. 28. How Radioactive Isotopes are Used in • Soil-transmitted helminthiases: Medicine (PIB) Nematode infections transmitted through • Context: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre soil contaminated by human faeces causing (BARC) has evolved a design for the first anaemia, vitamin A deficiency, stunted PPP Research Reactor for production of growth, malnutrition, intestinal obstruction Nuclear Medicines. and impaired development. • This project will be a major step towards • Mycetoma is a chronic, progressively making India self-reliant in key radio destructive inflammatory skin disease isotopes, to increase availability of effective which usually affects the lower limbs. and affordable treatments for cancer Infection is thought to be caused by the Analysis inoculation, through a thorn prick or skin • Radioactive isotopes, or radioisotopes, are damage, of fungi or bacteria into the species of chemical elements that are subcutaneous tissue. produced through the natural decay of WHO issues new 10-year plan to end atoms. suffering from neglected tropical diseases • Exposure to radiation generally is • The overarching 2030 global targets are: considered harmful to the human body, but o reduce by 90% the number of people radioisotopes are highly valuable in requiring treatment for NTDs medicine, particularly in the diagnosis and o at least 100 countries to have treatment of disease. eliminated at least one NTD o Radioisotopes typically have short o eradicate two diseases (dracunculiasis half-lives and typically decay before and yaws)

their emitted radioactivity can cause of artificial radioisotopes in the first damage to the patient’s body. decades of the 1900s. • Nuclear medicine uses radioactive isotopes o Artificial radioisotopes are produced in a variety of ways. One of the more from stable elements that are common uses is as a tracer in which a bombarded with neutrons. radioisotope, such as technetium-99m, is • A radioisotope used for diagnosis must emit taken orally or is injected or is inhaled into gamma rays of sufficient energy to escape the body. from the body and it must have a half-life o The radioisotope then circulates short enough for it to decay away soon through the body or is taken up only after imaging is completed. by certain tissues. • The radioisotope most widely used in o Its distribution can be tracked medicine is Tc-99, employed in some 80% according to the radiation it gives off. of all nuclear medicine procedures. o The emitted radiation can be captured o It is an isotope of the artificially- by various imaging techniques. produced element technetium and it o Through such imaging, physicians are has almost ideal characteristics for a able to examine blood flow to specific nuclear medicine scan. organs and assess organ function or Sterilisation bone growth. • Many medical products today are sterilised • Therapeutic applications of radioisotopes by gamma rays from a Co-60 source, a typically are intended to destroy the technique which generally is much cheaper targeted cells such as those of cancer. and more effective than steam heat o In radiation therapy for cancer, the sterilisation. patient’s tumor is bombarded with • The disposable syringe is an example of a ionizing radiation, typically in the form product sterilised by gamma rays. of beams of subatomic particles, such • Because it is a 'cold' process radiation can as protons, neutrons, or alpha or beta be used to sterilise a range of heat- particles, which introduces breaks in sensitive items such as powders, the double-stranded DNA molecule, ointments, and solutions, as well causing the cancer cells to die and as biological preparations such as bone, thereby preventing their replication. nerve, and skin to be used in tissue grafts. o While radiotherapy is associated with • Sterilisation by radiation has several unpleasant side effects, it generally is benefits. effective in slowing cancer progression o It is safer and cheaper because it can or, in some cases, even prompting be done after the item is packaged. the regression of malignant o The sterile shelf-life of the item is then disease. practically indefinite provided the seal • The use of radioisotopes in the fields of is not broken. nuclear medicine and radiotherapy has Nuclear medicine vs X-rays advanced significantly since the discovery

• Positioning of the radiation source within (rather than external to) the body is the fundamental difference between nuclear medicine imaging and other imaging techniques such as X-rays. • A distinct advantage of nuclear imaging over X-ray techniques is that both bone and soft tissue can be imaged very successfully.

Schemes, Policies, • Based on the learning during first year, provisions for feeder level solarisation are Initiatives, Awards and being included in the scheme. Social Issues • Convergence of Scheme with Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PM-KSY) 1. Pradhan Mantri KisanUrja Suraksha and Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has evamUtthanMahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) also been provided for. Scheme (PIB) • For ease of availability of finance the • Context: The Ministry of New and Reserve Bank of India included the three Renewable Energy has issued an order for components of the Scheme under Priority the scale-up and expansion of the Pradhan Sector Lending Guidelines. Mantri KisanUrja Suraksha • In November, 2020, MNRE evamUtthanMahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) amended/clarified implementation Scheme. Guidelines of Pradhan Mantri KisanUrja Analysis Suraksha evamUtthaanMahabhiyaan (PM- • The target now is to achieve enhanced KUSUM) Scheme based on the learnings solar capacity of 30.8 gigawatt (GW) by from the implementation of the Scheme 2022. during the first year. o The scheme had aimed to add a solar • Scope of scheme has been increased by capacity of 25,750 MW (25.75 GW) by including pasturelands and marshy lands 2022. owned farmers. • The scheme aims providing financial and • Size of solar plant has been reduced so water security to farmers. that small farmers can participate and • The scheme now consists of three completion period increased from nine to components. twelve months. o The first is 10,000 MW of • Further, penalty for shortfall in generation decentralised ground mounted grid removed for ease of implementation by connected renewable power plants up farmers. to 2 MW. • As per the same MNRE order, Central o The second is installation of 20 lakh Financial Allowance (CFA) will be allowed (up from 17.50 lakh) stand-alone solar for solar pumps to be set up and used by powered agriculture pumps. Water User Associations (WUAs)/Farmer o The third component is solarisation of Producer Organisations (FPOs)/Primary 15 lakh (up from 10 lakh) grid- Agriculture Credit Societies (PACSs) or for connected solar powered agriculture cluster-based irrigation system along with pumps. individual farmers. • Due to COVID-19 the implementation was Other Measures to increase Solar Energy slow during first half of the year, however, Generation progress picked-up from August 2020 onwards.

• Announcement of a target of installing 100 • Solar pumps convert solar energy into GW of solar energy capacity by December, electricity and fed to a pump that circulates 2022. water. • Waiver of Inter State Transmission System • There are two main types of solar pumps: (ISTS) charges and losses for inter-state o Surface pumps to move water sale of solar power for projects to be through pipes. commissioned up to December, 2022. o Submersible solar water pumps are • Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) used to move water from inside wells up to 100 percent under the automatic to the surface. route. Solar Pumps vs. Wind Pumps • Notification of standard bidding guidelines • Solar pumps have some distinct to enable distribution licensees to procure advantages over wind pumps: solar and wind power at competitive rates o Solar-power systems collect energy in cost effective and transparent manner. even when it's cloudy outside, while • Declaration of trajectory for Renewable wind systems rely on gusty conditions Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to year for peak efficiency. 2022. o Solar-power systems also often cost • Implementation of Green Energy Corridor less than wind systems, and are less project to facilitate grid integration of large- expensive to maintain. scale renewable energy capacity addition. o Solar systems are also more mobile India Solar Cities Programme than wind systems. • Solar City aims at minimum 10% reduction • When sunlight falls on the solar panels it in projected demand of conventional energy produces direct current (DC) which then at the end of five years, through a feeds the motor to pump out the water. combination of enhancing supply from Difference between AC and DC current renewable energy sources in the city and • In direct current (DC), the electric charge energy efficiency measures. (current) only flows in one direction. • At least one city in each State to a Electric charge in alternating maximum of seven cities in a State may be current (AC), on the other hand, changes supported by the Ministry. direction periodically. • The cities may have population between • We tend to get less losses to resistance 0.5 to 50 lakh. when distributing AC over long distances. SuryamitraProgramme • We can use thinner wires for AC which • The Suryamitra Skill Development means they’re cheaper to make and Programme is designed with the objective suspend. to develop skilled and employable • Sector wise details of Installed Capacity workforce (Suryamitras) catering to the from renewables excluding large hydro needs of Solar PV industries. above 25 MW is as follows: Solar Pumps Sector Installed capacity

• UMANG, a mobile app (Android, iOS and (GW) KaiOS), is a unified platform aggregating Solar Power 36.32 major govt services (center, state and local bodies); the app is integrated with Aadhaar, Wind Power 38.26 DigiLocker, Payment Gateway etc. • Open Forge, a software repository and Bio Energy 10.31 collaborative platform for software developers for managing project lifecycle. Small Hydro 4.74 • India’s first global summit on Artificial Wind Solar Hybrid 0 Intelligence (AI), RAISE 2020. • Digital Skilling initiative launched by Round the Clock 0 MeitY and NASSCOM in emerging (RTC) Power technologies; the initiative aims to cover 7

lakh IT professionals in the next 5 years. • Electronic Transaction Aggregation & 2. Major e-Governance Programmes (PIB) Analysis Layer (eTaal) dashboard (iOS • Major e-Governance programmes and and Android app available) for aggregated activities undertaken by MeitY (Ministry of view of online transactions through e- Electronics & IT) during 2020, including the Governance projects across Central, State support given during the pandemic, are as and Local level. follows: • Jeevan Pramaan, a biometric-enabled • AarogyaSetu, contact tracing app, for digital service for pensioners to submit their predicting potential COVID-19 hotspots. Digital Life Certificates (DLC) online, • MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of processed 4.31 crore DLCs till November the Government of India, and UN Women, 2020. held the COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge

to encourage and involve women-led start-

ups to develop innovative solutions to fight 3. 1000 Springs Initiative (PIB) against Corona virus. • Springs are natural sources of groundwater • DigiLocker, the digital platform for discharge and have been used extensively issuance and verification of documents in the mountainous regions across the issued by Government and private world, including India. departments. • However, in the central and eastern Indian • National Center of Geo-Informatics belt with more than 75% tribal population, it (NCoG) is a Geographic Information remains largely unrecognized and under- System (GIS) based decision support utilized. system platform, under National e- • The '1000 Springs Initiative' by the Governance Division (NeGD). It geo- Ministry of Tribal Affairs and United Nations enables e-Governance to facilitate location Development Programme aims to harness based information for all. the potential of perennial springs to meet

the water needs of the remote tribal Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) communities. • EESL is a joint venture of four national • Under this initiative, young tribal youths Public-Sector Undertakings – NTPC from the rural belt of three districts of Limited, Power Finance Corporation Odisha namely, Kalahandi, Khandamal Limited, Rural Electrification Corporation and Gajapati have been trained as Limited and POWERGRID Corporation of barefoot hydro geologists by combining India Limited – under the Ministry of traditional and scientific knowledge for Power. identification and mapping of springs, and • EESL also leads the market-related undertaking rejuvenation and protection activities of the National Mission for measures in their habitations. Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), one of the eight national missions under the 4. UJALA and SLNP complete six years National Action Plan on Climate Change. (PIB) • The company’s energy service model • Launched in January 2015, the combines cost reduction achieved by Government of India’s zero subsidy Unnat demand aggregation and economies of Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scale, which in turn have stimulated India’s and Street Lighting National Programme private energy efficiency investments and (SLNP) marks their sixth anniversary large-scale manufacturing. recently. • EESL focuses on solution-driven innovation • Both the programmes are being with no subsidy or capital expenditure implemented by Energy Efficiency (CAPEX). Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture • It is able to do so using its Pay-As-You- of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, since Save (PAYS) model, which obviates the their inception. need for any upfront capital investment by • Under UJALA, EESL has distributed over the consumer. 36.69 crore LED bulbs across India. • The entire investment by EESL is o This has resulted in energy savings, recovered through monetised energy reduction in peak demand and savings over a scheduled project period. decreased GHG emissions. • Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) • Additionally, over 72 lakh LED tube lights is a Super-Energy Service Company and over 23 lakh energy efficient fans (ESCO). have also been distributed at affordable • EESL is implementing the world’s largest price under this programme. non-subsidised energy efficiency • With SLNP, EESL has installed about 1.14 portfolio across sectors like lighting, crore LED streetlights across India. buildings, e-mobility, smart metering and o This has resulted in energy savings, agriculture at a scale which no organization reduced peak demand, GHG emission has been able to achieve. reduction and monetary savings in • Objectives electricity bills of municipalities.

o To carry out and promote the business • The PravasiBharatiya Samman Award is of Energy Efficiency and climate the highest honourconferred on a Non- change including manufacture and Resident Indian, Person of Indian Origin; supply of energy efficiency services or an organisation or institution and products. established and run by Non-Resident o To Provide consultancy services in the Indians or Persons of Indian Origin, who field of Clean Development have made significant contribution in better Mechanism (CDM) projects, carbon understanding of India abroad, support markets, demand side management, India’s causes and concerns in a tangible energy efficiency, climate change and way, community work abroad, welfare of related areas. local Indian community, philanthropic and o To act as resource center in the field charitable work, etc. of Energy Efficiency and take up the Bharat Ko Janiye Quiz activities of Capacity Building, Training • Bharat ko Janiye Quiz was launched in and other related activities. order to strengthen the engagement with young overseas Indians and encourage 5. PM to Inaugurate PravasiBharatiya Divas them to know more about their country of Convention 2021 (PIB) origin. • PravasiBharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention • The first edition of the online “Bharat ko is the flagship event of the Ministry of Janiye” Quiz was organized for young External Affairs and provides an important overseas Indians and foreigners of 18-35 platform to engage and connect with the years of age in 2015-16. overseas Indians. • The 16th PBD Convention is being held 6. Year End Review- 2020: Ministry of Virtually on 9 January, 2021 in New Delhi. Labour and Employment (PIB) • The theme of 16th PBD Convention 2021 is Official Logo of Labour Bureau was “Contributing to Aatmanirbhar Bharat”. unveiled PravasiBharatiya Divas • The newly launched logo represents that • It is celebrated once in every two years to Labour Bureau is a data-based strengthen the engagement of the overseas organization dealing in data related to Indian community with the Government of workers and work. India. • The logo also represents the three goals • January 9 was chosen as the day to that Labour Bureau strives to achieve in celebrate this occasion since it was on producing quality data i.e. Accuracy, this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the Validity and Reliability. greatest Pravasi, returned to India from • Blue wheel is a cog wheel representing South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle work, choice of blue colour signifies that we and changed the lives of Indians forever. deal with blue collar workers. PravasiBharatiya Samman Award

• The graph is not going up words alone as in by the Ministry of Labour& Employment, real world data has ups & downs because it has been designed to incentivise employers captures ground reality. for generation of new employment, where • A tricolored Graph, matching the colours of Government of India will be paying the full the National flag, along with wheat ears, employer's contribution towards EPF & signifying the fruit of rural agricultural EPS both w.e.f 01.04.2018 (earlier benefit labour, have been beautifully placed in the was applicable for employer's contribution logo. towards EPS only) for the new All India surveys employment. • Labour Bureau has been entrusted with the • Women are allowed to work in mines task of conducting the following four “All under Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan India” surveys: Yojana. o All India Survey on Migrant workers, o All India Survey on Domestic workers, 7. Year End Review- 2020: Ministry of Youth o All India Survey on employment Affairs and Sports generated by Professionals, and Indigenous Sports Disciplines in Khelo o All India Survey on employment India Youth Games (KIYG) generated in the non-formal transport • The 4th Edition of Khelo India Youth sector. Games is planned to be conducted in Haryana in 2021. • It has been decided to include 5 Indigenous Sports Disciplines in Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) Haryana, 2021 • The 5 Indigenous Sports Disciplines in KIYG-2021 are: o Kalaripayattu o Gatkha o Thang-Ta National Career Service Project-(NCS) o Maalkhamb • The Ministry is implementing the National o Yogasana Career Service (NCS) Project as a Mission • For details, refer to 28th Dec file. Mode Project for transformation of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) National Employment Service to provide a • For details, refer to 15th Sep file. variety of employment related services like 20 new disciplines are now eligible for job matching, career counselling, vocational Government jobs under sports quota guidance, information on skill development • Government has recently introduced 20 courses, apprenticeship, internships etc. new disciplines for Central Government Pradhan Mantri RojgarProtsahan Yojana jobs under the sports quota. (PMRPY) • The list of sports which qualify for • The Pradhan Mantri RojgarProtsahan appointment of meritorious sportspersons Yojana (PMRPY) Plan Scheme, launched

in Central Government offices has now thus • The major highlights of the Ministry of been revised from 43 to 63. Panchayati Raj during the year 2020 are as • The revised list, issued by the DoPT, follows: includes 20 new disciplines: Baseball, Body SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Building (was included as part of Mapping with Improvised Technology in Gymnastics previously), Cycling Polo, Deaf Village Areas) Sports, Fencing, Kudo, Mallakhamb, • The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has Motorsports, Net Ball, Para Sports launched the physical distribution of (disciplines included in Paralympics and Property Cards under the SVAMITVA Para Asian Games), PencakSilat, Roll Ball, Scheme. Rugby, SepakTakraw, Soft Tennis, • The launch will enable around one lakh Shooting Ball, Tenpin Bowling, Triathlon, property holders to download their Tug-of-war and Wushu. Property Cards through the SMS link Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National delivered on their mobile phones. Welfare Fund to Sportspersons • This would be followed by physical • Financial assistance is given under the distribution of the Property Cards by the scheme ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay respective State governments. National Welfare Fund to Sportspersons’ • SVAMITVA is a Central Sector Scheme of for following purposes: the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, which was o Assistance to sportspersons living in launched on National Panchayati Raj Day, indigent circumstances 24th April 2020. o Assistance to Families of deceased • The scheme aims to provide the ‘record of Sportspersons Assistance for Medical rights’ to village household owners in rural Treatment to sportspersons or family areas and issue Property Cards. members • The Scheme is being implemented across o Assistance for injuries sustained the country in a phased manner over a during training for and participation in period of four years (2020-2024) and would Sports competitions eventually cover around 6.62 lakh villages o Assistance for training, procurement of of the country. equipments and participation in Other features of the scheme: national and international sports o drone-based survey of rural areas by events the Survey of India; o Assistance to coaches and support o establishment of Continuous personnel Operating System (CORS) stations’ o Assistance for medical treatment to network to assist in future drone flying coaches and support personnel activities; o digital property card format. 8. Year End Review 2020- Ministry of The scheme seeks to achieve the following Panchayati Raj (PIB) objectives:

o To bring financial stability to the o However, its use in survey citizens in rural India by enabling them applications is limited because of to use their property as a financial inherent errors associated with the asset for taking loans and other GPS signals. financial benefits. • Continuously Operating Reference System o Creation of accurate land records for (CORS) is an infrastructure that can solve rural planning. the problem of accuracy and real-time o Determination of property tax, which data acquisition. would accrue to the GPs directly in • Looking at the importance and usefulness States where it is devolved or else, of the technology, the Survey of India has add to the State exchequer. started an initiative of establishing o Creation of survey infrastructure and nationwide CORS network. GIS maps that can be leveraged by • CORS Network has wide applications in any department for their use. the development of India. o To support in preparation of better- o It will help in the construction of large quality Gram Panchayat Development infrastructure projects and in Plan (GPDP) by making use of GIS generation and updation of revenue maps. maps, which is one of the major o To reduce property related disputes problems being faced by the country and legal cases today. • Survey of India (SoI) is the national o The system will also augment with the mapping agency (NMA) of the country NAVIC network along with other under the Ministry of Science & GNSS networks like GPS, Galileo and Technology. GLONASS. In future, when the NAVIC Continuously Operating Reference System system improves, dependence on (CORS) foreign satellite systems will be • CORS enables users (e.g. moving reduced, making India a self-reliant platforms) to position themselves with high- nation. precision (cm-level). o It is in great demand among industries • CORS is a GPS augmentation system that like surveying, navigation, facilities, archives and distributes GPS data construction, mining, precision corrections for precise positioning in an agriculture and scientific research that automated manner, usually over an Internet require greater positional accuracy, as connection. well as continuity of data. • Distance-dependent errors are greatly • India has launched various ambitious reduced because more than one station is missions to prepare the nation for at work to ensure correct positioning. disruptive technologies like Artificial • GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Intelligence, Machine Learning, Industry 4.0 technology has transformed how surveying and robotics. is done.

Panchayat funds to be audited online to Management System (PFMS), Special bring in transparency and accountability of Planning and Geotagging. funds utilization • This will be conducted using AuditOnline, • Panchayat funds will be audited online as an open-source application which facilitates for the first time as the Ministry of the online and offline audit of accounts to Panchayati Raj has decided to carry out an improve the transparency and online audit of 20 per cent of the estimated accountability of the utilisation of the funds. 2.5 lakh gram panchayats (GPs) across the o AuditOnline is developed as part of country for the financial year 2019-20 on a Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES) pilot basis. under e-panchayat Mission Mode o This will be scaled up to 100 per cent Project (MMP) initiated by the Ministry Panchayats across India in the next of Panchayati Raj (MoPR). financial year 2021-22. o AuditOnline: Online Audit of • For this purpose, the accounts of the Panchayat accounts panchayat for the year 2019-20 have been  As a critical Institutional reform, completed and closed in e-Gram Ministry of Panchayati Raj has SWARAJ, (Simplified Work-based launched the AuditOnline application Accounting Application for Panchayati on 15th April, 2020 for carrying out Raj), which was launched on the National online Audits of Panchayat accounts. Panchayati Raj Dayon April 24, 2020.  AuditOnline not only facilitates the o e-GramSwaraj assists in enhancing auditing of accounts but also the credibility of Panchayat through provisions for maintaining audit inducing greater devolution of funds to records that have been carried out. PRI.  One of the main unique aspect o It brings better transparency through of AuditOnline; is that it is a decentralized planning, progress completely configurable application reporting and work-based accounting. i.e. the application can be o Furthermore, the application provides modified/configured as per a platform for effective monitoring by States ‘Audit process flow, so that the higher authorities. State Auditors using the application o In this endeavour, the Ministry of can easily carry out the audit exercise Panchayati Raj has put in place an e- using AuditOnline. Financial Management System (e- • To begin with; it was decided to carry out FMS) comprising of Panchayat the audit of Panchayat accounts for Planning, Physical Progress, Financial 14th Finance Commission (XIV FC) for the Progress, and Asset Management with year 2019-20. Local Government Directory (LGD) o Accordingly, States were informed that forming the base for such a robust mandatory audit of at least 20% GPs system along with the Public Financial need to be carried out.

• Uploading photos of work done and geo- o Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima tagging projects will also allow for physical Yojana inspection. o Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima • The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been Yojana and making efforts to bring in transparency, o Mission Indradhanush. efficiency and accountability in the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (Ministry functioning of Panchayats through the use of Panchayati Raj) of Information and Communication • This Abhiyan is being undertaken for Technology (ICT). Recently, it recognised developing governance capabilities of the efforts taken by the States and UTs and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to conferred e-Panchayat Puraskars. deliver on the Sustainable Development o Himachal Pradeshsecured the first Goals (SDGs). prize under e-Panchayat Puraskar- • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. 2020. • The scheme will have both Central o This award is conferred to those states Component - National Level activities who have ensured maximum use of including "National Plan of Technical information technology for monitoring Assistance", "Mission Mode project on e- the various works of the panchayats. Panchayat", "Incentivization of Panchayats" Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (Ministry of Rural and State component - Capacity Building of Development) Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). • The campaign is undertaken under the • The Central Component will be fully funded name of "SabkaSath, Sabka Gaon, Sabka by the Government of India. However, Vikas". Centre:State funding pattern for State • The objective of the campaign is to promote Component will be 60:40 for all States, social harmony, spread awareness about except North East and Hill States where pro-poor initiatives of government, reach Centre:State funding pattern will be 90:10. out to poor households to enrol them as o For all Union Territories (UTs) (with also to obtain their feedback on various and without legislatures), the Central welfare programmes. share will be 100%. • As a part of GSA, more than 21,000 Indian • Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan extends villages with a significantly large number of to all States and UTs of the country and will poor households were able to buy LED also include institutions of rural local bulbs for a special price under UJALA government in non-Part IX areas, where programme. Panchayats do not exist. • The identified schemes are as follows. • The Scheme will be implemented during o Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana the period from 2018 to 2022. o Saubhagya • The implementation and monitoring of the o Ujala scheme activities of the scheme will broadly be o Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana aligned for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with main

thrust on Panchayats identified under o Panchayats have been mandated for Mission Antyodaya* and 115 Aspirational the preparation of Panchayat districts as identified by NITI Aayog. Development Plan (PDP) for economic o In his Budget Speech for 2017-18, the development and social justice Finance Minister announced to utilizing the resources available to undertake a Mission Antyodaya to them. bring one crore households out of o The PDP planning process has to be poverty to make 50,000 Gram comprehensive and based on Panchayats poverty free. Accordingly, participatory process which involves convergent action with Mission the full convergence with Schemes of Antyodaya has been integrated into all related Central Ministries / Line this scheme. Departments related to 29 subjects Mission Antyodaya(Ministry of Rural enlisted in the Eleventh Schedule of Development) the Constitution. • Adopted in Union Budget 2017-18, Mission • It involves conducting an annual survey on Antyodaya is a convergence and measurable outcomes at Gram Panchayat accountability framework aiming to bring level to monitor the progress in the optimum use and management of development process across rural areas. resources allocated by 27 Ministries/ • Mission Antyodaya encourages Department of the Government of India partnerships with network of professionals, under various programmes for the institutions and enterprises to further development of rural areas. accelerate the transformation of rural • In his Budget Speech for 2017-18, the livelihoods. Finance Minister announced to undertake a National Panchayat Awards 2020 Mission Antyodaya to bring one crore • The awards are given on the National households out of poverty to make 50,000 Panchayati Raj Day celebrated on Gram Panchayats poverty free. 24thApril annually. Accordingly, convergent action with Mission • National Panchayat Awards for all three Antyodaya has been integrated into tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions are Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. conferred under various categories namely, • It is envisaged as state-led initiative with DeenDayal Upadhyay Panchayat Gram Panchayats as focal points of SashaktikaranPuraskar, Nanaji convergence efforts. Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram • It is carried out coterminous with the Sabha Puraskar,Gram Panchayat People’s Plan Campaign (PPC)-Sabki Development Plan Award, Child-friendly Yojana Sabka Vikas of Ministry of Gram Panchayat Award and e-Panchayat Panchayat Raj and its purpose is to lend Puraskar. support to the process of participatory planning for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).

9. Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation • Another feather to the cap under the of the Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) India NCAVES project is the development of the Forum-2021 (PIB) India-EVL Tool (Economic • Context: NCAVES India Forum 2021 is Valuation Tool) which is essentially a look- being organised by the Ministry of Statistics up tool giving a snapshot of the values of and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). various ecosystem services in the different Analysis States of the country, based on about 80 • The NCAVES Project, funded by EU, has studies conducted across the country. been jointly implemented by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the 10. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi United Nations Environment Programme (PM-KISAN) (PIB) (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the • Context: PM-KISAN payments worth Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). ₹1,364 crore have been wrongly made to • India is one of the five countries taking more than 20 lakh ineligible beneficiaries part in this project - the other countries and income tax payer farmers, according to being Brazil, China, South Africa and information provided by the Agriculture Mexico. Ministry in response to an RTI request. • In India, the NCAVES project is being Analysis implemented by the MoSPI in close • PM-KISAN is the Centre’s flagship scheme collaboration with the Ministry of to provide income support worth ₹6,000 a Environment, Forest and Climate Change year to farming families. (MoEF&CC) and the National Remote • When it was launched just before the Sensing Centre (NRSC). general election in 2019, it was meant to • The participation in the project has helped cover only small and marginal farmers who MOSPI commence the compilation of the owned less than two hectares. Later that Environment Accounts as per the UN- year, large farmers were included in the SEEA framework and release scheme as the government removed the environmental accounts in its publication land size criterion. “EnviStats India” on an annual basis Benefits and Eligibility conditions since 2018. • It isa Central Sector Scheme and is being o The System of Environmental implemented by the Ministry of Economic Accounting (SEEA) is a Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. statistical system that brings together • All land holding eligible farmer families economic and environmental (subject to the prevalent exclusion criteria) information into a common framework are to avail of the benefits under this to measure the condition of the scheme. environment, the contribution of the o The Scheme initially provided income environment to the economy and the support to all Small and Marginal impact of the economy on the Farmers’ families across the country, environment.

holding cultivable land upto 2  All serving or retired officers and hectares. employees of Central/ State o Its ambit was later expanded to cover Government Ministries all farmer families in the country /Offices/Departments and its field units irrespective of the size of their land Central or State PSEs and Attached holdings, subject to an exclusion offices /Autonomous Institutions under criteria. Government as well as regular • The amount, 6,000 rupees per annum per employees of the Local family, is being released in three 4-monthly Bodies (Excluding Multi-Tasking Staff instalments of Rs.2000/- each over the /Class IV/Group D employees) year, to be credited into the bank accounts  All superannuated/retired pensioners of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit whose monthly pension is Rs.10,000/- Transfer mode. or more (Excluding Multi-Tasking Staff • The Scheme is expected to cover around / Class IV/Group D employees) of 14.5 crore beneficiaries. above category • Special provisions have been made for the  All Persons who paid Income Tax in North-Eastern States where land ownership last assessment year rights are community based, Forest  Professionals like Doctors, Engineers, Dwellers and Jharkhand, which does not Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, and have updated land records and restrictions Architects registered with Professional on transfer of land. bodies and carrying out profession by Exclusion Categories undertaking practices. • The following categories of beneficiaries of • Responsibility of identifying the landholder higher economic status shall not be eligible farmer family eligible for benefit under the for benefit under the scheme: scheme shall be of the State/UT o All Institutional Land holders. Government. o Farmer families in which one or more of its members belong to following 11. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) (PIB) categories: • Context: Atal Innovation Mission,  Former and present holders of NITI Aayog today (12th Jan 2021) launched constitutional posts its new edition of Atal Tinkering Lab  Former and present Ministers/ State handbook which reinforces detailed Ministers and former/present Members establishment and operational processes of of LokSabha/ RajyaSabha/ State the Atal Tinkering Labs and its journey Legislative Assemblies/ State towards an innovative ‘Aatmanirbhar Legislative Councils,former and Bharat’. present Mayors of Municipal • The publication coincides with the birth Corporations, former and present anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, also Chairpersons of District Panchayats. celebrated as the National Youth Day (12th January) to honor the birthday of

Swami Vivekananda who voiced the • ARISE-To stimulate innovation and important role that youth play in the building research in the MSME industry. up of a strong nation throughout his life. Brief on activities carried out under Atal Innovation Mission Atal Tinkering Laboratories Analysis • With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million • The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a children in India as Neoteric flagship initiative set up by the NITI Innovators’,NITI Aayog under the Atal Aayog to promote innovation and Innovation Mission is establishing Atal entrepreneurship across the country at Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools school, university, research institutions, across India. MSME and industry levels. • Young children will get a chance to work • Partnering with the Ministries of Road with tools and equipment to understand the Transport and Highways, Housing and concepts of STEM (Science, Technology, Urban Affairs, Agriculture and Family Engineering and Math). Welfare, Drinking Water & Sanitation • The objective of this scheme is to: and the Railway Board, AIM will attempt o foster curiosity, creativity and to harness the potential of India’s imagination in young minds; and innovators. o inculcate skills such as design Implementation framework mindset, computational thinking, • AIM has multiple programs to encourage adaptive learning, physical computing and support innovation in the country. etc. • Atal Tinkering Labs-Creating problem • Till date, 2441 schools have been selected solving mindset across schools in India. across the country to establish ATL. • Atal Incubation Centers-Fostering world • ATL would contain educational and class startups and adding a new dimension learning ‘do it yourself’ kits and equipment to the incubator model. on – science, electronics, robotics,open • Atal New India Challenges-Fostering source microcontroller boards, sensors product innovations and aligning them to and 3D printers and computers. the needs of various sectors/ministeries. • Other desirable facilities include meeting • Mentor India Campaign- A national rooms and video conferencing facility. Mentor network in collaboration with public Eligibility sector, corporates and institutions, to • Schools (minimum Grade VI - X) managed support all the intiatives of the mission. by Government, local body or private • Atal Community Innovation Center- To trusts/society to set up ATL. stimulate community centric innovation and Atal Incubators ideas in the unserved /underserved regions • It aims at promoting entrepreneurship in of the country including Tier 2 and Tier 3 universities and industry. cities. • At the university, NGO, SME and Corporate industry levels, AIM is setting up world-

class Atal Incubators (AICs) that would in which innovators are unable to trigger and enable successful growth of access resources for piloting, testing, sustainable startups in every sector/state of and market creation. the country, addressing both commercial • The successful applicants will get a grant of and social entrepreneurship opportunities upto Rs 1 crore for Atal New India in India and applicable globally. Challenges and larger grants of upto Rs 30 • AIM is also providing scale up support to crores for Atal Grand Challenges. existing incubators for scaling up their • The vision of ANIC is two-fold: operations. o help create products from existing • AIM will provide a grant-in-aid of upto Rs. technologies relevant for national and 10 crore for a maximum period of 5 years social causes (productization); to cover the capital and operational o help new deep-tech products find expenditures to establish the AIC. markets and early customers Requirements (commercialization) in the context of • The applicant would have to provide at India. least 10,000 sq. ft. of ready-to-use, built-up • The programme is open to Indian space, for the exclusive use of the AIC. companies registered under the Atal New India Challenges and Atal Grand Companies Act 1956/2013, primarily a Challenges Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises • These are to promote technology driven (MSME) as defined in the MSMED Act, innovations and product creation for social 2006. and commercial impact. • It is also open to: • Atal New India Challenges/Atal Grand o Start-Ups, as defined by the Challenges are being launched in specific Department of Industrial Policy and areas and sectors of national importance - Promotion (DIPP), such as Renewable Energies, Energy o Government or private R&D Storage, Climate-smart precision organizations (other than a Railway agriculture, Universal drinking water, R&D organization), Swaach Bharat, Transportation, Education, o academic institutions, Healthcare using Robotic, IOT o academicians, or even individual technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Block- innovators are encouraged to apply, chain, Augmented and Virtual reality, provided they partner with entities with Battery Technologies etc. appropriate manufacturing • Researchers have long talked of the capabilities. ‘Valleys of Death’ at the early stage and Atal Innovation Mission launches 'AIM- commercialization stage in taking iCREST' innovations to market. • In a major initiative to encourage and o The Atal New India Challenge aims to enable holistic progress in the incubator address the second ecosystem across the country, NITI Commercialization Valley of Death, Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM),

has launched AIM iCREST – an Incubator • The objectives of the award scheme are: Capabilities enhancement program for a o 1) To inculcate a culture of ongoing Robust Ecosystem focused on creating assessment and peer review of high performing Startups. performance related to hygiene, o A startup incubator is a collaborative sanitation and infection control. program designed to help o 2) To incentivize and recognize public new startups succeed. The sole healthcare facilities that show purpose of a startup incubator is to exemplary performance in adhering to help entrepreneurs grow their standard protocols of cleanliness, business. infection control and sanitation, • This is a first of its kind initiative for o 3) To create and share sustainable advancing innovation at scale in India. practices related to improving • AIM has joined hands with Bill & Melinda cleanliness in public health facilities Gates Foundation and Wadhwani which lead to positive health Foundation - organizations that can lend outcomes. credible support and expertise in the entrepreneurship and innovation space. Swachh SwasthSarvatra • Encouraged by the success of Kayakalp 12. Kayakalp Award (PIB) initiative, MoHFW had collaborated with • Government of India launched a National Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation Initiative ‘Kayakalp’ on 15th May 2015 as (Jal Shakti Mantralaya is formed by an extension of 'Swachh Bharat Mission' integrating the Ministry of Water to ensure hygiene, sanitation and Resources, River Development and Ganga cleanliness in Public Health Facilities in Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking India. Water and Sanitation) and launched an • Initiated from District hospitals in 2015, the integrated scheme under Swachh Bharat scheme expanded to PHC level (2016) and Mission named as "Swachh then covered all Urban Health Facilities by SwasthSarvatra" in December 2016. 2017. • The aim of this scheme is to strengthen • Those District Hospitals, Sub-divisional Community Health Centres in open hospitals, Community Health Centres, defecation free (ODF) blocks across the Primary Health Centres and Health & country along with behavioural change to Wellness Centres in public healthcare enable them achieve higher levels of system who have achieved high level of cleanliness and hygiene with the goal of cleanliness, hygiene and infection control making India free of open defecation. were recognised and felicitated with award. • Three broad objectives of this scheme are: o For the holistic and comprehensive o 1. Enabling Gram Panchayat where improvement across the health sector, Kayakalp awarded PHCs are located the Kayakalp scheme was extended to to become ODF. private sector health facilities.

o 2. Strengthening Community Health losses are also covered due to perils such Centre (CHC) in ODF blocks to as inundation, cloudburst and natural fire. achieve higher level of cleanliness to • Integration of land records with the PMFBY meet Kayakalp standards through a portal, Crop Insurance mobile-app for easy support of Rs 10 Lakh under NHM. enrollment of farmers and usage of o 3. Build capacity through training in technology such as satellite imagery, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene remote-sensing technology, drones, (WASH) of nominees from covered artificial intelligence and machine learning PHC and CHC. to assess crop losses are some of the key • Highlighting the fact that the success features of the scheme. stories of Kayakalp are not limited to India. • The scheme makes it easier for the farmer o It has also been internationally to report crop loss within 72 hours of applauded during 72nd World Health occurrence of any event through the Crop Assembly, held on 20-28th May 2019. Insurance App, CSC Centre or the nearest o The success of Kayakalp is duly agriculture officer. recognized in Global Baseline Report • As an endeavor to constantly bring about 2019 published by WHO, UNICEF and improvements, the scheme was made JMP.” voluntary for all farmers, post its revamp in 13. Pradhan Mantri FasalBimaYajana February 2020. (PMFBY)(PIB) • Further the States have also been provided • Context: Crop Insurance Scheme - The flexibility to rationalize the sum insured so Pradhan Mantri FasalBimaYajana that adequate benefit can be availed by (PMFBY) successfully completes 5 Years farmers. of operations on 13th January 2021. Analysis 14. Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) • Premium cost over and above the farmer (PIB) share is equally subsidized by States and • Context: Renowned physiologist and GoI. sports science expert Dr. Genadijus o However, GoI shares 90% of the Sokolovas will be visiting the National premium subsidy for North Eastern Swimming camp being conducted at CSE States to promote the uptake in the Bangalore between January 11 and region. February 21 this year for a period of 6 • As an end to end risk mitigation mechanism days. for farmers, the scheme extends coverage • The overall cost of Dr. Sokolovas’ visit will for the entire cropping cycle from pre- be covered by the Target Olympic Podium sowing to post-harvest including coverage Scheme. for losses arising out of prevented sowing Analysis and mid-season adversities. • In order to improve India’s performance at • Individual farm level losses arising out of Olympics and Paralympics, the Ministry of localized calamities and post-harvest Youth Affairs and Sports started the Target

Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in • Full immunization against preventable September 2014; revamped in April 2018. childhood diseases is the right of every • The scheme has been extending all child. requisite support to probable athletes (not • With a view to provide this right to every all athletes) identified for the Tokyo-2021, child, the Government of India launched the Paris-2024 and Los Angles-2028 Olympic Universal Immunization Program (UIP) Games and Paralympic Games including in 1985. foreign training, monthly stipend etc. • India's Universal Immunisation Programme • High priority category of sports (U.I.P.) is one of the largest in the world in discipline has been identified to put focus terms of: on and incentivize those sports disciplines o quantities of vaccine used, played in the Olympics in which India has o the number of beneficiaries, won medals in the last conducted Asian o the number of Immunisation session Games as well as Commonwealth Games organised, or in which India has good chance of o the geographical spread and diversity winning medals in the upcoming Olympics of areas covered. of 2024 (Paris) and 2028 (Los Angeles). • The UIP provides free of cost vaccines to • Presently, nine sports disciplines viz., (i) all children across the country to protect Athletics, (ii) Badminton (iii) Hockey (iv) them against 12 life threatening diseases. Shooting (v) Tennis (vi) Weightlifting (vii) • These twelve vaccine preventable Wrestling, (viii) Archery and (ix) Boxing diseases are Tuberculosis, Pertussis, have been categorised as ‘High Priority’. Diphtheria, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, Polio, • Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Pneumonia and Meningitis due to covers the junior and sub-junior athletes Haemophilus Influenzae type b (Hib), also. Measles, Rubella, Rotavirus diarrhoea and Japanese Encephalitis (JE). 15. Polio immunisation drive postponed o Rubella, JE and Rotavirus vaccine are (TH) given in select states and districts. • Context: The Union Health Ministry has • Despite being operational for over 30 postponed the polio immunisation drive years, UIP has been able to fully immunize scheduled from January 17 till further only 65% children in the first year of their notice, citing unforeseen activities. life and the increase in coverage was • While the COVID-19 vaccination starts on stagnated in the past 5 years (before 2014) January 16, the National Immunisation Day to an average of 1% every year. (NID), commonly known as Pulse Polio Mission Indradhanush Immunisation programme, was scheduled • To accelerate the process of immunization for January 17 across India. by covering 5% and more children every Analysis year, Indradhanush mission was adopted. Universal Immunization Program (UIP) • Mission Indradhanush aims to ensure that at least 90% of the children under the age

of two years and pregnant women, who are likely to contract common illnesses like either unvaccinated, or are partially measles than children without a deficiency. vaccinated against vaccine preventable o Children with VAD are also more likely diseases, are fully immunized with all to die from respiratory and diarrheal available vaccines by 2020. diseases. • Mission Indradhanush does not target to o Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), affecting reduce post-natal death rate but targets to one-third of children in the world under reduce diseases and death due to vaccine age 5, is the leading cause of preventable diseases. childhood blindness. Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) o Golden rice is a variety of rice • It is a supplemental aggressive action plan produced through genetic engineering to cover all left outs and drop outs in select to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a districts and urban areas with low routine precursor of vitamin A. immunization coverage to achieve the o Golden Rice is a textbook example target of more than 90% coverage in a of biofortification, genetically specific time-frame (December 2018). engineered to contain high levels of • Mission Indradhanush is under the the vitamin A precursor beta-carotene. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. • Rubella is a mild viral infection that Measles-Rubella Vaccination Campaign occurs most often in children and young India adults. • Measles and Rubella are highly • Infection with Rubella may be associated contagious viral diseases that are spread with swelling of lymph nodes and joint by contact with an infected person through pain. coughing and sneezing. • Rubella infection during pregnancy can • Measles weakens the immune system of cause abortion, stillbirth and may lead to the body. multiple birth defects in the new born; like o Hence infection with Measles often blindness, deafness, heart defects; known leads to serious complications that as Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS). include blindness, encephalitis, severe • India accounts for around one third of all diarrhoea and severe respiratory children born worldwide with congenital infections such as pneumonia. rubella syndrome (CRS). o Most measles-related deaths are • No specific treatment is available for caused by complications measles and rubella but these diseases associated with the disease. can easily be prevented by vaccination. • Children below five years are prone to the • India, along with ten other WHO South East infection and one-third of all measles- Asia Region member countries, have related deaths worldwide occur in India. resolved to eliminate measles and • Vitamin A is key to immune system control rubella/congenital rubella function, and children with VAD are more syndrome (CRS) by 2020.

• In this direction, Ministry of Health & Family Why is inactivated polio virus vaccine (IPV) Welfare has initiated measles-rubella (MR) now been introduced when India has vaccination campaign in the age group of 9 already eradicated polio? months to less than 15 years in a phased • Although India has been declared polio manner across the nation. free, wild poliovirus is still present in • The purpose of the Measles-Rubella neighbouring countries such as campaign is to protect children and Afghanistan and Pakistan. eliminate transmission of Measles and • The poliovirus can be imported by travellers Rubella from the community by across countries. vaccinating 100% target children with • Till such time as the poliovirus is not MR vaccine. eradicated from all the countries of the • The conduct of Measles-Rubella world, the threat of re-emergence and re- vaccination campaigns was an important infection of polio remains. factor in achieving measles elimination in • This is an important step towards global; the Western Hemisphere (2002), and the eradication of polio which is being elimination of indigenous rubella in 2009. implemented in all countries. • The campaign dose will be administered to • 2014: No Wild Polio virus case was all children falling between the age group of reported from the country for the last three 9 months to less than 15 years of age, years and India had a historic achievement irrespective of any past history of disease and was certified as “polio free country” or vaccination. along with other South East Asia Region • India has already beaten smallpox, polio, (SEAR) countries of WHO. maternal and neonatal tetanus and, very recently, yaws. 16. Phase-II of “Grid Connected Rooftop o India was the first country in the and Small Solar Power Plants Programme” world to become YAWS-free. (PIB) o This accomplishment is significant as • Context: To generate solar power by India has achieved the milestone of installing solar panels on the roof of the being YAWS-free much before the houses, Ministry of New and Renewable WHO global target year of 2020. Energy is implementing Grid-connected o YAWS is a kind of bacterial infection Rooftop Solar Scheme (Phase-II). that affects skin, bones and joints. • Under this scheme Ministry is providing • Elimination of measles will contribute to 40% subsidy for the first 3 kW and 20% achieving Sustainable Development subsidy beyond 3 kW and upto 10 kW. Goal’s target 3.2 which, among others, • The scheme is being implemented in the aims to end preventable deaths of states by local Electricity Distribution newborns and children under five years Companies (DISCOMs). of age by 2030. • It has been brought to the notice of the Ministry that some rooftop solar companies / vendors are setting up rooftop solar plants

by claiming that they are authorized concern Distribution utilities/companies vendors by the Ministry. (DISCOMS). • It is clarified that no vendor has been • The Solar power so generated can then be authorized by the Ministry. This scheme is used either for captive consumption of the being implemented in the state only by premises or can be fed into the grid and be DISCOMs. adjusted in the electricity bill. o The DISCOMs have empaneled • Net-metering regulations notified by vendors through bidding process and respective State Electricity Regulatory have decided rates for setting up a Commissions (SERCs) provide a legal rooftop solar plant. framework for such adjustment. • Domestic consumers are informed that to o Net metering allows residential and get subsidy under the scheme of the commercial customers who generate Ministry, they should install rooftop solar their own electricity from solar power plants only from the empanelled vendors of to feed electricity they do not use back the DISCOMs following due process of into the grid. approval by DISCOMs. o If the home is net-metered, the • The solar panels and other equipment to be electricity meter will run backwards to installed by the empanelled vendors also provide a credit against what electricity include 5-year maintenance of the rooftop is consumed at night or other periods solar plant by the vendor. where the home's electricity use Analysis exceeds the system's output. • As a part of Intended Nationally Determined o Customers are only billed for their Contributions (INDCs), India has committed "net" energy use. to increase the share of installed capacity o Typically, a solar power system of electric power from non-fossil-fuel produces more energy in summer and sources to 40% by 2030. comparatively less energy in winter. • Solar energy is one of the main sources to • RTS plants help DISCOMs in reducing accomplish the target of 40% of electric transmission and distribution losses as power from non-fossil-fuel. power consumption and generation are co- • Government of India has set the target of located. These Plants are also useful in achieving 100 GW of solar power capacity tackling day time peak load as solar in the country by the year 2022 of which 40 generation profile matches such peak loads GW to be achieved from rooftop solar during the day. (RTS). • The key objectives of the programme • The rooftop solar (RTS) plant is a system are: installed mainly on the roof of a building o To promote grid connected RTS in all and includes installations on open consumer segments, viz., residential, contiguous land within the area of institutional, social, Govt., commercial, premises wherein valid and live electricity industrial etc. connection has been provided by the

o To bring DISCOMs at forefront as key commercial and industrial sectors as drivers for rapid deployment of RTS. the beneficiaries in these sectors are o To create awareness, capacity high tariff paying consumers and building, human resource adoption of solar would be development, etc. economically beneficial for them even o To promote sustainable business without CFA. models. o The power generated through RTS o To create additional RTS capacity of plant would result in significant 38000 MW in the country by reduction of the electricity bill paid by 31.12.2022 out of which a capacity of them to the DISCOMs, hence making 4000 MW in residential sector with it an economically viable solution. Central Financial Assistance and o Although CFA is not admissible for 34000 MW in other sectors (i.e., non-residential sectors, the Social, Government, educational, DISCOMs will be incentivized for PSUs, Statutory /Autonomous bodies, addition of RTS capacity in these Private Commercial, Industrial Sectors sectors too. etc.) by suitably incentivizing • For subsidized projects (i.e. for residential DISCOMs. projects detailed above) only indigenously o To promote domestic manufactured PV panels (both cells and manufacturing of solar cells and modules) should be used. module. • 1 % of the amount allocated for CFA • The Scheme has two major components: sector) has been allocated under the o Component A: Setting up of 4000 programme for capacity building MW of grid connected rooftop solar /awareness activities. projects in residential sector with • The entire process of receiving proposals, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) processing them and giving approvals o Component B: Incentives to would be IT enabled except in those Electricity Distribution Companies DISCOMs where the Online Portal is not (DISCOMs) based on achievement developed. towards initial 18000 MW of grid • To address the fact that the consumer had connected rooftop solar plants. to approach multiple agencies (like State • The programmeprovides for Central Nodal Agencies (SNA’s), Solar Energy Financial Assistance (CFA) for the Corporation of India (SECI), Public Sector household owner and Group Housing Undertakings (PSUs) and other Societies to set up RTS on the rooftop of Government Agencies (GAs) etc. involved their residence/residential campus. in the earlier phase) for getting a RTS plant o Other than residential sector:CFA installed, it has been decided to implement will not be available for other the programme by making the DISCOMs categoriesi.e. institutional, and its local offices as the nodal points for educational, social, government, implementation of the RTS programme.

o Since the requisite expertise on solar Analysis energy for implementation of this • Launched in 717 districts, 28 States/eight Programme may not be available with UTs, PMKVY 3.0 marks yet another step DISCOMs, they will be at liberty to use towards ‘Atmnanirbhar Bharat’. the services of State Nodal Agencies • PMKVY 2.0 has been instrumental in (SNAs) engaged in the promotion of bolstering the skilling ecosystem and with Renewable Energy of the respective PMKVY 3.0, skill development will usher in States/UTs. a new paradigm with focus on demand- Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Vs Solar Thermal driven skill development, digital technology Systems and Industry 4.0 skills. • ‘Solar PV’ works by photons in sun’s rays • PMKVY 2.0 broadened the skill knocking off electrons in the semi- development with inclusion of Recognition conducting material in the panels and of Prior Learning (RPL) and focus on channels them through a wire—the stream training. of electrons is electricity. o With the advent of PMKVY 3.0, the • Solar PV, therefore, works best where there focus is on bridging the demand- is lot of sunlight. supply gap by promoting skill • Solar thermal systems, in contrast, suck up development in areas of new-age and sun’s heat and conduct it to where it is Industry 4.0 job roles needed – such as for drying of spices or • While the National Educational Policy puts fish or wet paint. focus on vocational training for a holistic • Production of same quantity of electricity is growth and increased employability, much cheaper by Solar thermal systems PMKVY 3.0 role will be a propagator of than by Solar PV vocational education at an early level for o One big reason for this is, in solar PV, youth to capitalize on industry-linked there is some loss in conversion of opportunities light energy into electric energy, • PMKVY 3.0 will encourage healthy whereas in solar thermal, there is no competition between states by making conversion—it is just heat all through. available increased allocation to those • For more details (what is Solar states that perform better. Photovoltaic (PV) cell), refer to 7th June • Mains Question:Skilling is not an file. objective but a necessary prerequisite for the economic growth of the country. 17. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana Comment. (150 words) (PMKVY) 3.0 (PIB) • For further details, refer to 15th Sep file. • Context: In a bid to empower India’s youth with employable skills, the Ministry of Skill 18. Year Ender 2020---Department of Development and Entrepreneurship Biotechnology (DBT) (PIB) (MSDE) today launched Pradhan Mantri • UNaTI (Undertaking Nationally Relevant Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0. Technology Innovation) Atal Jai

Anusandhan Mission has been of India has been implementing the Ind- implemented by DBT with a major focus CEPI mission ‘India Centric Epidemic on improved agriculture, affordable Preparedness through Rapid Vaccine healthcare, clean energy and cutting-edge Development: Supporting Indian frontier science. Vaccine Development’. • This mission includes GARBH-ini - A • The objectives of this mission are aligned Mission to promote Maternal and Child with the Global Initiative of Coalition of Health and develop prediction tools for pre- Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation term berth, IndCEPI - A Mission to develop (CEPI) and aims to strengthen the affordable vaccines for endemic diseases, development of vaccines and associated Development of Biofortified and Protein competencies/technologies for the diseases Rich wheat - contributing to POSHAN of epidemic potential in India. Abhiyan, Mission on Anti Microbial • Translational Health Science and Resistance for Affordable Diagnostics and Technology Institute (THSTI), an Therapeutics and Clean Energy Mission - autonomous institute of the Department Innovative Technology interventions for of Biotechnology, has now been Swachh Bharat. recognized by CEPI as one of the Global • GARBH-ini (interdisciplinary Group for Network of Laboratories for centralized Advanced Research in BirtH outcomes- assessment of COVID 19 Vaccines. DBT India Initiative) study aim to discover • The CEPI network will initially involve six molecular risk-markers and generate a risk- labs, one each in Canada, Britain, Italy, prediction algorithm for preterm birth which the Netherlands, Bangladesh and India. will facilitate timely referral and care for at- • Under the CEPI Global network the risk mothers, thus saving children’s lives Laboratory will use the same reagents and and reducing morbidity. follow a common set of protocols to o In addition to the well-known risk measure the immune response of multiple factors such as history of preterm vaccine candidates under development and birth, short Inter-pregnancy interval trial. and short cervix at 3rd trimester, some • This will greatly harmonize the Vaccine trial less reported factors such as biomass process and allow different vaccine fuel use and exposure to passive candidates to be compared and speed up smoking as risk factors of PTB the selection of the most effective have been identified. candidate. o With respect to BMI (Body-Mass Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Index) at enrolment, both underweight Innovation (CEPI) and overweight/obese women were • CEPI is an innovative global partnership found to have a higher risk of PTB. between public, private, philanthropic, and Ind-CEPI mission civil society organisations launched in • The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry Davos in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop of Science & Technology, and Government future epidemics.

• Its mission is to accelerate the development Technology, Government of India as a of vaccines against emerging infectious Public Private Partnership for convergence diseases and enable equitable access to of indigenous resources, products and these vaccines for people during outbreaks. services towards developing diagnostics, • CEPI, Gavi and the WHO have launched vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 COVAX to ensure equitable access to and beyond for self-reliance in India’s COVID-19 vaccines and end the acute biomedical capabilities. phase of the pandemic by the end of 2021. • NBRIC is a ‘A Make in India’ initiative for UNaTI Mission Clean Technologies for Biomedical research and innovative Swachh Bharat products, towards promoting import • DBT has developed various technology substitution and exports. platforms designed to convert different Unique Methods of Management and solid, liquid and gaseous wastes into treatment of Inherited Disorders (UMMID) renewable fuels, energy and useful • It is an initiative of the Department of products such as food, feed, polymers and Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and chemicals. Technology, to tackle inherited genetic • Under the UNaTI Mission, 10 promising diseases of new born babies. clean technologies have been identified for • With a very large population and high demonstration with DBT support at different birth rate, and consanguineous marriage sites across India, in collaboration with local favoured in many communities, stakeholders such as municipalities and prevalence of genetic disorders is high in other urban local bodies. India. • The identified technologies include bio- • The UMMID initiative aims methanation, constructed wetland, bio- o (i) to establish NIDAN (National toilets, chemical & membrane free water Inherited Diseases Administration) purification etc. Kendras to provide counselling, • The first five projects under this initiative prenatal testing and diagnosis, were formally launched on 01st Oct 2020, management, and multidisciplinary on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, with an aim care in Government Hospitals wherein to achieve “Swachh Bharat”. the influx of patients is more, Mission COVID Suraksha o (ii) to produce skilled clinicians in • It was announced with a provision of Rs. Human Genetics, and 900 Cr. to DBT for supporting development o (iii) to undertake screening of pregnant of a comprehensive ecosystem for enabling women and new born babies for the development of a safe, efficacious and inherited genetic diseases in hospitals affordable vaccine for COVID-19. at aspirational districts. National Biomedical Resource Pan India Genome India Indigenisation Consortium • It was initiated a pan India 20 institutions • NBRIC was constituted by the Department consortium for cataloguing the genetic of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and variation in Indian population with a goal for

whole genome sequencing and subsequent above 55 and 90°C, respectively) are well data analysis of 10,000 individuals established as inhabitants of terrestrial and representing the country’s diverse marine hydrothermal systems. population to help build an exhaustive • Hyperthermophiles grow optimally at catalogue of genetic variations in Indian temperatures between 80 and 110°C. Only population, and to aid in the design of a represented by bacterial and archaeal genome wide association chip for Indian species, these organisms have been population. isolated from all types of terrestrial and Mission mode programme on “Minor marine hot environments, including natural Oilseeds of India Origin” in various crops and man-made environments. • It was launched which is aimed at • Current theory and circumstantial evidence sequencing/re-sequencing and phenotypic suggest that hyperthermophiles were the characterization of available germplasm first life-forms to have arisen on Earth. resources of Minor Oilseeds (Sesame, • Recent studies suggest that these Linseed, Safflower and Niger) in the organisms may occupy extensive regions of country along with exotic lines from diverse the earth's crust and comprise a biomass agro climatic regions & elite lines of possibly exceeding all surface-associated International Institutes. biomass. • Mission mode programme on • Thermophiles and hyperthermophiles, as “Characterization of Genetic well as other hydrothermal microbes, Resources” in various crops was initiated exploit subseafloor thermal and chemical for sequencing/re-sequencing and gradients associated with deep-sea vents phenotypic characterization of available for growth. germplasm resources of Chickpea in • Hyperthermophilic microorganisms have country along with exotic lines from diverse also recently been isolated from oil agro climatic regions & elite lines of reservoirs in the North Sea, in the north International Institutes has been supported. slope of Alaska, and in continental Thermophilic and Hyperthermophilic reservoirs in France. Microorganisms o The lack of exogenous seawater in the • Hyperthermophile enzyme hydrolase French reservoirs, which could act as research centre (HERC) has been set up at a source of hyperthermophile IISER Mohali as a repository for contamination, suggests that these thermophilic and hyperthermophilic hyperthermophiles are native organisms and their enzymes. inhabitants of this environment as well. • This centre has cloned and produced • Furthermore, viable thermophilic bacteria several carbohydrate active enzymes which have been found in drill core samples will be evaluated for use in 2G Ethanol and collected more than 2000 m below the biorefinery applications. surface and in deep-sea marine sediments • Thermophilic and hyperthermophilic more than 500 m below the sea- floor in the microorganisms (growth at temperatures Pacific Ocean.

• Each of these reports suggests that wastewater treatment technologies has thermophiles and hyperthermophiles live been established on site at Barapullah deep below the surface, though little is drain to facilitate selection of treatment known about the microbial ecology of these combinations for optimum treatment of environments. wastewater. • Current uses and potential applications of Phytopharmaceutical Mission for North thermophilic and hyperthermophilic East Region enzymes include: research reagents, • The North East Region (NER) of India is catalysts for industrial processes like one of the 12 mega-biodiversity rich zones starch processing, paper pulp bleaching, of the world and forms a distinctive part of cellulose degradation and ethanol the Indo-Burma Hotspot that ranks 8th production etc. among the 34 biodiversity Hotspots of the Engagement with MI Community: world. • India has been actively participating in MI • The plant bioresources of the region Ministerial(s) and at the 5th Mission includes not only tropical and sub-tropical Innovation Ministerial (MI-5) held virtually biota but those of temperate and alpine on 23rd September 2020 hosted by regions due to its altitudinal gradient. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. • Taking a clue of the global trends and Mission Innovation (MI) opportunities in plant-based medicines, in • Mission Innovation (MI) is a global India, DCGI promulgated guidelines for initiative of 24 countries and the European Phytopharmaceutical drug development Commission (on behalf of the European (similar to US-FDA botanical guidance) in Union). 2015. • These 25 members have committed to • Keeping in view the above, the DBT has seek to double public investment in clean launched Phytopharmaceutical Mission in energy RD&D and are engaging with the NER with the following three major private sector, fostering international objectives: collaboration and celebrating innovators. o Captive cultivation of selected • Member countries are (as on 20th January medicinal plants of NER, which have 2021): Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, great demand to ensure supply of Chile, China, Denmark, European Union, authentic and quality botanical raw Finland, France, Germany, India, material to the user industries in the Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, country. Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, o Development of technology packages Saudi Arabia, Sweden, United Arab for production of GMP grade medicinal Emirates, United Kingdom and United plant extracts for export markets. States. o Production of safe and efficacious LOTUSHR project phytopharmaceuticals from medicinal • Under the LOTUSHR project in plants of NER for unmet medical collaboration with Netherlands, a toolbox of

needs using modern scientific tools Eureka-Global Stars India initiative and following global standards. • Eureka-Global Stars India initiative is Turmeric Mission programme mandated to cooperate in such a manner • It was launched to generate high-quality that Indian academic/research institution raw material for developing nutraceutical can collaborate with industrial partner from products / dietary supplements from Eureka member country leading to turmeric for global market as well as translation-based research. developing curcuminoids / curcumin-based • This collaboration led to launch of two joint therapeutics for various disease segments. calls with Eureka member countries in the Indian Bio resource Information Network area of one health in 2018 and Key (IBIN) Enabling Technologies for Healthcare, • It has been created to bring together all Agriculture and Water in 2020 respectively. the available database and information on EUREKA the bio-resources and biodiversity of the • EUREKA is a publicly-funded, country in one platform. intergovernmental network, involving over • The satellite telemetry tracking of Jacobin 40 countries. Cuckoo is a part of IBIN project in • EUREKA’s aim is to enhance European collaboration with Wildlife Institute of India competitiveness by fostering innovation- to monitor the changes in Indian monsoon driven entrepreneurship in Europe, patterns and could help in planning the between small and large industry, research conservation and climate monitoring institutes and universities. programmes. • It is a leading open platform for Biotech-KISAN international cooperation in innovation. • It has created a platform in each of 15 agro- • It remains to this day the only initiative of its climatic zones of the country, which aims to kind committed to the ‘bottom-up’ principle - connect farmers and scientists to promote ensuring that any R&D project with a good Agriculture Innovation and take the new business plan receives the support it interventions to the farmers and farms. deserves, independent of its technological • Biotech-KISAN Hubs have been nature, or the type of organisations established at pilot-scale level in all agro- involved. climatic zones. • The Global Stars initiative was adopted • The programme has now been scaled up during the EUREKA network meeting in and expanded its activities covering 105 June 2016 – its aim is to facilitate Aspirational Districts in the country. international R&D&I cooperation Green Deal between EUREKA countries, including • Focusing on the threat of climate change, associated countries, and non-EUREKA the department collaborated with European partner countries. Union for the “Green Deal” under Horizon 2020 framework to help build a low-carbon, 19. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin climate-resilient future. (PIB)

• Context: Prime Minister will release Bharat Ratna financial assistance of around Rs. 2691 • Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award crores to 6.1 lakh beneficiaries in Uttar of the country. Pradesh under Pradhan Mantri Awaas • It is awarded in recognition of exceptional Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G). service/performance of the highest order in Analysis any field of human endeavour. • Under PMAY-G, each beneficiary is given 100% grant of Rs.1.20 lakh (in plain areas) and Rs. 1.30 lakh (in Hilly States/North Eastern States/Difficult areas/UT of J&K and Ladakh/IAP/LWE districts). • The beneficiaries of PMAY-G, in addition to the unit assistance, are also provided support of unskilled labour wages under

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural • It is treated on a different footing from Employment Guarantee Scheme Padma Award. (MGNREGS) and assistance of Rs. 12,000 • The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are for construction of toilets through Swachh made by the Prime Minister to the Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G), President of India. MGNREGS or any other dedicated source • No formal recommendations for Bharat of funding. Ratna are necessary. • The scheme has provisions for • The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is convergence with other schemes of restricted to a maximum of three in a Government of India and State/UTs for particular year. providing LPG connection under Pradhan • Government has conferred Bharat Ratna Mantri Ujjwala Scheme, electricity Award on 48 persons till date. connection, access to safe drinking water Interesting facts about the Bharat Ratna under Jal Jeevan Mission etc. • First recipients of this award were st • For complete details refer to the 21 Nov Dr.Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Sir C.V. file. Raman, and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari in 1954. 20. All about Padma Awards (TH) • Mother Teresa was the first naturalized • Context:Former Japanese Prime Minister Indian citizen who received the Bharat Shinzo Abe and late singer S.P. Ratna Award in 1980. Balasubrahmanyam were named for the • Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest Nelson Mandela (1990) are two non civilian award in India, while singer K.S. Indians who got Bharat Ratna Award. Chithra will get the Padma Bhushan. • Sachin Tendulkar is the first sportsperson • No Bharat Ratna recipient was named this and the youngest Bharat Ratna Award year. Winner. Analysis

• Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first person to • All persons without distinction of race, get this award posthumously. occupation, position or sex are eligible for • Subhash Chandra Bose was awarded with these awards. Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1992. But o However, Government servants in- due to controversy (as there is no evidence service including those working with of Subhash Chandra Bose's death) his PSUs, except doctors and scientists, family refused to accept the award as are not eligible for these Awards. posthumous winner. • The award seeks to recognize works of o This is the only incident in the distinction and is given for distinguished history of Bharat Ratna that an and exceptional achievements/service in award was withdrawn. all fields of activities/disciplines. • Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru (1947- • The nomination process is open to the 64) and Indira Gandhi (1966-77, 1980-84) public. Even self-nomination can be have been criticised for recommending made. their names to the president by themselves • The award is normally not conferred to get the awards in 1955 and 1971 posthumously. respectively. o However, in highly deserving cases, • There is no provision that award should the Government could consider giving be given to Indians only. an award posthumously. • It is not mandatory that Bharat Ratna • A higher category of Padma award can be should be awarded very year. conferred on a person only where a • The award does not carry any monetary period of at least five years has elapsed grant. since conferment of the earlier Padma • The holders of the Bharat Ratna rank award. seventh in the Indian order of precedence. o However, in highly deserving cases, a • M.S. Subbalaxmi was the first musician relaxation can be made by the Awards who got this award. Committee. Padma Awards • The recipients are also given a small • Padma Awards, which were instituted in the replica of the medallion, which they can year 1954, are announced every year on wear during any ceremonial/State functions the occasion of Republic Day. etc., if the awardees so desire. • The award is given in three categories, • The names of the awardees are published namely, in the Gazette of India on the day of the o Padma Vibhushan for exceptional presentation ceremony. and distinguished service; • The total number of awards to be given in a o Padma Bhushan for distinguished year (excluding posthumous awards and to service of a high order; and NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be more o Padma Shri for distinguished service. than 120.

• The award does not amount to a title and it brings on one stage the Secretaries of cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the Government of India and the Chief awardees’ name Secretaries of the States. Who Decides? • It has three objectives: • All nominations received for Padma Awards o Grievance Redressal are placed before the Padma Awards o Programme Implementation Committee, which is constituted by the o Project Monitoring Prime Minister every year. Key features of the PRAGATI application • The Padma Awards Committee is headed are as follows: by the Cabinet Secretary and includes • It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Home Secretary, Secretary to the President Government Secretaries, and Chief and four to six eminent persons as Secretaries of the States). members. • Prime Minister will hold a monthly • The recommendations of the committee are programme (on Fourth Wednesday at 3.30 submitted to the Prime Minister and the PM-to be known as PRAGATI Day)where President of India for approval. he will interact with the Government of India Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries through 21. PRAGATI – Pro-Active Governance and Video-conferencing enabled by data and Timely Implementation (PIB) geo-informatics visuals. • Context: Prime Minister chaired the • The system has been designed in-house by meeting of 35th edition of PRAGATI, the the PMO team with the help of National ICT based multi-modal platform for Pro- Informatics Center (NIC). Active Governance and Timely Implementation, involving Central and State 22. Pradhanmantri Jan Vikas Karykram governments. (PMJVK) (PIB) • The platform was launched in March 2015. • Context: Union Minister for Minority • The platform is aimed at: Affairshas said during the last about 6 o addressing common man’s grievances years, the Government has constructed o monitoring and reviewing important basic infrastructure in needy areas across programmes and projects of the the country under “Pradhanmantri Jan Government of India as well as Vikas Karykram” (PMJVK). projects flagged by State Analysis Governments. • This topic has already been covered in • The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles detail in 15th Sep file. three latest technologies: o Digital data management 23. Ethanol Blended with Petrol Programme o Video-conferencing (PIB) o Geo-spatial technology. • Context: Meeting held by Department of • It also offers a unique combination in the Food & Public Distribution with States and direction of cooperative federalism since Industry Associations to implement Scheme

to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in • Prices of ethanol are fixed on the basis the country for producing 1st Generation of prices of raw materials and not on the (1G) ethanol. basis of prices of crude oil. Analysis • OMCs being the assured buyer for ethanol • The Government has fixed a target of 10% has also given comfort for purchase of blending of fuel grade ethanol with petrol by ethanol from distilleries for next 10 years. 2022 and 20% blending by 2025. • Some State Governments have also • This has been done with a view: included ethanol projects under priority o to boost agricultural economy, sector. o to reduce dependence on imported Different Generations of Biofuels fossil fuel, • Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from o to save foreign exchange on account biomass—that is, plant or algae or animal of crude oil import bill and waste. o to reduce the air pollution. • Since such feedstock material can be • To meet out the requirement of ethanol, the replenished readily, biofuel is considered to Government has notified a “Scheme for be a source of renewable energy, unlike extending financial assistance to project fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and proponents for enhancement of their natural gas. ethanol distillation capacity or to set up • First-generation biofuel: They are distilleries for producing 1st Generation produced from food crops. (1G) ethanol from feed stocks such • Second-generation biofuel: They are sugarcane, rice available with Food derived from low-value biomass that Corporation of India, maize etc. vide possesses a high cellulose content, notification dated 14th January, 2021. including wood chips, crop residues, and • The participants were explained about the municipal waste. benefits of Ethanol Blended with Petrol • Third-generation biofuel: They are Programme. It was informed that: obtained by the use of algae and o excess sugar of about 60 Lakh Tonne cyanobacteria. will be diverted to ethanol, helping o Some estimates state that algae and sugar mills to timely payments of cyanobacteria could yield between 10 cane dues to farmers, and 100 times more fuel per unit area o additional utilisation of food-grains of than second-generation biofuels. about 135 Lakh Tonne will help in • Fourth-generation biofuel: Fourth- increasing the income of farmers, generation technology combines genetically o investment by entrepreneurs will help optimized feedstocks, which are designed in creation of employment in rural to capture large amounts of carbon, with areas, genomically synthesized microbes, which o distributed ethanol production will help are made to efficiently make fuels. in reduction of transportation cost of o Key to the process is the capture and ethanol. sequestration of CO2, a process that

renders fourth-generation biofuels a MoE as the main implementing agency at carbon negative source of fuel. the national level. • Plant-based biofuels in principle make little o At the State level, the project will be net contribution to global warming and implemented through the integrated climate change; the carbon dioxide (a major State Implementation Society (SIS) for greenhouse gas) that enters the air during Samagra Shiksha. combustion will have been removed from • The proposed World Bank support under the air earlier as growing plants engage in STARS is primarily in the form of a results- photosynthesis. Such a material is said to based financing instrument called Program be “carbon neutral.” for Results (PforR). This will ensure major • For further details, refer to 19th Dec file. reforms at the State level through a set of disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs). A 24. Agreement for financial support to State Incentive Grant (SIG) will be used to STARS project (PIB) encourage States to meet desired project • Context: Agreement for the financial outcomes. support of the implementation of • This Scheme has already been covered in Strengthening Teaching-Learning and detail in 15th Oct file. Results for States (STARS) project of • For Samagra Shiksha, refer to 15th Sep Ministry of Education was signed between file. Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and World Bank along with Ministry of 25. Traditional Knowledge Digital Library Education. (TKDL) (PIB) Analysis • Context: The Council of Scientific and • STARS project would be implemented as a Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under new campaign of highlighting 80 success Department of School Education and stories from the organization as it is set to Literacy (DoSEL), MOE. turn 80 years old in 2022. • The project covers 6 States viz Himachal • This campaign was launched recently as Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, CSIR’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha. Library (TKDL) completes two decades of The identified States will be supported for safeguarding India’s Traditional Knowledge. various interventions for improving the Analysis quality of education. • In 2001, the Council of Scientific and • The Program envisions improving the Industrial Research (CSIR) jointly with overall monitoring and measurement Department of Indian Systems of Medicine activities in the Indian school education & Homeopathy (ISM&H, now Ministry of system through interventions in selected Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, states. Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy • STARS will draw on existing structure (AYUSH) developed the Traditional under Samagra Shiksha with the DoSEL, Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL).

• TKDL is a pioneering initiative of India to Genetic Resources, Traditional protect Indian traditional medicinal Knowledge and Expression of folklore. knowledge and prevent its misappropriation • Currently, TKDL is based on books of at International Patent Offices. Indian Systems of Medicine, which are o The grant of a US patent to wound available in open domain and can be healing properties of turmeric flags the sourced by any individual/organization at danger of complacence in proactively national/international level. guarding the traditional knowledge. o TKDL acts as a bridge between • The problem related to Indian TK is these books (prior-art evidences) and further compounded by the fact that India’s International patent examiners. traditional medicinal knowledge exists • At present, as per the approval of Cabinet in languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Committee on Economic Affairs, access of Arabic, Urdu, Tamil etc. that too in ancient TKDL is available to many international local dialects that are no more in practice. Patent Offices under TKDL Access (Non- o Thus, the published Indian TK disclosure) Agreement. literature is neither accessible nor o As per the terms and conditions of the understood by patent examiners at Access agreement, examiners of international patent offices. patent office can utilize TKDL for • Traditional Knowledge Digital Library has search and examination purposes only overcome the language and format barrier and cannot reveal the contents of by systematically and scientifically TKDL to any third party unless it is converting and structuring the available necessary for the purpose of citation. contents of the ancient texts on Indian • In addition, pre-grant oppositions are being Systems of Medicines i.e. Ayurveda, filed at various International Patent Offices, Siddha, Unani and Sowa Rigpa as well as along with prior-art evidences from TKDL. Yoga, into five international languages, Significant impact has already been namely, English, Japanese, French, realized. German and Spanish, with the help of o So far more than 230 patent information technology tools and an applications have either been set innovative classification system - aside/ withdrawn/ amended, based on Traditional Knowledge Resource the prior art evidences present in the Classification (TKRC). TKDL database without any cost and • TKDL has also set international in few weeks/months of time, whereas specifications and standards for setting up earlier India had to spend about seven of TK databases based on TKDL crores towards legal fee only for specifications. getting few claims of Basmati rice o This was adopted in 2003 by the patent revoked. Committee in fifth session of the • TKDL is proving to be an effective deterrent Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) of against bio-piracy and has been recognized WIPO on Intellectual Property and internationally as a unique effort.

Indices, Reports, Surveys, organisations to finalise by May 31 the pending cases initiated between January Committees and 2011 and December 2018. Organisations • As the apex integrity institution, the Commission is mandated to fight corruption 1. Digital Payments Index (DPI) (TH) and to ensure integrity in public • Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) administration. has constructed a composite Digital Analysis Payments Index (DPI) to capture the extent Background of digitisation of payments across the • CVC is conceived to be the apex vigilance country. institution to promote integrity in the Analysis governance processes by: • The RBI-DPI has been constructed with o Creation of a credible deterrence March 2018 as the base period. DPI score against corruption through prompt for March 2018 is set at 100. enforcement of anti-corruption laws • The DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 and regulations works out to 153.47 and 207.84 o Undertaking effective preventive respectively, indicating appreciable growth. measures to minimize the scope of • The RBI-DPI comprises five broad corruption. parameters: Payment Performance (weight o Raising public awareness to inculcate 45%), Payment Enablers (weight 25%), ethical values and reduce society's Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side tolerance towards corruption. factors (15%), Payment Infrastructure – • The Central Vigilance Commission was set Demand-side factors and (10%), and up by a Government Resolution in 1964 on Consumer Centricity (5%). the recommendations of the Committee on • Each of these parameters has sub- Prevention of Corruption, headed by Shri parameters which, in turn, consist of K. Santhanam, to advise and guide Central various measurable indicators. Government agencies in the field of • RBI-DPI will be published on the RBI’s vigilance. website on a semi-annual basis from March • It was accorded the status of independent 2021 onwards with a lag of four months. statutory authority through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. 2. Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and • The Commission shall consist of: A theIntegrity Index (TH) Central Vigilance Commissioner – • Context: The commission found during a Chairperson and not more than two review that several vigilance cases had Vigilance Commissioners as Members. been pending in some organisations. • They are appointed by the President by • The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) warrant under his hand and seal on the has directed the chief executives and the recommendation of a three member chief vigilance officers of government committee consisting of the Prime Minister

as its head, the Union Minister of home • CVC has all the powers of a Civil court affairs and the Leader of the Opposition in while conducting any inquiry. the Lok Sabha. Commission’s Jurisdiction under CVC Act • They hold office for a term of four years • Members of All India Service serving in or until they attain the age of sixty-five connection with the affairs of the Union and years, whichever is earlier. Group A officers of the Central • After their tenure, they are not eligible for Government. further employment under the Central or a • Officers of the rank of Scale V and above in state government. the Public Sector Banks. • The salary, allowances and other • Officers in Grade D and above in Reserve conditions of service of the Central Bank of India, NABARD and SIDBI. Vigilance Commissioner are similar to • Chief Executives and Executives on the those of the Chairman of UPSC and that of Board and other officers of E-8 and above the vigilance commissioner are similar to in Schedule ‘A’ and ‘B’ Public Sector those of a member of UPSC. Undertakings. Roles & Functions (important ones only) • Chief Executives and Executives on the o Exercise superintendence over the Board and other officers of E-7 and above functioning of the Delhi Special in Schedule ‘C’ and ‘D’ Public Sector Police Establishment (CBI) insofar Undertakings. as it relates to the investigation of • Managers and above in General Insurance offences under the Prevention of Companies. Corruption Act, 1988; or an offence • Senior Divisional Managers and above in under the Cr.PC for certain Life Insurance Corporations. categories of public servants. • Other Officers drawing salary of o Give directions to the Delhi Special Rs.8700/- p.m. and above on Central Police Establishment (CBI) for Government in Societies and other Local superintendence insofar as it relates to Authorities. the investigation of offences under the Have you heard about Integrity Index? Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. • The Integrity Index for public o Review the progress of investigations organisations is an initiative of the conducted by the DSPE into offences Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) alleged to have been committed under which will be based on bench marking of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 governance processes by internal and or an offence under the Cr.PC external stakeholders. o Exercise superintendence over the • The Indian Institute of Management vigilance administrations of the various Ahmedabad is the consulting partner Central Government Ministries, engaged by the Central Vigilance Departments and Organizations of the Commission (CVC) to develop a generic Central Government framework for computing Integrity Index of Public organizations.

• It is undertaking a research-based approach to create an integrity index that 4. Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog(RKA)(PIB) various organizations can use to measure • Context: Rastriya Kamdhenu Aayog themselves and which will evolve with announces Kamdhenu Gau-Vigyan changing needs. Prachar-Prasar Exam • The objective of this exercise is to define Analysis what constitutes integrity of public • Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog(RKA) is a organisations, to identify the different high-powered permanent body constituted factors of integrity and their inter-linkages vide a resolution in 2019. and to create an objective and reliable tool • It comes under the Department of that can measure the performance of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, organisations on this benchmark. Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry • 'Integrity index': will help the and Dairying Government departments in India to • Even though, the country is largest assess where they stand on anti- producer of milk, the average milk yield in corruption measures. India is only 50% of the world average. Definition of Integrity (Additional o The low productivity is largely due to Information for GS4) deterioration in genetic stock, poor • When there is a congruence among our nutrition and unscientific management. thoughts, words and actions, the integrity • The Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog has been gets manifested. constituted for: • Integrity includes but goes beyond honesty. o conservation, protection and Honesty is telling the truth- in other words, development of cows and their conforming our words to reality. Integrity is progeny; conforming reality to our words- in other o proper implementation of laws with words, keeping promises and fulfilling respect to prohibition of slaughter and expectations / or cruelty to cows and • Integrity is the basis of Trust o giving direction to the cattle • Integrity is the uprightness of character development programmes. • The Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog is 3. Asian Development Bank (ADB)(PIB) aimed at achieving following: • Context: The Asian Development Bank o Sustainable development and genetic (ADB) and the Government of India signed upgradation of genetic resources of a $100 million loan to modernise and cows in India. upgrade the power distribution system to o Conservation and development of enhance the quality and reliability of Indigenous Breeds of cows and electricity supply in Bengaluru city in the improved management of cows of the state of Karnataka. country. • Asian Development Bank was covered o Enhanced production and productivity comprehensively in 2 Dec file. throughout country, leading to higher

farm income and better quality of life • For details, refer to 8th Sep file. for the dairy farmers. o Protection and promotion of the 7. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), ISI interest of dairy cooperatives, mark and Eco Mark (PIB) Livestock Development Agencies, • Context:Bureau of Indian Standards farmer producer companies and dairy celebrated the 74th foundation day on 6th industries in the country. January 2021. o Effective implementation of laws for • The Government has recently brought welfare of the cows and its progenies “Toys” and “Helmets” under mandatory BIS in the country and proper working of certification. Gaushals, Gosadans and Pinjrapoles Analysis and other organizations/institutes for • The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the protection and development of cows national Standards Body of India working and their progenies. under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. 5. New Development Bank (NDB) (PIB) • The organisation was formerly the Indian • Context: The Government of India, the Standards Institution (ISI) which came Government of Andhra Pradesh, and the into being on the 06 January 1947 and in New Development Bank (NDB) signed June 1947 Dr. Lal C. Verman took over as loan agreements of up to USD 323 million its first Director. each for two projects. • In the mid-1980s, it was felt necessary to • The NDB was established based on the confer a statutory status to ISI’s functioning Inter-Governmental agreement among the which led to the enactment of the BIS Act BRICS countries (Brazil, the Russian 1986 and the ISI was renamed as the Federation, India, China, and South Africa) Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to signed on July 15, 2014. promote quality certification of goods, with • The Bank's purpose is to mobilize a clearly defined statutory powers. resources for infrastructure and sustainable o The Act has now been revised as BIS development projects in BRICS and other Act, 2016 and establishes BIS as the emerging market economies and National Standards Body. developing countries. • The Bureau is a Body Corporate consisting • For details, refer to 17th Dec file. of 25 members representing both Central and State governments, Members of 6. International Solar Alliance(ISA) (PIB) Parliament, industry, scientific and research • Context: India welcomed Germany’s institutions, consumer organizations and decision to join the International Solar professional bodies; with Union Minister of Alliance (ISA), and expressed its desire to Consumer Affairs, Food and Public further strengthen cooperation with Distribution as its President and with Germany under the platform of Coalition for Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

Food and Public Distribution as its Vice- the need to set up a stronger body, the President. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which • The BIS Act 2016, Rules and Regulations then took over ISI. framed there under authorizes BIS to • But the term “ISI mark" continues to be undertake conformity assessment of used to mean that a certain product products, services, systems and conforms to the quality standards set up by processes. the government. • The Product Certification Schemes of BIS Who can use the ISI mark? aims at providing Third Party assurance • This certification programme is basically of quality, safety and reliability of products voluntary. Any manufacturer who feels to the customer. confident enough that his product has the • BIS has been providing traceability and ability to meet the BIS standard can apply tangibility benefits to the national economy for product certification. in a number of ways – providing safe • Although, the scheme itself is voluntary in reliable quality goods; minimizing health nature, the Government of India, on hazards to consumers; promoting exports considerations of public health and safety, and imports substitute; control over security, infrastructure requirements and proliferation of varieties etc. through mass consumption has enforced standardization, certification and testing. compulsory certification on various • Keeping in view, the interest of products through Orders issued from time consumers as well as the industry, BIS to time under various Acts. is involved in various activities as given • In order to ensure enhanced consumer below: safety & compliance to statutory provisions, o Standards Formulation some products like gas cylinders, o Product Certification Scheme regulators and valves, BIS certification o Compulsory Registration Scheme scheme requires each lot or batch to be o Foreign Manufacturers Certification inspected by BIS certification officers Scheme before release of the product. o Hall Marking Scheme Are there standards for all products? o Laboratory Services • There are at least 16 broad categories, o Laboratory Recognition Scheme including textiles, packaged water, food, o Sale of Indian Standards etc. automobile components, plastic products What is the ISI mark all about? and electronics, for which BIS has laid • ISI stands for the Indian Standards down standards. Institute, a body set up when India gained • If anyone wants to add a new category to Independence to create standards needed the current list, they can apply for it. for orderly commercial growth and • For example, there is a standard for maintaining quality in industrial production. windshield wipers of four-wheelers, for the • By the mid-80s the country’s socio- quality of silver foil used in sweets, for economic climate had changed, triggering

precast concrete slabs used in pavements product which is made, used or disposed of and even for hooks and fasteners. in a way that significantly reduces the harm What if standards slip once the certification it would otherwise cause the environment. is obtained? • The definition factors in all aspects of the • BIS has to check conformity to the supply chain, taking a cradle-to-grave standards by regular surveillance of the approach, which includes raw material licensee’s performance including surprise extraction, manufacturing and disposal. inspection and testing of samples, drawn • What sets eco-mark apart from other labels both from the factory and the market. is that not only does the product have to • For launching prosecution regarding the meet strict environmental requirements, but misuse of ISI mark, testing of the sample of it also has to meet strict quality the product is not required. requirements. Genuine ISI mark • The scheme is one of India’s earliest efforts in environmental standards, launched in 1991, even before the 1992 Rio Summit in which India participated. • The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and is administered by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which also administers the Indian Standards Institute (ISI) mark quality label, a requirement for any product to gain the Eco-mark label.

• The Eco-mark Scheme covers various • The Standard Mark for every product is product categories like Soaps and unique and is notified in the Gazette of Detergents, Paints, Food Items, lubricating India. oils, Packaging materials/Package, Licence Number Architectural Paints and Powder Coatings, • Licence number (a seven digit number or Batteries, Electrical and electronic goods, ten digit number or 6 digit number [for Food Additives, Wood Substitutes, Assaying and Hallmarking Centre]), is also Cosmetics, Aerosols and Propellants, given along with the Standard Mark. Plastic Products, Textiles, Fire- • This helps in identifying the unit which extinguisher, Leather and Coir & Coir has manufactured the product/marked the Products. product at a specific location. • Products certified as eligible for the Eco Eco Mark Scheme Mark shall also carry the ISI Mark (except • Eco-mark is a voluntary labelling scheme for leather) for quality, safety and for easily identifying environment friendly performance of the product and shall be products. licensed to carry the ECO Mark for a • The Eco-mark scheme defines as an environmentally friendly product, any

prescribed time period after which it shall Nations that leads international efforts to be reassessed. defeat hunger. • For this purpose the Standard Mark of • Its goal is to achieve food security for all Bureau would be a single mark having a and make sure that people have regular combination of the ISI Mark and the ECO access to enough high-quality food to lead Logo which is illustrated below: active, healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. • Established in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has its headquarters in Rome, Italy.

9. World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and Avian influenza (TH) • Context: The World Organization for Animal Health, which collaborates with the

World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 8. Food and Agriculture Organization’s says HPAI virus strains H5N1, H5N2, (FAO): World food price index (TH) H5N8, H7N8 have been identified in • Context:Food and Agriculture outbreaks, indicating active circulation. Organization’s (FAO) food price index, Analysis which measures monthly changes for a • Infection histories point to H5N1 and H7N9 basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, viruses posing a threat to human health as meat and sugar, averaged 107.5 points last well. month versus 105.2 in November. • The two virus types identified so far in the • FAO Food Price Index has hit a three-year outbreaks — H5N1 and H5N8 — come high in 2020, following additional gains in under the category of Highly Pathogenic December. Avian Influenza (HPAI), which is of major • The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a concern to those keeping birds, because it measure of the monthly change in leads to disease and death of fowl and international prices of a basket of food causes economic havoc. H5N1 is a known commodities. It consists of the average of threat to humans as well. five commodity group price indices • The spread of the disease in a variety of weighted by the average export shares of birds in several geographical regions, and each of the groups over 2014-2016. the seasonal movement of migratory birds, Analysis have prompted the Centre to issue an alert • The Food and Agriculture Organization to States to adhere to the National Action (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Plan for Prevention, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza 2021.

o Avian Influenza (AI) is a highly operations, including diseases contagious viral disease, affecting a transmissible to humans. variety of birds, including those • The OIE develops normative documents connected with human consumption relating to rules that Member Countries can — chickens, ducks, turkeys, quails — use to protect themselves from the as well as pet birds and wild birds. introduction of diseases and pathogens, • The FAO says wild birds act as a natural without setting up unjustified sanitary reservoir of AI viruses. Their migratory barriers. movement could bring these pathogens to • OIE standards are recognized by the poultry, waterfowl and other domestic birds World Trade Organization as reference through contact. The response to an international sanitary rules. outbreak is a containment strategy, • The OIE Member Countries have decided which is primarily centred around to provide a better guarantee of the safety removing the diseased birds through of food of animal origin by creating greater culling. Such mass destruction causes a synergy between the activities of the severe impact on farmers. OIE and those of the Codex Alimentarius The World Organisation for Animal Health Commission. (OIE) (Office International des Epizooties) How does the organisation function? • It is an intergovernmental organisation • The organisation is placed under the responsible for improving animal health authority and control of a World Assembly worldwide. of Delegates consisting of Delegates • It has around 182 Member Countries designated by the Governments of all including India. Member Countries. • It is headquartered in Paris, France. • The day-to-day operation of the OIE is Objectives managed at the Headquarters • Each Member Country undertakes to report • The Headquarters implements the the animal diseases that it detects on its resolutions passed by the International territory. The OIE then disseminates the Committee and developed with the support information to other countries, which can of Commissions elected by the Delegates take the necessary preventive action. • The main functions of the Assembly are: o This objective applies to disease o to adopt international standards in occurrences both naturally the field of animal health, especially occurring and deliberately caused. for international trade. • The OIE collects and analyses the latest o to adopt resolutions on the control scientific information on animal disease of the major animal diseases. control. • The OIE provides technical support to 10. South Asian Association for Regional Member Countries requesting assistance Cooperation (SAARC) (TH) with animal disease control and eradication • Context: An editorial. Analysis

• Thirty-six years after it first began, the perception from China, while other SAARC South Asian Association for Regional members (minus Bhutan), all of whom are Cooperation (SAARC), appears to be all Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partners of but dead in the water. China, will be hard placed to help • The year 2020 marked the sixth year since individually. the leaders of the eight nations that make • Significantly, from 2005-14, China actually up SAARC were able to meet. wanted to join SAARC. • Further evidence of its perilous position, if o Every SAARC summit during that any was needed, came on the SAARC decade period saw a discussion on charter day on December 8, where Prime whether China could be upgraded to Minister of India made it clear that India’s member status (from observer status). position on cross-border terrorism from o On each occasion, it was fought back Pakistan that led New Delhi to refuse to by India and most other countries in attend the SAARC summit in 2016 in the grouping, with the logic that Islamabad, is still in place. despite sharing boundaries with three o This indicates that the grouping, which South Asian countries, China is not cannot convene unless all leaders South Asian. agree to meet, is unlikely to do so in Other important concepts from the the near future. editorial! • India’s problems with Pakistan on: East Africa Single Joint Visa o terrorism, • The East Africa Tourist Visa is a single- o territorial claims and on entry visa for foreigners visiting Kenya, o its role in blocking SAARC initiatives Rwanda and Uganda simultaneously. on connectivity and trade are well • It is multi-entry within the three countries; known. however, this expires automatically if a • Even so, India’s refusal to allow Pakistan to traveler goes outside of the three (3) host the SAARC summit because of those countries. problems is akin to giving Pakistan a ‘veto’ over the entire SAARC process. • South Asia is the world’s least integrated region; less than 5% of the trade of SAARC countries is within. • A South Asian Free Trade Zone agreed on, in 2006, remains, in reality, a chimera. • The last SAARC summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November 2016, was postponed after the terrorist attacks in Uri. China’s quest • At the border, it is clear that tensions with Pakistan and Nepal amplify the threat

• The 11 stated areas of cooperation are: o agriculture; o education, culture, and sports; o health, population, and child welfare; o the environment and meteorology; o rural development (including the SAARC Youth Volunteers Program); o tourism; o transport; o science and technology; o communications; o women development; and o the prevention of drug trafficking and drug abuse.

• The charter stipulates that decisions are to Health Silk Road be unanimous and that “bilateral and • In January 2017, China signed a contentious issues” are to be avoided. memorandum of understanding with the World Health Organization (WHO) 11. Organisations in news:APEDA and committing to the construction of a “Health IFAD (PIB) Silk Road” that would aim to improve • Context: The Agricultural and Processed public health in countries along China’s Food Products Export Development Belt and Road. Authority (APEDA) in association with SAARC Andhra Pradesh Drought Mitigation Project • The South Asian Association for Regional (APDMP), an externally aided project Cooperation (SAARC) was established with funded by International Fund for the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka Agricultural Development (IFAD), in December 1985; the idea was initiated organized a Virtual Buyer Seller Meet with by General Zia Ur Rehman of Millet Exporters and FPOs of Millet for Bangladesh. establishing marketing linkages. • SAARC comprises of eight Member States: Analysis o Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the Export Development Authority (APEDA) founding members. • The Agricultural and Processed Food o Afghanistan joined in 2007. Products Export Development Authority • It also has nine Observers, namely China, (APEDA)is a statutory bodyestablished EU, Iran, Republic of Korea, Australia, under the Ministry of Commerce and Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar and USA. Industry. • The Secretariat of the Association was set up in Kathmandu in January 1987.

• The Authority replaced the Processed o Guar Gum. Food Export Promotion Council o Floriculture and Floriculture Products. (PFEPC). o Herbal and Medicinal Plants. Some of the important Functions are: • In addition to this, APEDA has been • In accordance with the Agricultural and entrusted with the responsibility to monitor Processed Food Products Export import of sugar. Development Authority Act, 1985, (2 of International Fund for Agricultural 1986) the following functions have been Development (IFAD) assigned to the Authority. • International Fund for Agricultural • Development of industries relating to the Development (IFAD), United Nations (UN) scheduled products for export by way of specialized agency that supports increased providing financial assistance or otherwise; food production in poor communities. • Registration of persons as exporters of the • Partly in response to severe famines in the scheduled products on payment of such southern Sahara in the early 1970s, the fees as may be prescribed; 1974 World Food Conference adopted a • Fixing of standards and specifications for resolution that established IFAD in the scheduled products for the purpose of November 1977. exports; • The organization is headquartered in • Carrying out inspection of meat and meat Rome, Italy. products in slaughter houses, processing • IFAD’s mandate is to provide funding and plants, storage premises etc.; other resources for programs that help poor • Improving of packaging and marketing of farmers and pastoralists as well as landless the Scheduled products. and indigenous peoples in rural areas. APEDA is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of 12. Food Corporation of India (FCI)(PIB) the following scheduled products: • Context: 57th Foundation day of FCI. o Fruits, Vegetables and their Products. Analysis o Meat and Meat Products. • The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was o Poultry and Poultry Products. setup under the Food Corporation's Act o Dairy Products. 1964, in order to fulfill following objectives o Confectionery, Biscuits and Bakery of the Food Policy: Products. o Effective price support operations for o Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products. safeguarding the interests of the o Cocoa and its products, chocolates of farmers. all kinds. o Distribution of foodgrains throughout o Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic the country for public distribution Beverages. system. o Cereal and Cereal Products. o Maintaining satisfactory level of o Groundnuts, Peanuts and Walnuts. operational and buffer stocks of o Pickles, Papads and Chutneys.

foodgrains to ensure National Food Scheme for Supply of Foodgrains for Security. SC/ST/OBC Hostels • Since its inception, FCI has played a • The residents of the hostels having 2/3rd significant role in India's success in students belonging to SC/ST/OBC are transforming the crisis management- eligible to get 15 kg foodgrains per resident oriented food security into a stable security per month. system. • Allocations of foodgrains under the scheme • FCI's Objectives are: are made by the Department of Food and o To provide farmers remunerative Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer prices; Affairs, Food & Public Distribution,based o To make food grains available at on the requests received from the State/UT reasonable prices, particularly to Governments. vulnerable section of the society; Scheme for Supply of Foodgrains to o To maintain buffer stocks as measure Welfare Institutions of Food Security; • With a view to meet the requirement of o To intervene in market for price Welfare Institutions viz. Charitable stabilization. Institutions such as beggar homes, Welfare Schemes nariniketans and other similar welfare • Besides, Targeted Public Distribution institutions not covered under TPDS or System (TPDS) & National Food Security under any other Welfare Schemes, an Act (NFSA) ((Ministry of Consumer Affairs, additional allocation of foodgrains (rice and Food & Public Distribution), Food wheat) not exceeding 5% of the BPL Corporation of India is also issuing food- allocation is made to States/UTs at BPL grains under various welfare schemes. prices by the Department of Food and Mid-Day Meal Scheme (Ministry of Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Education) Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. • The scheme is already covered in detail in Annapurna Scheme 4th Nov file. • The Ministry of Rural Development Wheat Based Nutrition Programme launched the scheme in 2000-01. (WBNP) • Indigent senior citizens of 65 years of age • This Scheme is implemented by the or above who are not getting pension under Ministry of Women & Child the National Old Age Pension Scheme Development. (NOAPS) are provided 10 kgs. of • The foodgrains allotted under this Scheme foodgrains per person per month free of are utilized by the States/UTs under the cost under the scheme. Integrated Child Development Scheme Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of (ICDS) for providing nutritious/ energy food Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) – 'SABLA' to children below 6 years of age and • The Ministry of Women & Child expectant/lactating women. Development launched the SABLA Scheme on 19.11.2010 by merging two

schemes namely Nutrition Programme for • It is mandated to monitor and regulate in- Adolescent Girls (NPAG) and Kishori Shakti country and inter-country adoptions. Yojana (KSY) in to a single scheme to be • CARA is designated as the Central implemented in 200 selected districts Authority to deal with inter-country across the country aims at empowering adoptions in accordance with the provisions adolescent girls of 11-18 years by of the Hague Convention on Inter- improvement of their nutritional and health country Adoption, 1993, ratified by status and upgrading various skills like Government of India in 2003. home skills, life skills and vocational skills. • CARA primarily deals with adoption of • The requirement of food grains under the orphan, abandoned and surrendered scheme for nutrition is @ 100 grams of children through its associated /recognised grains per beneficiary per day for 300 days adoption agencies. in a year. • CARA now comes under the umbrella of Supply of foodgrains to Defence and Para- the ICPS (the Integrated Child Protection Military forces Scheme) agencies. • FCI also supply foodgrains to the Hague Convention defencepersonnels and para-military forces • It is a multilateral treaty developed by the on quarterly basis. Hague Conference on Private International • The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food Law (HCCH) to provide an expeditious & Public Distribution on receipt of method to return a child internationally requirement of foodgrains from Ministry of abducted by a parent from one member Defence makes the allotment of country to another. foodgrains. • The Convention applies to children aged under 16 years. 13. Central Adoption Resource Authority Integrated Child Protection Services (CARA)(PIB) • It is a sub-scheme under Umbrella • Context: CARA Celebrates its 6th Annual Scheme “Integrated Child Development Day. Services (ICDS)” being implemented by • CARA celebrates its Annual Day every year the Ministry of Women and Child on the 15th January. Development. Analysis • The purpose of the scheme is to provide for • Central Adoption Resource Authority children in difficult circumstances, as (CARA) is a statutory body of Ministry of well as to reduce the risks and Women & Child Development. vulnerabilities children have in various o CARA was granted the status of a situations and actions that lead to abuse, Statutory body under the Juvenile neglect, exploitation, abandonment and Justice Act, 2015 for facilitating separation of children. adoption in the country. • The specific objectives of the scheme • It functions as the nodal body for adoption are: of Indian children.

o To institutionalize essential services o The term of the non-official members and strengthen structures of the Startup Advisory Council is for a o To enhance capacities at all systems period of two years. and persons involved in service • The nominees of the concerned Ministries/ delivery Departments/Organisations, not below the o To create database and knowledge rank of Joint Secretary to the Government base for child protection services of India, are ex-officio members of the o To strengthen child protection at family Council. and community level The council shall, inter alia, suggest o To coordinate and network with measures to: government institutions and non- • Foster a culture of innovation amongst government institutions to ensure citizens and students in particular; effective implementation of the • Promote innovation in all sectors of scheme economy across the country, including o To raise public awareness about child semi-urban and rural areas; rights, child vulnerability and child • Support creative and innovative ideas protection services. through incubation and research and development to transform them into 14. National Startup Advisory Council (PIB) valuable products, processes or solutions • Context: The Central Government has now to improve productivity and efficiency; decided to nominate the non-official • Create an environment of absorption of members on the National Startup Advisory innovation in industry; Council representing various stakeholders. • Facilitate public organizations to Analysis assimilate innovation with a view to • The National Startup Advisory Council is improving public service delivery; chaired by Minster for Commerce & • Promote creation, protection and Industry. commercialization of intellectual • The Council consists of the non-official property rights; members,nominated by Central • Make it easier to start, operate, grow and Government from various categories like exit businesses by reducing regulatory founders of successful startups, veterans compliances and costs; who have grown and scaled companies in • Promote ease of access to capital for India, persons capable of representing startups; interests of investors into startups, persons • Incentivize domestic capital for capable of representing interests of investments into startups; incubators and accelerators and • Mobilize global capital for investments representatives of associations of in Indian startups; stakeholders of startups and • Keep control of startups with original representatives of industry associations. promoters;

• Provide access to global markets for o The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Indian startups. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988. 15. Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) (TH) • The responsibility of drug abuse control, • Context: The Narcotics Control Bureau which is a central function, is carried out (NCB) arrested aide of gangster Dawood through a number of Ministries, Ibrahim, in connection with a drugs case. Departments and Organisations. • Analysis • These include the Ministry of Finance, • The government’s policy on Narcotic Drugs Department of Revenue which has the and Psychotropic Substances flows from nodal co-ordination role as constitutional provisions contained in Article administrator of the Narcotic Drugs and 47 of the Indian Constitution. It is also Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and guided by the international conventions on the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in the subject. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic • India is a signatory to: Substances Act, 1988. o Convention on Narcotic Drugs Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) 1961, as amended by the 1972 • The Narcotics Control Bureau was set up Protocol as apex drug law enforcement agency with o Conventions on Psychotropic view to coordinate actions of various Substances, 1971 central/state agencies in the matters related o United Nations Convention against with drug law in the country. Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and • It is a statutory body under The Narcotic Psychotropic Substances, 1988. Drugs and Psychotropic Substances • The National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Act, 1985. Psychotropic Substances is based on the o This act made an express provision for Directive Principles, contained in Article constituting a Central Authority for the 47 of the Indian Constitution, which direct purpose of exercising the powers and the State to endeavour to bring about functions of the Central Government prohibition of the consumption, except under the Act. for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating • The Bureau is subject to the supervision drugs injurious to health. and control of the Ministry of Home • Prohibition on the consumption of Affairs, Government of India. intoxicating drugs, except for medicinal • India is signatory to various international purposes comes from these 3 Central drug related UN conventions and the Legislations: responsibility of implementation of the o Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, provision of these international o The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic conventions also lies with NCB. Substances Act, 1985, and • It exercises the powers and functions of the Central Government for taking measures with respect to:

o Co-ordination of actions by various conditions and living standards throughout offices, State Governments and other the world. authorities under the N.D.P.S. Act, • Established in 1919 by the Treaty of Customs Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Versailles as an affiliated agency of the Act and any other law for the time League of Nations, the ILO became the being in force in connection with the first affiliated specialized agency of the enforcement provisions of the NDPS United Nations in 1946. Act, 1985. • In recognition of its activities, the ILO was o Implementation of the obligation in awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in respect of counter measures against 1969. illicit traffic under the various • The functions of the ILO include the international conventions and development and promotion of standards protocols that are in force at present or for national legislation to protect and which may be ratified or acceded to by improve working conditions and standards India in future. of living. o Assistance to concerned authorities in • Among intergovernmental organizations the foreign countries and concerned ILO is unique in that its approximately international organisations to facilitate 187 member states are represented not coordination and universal action for only by delegates of their governments prevention and suppression of illicit but also by delegates of those states’ traffic in these drugs and substances. employers and workers, especially trade o Coordination of actions taken by the unions. other concerned Ministries, • The ILO also helps to protect the rights of Departments and Organizations in international migrants and organized respect of matters relating to drug labour. abuse. • The International Labour Office is in Geneva, Switzerland. 16. International Labour Organization (ILO) • Among the ILO’s many publications are the (TH) International Labour Review and the • Context: A joint platform of 10 central trade Year Book of Labour Statistics. unions in India said that it would write to the • There are eight Core Conventions of the International Labour Organisation on the ILO (also called fundamental/human rights four labour codes passed by the Centre. conventions) which are as follows. • The unions said that the Centre did not hold o Forced Labour Convention (No. 29) tripartite consultations. o Abolition of Forced Labour Convention Analysis (No.105) International Labour Organization (ILO) o Equal Remuneration Convention • It is a specialized agency of the United (No.100) Nations (UN) dedicated to improving labour o Discrimination (Employment Occupation) Convention (No.111)

o Freedom of Association and • NITI Aayog aim is to sync Indian Innovation Protection of Right to Organised Index with the Global Innovation Index Convention (No.87) which has 80 parameters compared to 36 o Right to Organise and Collective in India. Bargaining Convention (No.98) • The India Innovation Index 2020 has seen o Minimum Age Convention (No.138) new indicators being added, major being o Worst forms of Child Labour the expenditure by states on R&D and new Convention (No.182) business registration in the state. • Through the index, prepared jointly by 17. Innovation Index (PIB) the Aayog and the Institute of • Context:NITI Aayog released the second Competitiveness, the government ranks edition of the India Innovation Index-2020. the states and union territories based on • The index demonstrates the government's their relative performance of supporting continued commitment towards innovation, and empowers them to improve transforming the country into an innovation- their innovation policies by highlighting their driven economy. strengths and weaknesses. • It aims to rank States and UTs based on Benefits of Such an Index their scores, recognise opportunities • Innovation can help India boost its and challenges, and assist in tailoring manufacturing competitiveness and exports government policies to foster • Innovation is widely recognized as a central innovation. driver of economic growth and • In the India Innovation Index-2020, the development. States and Union Territories have been • It increases the competitive federalism divided into 17 Major States, 10 North- among the States and Union Territories. East and Hill States and nine Union About Global Innovation Index Territories and Small States for effectively • The aim of the Global Innovation Index is to comparing their performance. provide insightful data on innovation and, in • In the 2020 ranking, Karnataka retained its turn, to assist economies in evaluating their first position in the Major States category innovation performance and making followed by Maharashtra at 2nd spot while informed innovation policy considerations. Tamil Nadu slid to 3rd position. • GII is now considered a yardstick for • In the North East and Hill States category, measuring innovation by the UN General Himachal Pradesh stands at first position Assembly, as noted in its resolution for followed by Uttarakhand and Manipur. Delhi achieving Sustainable Development Goals stands at the first position while Chandigarh (SDGs) at its 74th session in 2019. retained its second spot in the Union • Economies invest resources to analyze Territories and small States category. their GII results in cross-ministerial task Analysis forces and use the GII to design • The First Indian Innovation Index was appropriate innovation and intellectual released in October 2019. property (IP) policies.

• The GII is co-published by Cornell • It is usually headed by a former Supreme University, INSEAD, and the World Court judge or a former Chief Justice of a Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), High Court. a specialized agency of the United Nations. • The 21st commission, under Justice B.S. • Global Innovation Index 2020 report is titled Chauhan (retd), had submitted reports and ‘Who Will Finance Innovation?’ working papers on key issues such as • For further details, refer to 3rd Sep file. simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies and a uniform civil code. 18. All about the Law Commission of India o While the Law Commission had (TH) supported simultaneous polls, it had • Context: The Supreme Court on Monday said that the time was not ripe for a asked the Home and Law Ministries to common code. explain the nearly three-year-long lapse in • In the pre-independence era, India’s first making appointments to the Law Law Commission was established in 1834 Commission. via Charter Act of 1833 under the • The posts of Chairperson and Members Chairmanship of Lord Macaulay. have been vacant ever since the 21st Law o This law commission had Commission under the former Supreme recommended codification of the Court judge, Justice B.S. Chauhan, Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure completed its tenure on August 31, 2018. Code and a few other matters. Analysis • After that, three more law commissions • The Law Commission of India is a non- were established in British Era. statutory body constituted by the order of o The Indian Code of Civil Procedure, the Government of lndia from time to time. the Indian Contract Act, the Indian • Though law commission is appointed by the Evidence Act, the Transfer of Property President, it’s under administrative control Act. etc. are products of the labour of of Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of the first four Law Commissions. Law and Justice. Important Articles • The Government of India established the • Article 372: The continuation of pre- First Law Commission of Independent Constitution Laws till they are amended or India in 1955 with the then Attorney- repealed. General of India, Mr. M. C. Setalvad, as its • Article 39A: It says that State shall secure Chairman. that the operation of the legal system • Since then, twenty more Law Commissions promotes justice. have been appointed, each with a three- Ministry of Law and Justice year term and with different terms of • Ministry of Law and Justice is the oldest reference. limb of the Government of India dating back • None of these recommendations is binding to 1833 when the Charter Act 1833 enacted upon the Government. by the British Parliament.

• The said Act vested for the first time efficiency, access to energy, demand side legislative power in a single authority, management and much more. namely the Governor General in Council. • The four main areas of IEA focus are: • The Governor General in Council enacted o Energy Security: Promoting diversity, laws for the country from 1834 to 1920. efficiency, flexibility and reliability for • After the commencement of the all fuels and energy sources; Government of India Act 1919 the o Economic Development: Supporting legislative power was exercised by the free markets to foster economic Indian Legislature constituted thereunder. growth and eliminate energy poverty; • With the passing of the Indian o Environmental Awareness: Independence Act 1947 India became a Analysing policy options to offset the Dominion and the Dominion Legislature impact of energy production and use made laws from 1947 to 1949 under the on the environment, especially for provisions of section 100 of the tackling climate change and air Government of India Act 1935 as adapted pollution; and by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order o Engagement Worldwide: Working 1947. closely with partner countries, • Under the Constitution of India which came especially major emerging economies, into force on the 26th January 1950, the to find solutions to shared energy and legislative power is now vested in environmental concerns. Parliament. • Global Energy Review, World Energy Outlook and Key World Energy Statistics are some of the important 19. International Energy Agency (IEA) (PIB) publications of IEA. • Context: India signs Strategic Partnership Structure Agreement with International Energy • The Governing Board is the main decision- Agency (IEA). making body of the IEA. International Energy Agency (IEA) • It is composed of energy ministers or their • Founded in 1974, the IEA was initially senior representatives from each Member designed to help countries co-ordinate a country. collective response to major disruptions in • The Governing Board holds three to four the supply of oil, such as the crisis of meetings at the Director General (or 1973/4. equivalent) level each year to discuss • While this remains a key aspect of its work, global energy developments. the IEA has evolved and expanded o The IEA Ministerial Meeting takes significantly to examine the full spectrum place every two years. of energy issues including oil, gas and • The IEA is made up of 30 member coal supply and demand, renewable energy countries. technologies, electricity markets, energy o In addition, thanks to its successful open-door policy to emerging

countries, the IEA family also includes  An IEA collective action would be eight association countries. initiated in response to a significant Criteria for membership global oil supply disruption and would • To be a member country of the IEA, a involve IEA Member Countries making country must also be a member country additional volumes of crude and/or of the OECD (The Organisation for product available to the global market Economic Co-operation and Development). (either through increasing supply or o However, membership in the OECD reducing demand), with each does not automatically result in country’s share based on national membership in the IEA. consumption as part of the IEA total oil o China and India are not the consumption. members of IEA.

• In addition, it must demonstrate several requirements. These are:

o Crude oil and/or product reserves equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports; o A demand restraint programme to reduce national oil consumption by up to 10%; o Legislation and organisation to operate the Co-ordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a

national basis; o Legislation and measures to ensure that all oil companies under its jurisdiction report information upon request; o Measures in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action.

Miscellaneous colleges in the country to inculcate democratic values and ethos among youth. 1. Justice Clocks (PIB)

• To make effective use of database created 4. National Metrology Conclave 2021 (PIB) through National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) • The Prime Minister of India will dedicate and to make the information available to ‘National Atomic Timescale’, and ‘Bhartiya public, LED Display Message Sign Board NirdeshakDravya’ to the nation, and lay the System called Justice Clocks have been foundation stone of the ‘National installed in 18 High Courts. Environmental Standards Laboratory’ at the • The purpose of Justice Clock is to bring National Metrology Conclave on 4th January awareness to the public about justice 2021. sector, advertising the various schemes of • The National Atomic Timescale generates the department and to give status of Indian Standard Time with an accuracy of 2.8 various fields to the public. nanosecond.

• Bhartiya NirdeshakDravya is supporting 2. One Nation One Application: National e- testing and calibration of laboratories for Vidhan Application (NeVA) (PIB) quality assurance, at par with international • ‘e-Vidhan’ is one of the 44 Mission Mode standards. Projects (MMPs) under Digital India • The National Environmental Standards Programme to make the working of the all the Laboratory will aid self-reliance in the legislatures paperless. certification of ambient air and industrial • The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been emission monitoring equipment. made the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for the • National Metrology Conclave 2021 is being implementation of e-Vidhan MMP re- organised by Council of Scientific and designating it as National e-Vidhan Industrial Research-National Physical Application (NeVA). Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi, which is • e-Vidhan software of Himachal Pradesh entering into its 75th year of inception. Vidhan Sabha was upgraded as National • The theme of the conclave is ‘Metrology for eVidhan Application (NeVA), a single the Inclusive Growth of the Nation’. application covering all 39 Houses (Lok

Sabha+ Rajya Sabha+ 31 Assemblies+ 6 5. Police K9 Cell (TH) Councils). • A special ‘Police K9 Cell’ was established in

November 2019 under the Police 3. National Youth Parliament Scheme (PIB) Modernization Division of the Ministry of • A new portal based National Youth Parliament Home Affairs with the mandate of Scheme (NYPS) has been developed for ‘Mainstreaming and Augmentation of Police better implementation of the Youth Parliament Service K9s i.e. Police Dogs in the country’. Programme by improving upon process.

• The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been 6. Swasthya (PIB) conducting youth parliament competitions around 8000 schools/ Universities and

• It is a first of its kind e-portal of the Ministry transmission potential of malaria parasites, in of Tribal Affairs, providing all health and previously unappreciated ways. nutrition related information of the tribal • The study found that malaria transmission population of India in a single platform. potential in the sub-Saharan Africa region is higher than previously thought, making 7. C40 Cities (TH) disease elimination even more difficult. • C40 is a network of world’s 97 (as on 3rd Jan • It also noted that parasites can be transmitted 2021) megacities committed to addressing by younger mosquitoes, which are less climate change. C40 supports cities to susceptible to insecticides. collaborate effectively, share knowledge and • For further details on this topic, refer to 3rd drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable Dec file. action on climate change. • Indian cities that are a part of this initiative: 10. The first life forms (TH) Chennai, Delhi NCR and Kolkata. Bengaluru • Chemists have come up with a new and Jaipur are temporarily inactive. proposition for how life may have begun. • In a study, the researchers showed a simple 8. Woolly rhino from the Ice Age found in compound diamidophosphate could have Russia (TH) knitted together the building blocks of DNA to • Recent years have seen major discoveries of form the primordial structures. mammoths, woolly rhinos, Ice Age foal, and • The possibility is that DNA and RNA arose cave lion cubs as the permafrost increasingly together and that the first life forms were a melts across vast areas of Siberia because of mixture of the two. global warming. 11. Tampon Tax (TH) 9. New insights on Malaria (TH) • UK began 2021 by abolishing a 5 per cent • Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites Value Added Tax (VAT) on women’s sanitary and is carried to humans via the bites of products, often referred to as the “tampon infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. tax” and which many activists had described • A new study (PLOS Pathogens) has shown as sexist. that if a mosquito has multiple bouts of blood • It now joins the list of countries which have meal, it can shorten the incubation period of already eliminated this tax, which includes the parasites and increase the malaria India, Australia and Canada. transmission potential. This poses new • The measure is part of a wider UK challenges to the current malaria elimination government effort called ‘End Period strategy. Poverty’. • Malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in endemic regions feed on blood roughly every two to 12. Prayaas Initiative (TH) three days and the study shows that this • The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) launched a natural behaviour strongly promotes the new initiative — Prayaas — to address the

needs of the local communities near its fuel (ASSOCHAM), Confederation of Indian stations. Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian • The personnel from the IOC’s Delhi State Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Office visited night shelters located near their • It aims to establish and operate national fuel stations and distributed blankets. accreditation structure and promote quality through National Quality Campaign. 13. National Integrated Database of • The Department of Industrial Policy & Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) (PIB) Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, • Ministry of Tourism has created the National is the nodal ministry for QCI. Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) to get a clear picture of the 15. East Container Terminal (ECT) (TH) geographical spread of the Hospitality Sector, • Sri Lanka, Japan and India signed an its size, structure and existing capacity. agreement to jointly develop the East • It will serve as a common repository of data Container Terminal at the Colombo Port. from Ministry of Tourism, State Departments • The East Container Terminal (ECT) is located of Tourism and Industry and enable the some 3 km away from the China-backed Central and State Governments to deliver international financial city, known popularly as better support and services including policies “port city”, being built on reclaimed land on and strategies. Colombo’s sea front.

14. System for Assessment, Awareness & 16. Toycathon 2021 (PIB) Training for Hospitality Industry: (SAATHI) • Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women and (PIB) Child Development (MWCD), Ministry of • In order to ensure adherence with the COVID- Textile, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, 19 safety and hygiene protocol, Ministry of Ministry of MSME, Ministry of I&B and All Tourism has undertaken an initiative called India Council for Technical Education SAATHI (System for Assessment, (AICTE) have jointly launched Toycathon- Awareness & Training for Hospitality 2021. Industry) in association with the Quality • This is a special kind of hackathon where Council of India (QCI) for effective students and teachers from schools and implementation of Guidelines/ SOPs issued colleges, design experts, toy experts and with reference to COVID-19 and beyond for startups will get together to crowd source safe operations of Hotels, Restaurants, B&Bs ideas for developing toys and games that are and other units. based on Indian culture and ethos, local Quality Council of India (QCI) folklore and heroes, and Indian value • It was set up in 1997 jointly by the systems. Government of India and the Indian Industry • While this will greatly help India develop into represented by the three premier industry a global hub for toys and games (at associations i.e. Associated Chambers of present India imports 80 per cent of toys), Commerce and Industry of India it will also help our children to understand the

ethos and values of Indian culture as Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1 today on envisaged in the National Education Policy the virtual platform. 2020. • LASI is a full–scale national survey of scientific investigation of the health, 17. Swasth Vayu (PIB) economic, and social determinants and • Swasth Vayu is the non-invasive ventilator consequences of population ageing in India. developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL). 21. Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project (PIB) • Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated 18. Magneto-telluric (MT) (PIB) to the nation the 306 km long Rewari - Madar • Magneto-telluric (MT) is a geophysical section of the Western Dedicated Freight method which uses natural time variation of Corridor (WDFC) today through video the Earth’s magnetic and electic fields to conference. understand geological (underground) • Refer in details, 28th Dec file. structure and processes.

• These measurements can help to ascertain 22. New Industrial Development Scheme for the presence of fluid, which generally Jammu & Kashmir (J&K IDS, 2021) (PIB) enhances the possibility of triggering of • Ministry of Commerce & Industry has earthquakes. formulated New Industrial Development

Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir (J&K IDS, 19. Global Economic Prospects (GEP) Report 2021) as Central Sector Scheme for the (TH) development of Industries in the UT of Jammu • Global economic output is projected to grow & Kashmir. by 4% in 2021 assuming widespread roll-out • The main purpose of the scheme is to of a COVID-19 vaccine throughout the year, generate employment which directly leads to as per the World Bank’sGlobal Economic the socio-economic development of the area. Prospects (GEP) report released recently. • For the first time, any industrial incentive Other Major World Bank Publications scheme is taking the industrial development • Global Economic Prospects, World to the block level. Development Indicators, World Development • Scheme while encouraging new investment, Report, International Debt Statistics, Migration also nurtures the existing industries in J&K by and Development Brief, Ease of Doing providing them working capital support at the Business Index,Human Capital Index (HCI), rate of 5% for 5 years. Human Capital Project (HCP) etc. are among

the major publications of the World Bank. 23. National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)

(PIB) 20. Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) • Context: The National Internet Exchange of Wave-1 (PIB) India (NIXI) announced that it will offer a free • Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) in any released INDIA REPORT on Longitudinal

of their preferred 22 official Indian language with their Android and iOS mobile applications along with every IN domain booked by the (in selected local languages). registrant. Analysis • This offer has been created to stimulate • While the earlier physical version of the adoption of भभभभ (IDN) domain name Government of India Calendar had a reach up and proliferation of local language content. to the Panchayat level in the country, the Analysis digital avatar of the calendar in form of this • NIXI is a not-for-profit Organization under app will be available to anyone across the section 8 of the Companies Act 2013. world. • NIXI was set up for peering of ISPs among • The Government of India Calendar application themselves for the purpose of routing the contains the following features: domestic traffic within the country, instead of o Latest information on various schemes, taking it all the way to US/Abroad, thereby events and publications of Government resulting in better quality of service (reduced of India latency) and reduced bandwidth charges for o Official holidays and various important ISPs by saving on International Bandwidth. dates. • .IN is India’s Country Code Top Level domain o Inspirational and motivational messages (ccTLD). The Govt. of India delegated the from great personalities of our nation. operations of INRegistry to NIXI in 2004. o Provision for taking notes digitally which o The INRegistry operates and manages will be stored with cutting edge security India’s .IN ccTLD. and privacy measures • National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is o Provision for scheduling of meetings and spreading the internet technology to the setting reminders for important tasks and citizens of India through the following events. activities: o Accessibility features for visually o i) Internet Exchanges through which the impaired Divyangjans in coming days internet data is exchanged amongst ISPs fulfilling the goal of Prime Minister’s and between ISPs and CDNs. “Accessible India”/”Sugamya Bharat o ii) IN Registry, managing and operation Abhiyan”. of IN country code domain and भभभभ IDN domain for India. 25. Chameli Devi Jain Award 2020 (TH) o iii) IRINN, managing and operating • The Media Foundation has begun accepting Internet protocol (IPv4/IPv6). nominations for the Chameli Devi Jain Award 2020 for outstanding woman media person. 24. Digital Calendar and Diary of Government • Journalists in the print, digital, broadcast and of India (PIB) current affairs documentary film media are • Context: Union Minister for Information and eligible for the award, including Broadcasting launched the Digital Calendar photographers, cartoonists and newspaper and Diary of Government of India, along designers.

• It was first awarded in 1982 to an outstanding o It is also to promote national integration, woman media person, who had made a spirit of communal harmony, difference through writing with “depth, brotherhood, courage and adventure. dedication, courage and compassion”. o The basic aim is to propagate the spirit, essence and concept of Ek Bharat 26. Mukundpura CM2 (TH) Shreshtha Bharat. • It is a meteorite that fell near Jaipur in • Due to COVID-19, the 24th National Youth 2017. Festival is being held in virtual mode. • It was classified to be a carbonaceous • ‘YUVAAH – UtsahNaye Bharat Ka’ is the chondrite. theme of this year’s festival, which suggests, • This is a type of stony meteorite, considered the youth bring alive the celebration of New the most primitive meteorite and a remnant of India. the first solid bodies to accrete in the solar system. 28. Sea Vigil 21 (PIB) • The composition of carbonaceous chondrites • Context:second edition of largest coastal is also similar to the Sun. defence exercise. Analysis 27. National Youth Festival (PIB) • The second edition of the biennial pan-India • National Youth Festival is celebrated every coastal defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’ will be year from 12th to 16th January. conducted on 12-13 January 2021. • 12th January being the birth anniversary of • The exercise, inaugural edition of which was Swami Vivekananda, is observed as National conducted in January 2019; will be Youth Day. undertaken along the entire 7516 km • This year, the 2ndNational Youth Parliament coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of Festival (NYPF) is also being organized along India and will involve all the 13 coastal States with the National Youth Festival. and Union Territories along with other o The objective of National Youth maritime stakeholders, including the fishing Parliament Festival is to hear the voice and coastal communities. of youth between 18 and less than 25 • The exercise is a build up towards the major years of age, who will join various Theatre level exercise TROPEX [Theatre- careers in coming years, including public level Readiness Operational Exercise] which services. Indian Navy conducts every two years. • The objective of the National Youth • SEA VIGIL and TROPEX together will cover Festival is to bring youth of the country the entire spectrum of maritime security together to showcase their talents; provide challenges, including transition from peace to them an arena, by creating a mini-India, conflict. where youth interact in formal and informal • Assets of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, settings and exchange their social and Customs and other maritime agencies will cultural uniqueness. participate in SEA VIGIL.

29. Management Effectiveness Evaluation software system, providing a total engineering (MEE) (PIB) solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D • Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate product design for students and faculty of Change released Management Engineering Graphics Curriculum. Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of 146 • This initiative aims to provide a great platform National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries in the to students across the country to create and Country. modify 3D digital designs with a free flow of • In order to assess the efficacy of Protected creativity and imagination. Areas, evaluation of management • This software would also enable students to effectiveness is required. collaborate over designs across the network • At present, India has a network of 903 and concurrently access the same design Protected Areas in the country covering about data for storage and visualization. 5% of the total geographic area of the country. 32. SWITCH UAV (TH) • The Indian Army has signed a $20-million 30. Khadi Prakritik Paint (PIB) contract with ideaForge, a player in • Innovative new paint developed by Khadi and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, to Village Industries Commission launched. procure undisclosed quantities of a high- • The eco-friendly, non-toxic paint, is a first-of- altitude variant of SWITCH UAV, an its-kind product, with anti-fungal, anti- indigenous system used in surveillance bacterial properties. operations. • Based on cow dung as its main ingredient, • SWITCH UAV is an indigenous system the paint is cost-effective and odorless, and develop by Indian startupideaforge. has been certified by Bureau of Indian • It is built to cater to the most demanding Standards. surveillance operations of the Indian forces. • Khadi Prakritik Paint is available in two • This fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing forms – distemper paint and plastic emulsion UAV can be deployed at high altitudes and paint. under harsh environments for day and night • Production of Khadi Prakritik Paint is aligned surveillance with the vision of increasing farmers’ income. • The paint is free from heavy metals like lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic, cadmium and others.

31. CollabCAD Software (PIB) • National Informatics Centre (NIC), MeitY along with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Ministry of Education is

jointly launching CollabCAD Software, a 33. Naga Nakti Bird Sanctuary (TH) collaborative network, computer-enabled

• Context:Kalrav, Bihar's first BIrd Festival at 37. Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (TH) Naga Nakti Bird Sanctuary in Jamui District. • The Union Home Ministry issued orders to Analysis suspend Internet in some areas in Delhi under • The Nagi Dam (791 ha) and Nakti Dam (332 a rarely used provision of a British-era Act. ha) are two sanctuaries so close to each other • The order issued under the Temporary that they can be taken as one bird area in Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Bihar. These dams were built to supply water Emergency or Public Safety Rules 2017) of to local farms. the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, had been • The site falls in Biome Indo-Gangetic Plains. issued only twice before — in Delhi on December 19 and 20, 2019, at the height of the protests against the Citizenship 34. ParakramDiwas(PIB) (Amendment) Act. • In order to honour and remember Netaji • The rules framed in 2017 empower the Union Subhas Chandra Bose’s indomitable spirit Home Secretary and a State’s Home and selfless service to the nation, Secretary to pass directions to suspend the Government of India has decided to celebrate telecom services, including the Internet, “due his birthday on the 23rd day of January every to public emergency or public safety.” year as “ParakramDiwas.” 38. Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant(PIB) 35. Indo-French Exercise Desert Knight-21 • Bharat RatnaPandit Govind Ballabh Pant, (PIB) Premier of United Provinces (1937 - 1939), • Indian Air Force and French Air and Space First Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (1946 - Force will conduct a bilateral Air exercise, Ex 1954) and Union Home Minister (1955 - 1961) Desert Knight-21 at Air Force Station Jodhpur was a recipient of the highest civilian award from 20 to 24 Jan 21. for Public Service, the Bharat Ratna in 1957, besides being the leader of the Rajya Sabha. • Mains Question: How is food security different from nutrition security? Do you think 39. Prabuddha Bharata (PIB) that the time has come to switch the focus of • Context: Prime Minister of India will address our approach from food security to nutrition the 125th anniversary celebrations of • security? ‘Prabuddha Bharata’, a monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, started by Swami 36. Inequality Virus Report(TH) Vivekananda in 1896. • Indian billionaires increased their wealth by Analysis 35% during the lockdown, ranking India after • The journal ‘Prabuddha Bharata’ has been an U.S., China, Germany, Russia and France, important medium for spreading the message according to Oxfam’s ‘Inequality Virus of India’s ancient spiritual wisdom. Report’ released on the opening day of the • Its publication was started from Chennai World Economic Forum in Davos. (erstwhile Madras), where it continued to be

published for two years, after which it was published from Almora. o Later, in April 1899, the place of publication of the Journal was shifted to Advaita Ashrama and it has been continuously published from there since then. • Some of the greatest personalities have left their imprint on the pages of ‘Prabuddha Bharata’ through their writings on Indian culture, spirituality, philosophy, history, psychology, art, and other social issues. Luminaries like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sister Nivedita, Sri Aurobindo, Former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, among others, have contributed to the Journal over the years.

40. Export of Chili and Turmeric (PIB) • Context:14th Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) conducted by Spices Board in FY 2020-21, covering Chili and Turmeric. • India is the world’s largest exporter of chili and turmeric, the exports of which have recorded a steady progress, over the years. • During 2019-20, chili and chili products contributed to more than 40 per cent in volume and 29 per cent in value of India’s total spice exports. • Turmeric held a share of 11 per cent in volume and 6 per cent in value of the export basket.