BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy

Preface

Even after all this time the Sun never tells the earth, “You owe me”. Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky. ~Hafiz

We humans are rational beings. We need logics to understand the phenomena happening around us. This inquisitive nature of humans has led to various discoveries, inventions and other scientific advances. Despite all this, there are still some questions which remain unanswered and have remained so since the beginning of the time. The questions like- How and why time came into being? How and why the universe came into being? What is the purpose of human life on this earth? And the biggest puzzle that boggles our minds is on death and after-death phenomena. Ajit Singh, DIG (Retd)

Similarly, we need answers to the social phenomena happening around us. The most disturbing question is that despite possessing a rational mind, why many amongst us wish to be the slaves of illegitimate fantasies? The purpose might be to satisfy the queries that I have mentioned above. I am talking about the blind faith that millions of Indians have invested in various religious institutions, sects, deras et al. I call faith an “investment”, because faith is something which is expected to yield manifolds. As a rational being, I would like to invest my time, my intellect, my energy and my trust somewhere I can get a return from. That return may be in the form of answers to the above mentioned questions or simply a feeling of peace and solace and ultimately make me more humane. But does and should faith lead to a path of inhumanity, wealth amassment, violence, hate and lies? This question is more important than any other question mentioned in this article.

There is a fine line difference between “faith” and “blind faith”. Faith leads you to truth, light and love. Blind faith leads to darkness, violence, irrationality, hopelessness, shattered expectations, broken trust and ultimately lower self-confidence. Faith helps you reach insurmountable heights.

Indian society has laid emphasis on religion since ages. We have tied to discover things with closed eyes and folded hands. And through our scriptures, we find that our Vedic ancestors already knew the things that were discovered during renaissance in the western world. We should take pride in our ancestral knowledge. But I think presently, we are falling in to the dark valleys of hopelessness and despair. There are stark differences of intellects and lifestyles in our society. And then there are penumbral regions, wherein even the educated masses are following the illegitimate religious institutions. Where are these phenomena leading our society to?

Swami Vivekananda once said, “Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God---this is the secret of greatness. If you have faith in the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological gods, and in all the Gods which foreigners have now and again introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need. “

And, I believe that the answers to the questions should be sought within and not without. Have faith in yourself, in your faculties, in your capabilities and the God inside you.

Team BrainyIAS has tried its best to present you the best monthly current affairs in the best format. Have faith and learn from the best team. I wish you all the success!!

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy

Contents ART AND CULTURE ...... 6 1. Seven Social Sins ...... 6 2. Buddha’s Eight-fold Path to Liberation (Nirvana) ...... 7 3. Satyagraha Ashram...... 7 GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY ...... 9 4. Food Wastage in India ...... 9 5. Larsen C Shelf Calving ...... 11 6. Sustainable Development Goals ...... 11 7. The Sixth Mass Extinction: Biodiversity Loss ...... 16 8. Bottom Trawling ...... 17 9. Zero Waste Goals ...... 18 10. Inland Waterways...... 20 POLITY AND GOVERNANCE ...... 22 11. Skill India Mission ...... 22 12. Election of President of India ...... 25 13. Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report On SDGs ...... 27 14. The National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017 ...... 29 15. Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 ...... 30 16. Accessible India Campaign ...... 31 17. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 ...... 34 18. National Population Policy ...... 35 19. Malnutrition in India...... 38 20. Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Scheme ...... 39 21. Judicial Appointments ...... 40 22. National Commission On Backward Classes (NCBC)...... 41 23. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme ...... 42 24. Student-Scientist connect programme “JIGYASA”...... 43 25. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 ...... 44 26. Prevention Of Corruption Act, 1988 ...... 45

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy 27. Lokpal Bill ...... 46 28. Handloom Industry ...... 47 29. National Biopharma Mission ...... 49 30. PMAY - Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ...... 51 31. Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana ...... 52 32. Smart Cities ...... 53 33. Why Codification Of The Parliamentary Privileges? ...... 55 34. Parliamentary Privileges and Immunities in Indian Constitution ...... 57 35. Agricultural Reforms And Their Impacts ...... 59 36. TRADEMARKS ...... 61 ECONOMY ...... 64 37. Objectives Of GST- Anti Profiteering Measures ...... 64 38. Poverty And Inclusiveness ...... 65 39. FDI AND FII...... 66 40. Make In India ...... 68 41. Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 ...... 69 42. MSCI Index ...... 71 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ...... 72 43. Super-Flexible And Strong Artificial Silk ...... 72 44. Paediatric Fixed-Dose Combination For Childern With TB ...... 72 45. Zoonoses and India ...... 73 46. Industrial Internet Of Things (IIOT) ...... 74 47. Rukmani/GSAT-A ...... 76 48. E-Waybill...... 77 49. GeneXpert Machine ...... 78 50. Petya/ NotPetya Ransomware ...... 78 51. Weather Portal for Power Sector ...... 78 SECURITY...... 81 52. Sikkim Agitation (Gorkhaland) ...... 81 53. Sikkim Issue Explained ...... 82 54. Rohingya Refugees (Rohingya Muslims) ...... 83 55. Aadhaar and National Security ...... 85

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND GLOBAL ISSUES ...... 88 56. Lessons India Could learn from TPP ...... 88 57. Group of Twenty (G-20) ...... 88 58. Resolving Bilateral Irritants With Iran ...... 90 59. India, China - Doklam Plateau Standoff ...... 90 60. Indo-Israel Relations ...... 92 61. Malabar Exercise ...... 93 62. GCC- Gulf Cooperation Council ...... 94 63. Crisis in the Gulf and its implications for India ...... 95 SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES ...... 97 64. Caste Discrimination ...... 97 ETHICS ...... 99 65. Emotional Intelligence- Concept ...... 99 66. Standards of Public life for Civil Servants ...... 101 67. Sexual Harassment at Work Place ...... 102

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy ART AND CULTURE Seven Social Sins

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 4  Seven social sins

Introduction

 Seven Social Sins is a list that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi published in his weekly newspaper Young India on October 22, 1925.

Seven Social Sins By Gandhi Ji  Wealth without work.  Pleasure without conscience.  Knowledge without character.  Commerce without morality.  Science without humanity.  Religion without sacrifice.  Politics without principle.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Buddha’s Eight-fold Path to Liberation (Nirvana)

Relevancy  GS Prelims  GS Mains paper I, IV  Art and Culture, teachings of great religious teachers and philosophers.

The Eight fold path recommended by Buddha for attaining salvation is as follows:  Right Vision: One can attain right vision by removing ignorance. Ignorance creates a wrong idea of the relationship between the world and the self. It is on account of wrong understanding of man that he takes the non-permanent world as permanent. Thus, the right view of the world and its objects is the right vision.  Right Resolve: It is the strong will-power to destroy thoughts and desires that harm others. It includes sacrifice, sympathy and kindness towards others.  Right Speech: Man should control his speech by right resolve. It means to avoid false or unpleasant words by criticizing others.  Right Conduct: It is to avoid activities which harm life. It means to be away from theft, excessive eating, the use of artificial means of beauty, jewellery, comfortable beds, gold etc.  Right Means of Livelihood: Right livelihood means to earn one’s bread and butter by right means. It is never right to earn money by unfair means like fraud, bribery, theft, etc.  Right Effort: It is also necessary to avoid bad feelings and bad impressions. It includes self-control, stopping or negation of sensuality and bad thoughts, and awakening of good thoughts.  Right Mindfulness: It means to keep one’s body, heart and mind in their real form. Bad thoughts occupy the mind when their form is forgotten. When actions take place according to the bad thoughts, one has to experience pain.  Right Concentration: If a person pursues the above seven Rights, he will be able to concentrate properly and rightly. One can attain nirvana by right concentration (meditation).

Satyagraha Ashram

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 1  Satyagraha Ashram  History

Satyagraha Ashram  Sabarmati Ashram, formerly known as 'Satyagraha Ashram", situated in Ahmedabad at the Kocharab Bungalow of Jivanlal Desai, a barrister.  Later on it was shifted to the banks of Sabarmati river and then it came to be known as 'Sabarmati Ashram'.  Gandhi stayed at the Ashram from 1915 to 1933 later on the Ashram was disbanded.  The Ashram is a witness to many important historical events.

History  "This is the right place for our activities to carry on the search for Truth and develop Fearlessness- for on one side, are the iron bolts of the foreigners, and on the other, thunderbolts of Mother Nature".- This is how Gandhiji described the site of Sabarmati Ashram when he first visited the place for assessing if it was suitable for carrying out his work.  The site of 36 acres was a waste land full of snakes, but the order was not to kill them.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The Satyagraha Ashram, later renamed as Harijan Ashram, was started in all earnest with a two-fold purpose- one was to carry on the search for Truth, and the other was to create a non-violent group of workers, who would create a non-violent group of workers, who would organize and help to secure freedom for the country.  The Satyagraha Ashram was founded on May 25, 1915 in Ahmedabad at Kochrab, when Gandhi returned from South Africa, with 25 inmates. The Ashram was shifted on the bank of river Sabarmati in July 1917. Devoted ashramites led a community life in search of Truth and Non-violence under his guidance.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

Food Wastage in India

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  About food wastage  Food wastage in India  Food security laws in India  Disposal and Results of food wastage  Some facts

Recently  PM brought up the issue of food wastage in India on his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on radio, asking people not to waste food and linked food wastage with people’s behavior  But there is a need to frame a comprehensive strategy by combining the efforts of the government, civil society as well as private sector.  France became the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from destroying unsold food, instead asking them to donate it to charities or food banks or send it to the farmers to be used as fertilisers in crop production.

Food Wastage in India  According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one third of food produced for human consumption is wasted globally.  With India’s Rank in Global Hunger Index, 2016, food wastage is a big concern as wasted food can feed many others.  India ranked 97th among 118 countries in the global Hunger Index for 2016.  About 20 crore people go to bed hungry and 7,000 people die of hunger every day; wastage of food is not less than a social delinquency.  Nearly, 21 million tonnes of wheat are wasted in India every year.  A study by the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, revealed that only 10% of food is covered by cold storage facilities in India.

Food Security Laws In India  Public Distribution System (PDS) is the most important step taken by the Government of India (GoI) towards ensuring food security. In the beginning the coverage of PDS was universal with no discrimination between the poor and non-poor.  From June 1997, in a renewed attempt, Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced to adopt the principle of targeting the ‘poor in all areas’. It was for the first time that a differential price policy was adopted for poor and non-poor.  Further, in 2000, two special schemes were launched viz., Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and the Annapurna Scheme (APS) with special target groups of ‘poorest of the poor’ and ‘indigent senior citizens’, respectively.  The PDS has proved to be the most effective instrument of government policy over the years in stabilising prices and making food available to consumers at affordable prices. It has been instrumental in averting widespread hunger and famine by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to the deficit ones.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  In addition, the prices have been under revision in favour of poor households in general. The system, including the minimum support price and procurement has contributed to an increase in food grain production and provided income security to farmers in certain regions.

What is food wastage?  Food waste is the food that is discarded or lost uneaten.  The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption.  Food waste has a negative impact on the environment, on the economy, on food security and on nutrition  Under the UN's Save Food initiative, the FAO, UNEP and stakeholders have agreed the following definition of food loss and waste: o Food waste (which is a component of food loss) is any removal of food from the food supply chain which is or was at some point fit for human consumption, or which has spoiled or expired, mainly caused by economic behaviour, poor stock management or neglect. o Food loss is the decrease in quantity or quality of food. Food loss in the production and distribution segments of the food supply chain is mainly a function of the food production and supply system or its institutional and legal framework.

Results Of Food Wastage  Not enough food for all, particularly poor, which leads to large number of deaths due to hunger.  Green House gas emission due to landfills o Methane, or CH4, is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas that is released into the air, also produced by landfills o Dumping food waste in a landfill causes odour as it decomposes, attracts flies and vermin, and has the potential to add biological oxygen demand (BOD) to the leachate.  Land degradation  Economic losses

Disposal For Waste Food  Food waste can be biodegraded by composting, and reused to fertilize soil.  Food waste can be composted to produce soil and fertilizer, fed to animals, or used to produce energy or fuel.  By redistributing nutrients and high microbial populations, compost reduces water runoff and soil erosion by enhancing rainfall penetration, which has been shown to reduce the loss of sediment, nutrients, and pesticide losses to streams by 75-95%.

Food wastage Facts  1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year  This amounts to US$1 trillion dollars of wasted or lost food  If wasted food was a country, it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, after the United States and China  Just one quarter of all wasted food could feed the 795 million undernourished people around the world who suffer from hunger  Food waste in rich countries (222 million tons) is approximately equivalent to all of the food produced in Sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tons)  A European or North American consumer wastes almost 100 kilograms of food annually, which is more than his or her weight (70 kilograms)  A European or North American consumer wastes 15 times more food than a typical African consumer  Lack of technology and infrastructure is the main cause of food waste in Africa, as opposed to household food waste in the developed world  Food waste in Europe alone could feed 200 million hungry people  Food waste generates 3.3 billions tons of carbon dioxide, which accelerates global climate change

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy

Larsen C Shelf Calving

Relevancy  G.S. Preliminary exam  G.S. mains paper 3  Environment, Climatic change, global warming, Antarctica, larsen C shelf.

Recently:  A giant crack in one of Antarctica's largest ice shelf has calved out a Delaware-sized block of ice.  The crack in the ice shelf, called Larsen C, has broken out towards the Southern Ocean.  A glacier behind the ice block could destabilize after this calving event.

Historically:  Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves retreated each year since 1980 by about 300 sq.km.  This erosion has been interspersed by two previous collapses of smaller ice shelves, Larsen A in 1995 and Larsen B in 2002

Reasons of the break off and its impact:  Scientists from Project MIDAS (Melt on Ice Shelf Dynamics and Stability project), a U.K.-based Antarctic research project have been keeping a watch over the crack since last many years.  As per the scientists, the formation of icebergs is natural, and no link to human-induced climate change was available in this case.  However, the melting of the iceberg due to antrhopogenic activities is going to have long term climatic changes. There is a exponential rise in the Green house gases due to fast industrialisation of the world. Burning of fossil fuels is also contributing to the global warming.  The sea levels are bound to rise. Biodiversity is also at risk, as species like emperor Penguine, which are dependent on sea ice to complet their life cycle may become extinct in the future.

Figure: Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica Sustainable Development Goals

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 3  What are sustainable development goals?  List of SDGs

What are the Sustainable Development Goals?

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also called the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.  These 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another.  The SDGs are an inclusive agenda. They tackle the root causes of poverty and unite us together to make a positive change for both people and planet.  The SDGs came into effect in January 2016, and they will continue guide UNDP policy and funding for the next 15 years.

The 17 SDGs are listed below:  Goal 1: No Poverty  Goal 2: Zero Hunger  Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being  Goal 4: Quality Education  Goal 5: Gender Equality  Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation  Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy  Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth  Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure  2Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities  Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities  Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production  Goal 13: Climate Action  Goal 14: Life Below Water  Goal 15: Life on Land  Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions  Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The 17 SDGs along with key facts and figures are as follows: Goal 1: No Poverty No Poverty - End poverty in all its forms everywhere  Extreme poverty has been cut by more than half since 1990- however; more than 1 in 5 people live on less than $1.25 a day.  Poverty is more than lack of income or resources- it includes lack of basic services, such as education, hunger, social discrimination and exclusion, and lack of participation in decision making.  Gender inequality plays a large role in the perpetuation of poverty and its risks; they then face potentially life-threatening risks from early pregnancy, and often lost hopes for an education and a better income.  Age groups are affected differently when struck with poverty; its most devastating effects are on children, to whom it poses a great threat. It affects their education, health, nutrition, and security. It also negatively affects the emotional and spiritual development of children through the environment it creates. Goal 2: Zero Hunger Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture  Globally, 1 in 9 people are undernourished, the vast majority of these people live in developing countries  Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for 40 per cent of today’s global population. It is the largest source of income and jobs for poor rural households. Women comprise on average 43 per cent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, and over 50 per cent in parts of Asia and Africa, yet they only own 20% of the land.  Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45 per cent) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children each year.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Goal 2 targets:  By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.  By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.  By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.  By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.  By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.  Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries.  Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round.  Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility. Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being Good Health and Well-being - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages  Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality, and major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS.  However, only half of women in developing countries have received the health care they need, and the need for family planning is increasing exponentially, while the need met is growing slowly - more than 225 million women have an unmet need for contraception.  An important target is to substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from pollution-related diseases. Targets of 3rd SDG: 1 By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births 2 By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births 3 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases 4 By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being 5 Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol 6 By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy 7 By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes 8 Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health- care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all 9 By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination Goal 4: Quality Education Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.  Major progress has been made for education access, specifically at the primary school level, for both boys and girls. However, access does not always mean quality of education, or completion of primary school. Currently, 103 million youth worldwide still lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women.  Target 1 "By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes"- shows the commitment to nondiscriminatory education outcomes Goal 5: Gender Equality Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls  Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large  While a record 143 countries guaranteed equality between men and women in their Constitutions by 2014, another 52 had not taken this step. In many nations, gender discrimination is still woven through legal and social norms  Though goal 5 is the gender equality stand-alone goal, the SDG's can only be successful if women are completely integrated into each and every goal Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation Clean Water and Sanitation - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Some of the targets are:  "By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all."  "By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations."  "By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally."  WASH experts have stated that without progress on Goal 6, the other goals and targets cannot be achieved. Safe drinking water and hygienic toilets protect people from disease and enable societies to be productive. Attending school and work without disruption is a precursor to education and employment, both of which are the foundation of alleviating poverty. A study from 2016 showed how sanitation, when done with a resource recovery and reuse focus can contribute towards achieving at least fourteen of the SDGs, especially in an urban context. Recovering the resources embedded in excreta and wastewater like nutrients, water and energy contributes towards achieving Goal 12 (sustainable consumption and production) and Goal 2 (zero hunger) while ensuring adequate sanitation and wastewater management along the entire value chain in cities contributes to Goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities), Goal 1 (no poverty) and Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth). Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy Affordable and Clean Energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all Goal 7 targets :  By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services  By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix  By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology  By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, Small Island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth  Decent Work and Economic Growth - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.  World Pensions Council (WPC) development economists have argued that the twin considerations of long- term economic growth and infrastructure investment weren’t prioritized enough: “More worryingly, ‘Work and Economic Growth’ and ‘Technological Innovation and Infrastructure Investment’ joined the [SDGs] priority list at number 8 and number 9 respectively, a rather mediocre ranking which defies economic common sense”. Goal 8 targets:  Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries  Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors  Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services  Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10- year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead  By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value  By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training  Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms  Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment  By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products  Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all  Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries  By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization. Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities Reduced Inequalities - Reduce income inequality within and among countries. Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Sustainable Cities and Communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production Responsible Consumption and Production - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Goal 13: Climate Action Climate Action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy.  Nations and other parties negotiating at the UN have highlighted the links between the post-2015 SDG process, the Financing for Development process to be concluded in Addis Ababa in July 2015, and the COP 21 Climate Change conference in Paris in December 2015.  In May 2015, a report concluded that only a very ambitious climate deal in Paris in 2015 will enable countries to reach the sustainable development goals and targets. The report also states that tackling climate change will only be possible if the SDGs are met. Further, development and climate are inextricably linked, particularly around poverty, gender equality, and energy. The UN encourages the public sector to take initiative in this effort to minimize negative impacts on the environment.  This renewed emphasis on climate change mitigation was made possible by the partial Sino-American convergence that developed in 2015-2016, notably at the UN COP21 summit (Paris) and ensuing G20 conference (Hangzhou). Goal 14: Life Below Water  Life Below Water - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development  The United Nations Ocean Conference of 2017 sought to find ways and call for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14. Goal 15: Life on Land  Life on Land - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions  Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals  Partnerships for the Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

The Sixth Mass Extinction: Biodiversity Loss

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 3  Results of the study  Reasons of decline in biodiversity  How you can contribute?

Recently  According to a study published in U.S. Journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,biological annihilation is occurring globally and the sixth mass extinction is unfolding quicker than feared.  More than 30% of animals with a backbone — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — are declining in both range and population, according to the first comprehensive analysis of these trends.

Results of the study (The Sixth Mass Extinction)

 Globally, the mass die-off — deemed to be the sixth in the last half-billion years — is the worst since three-quarters of life on the Earth, including the non-avian dinosaurs, were wiped out 66 million years ago by a giant meteor impact.  The study conducted by the scientists at Stanford provides data about the mapping the dwindling ranges and population of 27,600 species, threat to wildlife, covering the data from the period from 1900 to 2015.  The mammal species monitored under the survey have lost nearly a third of their original habitat.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  40 percent of these mammals, including gorillas, orangutans, rhinos and other big cats are surviving on 20 percent and less of the land they once roamed.  There is rapid loss of biodiversity, specifically in tropical regions, and every year nearly two vertebrate species disappear.  Mammals like lions, giraffes, cheetahs, which were once safe, are now under endangered category.  According to the study, there are o Less than 7,000 cheetahs, o Only 20,000 lions left in the wild, o About 250 sumatran rhinoceros. o 500 to 1,000 giant pandas,

Reasons of decline in biodiversity

 Invasive species  Habitat loss and alteration  Pollution  Over consumption  Disease  Climate change  Poaching in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts.

How you can contribute?

 Don’t buy animals and rare plants or objects produced with tortoise shells, ivory, exotic feathers, shark teeth, fur, coral and shells:  Don’t deteriorate the environment  Avoid killing organisms with no reason  Move preferably on foot, by bike and public transport  Try to avoid all any energy waste  Don’t feed wild animals as you could alter the delicate balance of the food chain and involuntarily cause their death.  When it’s possible favour recycled products  Plan your day on biodiversity to admire different species and learn to recognize them.  Always remember that in every natural environment where you might be, from forest to sea, we are always guests and as such we should respect all life forms, including those which seem most insignificant

Bottom Trawling

Recently  G.S. Paper 3  What is bottom trawling?  Environmental Impacts of bottom trawling

Recently  Recently Srilanka put a ban on bottom trawling which is a destructive fishing practice in the Palk Bay region since the beginning.  Sri Lanka has imposed a ban on bottom trawling and imposed a fine of approximately Rs 20,000 on violators with two years imprisonment.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Sri Lanka’s this decision will affect many fishermen of Tamil Nadu who have their source of income through fishing, as Tamil fishermen often enter the Sri Lanka’s territorial water and engage in bottom trawling.

Bottom Trawling  Bottom trawling, also known as "dragging", is an industrial way of fishing.  Large nets, called "drag nets", are tossed into the ocean and they sink to the bottom.  As the ship sails, the net drags across the bottom of the ocean, collecting cod and haddock, like planned, but also capturing dolphins, endangered turtles and disrupting coral reefs.

Environmental Impacts Of Bottom Trawling  A major negative effect from trawling is the by catch. o By catch is all the animals and plants that were captured accidentally in the drag net. o When by-catch is hauled on board, the creatures are at this point usually injured or already dead, and they are tossed over the side to die or decompose in the ocean. o Some examples of by-catch would be coral, dolphins, water foul and endangered sea creatures of any sort..  By-catch can amount to an astonishing 90% of a trawls haul. Meaning at times only 10% of the creatures caught in a drag net were meant to be caught, and the others were unnecessarily harmed, stressed out or killed.  The drag net tends to cause a lot of damage to the ocean floor as it drags across delicate ecosystems, uprooting plants and destroying habitats.

Zero Waste Goals

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  Environmental Issues  Waste elimination and management

Recently:

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The unique way of tackling the waste management problems and coming up with the slogan “Our waste, Our problem”; gated communities and apartment complexes on Old Mahabalipuram Road find their way in the headlines by serving as torchbearers in the zero-waste movement on the IT Corridor and surrounding areas.  Various approaches adopted by them include Door-to-door pick-up of waste, a common color-code based method for segregation of waste, etc.

Background:  Urban India is the world’s third largest garbage generator with 1,41,064 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste created every day, according to a 2014-15 Central Pollution Control Board report.  To enable segregation and waste management, after the compulsory Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the Central Government has now launched a “Two Bin Campaign” under the Swachh Bharat Mission to create awareness about the importance of waste segregation.

What is Zero Waste:  Zero Waste refers to waste management and planning approaches which emphasize waste prevention as opposed to end-of-pipe waste management.  It is a whole systems approach that aims for a massive change in the way materials flow through society, resulting in no waste. Zero waste encompasses more than eliminating waste through recycling and reuse, it focuses on restructuring production and distribution systems to reduce waste.

Waste segregation and Swachh Bharat Mission:  Waste segregation at source simply means that citizens at the household level just need to sort the waste they create every day. The Government is set to launch a pan India campaign to achieve goals of 100% waste segregation and garbage free cities.  This initiative will be assisted by the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Mission Shilpa Shetty.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio programme, said that under the massive cleanliness drive, waste bins of blue and green colors will be distributed to follow the practice of segregating dry and wet waste.  This massive campaign was launch across 4000 cities on 5th June, the World Environment Day and will run until October 2, 2017 and once completed it will aim to set a world record for the maximum number of people pledging to segregate waste. Once completed, aims to set a world record for the maximum number of people pledging to segregate waste.  The waste segregation will be enabled by using 2 distinct colored bins which will be distributed in cities across India along with an awareness drive in which people will be told that kitchen waste like vegetable peels, leftover food, egg shells or leaves are all part of liquid waste and are to be placed in green litter bins. The second type of waste is considered dry waste that can be recycled by machines, like old newspapers, cardboard, iron, glass, cloth, plastic, leather, polythene, broken boxes, rubber, metals has to be placed in the blue waste bin.  The same will be done with the help of the State Governments and municipal representatives.

Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016:  Under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, the segregation of waste is already compulsory across India, but, many are unaware of these rules.  But the problem of unawareness was being faced while the implementation.  Hence, in order to overcome this issue, the Centre is now taking steps, not only to create awareness but also to promote the importance of waste management among people in this unique way by asking to use varied colored bins.

World Environment Day:  World Environment Day (also called as WED) has been started celebrating as an annual event on every 5th of June since 1973 in order to raise the global awareness about the importance of the healthy and green

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy environment in the human lives, to solve the environmental issues by implementing some positive environmental actions.  And each year it follows one theme. World Environment Day 2017 Theme is “Connecting People to Nature– in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator”. The host nation is Canada. The main aim of World Environment Day is for encouraging worldwide awareness for the protection of our environment. Inland Waterways

Relevancy:  GS paper 1  Inland Waterways Authority of India  Inland Waterways Transport (IWT)

Inland Waterways Authority of India:  Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the legal authority in-charge of the waterways in India and was created by the Govt. of India on 27 October 1986.  Its headquarters is located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh and regional offices are at Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi and sub-offices at Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhagalpur, Farrakka and Kollam.  The function of IWAI is to build necessary infrastructure in the waterways, survey the economic possibilities of new projects, administrate, develop and regulate the waterways for navigation and shipping.  The Authority undertakes various infrastructure development works on national waterways. It also carries out feasibility studies and prepares proposals for declaration of other waterways as National Waterways. It also assists States in development of Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) sector and provides subsidy to IWT operators for acquiring IWT fleet for transportation of cargo and passengers.

Inland Waterways transport:  Inland Water Transport (IWT) is a fuel efficient, environment friendly and cost-effective mode of transport having potential to supplement the over-burdened rail and congested roads.  For this, however, it is necessary that IWT mode is developed with public funding at least to a threshold level at which private sector would get attracted to this mode.  Rapid growth of roads, coupled with inadequate development of IWT sector over the years gave a decisive set back to IWT and in the later years of 20th century, except in a few areas namely, Assam, Goa, Kerala, Mumbai,West Bengal, and some other coastal areas (where it has natural advantage and no developmental intervention was needed), the IWT sector was marginalized.

Existing National Waterways before passing of the Bill:  National Waterway 1 (NW1): The National Waterway No. 1 uses a 1,620-kilometre stretch of the Ganges River. It was declared a national waterway in the year 1986 and runs from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal.  National Waterway 2 (NW2): The National Waterway No. 2 consists of an 891-kilometre stretch on the Brahmaputra River. The waterway was declared on September 1, 1988, and uses the stretch from Dhubri near the Assam-Bangladesh border and Sadiya in North-East Assam.  National Waterway 3 (NW3): Popularly known as the West Coast Canal, the National Waterway No. 3 is a 168-kilometre stretch that runs from Kollam to Kottapuram in Kerala. The waterway does not follow a specific river. It consists of several canals that form the Kerala Backwaters.  National Waterway 4 (NW4): The most complex inland waterway, the National Waterway No. 4, was declared on November 24 in 2008. The waterway consists of the Kakinada-Pondicherry stretch of canals, the Kaluvelly tank, Bhadrachalam-Rajahmundry stretch of River Godavari and the Wazirabad-Vijayawada stretch of River Krishna.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  National Waterway 5 (NW5): The waterway was declared in November 2008. The NW5 consists of stretches from Talcher to Dhamra on River Brahmani, the Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of the East Coast Canal, the Charbatia-Dhamra stretch of River Matai and the Mangalgadi-Paradip stretch of River Mahanadi Delta.

Laws on Waterways:  The National Waterways Act, 2016 is an Act of Parliament of India. It was tabled in Lok Sabha by Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.  The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had approved to pass the official amendment of the National Waterways Bill, 2015.  This will add 106 inland waterways to the existing six National Waterways on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and comments of several state governments.  The bill will also look after the renovation and maintenance of the existing waterways.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy POLITY AND GOVERNANCE Skill India Mission

Relevancy:  GS Prelims  GS Mains Paper I, II and III  Employment opportunities, Social welfare schemes, evaluation of schemes, reaping demographic dividend in India.

Recently:  The second anniversary of Skill India Mission was celebrated on the World Youth Skills day on 15th July.  Takshashila - a portal for trainers and assessors that would track their training life-cycle and would function as the central repository of information concerning the development of their quality benchmarks in the Indian skill eco-system was also launched by MSDE (Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship).  National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) was also launched.

Background:  Skill India campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi on 15 July 2015.  India is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 62% of the population in the working age group (15-59 years), and more than 54% of the total population below 25 years of age. Based on data from the 68th Round of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), it is estimated that only 4.69% of India’s total workforce has undergone formal skill training, compared with 52% in the USA, 68% in the UK, 75% in Germany, 80% in Japan and 96% in South Korea. The Mission proposes to enhance the employability of the people thereby reaping the demographic dividend.  Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development in a country. As opposed to developed countries, where the percentage of skilled workforce is between 60% and 90% of the total workforce, India records a low 4.69% of workforce (20-24 years) with formal vocational skills.  Its main aim is to train over 40 crore people in India in different skills by 2022.  The National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Directorate of Training function under the overall guidance of the Mission.  It includes various initiatives of the government like: o National Skill Development Mission o National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 o Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) o Skill Loan scheme o Rural India Skill o SANKALP (Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Programme) Let’s have a look on major initiatives under Skill India Mission.

1. National Skill Development Mission

 The Mission statement is: To rapidly scale up skill development efforts in India, by creating an end-to- end, outcome-focused implementation framework, which aligns demands of the employers for a well- trained skilled workforce with aspirations of Indian citizens for sustainable livelihoods.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is the nodal administrative ministry for the Mission  The National Skill Development and Entrepreneurship policy of 2015 forms the backbone of National Skill Development Mission.  Skills development is considered as the shared responsibility of government, employers and individual workers, with NGOs, community based organizations, private training organizations and other stakeholders playing a critical role.  The policy links skills development to improved employability and productivity to pave the way forward for inclusive growth in the country.  “Skill India programmes” goes alongside the “Make in India” campaign – i.e, enhancing the supply of skilled labourers to encourage producers to undertake their manufacturing initiatives in India. The new Policy has four thrust areas: o It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers, etc. o Further, the Policy seeks to align supply and demand for skills by bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalising a quality assurance framework, leverage technology and promoting greater opportunities for apprenticeship training. o Equity is also a focus of the Policy, which targets skilling opportunities for socially/geographically marginalised and disadvantaged groups. Skill development and entrepreneurship programmes for women are a specific focus of the Policy. o In the entrepreneurship domain, the Policy seeks to educate and equip potential entrepreneurs, both within and outside the formal education system. It also seeks to connect entrepreneurs to mentors, incubators and credit markets, foster innovation and entrepreneurial culture, improve ease of doing business and promote a focus on social entrepreneurship.

Policy framework for entrepreneurship The entrepreneurship policy framework has been developed to address the objectives mentioned above. Vibrant entrepreneurship requires support from an enabling ecosystem of culture, finance, expertise, infrastructure, skills and business friendly regulation. Many government and nongovernment organizations are playing enabling roles across each of these crucial supporting elements. This policy framework, cognizant of the need for the full ecosystem to be present to unlock entrepreneurial potential, proposes a nine part entrepreneurship strategy:

 Educate and equip potential and early stage entrepreneurs across India  Connect entrepreneurs to peers, mentors and incubators.  Support entrepreneurs through Entrepreneurship Hubs (EHubs).  Catalyse a culture shift to encourage entrepreneurship.  Encourage entrepreneurship among underrepresented groups.  Promote entrepreneurship amongst women  Improve ease of doing business.  Improve access to finance.  Foster social entrepreneurship and grassroots innovations

The National Skill Development Mission has a three-tiered, high powered decision making structure.  Governing Council: At its apex, the Mission’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, will provide overall guidance and policy direction.  Steering Committee: The Steering Committee, chaired by Minister in Charge of Skill Development, will review the Mission’s activities in line with the direction set by the Governing Council.  Mission Directorate: The Mission Directorate, with Secretary, Skill Development as Mission Director, will ensure implementation, coordination and convergence of skilling activities across Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Mission Strategy National Skill Development Mission will initially consist of seven sub-missions under its purview. Each sub-mission will act as a building block for achieving the overall objectives of the Mission. Key focus areas of the sub-mission include:

 addressing the long-term and short-term skilling needs through revamp of existing institutional training framework and establishing new institutions  undertake sector specific skill training initiatives  ensure convergence of existing skill development programmes  leverage existing public infrastructure for skilling  focus on training of trainers  facilitate overseas employment, and  promote sustainable livelihoods. 2. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

 This is the flagship scheme for skill training of youth to be implemented by the new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The scheme will cover 24 lakh persons.  Skill training would be done based on the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and industry led standards. PMKVY logo  Under the scheme, a monetary reward is given to trainees on assessment and certification by third party assessment bodies.  The average monetary reward would be around Rs.8000 per trainee.  The scheme would be implemented through NSDC training partners. Currently NSDC has 187 training partners that have over 2300 centres.  In addition, Central / State Government affiliated training providers would also be used for training under the scheme.  All training providers will have to undergo a due diligence before being eligible for participating under this scheme.  Focus under the PMKVY would be on improved curricula, better pedagogy and better trained instructors.  Training would include soft skills, personal grooming, behavioral change for cleanliness, good work ethics.  Sector Skill Councils and the State Governments would closely monitor skill training that will happen under PMKVY.

Criticism of PMKVY: I. Misutilisation of funds: With many of the initial loans doled out by the NSDC turning into NPAs, the franchisee model (remember public-private partnership) appears to have been quietly buried. This is what the Ministry said, while stopping any further allocation to any franchisee. II. Poor Quality of training centres: A sample survey showed that nearly half the franchise skilling centres did not meet the basic criteria. III. Ghost Centres: A Ministry internal audit showed racketeers had gone a step further, creating ‘ghost’ centres which existed only on paper. IV. Spectre of Jobless growth: With the spectre of ‘jobless growth’ haunting the economy, even those who are being skilled (or reskilled) are finding it difficult to get jobs. Numbers are hard to come by, but estimates range from a low of 5% placement under PMKVY to under-50% in some of the older schemes, where funding is linked to outcomes. Now the PMKVY is also being modified to a partially outcome-based funding model. With the youthful population (India’s median age is just 29) nursing ever-growing aspirations, finding jobs — well-paid, aspiration-fulfilling jobs — for this population should become the government’s main priority.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Another important scheme for skill development in rural India is Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana

3. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana According to Census 2011, India has 55 million potential workers between the ages of 15 and 35 years in rural areas. At the same time, the world is expected to face a shortage of 57 million workers by 2020. This presents a historic opportunity for India to transform its demographic surplus into a demographic dividend. The Ministry of Rural Development implements DDU-GKY to drive this national agenda for inclusive growth, by developing skills and productive capacity of the rural youth from poor families.

There are several challenges preventing India’s rural poor from competing in the modern market, such as the lack of formal education and marketable skills. DDU-GKY bridges this gap by funding training projects benchmarked to global standards, with an emphasis on placement, retention, career progression and foreign placement.

Features of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana are as follows:

 Enable Poor and Marginalized to Access Benefits: Demand led skill training at no cost to the rural poor  Inclusive Program Design: Mandatory coverage of socially disadvantaged groups (SC/ST 50%; Minority 15%; Women 33%)  Shifting Emphasis from Training to Career Progression: Pioneers in providing incentives for job retention, career progression and foreign placements  Greater Support for Placed Candidates: Post-placement support, migration support and alumni network  Proactive Approach to Build Placement Partnerships: Guaranteed Placement for at least 75% trained candidates  Enhancing the Capacity of Implementation Partners: Nurturing new training service providers and developing their skills  Regional Focus: Greater emphasis on projects for poor rural youth in Jammu and Kashmir (HIMAYAT), The North-East region and 27 Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) districts (ROSHINI)  Standards-led Delivery: All program activities are subject to Standard Operating Procedures that are not open to interpretation by local inspectors. All inspections are supported by geo-tagged, time stamped videos/photographs.  Beneficiary Eligibility: Rural Youth:15 - 35 Yrs, SC/ST/Women/PCTG/PWD: upto 45 Yrs

Election of President of India

Relevancy:  GS Prelims  GS Mains paper II  Who elects the President?  Eligibility and Voting pattern

Recently:  The voting to elect the new de jure Head of State of India begun at 32 different polling station across the country, including New Delhi.  BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had pitted low key Ram Nath Kovind for the top post, while Congress-led United Opposition pinned hopes on former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar.

Who elects the president?  Article 54 of the Indian Constitution lays the guidelines about voters in a Presidential election.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  “Election of President The President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament; and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States,” Article 54 of Indian Constitution reads.

Let us understand this.  Unlike the Prime Ministerial election, where people vote for a particular Lok Sabha candidate, the President is elected by people’s representatives, i.e, Member of Parliaments and Member of Legislative Assemblies of all states. The nominated members of Parliament, Legislative Assemblies, and members of Legislative Council don’t vote in the Presidential election.

Who is eligible to run for the President?  A person who is 35 years of age  An Indian National  Must have a support of 50 MPs/MLAs (these can’t be nominated members)  Must deposit Rs 15,000 as a security amount with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  Must not hold any Office of Profit. (Any Constitutional position, which may further give rise to a conflict of interests in discharging of duties.)

Voting Pattern:  Article 55 of Indian Constitution lays the guidelines about the way Indian President is to be elected.  “The election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot. Explanation in this article, the expression population means the population ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published: Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding Census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2000 have been published, be construed as a reference to the 1971 Census,” article 55 reads.

Let us understand this in detail:  Secret Vote: Unlike the voting for any Bill or any motion in Parliament or state Assembly, secret voting is done to elect the President (Nobody can ever come to know who voted for whom).  Parties can’t issue a whip to their members: Since the Presidential election is intended to be free and fair, and representatives are supposed to exercise their free will, political parties are not allowed to issue a whip to their members for voting.  Vote value: Vote of each MP and MLA carries a certain value. In the case of MLAs, the value is calculated by dividing total population of the state by the number of elected members to the Legislative Assembly, further divided by 1000. As of now, the value of each MLAs vote is fixed. The population data is taken from the 1971 Census. For example, the maximum vote value of an MLA is 208 (Uttar Pradesh), while the minimum is 8 (Goa).  In the case of an MP, the vote value is decided by dividing the total value of votes of all MLAs of the whole country, divided by the total number of elected MPs in Lower House (Lok Sabha) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House). At present, the vote value of each MP is fixed at 708.  Voting System: Unlike the conventional ballot voting, where the voter polls only for a single candidate of his choice, the lawmakers mark their preferences in the Presidential election. For example, if three candidates A, B, and C, are in the fray, then an elected lawmaker will vote according to his/her preference making her/his most preferred candidate as the top choice and accordingly for the rest of the candidates. It is mandatory for every lawmaker to mark his first preference, otherwise the vote is deemed invalid. He or she, however, can leave other preferences vacant.

Vote Quota

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Unlike the general election counting, where an MP or an MLA is elected through ‘first past the post’ system, the winner in Presidential election is declared on the basis of a quote which is obtained by dividing the total number of valid votes by 2, and adding 1 to quotient (total number of valid votes/2+1).

Let’s understand this in detail: For example, if there are three candidates in the fray – A, B and, C and 10 valid votes are casted. The winner in this case will require 10/2 + 1 = 6 votes

Case 1:

I. A gets 6 votes as 1st preference II. B gets 3 votes as 1st preference III. iii)C gets 1 votes as 1st preference In this scenario, A will be declared as the winner for clearing the quota.

Case 2:

I. A gets 5 votes as 1st preference II. B gets 3 votes as 1st preference III. iii)C gets 2 votes as 1st preference In this scenario, candidate C will get eliminated and the second preference of the two voters, who opted for C as their first preferences, would be added to the total first preference votes of the remaining two candidates.

If A clears the quota at this stage, then s/he will become the President. If not, the process would be repeated until one candidate emerges as the clear winner by getting the required quota of votes.

Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report On SDGs

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Voluntary National Review (VNR) report on India’s SDGs  High-level political forum on sustainable development (HLFSD)  About Voluntary National Review (VNR) report  About Sustainable Development Goals

Recently  Recently, Voluntary National Review (VNR) report, to be presented at HLFSD, was published by the government claiming to have made significant progress in achieving the sustainable development goals.  But in contrast with the claims, the ground reality is in bad shape.  The 2017 High-level segment I.e. HLFSD will be held from 17 – 19 July at the ministerial level at UN Headquarters in New York  The theme is “ Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”  44 countries will present their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs).

Voluntary National Review (VNR) report on India’s SDGs  The report was prepared by the NITI Aayog.  The VNR reports that MGNREGA has played a significant role in poverty elevation since 2005 and have provided employment to nearly 2 billion people in 2016-17.  But according to the research by the centre for policy research, ₹7,000 crore of payments are pending under the scheme due to sluggish budgetary allocation to the scheme.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The report shows a significant decline in poverty to 22% in 2011-12 from 45.3% in 1993-94 to the economic growth after liberalization.  But a shadow report lead by the Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA), the civil society organizations in India on SDGs reported that in last two decades have kept poverty and inequality alive.  The government claims to have helped small and marginal farmers through its National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture, crop insurance and providing soil health cards. But nearly 3 lakh farmers committed suicide in last 2 decades.  India has made significant progress over the years on basic health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), institutional deliveries and vaccination coverage. However, 62.4% of the total health expenditure is still out of pocket, putting a huge burden on the poor and the middle class, says the civil society report.

High-Level Political Forum On Sustainable Development (HLFSD)  HLPF will have a central role in supervision of a network of follow-up and review processes at the global level.  HLPF is likely to: o Ensure linkages with the follow-up and review arrangements of all relevant UN conferences and processes, including on LDCs, SIDS and LLDCs o Provide political leadership, guidance and recommendations on implementation and follow-up; o Enhance the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development; o Ensure that the HLPF Agenda remains relevant and ambitious and focuses on the assessment of progress, achievements and challenges faced by developed and developing countries; o Promote system-wide coherence and coordination of sustainable development policies;  HLPF conducts VNRs , including developed and developing countries, with the involvement of UN entities and other stakeholders.

About Voluntary National Review (VNR) report  VNRs are state-led, involving ministerial and other relevant high-level participants.  Learning experience: Facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned  22 countries conducted VNRs at 2016 HLPF  The voluntary national reviews (VNRs) aim at facilitating the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.  The VNRs also seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi- stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

About Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  SDGs are the development goals given by the United Nations with set of 17 Global Golas and 169 targets under them.  It is a non-binding document released as a result of Rio+20 Conference held in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil.  There are total of 193 member states involves in the process.  UN general assembly’s Open Working Group proposed SDGs in July, 2014 to the assembly.  The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – part of a wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  In response to the accusation that the MDGs were too narrow in focus, the SDGs set out to tackle a whole range of issues, from gender inequality to climate change.  SDGs aims at ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy

The National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  Repeal bill  Effect of repeal

Recently  The National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mr. Thaawarchand Gehlot on April 5, 2017.

Repeal Bill  The Bill seeks to repeal the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.  The Act established the National Commission for Backward Classes.  The Commission has the power to examine requests for inclusion and exclusion of backward classes, and advise the central government in this regard.  The Bill was introduced alongside the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017 that provides for setting up of the National Commission of Backward Classes under the Constitution.  The Statements of Objects and Reasons of the repealing Bill clarifies that after the setting up of the National Commission of Backward Classes under the Constitution, the Act will become redundant, and therefore, may be repealed.

Effect Of Repeal The Bill states that the repeal of the Act will not affect:

(i) Any rights, privileges or liabilities acquired under the Act, (ii) Any penalty incurred because of previous violation of the Act, (iii) Or other acts that may have been done under previous operation of the Act

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016

Relevancy  G.S. Mains Paper 1, 2  Background and problems of transgenders  Salient features of the new Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016  Drawbacks of the bill

Recently  The government was directed by the Supreme Court to take measures for the welfare of the transgenders but the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, which attempts to bring the Transgender community into the main stream, is still pending in the parliament.

Background  The constitution of India provides the Fundamental right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of gender, the right to equality to all, freedom of speech, thought and expression etc.  In 2014, the Supreme Court in it’s judgment in the National Legal services Authority vs. Union of India case, directed the government to take proper measurements for the welfare of the Transgender community and treat them as a third gender protecting their fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution.

Problems of Transgenders The problems include social, economical, psychological and medical dimensions:

 Social exclusion just on the basis of their gender. They’re forced to leave their parental house if identified as Transgender  No equality in society and are looked down as degraded and unworthy of anything  Lack of education facilities and scholarships  Unemployment  Lack of medical services  Rejection of direct or indirect entry at some public places like temples, hospitals, shopping complexes, hotels, restaurants etc  Unwanted attention is given to their presence  People do not behave or act normal in their presence or with them  Associating them with prostitution and child nabbing

Salient features of Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016  Identity certificate for Transgenders: o The bill provides that the Transgenders can apply to the District Magistrate for the certificate of identity which will indicate their gender as ‘Transgender’. o District Manager would issue this certificate on the basis of recommendations of a district screening committee which will comprised of Chief Medical Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, a psychologist, a representative of transgender community and an officer of the relevant government.  Prohibition against discrimination: o The bill defines and provides recognition to the Transgender persons and community at large. It prohibits discrimination against them in any form.  Right to education and employment: o The government aided or recognized institution must provide inclusive education, sports and recreational facilities for Transgenders.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy o The government as well as private institutions cannot deny education or employment and promotion to Transgenders on the basis of their gender. o Any public or private institutions which have more than 100 employees are required to designate a complaint officer to deal with the complaints in this regard.  Right to health care o The bill directs the government to take measures to provide health facilities to transgenders including separate HIV surveillance centers, sex reassignment surgeries etc. o The Government will also evaluate the medical curriculum to address the health issues of transgender persons.  Right to residence o The bill also provides the right to Transgender to reside and to be included in his household. o If the family is not able to care, the Transgender can reside in a rehabilitation center.  Others o The Government will form schemes that are transgender sensitive and encourage their involvement in cultural activities. o The bill provides that the government will take steps to guarantee the full inclusion and participation of transgender in society. o The government will take measures to make sure their rescue and rehabilitation, professional training and self-employment.  Penalties o The bill makes strict provisions of punishment for forcing the transgenders into begging,or bonded labour, denial of use of public place, denial of residence or household, physical, verbal, emotional or economic abuse etc. o The penalties include imprisonment between 6 months to 2 years and a fine.

Drawbacks of the bill  The bill does not provide clear definition of the ‘Transgender’ term by including several terms like like trans-men, trans-women, intersex variations and gender queers.  The Bill provides for the right of a transgender to ‘self perceived gender identity.’ But there are no such mechanisms provided for the enforcement of a right.  The right to self-determination of a transgender has been rightly recognized by the Supreme Court under right to life in Article 21 of the Constitution of India, but the objective means to achieve this has not been focused upon.  The bill does not throw light on the situations where the bill is conflicting with other laws like criminal laws which mentions only two genders.  The Government has failed to take into consideration the needs of the community, which is reflected in its non-adoption of various important provisions of the Private Member’s Bill as well as the judgement.

Accessible India Campaign

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995  United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)  Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for PwDs in Asia and Pacific  Objectives of Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)  Strategies and proposed milestones

Rights of Persons with Disabilities

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy For Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) universal accessibility is critical for enabling them to gain access for equal opportunity and live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life in an inclusive society.

Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995  Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 under Sections 44, 45 and 46 categorically provides for non-discrimination in transport, non-discrimination on the road and non-discrimination in built environment respectively.  As per Section 46 of the PwD Act, the States are required to provide for – o Ramps in public buildings; o Adaptation of toilets for wheel chair users; o Braille symbols and auditory signals in elevators or lifts; o Ramps in hospitals, primary health centres and other medical care and rehabilitation institutions  Section 44 and 45 of the said Act cast responsibility on the States to take measures to make public transport accessible for PwDs and also make provision for auditory signals at red lights in public roads, curb cuts and slops in pavements, engraving on the surface at zebra crossings etc.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)  United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory, under Article 9 casts an obligation on all the signatory governments to take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.  These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter-alia : o Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities, including schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces; o Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services. o The Convention also mandates that all the Governments shall also take appropriate measures : o To develop, promulgate and monitor the implementation of minimum standards and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services open or provided to the public; o To ensure that private entities that offer facilities and services which are open or provided to the public take into account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities; o To provide training for stakeholders on accessibility issues facing persons with disabilities; o To provide in buildings and other facilities open to the public signage in Braille and in easy to read and understand forms; o To provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guidelines, readers and professional sign language interpreters, to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other facilities open to the public; o To promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities to ensure their access to information; o To promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet;

Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for PwDs in Asia and Pacific  Governments at the High Level Inter Governmental Meeting organized by the Govt. of Republic of Korea adopted the ministerial declaration and Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for PwDs in Asia and Pacific.  The Incheon Strategy provides the Asian and Pacific Region, and the world the first set of regionally agreed distinct – inclusive development goals.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The Strategy comprises 10 goals, 27 targets and 62 indicators, which build on UNCRPD. Goal No. 3 of the Incheon Strategy mentions that access to the physical environment, public transportation, knowledge, information and communication is a precondition for persons with disabilities to fulfill their rights in an inclusive society.  The accessibility of urban, rural and remote areas based on universal design increases safety and ease of use not only for persons with disabilities, but also for all other members of society.  Access audits are an important means of ensuring accessibility and must cover all stages of the process of planning, design, construction, maintenance and monitoring and evaluation.  Access to assistive devices and related support services is also a precondition for persons with disabilities to optimize their level of independence in daily life and live in dignity.  Ensuring the availability of assistive devices for those living in low-resource settings involves encouraging research, development, production, distribution and maintenance.

Objectives of Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)  The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has conceptualised the “Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)” as a nation-wide flagship campaign for achieving universal accessibility that will enable persons with disabilities to gain access for equal opportunity and live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life in an inclusive society.  The campaign targets at enhancing the accessibility of built environment, transport system and Information & communication eco-System. o Components of Accessible India Campaign o Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) has the following three important components o Built Environment Accessibility o Transportation System Accessibility o Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility

Strategies to be followed  A multi-pronged strategy will be adopted for the campaign with key components as o leadership endorsements of the campaign, o mass awareness, o capacity building through workshops, o interventions (legal frame-work, technology solutions, resource generation, etc. and o leverage corporate sector efforts in a Public-Private Partnership.  Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will sign MOU with State to support spreading awareness about accessibility and help create accessible buildings, accessible transport and accessible websites etc.

Proposed milestones  Under the campaign,  Atleast 50% of all the government buildings of National Capital and all the State capitals will be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities by July 2018.  Conducting audit of 50% of government buildings and converting them into fully accessible buildings in 10 most important cities / towns of all the States (July 2019).  All the international airports in the country and railway stations of A1, A & B categories will be made fully accessible by July 2016.  Conducting accessibility audit of all the domestic airports and converting them into fully accessible airports(March 2018).  Ensuring that A1,A & B categories of railway stations in the country are converted into fully accessible railway stations (July 2016).

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Ensuring that 50% of railway stations in the country are converted into fully accessible railway stations (March 2018).  Ensuring that 25% of Government owned public transport carriers in the country are converted into fully accessible carriers (March 2018).  Conducting accessibility audit of 50% of all government (both Central and State Governments) websites and converting them into fully accessible websites (March 2017).  Ensuring that at least 50% of all public documents issued by the Central Government and the State Governments meet accessibility standards (March 2018).  Developing and adoption of national standards on captioning and sign-language interpretation in consultation with National media authorities. (July 2016)  Ensuring that 25% of all public television programmes aired by government channels meet these standards.(March 2018)

The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  Background of the bill  Need for the amendments  The definition of ‘Indecent Representation’  An Act to Penalise Revenge Porn  Conclusion

Recently  With increasing changes in the field of mass communication and media, the government made some amendments to The Indecent Representation Of Women (prohibition) Act, 1986 in advertising and media to broaden the scope of the law and to keep an eye over all other types of media representation.  The Indecent Representation Of Women (Prohibition) Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in December, 2012 to make amendments according to the changing scenario.

Background  Originally, The Indecent Representation Of Women (Prohibition) Bill was introduced by Margaret Alva in Rajya Sabha in 1986.  To ensure that women’s portrayal is ‘decent’ in every form of media like advertisements, paintings, illustrations, publications, writings, and particularly in print media, a legislative action was taken in the form of the bill which became law with effect from October 1987.  The law regulated the portrayal and representation of women in mainstream media.  The law currently in force , focus primarily on advertisement and print media.

The Need For The Amendments  The older version focused mainly on print media, but there is a need to emphasis attention towards other media as well, like audio-visual and electronic media.  The new amendment will ensure to address the problems of increasing objectification of women in mainstream media.  There is a need of strict enforcement of law with stringent punishment and penalties, including all the forms of media.  There is a need to categorize the advertisements which come under the ‘indecent’ category.

The Definition Of ‘Indecent Representation’

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  According to the Act of 1986, ‘Indecent Representation Of Women’ means the depiction in any manner of the figure of a woman, her body or form or any part in such a way which results the effect of being indecent or derogatory to a woman and which may deprave, corrupt or injure the public morals towards women.  Here the is not much clarity of the term ‘indecent’ which is confused with the term ‘morality’.  During 1970s and 1980s, women’s groups were primarily against the nudity and depiction of women in sexually or explicit manner.  But due to the law, any kind of content involving ‘nudity’ was banned, irrespective of the purpose behind it’s publication.  In the early 1990s, the third-wave of feminism shifted focus to the woman’s liberty to express their sexuality and sexual desires and many movements were supporting campaigns like “slut walks” and “free the nipple” to empower the women rather than the indecent women’s depiction.  Now, according to the 2012 Bill, ‘Indecent Representation’ means ; o Publication or distribution in any manner, of any material depicting women as a sexual object or which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interests; or o Depiction, publication or distribution in any manner, of the figure of a woman, her form or body or any part thereof in such a way as to have the effect of being indecent or derogatory to or denigrating women or which is likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals.  But there is still not clarity over the definition of the term  Due to this confusion, there is lack of effective implementation of law as the term is interpreted differently depending on the conventional morals.

An Act to Penalise Revenge Porn  Pornography has become a major issue nowadays, but the word ‘decendy’ is oftenly overlaps with the term ‘obscenity’.  With the vague definition of the terms, they are left open for misuse. Thus, there is need to take into account woman’s intention behind the depiction of her in any manner.  With the new amendments, the distribution of material and the depiction of women on the internet will be checked.  A recent report on “Violence” Online in India: Cyber Crimes Against Women and Minorities on social media by FII revealed that persons on the internet, particularly women, were subjected to sexually exploitive material and image based sexual abuse, referred to as “Revenge Porn”  The proposed amendment will counter against such material over internet and is a gender-specific statute.

Conclusion  The new proposed amendments will broaden the scope as well as will introduce strict penal terms by increasing the punishment and fine.  The Bill has been under consideration by the Parliamentary Committee of the Human Resource Development Ministry, which has also looked into the question of bringing films and television programs within the ambit of the Act in order to ensure that there is no indecent portrayal of women in the same.  In its 258th Report on the Bill, the committee has also proposed the setting up of a Central Agency for regulation and enforcement of the provisions of the Act.

National Population Policy

Relevancy:  GS Preliminary  GS Mains Paper I, II and III

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Challenges of increasing population

Recently:  The World Population Day was celebrated on July 11. The Day was first celebrated in 1989 when the world population reached five billion.  The theme for 2017 World Population Day is “Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations.”  This year's celebrations also coincide with the Family Planning Summit, the second meeting of the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) initiative, which aims to expand access to voluntary family planning to 120 million additional women by 2020.

Background:  Considering its importance in stabilizing population, access to safe, voluntary family planning methods is considered a human right and central to gender equality and women’s empowerment.  It is also seen as a key factor in reducing poverty. Investments in making family planning available yield economic gains which further propel development.  The National Population Policy (NPP), 2000, was announced by the Union cabinet in Feb 2000.

Objectives of NPP:  The immediate objective of the policy was to address the needs for contraception, health-care infrastructure, health-personnel and integrated service delivery;  The medium-term objective is to bring the TFR to replacement levels—2.1 children per couple—by 2010 by a vigorous implementation of ‘sectoral strategies’;  The long-term objective is to achieve a stable population by 2045.

The NPP seeks to achieve the immediate and mid-term goals though the following means: 1. Address the unmet needs for basic reproductive and child health services, supplies and infrastructure. 2. Make school education up to age 14 free and compulsory and reduce drop-outs at primary and secondary school levels to below 20 per cent for both boys and girls. 3. Reduce infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live births; reduce maternal mortality ratio to below 100 per one lakh live births. 4. Promote delayed marriage for girls, not earlier than age of 18 and preferably after 20 years of age. 5. Achieve 80 per cent institutional deliveries and 100 per cent deliveries by trained persons. 6. Achieve universal access to information/counselling, and services for fertility regulation and contraception with a wide basket of choices. 7. Achieve 100 per cent registration of births, deaths, marriage and pregnancy. 8. Contain the spread of Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and promote greater integration between the management of reproductive tract infections (RTI) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) and the National AIDS Control Organisation. 9. Prevent and control communicable diseases. 10. Integrate Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) in the provision of reproductive and child health services, and in reaching out to households. 11. Promote vigorously the small family norm to achieve replacement levels of TFR. 12. Bring about convergence in implementation of related social sector programmes so that family welfare becomes a people-centred programme. 13. As recommended by the National Population Policy (NPP), a National Commission on Population has been constituted. Achievements of the Family planning programme in consonance with the National Population Policy 2000 are evident from the following:- I. The percentage decadal growth rate of the country has declined significantly from 21.5% for the period 1991-2001 to 17.7% during 2001-2011.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy II. Total Fertility Rate (TFR) was 3.2 at the time when National Population Policy, 2000 was adopted and the same has declined to 2.3 as per Sample registration Survey (SRS) 2013 conducted by the Registrar General of India. Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh/National Population Stabilization Fund has adopted the following strategies as a population control measure:- 1. Prerna Strategy:- JSK has launched this strategy for helping to push up the age of marriage of girls and delay in first child and spacing in second child the birth of children in the interest of health of young mothers and infants. The couple who adopt this strategy awarded suitably. This helps to change the mindsets of the community. 2. Santushti Strategy:- Under this strategy, Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh, invites private sector gynaecologists and vasectomy surgeons to conduct sterilization operations in Public Private Partnership mode. The private hospitals/nursing home who achieved target to 10 or more are suitably awarded as per strategy. 3. Mission Parivar Vikas: the government has identified 146 districts with total fertility rate, the number of children born per woman, of more than three to focus on. These districts are in the seven states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Assam and make 28 per cent of the country’s population. The health ministry is starting a programme called "Mission Parivar Vikas" in these districts to improve access to family planning services, create awareness and make family planning choices available.

New Interventions under Family Planning Programme 1. Scheme for Home delivery of contraceptives by ASHAs at doorstep of beneficiaries. 2. Scheme for ASHAs to ensure spacing in births: Under this scheme, services of ASHAs to be utilised for counselling newly married couples to ensure delay of 2 years in birth after marriage and couples with 1 child to have spacing of 3 years after the birth of 1stchild. 3. Boost to spacing methods by introduction of new method PPIUCD (Post-Partum Intra Uterine Contraceptives Device. 4. Introduction of the new device Cu IUCD 375, which is effective for 5 years. 5. Emphasis on Postpartum Family Planning (PPFP) services with introduction of PPIUCD and promotion of minilap as the main mode of providing sterilisation in the form of post-partum sterilisation to capitalise on the huge cases coming in for institutional delivery under JSY. 6. Celebration of World Population Day 11th July & Fortnight: The event is observed over a month long period, split into fortnight of mobilization/sensitization followed by a fortnight of assured family planning service delivery and has been made a mandatory activity from 2012-13 and starts from 27th June each year. 7. FP 2020- Family Planning Division is working on the national and state wise action plans so as to achieve FP 2020 goals. The key commitments of FP 2020 are as under: a. Increasing financial commitment on Family Planning whereby India commits an allocation of 2 billion USD from 2012 to 2020. b. Ensuring access to family planning services to 48 million (4.8 crore) additional women by 2020 (40% of the total FP 2020 goal). c. Sustaining the coverage of 100 million (10 crore) women currently using contraceptives.

Improvements required in the existing NPP (Criticism of NPP): 1. Factoring in of migration: The Census 2011 has given the picture of interstate and intrastate migration triggered by employment, business, education, marriage etc. Unplanned migration to the metros and large cities also puts pressure on the infrastructure, housing and water availability. If this is factored into of the population policy, it would make for more foresight and greater coordination, and avoid the inevitable outcome of mushrooming slums and unplanned habitations. 2. Ageing factor: The growing population of the elderly and the increase in life expectancy accompanied by chronic diseases have the potential to deflect resources from the primary task of providing education, skill development and increasing employability. In the next 10 years, the elderly will account for 12% of the country’s population. Until now policies on the elderly have been buffered with soft talk about old-age

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy homes and protective laws—despite the fact that the elderly are virtually unable to take recourse to such provisions. Dependency ratios are increasing rapidly while the joint family system has disintegrated. Taking care of the geriatric population, which goes up to about 223 million by 2035, will also be a challenge and require preventive, curative and geriatric care. 3. Skewed female and child sex ratio: Discriminatory social barriers like the absence of women’s ownership rights over land and property are responsible for the continuing son preference. Couples will continue to try for a male child even after having two or three female children and alternately resort to illegal female foeticide. These developments need to be confronted as part of a new population policy.

Challenges ahead:  While providing food to the ever increasing world population is a challenge, the UN has set ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030.  Achieving these objectives will require addressing issues like gender parity, ageing populations, skills development and global warming.  Also, the agriculture sector will have to become more productive by adopting efficient business models and forging public-private partnerships. On average, a thousand tons of water is required to produce one ton of food grains. It is for this reason that international and inter-state water disputes are on a rise.  It will also need to become sustainable by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water use and waste.  It is estimated that the global demand for water in 2050 is projected to be more than 50 per cent of what it was in 2000, and demand for food will double.

Malnutrition in India

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Malnutrition in India  Some of the solutions  Food fortification

Recently  On World Hunger Day (28 May), Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi suggested that ready-to-eat fortified meals will help the country to tackle the malnutrition among children and pregnant women.  But quality of food served to children of age group six months to five years is poor and there is no proper monitoring to ensure the food quality

Malnutrition in India  With one sixth of the global population residing in India, one third of about two billion people suffering from vitamin and micronutrient deficit are in India.  There have been demands from the civil society that malnutrition should be included as a medical emergency in hopes to further decrease the number of malnourished children in India.  The Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC), a survey performed between the year 2013 and 2014.  The RSoC reports that: o 38.7% are considered stunted (low height for age) o 29.4% are considered underweight (low weight for age) o 15% are considered wasted (low weight for height)

Some practical Solutions

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  In states like Bihar and Maharashtra, mothers were enrolled by the district administration to keep watch on the quality of food served to their children in mid-day meals at schools. This turned out to be a very logical and effective method as every mother would want their child to get healthy and clean food.  In Pune, similar approach was followed in anganwadi centres as more reports were coming on grade III and Grade IV stunting on account of malnutrition.  Corporate companies who are willing to lend hand can help in this situation by providing financial assistance as well as can suggest how to monitor the food being served to the children in mid-day meals.  Unhygeinic environment is a major cause of under-nutrition. Containated water is a major cause of diarrhea amongst children. It leads to incomplete absorption of nutritient in human gut. Safe food and water are thus a sine qua non for improving nutritional bioavailability in children.

Fortified food  Food fortification or enrichment is the process of adding micronutrients (essential trace elements and vitamins) to food. It may be a purely commercial choice to provide extra nutrients in a food, while other times it is a public health policy which aims to reduce the number of people with dietary deficiencies within a population.  The main methods of food fortification (named as to indicate the procedure that is used in order to fortify the food) are: o Biofortification (i.e. breeding crops to increase their nutritional value, which can include both conventional selective breeding, and modern genetic modification) o Synthetic biology (i.e. addition of probiotic bacteria to foods) o Commercial and industrial fortification (i.e. flour, rice, oils (common cooking foods)) o Home fortification (e.g. vitamin D drops)

Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Scheme

(Village Self Governance Campaign)

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  About Gram Uday se Bharat Uday scheme  Aims of the scheme

Recently  From 14th April (Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar’s 125th Birth Anniversary) to 24th April (Panchayati Raj day), the government had organised a ‘Gram Uday se Bharat Uday scheme‘, in collaboration with states and panchayats.

About Gram Uday se Bharat Uday scheme  It is a central government scheme, started in 2016 by PM in Madhya Pradesh, to generate national awareness to strengthen Panchayati Raj and promote self governance among villages.  The campaign will be run by the ministries of Agriculture, Labour, Rural Development, Social Justice, and Information and Broadcasting in coordination with the states.  Village farmer assemblies will be organised to promote agriculture by empowering them with information about various development schemes of the government such as Fasal Bima Yojana and Soil Health Card scheme.  The prime focus of the campaign will be on issues pertaining to rural development, farmers’ earnings, social harmony and welfare of SC & ST population.  Gram Sabha meetings will happen from 21-24 April across the country.  A nationwide meeting on Panchayat and tribal development will be held at Vijaywada on 19 April.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Aims  To strengthen Panchayati Raj  To foster farmers’ progress  To promote rural development  To generate nationwide efforts to amplify social harmony across villages  To promote villagers to play their role in the development of the village and the country

Judicial Appointments

Relevancy:  GS paper 2  Collegium system vs. NJAC  National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act – rejected by Supreme Court

Recently:  After the recent sentence awarded to Justice C.S Karnan, there is debate within the Supreme Court itself to re-examine the validity of the years old collegium system.  After the dropping of the NJAC laws by a dissenting view of one judge, we saw a turn back to the already existent opaque collegium system. And the case of Justice Karnan proved how the system has failed.  The verdict given in this recent case highlighted the need of re-visiting the ongoing system. The 2 things said in this regard were: 1. the need to revisit the process of selection and appointment of judges to the constitutional courts, for that matter any member of the judiciary at all levels; and 2. the need to set up appropriate legal regime to deal with situations where the conduct of a Judge of a constitutional court requires corrective measures - other than impeachment.

Collegium System:  Collegium system is one where the Chief Justice of India and a forum of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court recommend appointments and transfers of judges. However, it has no place in the Indian Constitution.  The system was evolved through Supreme Court judgments in the Three Judges Cases (October 28, 1998).  They will consider the elevation of Chief Justices/Judges of High Court to Supreme Court, elevation of Judges of High Courts as Chief Justices and elevation of Judges. In case of difference of opinion, the majority view will prevail  The arguments against the collegium system include that this system is a closed-door affair which isn’t transparent enough. Also, that the appointments are made by taking into account mainly the seniority aspect because of which several talented junior judges and advocates are overlooked.

NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission):  This proposal was rejected after many debates.  The Constitution (98th Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the NDA government in 2003. It provided for the constitution of an NJC to be chaired by the CJI and with two of the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court as its members.  The Bill provided for the procedure to be followed by the NJAC for recommending persons for appointment as Chief Justice of India and other Judges of the Supreme Court (SC), and Chief Justice and other Judges of High Courts (HC).  The Union Law Minister was proposed to be a member along with an eminent citizen to be nominated by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister. The Commission was to decide the appointment and transfer of judges and probe cases of misconduct by judges, including those from the highest judiciary.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  It also laid down the power of the President in the selection procedure. He may require the NJAC to reconsider the recommendations made by it, but if the NJAC makes a unanimous recommendation after the reconsideration then the President shall make the appointment accordingly.

Later, after setting aside the NJAC Bill, the existing collegium system was continued for making appointments of the judges at large. But after the recent case against Justice C.S Karnan, the validity of the existence of the collegium system is again under debate. National Commission On Backward Classes (NCBC)

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  About the commission  Composition  Powers and functions

About The Commission  Established in 1993, National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) is a statutory body established under the provisions of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.  In 2017, a bill seeking to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes is scheduled to be passed in Parliament.  The bill was passed by Lok Sabha in April 2017 and is waiting for the assent of the Rajya Sabha.  The Supreme Court of India in its Judgement in 1992, directed the Government of India, State Governments and Union Territory Administrations to constitute a permanent body in the nature of a Commission or Tribunal for entertaining, examining and recommending upon requests for inclusion and complaints of over-inclusion and under-inclusion in the list of OBCs.  The Supreme Court held that the Constitution recognised only social and educational — and not economic — backwardness.  In October 2015, National Commission for Backward Classes proposed that a person belonging to OBC with an annual family income of up to ₹15 lakhs should be considered as the minimum ceiling for OBC.  NCBC also recommended sub-division of OBCs into 'backward', 'more backward' and 'extremely backward' blocs and divide 27% quota amongst them in proportion to their population, to ensure that stronger OBCs don't corner the quota benefits.

Composition Of The Commission  Section 3 of the Act provides that the Commission shall consist of five Members, with their term of Three years: o A Chairperson who is or has been a judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court; o Two persons who have special knowledge in matters relating to backward classes; o A social scientist; o A Member-Secretary, who is or has been an officer of the Central Government in the rank of a Secretary to the Government of India.

Powers  Both the National Commission for Backward Classes and National Commission for Scheduled Castes have the same powers as a Civil Court.  Under Article 338(5) alongwith Article 338(10) of the Constitution, National Commission for Scheduled Castes is the competent authority to look into all the grievances, rights and safeguards relating to Backward Classes.

Functions

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The commission considers inclusions in and exclusions from the lists of communities notified as backward for the purpose of job reservations and tenders the needful advice to the Central Government.  Similarly, the states have also constituted commissions for BC's  National Commission for Backward Classes has not yet been empowered to look into the grievances of persons of Other Backward Classes. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

Relevancy:  GS Preliminary  GS Mains Paper I and II  Child Sex-ratio, Women Empowerment, Schemes related to empowerment of Women,

Background:  The trend of decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR), defined as number of girls per 1000 of boys between 0-6 years of age, has been unabated since 1961.  The decline from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming.  The decline in the CSR is a major indicator of women disempowerment. CSR reflects both, pre-birth discrimination manifested through gender biased sex selection, and post birth discrimination against girls.  Social construct discriminating against girls on the one hand, easy availability, affordability and subsequent misuse of diagnostic tools on the other hand, have been critical in increasing Sex Selective Elimination of girls leading to low Child Sex Ratio.

About the BBBP Scheme: Since coordinated and convergent efforts are needed to ensure survival, protection and empowerment of the girl child, Government has announced Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative.  This is being implemented through a national campaign and focussed multi sectoral action in 100 selected districts low in CSR, covering all States and UTs.  This is a joint initiative of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Human Resource Development.  Certain unauthorised sites/organisations/NGOs are collecting donations in the name of BBBP. The scheme has no provision for collection of donations.

The objectives of this initiative are:  Prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination  Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child  Ensuring education and participation of the girl child

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) initiative has two major components: a. Mass Communication Campaign and b. Multi-sectoral action in 100 selected districts (as a pilot) with adverse CSR, covering all States and UTs. a. Mass Communication Campaign on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: The campaign aims at ensuring girls are born, nurtured and educated without discrimination to become empowered citizens of this country. The Campaign interlinks National, State and District level interventions with community level action in 100 districts, bringing together different stakeholders for accelerated impact. b. Multi-Sectoral interventions in 100 Gender Critical Districts covering all States/UTs: Coordinated & convergent efforts are undertaken in close coordination with MoHFW and MoHRD to ensure survival, protection and education of the girl child. The District Collectors/Deputy Commissioners (DCs) lead and coordinate actions of all departments for implementation of BBBP at the District level.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Mulit-sectoral interventions include: i. Ministry of WCD: Promote registration of pregnancies in first trimester in Anganwadi Centres (AWCs); Undertake training of stakeholders; Community mobilization & sensitization; Involvement of gender champions; Reward & recognition of institutions & frontline workers. ii. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare: Monitor implementation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCP&DT) Act, 1994; Increased institutional deliveries; Registration of births; Strengthening PNDT Cells; Setting up Monitoring Committees iii. Ministry of Human Resource Development: Universal enrolment of girls; Decreased drop-out rate; Girl Child friendly standards in schools; Strict implementation of Right to Education (RTE); Construction of Functional Toilets for girls.

What can we all do as individuals?  Celebrate the birth of girl child in the family and community  Take pride in daughters and oppose the mentality of ‘Bojh’ and ‘Paraya Dhan’.  Find ways to promote equality between boys and girls.  Secure admission to & retention of girl child in schools.  Engage men and boys to challenge gender stereotypes and roles.  Educate and sensitize our sons to respect women and girls as equal members of society.  Report any incident of sex determination test.  Strive to make neighbourhood safe & violence-free for women & girls.  Oppose dowry and child marriage within the family and community.  Advocate simple weddings.  Support women’s right to own and inherit property.  Encourage women to go out, pursue higher studies, work, do business, access public spaces freely etc.  Mind his language and be sensitive to women and girls.

Student-Scientist connect programme “JIGYASA”.

Relevancy:  GS Preliminary, GS mains paper III  Jigyasa Programme  Scientific Social Responsibility

Recently:  A Memorandum of understanding has been signed between CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial research).  It targets to connect 1151 Kendriya Vidyalayas with 38 CSIR Laboratories targeting one lakh students and nearly 1000 teachers annually.  This has been done with the collaboration of Ministry of Science and Technology, earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate Change AND Ministry of Human Development.

Highlights of the Programme: 1. To inculcate scientific temper and a culture of scientific inquisitiveness among the students. 2. Human resource development: Talent hunt among the visiting students at CSIR laboratories and PhD Programmes for the teachers. 3. To bring awareness about the socio-economic impact of science.

About CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)  The CSIR was established by the Government of India in 1942 is an autonomous body and it has emerged as the largest research and development organisation in India.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The research and development activities of CSIR include aerospace engineering, structural engineering, ocean sciences, life sciences, metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and environmental science

Some of the achievements of CSIR:  Developed India's first synthetic drug, methaqualone in 1950.  Developed first Indian tractor Swaraj in 1967 completely based on indigenous know-how.  First to introduce DNA fingerprinting in India.  Invented, once a week non-steroidal family planning pill Saheli and non-steroidal herbal pill for asthma called Asmon.  Rejuvenated India's one-hundred-year-old refinery at Digboi (Assam) using the most modern molecular distillation technology.  Design of 14 seater plane 'SARAS'.  Established first ever in the world 'Traditional Knowledge Digital Library' accessible in five international languages, English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  Highlights of the bill  Key issues and analysis

Highlights of the Bill  Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby an intending couple commissions a surrogate mother to carry their child.  The intending couple must be Indian citizens and married for at least five years with at least one of them being infertile. The surrogate mother has to be a close relative who has been married and has had a child of her own.  No payment other than reasonable medical expenses can be made to the surrogate mother. The surrogate child will be deemed to be the biological child of the intending couple.  Central and state governments will appoint appropriate authorities to grant eligibility certificates to the intending couple and the surrogate mother. These authorities will also regulate surrogacy clinics.  Undertaking surrogacy for a fee, advertising it or exploiting the surrogate mother will be punishable with imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.

Key Issues and Analysis  The Bill permits surrogacy only for couples who cannot conceive a child. This procedure is not allowed in case of any other medical conditions which could prevent a woman from giving birth to a child.  The Bill specifies eligibility conditions that need to be fulfilled by the intending couple in order to commission surrogacy. Further, it allows additional conditions to be prescribed by regulations. This may be excessive delegation of legislative powers.  The surrogate mother and the intending couple need eligibility certificates from the appropriate authority. The Bill does not specify a time limit within which such certificates will be granted. It also does not specify an appeal process in case the application is rejected.  The surrogate mother must be a ‘close relative’ of the intending couple. The Bill does not define the term ‘close relative’. Further, the surrogate mother (close relative) may donate her own egg for the pregnancy. This may lead to negative health consequences for the surrogate baby.  For an abortion, in addition to complying with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, the approval of the appropriate authority and the consent of the surrogate mother is required. The Bill does

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy not specify a time limit for granting such an approval. Further, the intending couple has no say in the consent to abort.

Prevention Of Corruption Act, 1988

Relevancy:  GS paper 2  GS paper 3 ethics and corruption  Corruption and laws to fight it  The Prevention of Corruption Act  UN Convention Against Corruption

Background:  Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam once quoted, "If we cannot make India corruption-free, then the vision of making the nation develop by 2020 would remain as a dream."  Corruption is considered to be one of the greatest impediments on the way towards progress for developing country like India.  Though there are various Acts which seek to penalise the corrupt like The Indian Penal Code, The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, but the Prevention of Corruption Act has a much wider and specific scope with regard to the menace of corruption.  In the corruption cases like the coal block scam, the vayapam scam, the 2G scam, etc. all the public servants so prosecuted were under the provisions pertaining to this particular Act.

Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988:  Initially the Prevention of Corruption Act was passed in 1988 to amend and consolidate all the laws and matters related to corruption, which applied to whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir.  This Act of the Parliament mainly focussed on combating the corruption in government departments and the public-sector enterprises.  Under this Act, the definition of “public servant” was extended. Along with the category of people defined to be public servants under the Indian Penal Code, it also included office bearers of cooperative societies receiving financial aid from the government, employees of universities, Public Service Commission and banks.  If a public servant takes gratification other than his legal remuneration in respect of an official act or to influence public servants OR if a public servant accepts a valuable thing without paying for it or paying inadequately from a person with whom he is involved in a business transaction in his official capacity, is liable to minimum punishment of six months and maximum punishment of five years and fine.  But under the provisions of this Act, it is necessary to obtain prior sanction from the central or state government in order to prosecute a public servant.

The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013:  This Bill seeks to amend various provisions of the Act which is already in existence. The most debated issue of this Bill is that it makes bribe a specific offence.  The Act covers the offence of giving a bribe to a public servant under abetment. The Bill makes specific provisions related to giving a bribe to a public servant, and giving a bribe by a commercial organisation.  Under the principal Act, a bribe giver may be penalised for abetting in the offence of taking a bribe. Under the Bill, giving a bribe, directly or through a third party, is made an offence.  The UN Convention states that giving a bribe, either directly or indirectly, should be made a punishable offence and India has ratified this Convention.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy UN Convention against Corruption:  This convention criminalises bribing foreign public servant to gain or to retain business as well as giving or taking bribe by private sector entity.  Those who have suffered damage as a result of an act of corruption have a right to obtain compensation against those responsible for that damage. The proposed Bill of 2013 does not contain any provision in relation to compensation.  According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill, the amendments to the Act were introduced to bring it in line with the UN Convention against Corruption. However, the above-mentioned provisions of the Convention have not been included in the Bill.

Lokpal Bill

Relevancy:  GS paper 2  The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013  Jan Lokpal Movement led by Anna Hazare

Recently:  The CM of Punjab, Capt. Amrinder Singh, in his speech said that he would bring the Chief Minister under the ambit of the Lokpal Bill soon.  His Government is taking up various reforms against the evils of corruption, one of which is with respect to the new Lokpal Legislation imbibed with the powers to act on the complaints against the Chief Minister, the Ministers and the bureaucrats.

What is Lokpal and Jan Lokapal Bill:  The term "Lokpal" was coined by Dr. L.M.Singhvi in 1963. The concept of a constitutional ombudsman was first proposed in parliament by Law Minister Ashoke Kumar Sen in the early 1960s.  The Jan Lokpal aims to effectively deter corruption, compensate citizen grievances, and protect whistle- blowers. The prefix Jan (translation: citizens) signifies that these improvements include inputs provided by "ordinary citizens" through an activist-driven, non-governmental public consultation.  The campaign “India Against Corruption” led by Anna Hazare, proved to be foreground for the Jan Lokpal movement.  The Jan Lokpal Bill (also known as Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill) is a bill which focuses to eradicate corruption and seeks to establish an independent body, Jan Lokpal, to investigate into the corruption cases.  It proposed to appoint a Central Government anti-corruption institution Lokpal, which would be supported by Lokayuktas at the state level. It also aimed at providing protection to the whistle blowers who alert the government/agency about the corruption.

The Lokpal Bill, 2011  The Lokpal Bill, 2011, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 4, 2011. It provides for establishment of the Lokpal for inquiring into complaints of corruption against certain public servants.  Lokpal will have the power of superintendence and diection over any central investigation agency including CBI for cases referred to them by the ombudsman.  The members of the Lokpal shall be appointed by the President.  A complaint against the specified officials may be made to the Lokpal for actions committed within seven years of the date of complaint.  The preliminary investigation or inquiry has to be completed within a maximum period of three months. The following inquiry by the Lokpal is to be completed within a maximum period of one year.

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013:

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, commonly known as The Lokpal Act, is an anti-corruption Act of Indian Parliament in India which "seeks to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for matters connecting them”.  The historic Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, passed by the Parliament paved way for setting up of the institution of the Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas at the State by the law enacted by the respective State Legislatures within one year of coming into force of the Act.  The new Law provides for a mechanism for dealing with complaints of corruption against public functionaries, including those at higher posts.

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Act, 2016:  The Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 27, 2016 by the Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh.  Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Act, 2016 receives President’s assent on 29 July, 2016 in order to amend the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.  It amends the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 in relation to declaration of assets and liabilities by public servants. (amendment of section-44).

Handloom Industry

Relevancy  GS mains paper I,III  Various schemes of government for handloom sector  Problems Faced By The Indian Handloom Industry

Recently  There has been a visible effort by the state in recent times to increase awareness about speciality handloom products and to make them things of aspiration for customers. This is being done through aggressive promotion of the process, the product and the context.  Handlooms is an industry that represents continuity of tradition. That has become the basis of public policy framing and the reason of governmental support to this sector.

Various schemes of government for handloom sector  Integrated Handloom Development Scheme (IHDS): o It provides need based inputs to clusters of 300 – 500 handlooms, Groups of 10 – 100 weavers for making them self sustainable by providing them financial assistance for margin money, new looms, dobbies, jacquards, accessories, skill up-gradation, construction of worksheds etc.  Marketing and Export Promotion Scheme (MEPS): o It provides platform to the weavers and their organizations to participate in the domestic as well as international trade events and sell their products directly to the buyers.  Handloom Weavers Comprehensive Welfare Scheme (HWCWS): o This comprises of two separate sub-schemes viz. the Health Insurance Scheme (HIS) for providing Health Insurance to the Handloom weavers and Mahatma Gandhi BunkarBimaYojana (MGBBY) for providing Life Insurance Cover in case of natural/ accidental death, total/partial disability due to accident.  Mill Gate Price Scheme (MGPS): o This scheme makes available all types of yarn at Mill Gate Price to the eligible handloom agencies and the transport and depot operating expenses are being borne by the Government of India. Further, to provide the subsidized yarn to handloom weavers in order to compete

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy with powerloom and mill sector, a new component of 10% price subsidy on cotton hank yarn and domestic silk yarn has been incorporated in the Mill Gate Price Scheme w.e.f. 6.1.2012.  Diversified Handloom Development Scheme (DHDS): o This scheme provides assistance for technological and skill up-gradation of weavers for design and product development through 25 Weavers’ Service Centres and 05 Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology all over the country to improve the productivity and earnings of the handloom weavers.  Revival Reform and Restructuring Package (RRR): o In order to open the choked credit lines to enable access to fresh credit for handloom sector, GoI has approved RRR package for waiver of overdue loan as on 31/03/2010 for eligible apex and primary weaver cooperative societies and individual weavers. The Government has also approved weaver credit card under institutional credit component, providing margin money assistance @ Rs. 4200/- per weaver, 3% interest subvention for three years and credit guarantee for 3 years by Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Problems Faced By The Indian Handloom Industry: The present age of modernization and globalization has posed a number of challenges for the handloom industry in India. The issues of concern to this industry are discussed below.

 Rising input costs: o The prices of yarn, dyes, chemicals and other inputs have increased sharply in the recent period. o This has resulted into cost disadvantage to the weavers. In spite of more than 700 yarn depots being o operated in the country; the weavers are not able to obtain the necessary inputs at reasonable prices. The o problem is more acute for the individual weavers who need small quantities of yarn and chemicals. This o situation is affecting the level of output in the handloom industry.  Credit problem: o The poor financial condition and independent functioning of weavers has made it difficult to o obtain credit from the institutional sources. Hence they have to depend on the mercy of private money o lenders, and their exploitation continues. In many cases the weavers have to divert the loan amount towards o consumption needs. The lack of rudimentary financial literacy further aggravates the problem.  Marketing bottlenecks: o The largely unorganized handloom industry suffers from a number of marketing problems due to o poor financial and managerial resources. There is no easy availability of handloom products in tier-II and o tier-III towns. The prices are also high and not within the reach of common people. There is also problem of o genuineness of the products available in the handloom emporiums. The problem of stiffness and limited o designs also adds to the marketing difficulties.. Foreign markets remain under exploited due to the limited o access and funds.  Lack of modernization: o The handloom industry has been using age old technology and looms. These results into low o productivity and high cost. Again the continuous and repetitive movements of production process o adversely affect the health of weavers in various ways such body pain, pulmonary problems, chronic

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy o bronchitis, decrease in hand-grip strength and eye-strain.  Migration to other fields: o Due to the lower income and instable work the younger generation of weavers has been migrating o to other occupations. This has reduced the weaver community.  Poor infrastructure: o Since “handloom” manufacturing is carried on in the houses of weavers spread over a vast o geographical area, it lacks the necessary infrastructure which is available in industrial estates. There are no o separate sheds, water and power supply, technology support effluent treatment plants and waste o management arrangements. The poor infrastructure affects the productivity, quality and cost.  Inadequate research and development: o Due to the vulnerable financial condition, the weavers, individually, are not able to set research o and development facility and spend money on it. The state provisions are also not sufficient .Modern o designs are not developed in sufficient number and in tune with the changing taste of the public. o Apart from this, Handloom should be revived as a skilled occupation that offers livelihood with dignity for both the weaver and the physical environment around. National Biopharma Mission

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  About Biopharma mission  Biopharma value chain  Opportunity and Challenges

Recently  Recently central government has approved a Biopharma Mission for the production of accessible and affordable Indigenous vaccines, medical devices and Biotherapeutics.  According to the Global Innovation Index, India ranks at 81 out of 140 that is way below China (rank 29) and South Korea (rank 14).

About Biopharma Mission  It is a mission which has Industry-academia collaboration to accelerate discovery research in the field of Biopharma.  It will be implemented by Biotechnology Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).  It is $250 million mission and the World Bank in funding nearly $125 million.  The mission aims at “Innovation in India” (I3) for Biopharma. It will focus on Development of specific products - vaccines, biotherapeutics, medical devices and diagnostics; establishment of shared infrastructure and facilities; building and strengthening domain specific knowledge and management skills; creating and enhancing technology transfer capabilities in public and private sector.  It will create an ecosystem for innovate indigenous product development by researchers Startups and SMEs and make Indian Biotech Industry Globally competitive.  The Indian biopharmaceutical industry is around 10-15 years behind their counterparts in the developed countries and faces stiff competition from China, Korea in respect to innovation.  The mission is committed to addressing these gaps with a mission to make India a hub for design and development of novel, affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products and solutions

Biopharma Value Chain

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The value chain of the biotechnology industry involves a series of transformations from discovery of drug or process to final distribution to patients through healthcare facilities.  The process or drug to be tested has to be invented. A large amount of capital is required to conduct a process or invent a drug. Therefore, intensive research is done before implementation. This components have further sub-components.  The drug then undergoes clinical testing before it enters the market. The clinical testing usually consists of three phases: o Phase I: Product is tested on a small healthy control group o Phase II: Product is administered to a small group of ailing patients o Phase III: Product is administered to a large group of patients to verify the safety, effectiveness, and optimum dosage regimens of the drug o After the drug has passed through the clinical trial stages, it is reviewed by the FDA, which makes the final decision regarding the approval.  Components of Biopharma Value chain are; o Discovery: . Pre- discovery . Target identification . Target optimization o Validation . Lead identification . Lead optimization . Preclinical  Bio-manufacturing: o Pilot scale production o GMP production and testing o Clinical development

Opportunity  Biopharmaceuticals generate global revenues of $163 billion, making up about 20 percent of the pharma market.  It’s by far the fastest-growing part of the industry: biopharma’s current annual growth rate of more than 8 percent is double that of conventional pharma, and growth is expected to continue at that rate for the foreseeable future.  The mission will help transform the health standards of India’s Population by providing accessible and affordable medical services to all.  The beneficiaries will be Public, Entrepreneurs, academia and Industry or SMEs.  The mission will help in skill development which will develop mass of critical talent providing economic and manpower sustainability.  The Mission will help accelerating Discovery Research to Product development in Biopharmaceuticals  Development of advanced products, with the help of next generation technologies, relevant to public health.  Shared infrastructure facilities will upgrade and help in product discovery as well as product validation and manufacturing.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The mission will satisfy surplus demand for startup incubation space and services, through establishing and strengthening biotech clusters, pertinent consortia and clinical trial networks.

Challenges  Growing public health needs  Demand for affordability and improved access to medication  Global competitiveness  Complexity of Biopharma supply chain and operations  Need of separate novel manufacturing, supply, and quality-assurance approaches for new manufacturing technology platforms.  Quality compliance and regulatory scrutiny

PMAY - Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

Relevancy:  G.S. Prelims and Mains paper I, II and III  Government Schemes

Background:  Housing is a basic necessity for every human being. It provides a sense of security and ensures an environment of nourishment.  It has over the years become a pivotal survival need. Keeping this in mind, Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in June 2015.  This scheme has one simple objective: providing housing to all.  The primary target of this scheme is the low-income groups or economically weaker sections of the society, female citizens and scheduled caste and scheduled tribe candidates.

Divisions in PMAY There are two types of division under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The schemes that are completely sponsored by the central government are:  Land Allocation to slum dwellers in order to implement in-situ development.  Affordable housing facilities.  Subsidy for the construction of house or renovation of a house. The scheme which acts as the Central Sector Scheme of PMAY is Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme.

Features of Government Sponsored Schemes under PMAY We will first discuss the features of all the government sponsored schemes. Following are some key points under this:

 The lower income groups and economically weaker citizens of urban India will get a housing subsidy from the government. The amount of subsidy attained from the government is approximately INR 1 Lakh. Thus the weaker earning sections will be able to afford housing facilities easily. It falls under the government sponsored schemes.  Women and differently abled individuals will be given preference under this Scheme. The preference is given in sense that their application will be processed and taken into consideration earlier. This falls under the government sponsored scheme.  For the development of rural India, housing facilities are being to all slum dwellers and the homeless citizens. Under the Union Budget 2017-18, 23,000 crore INR is being extended towards this project.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy To sum up the features, the government is crediting INR 100,000 to citizens who belong to the weaker earning sections. Also in the case where citizen under this category wants to buy a house or renovate their house a loan of INR 1.5 Lakhs will be extended from the government.

Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme Under PMAY: Features  There will be a subsidized rate of interest linked to house loans.  According to Union Budget 2017-18, there has been an increase in the time period from 15 years to 20 years, for the rate of interest will be to be 6.5%.  The market rate for housing loans is 10.5%. This means that if someone applies for a home loan under PMAY, then they can enjoy a benefit of 4% where the interest rate is concerned.  This scheme is also known as the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme.  The subsidized interest rate ensures that the EMI that the beneficiary of loan has to pay will be much lesser than normal market rates.  For example, if a person avails a loan of INR 6 Lakhs, the EMI payable as per market rates (10.5%) for 20 years is INR 8842. For the same principle, the EMI payable at subsidized rate of 6.5% for 20 years is INR 5400. Thus a benefit of INR 3442 is gained.

Some important characteristics of the Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme are as follows:  Only urban sections of the society belonging to lower income groups (LIG) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) can avail this loan.  To get subsidized rates of 6.5%, the maximum loan value is 600,000 INR. Above this limit, the interest has to be paid at market rates.  If the loan period is exceeding 20 years, then the beneficiary has to pay at subsidized rates for first 20 years. The remaining balance has to be paid at market rates.  In the case of house extension or renovation, the loan will only be provided if the carpet area of the house is 30 meters for EWS category citizens and 60 meters for LIG category citizens.

Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana

Relevancy

 G.S. Paper 2  Background and highlights of the scheme  Objectives

Background: Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana (PMYY), launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is a new scheme to scale up an ecosystem of entrepreneurship for youngsters.  The scheme was launched on on 9 November 2016.  Under the scheme, the central government will arrange entrepreneurship education and training programs for youngsters for next 5 years.  The scheme will run for five years from 2016-17 to 2020-21 with a project cost of about 499.94 Crore.  Under the Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana, more than 7 Lakh youngsters will be provided entrepreneurship education and training through 3,050 institutes across India.

Highlights  The scheme will run for a period of five years from 2016-17 to 2020-2021.  The project implementation cost would be Rs. 499.94 Crore.  The scheme will offer education and training about entrepreneurship to over 7 lakh students in 5 years.  Training will be provided through 3050 Institutes across India.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The scheme will also offer easy access to information and mentor network, credit and advocacy to build a way-out for the youngsters.  Institutes under Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana will include 2200 Institutes of Higher Learning (colleges, universities, and premier institutes), 300 schools, 500 ITIs and 50 Entrepreneurship Development Centers.  The training programs will be carried out by the institutes through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The government is expecting to motivate first generation entrepreneurs to improve and excel in their entrepreneurial pursuits and inspire those who are part of the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem to excel even further through the scheme. Specific objectives 1. Educate and equip potential and early stage entrepreneurs  Develop and deliver entrepreneurship education to all citizens free of charge through Massive Open On - line Courses (MOOCs) and other on - line programmes accessible through a Learning Management System (LMS).  Design an assessment and certification mechanism.  Equip a total of 3,050 institutions to deliver world class entrepreneurship education programmes: 2,200 Institutes of Higher Learning (Universities, Colleges, Premier Institutions and AICTE Institutions including Polytechnics); 300 schools (10+2); 500 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 50 Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs).  Focus on the promotion of social entrepreneurship. 2. Connect entrepreneurs in enabling networks of peers, mentors, funds and business services  Create an "on - line market place" - a web based platform connecting entrepreneurs to each other for peer - to - peer networking and investors, financial institutions and business services such as legal, accounting, technology and HR services.  Set up a national mentor network for young entrepreneurs.  Establish a national network of incubators, accelerators and credit agencies.  Establish a national network of business service providers.  Leverage schemes/initiatives of Central Ministries and State/UT Governments. 3. Support entrepreneurs through Entrepreneurship Hubs (E - Hubs)  Establish a National Entrepreneurship Resource and Coordination Hub to coordinate and support entrepreneurship development programmes.  Establish Regional, Nodal, and Entrepreneurship Hubs to coordinate and support entrepreneurship programmes at all levels.  Develop a cloud based Management Information System that tracks entrepreneurs, training institutes (Project Institutes), faculty, students and outcomes.  Factory on Wheels. 4. Catalyze a culture shift to encourage entrepreneurship  Create a culture of dynamic entrepreneurship through events, branding and media.  Drive entrepreneurship research & advocacy.  Social Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes for SC/ST and minority beneficiaries.  Supervision of progress of the beneficiaries

Smart Cities

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  Smart cities mission

Recently:  A new list of 30 smart cities was announced by the Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The latest announcement takes to 90 the number of cities selected for part financing by the Centre under the scheme. An investment of Rs.57,393 crore has been proposed under smart city plans.  Some the cities selected in round-3 are Thiruvananthapuram, Patna, Puducherry, Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla, Jhansi, Aligarh, Gangtok, Bengaluru, etc.

Background:  In June 2015, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched three mega urban schemes viz., Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All in urban area setting in motion the process of urban transformation to enable better living and drive economic growth.  Urban areas are expected to house 40% of India's population and contribute 75% of India's GDP by 2030. This requires comprehensive development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure. All are important in improving the quality of life and attracting people and investment, setting in motion a virtuous cycle of growth and development.  The Smart Cities Mission is an innovative and new initiative by the Government of India to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.

What Are Smart Cities:  Depending upon the level of development, different countries have different connotations of concept of smart cities.  A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated sensor networks and data centers.  In the imagination of any city dweller in India, the picture of a smart city contains a wish list of infrastructure and services that describes his or her level of aspiration. To provide for the aspirations and needs of the citizens, urban planners ideally aim at developing the entire urban eco-system, which is represented by the four pillars of comprehensive development-institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure.

Smart Cities Mission:  The objective is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ solutions.  The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities.  The Smart Cities Mission is meant to set examples that can be replicated both within and outside the Smart City, catalyzing the creation of similar Smart Cities in various regions and parts o f the country.  Under the smart cities mission, the centre provides Rs.500 crore to each city for a period of 5 years.

Implementation Of Mission:  City level implementation will be done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created for the purpose.  The Indian government has taken a view to let the development of smart cities be taken up by special purpose vehicles (SPVs) – companies created by the state and municipal bodies to expedite the process of development.  The SPV being a limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013; it will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate the Smart City development projects. Each smart city will have a SPV which will be headed by a full time CEO and have nominees of Central Government, State Government and ULB on its Board.  Essentially, the SPV would work as a master developer, entering into arrangements with other developers to develop the site for redevelopment, new development or retrofitting, and thereafter exiting the project, having earned its requisite dividend/expended the amounts for capital works.

Inviting Foreign Partnership:  The government has also invited foreign partnership in developing smart cities. Deals have been signed to develop three smart cities in association with Germany, three with the United States, and one each with Spain and Singapore. Japan has also agreed to invest USD 4.5 billion in the Smart City Mission.  Three smart cities such as Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Tumkur in Karnataka are being developed with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has taken up the master plan for these cities.

Why Codification Of The Parliamentary Privileges?

Relevancy

 G.S. Paper 2 (Polity)  Understanding the parliamentary privileges and immunities in the Indian constitution  Contempt of Parliamentary Privileges

Underlying Principle For Parliamentary Privileges  The rationale for parliamentary privileges constitutionally enshrined in Article 105 (for Parliament) and Article 194 (for State Legislatures).

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Like several of our constitutional doctrines, parliamentary privilege is an inheritance from the British and it is not codified i.e. there is no rule book clearly defining the acts or conduct which is considered to be a breach of parliamentary privilege.  In the UK, parliamentary privilege evolved in the context of a newly formed democracy trying to hold its own against the monarchy which was traditionally the only power centre.  In this context, parliamentary privilege came to mean the right of Parliament to set its own internal rules of functioning and most importantly, provide immunity from legal liability under civil law for speech made by Parliamentarians in the course of the proceedings of the House.  The idea was to ensure elected representatives could speak their mind freely during the course of parliamentary debates without the fear of being sued or arrested for their utterances.  A MP therefore can never be sued for defamation even if their words are blatantly defamatory provided of course these words are uttered during the course of proceeding in the House. Although nobody outside Parliament can hold MPs accountable for their utterances, these MPs will still be held accountable for their utterance by internal parliamentary committees for any potential breach of parliamentary rules.

Contempt of Parliamentary Privileges  Flowing out of this same concept of parliamentary privilege, is the power of a legislature to punish for ‘contempt of the house’. As explained in a Rajya Sabha publication (at p.22), “It is a breach of privilege and contempt of the House, to make speeches or to print or publish any libels reflecting on the character or proceedings of the House or its committees or on any member of the House for or relating to his character or conduct as a Member of Parliament.  Such speeches or writings are punished by the House as contempt on the principle that such acts "tend to obstruct the Houses in the performance of their functions by diminishing the respect due to them.” It should be noted that this power is not expressly mentioned in the Constitution but borrowed from old British parliamentary convention. This is legal because at the time of its making, the Indian Constitution did not define the scope of parliamentary privileges, preferring instead to merely state that the Indian Parliament would enjoy the same privileges as enjoyed by the House of Commons of the Parliament of UK and ‘contempt of Parliament’ was very clearly covered under the privilege doctrine in the U.K.  The key difference, however between the UK and India, is that the last time the House of Commons hauled up an outsider (non-member) for ‘contempt of the House’ was in 1957, when the House of Commons found John Junor of the Sunday Express, guilty of contempt of the House because of certain remarks that he made criticizing the generous petrol allocations received by MPs while common citizens had to suffer from fuel rationing in the aftermath of the Suez crisis. In India however, non-members, especially journalists are routinely hauled up by state legislatures for ‘contempt of the house. In order to understand the scale of the problem, it’s necessary to examine some of the cases in the recent past.

Case Studies  In 2003, the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu legislature issued arrest warrants against the Publisher and four Senior Journalists of the Hindu and the Editor of Murasoli because of articles questioning the then Chief Minister’s J. Jayalalitha’s conduct on the floor of the house. Although the Supreme Court eventually stepped into stay the operation of the arrest warrant, the Tamil Nadu police had already conducted dramatic raids on the houses of the journalists to arrest them.  The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, which has served notice on Shobhaa De has also used its contempt powers liberally in the past. In the last few years, this legislature has issued a breach of privilege notice to actor Anupam Kher after his utterances against the Indian Constitution at Anna Hazare’s agitation and against journalists covering the assault of a policeman by 5 legislators.  One of these journalists, Nikhil Wagle was imprisoned earlier in 2002, for a day, by the Maharashtra Legislature for an editorial that he had written in 1998 criticizing the conduct of legislators in Parliament. In 2006, this same legislature invoked its powers of privilege to jail for 90 days the President of Fight for Right Bar Owners' Association because he was found to have made derogatory comments about the deputy CM after the government’s decision to ban dance bars. The order was challenged before

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy the Bombay High Court, which expressed its inability to interfere with parliamentary privileges since the Constitution limits the extent of judicial review of such legislative decisions.  Shobhaa De was thus lucky that the Supreme Court even stayed the notice because courts are quite wary of interfering with the legislature’s constitutional right to regulate its business and powers. More recently there has been news that the Privileges Committee is merely asking Shobhaa De for a clarification and that no coercive action will be taken against her. That’s too little too late. No citizen should be required to even provide a clarification for a harmless tweet. Indian editors have been demanding codification of parliamentary privileges for quite some time now. However mere codification doesn’t guarantee better protection of free speech. The reason for this is an old Supreme Court judgment, called the Searchlight case, where 4 of the 5 judges on a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court held that the fundamental right to free speech contained in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution could not trump parliamentary privileges contained in Articles 105 and 194 of the Constitution. Justice Subba Rao was the only dissenting judge. As long as this relationship between fundamental rights and parliamentary privilege is not redefined by the Supreme Court to alter the balance in favour of fundamental rights, there is little hope of things changing even after codification of privilege because the legislature can legally codify its privileges in a manner which clearly violates fundamental rights.

Parliamentary Privileges and Immunities in Indian Constitution

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  Introduction to Parliamentary Privileges  Classification , way forward and conclusion

Introduction  Under the constitutional law and in the arena of Indian Parliament, the expression “privilege and immunity” signifies certain special or exceptional rights of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha or its individual members which are generally accepted as necessary for the exercise of their constitutional functions.  To be stated precisely, parliamentary privilege is the sum of peculiar rights enjoyed by each House (the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha) collectively as constituent part of Parliament, and by members of each House individually without which it would be impossible for either House to maintain its independence of action.  The privileges attached to the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha not because of any exacted position of the members, but these are considered absolutely essential to regulate its own proceedings in a disciplined, efficient and undisturbed manner and in order to indicate its authority and dignity.

Privileges may be classified into two groups:  Privileges that are enjoyed by the members individually and  Privileges that belong to each House (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha) of Parliament collectively.  We are to note that our Parliament has not yet codified its privileges. In fact, the privileges rest on conventions and they may be ascertained by the practice and law that is in force In England

The privileges that are enjoyed by members Individually  The Privileges and immunities enjoyed by the members individually are: o Freedom of speech, o Freedom from arrest and o Exemption from attendance as jurors and witnesses.  Freedom of speech o According to the Indian Constitution, the members of Parliament enjoy freedom of speech and expression. No member can be taken to task anywhere outside the four walls of the House (e.g.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy court of law) or cannot be discriminated against for expressing his/her views in the House and its Committees. o The basic idea of extending this freedom being the necessity that every member would put forward without fear or favour his/her arguments for or against any matter before the House. o However, the Rules of procedure for the conduct of Business in the Houses of Parliament put certain restrictions on this freedom. That is, a member’s freedom of speech should be in conformity to the rules framed by the House to regulate its internal procedure. o Furthermore, the privilege of freedom of speech does not mean an unrestricted license of speech. For example, our Constitution forbids discussion in Parliament on the conduct of judges except on motion for their removal. In this connection, it may be pointed out that in India, there have been clashes between freedom of speech as guaranteed to the members of .parliament and fundamental rights as given to the people under Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution.  Freedom from Arrest o The members of Parliament also enjoy freedom from arrest. From this freedom it is understood that no such member shall be arrested in a civil case 40 days before and after the adjournment of the House (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha) and also when the House is in session. o It also means that no member can be arrested within the precincts of the Parliament without the permission of the House to which he/she belongs. When a member of the House is arrested or detained, the authority concerned should immediately inform the speaker or the Chairman regarding the reasons for such arrest. o A member can be arrested outside the four walls of the House on criminal cases under the Preventive Detention, ESMA, NSA, POTA or any other such Act.  Freedom of attendance as witnesses: o The members of Parliament also enjoy freedom from attendance as a witnesses.

Privileges of the House collectively  There are also some other privileges which the House (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha) collectively enjoys. These are:  The right to publish debates and proceedings: o Though by convention, the Parliament does not prohibit the press to publish its proceedings, yet technically the House has every such right to forbid such publication. o Again, while a member has the privilege of freedom of speech in Parliament, he has no right to publish it outside Parliament. Anyone violating this rule can be held responsible for any libelous matter it may contain under the common law rules.  The right to exclude strangers: o Each House of Parliament enjoys the right to exclude strangers (no-members or visitors) from the galleries at any time and to resolve to debate with closed doors. o The punishment may be in the form of admonition, reprimand, or imprisonment.  The right to punish members and outsiders for breach of its privileges: o In India, the Parliament has been given punitive powers to punish those who are adjudged guilty of contempt of the House. Such contempt can be committed by the members of any House or any outsider. o When a member of the House is involved for parliamentary misbehavior or commits contempt he can be expelled from the House.  The right to regulate the internal affairs of the House: o In Indian Union, each House is a High court of Parliament. o Therefore, the House has the right to regulate its internal affairs. o A member of the House is free to say whatever he likes subject only to the internal discipline of the House or the Committee concerned.

Way forward  Despite the existance of privileges to the parliamnetarians to

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Conclusion  Parliamentary privileges have become a complex problem, but these days it is being increasingly realized that privileges are essential for elected representatives of the people and the members of Parliament and such press as well as outside public must respect these in true sense and spirit.

Agricultural Reforms And Their Impacts

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, National Agriculture Mandi and its impact  Soil Health Card (SHC), Agroforestry and its impact  Rashtriya Gokul Mission, National Bovine Productivity Mission and its impact  Blue Revolution and its impact  Student Ready Programme In Agriculture Education, and Personnel Information Management System, Deployment And Transfer System  Agriculture Education Is To Be Declared As Professional Degree  Portal For E-Governance

Agricultural reforms Impact

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana  In the year 2016-17, the total sum insured  Launched in April 2016. increased to approximately twice that of 2015-  Farmers are charged a uniform rate of 16 premium of 1.5 % in Rabi, minimum rate till  The coverage of non-loanee farmers increased date. from 5 % in 2015-16 to 25 % in 2016-17, which  The scheme includes coverage of risks to shows the increasing acceptance of the standing crops, post-harvest losses and scheme. prevented sowing.  Farm level assessment of losses due to localized calamities is being done for the first time under this scheme.  25 % of the assessed claims are paid online immediately, which makes this scheme emphasizing on the use of technology.  The Capping has been removed under the scheme and to maximize the compensation, farmers will get the full cost of cultivation against their losses. National Agriculture Mandi  Till June 2017, 419 mandis of 13 states, which  To provide single mandi to farmers in the consists of nearly 46 lakh farmers, 90,000 country, PM launched an online trade portal in traders and 47,000 commission agents have April 2016 to provide a readily available market been linked with e-NAM portal. to farmers for their produce.  The transaction of 96 lakh MT products  The portal rectifies three rules, i.e. recognition costing to Rs. 22,179 crore is carried out of e-trading, implementation mandi tariff on through the portal till date. single window and single license across the state. Soil Health Card (SHC)  There has been 8 to 10 % reduction in the  Previously in 2015-16, state governments used consumption of the fertilisers during 2016-17 to prepare soil cards at different levels and as compared to 2015-16. there was no Union funding for it separately.  There has been a 10 to 12 % growth in the

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  The soil health card scheme was initiated for farm production. the first time in which a unanimous soil specimen unification and trial methodology was adopted.  12 soil health parameters are analysed through this scheme, so that the farmers are accurately aware about the use of nutrients and fertilizers in their fields.  There will be a reduction in the cost of farming and the identification of nutrients in the land and their importance will be established through this scheme. Agroforestry  8 states have started this scheme in 2016-17  Launched to augment tree planting activities, and 5 more states will join the group in 2017- intercropping and Medh Par Ped. 18 after liberalised transit regulations.  The scheme has been implemented in the  Other states are also being motivated to do so. states having liberalised transit regulations for transport of timber.  This scheme helped in reducing the effects of climate change, increase soil biodiversity, and also provide a source of income for farmers. Rashtriya Gokul Mission  35 projects under this mission have been  This mission aims at promoting and approved in 27 states, under which there are conservation of domestic cattle (or Bovines) in establishments of: a consolidated and scientific way. o Recording of cow’s milk productivity  This mission will help in the productivity of 30 o 31 mother bull farm of high breeding crore bovines and buffaloes as well as 7 car (for genetic improvement) milk producing farmers. o 14 gokul gram (Bovine Development Centres) for special conservation o Training to 30,000 artificial semen technicians conducive for 6 crore artificial semen activity during this year  2 Kamdhenu Breeding Centres for special conservation of domestic species on national level are being set up in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Blue Revolution  there has been an increasement in fisheries  The revolution aims to increase the security of upto 19.75% and number of the insured fish rearers, marine fisheries, mericulture and fishermen raised to 16%. the development of the harbours for fishery  farmers.  The government has enhance the amount to be given in saving cum relief component from Rs. 600 to Rs. 1500 per month.  Thus the accommodation component amount for the fishermen has been enhanced from Rs. 75000 to Rs. 1.20 lakh and for North Eastern States Rs. 1.30 lakh. National Bovine Productivity Mission  Till June, 2017, information about 15,831 live  The mission was started to increase the animals, 4.71 crore semen doses and 373

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy income of animal rearers, milk productivity embryos has been uploaded on this portal. and production.  So far, 3 crore semen doses and 100 livestock  Many advance breeding techniques were have been sold on the portal. opened to increase the number of female  8.8 million milch animals were issued Nakul Bovines. Techniques like 50 Embryo Transfer Swastha Patra and UID cards under the Techniques, Sex Sorted bovine Semen, and In Pashudhan Sanjeevani scheme and were vitro Fertilization (IVF). provided comprehensive health treatment.  Through National Bovine Genomic Centre, indigenous breeds will be made acceptable for increased milk production and productivity.  In 2016, first ever e-Pashudhan Haat portal had been launched in order to facilitate the sale and purchase of high-quality breed / native livestock and availability of good quality semen doses.  Through this transparent high-level cattle market has been established where sale and purchase of livestock and semen can be done without any middleman. Student Ready Programme In Agriculture Education  The extension of the rural demonstration programme under 4 years programmes for different streams results in job providing degrees. Agriculture Education Is To Be Declared As Professional Degree  Recently ICAR has declared agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and agro forestry stretched to 4 years span as profession degrees.  These degrees enable the students for obtaining fellowship, admission in universities and different post graduation degrees abroad. Personnel Information Management System, Deployment And Transfer System  Through online platform, one can get an expeditious knowhow about the strength of the scientists, their existing status, deployment in specific unit as well as existing vacancies. Portal For E-Governance  The following portals have been made through the use of information and communication technology which has carried out expeditious performance in a transparent way.  The burning example of them are ERP system, KVK knowledge portal, Management system for post graduation and education, Educational and E-Learning module, E-Dialogue, Agriculture e-office and E- Agriculture Mandi.

TRADEMARKS

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  IPR and trademarks  TRIPS agreement and trademarks

Recently:  The Mumbai’s historic building, Taj Hotel Palace, acquired a trademark making it the first building in the country to get intellectual property rights.  It secured an image trademark for its iconic building and the dome.

What are Intellectual Property Rights:

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Intellectual Property Rights are legal rights, which result from intellectual activity in industrial, scientific, literary & artistic fields. These rights Safeguard creators and other producers of intellectual goods & services by granting them certain time-limited rights to control their use. Protected IP rights like other property can be a matter of trade, which can be owned, sold or bought. These are intangible and non- exhausted consumption.  Types of IPR’s: 1. Patents, 2. Trademarks, 3. Copyrights and related rights, 4. Geographical Indications, 5. Industrial Designs, 6. Trade Secrets, 7. Layout Design for Integrated Circuits and 8. Protection of New Plant Variety.

What is a trademark:  A trademark is a distinctive sign that identifies certain goods or services as those produced or provided by a specific person or enterprise. It may be one or a combination of words, letters, and numerals. They may consist of drawings, symbols, three- dimensional signs such as the shape and packaging of goods, audible signs such as music or vocal sounds, fragrances, or colours used as distinguishing features.  In layman language, it is a mark or an indication used in the course of trade by the person concerned to distinguish his goods or services from the goods or services of another person.  It provides protection to the owner of the mark by ensuring the exclusive right to use it to identify goods or services, or to authorize another to use it in return for payment.  It helps consumers identify and purchase a product or service because its nature and quality, indicated by its unique trademark, meets their needs.  Registration of trademark is prima facie proof of its ownership giving statutory right to the proprietor.  Trademark rights may be held in perpetuity. The initial term of registration is for 10 years; thereafter it may be renewed from time to time.

TRIPS Agreement:  It is the most comprehensive treaty on intellectual property rights.  The agreement on Trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) is an international agreement administered by the world trade organization (WTO).  The TRIPS Agreement, which came into effect on 1 January 1995, is to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property.  The TRIPS Agreement is a minimum standards agreement, which allows Members to provide more extensive protection of intellectual property if they so wish. Members are left free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the Agreement within their own legal system and practice.  India being a signatory of TRIPS agreement, it has to comply with the provisions of TRIPS agreement, it is under an obligation to implement the TRIPS agreement in totality that Indian intellectual property laws have to be amended to bring them in with the provisions of the TRIPS agreement.

Indian Trademark Law, 1999:  Indian trademark law statutorily protects trademarks as per the Trademark Act, 1999 and also under the common law remedy of passing off. Statutory protection of trademark is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, a government agency which reports to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.  The 1999 Act was enacted to comply with the provisions of the TRIPS. Though some aspects of the unregistered trademarks have been enacted into the 1999 Act, but they are primarily governed by the common law rules based on the principles evolved out of the judgments of the Courts.  The law of trademark deals with the mechanism of registration, protection of trademark and prevention of fraudulent trademark.  The law also provides for the rights acquired by registration of trademark, modes of transfer and assignment of the rights, nature of infringements, penalties for such infringement and remedies available to the owner in case of such infringement.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Trademark to Section 2 (zb) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, "trade mark means a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others and may include shape of goods, their packaging and combination of colors." A mark can include a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colors or any such combinations.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy ECONOMY

Objectives Of GST- Anti Profiteering Measures

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  Objectives of GST  Concept Of Anti Profiteering Measures Under The Gst Regime  Highlights and functions

Objectives  Section 171 provides that it is mandatory to pass on the benefit due to the reduction in tax rate or from input tax credit to the consumers through proportionate reduction in prices.  The main objective of this move is to protect the consumers from inflation after the implementation of the GST regime.  While the objective may sound simple and easy to execute, the implementation of an anti-profiteering clause is fraught with grave risks.  The greatest challenge is that of the compliance according to tax experts.  The government should ask for pre and post-GST cost sheet of each product and calculate the pre-GST tax rate and post-GST tax rate for each and every product to understand and evaluate the quantum of tax benefit that a supplier is entitled to get.

Concept Of Anti Profiteering Measures Under The Gst Regime  GST is a new concept that was introduced in India for the first time and it was claimed as a major tax reform, which suggests it may bring in general inflation in the introductory phase. The Government does not want GST to lead to general inflation and for this, it becomes vital to ensure the benefits arising out of GST implementation be transferred to customers.  For this, the anti profiteering measures will help in checking the price rise and will also put a legal obligation on businesses to pass on the benefits. This will also help in instilling confidence in citizens.  The power is given to the Government to constitute an authority to analyze whether the commensurate benefit of allowance of input tax credit or reduction in the tax rates have been passed on to the end customer (final consumer).  The authority constituted by the Central Government will have powers to impose a penalty in case it finds that the price being charged has not been reduced consequent to reduction in rate of tax or allowance of input tax credit.

HIGHLIGHTS: (Sec. 171)  The anti-Profiteering measure is to be administered by the Central Government by a way of commensurate reduction in prices mainly;  Due to Input Tax Credit (ITC)  And due to reduction in costs.  It may impose heavy penalty for not passing the concerned benefits to customers. Penalties are yet to be prescribed.

FUNCTIONS:  The Authority under section 171 shall have the following major functions:

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy o Input tax credit availed by taxpayer have actually resulted in commensurate reduction in price of goods or services. o The reduction in prices on account of reduction in tax rates have actually resulted in a commensurate reduction in price of goods or services.  There is a possibility of price hoarding by business entities which must be dealt appropriately. The GST Law must confer referral powers to the GST Council to refer suspicious cases of anti-competitive activities to the Competition Commission, when needed rather than setting up a new authority.  There is still no clarity on how will they calculate the profit an organization made, will it be net basis or gross basis, a body will be needed to govern the whole process and for how long and how minutely will they be monitoring businesses to understand whether benefits have been passed on. After all, movement in prices could be due to a host of reasons such as the demand-supply scenario, competition and in certain cases, prices of a commodity in international markets, the level of the currency and so on.

Poverty And Inclusiveness

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  Poverty and sustainable development  Indicators and dimensions

Recently:  Lately, the policy makers of India as well as other developing nations are being faced by another dimension which could possibly worsen the living conditions of the poor.  The recent debated issue with regard to poverty and climate change is the effect of future climate change on the people living below poverty line.

Background:  There have been various changes with respect to the dimensions of poverty over the last 15-20. Now, not just the income, but various other important aspects are considered for determining the poverty or to determine how poor the person is. But still many countries consider income as the major basis to determine the poverty.

What is poverty:  Poverty is the state of deprivation of people or society in which they are not able to meet their basic needs. “It is the feeling of being helpless”.  It is the minimum basic consumption level essential for survival. Generally, people living below poverty line are considered as people who cannot afford to fulfil their daily minimum basic requirement.  Poverty line is the minimum basic level of income measured by using the official standard, for determining the portion of population living below poverty line.  Internationally, before October 4, 2015, an income of less than $1.25 per day per head of purchasing power parity is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, around 21.2% of Indians are extremely poor. The current International Poverty Line is now changed to $1.90 per day per head.

Dimensions of poverty:  Poverty encompasses multiple and diverse dimensions. Income, or lack thereof, is a relevant and key dimension—the means and resources to access necessary goods and services for meeting minimum basic needs.  Education or health outcomes have intrinsic values beyond their costs while the welfare loss from unemployment is potentially associated not only with the observed income loss but also with a lower perception of quality of life and human dignity. Health, nutrition, education, physical security, voice,

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy justice, and capacity and opportunity to improve one’s life are also essential dimensions of poverty and wellbeing.  Understanding the multiple dimensions of poverty and subjective perceptions about poverty must take into account non-monetary aspects of overall welfare and living standards.  Environmental Dimension: the poor people particularly dependant on natural resources for their survival. Because of this high dependence, there comes a need for ensuring productive forests, clean air and water, etc. Hence, the sustainable development and environment protection is of foremost importance for effective poverty reduction.

Impact of climate change on poor:  As seen under the environment dimension, the increased dependence of poor on the natural resources culminates the need of acting in favour of environment protection to reduce poverty in a nation.  Because this relation between the poor and the natural resources and environment, this stratum is especially vulnerable to the degradation of the local, regional and global changes.  Climate change is projected to cause a significant increase in the scope and severity of famines which contribute to degrade in the mental and physical health.  Resource depletion and environment pollution, to a large extent, are caused by the actions taken by the non-poor population but the effects are borne by the low strata who have to earn their living in the areas having the dirtiest water, poorest soil and degraded forests.

FDI AND FII

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  Foreign Direct Investment  Foreign Institutional Investor  Difference between FDI and FII

Recently:  Like we know that, in August 2014, the cabinet, cleared the proposal to allow 100% FDI in railway infrastructure, barring operations, via the so-called automatic route, said a person familiar with the development who didn’t want to be named.  The FDI ceiling in the sensitive defence sector has been hiked to 49% from the current 26 %, on the condition that control in joint ventures (JVs) for manufacturing of defence equipment will remain in Indian hands  FDI channelled through the automatic route doesn’t require prior government approvals.

Background:  Foreign investment provides a channel through which countries can gain access to foreign capital. It can come in two forms: foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign institutional investment (FII).  The Foreign investment pertains to those investments which made by the residents of a country in the financial assets and production processes of another country.  Beginning in 1991 and accelerating rapidly since 2000, India has liberalized its investment regulations and actively encouraged new foreign investment, a sharp reversal from decades of discouraging economic integration with the global economy.

What is FDI:  Foreign Direct Investment is an investment made by a company or individual in one country in business interests in another country, in the form of either establishing business operations or acquiring business assets in the other country, such as ownership or controlling interest in a foreign company.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Basically, FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is when a foreign company invests in India directly by setting up a wholly owned subsidiary or getting into a joint venture, and conducting their business in India.  The key feature of foreign direct investment is that it is an investment made that establishes either effective control of, or at least substantial influence over, the decision making of a foreign business.  Foreign direct investments are commonly made in open economies, as opposed to tightly regulated economies, that offer a skilled workforce and above average growth prospects for the investor.  IBM India is a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM, and is a good example of FDI where a foreign company has set up a subsidiary in India and is conducting its business through that company.  Foreign companies partnering with Indian companies to set up joint ventures is more typical and Starbucks partnering with Tata Global Beverages Limited is a recent example of FDI through joint venture, but there are several others in the insurance, telecom, food industry etc.

What is FII:  Foreign Institutional Investor means an institution established or incorporated outside India which proposes to make investment in securities in India. They are registered as FIIs in accordance with Section 2 (f) of the SEBI (FII) Regulations 1995. FIIs are allowed to subscribe to new securities or trade in already issued securities.  The Foreign Institutional Investor is also known as hot money as the investors have the liberty to sell it and take it back.  With the new FPI regime, which has commenced from 1 June 2014, it has now been decided to dispense with the mandatory requirement of direct registration with SEBI and a risk based verification approach has been adopted to smoothen the entry of foreign investors into the Indian securities market.  FPIs have been made equivalent to FIIs from the tax perspective, vide central government notification dated 22nd January 2014.  According to the SEBI FII Regulations, a Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) could invest in the securities in the primary and secondary markets including shares, debentures and warrants of companies unlisted, listed or to be listed on a recognized stock exchange in India.  However, subsequent to SEBI (FPI) regulations, FIIs are allowed to invest only in listed or to-be listed entities and only through stock exchanges.

Difference between FDI and FII:  Both FDI and FII is related to investment in a foreign country.  FDI or Foreign Direct Investment is an investment that a parent company makes in a foreign country. On the contrary, FII or Foreign Institutional Investor is an investment made by an investor in the markets of a foreign nation.  FII, being hot money, FII can enter the stock market easily and also withdraw from it easily. But FDI cannot enter and exit that easily. This difference is what makes nations to choose FDI’s more than then FIIs.  Foreign Direct Investment only targets a specific enterprise. It aims to increase the enterprises capacity or productivity or change its management control. In an FDI, the capital inflow is translated into additional production. The FII investment flows only into the secondary market. It helps in increasing capital availability in general rather than enhancing the capital of a specific enterprise.  The Foreign Direct Investment is considered to be more stable than Foreign Institutional Investor. FDI not only brings in capital but also helps in good governance practices and better management skills and even technology transfer. Though the Foreign Institutional Investor helps in promoting good governance and improving accounting, it does not come out with any other benefits of the FDI.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Make In India

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  Make in India and Foreign Direct Investment  Make in India and Ease of Doing Business  Synchronisation- GST and Make in India

Background:  The launch of GST does not merely affect the prices of commodities or the sectors at large, instead it indirectly also brings out major reforms in the initiation of various policies launched by the current. One such example is the Make in India policy.

What is Make in India:  This global initiative launched by the PM, Shri Narendra Modi on 25 September 2014, aimed at giving the Indian economy global recognition.  It has encouraged both national, as well as multi-national companies to manufacture their products in India.  Logo: The logo for the Make In India campaign is a an elegant lion, inspired by the Ashoka Chakra and designed to represent India's success in all spheres. The campaign was dedicated to the eminent patriot, philosopher and political personality, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya who had been born on the same date in 1916.  Objective: In 2015, when the policy was proposed, the manufacturing sector contributed almost 15% to the national GDP. The aim of this campaign was basically to grow this to a 25% contribution as seen with other developing nations of Asia. In addition to this, the Government also expected to generate jobs, attract FDI’s and transform India into a global manufacturing hub.  As per International Monetary Fund, post the launch of Make in India initiative, India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy with GDP growth rate above 7.6% in 2015-16 and projected growth rate above 7% till 2020.

Benefits of Make in India:  With Asia mounting as the outsourcing focus of the world, India is shortly becoming the favored manufacturing destination of most sponsors across the world.  The ‘Make In India’ will create opportunities of employment.  Enforcement to Secondary and Tertiary sector  Enhancing national economy  Renovating the India to a self-sufficient country  To provide the Indian economy worldwide appreciation.

Make in India and FDI:  The "Make in India" initiative will act as a first reference point for guiding foreign investors on all aspects of regulatory and policy issues and assist them in obtaining regulatory clearances. In 2014, the Centre has already allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under the automatic route in construction, operation and maintenance in rail infrastructure projects and increased FDI in defence from 26 to 49 per cent.  After initiation of the programme in 2015, India emerged as the top destination globally for foreign direct investment, surpassing the United States as well as the People's Republic of China.  The year 2015-16 witnessed 46% growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows and highest ever FDI inflows at $ 55.5 billion.

Make in India and Ease of Doing Business:

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  ‘Make in India’ recognizes ‘ease of doing business’ as the single most important factor to promote entrepreneurship. A number of initiatives have already been undertaken to ease business environment. The aim is to de-license and de-regulate the industry during the entire life cycle of a business.  The Ease of Doing Business (EODB) index is a ranking system established by the World Bank Group. In the EODB index, ‘higher rankings’ (a lower numerical value) indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.  India’s EODB ranking in 2015 was 134, in 2016 was 131 and in 2017 130.  Since 2014, the Government of India launched an ambitious program of regulatory reform aimed at making it easier to do business in India. The program represents a great deal of effort to create a more business-friendly environment.  The efforts have yielded substantial results with India jumping 4places on the World Banks’ Doing Business rankings.  Improved business processes and procedures open up new avenues of opportunities and create confidence among entrepreneurs. Some of these improvements are No. of documents for exports and imports reduced from 11 to 3, validity of industrial license extended to 7 years from 3 years, Bankruptcy Code 2015 – New bankruptcy law, providing for simple and time-bound insolvency process to be operational by 2017, Goods and Services Tax – Single tax framework by April, 2017, Permanent Residency Status for foreign investors for 10 years, etc.

Make in India and GST:  The current indirect tax regime is clearly one of the biggest hindrances which have adversely impacted the domestic manufacturing sector as well as flow of foreign investment to the sector and introduction of GST is important to alleviate the situation. GST would reduce the cost of manufacturing both from a tax perspective as well as on compliance front.  The implementation of GST would result in abolition of multiple taxes and would bring the much-needed uniformity and certainty in tax rates.  GST would also ensure that tax at each stage is creditable thereby avoiding double taxation. Also the manufacturers need to deal with only three laws that are Central law for CGST and IGST and State law for SGST.  The current indirect tax regime is clearly one of the biggest hindrances which have adversely impacted the domestic manufacturing sector as well as flow of foreign investment to the sector and introduction of GST is important to alleviate the situation. GST would reduce the cost of manufacturing both from a tax perspective as well as on compliance front.

Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  Banking regulation amendment  Empowerment of RBI

Background:  The 2014-15 data revealed that the NPA’s and restructured loans of public sector banks amount to almost 7 lakh crores.  In response to an RTI application, the RBI disclosed that while bad debts stood at Rs.15,551 crore for the financial year ending March 2012, they had shot up by over three times to Rs.52,542 crore by the end of March 2015.  Bank-wise break-up shows State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, is way ahead of others in declaring loans as unrecoverable, with its bad debts shooting up almost four times since 2013 — from Rs.5,594 crore in 2013 to Rs.21,313 crore in 2015. The country’s second-largest public-sector bank, Punjab National Bank, has also witnessed a consistent rise in bad debts since 2013.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy What is Banking Regulation Act:  It is a set of rules which governs the banking sector of India.  The Act gives the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the power to license banks, have regulation over shareholding and voting rights of shareholders; supervise the appointment of the boards and management; regulate the operations of banks; lay down instructions for audits; control moratorium, mergers and liquidation; issue directives in the interests of public good and on banking policy, and impose penalties.

Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance,2017:  When this amendment was passed, it authorised the Central Bank i.e. RBI to issue directions to any bank to initiate insolvency resolution proceedings in respect of defaults.  Under this the RBI can specify one or more authorities or panels to advice banks on resolution of stressed assets.  This ordinance empowers both the banks and RBI to invoke legal proceedings in case of default by the borrower.  The idea is to target the worse banking defaults. The bigger the account defaults were told to be tackled first so as see a noticeable relief.  One of the powers includes issuance of specific instructions to banks to enable easy and speedy relief.

Addition of sections 35AA and 35AB:  The existing Section- 35A enables the Government to authorise the RBI to direct the banking companies to resolve specifically stressed assets by conducting the insolvency resolution proceedings, where required.  35AA. The Central Government may by order authorise the Reserve Bank to issue directors to any banking company or banking companies to initiate insolvency resolution process in respect of a default, under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.  35AB. (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 35A, the Reserve Bank may, from time to time, issue directors to the banking companies for resolution of stressed assets. (2) The Reserve Bank may specify one or more authorities or committees with such members as the Reserve Bank may appoint or approve for appointment to advise banking companies on resolution of stressed assets.’

RBI’s action plan after implementation of Amendment:  Immediately upon the promulgation of the Ordinance, the Reserve Bank issued a directive bringing the following changes to the existing regulations on dealing with stressed assets.  It was clarified that a corrective action plan could include flexible restructuring.  With a view to facilitating decision making in the Joint Lenders Forum (JLF), consent required for approval of a proposal was changed to 60 percent by value instead of 75 percent earlier, while keeping that by number at 50 percent.  Banks who were in the minority on the proposal approved by the Joint Lenders Forum (JLF) are required to either exit by complying with the substitution rules within the stipulated time or adhere to the decision of the JLF.  Participating banks have been mandated to implement the decision of JLF without any additional conditionality.  The Boards of banks were advised to empower their executives to implement JLF decisions without further reference to them  It was made clear to the banks that non-adherence would invite enforcement actions.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy MSCI Index

Relevancy:  GS paper 3 Stock Market  Impact on India  MSCI Index and China

Recently:  American stock index provider, MSCI Inc. has recently announced its decision to add mainland China's shares to its global benchmark equity shares. It is going to add 222 shares from mainland Chinese stocks. The stocks, which would represent a weightage of only 0.73% in the benchmark, will be included via a two-phase process in May and August next year.  Mainland China, also known as the Chinese mainland, is the geopolitical as well as geographical area under the direct jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China. It excludes special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.  The non-mainland shares have been part of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the foreign investors had no access to the shares of the mainland China and could trade only in the markets of Hong-Kong and Macau.

What is MSCI:  MSCI Inc. (formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International and MSCI Barra), is an American provider of equity, fixed income, hedge fund stock market indexes, and equity portfolio analysis tools. It publishes the MSCI BRIC, MSCI World and MSCI EAFE Indexes. The company is currently headquartered at 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.  Generally, inclusion of shares from a particular country to the MSCI’s indices helps the foreign institutional investors cash inflow to increase.

MSCI India Index:  Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has set up many global indices, one of which is a composite of Indian stocks-the MSCI India index. Many reputed Indian companies across sectors are included in the index. These companies amount to at least 85% of the total equity offered by Indian companies. The index includes 10 major sectors of the economy such as IT, finance and energy sectors. There are 64 companies listed on the MSCI India index, as of May 2015.  Use of MSCI India Index by FII’s: Foreign investors want international markets to invest their funds. They want to know more about the stability and volatility in the prices of shares. The MSCI India Index acts as an indicator of the soundness of the Indian capital market. The weightage of a company depends on its performance in different categories such as the total turnover, market capitalization and dividend return. Greater the weightage, higher will be the amount of foreign investment into the stocks.

Impact Of The Recent Development On India:  Though it is believed that the inclusion of mainland China’s shares will have minimal impact, but amount of potential FII outflows are estimated be quite high.  The market observers believe that the Indian equities market may witness potential FII outflow of nearly USD 213.99 million.  The inclusion of Chinese stocks in MSCI flagship index may see a dilution in index weights not only of India but of other emerging market countries like Korea, Taiwan as well.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Super-Flexible And Strong Artificial Silk

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 3  Properties of the new super-flexible and strong artificial silk  Structure of the silk

Recently  Scientists from University of Cambridge have developed artifical silk which is super stretchy and strong like spider web and is composed of 98% water.  This artificial silk can be used to manufacture eco friendly textile fabrics and sensors.  The fiber resembles miniature bungee cords.

Properties Of The New Super-Flexible And Strong Artificial Silk  Non toxic  Sustainable  Can be manufactured at room temp.  Can absorb large amount of energy  can support stresses in the range of 100 to 150 megapascals, which is similar to other synthetic and natural silks  The extremely thin threads are a few millionths of a metre in diameter.

Structure Of The Silk  Fibers are made from HYDROGEL which is 98% water and remaining 2% are silica and cellulose, both available naturally.  Silica and Cellulose are held together in a network by barrel-shaped molecular “handcuffs” known as cucurbiturils. Paediatric Fixed-Dose Combination For Childern With TB

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 3  Current situation  Causes of the widespread TB  WHO reccomendations

Recently  Recent study by National TB Control Program have shown worrying results on large number of TB cases, particularly among children.

Current Situation  The Revised National TB Control Program carried out tests for TB in children in 9 cities.  Out of 76000 children tested, about 5500 have been diagnosed with TB.  9% of those diagnosed have MDR-TB which shows the silent spread of TB and how our health system is failing to diagnose the disease at an early stage among children as well as adults.  The limited study conduted shows that unfortunately the RNTCP guidelines are not followed correctly resulting in the silent spread of the disease.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Causes  In many cases in which children have been diagnosed with TB have found to be in close surroundings of the adults suffering from TB as well.  Delay in diagnosis results in people in contact with the patient to get infected as well.

WHO Recommendations  As per the guidelines issued by WHO, all the contacts and specially children of a newly diagnosed pulmonary TB patient must be tested for the disease and if required should be put on treatment by RNTCP  Children below 6 years in the houehold of a newly diagnosed patient must be given the drug Isoniazid as a prophylactic even when they do not have the disease.  Fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs that take into account the revised dosages for children were finally made available in late 2015. The FDCs are meant for treating children with drug-susceptible TB and cannot be used to treat children who require second-line drugs or who have MDR-TB. India has finally introduced FDCs in six States and hope to cover the remaining states by the end of this year.  Using the Xpert molecular diagnostic test to screen children with TB is a positive step and should be welcomed, but all the diagnosed children should be guaranteed paediatric FDCs.

Zoonoses and India

Relevancy:  GS Prelims  GS Mains Paper I, II, III  Zoonoses, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Health Policy, One health Approach

Recently:  A landmark studies has shown that the most of the Emerging Infectious Diseases are dominated by Zoonoses. Zoonoses are the diseases which can be transmitted from animals in the wildlife to humans.  Their spread is largely dependent upon socioeconomic and environmental factors.

Some examples of zoonoses:  Bats were found to harbour the highest numbers of zoonotic viruses and are also a major reservoir for coronaviruses. These include the SARS virus that emerged in China in 2002, spread to 27 countries and killed 774 people and the MERS coronavirus that caused 640 deaths.  Major modern diseases such as Ebola virus disease and salmonellosis are zoonoses. HIV was a zoonotic disease transmitted to humans in the early part of the 20th century, though it has now evolved to a separate human-only disease.  Most strains of influenza that infect humans are human diseases, although many strains of swine and bird flu are zoonoses; these viruses occasionally recombine with human strains of the flu and can cause pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu or the 2009 swine flu.  Taenia solium infection is one of the neglected tropical diseases with public health and veterinary concern in endemic regions.  Most human diseases originated in animals; however, only diseases that routinely involve animal to human transmission, like rabies, are considered direct zoonosis

Mode of infection in cases of Zoonoses:  Zoonoses have different modes of transmission. In direct zoonosis the disease is directly transmitted from animals to humans through media such as air (influenza) or through bites and saliva (rabies).  In contrast, transmission can also occur via an intermediate species (referred to as a vector), which carry the disease pathogen without getting infected.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  When humans infect animals, it is called reverse zoonosis or anthroponosis.

Indian subcontinent: A Pathogen hotspot  The Indian subcontinent, being a tropical region, is a ‘hotspot’ for zoonotic, drug-resistant and vector- borne pathogens.  The reason is that with 1.34 billion people, 512 million livestock and 729 million poultry, the density and rates of human–animal, animal–animal and human–human contacts are high. These increase the potential for the emergence, circulation and sustenance of new pathogens. India has also lost about 14,000 sq km of forests over 30 years.  Deforestation brings wildlife into direct contact with humans and domesticated animals, increasing the risk of zoonoses.

Problems in tackling Zoonotic and Emerging Infectious diseases:  Poor domestic research and Development  Lack of international collaborations  Restrictive policies on sharing clinical and research materials i.e. technology transfer.  Poor inter-disciplinary approach  Lack of collaboration between various ministries and departments.

What is One Health? What is India’s approach towards One Health?  ‘One Health’ promotes the realisation that the health of humans, animals and the environment are linked to each other. It involves applying a coordinated, collaborative, multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to address potential or existing risks that originate at the animal-human-ecosystems interface.  India presents a poor picture of One Health. There are 460 medical colleges and 46 veterinary colleges in India, but most do little or no research. The governance structure and inter-sectorial coordination is also problematic, with human, animal and environmental health controlled by different ministries, with little cross-talk.  India’s National Health Policy approved recently is also a missed opportunity. It fails to even mention “zoonoses” and “emerging infectious diseases,” let alone break the silos or enable work in key EID areas.  However, as seen during the 2006 Bird Flu outbreak, various sectors in India are capable of working together. The need is to move from being reactive to proactively understanding zoonotic pathogens before they cause human disease. This will require preparedness and policy inputs. An inter-ministerial task force should prepare a policy framework that enables preparedness by strengthening inter-sectorial research on zoonoses and health systems. Such research makes economic and political sense.

Conclusion:  A new disease emerging in any part of the world is a global threat.  If India aspires to be a world leader, it cannot afford to ignore its responsibility towards global health.  If India can pledge and successfully implement nuclear non-proliferation, can it remain a potential threat for disease proliferation?

Industrial Internet Of Things (IIOT)

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Internet of things  Industrial internet of things (IIOT)  Uses, benefits and challenges of IIOT

Recently

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Siemens, a Germany company opened its first digital factory in India, which is the third globally after Germany and China has one each.  The German company hopes to use Mumbai's digital factory as a showcase to sell a range of plant automation equipment and software to Indian manufacturing units.  The machines rely on the Internet of Things technology, where sensors are fitted to machines and the resulting data is used to improve and track their performance.

Internet of Things  All the devices which can be connected to the internet acts as a part of the big internet family, they can interact with each other sharing relevant data to perform better functions.  The devices like internet router, GPS systems in mobile phones and cars, laptops, tablets, security cameras, smart devices like temperature monitor, sensors, health devices, etc. these are connected to the internet and such combination is termed as ‘internet of things’.  This also applies to components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig.  Till now not even 1% of this technology are in use, thus this technology is growing worldwide.

Industrial Internet Of Things (IIOT)  The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in manufacturing.  The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) describes the Internet of Things as it is used across several industries such as manufacturing, logistics, oil and gas, transportation, energy/utilities, mining and metals, aviation and other industrial sectors.  Initially focusing on the optimization of operational efficiency and rationalization/ automation/ maintenance, with an important role in the convergence of IT and OT, the Industrial Internet of Things opens plenty of opportunities in moving towards an on demand service model, new ways of servicing customers and the creation of new revenue models, often in unexpected ways.  The industrial internet of things (IIOT) market is estimated to reach $123.89 Billion by 2021

Uses of IIOT  Remote service, field service, remote maintenance and control use cases.  Smart factory applications and smart warehousing.  Industrial security systems  Smart industrial asset management.  Predictive and remote maintenance.  Safety and health (conditions) monitoring of workers.  Freight, goods and transportation monitoring.  Ozone, gas and temperature monitoring in industrial environments.  Connected logistics.  Asset tracking and smart logistics.  Smart metering and smart grid.  Manufacturing equipment monitoring.  Smart environment solutions.  Industrial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning  Smart city applications.  Energy consumption optimization  Smart farming and livestock monitoring.

Benefits  Creating new business opportunities.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Maximizing asset utilization.  Improving operational efficiency.  Sustainable and green practices.  Reducing downtime.  Improving productivity.

Challenges  Lack of intelligent data systems and data integration challenges.  Cyber security, data security and the need to redesign security architectures.  Lack of skilled professionals and access to skilled workers.

Rukmani/GSAT-A

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 3  About GSAT-7/ Rukmini  Features

Recently  Increasing China’s Naval presence in the Indian Ocean is concern for India. Thus Indian Navy is keeping an eye with the Navy’s own military satellite, GSAT-7, which was launched in 2013.

About GSAT-7/ Rukmini  GSAT-7 is a military satellite for communication developed by ISRO.  It is the first dedicated military communication satellite that will provide services to the Indian defence forces with the main user being the Indian Navy.  With the help of the shore-based operational centres, 'Rukmini' (also called INSAT-4F) has not only helped the Navy keep an eye on both Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal but also helped the force increase its communication and surveillance capabilities from Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait, which together is equivalent to almost 70% of the IOR.

Features  The satellite, operates in Ultra High Frequency (UHF), S, C and Ku bands, has an advanced Helix antenna. o Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 MHz and 3 GHz, also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one decimeter. o The Ku band is the 12–18 GHz portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies, which are primarily used for satellite communications, most notably for fixed and broadcast services. o The S band is part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum, are radio waves with frequencies that range from 2 to 4 GHz. The S band is used by weather radar, surface ship radar, and some communications satellites. o The C-band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies ranging from 4.0 to 8.0 gigahertz used for many satellite communications transmissions, some Wi-Fi devices, some cordless telephones, and some weather radar systems.  The 2,650 kilograms GSAT-7 is the last of ISRO’s seven fourth-generation satellites.  It has helped the Navy monitor the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as it has a nearly 2,000 nautical mile 'footprint'.  The multi-band communication-cum surveillance satellite, which is operating from the geo-stationary orbit (at 36,000km altitude).

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  It provides real-time inputs to naval warships, submarines and maritime aircraft and networking capabilities to its naval assets on the high seas.

E-Waybill

Relevancy:  GS paper 3  E-Waybill and transportation

Recently:  Two draft rules relating to GST have been released for the comments of the stakeholders viz., ‘Electronic way bill’ and ‘Assessment and Audit’.  The draft contains six rules dealing with the generation of electronic way bill and related procedures.

What is E-Waybill:  It is an electronic permit required to be presented for moving goods worth over Rs.50,000 within a state or between states.  The e-waybill proposed by the government entails that the transporter logs into the GST network and generate an e-waybill for providing vehicle number right from the time your shipment is picked up and then continue to generate e-waybills each time a vehicle is changed until the shipments are delivered to your consignee.  Hence, the proposed system requires a transporter to generate a new e-way bill when the goods are transferred from one conveyance to another.

GST and E-Waybill:  The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) will generate e-way bills that will be valid for one to 15 days, depending on the distance over which the goods are to be transported. One-day permit will be for a distance up to 100 km while a 15-day permit will allow more than 1,000-km transit.  To enable the tax officer to intercept or check the inter-state or intra-state movement of goods, the transporter will have to carry invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, and a copy of e-way bill or e-way bill number.  The e-way bill to facilitate faster movement of goods since check-posts would disappear in the wake ushering in of GST.

States where automatic E-Waybill is generated:  Maharashtra  Uttar Pradesh  Telangana  Rajasthan  Bihar  Assam  Andhra Pradesh  Jharkhand  Karnataka  West Bengal  Madhya Pradesh  Gujrat  Odisha

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy GeneXpert Machine

Relevancy:  GS Preliminary  Health/ Sci-Tech

Recently:  The WHO is recommending use of these state-of-the-art portable machines the size of a microwave oven, which can run molecular tests.  A single device called the GeneXpert can be used to diagnose TB and HIV infections, and quantitatively measure HIV and hepatitis C viral loads.  India recently procured 600 GeneXpert machines for the National Tuberculosis programme.

About GeneXpert:  GeneXpert machines — initially procured by countries for the detection of TB and rifampicin (a drug for treating TB) resistance, following an initial WHO recommendation in December 2010 — were subsequently expanded for use in early infant diagnosis of HIV and viral load testing using relevant cartridges in the same device.  It detects DNA sequences specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance by polymerase chain reaction

Petya/ NotPetya Ransomware

Relevancy:  G.S. Preliminary and G.S. mains paper III  Cyber Attacks/ ransomware/ Petya

Recently:  Petya/ Nonpetya is the latest cyberattack to have hit organisations worldwide.  While Ukraine and Russia are believed to be the worst hit by the attacks, companies across U.S., U.K. and India have been impacted.  Rusian Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky says over 60% of attacks took place in Ukraine, and Russia is second on the list with 30%.

What Is A Ransomware Attack?  It is malicious software that blocks access to computers and data until a sum of money is paid. NotPetya is the second major global ransomware since WannaCry, which had infected about 3,00,000 computers across 200 countries in May.  Similar to WannaCry, one of the means by which Petya spread was by exploiting the MS12-010 vulnerability, also known as EternalBlue.  The Petya ransomware not only encrypts files, but also overwrites and encrypts the master boot record. It shuts down the system about an hour after the infection and asks for ransom on rebooting.  Cyber-criminals behind the attack are demanding $300 in bitcoins be paid to recover encrypted files. However, the Indian government’s cybersecurity arm CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) in its advisory has urged against paying ransom as it does not guarantee files being released.

Weather Portal for Power Sector

Relevancy

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  G.S. Paper 2, 3  About POSOCO-IMD Weather Portal and its advantages  About MERIT and its advantages

Recently  Union Minister of state for power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines launched a weather portal for Power sector.  The weather portal was launched In association with POSOCO and IMD.  Another web portal was launched, ‘MERIT’ (Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and Transparency) to display the information regarding the merit order of Electricity procured by State(s).

About POSOCO-IMD Weather Portal  The weather portal will provide adequate data about the weather in the area which will help the state discoms to effectively manage their power supply.  Everyday weather variations play significant role in load demand, which in turn decides the amount of energy production, transportation and distribution management.  The Energy prices also depend on daily weather, due to which this portal will help state discoms to be prepared.  The portal will provide following information: o Regional weather summary- weather outlook for the region for the current day alongwith the next 7 days. Under this category, portal will also provide Nowcast (short period forecast i.e. 3 hours), Weather Forecast (for current day and next 6 days) and Weather Warning. o Radar: updated every 10 minutes, these Doppler weather radar will generate different displays and derived products of practical utility based on standard algorithms. o Satellite Images: updated every 30 minutes, these weather images over Indian Subcontinent will be monitored by INSAT 3D. o Meteogram: to provide plots for any kind of meteriological variables for 10km radius, like cloud cover, rainfall, wind, humidity, temperature, sea level pressure, thunderstorms etc for every 10 days updated every 3 hours. o Region Specific Forecast - Fog Forecast, Metar, Bay Bulletin, Coastal Area Bulletin, Cyclone, Port Warning etc.

Advantages of Weather Portal  It will provide information related to the weather forecast to all the states in the country  It will help state discoms to take proper measurements and pro-active steps regarding short and medium term management processes as well as supply planning requirements.  It will help state discoms in better planning for availability of infrastructure to ensure reliable and cost effective power supply.

About Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and Transparency (MERIT)  It is developed by Ministry of Power in association with POSOCO and central electricity authority.  The MERIT Web portal displays broad collection of information regarding the merit order of Electricity procured by State(s) for example o Daily source-wise power purchases of respective states/UTs with source-wise fixed and variable costs, o Daily state-wise marginal variable costs of all generators, o Energy volumes and purchase prices.  The web-portal also give information regarding reasons for deviation from the merit order such as must run conditions, transmission constraints etc.

Advantages of MERIT

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Transparent information dissemination pertaining to marginal variable cost and source wise purchase of electricity  Indication of supply side reliability, adequacy, and cost of power procurement  Empowerment of the Consumer and participative governance  Demystifies the utility portfolio and its complexity  Promotes economy and efficiency in operations  Facilitates renewable integration and handling of the variability and uncertainty of renewables  Optimization of the power procurement costs

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy SECURITY

Sikkim Agitation (Gorkhaland)

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Present status of the agitation  Stand of Sikkim  Apprehensons about the agitation  Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC)

Recently  The stir for a separate Gorkhaland state now had entered its fifth week.

What Is The Present Status Of The Agitation?  There are lots of twist and turns in the agitation  Seven people had lost their lives so far.  The officials barred the internet connections across the area where the agitation is on progress.  A “fast-unto-death” programme has been announced by senior leaders, It has also been decided that the agitation will continue indefinitely

What Is The Stand Of Sikkim?  Sikkim appears to have positioned itself in the emerging political configuration.  Sikkim is the very closer state to the Darjeeling area.  Sikkim has begun suffering disruptions in essential supplies.  It gave its open support to the Gorkhaland cause by making public a letter to Union Home Minister, has created ripples.

What Are The Apprehensions About The Agitation?  The insurgency groups around the chicken neck region making plans for the agitation.  The Bengal government believes the agitation is encouraged by union government for a political turmoil.  There are also suspicions that the agitation is funded by foreign forces like China and Nepal.

Quick fact

Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC)  It was a semi-autonomous body that looked after the administration of the hills of Darjeeling District in the state of West Bengal, India.  DGHC had three subdivisions under its authority: Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kurseong and some areas of Siliguri subdivision.  It was operational from 1988-2012, also once known for a short period of time as Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council (DGAHC).

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Sikkim Issue Explained

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Background of the issue  1975 request from Sikkim  Referendum

Recently  The Chinese media has once again raised concern over Sikkim and called upon its state to support Sikkim’s “independence” from what it considers unfair political control by India.  In order to understand the Chinese media’s assertion, one needs to reflect back on the long history of definitions, redefinitions and contradictions that have existed between the Indian state and the Sikkimese monarchy.

History  The state of Sikkim was established in 1642, when three Tibetan lamas consecrated Phuntsong Namgyal as the first ruler of Chogyal of Sikkim.  The monarchy of the Namgyal dynasty was maintained for the next 333 years before it became part of the Indian union in 1975 as its 22nd state.  The Sikkimese monarchy came into contact with the British rulers in early 19th century.  Both the monarchy and the colonial state had certain vested interests in each other.  For Sikkim, the British appeared as the best means of protection from the neighbouring kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan.  For the British, Sikkim appeared to have a common enemy with them in the form of the Gorkha kingdom of Nepal.  Further, an understanding with Sikkim would open up a prosperous trade route for them in the north eastern part of the state. Consequently, after the Anglo-Gorkha war of 1814-16, Sikkim got back a number of territories that Nepal had previously captured.  At the same time they signed the treaty of Titaliya with the British in 1817. The treaty of Titaliya gave the British authorities a number of commercial and political advantages in Sikkim.  However, it was also decided that the region would not directly come under the colonial governance and would be an independent entity. The status enjoyed by Sikkim under the British can best be termed as a “colonial periphery state”, which means that while it was not under colonial rule, the region was heavily controlled by the British  The ambiguity that arose in the relation between the newly independent Indian government and Sikkim after 1947 was firmly rooted in the policy of control devised by the British over the north eastern state.  The immediate result of the change in governance was a controversy over whether the Indian state would get to inherit all the paramount rights that the British enjoyed in Sikkim.  The monarchy in Sikkim, however, was strongly opposed to such a situation. When Sikkim refused to be a part of the Indian union, the government of India decided to give it “special status” while indicating that they would not insist upon the state’s full accession.  While respecting a large amount of internal autonomy in the Sikkim monarchy, the India-Sikkim treaty of 1950 was particularly focussed on frontier security. Thereby the Indian government had all the powers to take measures for the territorial integrity and security of Sikkim and India and had the right to station armed forces in the region, as per the necessity.  It would be wrong to state that Indian control on Sikkim after the treaty of 1950 was resisted by the Sikkimese population.  The time at which the negotiations between the two regions were taking place was also a period of political turmoil within Sikkim and the ruling dynasty needed the support of the Indian government for

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy survival. On the other hand, Sikkim was also to a large extent economically dependent on the Indian state which funded their developmental programmes and administrative expenditures.  Despite the division of powers and responsibilities recorded within the treaty, Sikkim’s status, particularly in the international arena remained largely ambiguous. Since 1962, there emerged frequent demands within Sikkim for greater internal and external autonomy for the state.  On one hand there was a demand to reduce Indian control over administration while on the other hand there was a greater need to allow the region a larger voice in its dealing with the outside world, which was seen as a necessity in order to bring in financial benefits through tourism.  Since 1959, when the Sino-Indian border dispute first gained public attention, the Sikkimese demand for greater control over its security system acquired currency. This demand arose in the background of larger Indian military presence in the region during the war. Similar demands were raised again during the India- Pakistan war of 1965. After 1966 the Sikkimese demand for autonomy moved from the arena of defense to that of economic and trade interests.

1975 request from SIKKIM  While on one hand a large section of Sikkim demanded autonomy during this period, on the other hand the internal political tensions had gone out of hand. In 1973 demonstrations took place in front of the palace of the last Chogyal of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal.

Referendum  In 1975, at the request of the prime minister of Sikkim, the Indian army took over the city of Gangtok and disbanded the monarch. A referendum held soon after led to a large majority voting against the monarchy, and accepting to be a part of the Indian union.

Rohingya Refugees (Rohingya Muslims)

Relevancy:  GS paper 4  Internal Security issues  UNHCR and refugees

Background:  The migration of the Rohingya Muslims from the Myanmar area to Indian sub-continent has created a major cause of concern with respect to the internal security of the country.  These tribes have been subject to various atrocities and are often termed as the most persecuted minorities in the world.  After the 2012 Rakhine State riots, the Rohingya refugee crisis 2015 and 2016 military crackdown; they have gained international sympathy and recognition.

History of Rohingya’s:  The Rohingyas are Muslims and said to have migrated from Bengal to erstwhile Arakan (the Islamic name for which was “Rohang“), now renamed as Rakhine, during the reign of King Narameikhla (1430-1434), and mingled with local indigenous women, over time. During the British era, the migration from Bengal to Arakan continued unabated. Though the Rohingya’s consider themselves as an ethnic minority of Burma, they are not enlisted among the 135 indigenous ethnic minorities of the country and the Burmese Nationality Law, 1982 forbids them from Burmese citizenship.  These tribes are basically the Indo-Aryan Muslims from the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Though they are known to be the indigenous of the Rakhine state but the Myanmar Government denies the same

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy stating that they are illiterate immigrants who migrated into Arakan area after the Burmese independence war.  They reside mainly in the northern Rakhine townships, where they form 80–98% of the population. Many Rohingya’s have fled to neighboring Bangladesh, to areas along the border with Thailand, and to the Pakistani city of Karachi. More than 100,000 Rohingya’s in Myanmar live in camps for internally displaced persons, not allowed by authorities to leave.  We have already seen extreme ethnic crisis between the Rohingya Muslims and the indigenous Buddhists of that area since over a decade.

Rohingya’s in India:  Rohingya refugees have been crossing the international border and coming to India for a long time now. The Rohingya’s came to India from Myanmar from the rather porous India-Bangladesh border. An estimated 36,000 Rohingya’s are believed to be living in India and are concentrated in the seven states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi.  Although in principle, all refugees in India have access to government health and education services, many Rohingya’s struggle for these as they don’t have an official refugee status.  In 2012, Indian cities like Jammu, Delhi and Hyderabad, and the state of Mizoram witnessed an influx of Rohingya Muslims, with Chennai being the latest entrant to the list.

Security concerns for India:  India’s first major taste of the Rohingya crisis came, rather absurdly, on 12th August 2012 at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. A large crowd of Muslims assembled at the venue to protest against the Assam Riots and the Rakhine Riots in Myanmar, which were a confrontation between the Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. The crowds soon turned violent which led to them vandalizing public property, molesting women cops, desecrating the Amar Jyoti Javan Memorial. The riots led to the death of two people.  Around the same time many Rohingya had made their way, all the way from Myanmar through Bangladesh, to illegally enter India. With their conditions pitiable and them enduring the long and treacherous journey, they seemed to have found a safe haven in Hyderabad where various Islamic organisations extended their help, as social media messages had already flared up passions (leading to Azad Maidan riots). Most of the refugees work as daily-wage laborer, rickshaw pullers, factory workers, and vegetable hawkers and rag pickers.  All this emerged after it was speculated that the Bodh Gaya Blasts on 7th July 2013 were possibly a retribution against the Buddhists for what was going on in Myanmar. This was almost confirmed after interrogations revealed that the blasts at the Buddhist shrine were aimed as a revenge for the Rohingya’s.  Later, after the surveillance by the Hyderabad police, Khalid Mohammed, a Rohingya Muslim from Hyderabad, by the NIA in connection with the Burdwan blast in Oct 2014.

World Refugee Day:  According to the UN, a refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well- founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or human-made disasters.  The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol help protect them.  The 1951 Convention contains a number of rights and also highlights the obligations of refugees towards their host country. The cornerstone of the 1951 Convention is the principle of non- refoulment. According to this principle, a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom. This protection may not be claimed by

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy refugees who are reasonably regarded as a danger to the security of the country, or having been convicted of a particularly serious crime, are considered a danger to the community.  The UN Refugee Agency believes now is the time to show world leaders that the global public stands with refugees, and it will launch its #WithRefugees petition on June 20th to send a message to governments that they must work together and do their fair share for refugees.  The #WithRefugees petition will be delivered to UN headquarters in New York ahead of the UN High Level Meeting on Refugees and Migrants, scheduled for the 19th September. The petition asks governments to: 1. Ensure every refugee child gets an education, 2. Ensure every refugee family has somewhere safe to live, 3. Ensure every refugee can work or learn new skills to make a positive contribution to their community. The rights contained in the 1951 Convention include:  The right not to be expelled, except under certain, strictly defined conditions;  The right not to be punished for illegal entry into the territory of a contracting State;  The right to work;  The right to housing;  The right to education;  The right to public relief and assistance;  The right to freedom of religion;  The right to access the courts;  The right to freedom of movement within the territory;  The right to be issued identity and travel documents.

Aadhaar and National Security

Relevancy

 G.S. Paper 3  Background of Aadhaar and national security  Security challenges  Evaluation

Recently:  In Budget 2017, Aadhaar was made mandatory for availing Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards and filing Income Tax Returns.  Furthermore, the central government is standing firm on its statement that it would provide social welfare benefits only to those with UID numbers by June 30, 2017 (The Supreme Court has however withheld this move of the government).  But such a massive scale of digitisation and data centralisation may attract several threats and hence are crucial to outline.  Especially given the numerous instances of cyber attacks like the one on the Bangladeshi bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that allowed hackers to steal more than USD 81 million or the Wannacry or Petya/NotPetya ransomware attacks that affected almost 150 countries, have given rise to concerns over cyber security.  In this context, the question remains as to whether Aadhaar is a readymade factory for criminal minds?

Background:

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  One of the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee, which was established to review the state of national security in the wake of the Kargil intrusions, was the issue of “Multi-purpose National Identity” cards to villagers living in conflict zones.  It was subsequently decided to extend this scheme to all citizens, and that became the inception point of Aadhaar.  The main motive for this expansion was to ensure the welfare of citizens by relatively easing their accessibility to various government schemes via a single identification document.  This led to the establishment of a dedicated institution for rolling out the Aadhaar work called the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on 28 January 2009.  Nandan Nilekani (an Infosys co-founder) was appointed as the chairman of UIDAI on 23 June 2009.  After years of debates and deliberations, the Aadhaar Act finally came into effect on 11 March 2016.  As the Aadhaar project made progress, simultaneously the surrounding debates saw a tectonic shift – from frequent complaints about the display of incorrect data or lack of clarity over its significance to graver issues of cyber security, identity theft or data breaches. Whether the government is well equipped to handle something like the Aadhaar database still remains a part of the current discourse.

Security Challenges:  As Aadhaar gained the currency of “proof of identity”, most checkpoints like railways, airports and even protected areas have started using it as a source of identity.  But in reality Aadhaar in its physical form is just a plain card and can be downloaded from anywhere or a coloured printout that can be printed and may look as good as the original.  It does not have a hologram or digital signature but rather a QR (Quick Response) code, which is just an image representation of a text and not a security feature.  With the exponential growth in cybercrime, this centralised database may provide valuable information to criminals. This might lead to either illegal tracking of individuals or identification without consent.  Moreover, sensitive financial information of individuals and companies may also be exposed through breaches of the UID database or internal collusion.  An example of data breaches was seen when UIDAI temporarily halted Aadhaar payments by Axis Bank, Suvidhaa Infoserve and eMudhra because of unauthorised authentication and impersonation through the illegal storing of Aadhaar biometrics.  This infringement caught the UIDAI’s attention after one individual conducted almost 397 biometric transactions between 14 July 2016 and 19 February 2017.  As per a report by an investigative website, those associated with the Aadhaar project “agreed to make Aadhaar Cards for applicants without any proof of identification or address” for charges ranging from Rs 500 to 2500.  The website asserted that almost anyone, “be it Indian or an illegal immigrant can get an Aadhaar Card made without any proof of identity.  More importantly, they get an Indian identity.”  Though there were several reported cases of such activities, one that garnered a lot of attention was reported last month when a UIDAI operator in Bhilwara’s Mandal area tried to outwit the authorities by trying to get an Aadhaar card for slain terrorist Osama Bin Laden. However, the UIDAI got alerted due to the discrepancies in the personal data form and filed a complaint against the operator.

Evaluation:  The critics tend to forget that the idea is to empower the citizens and not the state.  Since its inception, Aadhaar has adopted the principle of security by design, which ensures that no agency is able to track and profile any individual.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  In addition, the Aadhaar Act itself lays down several guidelines for protection of Information (Chapter VI) and subsequent punishment and penalties (Chapter VII).  Moreover, to safeguard critical data, UIDAI will upgrade all pre-existing biometric devices with software aimed at protecting the security of the transmitted data.  UIDAI will also ensure that all the new devices are registered under it from 1 June 2017. Indeed, on 22 February 2017, UIDAI had presented a proposal to the IT ministry on registration of biometric public devices to guarantee the safety of transactions and end-to-end traceability of the authentication process.  Though there might be several prevalent concerns over Aadhaar’s data security, these do not outweigh the benefits it has to offer.  UIDAI has also ensured that most of the biometric information gets encrypted by a UIDAI key at the chip level of any digital device, thus making it almost impossible for anyone to breach it.  Privacy still remains a point of paradox and, in the absence of concrete privacy laws, citizens might be subjected to mass surveillance in the name of national security.  But, contrary to the ongoing discourse, minimal monitoring is indeed required by the state to protect citizens.  As of now, it is safe to tag Aadhaar’s security features as a “work in progress” rather than a foolproof arrangement.  The government still requires much more dedicated, informed and comprehensive security policies and accelerated efforts to realise Aadhaar’s full effectiveness.  Thus, with appropriate measures on the security front, Aadhaar can be associated with numerous benefits like a cashless society, reduction of voter fraud and legitimate allocation of subsidies.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND GLOBAL ISSUES

Lessons India Could learn from TPP

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  What India could learn from TPP?

What could India learn from TPP?  The mechanisms and solutions in TPP provide a model for working towards greater collaboration amongst regulators of different countries and mutually learn about options to address new issues.  The TPP provides a useful template for India to facilitate domestic policy reform, promote regional or multilateral collaborative initiatives such as for regulatory coherence.  Since the internet extends beyond national borders, agreement amongst nations become an important part of the regulatory regime for internet.  The TPP is a combination of initiatives such as those embodying good governance principles, viz. transparency of procedures and regulations, timely decision, processes to facilitate transactions, standards of review, and support to improve institutional capabilities.  Thus, several parts of TPP are relevant for India’s ongoing efforts to enhance good governance.  With technological changes, India need to develop its systems and approaches broadly consistent with practices in other major economies.  The TPP becomes particularly useful in this context because it shows a framework that has been agreed amongst several nations.  The TPP also text provides a template to consider for collaborative arrangements in areas such as non- tariff measures faced by Indian exports, including standards and regulatory barriers amongst nations.

Group of Twenty (G-20)

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  Important points of G20,2017  About G20  Composition and structure

Recently  Recently, the G20 summit was held in Hamburg, Germany,on July 7-8.

Important Points Of G20 2017  US and Russia agreed on a ceasefire in southwestern Syria after long hours of private meeting discussion during the summit, which is the first t U.S.-Russian effort under Trump’s presidency to resolve Syria’s six- year civil war.  The U.S. was the only holdout from a statement reaffirming a assurance to work toward the carbon emission reduction goals in the Paris climate agreement.  The other countries and the European Union supported the Paris climate agreement and vowed to implement it promptly.  The U.S. announced $639 million humanitarian aid for Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  On trading aspect, preserving the G20’s condemnation of protectionism, the group added new elements to combat the global financial crisis. The new components added that trade must be “reciprocal and mutually advantageous” and that countries could use “legitimate trade defence instruments” if they are being taken advantage of.  Other deals at the summit included an agreement to press internet providers to detect and remove extremist content as a way of fighting terrorist incitement and recruiting.

About G20

 The Group of Twenty (G20) is an international forum that brings together the world's 20 leading industrialised and emerging economies.  The group accounts for 85 per cent of world GDP and two-thirds of its population.  Initially attendance at G20 summits was limited to the finance ministers and central bank governors of members when it was established 17 years ago. But since an inaugural meeting between G20 leaders in Washington, DC following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, summits between G20 leaders themselves have become an annual event.  The first G20 summit occurred in Berlin, in December 1999, and was hosted by the German and Canadian finance ministers.  Since then there have been 20 G20 meetings between finance ministers and central bank governors, and 11 summits between heads of state or government of G20 economies.

Composition

The G20 is made up of: Argentina Australia Brazil Canada France

Germany India Indonesia Italy Japan

Mexico Russia Saudi Arabia South Korea Turkey

United Kingdom United States of China South Africa America

 The final member is the European Union, represented by the European Commission, rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank (ECB). Spain as a permanent non-member invitee also attends leader summits.  Fearing deadlock in a larger decision-making body, not all countries are invited to the G20.

Structure  The G20 has no permanent staff of its own and its chairmanship rotates annually between nations divided into regional groupings.  Germany currently holds the presidency, with Argentina to take over in 2018. Hosting the summit is an opportunity to set the agenda and lead discussions.  In 2009, when the UK held a special spring summit, then prime minister Gordon Brown orchestrated a deal in which world leaders agreed on a $1.1 trillion injection of financial aid into the global economy. The “historic” deal was widely viewed as a success.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Resolving Bilateral Irritants With Iran

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Iran’s statement and its significance  Major concern

Recently  Recently, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei equated the on-going Kashmir conflict with that of Yemen conflict and said that the Muslim world must express their disdain against ‘oppressors’.

Why Iran issued a statement like this?  The statement just reflects his country’s concerns about getting regionally isolated at a time following the Donald Trump administration’s hard line against them.  The hardline seemed to have emboldened Saudi Arabia and its allies to squeeze Iran out of the regional matrix.  Ex. Saudi Arabia has recently warned Qatar that more punitive measures would follow if Qatar embraces Iran any further.  Thus, the statement might be a signal to India that its growing closeness to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is being watched closely in Tehran.  It’s a reminder to India that Iran too has a role in the Islamic world which can’t be ignored.

What does the statement signify?  There is nothing new in his recent statement since Ayatollah has been talking of Kashmir since 2010.  Iranian criticism of India’s position on Kashmir has repeatedly sparked protests within the Indian government.  Still, New Delhi has done well not to give it too much weight.  But eventhough Iran has earlier voted against India on the issue of Kashmir in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), this is the first time the issue has been given a religious colour by Iran.

What should be the major concern?  The recent decline in economic ties should be of greater concern to the two countries.  Iran seems to be in no hurry to decide on awarding the contract for gas exploration in its Farzad B offshore field to ONGC Videsh.  Pending a decision on the contract, India has decided to decrease the volume of Iranian crude oil it will be buying this year.  Further, the slow pace of the Chabahar port project has vexed the Iranians.  They have even indicated that despite India developing the project, it won’t be exclusive to the country.  For India, this undercuts the very strategic utility of the port — viewed as India’s answer to the Gwadar port (developed by China) that will allow it to circumvent Pakistan and open up a route to landlocked Afghanistan.  Thus, India needs to work with the reformist regime of Hassan Rouhani (President of Iran) to ensure that the bilateral irritants in fostering economic ties are resolved soon India, China - Doklam Plateau Standoff

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  Source of the conflict  China’s interest and India’s interest  India-China relations

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy What is the issue?  Indian troops intervened to block the path of Chinese soldiers engaged in building road-works on the Doklam plateau of Bhutan’s territory that Beijing laid claim.  Beijing responded by closing access to Indian pilgrims seeking to proceed through the Nathu La pass on to Kailash-Mansarovar.

What is the source of the conflict?  Doklam plateau is a 269-sq km plateau in Bhutan, which overlooks the strategic Chumbi Valley.  The plateau is claimed by China.  Bhutan has a written agreement with China that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, peace and tranquility should be maintained.  Now the construction of road raised concerns between Bhutan and China.

Why China is interested in the region?  The road, which passes through Bhutan’s territory, has significantly enhanced China’s military logistics in the region.  China aims to promote the development of the Yadong region, which is connected to Lhasa with a highway.  China is also aiming to establish formal ties with Bhutan..  It was reported to have Pressured Bhutan by saying it would not agree to a border deal until Bhutan allowed it to open a diplomatic mission in that country.  It would also like to adopt a military posture in the area to ensure that it can defeat India in any military contest.  At the same time it is seeking to check India’s efforts to help Bhutan.

How India and China relation is affected by it?

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  China accused Indian border guards of crossing into its territory to stop the construction of the road.  Chinese are using it to send various political messages.  India boycotted the Belt and Road Initiative jamboree in Shanghai in May.  It’s unclear if its $50-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be viable if India doesn’t join.  China’s riled at India’s growing US tilt in what Beijing sees as an anti-China alliance that includes Japan and Australia.  Chinese also wants to signal that China has consolidated its position on the global stage.

What are India’s interests?  Indian Army regards the Doklam plain as strategically crucial because it opens a path to the Siliguri Corridor which links the northeast to the rest of India.  India also can’t afford to abandon its diplomatic ties with Bhutan

What should be done?  India needs to make some kind of economic concessions to china.  While we stay out of CPEC, we should offer to join BRI.  At the same time we need to ensure that we aren’t side lined to smaller stage by the global giant next door

Indo-Israel Relations

Relevancy:  GS mains paper III  International affairs

Recently:  PM Narendra Modi has become the first head of the state of India to pay a visit to Israel. (July 2017)

Background:  India and Israel established full diplomatic relations in 1992 and since then the bilateral relationship between the two countries has blossomed at the economic, military, agricultural and political levels. Both countries see themselves as isolated democracies threatened by neighbors that train, finance and encourage terrorism, therefore both countries also view their cooperative relationship as a strategic imperative.  India is the largest buyer of Israeli military equipment and Israel is the second-largest defence supplier to India after Russia and one among 3 largest defence supplier to India(USA, Russia are other two.)  In November 2011, India's Cobra Commando unit bought more than 1,000 units of the Israeli X-95 assualt rifle to use in counterinsurgency operation.  Also in 2011, India placed orders for four advanced Israeli Phalcon AWACS planes (airborne warning and control systems) which are capable of detecting hostile aircraft, cruise missiles and other incoming aerial threat far before ground-based radars.  In January 2012, India and Israel stepped up their counter-terrorism coordination strategy in the wake of Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna's visit to the Jewish state. The two countries also signed an Extradition Treaty and a pact on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners.  In May 2013, Israel announced that it will help India diversify and raise the yeild of its fruit and vegetable crops by offering the country advanced technology and know-how. Israel will help set up 28 centers of excellence across India focussed on specific fruit and vegetable crops.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced in April 2017 that it had struck a deal with India's Army and Navy to supply them with an advanced air defense system worth upwards of $2 billion. The deal was described by IAI as Israel's largest ever defense deal.  The Indian military carried out their first successful tests of the Israeli-made Surface-to-air Python and Derby missile system (SPYDER) on May 11, 2017. The launch of the SPYDER system went off without a hitch, and all three missiles that were launched hit their targets. Python and Derby missile comprise the SPYDER system, which also features an on-board radar for increased accurary. The system, which is made for low-altitude missile strikes, has a range of 15km.

Take aways from Modi’s meeting:  De-hyphenation of Israel and Palestine: The partnerships and agreements that have been finalised are important but what makes this visit historic is the formal dehyphenation of Israel and Palestine in India’s foreign policy. This visit does not signal India picking sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict. India remains committed to a resolution that is democratic and that ensures the rights of the Palestinians and Israelis are protected. In engaging with Palestine and Israel as separate entities, New Delhi has created the space to play honest broker should it choose to do so.  Innovation, water, agriculture and terror dominated discussions: 1. Water and agriculture: Israel is a leader in conservation and efficiency of water use, and improved agricultural productivity. These are crucial areas for India, and priorities for the government given its goal of doubling farmer incomes by 2022. 2. Climate: The growing pressures on water exacerbated by climate change and rising demand make this an important sector. The $40-million bilateral technology innovation fund in industrial development will help augment R&D and create a framework for partnership by Indian and Israeli researchers. 3. Cyber Defence and terrorism: The lacunae in India’s cyber defences should be a priority area of joint research. Terror is the other big-ticket issue. Mindful of India’s relationship with countries in West Asia and the Gulf region, the joint statement does not specify any particular source of threat to peace and stability. Instead, it stresses on cooperating to combat growing radicalisation and terrorism, including cyber threats. The joint statement stresses on reliance on dialogue and restraint. 4. Economic: 12 strategic pacts envisaging investments worth $4.3 billion were signed between Indian and Israeli companies at the first meeting of CEO forum in Tel Aviv. The current trade volume amounting to just over $4 billion has the potential to reach $20 billion in the next five years. The CEOs from both sides also identified focus sectors for mutual collaboration that included agriculture, irrigation, water treatment, urban infrastructure, transport (including high speed railways and metro), pharma, life- sciences, digital technologies, IT and ITes, start ups and innovation and defence and homeland security. Malabar Exercise

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2,3  About Malabar exercise  21st Edition of Exercise Malabar (2017)

Recently  The tri-lateral Malabar exercise is scheduled to be held in the Bay of Bengal from July 10.  The exercise, with around 15 warships, two submarines and scores of fighter jets, surveillance aircraft and helicopters, comes at a time when Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a tense face-off near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction since mid-June.

About Malabar Exercise  It is a trilateral naval exercise connecting the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners in this power play on the high seas.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  Initially it was a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, but later Japan became a permanent partner in 2015.  Earlier non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.  The annual Malabar series began in 1992 and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers through Maritime Interdiction Operations Exercises.

21st Edition of Exercise Malabar (2017)  One of the main driving force of this 21st edition of Malabar will be "submarine-hunting", with India and the US also deploying their Poseidon-8 long-range maritime patrol aircraft.  The Indian fleet of six to seven frontline warships and a Kilo-class submarine will be led by the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.  This will be the first time, INS Vikramaditya, the country's solitary carrier, with its MIG-29Ks, will take part in a fully fledged combat exercise with foreign countries since it was commissioned in 2013.  Japan is fielding its helicopter carrier Izumo and another warship for the intensive 10-day combat manoeuvres on the high seas off Chennai.  The new Japanese warship, which can carry nine helicopters, is primarily meant for anti-submarine warfare.  The US will be fielding USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered super-carrier with its full complement of F/A-18 fighters.  The 'carrier strike group' will include a Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser, a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine and three to four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. GCC- Gulf Cooperation Council

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 3  About the GCC  objectives

About GCC  Gulf Cooperation Council is a regional intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.  Its member states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The Charter of the Gulf Cooperation Council was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.

Major Objectives 1. Formulating similar regulations in various fields such as religion, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration 2. Fostering scientific and technical progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and animal resources 3. Establishing scientific research centres 4. Setting up joint ventures 5. Unified military (Peninsula Shield Force) 6. Encouraging cooperation of the private sector 7. Strengthening ties between their people 8. Establishing a common currency: The name Khaleeji has been proposed as a name for this currency. If realised, the GCC monetary union would be the second largest supranational monetary union in the world, measured by GDP of the common-currency area. Qatar Mayhem: On June 5th, 2017, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had officially cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. Saudi Arabia said it took the decision to cut diplomatic ties due to Qatar’s “embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilising the region”, including the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and groups supported by Iran in the kingdom’s eastern province of Qatif.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy

Crisis in the Gulf and its implications for India

Relevancy

 G.S.Paper 2,3  What is Gulf controversy? What sparked it?  Implications for India

Recently:  Tensions between Qatar and its Arab neighbours have grown in recent years as part of a tussle for regional leadership.The Persian Gulf region underwent a major transition on June 5, 2017 when four Arab countries – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt – announced that they were severing all political, economic and diplomatic links with Qatar, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).  The four countries were soon joined by Libya, Yemen and even Maldives. However, Kuwait and Oman, the remaining two members of the GCC, refused to follow the lead of Saudi Arabia in this regard.

Background:  Saudi Arabia said that it took the decision because of Qatar’s “embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilising the region”, including the Muslim Brother hood, al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and groups supported by Iran.  Qatar vehemently denied that it supports terrorism, arguing that it has assisted the United States in the War on Terror and in the ongoing military intervention against ISIS.  Qatar, buoyed by its huge earnings from the production and export of gas, has been trying to carve out a comparatively independent foreign policy that is at variance with the approach of Saudi Arabia and other major Arab nations.  Qatar's influential television channel Al Jazeera, which is extensively viewed in the region, often adopts positions that are critical of Saudi Arabia.

What sparked the controversy? On May 27, Qatar’s Emir called up Iranian president Hasan Rouhani to congratulate him on his re- election. The call was seen as a clear, public, defiance of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to create a united front against Iran, which latter it perceives as an implacable foe.  Russia, Turkey, Iran, France and Germany have all supported an early and peaceful resolution of the dispute. The US position appears to be confused and somewhat unhelpful.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  It seems quite plausible that King Salman of Saudi Arabia was emboldened to take this step on account of the strong support he received from President Donald Trump during the latter's visit to Riyadh on May 20, 2017.  It is unlikely that Qatar will agree to make its regional and international policies subservient to those of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. It is likely that the influence and clout of Iran and Turkey will increase in the region.  It also seems probable that the US will engage itself pro-actively to obtain closure on the issue. It is in the US interest to see a quick end to the confrontation, as Qatar hosts the Al Udeid air base, which houses 100 aircraft and 100,000 military personnel belonging to the US Central Command.

Implications for India: Indian Diaspora  These developments are likely to have significant implications for India, given that its citizens make up the largest expatriate group in the region.  There are around seven million people of Indian origin working in the Middle East. Security and stability in the region is hence of paramount importance for India.  Further, the Indian diaspora in the region remits around USD 40 billion a year. These funds are immensely valuable as they help India manage its current account deficit. Energy  A fifth of India’s oil, and about 65 per cent of gas imports, comes from countries of the Middle East including Iran, Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and others.  India is the third largest export destination for gas from Qatar (after Japan and South Korea).  Qatar is the largest supplier of LNG to India, accounting for over 65 per cent of India’s global import and 15 per cent of Qatar’s export of LNG.  Petronet LNG has declared that it does not expect any impact on gas supplies from Qatar. It is India's biggest gas importer and buys 8.5 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar under a long-term contract.  If tensions were to rise in the Persian Gulf, shipments of LNG could become risky. And in case the crisis gets prolonged, prices of food items and essential commodities in Qatar could increase and affect the lives of 650-to-700,000 Indians.  This could also affect remittances. A prolonged crisis could result in increased insecurity, reduced economic activity and stress on the 50 per cent or so of the total inward remittances that India receives from the Gulf. Any confrontation or uncertainty in Qatar or the wider Gulf region can have serious adverse implications for India. In the coming years, India will have to adopt a more hands on policy in any security crisis or economic upheaval that may strike the region because its own security, economic well-being, and energy needs are all closely interlinked with this region. India enjoys good relations with all countries of the region. That should facilitate India playing a more agile and vigorous role in the region.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES Caste Discrimination

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 2  What is caste discrimination?  Influence and root of caste system  Caste system around the world

What Is Caste Discrimination?  In India, caste discrimination is traditionally rooted in the Hindu caste system.  Caste systems are a form of social and economic governance based on principles and customary rules.  Caste systems involve the division of people into social groups or castes where assignments of basic rights are fixed and hereditary and are determined by birth.  Inequality is at the core of the caste system.  Those who fall outside the upper caste system are considered “lesser human beings”, “impure” and thus “polluting” to other caste groups.  They are known to be “untouchable” and are subjected to the unfair segregation in both public and private spheres.  “Untouchables” are often forcibly assigned the most dirty, menial and hazardous jobs, such as cleaning human waste. The work forced on them adds to the stigma they face from the surrounding society.

Influence Of Caste Discrimination  The exclusion of ‘caste-affected communities’ by other groups in society and the inherent structural inequality leads to; o High level of poverty among affected population groups o Exclusion from, or reduced benefits from development processes, o They generally preclude their involvement in decision making and meaningful participation in public and civil life.

Root Of Caste Discrimination  In India caste discrimination is traditionally rooted in the Hindu caste system.  It is supported by the philosophical elements and constructs the moral, social and legal foundations of Hindu society.  Dalits are ‘outcastes’ or people who fall outside the four-fold caste system consisting of the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. Dalits are also referred to as Panchamas or people of the fifth order.  However, caste systems and the ensuing caste discrimination is also prevalent in Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Sikh communities.

Prevalence Of Caste Sytem Around The World  Caste systems are also found in Africa, other parts of Asia, the Middle East and in Diaspora communities around the world.  In Japan association is made with Shinto beliefs concerning purity and impurity, and in marginalized African groups the justification is based on myths.  Caste discrimination affects approximately 260 million people worldwide, the vast majority living in South Asia.  Caste discrimination involves massive violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.  It is often outlawed in countries affected by it, but a lack of implementation of legislation and caste-bias within the justice systems in India largely leave Dalits without protection.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy Conclusion  Caste discrimination, thus makes for a highly politicized and sensitive issue in India and despite constitutional safeguards and special legislation for the protection of the country’s 201 million scheduled castes, violation of their fundamental rights continue on a massive scale especially in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.  However, Maharashtra became the first State in the country to enact a law against social boycott from caste panchayats.  With growing instances of boycotts of individuals or families by caste panchayats, the need to enact a special law was echoed in the State in 2010.  The bill makes provision for punishment of up to three years in jail and/or a fine up to rupees 1 lakh.  The case has to be fast tracked within six months from the date of filing the charge sheet. The fine charged from accused will be partially or fully handed over to the victim.  It is expected that the law would deal with the scourge of social discrimination with an ‘iron hand ’and encourage other states to adopt similar steps.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy ETHICS

Emotional Intelligence- Concept

Recently  G.S. Paper 4  About emotional intelligence  Definition  How emotionally intelligent people can be identified  5 components of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

About Emotional Intelligence  Emotional intelligence is about being intelligent about your emotions.  It involves the ability to recognize your own emotions as well as the emotions of other people. It includes understanding emotions.  It also has to do with how you manage your emotions and how you manage other people’s emotions.

Definition Of Emotional Intelligence  Emotional Intelligence, as a psychological theory, was developed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer. o "Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth."- Mayer & Salovey, 1997  Emotional Intelligence is important to develop good human relations, identify and hone better leaders in the organisations, for better relationship management in the family and society.

How can Emotionally Intelligent people be identified?  Emotionally Intelligent people can o Express themselves clearly o Successfully manage difficult situations o Know how to be positive, even during difficult situations o Gain respect from others o Entice other people to help them out o Influence other people o Keep cool under pressure o Know how to say the “right” thing to get the right result o Recognize their emotional reactions to people or situations o Manage other people effectively when negotiating o Motivate themselves to get things done (they’re good leaders) o Manage themselves effectively when negotiating  Just like building muscles in the gym, one can train his/her brain in order to manage and regulate the emotions.

The Five Components of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

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 Self-awareness: o The ability to recognize and understand personal moods and emotions and drives, as well as their effect on others. o Hallmarks of self-awareness include self-confidence, realistic self-assessment, and a self- deprecating sense of humor. o Self-awareness depend on one's ability to monitor one's own emotion state and to correctly identify and name one's emotions.  Self-regulation: o The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, and the propensity to suspend judgment and to think before acting. o Hallmarks include trustworthiness and integrity; comfort with ambiguity; and openness to change.  Internal motivation: o A passion to work for internal reasons that go beyond money and status -which are external rewards, - such as an inner vision of what is important in life, a joy in doing something, curiosity in learning, a flow that comes with being immersed in an activity. o A propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. Hallmarks include a strong drive to achieve, optimism even in the face of failure, and organizational commitment.  Empathy: o The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people. o A skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions. Hallmarks include expertise in building and retaining talent, cross-cultural sensitivity, and service to clients and customers o It is important to note that empathy does not necessarily imply compassion. o Empathy can be 'used' for compassionate or cruel behaviour. Serial killers who marry and kill many partners in a row tend to have great emphatic skills!  Social skills: o Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks, and ability to find common ground and build rapport.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy o Hallmarks of social skills include effectiveness in leading change, persuasiveness, and expertise building and leading teams. Standards of Public life for Civil Servants

Relevancy  GS Mains Paper II and IV  Essay (If relevant)  Public life standards of Civil Servants, Nolan Committee Recommendations, ARC Recommendations

Background:  India is not alone in the quest for clean governance. The then Prime Minister of United Kingdom had set up a Committee on Standards in Public Life in October 1994 which came to be known as the ‘Nolan Committee’.  The Nolan Committee submitted its first report in May 1995 focusing its attention at that time on the code of conduct for members of Parliament, Ministers and Civil Servants etc. as this, in the views of the Committee, was a matter of “the greatest public concern”.  The Committee examined the issues with a view to suggest adoption of measures to reinforce public confidence in the holders of public offices. It took note of cases of bribery, abuse of office, impropriety, rewards for past or future favours, states largesse etc.  It observed that instances indicating slackness in observance and enforcement of high standards on the part of certain public figures, whose cases get publicized in the media, generate widespread suspicion that more misconduct occurs than comes to be revealed to the public gaze.  The Committee was of the view that if corrective measures were not promptly taken, there was a danger that anxiety and suspicion would give way to disillusionment and cynicism.

The Committee evolved seven general principles of conduct that underpin public life, the maintenance of which can restore the public confidence. 2nd ARC’s Report no. 4 recommends seven general principles that are of great merit and significance for Public servants and politicians.

They include the following: -

1. Selflessness: Simply put, this means holders of public offices are expected to conduct themselves such that they subserve public interest, as against interest of the self 2. Integrity: The concept is well known. A public authority must insulate itself from extraneous influences in matters concerning official duties. 3. Objectivity: The duties of public office vest, in the holder, authority to take decisions including making appointments, awarding contracts, recommending benefits etc. The choices cannot be allowed to be made on any criteria other than merit. The decisions must be based on reasons free from the vice of caprice. The executive can take a leaf out of the book of judiciary by suo motu supply of reasons for every action. The requirement of recording reasons is by itself a great safeguard that inhibits the decision maker from being subjective. 4. Accountability: Any public office is an office of trust. Therefore, public figure exercising any state function, and this includes members of the legislature, is accountable for all actions taken in performance of the functions of that office. It naturally flows from this that every act of commission or omission has to yield to scrutiny, whether by way of internal or external audit mechanism. I am using the expression “audit” not in the narrow sense of audit of accounts but appraisal of the causes or consequences of every state action. 5. Openness: There is no better disinfectant than sunlight. Transparency has to be the mantra of all official acts. Judiciary follows this scrupulously by conducting its proceedings in the open. Transparency brings along inherent checks. The introduction of “Right to Information” regime has indeed set the administrative set up in our country on the right course.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy 6. Honesty: In Judiciary, we follow the rule that justice is not only to be done but must be seen to be done. The rules of natural justice that govern judicial ethics require essentially that a person cannot be a Judge in his own cause. It is a travesty of the concept of honesty if an administrative authority is taking decisions in matters which involve private interests of those closely connected with the authority. In this view, it is essential that holders of public office must be obliged to declare their private interests so that they can always be held accountable in case there has been any conflict involving their public duties. This also means the assets and liabilities of public functionaries must be a matter in public domain. The mandatory declaration at the time of entry in public office and periodically, thereafter, would only ensure the kind of probity we would like to be in place. 7. Leadership: This principle is articulation of the same idea as I referred in the context of Mahatma Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth. A true leader will always lead by own example. If a leader is honest, sincere and committed to the task assigned to him, the vibes created percolate down the hierarchy cleansing the system that he controls. Sexual Harassment at Work Place

Relevancy  G.S. Paper 4  Sexual harassment at workplace  What to do?  Important court decisions

Sexual Harassment is said to take place  When one person subjects another person to an unwelcome act of physical intimacy; Contact such as grabbing, brushing, touching, pinching, eve teasing, etc.  Makes an unwelcome demand or request directly or by implication for sexual favors from another person.  Shows a person any sexually explicit visual material, in the form of pictures/cartoons/pin-ups/calendars/ screensaver version computers/any offensive written material / pornographic e-mails, etc. or any other form of unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.  Eve teasing, jokes likely to cause awkwardness or embarrassment, innuendos, sexist remarks

What is a workplace?  All offices institutions in public or private sector, Construction site, factory, educational institutions, etc.. Mine are work places.

What you should do?  Hold the harasser accountable for his actions. Let people know what he did. Privacy protects harassers, but visibility undermines them.  Objecting to harassment is a matter of principle and ones right.  Don't respond to the harasser's excuses or diversionary tactics.  Speaking out: Speaking about sexual harassment is an effective tool in combating it. It mobilizes public opinion against it.  Report such harassment immediately or as soon as possible to the superior officer or to the police or seek the assistance of any NGO

Important Court Decisions “Vishakha V State of Rajasthan & Ors AIR 1997 SC 3011”

 Duty of the Employer or other responsible persons in work places and other institutions to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment and to provide the procedures for the resolution, settlement or prosecution of acts of sexual harassment by taking all steps required.

BRAINY IAS: 84594-00000 BRAINY IAS ex-officer’s academy  All employers or persons in charge of work place whether in the public or private sector should take appropriate steps to prevent sexual harassment including the following:  Express prohibition of sexual harassment at the work place should be notified, published and circulated in appropriate ways.  The Rules/Regulations of Government and Public Sector bodies relating to conduct and discipline should include rules/regulations prohibiting sexual harassment and provide for appropriate penalties in such rules against the offender.  As regards private employers steps should be taken to include the aforesaid prohibitions in the standing orders under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.  Appropriate work conditions should be provided in respect of work. Leisure, health and hygiene to further ensure that there is no hostile environment towards women at work places and no employee woman should have reasonable grounds to believe that she is disadvantaged in connection with her employment.  Criminal Proceedings: Where such conduct amounts to a specific offence under the Indian Penal Code or under any other law, the employer shall initiate appropriate action in accordance with law by making a complaint with the appropriate authority. In particular, it should ensure that victims or witnesses are not victimized or discriminated against while dealing with complaints of sexual harassment. The victims of sexual harassment should have the option to seek transfer of the perpetrator or their own transfer.  Disciplinary Action: Where such conduct amounts to misconduct in employment as defined by the relevant service rules, appropriate disciplinary action should be initiated by the employer in accordance with those rules.  Complaint Mechanism: Whether or not such conduct constitutions an offence under law or a breach of the service rules, an appropriate complaint mechanism should be created in the employer is organization for redress of the complaint made by the victim. Such complaint mechanism should ensure time bound treatment of complaints.  Complaints Committee: The complaint mechanism, referred to in (6) above, should be adequate to provide, where necessary. Complaints Committee, a special counsellor or other support service, including the maintenance of confidentiality.  The Complaints Committee should be headed by a woman and not less than half of its member should be women. Further, to prevent the possibility of any undue pressure or influence from senior levels, such Complaints Committee should involve a third party, either NGO or other body who is familiar with the issue of sexual harassment.  Workers' Initiative: Employees should be allowed to raise issues sexual harassment at workers' meeting and in other appropriate forum and it should be affirmatively discussed in Employer – Employee Meetings.  Awareness: Awareness of the rights of female employees in this regard should be created in particular by prominently notifying the guidelines (and appropriate legislation when enacted on the subject) in a suitable manner.  Third Party Harassment: Where sexual harassment occurs as a result of an act or omission by any third party or outsider, the employer and person in charge will take all steps necessary and reasonable to assist the affected person in terms of support and preventive action.  he Central State Governments were requested to consider adopting suitable measures including legislation to ensure that the guidelines laid down by this order are also observed by the employers in Private Sector.

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