IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs [Prelims + Mains Focus]

– 23rd July 2018

iasbaba.com/2018/07/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-prelims-mains-focus-23rd-july-2018

July 24, 2018

Place in news: Second century BCE Buddhist site at Thotlakonda in

Visakhapatnam
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I – Protection and conservation of Cultural heritage sites

In news:

Heritage conservationists and members of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural
Heritage (INTACH) has expressed concerns over proposed construction of
amphitheatre, rest rooms and information centre at second century BCE Buddhist
site, Thotlakonda in Visakhapatnam.
Buildings might mar the original heritage site and are against the norms laid down by
the courts.
Court had ordered – no construction or development activity of any sort shall be
permitted within the boundaries of the ancient site
Tourism should be developed but not at the cost of protected areas

Important Value Additions

Thotlakonda site was first discovered in 1976

The excavations conducted by ASI revealed the ruins of a well-established
Theravada (Hinayana Buddhism) monastery
Under Article 49 of the Constitution, the State is under obligation to protect every
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 monument, place or object of artistic or historic interest declared to be of national
importance from spoilation, disfigurement, destruction, removal, disposal or export,
as the case may be. (DPSP)
Under Article 51A(f) of the Constitution, there is fundamental duty to value and
preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture. (Fundamental Duties)

Public Affairs Index 2018

Part of: Prelims and GS mains II – Governance, transparency and accountability

In news:

Public Affairs Index 2018

It is an index on the quality of governance, released by Bengaluru-based think tank

Public Affairs Centre.
Kerala tops list (for the third time) of best governed large State in the country.
Tamil Nadu and Telangana stood second and third respectively.
Karnataka retained its fourth spot.

States are ranked based on 10 themes, 30 focus subjects and 100 indicators, such as
power, water, road and housing; Women and Children, Environment etc.

Watershed development projects and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai

Yojana (PMKSY)
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Government policies and interventions for development
in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

In news:

According to a Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) report on Rural Development –

Watershed development projects lagging behind badly (only 10% of projects

complete)
Watershed development is vital component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana
(PMKSY)

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Basics:

What is watershed management?

A watershed is an area that separates water flowing into rivers or basins.

Management of a watershed involves the rational utilisation of land and water
resources, through preventing soil run-off, increasing the productivity of crops, rain
water harvesting and recharging of ground water tables.

Important Value additions:

About Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

PMKSY has been formulated with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation
‘Har Khet ko pani’ and improving water use efficiency ‘More crop per drop’ in a
focused manner.

The major objective of PMKSY is to –

achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level,

expand cultivable area under assured irrigation,
improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water,
enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies
(More crop per drop),
enhance recharge of aquifers and
introduce sustainable water conservation practices

College principals to have fixed tenures: UGC

Part of: GS Prelims

In news:

College principals across the country could enjoy a minimum fixed tenure of five
years, according to recent University Grants Commission
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 A college principal shall be appointed for a period of five years, extendable for
another term of five years on the basis of performance assessment by a committee
appointed by the (respective) university.
Presently college principals do not have a fixed tenure.
These regulations would replace the UGC Regulations of 2010.
All universities in the country have been mandated to amend their statutes to give
effect to these amendments within six months.

Amendments to POCSO Act

Part of : GS Prelims and Mains II – Child welfare; vulnerable sections

In news:

Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry has proposed amendments to

POCSO Act.
Proposal to enhance punishment in cases of sexual assault of male children.
The move is being seen as an effort to bring in a gender-neutral law while dealing
with cases of sexual assaults.
Boys who are sexually abused as children spend a lifetime in silence because of the
stigma and shame attached to male survivors speaking out

Ministry is also working on the proposal to amend the Act to award death penalty to those
convicted of raping children below 12 years.

Items under GST

Part of: GS Prelims – Current affairs and Indian Economy

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Keep track of items under GST (We never know, UPSC might ask question on similar lines
of previous year Prelims GST question :D)

Basic Economics: What is the GDP deflator?

Part of: GS Prelims – Current affairs and Indian Economy

What is GDP deflator?

The GDP deflator, also called implicit price deflator, is a measure of inflation.
It is the ratio of the value of goods and services an economy produces in a particular
year at current prices to that of prices that prevailed during the base year.
This ratio helps show the extent to which the increase in gross domestic product has
happened on account of higher prices rather than increase in output.

Since the deflator covers the entire range of goods and services produced in the economy
— as against the limited commodity baskets for the wholesale or consumer price indices —
it is seen as a more comprehensive measure of inflation.

Real vs nominal

GDP GDP price deflator measures the difference between real GDP and nominal
GDP. Nominal GDP differs from real GDP as the former doesn’t include inflation,
while the latter does.
As a result, nominal GDP will most often be higher than real GDP in an expanding
economy.

The formula to find the GDP price deflator:

GDP price deflator = (nominal GDP ÷ real GDP) x 100

WPI, CPI

A consumer price index (CPI) measures changes over time in the general level of prices of
goods and services that households acquire for the purpose of consumption.

However, since CPI is based only a basket of select goods and is calculated on prices
included in it, it does not capture inflation across the economy as a whole.

The wholesale price index basket has no representation of the services sector and all the
constituents are only goods whose prices are captured at the wholesale/producer level.

Changes in consumption patterns or introduction of goods and services are automatically

reflected in the GDP deflator. This allows the GDP deflator to absorb changes to an
economy’s consumption or investment patterns. Often, the trends of the GDP deflator will
be similar to that of the CPI.

Specifically, for the GDP deflator, the ‘basket’ in each year is the set of all goods that were
produced domestically, weighted by the market value of the total consumption of each
good.

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Therefore, new expenditure patterns are allowed to show up in the deflator as people
respond to changing prices. The theory behind this approach is that the GDP deflator
reflects up-to-date expenditure patterns.

GDP deflator is available only on a quarterly basis along with GDP estimates, whereas CPI
and WPI data are released every month.

(MAINS FOCUS)

NATIONAL
TOPIC:

General Studies 3:

Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support
prices
Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

General Studies 2:

Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and

issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and
States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions
and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable
sections

Redressing farmers’ distress: Increasing MSPs (Price

Policy) to Income Policy
Introduction:

The present government has increased the MSPs of 14 kharif crops to at least 50 per cent
above paid out costs of farmers, including the imputed cost of family labour (Cost A2+FL).

The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a professional advisory body
has toed the government line. It has bypassed its own terms of reference (ToR) that require
it to look at demand and supply, domestic and international prices, costs, inter-crop price
parity, etc while recommending MSPs.

States like Uttar Pradesh have announced a much higher state-advised price.

Concerns:

Increasing MSP doesn’t address the roots of the problem, which have to do with
excess with the farmers. An extended subsidy will only result in more output, adding
to the stocks and further depressing realisations.
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 India’s agrarian crisis today — one of surpluses in most farm commodities — isn’t
amenable to traditional political fixes, such as announcing MSPs that may be fair and
remunerative to farmers, but are divorced from market realities.
Market-distorting MSPs and subsidies or loan waivers aren’t the best way to help
farmers. What they need primarily is income support, which is better done through a
flat per-acre subsidy not specific to any crop or production-linked.

Issues:

Implementation issues- Whether these MSPs can be effectively implemented?

Market prices of most kharif crops are well below the announced MSPs.

Ensuring that farmers really get these MSPs will require a major coordination between the
Centre and states.

Given a robust procurement system does not exist for other crops it will become difficult for
the government to procure even 25 per cent of the production of various kharif crops,
except in paddy and cotton.

Cost issues:

In the case of paddy alone, the government will incur an extra food subsidy bill of Rs
12,000-15,000 crore due to increased procurement.
The grain stocks are already brimming and the Food Corporation of India is saddled.
50-60 per cent higher than the current buffer stock norms.
Higher MSPs are likely to make exports globally uncompetitive, leading to further
accumulation of stocks at home, and greater economic inefficiency.

Example-

Setting procurement prices higher than global prices is not a new phenomenon in
global history. The European Economic Community (EEC) has done this earlier
leading to a glut of butter and milk in EU countries.
Lately, China also raised MSPs of wheat, rice and corn substantially above world
prices, leading to grain stocks piling up.

Wisdom lies in learning from the mistakes of other countries.

Way ahead:

As Mr Arun Jaitley recently said, “If there is any area in the economy where we can
give an example to the world and to ourselves of cooperative federalism, it is the
agriculture sector. It can benefit people more than what GST has done”.
Coordination is needed amongst Union ministries that deal with agriculture, food, food
processing, fertilisers, water, rural development and trade. This will enable a holistic
approach to agriculture and farmers’ incomes. The process can start with the creation
of an agri-council/cabinet.
Focus should be on long overdue agri- marketing reforms and revisiting the Essential
Commodity and APMC Acts to “get the markets right”. Getting the markets right will

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 ensure better and stable prices to farmers, as well as consumers, and also augment
farmers’ incomes in a sustained manner.
India needs to recognise that adressing farmers’ woes by raising procurement prices
can have a limit imposed by global prices, especially in a situation of surplus
production. The moment one crosses that limit, domestic stocks will start
accumulating.
Time has come for India to devise an income policy (DBT) for farmers.
Case study:
Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu scheme with direct investment support is interesting. It
can be refined and made WTO compatible.

Conclusion:

It is time the government switch from price policy to income policy approach to redress
farmers’ distress.

Connecting the dots:

Increasing MSPs to help farmers has several limitations. Discuss. Also, highlight the
need to switch from price policy approach to income policy to redress farmers’
distress.

NATIONAL
TOPIC:General Studies 1:

Social empowerment
Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty
and developmental issues.

Promoting women entrepreneurs in India

Introduction:

Today’s women have broken the glass ceiling and scaled new frontiers in business and
industry, bringing fresh ideas into the commercial and tech landscape of India. These
innovations are actively reshaping engineering, technology, design, handicrafts, weaving,
shoe-making, agriculture, organic farming and other cultural and creative industries.

The recent World Economic Forum meeting at Davos adds to this notion of the new age
women entrepreneur, putting out a call to bring up an equal number of women, in the
labour force. This equalisation can enhance the Gross Domestic Product of a developing
country like India by over 27 per cent.

Indian context:

As professional entrepreneurs, women are truly living their dreams. India has developed a
vibrant entrepreneurial landscape aided by several progressive initiatives and measures
instituted by the government.
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Today, with more than 20,000 start-ups, India has emerged as the second largest start-up
ecosystem in the world and is expected to grow at 10-12 per cent year-on-year.

It is heartening to see that India jumped 50 places in the overall ‘Ease of Doing Business’
rankings and this is just another reason to keep plouging ahead full steam towards
ensuring a groundswell for women leadership in the country.

Women in India:

With women comprising over 48 per cent of the country’s population, it is impossible to
think of economic growth without women as the fundamental drivers of change.
It is projected that by 2025, India’s GDP will get an additional boost of 16 per cent, by
integrating women into the workforce.

The theme of the 8th edition of Global Entrepreneurship Summit, ‘Women first, Prosperity
for all’ highlighted that when women do better, countries do better.

According to the Sixth Economic Census by the National Sample Survey

Organisation (NSSO), only 14 per cent businesses in India are run by women.
It is estimated that over 90 per cent of finance requirement for women entrepreneurs
is met through informal channels since they are unable to source formal, collateral
free and transparent financing for their enterprises.
The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2018 (MIWE) has observed that
cultural bias and a lack of access to financial services were amongst the major
hindrances for women business owners in India.

Govt initiatives:

Over the past few years, India has witnessed record growth in women entrepreneurship.
The government initiatives includes-

Stand-Up India- It has covered 12 villages in 4 months.

MUDRA
NITI Aayog’s recent Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP)

Above are steps in the right direction.

Several women-led leadership and mentorship programs such as empoWer, SAHA Fund
and Sonder Connect are also gaining traction in India.

Way ahead:

There is an urgent need to create an enabling environment for women to pursue their
entrepreneurial aspirations through progressive policies.

The Indian start-up landscape, with over eight million women entrepreneurs, is at an
inflection point where an accelerated pro-women change is of vital importance.

We must focus on establishing necessary infrastructure, such as women-centric

incubator and accelerator models, actualising mentorship initiatives, increasing
investment opportunities, as well as redrafting educational policies and skilling
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 initiatives, making them more contemporary and relevant.
Access to new age alternate funding for women entrepreneurs such as women
specific venture funds and crowd funding is important for encouraging their growth.
We need to encourage women to invest in other female-led companies to balance
gender disparity, co-creating both mentorship and networking platforms.
With emerging technologies such as hashgraph, blockchain, Artificial Intelligence
(A.I), deep learning and Internet of Things (IoT), it is of vital importance that the
skillset of women be expanded to match the current market trends.

Each small step that we take today will bring us closer towards fulfilling the larger vision for
India of our Agenda 25×25 — 25 per cent women entrepreneurs by 2025.

To achieve inclusive and equitable socio-economic growth, we must ensure that at least 25
per cent of entrepreneurs in the country are women by 2025.

Connecting the dots:

There is an urgent need to create an enabling environment for women to pursue their
entrepreneurial aspirations through progressive policies. Discuss.

(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)

Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section)

Q.1) Stupas are known to be the first religious structures in India. Which of the
following statements regarding ‘Stupa’ are correct?

1. They are pre-Buddhist structures.

2. They are built only on the relics of Buddha.
3. They are built to commemorate important events in Buddha’s life

Select the correct code from the following:

1. 1 and 2
2. 2 and 3
3. 1 and 3
4. All of the above

Q.2) Second century BCE Buddhist site, Thotlakonda was in news recently. It is
found in –

1. Telangana
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Andhra Pradesh
4. Kerala

Q.3) Which of the following characteristic feature given below is clearly a distinction
between Mahayana and Hinayana form of Buddhism?
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 1. Buddha was a Human being in Mahayana where as he is considered as God in
Hinayana
2. Mahayana did not believe in idol worship
3. Buddha is considered as God in Mahayana sect where as he is just a human being in
Hinayana sect
4. None of the above

Q.4) ‘To protect monuments, places and objects of artistic or historic interest which
are declared to be of national importance’ – This provision is provided in:

1. DPSP
2. Fundamental Duties
3. Fundamental Rights
4. All of the above

Q.5) Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) is related to

1. Food Park and Processing

2. Irrigation in rural areas
3. Financial Inclusion
4. Rural Electrification

Q.6) Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, PMKSY aims to bring rationality and
investment in irrigation and bring water in every field. Consider the following

1. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP)

2. Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)
3. On Farm Water Management (OFWM)

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchana yojana is formulated by amalgamating which of the

above schemes

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Q.7) Consider the following regarding CPI and GDP deflator

1. CPI includes prices of goods consumed by representative consumer and excludes

imported goods prices whereas GDP deflator includes prices of imported goods
2. In CPI, goods purchased by consumers do not represent all the goods which are
produced in a country whereas GDP deflator takes into account all such goods and
services
3. In CPI weights are constant but they differ according to the production level of each
good in GDP deflator.

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Select the correct statement/s

1. 1 and 2
2. 2 and 3
3. 1 and 3
4. All of the above

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