July 2019 Mahithi Monthly Magazine

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MAHITHI MONTHLY JULY-2019
CONTENT
KARNATAKA ISSUES
MEKEDATU PROJECT ............................................................................................................................................. 5
CHUKU BUKU SUBURBAN RAIL PROJECT ....................................................................................................... 5
MM HILLS SANCTUARY .......................................................................................................................................... 6
VACCINATION DRIVE AGAINST MONKEY FEVER ......................................................................................... 7
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE TAG FOR BELUR, HALEBID ........................................................................... 8
BANGALORE IAS ACADEMY & NAMMAKPSC ACADEMY |VIJAYANAGAR |HEBBAL |
BENGALURU FIRM OFFERS SOLAR-POWERED E-TRANSIT SYSTEM ...................................................10

KIA TO GET FACE-RECOGNITION BOARDING ..............................................................................................10
KARNATAKA’S 1ST ELECTRIC LOCO SHED ...................................................................................................11
APPROVAL GRANTED FOR MINI-VIDHANA SOUDHA................................................................................12
KARNATAKA FACES RAIN DEFICIT .................................................................................................................12
START-UPS WORKING ON DEFENCE PROJECTS ARE FROM BENGALURU ........................................13
SOOT CONTENT IN AIR DECLINING, SAYS IISC-ISRO STUDY ..................................................................13
BENGALURU WILL GET OUTDOOR AIR PURIFIERS ...................................................................................14
KARNATAKA HOME TO ONLY 1% OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS ...................................................15
TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES ..................................................................................................................16
GOVT. PUBLISHES DRAFT RULES TO REGULATE PG ACCOMMODATIONS ........................................17
ROTAVIRUS VACCINE IN UNIVERSAL IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME ................................................18
KARNATAKA SEES 87 H1N1 DEATHS IN 7 MONTHS .................................................................................18
POSHAN ABHIYAAN ..............................................................................................................................................19
DRONES TO SURVEY ROADS ..............................................................................................................................20
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ...........................................................................................................................................20
RED-READY: KARNATAKA TO TAKE FRESH AIM AT NAXALS................................................................21
ZERO BUDGET FARMING.....................................................................................................................................21
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CITIZEN ...................................................................................................................23
ARTICLE 370............................................................................................................................................................24
ANTI-DEFECTION LAW ........................................................................................................................................26
INTER-STATE RIVER WATER DISPUTES (AMENDMENT) BILL .............................................................29
UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT ..............................................................................................30
AADHAAR AND OTHER LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019 .....................................................................31
INDIA’S SDG DASHBOARD...................................................................................................................................32
INCREDIBLE INDIA CAMPAIGN .........................................................................................................................33
URBAN HAATS ........................................................................................................................................................33
KISAN URJA SURAKSHA EVAM UTTHAAN MAHABHIYAN (KUSUM) ....................................................33
SKILL INDIA MISSION ...........................................................................................................................................34
NATIONAL BAMBOO MISSION...........................................................................................................................35
JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN ...........................................................................................................................................36
JALYUKTA SHIVAR .................................................................................................................................................37
NATIONAL WATERWAYS ....................................................................................................................................37
BHARATMALA PARIYOJANA ..............................................................................................................................38
PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJANA...................................................................................................39
NATIONAL CAREER SERVICE.............................................................................................................................39
SOLAR CHARKHA MISSION .................................................................................................................................40
OPERATION THIRST .............................................................................................................................................40
CENTRAL WELFARE DATABASE OF CITIZENS ............................................................................................41
ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED POSTAL BALLOT SYSTEM (ETPBS) .............................................41
© www.NammaKPSC.com |Vijayanagar | Hebbal 1

GOVERNMENT E MARKETPLACE (GEM) .......................................................................................................42

MGNREGA .................................................................................................................................................................42
NATIONAL MEDICAL COMMISSION (NMC) BILL.........................................................................................44
THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019....................................................46
THE CODE ON WAGES BILL, 2019 ....................................................................................................................47
HIMALAYAN STATE CONCLAVE .......................................................................................................................48
CENSUS DATA ON MIGRATIONS .......................................................................................................................49
CHALLENGES TO NAGALAND'S RIIN INITIATIVE .......................................................................................50
NATIONAL DATA QUALITY FORUM (NDQF) ................................................................................................51

SWADESH DARSHAN SCHEME ..........................................................................................................................51
ICONIC TOURIST SITES ........................................................................................................................................52
AMBEDKAR HASTSHILP VIKAS YOJANA (AHVY) ........................................................................................52
KRISHONNATI YOJANA ........................................................................................................................................53
PRIME MINISTER’S RESEARCH FELLOWS (PMRF) SCHEME ..................................................................54
SCHEMES FOR BRAIN GAIN ................................................................................................................................55
NATIONAL CRÈCHE SCHEME .............................................................................................................................56
MINORITY PANEL’S REPORT .............................................................................................................................57
THE TRANSGENDER PERSONS (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS) BILL, 2019 .............................................58
LAND RIGHTS OF SCHEDULED TRIBES ..........................................................................................................59
GLOBAL MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY INDEX ........................................................................................60
TRIFED AND TRIBAL CRAFTS ............................................................................................................................61
SOCIAL ISSUES
RASHTRIYA VAYOSHRI YOJANA (RVY)...........................................................................................................62
MANUAL SCAVENGING ........................................................................................................................................62
THE INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS) SCHEME ...............................................63
BETI BACHAO BETI PADHAO .............................................................................................................................64
POCSO ACT ...............................................................................................................................................................65
PENCIL PORTAL .....................................................................................................................................................66
MAHILA KISAN SASHAKTIKARAN PARIYOJANA .........................................................................................67
FAMINISATION OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE ..................................................................................................67
SURROGACY REGULATION BILL .......................................................................................................................69
ONE STOP CENTRE SCHEME ..............................................................................................................................69
VISHAKA GUIDELINES..........................................................................................................................................70
THE ODISHA MODEL OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT..................................................................................71
DRAFT NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY ........................................................................................................72
‘NATIONAL MISSION ON EDUCATION THROUGH INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY’ (NMEICT) ....................................................................................................................................74
STUDY IN INDIA......................................................................................................................................................75
STRIDE SCHEME .....................................................................................................................................................76
PARAMARSH SCHEME ..........................................................................................................................................76
NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (NCDS) IN INDIA ..................................................................................77
EBOLA OUTBREAK ................................................................................................................................................78
AIDS ............................................................................................................................................................................78
BAN ON ANTIBIOTIC COLISTIN FOR FOOD PRODUCING ANIMALS .....................................................79
CHANDIPURA VIRUS .............................................................................................................................................80
GENERIC MEDICINE ..............................................................................................................................................80
DENGUE INFECTION .............................................................................................................................................81

ECONOMY
GST GAINS MOMENTUM ......................................................................................................................................82
GOVERNMENT EASES ANGEL TAX NORMS ...................................................................................................83
INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICE CENTRE (IFSC) ...........................................................................84
BASEL NORMS .........................................................................................................................................................84
JALAN COMMITTEE REPORT .............................................................................................................................85
DISINVESTMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT ..........................................................................................................86
GOVT CONSIDERS ENHANCING RBI POWERS ..............................................................................................86
INDIA E-COMMERCE RULES ...............................................................................................................................87

CORE INVESTMENT COMPANIES .....................................................................................................................88
FINANCIAL STABILITY REPORT .......................................................................................................................89
MAKING INDIA AVIATION HUB .........................................................................................................................89
MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE ................................................................................................................................90
TRADE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR EXPORT SCHEME (TIES) .......................................................................91
LINK BETWEEN GLOBAL WARMING AND UNEMPLOYMENT ................................................................91
MINIMUM WAGE SYSTEM ...................................................................................................................................92
ODISHA RASAGOLA ...............................................................................................................................................93
DHOLERA SPECIAL INVESTMENT REGION’ (DSIR) ....................................................................................94
INSOLVENCY CODE ...............................................................................................................................................95
PLASTIC ALTERNATIVE FROM JUTE ...............................................................................................................96
INTER-MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON VIRTUAL CURRENCIES .............................................................97
BANNING OF UNREGULATED DEPOSIT SCHEMES BILL, 2019 ...............................................................98
NASA’S PUNCH MISSION......................................................................................................................................99
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE AND LIGO..................................................................................................................99
HAYABUSA-2 ........................................................................................................................................................ 100
ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY ........................................................................................................................................ 101
NEUTRINO PROJECT .......................................................................................................................................... 101
SMART INDIA HACKATHON - 2019 .............................................................................................................. 103
MALICIOUS SOFT WARES ................................................................................................................................. 104
DRONES .................................................................................................................................................................. 104
ELECTRONIC RFID (RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTITY) SYSTEMS .......................................................... 105
CHANDRAYAAN 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 106
VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS ............................................................................................................................... 108
ETHANOL PUMPS ................................................................................................................................................ 108
JATAN: VIRTUAL MUSEUM SOFTWARE ...................................................................................................... 109
MICRODOT PATCHES......................................................................................................................................... 109
DEEP OCEAN MISSION ...................................................................................................................................... 110
GLOBAL INNOVATION RANKING ................................................................................................................... 111
SECURITY RELATED NEWS
SPIKE MISSILES ................................................................................................................................................... 112
BHABHA KAVACH ............................................................................................................................................... 112
INDIAN AIRCRAFT CARRIERS ......................................................................................................................... 112
NAG MISSILE ......................................................................................................................................................... 113
SAGAR MAITRI MISSION.................................................................................................................................. 113
NAVIC ...................................................................................................................................................................... 114
INDO-FRENCH JOINT AIR EXERCISE GARUDA-VI .................................................................................... 115
OPERATION ‘SUDARSHAN’ .............................................................................................................................. 116
DEFENCE CORRIDOR ......................................................................................................................................... 116
CRIME AND CRIMINAL TRACKING NETWORK SYSTEM (CCTNS) ...................................................... 116

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION (CA) ................................................................................................... 118
ORGANIC AGRO REVOLUTION........................................................................................................................ 118
BLUE FLAG’ CHALLENGE.................................................................................................................................. 120
INDIA AND PLASTIC POLLUTION MENACE ............................................................................................... 121
SEA LEVEL RISE INDIA ...................................................................................................................................... 122
COMPREHENSIVE CENSUS OF ORCHIDS OF INDIA ................................................................................. 123
CORAL REHAB PROGRAMME .......................................................................................................................... 123
GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD ................................................................................................................................ 124

RHINO PROTECTION FORCE ........................................................................................................................... 124
GANGES RIVER DOLPHIN ................................................................................................................................. 125
TAMIL YEOMAN................................................................................................................................................... 126
HT BT COTTON .................................................................................................................................................... 126
‘PLAN BEE’ ............................................................................................................................................................. 127
INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION................................................................................................ 127
NAMDAPHA TIGER RESERVE ......................................................................................................................... 128
THE TRADE RECORD ANALYSIS OF FLORA AND FAUNA IN COMMERCE (TRAFFIC) .................. 128
TIGER CENSUS ..................................................................................................................................................... 129
22 SPECIES HAVE GONE EXTINCT IN INDIA .............................................................................................. 130
GHARIAL ................................................................................................................................................................ 130
20 MILLION-YEAR-OLD SPECIES OF VINE SNAKE ................................................................................... 131
MUGA YARNS ........................................................................................................................................................ 131
HIMALAYAN KNOTWEED ................................................................................................................................ 131
DRAGON BLOOD-OOZING TREE..................................................................................................................... 132
RATAPANI WILDLIFE SANCTUARY .............................................................................................................. 132
RED MUD ............................................................................................................................................................... 132
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
KULBHUSHAN JADHAV CASE .......................................................................................................................... 133
INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE ............................................................................................................ 135
ROHINGYAS ........................................................................................................................................................... 135
CHABAHAR PORT DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................................... 136
UNWFP ................................................................................................................................................................... 137
COMMONWEALTH NATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 138
NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT (NAM) .............................................................................................................. 139
HISTORY/ART/CULTURE RELATED NEWS
SHANKARACHARYA ........................................................................................................................................... 141
KARACHI POOJA .................................................................................................................................................. 141
KARTARPUR GURUDWARA ............................................................................................................................. 142
PINK CITY JAIPUR ............................................................................................................................................... 142

State Issues
Mekedatu project
In news: Nearly 52.5 sq. km of land, will be submerged

or built over for the contentious Mekedatu balancing
reservoir and drinking water project.

• While the pre-feasibility report for the project,
puts definite numbers to the large-scale
submergence in the core area of the Cauvery
Wildlife Sanctuary, it also shows that costs
have shot up by over 50% in just two years.
• The costs include a 99 m-high Concrete Gravity
Dam, spillways of 318 m length, and three underground power units for which more
than 2,000 tonnes of explosives will be used to excavate rock and sand in the middle
of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary..
• The sanctuary is home to several endemic or endangered species and is a key elephant
and wildlife corridor.
• The project conforms to the Cauvery Tribunal verdict which states that state has the
rights to “regulate within its boundaries the use of water, or to enjoy the benefit of
waters within the State in a manner not inconsistent with the order.”
About the Project

• The Government of Karnataka is planning to build a dam across river Cauvery near
Mekedatu in Ramanagara district.
• The proposed capacity of dam is 48 TMC (thousand million cubic feet).
• The objective of the dam is to supply drinking water to Bengaluru and recharge the
groundwater table in the region
Chuku Buku suburban rail project

In news: Several Bengalureans are now pinning
hopes on the 148km-suburban rail project, for which
citizens in the past had launched the ambitious
Chuku Buku Beku campaign.
• Under the Rs 16,035-crore project to be
completed in six years, trains with six-car
rakes will ply every 12 to 20 minutes.
• The revised DPR is ready and South Western
Railway will soon send it to the railway board.
• Once the SPV is formed, the project is likely
to be on track. This will allow them to
complete the tender process and start work by next year.
• The services will run from 5am to midnight at a speed of 90 kmph with a station dwell
time of 30 seconds.

• It will be operational in KSR Bengaluru City–Yelahanka-Devanahalli (41.4km),

Byappanahalli-Yeshwantpur-Chikkabanavara (25km), Kengeri-KSR Bengaluru City-
Whitefield (35.5km) and Heelalige-Channasandra-Yelahanka-Rajanukunte (46.2km)
corridors.
• The network will have 57 stations.

Why is the need?
• Reduce vehicles on Bengaluru roads
• Reduce load on the existing pubic transport of Bengaluru ie 42km metro network
(Byappanahalli-Mysuru Road and Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli) which carry about 4
lakh passengers and BMTC’s 6,600 buses ferry about 45 lakh people.
• It will give boost to the existing skeletal suburban services which carry about 1.50 lakh
passengers.
• Address Bengaluru’s, notorious
• With the suburban rail network, passengers will have a better, faster and cheaper
option to travel from one point to another
MM Hills sanctuary
In news: Karnataka to get its sixth tiger reserve:

• However Karnataka will have to wait longer to get it
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
has found some lapses in the proposal to declare
MM Hills wildlife sanctuary in Chamarajanagar
district as a tiger reserve and asked the state
government to rework it.
• The buffer zone for the reserve was not defined
properly.
• The proposal was first mooted in 2014.
• With the recent tiger census putting Karnataka’s big cat numbers at 524, upgrading of
sanctuaries to tiger reserves will go a long way in ensuring protection to the
endangered species.
• It will also help big cats from saturated reserves to establish new territories.
About MM Hills wildlife sanctuary

• Sanctuary has 13 tigers
• Once a hideout of forest brigand Veerappan, Malai Mahadeshwara aka MM Hills
sanctuary, spread over 906sqkm, is home to around 13 tigers.
• With an increasing prey base, there’s scope for expansion of their population.
• The tiger population in the adjoining Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) reserve has
reached saturation point and turning MM Hills sanctuary into a tiger reserve will
help big cats from there to expand their territory.
• MM Hills also connects Bannerghatta National Park on another end.
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu, which also borders MM Hills, is
another protected area from where tigers can migrate.
• Apart from tigers, the sanctuary is home to leopards, elephants, sloth bears, wild
dogs, hyenas, honey badgers, guars, sambars and chitals. Bandipur, Bhadra,
Nagarahole, Dandeli-Anshi and BRT are the tiger reserves in Karnataka.
Vaccination drive against monkey fever

In news: The Department of Health and Family Welfare plans to take up a vaccination drive
and step up surveillance activities to tackle Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also known as
monkey fever, in the 2019-20 season.
• In 2018-19, 14 persons
died in the State of
monkey fever — 12 deaths
in Shivamogga district and

two in Uttara Kannada
district.
• As many as 440 positive
cases were reported in the
State during this period of
which 341 cases were
from Shivamogga district.
• Aralagodu Gram
Panchayat in Sagar taluk
was identified as epicentre
of the outbreak, where 10 deaths were reported.
Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is
No positive case has been reported since May 23. a tick-borne viral haemorrhagic
• Last year 14 taluks spread over eight districts of
fever endemic to South
Karnataka had been identified as areas affected India.The disease is caused by a
with KFD. virus belonging to the family
• The plan now is to administer vaccine to 5.17
Flaviviridae, which also includes
lakh persons in these taluks. yellow fever and dengue fever
• The order for the vaccine has been placed with
which are transmitted by
the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary mosquitoes.
Biologicals, Bengaluru. The lab will start
receiving the vaccine from the first week of July
• The vaccination drive used to commence in the last week of October, by which the
ticks that spread the disease from monkeys to humans would become active.
• This year on, to enhance immunity among people in the affected areas, the vaccine
will be given from the second week of July. The booster dose will be given in October
last week.
• To step up surveillance, the department has decided to strengthen field stations of
KFD in Sagar, Honnavar and Belthangady. One entomologist, two insect collectors,
who will collect ticks from forests, and three multi-purpose workers would be
appointed at each station.
• Surveillance involved identifying the unnatural death of monkeys in forest, collecting
blood and viscera samples for tests, and disposing the carcass safely.
• The coordination between field level staff of the Health and Family Welfare,
Veterinary and Forest departments was necessary for the success of surveillance
activities.
• A rapid response team, comprising officers from the three departments, would be
formed by September in affected districts to ensure better coordination

UNESCO world heritage tag for Belur, Halebid
In news: The two monuments were included

in the tentative list released over five years
ago
• There is little concerted effort to
secure the UNESCO world heritage
site status for monuments at Belur
and Halebid though they were

included in the list over five years ago.
• Described as poetry in stone and recognised as
sculptural masterpieces, the 12th century
temples were part of the list released in April
2014 as “Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala”.
• For a monument to be declared as world
heritage site, it should make it to the tentative
list and this was initiated in 2014 when C.G.
Betsurmath was the Commissioner for
Archaeology, Museums and Heritage.
• But, the State Archaeology Department and
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have to
take it forward by preparing a dossier
explaining its cultural significance and submit
it to the Government of India, which in turn
has to take it up with the UNESCO.
• Neither the State government nor the Central
government seem enthusiastic about this
• The report justifying the inclusion of the two
monuments in the tentative list had stated that the
sacred ensembles bear unique testimony to the At present, only the Hampi
extraordinary artistic achievements, architectural and Pattadakal group of
skill, and cultural contributions of the Hoysala monuments are marked as
period. world heritage sites in
• The exquisite intricacy of the stone sculpture and Karnataka though there are
carvings on the Hoysala temples’ exteriors with over 750 State-protected
attention to detail of ornamentation, clothing, and monuments and nearly 600
dynamic movement of human and animal figures are monuments protected by
above and beyond any other the ASI in the State.
• The final dossier for Belur and Halebid will be
prepared this year and will be outsourced to Indian Heritage City Network or INTACH.
• The department will also prepare the final dossier for three other group of
monuments of the State that are in the tentative list. They include Badami, Ahihole
and Pattadakal, monuments of Srirangapatana island town and the monuments of
Deccan Sultanate, the official said.
• A dossier submitted to the government to get the monuments of Deccan Sultanate
included in the world heritage site list early this year was rejected.

About Belur and Halebid
® Halebid also known as Dwarasamudra (gateway to the seas) in ancient times is in Hassan
district. It was the capital of Hoysala Empire. It flourished as the capital of the Hoysala
Dynasty for about 150 years.
® Halebid (also pronounced as Hale'beedu) literally means 'the old city'. Beedu also stands
for layout or a place of human habitat. The Hoysalas ruled this city for about 150 years.
Then it was sacked by the armies of Malik Kafur in the early 14th century, after which it
fell into a state of disrepair and ignore.
® Belur is located on the banks of river Yagachi. According to inscriptions discovered here,
Belur was also referred to as 'Velapuri'. Belur is known as Dakshina Varanasi or South
Banaras for its temples. Though Belur and Halebidu and just 16 kms away, they are always
referred to as Belur and Halebidu as if they are one. But indeed they are one in their
grandeur of erstwhile era.
® The temples of Belur and Halebid are best known for their south Indian architecture. The
temples at both these places are built by renowned architect Jakkanna Acharya
(Amarashilpi Jakanaacharya). The temples are carved with scripts of Hindu mythology.
The 12th century temple at Belur has many figures known as Madanikas or dancers. It has
many pillars of different designs. Later the capital was shifted to Dwarasamudram
(Halebid).
® Both these temples have carving of Puranas, the Upanishads and other mythological
characters from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. With these exquisite designs one
loses himself in its beauty.
® The 12th century Chennakesava Temple at Belur is the symbol of Hoysalas over the Cholas
in the great battle of Talakadu. The exterior is covered with a variety of intricately-carved
sculptures and friezes. The interior contains exquisite panels A tall stone pillar in the
temple courtyard is balanced, amazingly, only by its centre of gravity.
® It is said that this temple was started in 1116 AD and took nearly 103 years to complete.
Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana. The main structure is star shaped on a raised plat form.
Small shrines of Kappe Chenningaraya, Soumyanayaki, Andal, surround the temple. The
two other temples from the Hoysala dynasty are the Vir Narayan and the Chennigaraya
temple.
® The annual Car Festival at the Chennakesava Temple takes place between March and April.

Bengaluru firm offers solar-powered e-transit system
In news: City-based Primerail Infralabs developed TieTran ROVE (The Intelligent Electric
Transit Robotic Vehicle), a solar-powered e-pod that runs non-stop from the source to its
destination at a pre-determined speed on a dedicated track in an enclosed tube structure.
• The concept is similar to pod taxis or personal rapid transit (PRT) that uses automated
electric pod cars to provide feeder services.
How does it works? Advantages
• It will be fully automatic and driver less and drop ® It provides a safe and
passengers at designated stations. sustainable transit
• It will have on-board entertainment, CCTV and GPS- option.
tracking facilities. ® The cost is also cheaper
• This can carry up to 5,000 users per hour per than other transit
direction in a four-seater model. modes.
• It can be scaled up with different vehicle models of ® It saves road space,
eight-passenger capacity (4 seater + 4 standing) and infrastructure cost as
platoon runs. well as parking space
• It moves at an average speed of 40 kmph and
ensures last-mile connectivity between Metro stations and other hubs like tech parks,
townships and airport terminal transfers
• These closed light robotic vehicles will require a loop track (300m-10km long, 2ft
wide).
• It will need modular stations which are 1/10 of the size of Metro ones.
• The height of the pillars will be 3-5 metres and the cost Rs 15 crore per km.
• The firm will charge only Rs 5 per km from users. The firm recently built a 430m
infrastructure test track at Kannamangala in Whitefield.
KIA to get face-recognition boarding

In news: The first phase of facial recognition technology,
which would enable seamless biometric boarding for
passengers, will be rolled out at the Kempegowda
International Airport, said Bangalore International
Airport Limited (BIAL) authorities.
• The technology, implemented under the
Centre’s Digi Yatra initiative, has already been
kick started at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi
International Airport.
• As an outcome of trials conducted and proof of concept established over 24 months
ago, BIAL is implementing a biometric based passenger boarding process at the KIA.
• It will ensure quick, seamless boarding for passengers
• Currently, passengers have to show their boarding passes and IDs at several
checkpoints across the terminal.
• However, once the biometric system is implemented, there will be no need to show
these documents at multiple checkpoints as a single-token biometrics will be used for
identification.
• The first phase, which will be rolled out by this month-end, will cover only domestic
passengers.

• Once the domestic passenger roll-out

The 'DigiYatra' is an industry-led initiative co-
is stabilised, international passengers
ordinated by the Ministry of civil aviation in
are also expected to be included
line with the govt's Digital India's vision to
subject to appropriate government
transform the nation into a digitally
and regulatory approvals, according
empowered society.
to BIAL officials.
• While currently the airport is
Digi Yatra - Digital processing of passengers
experiencing increasing congestion
at the airports. Passengers will be

due to manual processes, the Digi
automatically processed based on facial
Yatra programme is expected to help
recognition system at check points like; Entry
increase operational efficiency.
Facial recognition system point check, Entry in to Security Check,
Aircraft Boarding, Additionally this will also
• A facial recognition system is a
facilitate self-Bag Drop and Check-in, using
technology capable
facial recognition to identify pax and data
of identifying or verifying a person
recall. Digi Yatra will facilitate paperless
from a digital image or a video
travel and avoid identity check at multiple
frame from a video source.
points.
• There are multiple methods in which
facial recognition systems work, but
in general, they work by comparing selected facial features from given image with
faces within a database.
• It is also described as a Biometric Artificial Intelligence based application that can
uniquely identify a person by analysing patterns based on the person's facial textures
and shape.
• While initially a form of computer application, it has seen wider uses in recent times
on mobile platforms and in other forms of technology, such as robotics.
• It is typically used as access control in security systems and can be compared to
other biometrics such as fingerprint or eye iris recognition systems. Although the
accuracy of facial recognition system as a biometric technology is lower than iris
recognition and fingerprint recognition, it is widely adopted due to its contactless and
non-invasive process.
• Recently, it has also become popular as a commercial identification and marketing
tool. Other applications include advanced human-computer interaction, video
surveillance, automatic indexing of images, and video database, among others
Karnataka’s 1st electric loco shed

In news: With the railways planning to electrify its entire broad-gauge network by 2022, the
first electric loco shed in Karnataka and South Western Railway (SWR) is likely to be
commissioned by next year.
• Work on the conversion of diesel loco shed at The Indian Railways
Krishnarajapuram (KR Puram) to an electric loco shed is currently has 11 railway
expected to be completed by August 2020 museums across the
• The railway on 28th July decided to transfer five electric country. Karnataka has
locomotives from Royapuram shed to KR Puram. one museum in Mysuru
• While the full-fledged facility is likely to come up by and is all set to get
August 2020, maintenance of these five electric another, now in Hubballi.
locomotives will be done with skeletal facilities.

• Once the electrical locos come, the KR Puram shed will be the first to maintain
electric locos in Karnataka
• Currently, 206 diesel locomotives already being maintained at the KR Puram shed,
which is spread across 25 acres.
• It was set up in 1983 for major and minor maintenance schedules of diesel
locomotives.
Approval granted for mini-Vidhana Soudha

In news: The Revenue Department granted administrative

approval for the construction of a mini-Vidhana Soudha at
a cost of Rs. 10 crore in Hassan
• Deputy secretary of the department, issued the
order granting approval
• The ground floor of the building will include a
canteen, separate rooms for issuing Aadhaar,
Bhoomi facilities and vehicle parking.
• The first floor will include the tahsildar’s room,
court hall, staff room, record room, computer
room and toilet.
• The building will come up in place of the old taluk
office on B.M. Road.
Karnataka faces rain deficit

In news: Almost two months into the monsoon season, data accessed from India
Meteorological Department (IMD) show the state is reeling under 13% rainfall deficiency for
the season that began on June 1.
• South interior Karnataka, which includes districts such as Bengaluru and Kodagu, is the
worst hit. Scanty rainfall in the Kodagu region is bad news as the hilly district is a major
catchment area for Cauvery basin
• Prolonged rain deficiency may affect drinking water availability for Bengaluru.
• Kerala is getting good rain, because of which the Kabini reservoir in the Cauvery belt
is receiving good inflow. This is expected to make up for the probable shortfall in other
Cauvery basin dams
• Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga are the other districts in south
interior Karnataka witnessing rain shortage.
• While south interior Karnataka is facing a deficiency of 23%, the figure for coastal
regions is 18%. Dakshina Kannada is the worst affected among the coastal districts.
Interestingly, north interior Karnataka has received 7% excess rainfall for the season
• However, parts of coastal districts have been receiving heavy rain over the past few
days.
• Hydrologically the deficiency is not that high. However, agricultural activities have
been affected as there was hardly any rain in the state in June.
• In the coming days, rainfall is expected to increase in north interior Karnataka and
decrease in south interior and coastal Karnataka.
• Another important point to note is that the rainfall belt is shifting towards Central
India now, which means the overall rain in Karnataka will reduce

Start-ups working on defence projects are from Bengaluru

In news: Almost 30% of the start-ups working with the defence ministry to deliver cutting-
edge technologies to Indian armed forces are from Bengaluru and their number is growing
every year.
• Bengaluru is the start-up hub of India and we have seen a huge number of city start-
ups participating in the Defence India Startup Challenge held by the Defence
Innovation Organisation (DIO)
• DIO has also introduced a Defence Innovation Fund for startups to work on their
ideas.
• The ideas will be converted into technology, which will give us a product. The end is
to make the product a military-grade one
Start-up Company
• A startup or start up is a company initiated by
individual founders or entrepreneurs to search for a repeatable
and scalable business model.
• Founders design start-ups to effectively develop and validate a scalable business
model
• Hence, the concepts of startups and entrepreneurship are similar.
• However, entrepreneurship refers all new businesses, including self-employment
and businesses that never intend to grow big or become registered, while startups
refer to new businesses that intend to grow beyond the solo founder, have
employees, and intend to grow large
• Start-ups face high uncertainty and do have high rates of failure, but the minority
that go on to be successful companies have the potential to become large and
influential.
• Some Soot content in air declining, says IISc-Isro study
startups become unicorns, i.e. privately held startup companies valued at
over US$1 billion.
In news: The amount of soot or black carbon
in India’s air is reducing.
• It has been declining at a rate of 100
nanogram per cubic metre per year,
a recent study by scientists from
Indian Institute of Science and Indian
Space Research Organization has
revealed.
• Soot consists of tiny carbon particles
called aerosols. These are much smaller than the diameter of a human hair strand
and hence can enter our lungs and cause serious damage to health.
• They can have an adverse impact on the Indian monsoon as well.
• The study results are surprising as the popular belief is that concentration of this near-
surface soot will continue to rise due to emission of pollutants by thermal power
plants, domestic cooking and crop burning. Black carbon particles are much smaller
compared to particulate matter (like PM 10 or even PM 2.5 in some cases) in the air
and are more dangerous given their tiny size.
• The results show that the government’s policy to encourage rural communities to use
gaseous fuel for cooking may be bearing fruit,

• The study was done by analysing six-year data from 28 ground stations set up by Isro
in different parts of India.
® Coal power plants emit sulphate,
Impact on monsoon soot particles and carbon dioxide
• The impact of soot on monsoon is more and hence, are considered
complex. undesirable for future.
• Black carbon can absorb the sun’s ® According to a Lancet survey, air
radiation and heat up the atmosphere but pollution killed 1.2 million Indians
prevents it from reaching the earth’s in 2017.

surface. ® The country is home to 14 of the 15
• Scientists are worried over the presence
most polluted cities across the
of soot in the atmosphere, which causing globe, show World Health
global warming and can weaken the Organisation data.
Indian monsoon.
• It can locally increase or reduce rainfall
depending on the relative amount of soot and sulphate aerosols, particles that are
released during combustion of coal.
• Sulphate aerosols reflect the sun’s radiation, cooling the earth.

Affects air quality, health
• Black carbon is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide,
affects air quality and human health and reduces visibility by increasing opacity
• It traps sun’s heat, increasing heat in the troposphere, affecting cloud formation and
precipitation in lower latitudes thus impacting the monsoon-dependent South Asia
region.
• It increases melting of glaciers in higher altitudes.
• Light-absorbing black carbon nullifies radio ative cooling of the atmosphere due to
scattering of solar radiation by non-absorbing aerosols and sulphates
Bengaluru will get outdoor air purifiers

In news: The decision, taken at a recent
BBMP council meeting, comes after
installation of an air purifier at Hudson
Circle, which has helped in capturing dust
particles, air-borne heavy metal particles and
organic carbon at the junction.
• It has tasked a private player,
aTechTron, with installing the air
purifiers at its own cost. Each air
purifier costs around Rs 2.5 lakh and the entire project is likely to be taken up under
corporate social responsibility.
• They have held discussion with BBMP engineers to identify ideal locations where air
purifiers can be installed
• BBMP has a rider for the agency: the location should not be used for advertisement
purposes.

• Air purifiers have filters that absorb finer dust particles and give out cleaner air. Each
purifier can cover an area falling within 60 feet of it. According to BBMP officials, the
city requires the facility at 44,000 junctions.

Hudson Circle collects 19g of dust in 8 hours
• The air purifier at Hudson Circle was installed by aTechTron. The filters, where dust
is collected, were sent to KSPCB- and NABL-authorised laboratories for analysis.
• As per lab reports, 19.1g dust was collected in the primary filter of the Hudson
Circle air purifier over a period of eight peak traffic hours.

• Over a month, they have been able to capture an average of 750g to 1kg of fine
dust particles consisting of PM2.5, PM10, air-borne heavy metal particles, organic
carbon and other air-borne pollutants
Karnataka home to only 1% of international migrants

In news: Karnataka may be among the top industrialised states, and leads the table in several
social indicators, but the state accounts for only 1.3% of migrants to India.
• Recently released Census 2011 statistics on migration show that Karnataka was home
to 71,715 of the 61.6 lakh international migrants in India.
• However, the state cornered 14.4% of all migrants from Europe and 19.5% of those
from the Americas — North and South America combined.
• Also, 49% of those migrating to India from China came to Karnataka.
• This is because of the huge settlement of Tibetans in the state. The Census marks
those born in Tibet as migrants from China.
• The numbers in Karnataka would probably have been much lower if not for Bengaluru,
which accounts for 46% of the 71,715 international migrants in Karnataka.

Tribal development schemes
In news: The government’s tribal development policies and NGOs’ interventions came under
flak as speakers faulted the two of not being rooted in the realities of tribal conditions at a
two-day seminar which got under way in the city on 17th July
• The seminar titled “Tribal Development in India: Issues and Challenges’’ is being held
under the auspices of Karnataka State Tribal Research Institute (KSTRI).
• There is no dearth of tribal development plans that were launched in India in the last
70 years entailing expenditure to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees.

• Yet, the condition of the tribal community has not improved one bit nor have their
problems been resolved, he contended.
Field visits not done
• The officials’ tendency to conceive plans that are far removed from the realities in
which the tribes live and wanted the policies to be formulated after thorough field
studies.
• Officials conceive plans from their air conditioned offices instead of making field visits
to apprise themselves of the ground realities
• The NGOs in the country held them responsible for the conditions in which the tribes
live today despite efforts to raise their socio-economic conditions.
Hidden agenda of NGOs:

• The NGOs also have a vested interest
® M.R. Gangadhar, Head, Department of
in maintaining the status quo of tribals
Anthropology, University of Mysore,
as any improvement to their socio-
said in his keynote address that India
economic conditions will make them
has the second largest concentration
(NGOs) redundant and their funding
of tribal communities in the world,
will stop’
next only to Africa, and as many as 705
• Though not all NGOs can be held
tribal communities have been
guilty, at least 80 out of 100 belong to
identified and notified as scheduled
such category and government
tribes.
funding should be routed through
State-run tribal development ® He said despite continuous
institutes instead of NGOs implementation of comprehensive
Key issues plans and programmes for the
• The key issues pertaining to tribal
development of the tribal
development pertained to poverty, communities, most of them live in
land and health. poverty.
• Land alienation and displacement
besides forced migration of tribes was a serious issue and rapid industrialisation and
urbanisation was reducing the forests and affecting the forest-dwelling communities.
• The health status of the tribal population in India continues to be a cause for concern
with poor sanitation conditions, lack of hygiene, health and education. They also
suffered from chronic air- and water-borne diseases, malnutrition, deficiency of iodine
and calcium, TB etc.
• The lack of education was linked to medium of instruction and thus language was a
constraint for tribal children seeking access to education

Govt. publishes draft rules to regulate PG accommodations

In news: The Urban Development Department
has come out with the draft Karnataka
Regulation of Boarding and Lodging Houses
Rules, 2019, to regulate the functioning of paying
guest accommodations and invited
objections/suggestions for the same.
• The rules were necessitated because of
mushrooming PG accommodations across

the State, particularly in urban areas. The
rules seek to regulate them and make
registration of such accommodations compulsory with the designated officer.
• The rules are framed under provisions of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964 and
Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976.
• The government also wanted to hear from those operating PG accommodations. Their
views, concerns and suggestions for improvement of the rules would be taken into
consideration.
• The rules were necessitated as different models of temporary accommodation were
available throughout the State, especially in urban areas, as an affordable and
accessible option for working individuals and students staying away from homes. The
rules are framed to ensure safety, especially of women and students, and prescribe
reasonable standards in the facilities.
• The definition of ‘Boarding and Lodging Houses’ includes premises more than 2,000
sq. ft carpet area providing temporary
accommodation for a certain period of
time, with or without food, for payment
on a daily, weekly or monthly basis and
excludes hotels, government
guesthouses, old-age homes,
retirement homes, clubs, hostels within
educational institutions’ premises as
well as those exclusively managed by
institutions for their students and
recognised homestays.
• Besides prescribing registration with
fee, the rules also specify number of
guests that could be accommodated on
a premises, location of the premises,
and other such things.
• The operator has to pay two times of the
last payable property tax as registration
fee and anyone found operating the
facility without permission would have
to pay a penalty 10 times of the last
payable property tax.

Rotavirus vaccine in Universal Immunisation Programme

In news: Targeting universal immunisation, the Health Department is all set to introduce
Rotavirus vaccine (RVV) as part of the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) from the
third week of August.
• With this, the vaccine that costs around Rs 600 a dose in private healthcare facilities
will be given free of cost to all infants at the age of six, 10 and 14 weeks, along with
other vaccines under the UIP.
• It will be provided at all government hospitals, medical colleges, urban dispensaries,
primary health centres, community health centres, sub-centres and outreach session
sites.
• Rotavirus, a highly contagious virus, is the most common organism that causes
severe diarrhoea and death among children under the age of five.
• As per a 2013 position paper of the World Health Organisation (WHO), “Rotavirus
transmission occurs primarily by the faecal-oral route, directly from person to person,
or indirectly via contaminated fomites, and the virus can live for hours on hand and
even longer on hard surfaces”.
• In India, around 78,000 children die from Rotavirus diarrhoea annually, while nearly 9
lakh are admitted to hospitals with severe diarrhoea. Another 32.7 lakh children visit
hospitals as outpatients when afflicted.
What is Rotavirus?
• Rotavirus is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family Reoviridae. Rotaviruses
are the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children.
• Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus at least once by the age of five.
Immunity develops with each infection, so subsequent infections are less severe; adults
are rarely affected.
• There are nine species of the genus, referred to as A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I. Rotavirus A,
the most common species, causes more than 90% of rotavirus infections in humans.
• The virus is transmitted by the faecal-oral route. It infects and damages the cells that line
the small intestine and causes gastroenteritis (which is often called "stomach flu" despite
having no relation to influenza).
• Although Rotavirus was discovered in 1973 by Ruth Bishop and her colleagues by electron
micrograph images and accounts for approximately one third of hospitalisations for severe
diarrhoea in infants and children, its importance has historically been underestimated
within the public health community, particularly in developing countries.
• In addition to its impact on human health, rotavirus also infects animals, and is
a pathogen of livestock
Karnataka sees 87 H1N1 deaths in 7 months

In news: Swine flu claimed 87 lives in the state this year; 13 died in Shivamogga — the highest
in Karnataka — followed by Davanagere (12).
• Bengaluru has seen 245 cases of H1N1influenza A infection. Doctors said the virus
strain has been virulent this time compared to previous years.
• Every day, they get one or two suspected cases for which we are providing
symptomatic treatment. These are not reported as H1N1 cases
• H1N1 cases have seen a decline in the last two months. In 2018, the outbreak was
seen in the second half of the year, post-September, till May 2019,
• No research has been done in the pattern of H1N1 Influenza A cases in the state

H1N1
• Influenza (H1N1) virus is the subtype of influenza A virus that was the most common
cause of human influenza (flu) in 2009, and is associated with the 1918 outbreak
known as the Spanish flu.
• It is an orthomyxovirus that contains the glycoproteins haemagglutinin and neuraminidase.
For this reason, they are described as H1N1, H1N2 etc. depending on the type of H or N
antigens they express with metabolic synergy.
• Haemagglutinin causes red blood cells to clump together and binds the virus to the infected
cell.
• Neuraminidase is a type of glycoside hydrolase enzyme which helps to move the virus particles
through the infected cell and assist in budding from the host cells.
• Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all influenza-like
illness and a small fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused a small percentage
of all human flu infections in 2004–2005.
• Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza).
• In June 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new strain of swine-origin
H1N1 as a pandemic.
• This strain is often called swine flu by the public media. This novel virus spread worldwide and
had caused about 17,000 deaths by the start of 2010.
• On August 10, 2010, the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 influenza pandemic
over, saying worldwide flu activity had returned to typical seasonal patterns.
POSHAN Abhiyaan
In news: Karnataka, that is battling malnutrition in several districts, has not utilised a single rupee out
of the Rs 132.21 crore released by the Union government
for a nationwide nutrition scheme.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan (Prime Minister’s Overarching
POSHAN Abhiyaan is a multi-
Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) is being
ministerial convergence mission
implemented at a snail’s pace in the state and
going by the statistics provided by the ministry of with the vision to ensure attainment
women and child development, not a single rupee of malnutrition free India by 2022.
has been utilised by the state till March 2019. The objective of POSHAN Abhiyaan
• What is envisioned to be ‘Jan Andolan’ or people’s to reduce stunting in identified
movement, is said to monitor the nutrition status, Districts of India with the highest
fix targets and design guidelines to address malnutrition burden by improving
malnourishment among pregnant women, utilization of key Anganwadi Services
lactating mothers and children. and improving the quality of
• In Karnataka, there are nine districts where Anganwadi Services delivery. Its aim
stunting is seen among children below the age of
to ensure holistic development and
five.
adequate nutrition for pregnant
• There are 11 districts where women have a Body
Mass Index (BMI) of less than 18.5 which is the women, mothers and children.
normal range.
• These include women from 15 to 49, many of who
fall in the reproductive age.
• As per the Karnataka minister they have trained all our Anganwadi staff and ground workers
to efficiently implement this. However, there were several challenges involved. They did not
get the funds on time for all the districts and this was one of the reasons for the delay
For all the KPSC exam needs visit: www.nammaKPSC.com

Drones to survey roads

In news: If things go as planned, drones will fly over rural Karnataka to assess the quality of
over 20,000 km of roads.
• The government is seriously considering deploying drones to come up with a Road
Condition Index.
• This will help authorities identify stretches that Karnataka has a rural blacktop
need repairs under the “Grameena Sumarga” road network of 56,362 km. Of
project that involves upkeep of rural roads. them, authorities have identified
• They are also looking at using vehicles fitted 24,246 km as priority village roads
with sensors to scan the roads. that provide access to key
• While this will be one layer of decision-making, infrastructure like schools,
another layer will come from drones. hospitals, offices and markets. Of
• The use of technology marks a major shift in these, 4,000 km roads are in good
the way road quality is assessed. condition while the remaining
• Traditionally, the condition of a road is 20,000 km need reconstruction,
measured visually or manually, which is re-asphalting and other repairs.
unreliable. They are not even sure if people go
to the spot before giving their report
• The Road Condition Index will assess quality based on potholes, edge breaks,
ruts/depressions, cracks, pavement failure and so on.
• Basically, a drone will fly along the road taking a continuous video. A software will
analyse the video based on the parameters, resulting in an index for each road,
• The RDPR department reached out to Mangaluru-based Quad Perspective to
understand the feasibility of a drone-based survey.
• The company used drones to help with the rehabilitation effort in the flood-hit Kodagu
district last year.
• The Road Condition Index will be followed by a Road Priority Index to identify
stretches that are important.
Drones & Governance:
• Drones are increasingly finding a place in governance. Drones and their
photogrammetry are the future of surveying
• Karnataka has already announced drone-based revenue survey of five districts and
Bengaluru city in partnership with the Survey of India.
• The Karnataka Knowledge Commission has pushed for the use of Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAV) in agriculture, forest, mining, homeland security, archaeology, disaster
management, urban growth monitoring among other areas.
Pedestrian safety
In news: Karnataka is among the six states with a high rate of pedestrian deaths that have
failed to submit a report sought by the Centre on the implementation of pedestrian safety
guidelines issued in 2015.
• The six states have recorded more than 1,000 pedestrian deaths, as per the data
compiled by the Ministry of Road Transport Corporations and Highways (MoRTH).
• Following direction by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the MoRTH
had written to all the states and union territories to submit a report on the

implementation of the guidelines, including spot inspections, for pedestrian safety

issued through a circular in June 2015.
• Data compiled till 2017 shows that Karnataka has consistently recorded deaths of
more than 1,000 pedestrians per year for three consecutive years.
• Tamil Nadu (3,507 deaths), Maharashtra (1,831), Kerala (1,332) and Haryana (1,071)
have also not submitted the report.
• Karnataka recorded 1,054 fatalities. Madhya Pradesh is the only state with a high
rate of pedestrian deaths that has sent a comprehensive report to the ministry.
Red-ready: Karnataka to take fresh aim at Naxals

In news: The state government, which is fighting the growing Naxal influence in five districts
of Karnataka, has found that 12 leaders are responsible for most of the activities.
• With 11 Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) camps in five major districts, the government has
planned several initiatives to put an end to their activities.
• Advanced techniques will be incorporated to crack down on Naxal leaders, especially
in the coastal and Malnad districts of the state.
• The ANF personnel — who are conducting regular combing and ambush operations
besides patrolling — will be given advanced combat training at the Jungle Combat Unit
at Kukkandur in Karkala taluk of Udupi district.
• Currently, four dogs are being trained in Bengaluru which will soon be deployed in
anti-Naxal operations.
• ANF officers and personnel have been trained at Maratha Light Infantry Regimental
unit at Belagavi besides honing their skills in a joint training with Telangana’s Grey
Hound unit.
• So far, the government has spent Rs 3.46 crore on various activities in the Naxal-
affected regions of Karnataka.
• Cases against Naxal leaders have been registered in 13 districts, including Bengaluru,
• Though seven leaders have surrendered to the government, 12 are actively carrying
out Naxal activities in isolated areas.
• According to the state government, the majority of the Naxal leaders in Karnataka are
women, with at least seven involved in insurgency and subversive activities.
• Most of these women leaders are from Sringeri and Mudigere in Chikkamagaluru
district.
• Regular exchange of intelligence with Kerala is being taken up for effective operation
against Naxals
Zero Budget Farming

In News: “Zero budget” farming was mentioned by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in
the the Union Budget.
• Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots
peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India. It has attained wide
success in southern India, especially the southern Indian state of Karnataka where it
first evolved.
• ZBNF was pioneered by Maharashtra-based agriculturalist and Padma Shri awardee
Subhash Palekar and first adopted by Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of then
CM Chandrababu Naidu.

• Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha launched a Karnataka was the first state to
movement in collaboration with Palekar and has start e-trading in agri-
been been organising ZBNF training camps. commodities. In 2014-15, the
Rashtriya e-Market Services
Features of ZBNF (ReMS), a joint venture of the
• It is a farming practice that believes in natural state and NCDEX Spot Exchange
growth of crops without adding any chemical commenced online trading by
fertilizers and pesticides. connecting major Agricultural
• The four wheels of ZBNF are Bijamrita, Jiwamrita, Produce Marketing Committees.
Mulching and Waaphasa.
• Bijamrita is a natural way of seed treatment
using local cow urine and cow dung.
• Jiwamrita is made using water, local cow
dung, local cow urine, jaggery, dal flour and
soil.
• Waaphasa is the aeration in the soil.
• ZBNF is different from organic farming.
• Intercropping is an important feature of ZBNF.
• Practising composting on the farm itself, so
that soil organic matter increases.
• Storing water in the farm ponds for use in
adverse conditions.
• Insects and pests are managed using neem
leaves, neem pulp and green chillies.
• Establishing farmers’ federations and self-help
groups, and placing farmers at the forefront of
knowledge creation and dissemination
Significance of Zero Budget Farming:
• ‘zero budget’ farming promises to end a
reliance on loans and drastically cut
production costs, ending the debt cycle for
desperate farmers. The word ‘budget’ refers to credit and expenses, thus the phrase
'Zero Budget' means without using any credit, and without spending any money on
purchased inputs. 'Natural farming' means farming with Nature and without
chemicals.
Need for ZBNF:
• Ensuring food security and producing more with less resources.
• For building the resilience of smallholder farmers for creating a food-secure future.
• ZBNF is the right solution to fight climate change and create resilient food systems.
• Fighting drought is one of the main objectives of ZBNF.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN advocates environmentally-
friendly farming methods that can take us to a more sustainable future.
• Importance for chemical free food consumption is growing rapidly.
• Chemical farming has made food a poison and also has reduced the yield by making
lands barren.
• ZBNF constitutes an effective strategy for achieving SDGs targets.

Polity & Governance

National Registry of Citizen
In News: The Nagaland government initiated the process to prepare a list of all indigenous
inhabitants of the state. Both the Central and
State governments have sought an extension to
Assam NRC releasing date.

About Nagaland NRC:
• The exercise will be conducted through
an extensive survey of residents in
every village and ward in the state and
will be based on existing official records.
• Once the process is complete, all
indigenous inhabitants will be issued
indigenous inhabitant certificates (IICs)
and their existing IICs will become invalid.
• No fresh IICs will be issued once the process is over and only new-borns of indigenous
inhabitants will be given the said certificate and their names updated in the RIIN.
About Assam NRC:
• In Assam, the process to identify and weed out illegal immigrants is being done by
updating the NRC, which was first prepared in 1951. Only those people who were
included in the 1951 NRC or were part of subsequent voter lists till March 1971 and
their direct descendants are being included in the list.
• The final draft of the NRC released in July last year had excluded 40 lakh of the total
3.23 crore applicants. Another 1 lakh names were excluded recently after
inaccuracies were found in their records.
Significance:
• An updated NRC is likely to put an end to speculations about the actual number of
illegal migrants in Assam in particular and the country in general.
• It will provide a verified dataset to carry out meaningful debates and implement
calibrated policy measures.
• Publication of an updated NRC is expected to deter future migrants from Bangladesh
from entering Assam illegally.
• The publication of the draft NRC has already created a perception that staying in
Assam without valid documentation will attract detention/jail term and deportation.
• More importantly, illegal migrants may find it even more difficult to procure Indian
identity documents and avail all the rights and benefits due to all Indian citizens.
• Inclusion of their names in the NRC will provide respite to all those Bengali speaking
people in Assam who have been, hitherto, suspected as being Bangladeshis.
Concerns:
• The data base contains issues like People who found themselves on the first list that
was released on January 1, 2018, didn’t find their names in the second.
• Since ‘non citizens’ can resort to judicial relief to substantiate their citizenship claim,
it can lead to overburdening of judiciary which already reels under large number of
pending cases.

• There is uncertainty about the future of those left out from the list.
• Expelling them to Bangladesh can’t be done since Dhaka has never accepted that they
are its citizens or that there is a problem of illegal immigration. In the absence of a
formal agreement, India cannot forcibly push the illegal migrants back into
Bangladesh.
• Moreover, raising this issue can also jeopardise relations with Dhaka. Such an
attempt would not only damage bilateral relations but also sully the country’s image
internationally.
• Apart from deportation, the other option is large scale detention camps - which is an
unlikely option for a civilised democracy like India.
• Another option is instituting work permits, which would give them limited legal rights
to work but ensure they have no political voice. However, it is not clear what will be
the fate of children of such individuals.
Article 370
In News: The government has informed
Parliament that “no foreign government
or organisation has any locus standi” in
repealing Article 370 in Jammu and
Kashmir as matters relating to the
Constitution of India are internal and only
for the Indian Parliament to deal with.
• Article 370 is the most
controversial provision of the
constitution of India. It deals
exclusively with the state of
Jammu and Kashmir. This article
has been the subject of controversy right since its inception.
• Some sections demand the abrogation of this article for a complete merger of J&K
with the Union of India.
• However, some sections, especially from the Kashmir valley, argue for the
continuation of this article saying that it was an article of faith undergirding the
Instrument of Accession under which J&K came into the Indian Union.
• Under Article 1 of the Indian constitution, Jammu and Kashmir is a constituent state
of Indian Union, and its territory forms an integral part of the territory of India.
However, Article 370 gives it a special status, and consequently, all the provisions of
the constitution of India are not applicable to it. The state of J&K is also unique in the
sense that it has its separate state constitution.
• Article 370 is a temporary provision. The President of India can declare that Article
370 ceases to be operative or operates with exceptions and modifications. However,
this can be done by the President only on the recommendation of the Constituent
Assembly of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Below mentioned are the various parameters under which special treatment to
Jammu And Kashmir was provided:
• Its name, area or boundary cannot be changed without the consent of state
legislature.

• Part VI of Indian constitution dealing with state government is not applicable.

• Residuary power belongs to state, except in prevention of activities involving terrorist
acts, questioning and disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and
causing insult to the national flag, national anthem and the constitution of India.
• Fundamental right to property is still granted in the state.
• Special rights are granted to permanent residents of state with regard to public
employment, acquisition of immovable property, settlement and government
scholarships.
• Directive Principles of state Policies and Fundamental duties are not applicable.
• National emergency on the ground of internal disturbance will have no effect except
with the concurrence of state government.
• Financial emergency cannot be imposed.
• High Court of Jammu and Kashmir cannot issue writs for other than Fundamental
rights.
• The denial of citizenship rights of migrants to Pakistan is not applicable.
• Fifth schedule and sixth schedule of Indian Constitution are not applicable.
• Official language provisions are applicable only in so far as they relate to the official
language of the Union.
• An amendment made to the Constitution of India does not apply automatically to
the state unless extended by Presidential Order.
• President rule can be applied only on the ground of failure of constitutional
machinery of state constitution and not of Indian constitution.
Criticism of Article 370
• Critics say that Article 370 is a case of special appeasement and it should be deleted
for J&K s complete merger with India in the interest of larger national integration.
• There is a legal provision in India that places of religious worship cannot be misused
for political purposes. But this provision does not apply to J&K, according to one
scholar, this result into a practical situation where the state does not come within the
ambit of secularism. It leads to a situation where separatism gets legally recognised.
The government remains a mere spectator when separatist leaders give anti-India
speeches from the ramparts of the mosque routinely after Friday prayers.
• Corruption corrodes developmental processes in India, and the situation of J&K is no
different. The jurisdiction of institutions like CAG, Lokpal, CBI, CIC etc. do not extend
to J&K due to Article 370.
• RTI is not applicable to the state. Hence, the people of the state are deprived of the
right to information. It means that an important aspect of democracy, transparency
and accountability remains missing from the State. The civil society of the state lacks
this RTI tool to fight corruption.
• Separatist politics in J&K has a negative bearing on inter-communal relations and
perceptions in other states of the Indian Union.
Conclusion:
• The issues related Article 370 is very complex as well as sensitive. The political parties
of J&K are also key stakeholders in these issues. They should refrain from inflaming
popular passions on these sensitive issues.
• There is a need to adopt a humane approach in solving the problems.

• Other stakeholders should also understand the negative implications of doing

politics over the demand for complete abrogation of Article 370 on the successful
asymmetrical model of federalism practised by India.
• Abrogation of Article 370 would also create negative perceptions for other states
enjoying special states like Mizoram and Nagaland.
• It might complicate centre-state relations in these Border States with likely negative
repercussions on national security.
UPDATE: On 5th August, 2019- Government of India abrogated Article 370 of Indian
constitution through a presidential order. This ends the special treatment given to J&K
under Article 370. Further, Government has also initiated the bifurcation of J&K into 2
Union territory.
For detailed article visit www.nammakpsc.com
Anti-Defection Law
In News: Anti-defection law is in focus again due to the Karnataka political crisis.
• The anti-defection law sets the provisions for disqualification of elected members on
the grounds of defection to another political party (Eg: If elected MPs of Congress
shift their allegiance to BJP or vice versa).
• The main intent of the law was to combat “the evil of political defections”. However
over the years there have been criticisms over the disqualifications and several issues
in relation to the working of this law which need to be discussed.
About Anti-Defection Law:
• The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution in 1985 by the 52nd Amendment
Act.
• It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of
defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other
member of the House.
• The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.
Features of anti-defection law :
Disqualification
• If a member of a house belonging to a political party,Voluntarily gives up the
membership of his political party, or Votes, or does not vote in the legislature,
contrary to the directions of his political party. However, if the member has taken
prior permission, or is condoned by the party within 15 days from such voting or
abstention, the member shall not be disqualified.
• If an independent candidate joins a political party after the election.
• If a nominated member joins a party six months after he becomes a member of the
legislature.

Power to Disqualify
• The Chairman or the Speaker of the House takes the decision to disqualify a member.
• If a complaint is received with respect to the defection of the Chairman or Speaker, a
member of the House elected by that House shall take the decision.

Exception
• A person shall not be disqualified if his original political party merges with another,
and He and other members of the old political party become members of the new
political party, or
• He and other members do not accept the merger and opt to function as a separate
group.
• This exception shall operate only if not less than two-thirds of the members of party
in the House have agreed to the merger.
Anti-defection law and Judicial review:

• Speaker/ chairman of the house is the authority to decide on defection cases.
Speaker sits as a tribunal while deciding on defection cases. All proceedings in
relation to any question on disqualification of a member of a House under this
Schedule are deemed to be proceedings in Parliament or in the Legislature of a state.
• No court has any jurisdiction. However, the decision can be brought to court after
Kihoto Hollohan case of 1992.
• The law states that the decision is final and not subject to judicial review. The Supreme
Court struck down part of this condition. It held that there may not be any judicial
intervention until the presiding officer gives his order. However, the final decision is
subject to appeal in the High Courts and Supreme Court.
• The Speaker of a House does not have the power to review his own decisions to
disqualify a candidate. Such power is not provided for under the Schedule, and is not
implicit in the provisions either
• If the Speaker fails to act on a complaint, or accepts claims of splits or mergers without
making a finding, he fails to act as per the Tenth Schedule. The Court said that
ignoring a petition for disqualification is not merely an irregularity but a violation of
constitutional duties.
Anti-defection law and Right to freedom of legislators:
• The law impinge on the right of free speech of the legislators:
• This issue was addressed by the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court
in 1992 (Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachilhu and others). The court said that “the anti-
defection law seeks to recognise the practical need to place the proprieties of political
and personal conduct…above certain theoretical assumptions.” It held that the law
does not violate any rights or freedoms, or the basic structure of parliamentary
democracy.
Other Concerns regarding Anti defection Law:
• Political parties issue a direction to MPs on how to vote on most issues, irrespective
of the nature of the issue.It restricts a legislator from voting in line with his
conscience, judgement and interests of his electorate.
• Such a situation impedes the oversight function of the legislature over the
government, by ensuring that members vote based on the decisions taken by the
party leadership, and not what their constituents would like them to vote for.
• Constitution drafters didn’t intend to give the control of members to political
parties. Interestingly, it’s only in the 10th schedule, which was included in 1985 that
political parties are mentioned in constitution. (Also chief whip).
• Many members speak up their mind and conviction –more discussion and thus better
debates and solutions in parliament. Anti-defection law is against this.

•In a diverse country like India, members also represent their constituencies. Hence,
every member needs to be given voice to give voice to all regions and sections of the
population.
• No incentive for MPs/MLAs to research and understand on policies as they merely
follows the party’s decisions.
• The law doesn’t touch on the time period for the speaker to decide on disqualification.
Should Speaker be the final decision maker?
• The Speaker has been assigned the role of an impartial arbiter. But the conduct of
speakers has left much to be desired. There are instances speakers have invariably
allowed themselves to be used for gain of their party or leader.
Way Forward:
• Anti-defection law should be applied only to confidence and no-confidence motions
(Dinesh Goswami Committee on electoral reforms, 1990) or only when the
government is in danger. (Law Commission (170th report, 1999).
• The rationale that a representative is elected on the basis of the party’s programme
can be extended to pre-poll alliances.
• Instead of making Speaker the authority for disqualification, the decision should be
made by the president or the governor on the advice of the Election Commission.
This would make the process similar to the disqualification procedure as given in
Representation of Peoples Act (RPA).
• There can be additional penalties for defectors as well.
The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019

In News: The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to amend the Motor Vehicles Act,
1988 to provide for road safety.
Highlights of the bill:
• Compensation for road accident victims: The central government will develop a scheme
for cashless treatment of road accident victims during golden hour. The central
government may also make a scheme for providing interim relief to claimants seeking
compensation under third party insurance.
• Compulsory insurance: The Bill requires the central government to constitute a Motor
Vehicle Accident Fund, to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India.
• The fund will be utilised for: Treatment of persons injured in road accidents as per the
golden hour scheme, compensation to representatives of a person who died in a hit and
run accident, compensation to a person grievously hurt in a hit and run accident, and
compensation to any other persons as prescribed by the central government.
• This Fund will be credited through: (i) payment of a nature notified by the central
government, (ii) a grant or loan made by the central government, (iii) balance of the
Solatium Fund (existing fund under the Act to provide compensation for hit and run
accidents), or (iv) any other source as prescribed the central government.
• Good samaritans: The Bill defines a good samaritan as a person who renders emergency
medical or non-medical assistance to a victim at the scene of an accident. The assistance
must have been in good faith, voluntary, and without the expectation of any reward.
Such a person will not be liable for any civil or criminal action for any injury to or death of
an accident victim, caused due to their negligence in providing assistance to the victim.

• Recall of vehicles: The Bill allows the central government to order for recall of motor
vehicles if a defect in the vehicle may cause damage to the environment, or the driver,
or other road users.
• The manufacturer of the recalled vehicle will be required to: (i) reimburse the buyers for
the full cost of the vehicle, or (ii) replace the defective vehicle with another vehicle with
similar or better specifications.
• National Transportation Policy: The central government may develop a National
Transportation Policy, in consultation with state governments. The Policy will: (i) establish
a planning framework for road transport, (ii) develop a framework for grant of permits,
and (iii) specify priorities for the transport system, among other things.
• Road Safety Board: The Bill provides for a National Road Safety Board, to be created by
the central government through a notification. The Board will advise the central and state
governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management including.
• Taxi aggregators: The Bill defines aggregators as digital intermediaries or market places
which can be used by passengers to connect with a driver for transportation purposes
(taxi services). These aggregators will be issued licenses by state. Further, they must
comply with the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Model Mains Question: Discuss the salient features of The Motor Vehicles (Amendment)
Bill, 2019.
Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill

In News: The Union Cabinet has approved the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment)
Bill, 2019 that will help adjudicate disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers and river
valleys.
More on the Topic:
• The Bill seeks to amend the Inter State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 to streamline
the adjudication of inter-state river water disputes. A key feature of the bill is the
constitution of a single tribunal with different Benches, and the setting of strict
timelines for adjudication.
• When any request under the Act is received from any State Government in respect of
any water dispute on the inter-State rivers and the Central government is of the
opinion that the water dispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the Central
Government constitutes a Water Disputes Tribunal for the adjudication of the water
dispute.
• There are about a dozen tribunals that now exist to resolve disputes among States on
sharing water from rivers common to them. The standalone tribunal so envisaged
will have a permanent establishment and permanent office space and infrastructure
so as to obviate with the need to set up a separate Tribunal for each water dispute, a
time consuming process.
• The Bill also proposes a Dispute Resolution Committee set up by the Central
Government for amicably resolving inter-State water disputes within 18 months.
• Any dispute that cannot be settled by negotiations would be referred to the tribunal
for its adjudication.
• The dispute so referred to the tribunal shall be assigned by the chairperson of the
tribunal to a Bench of the tribunal for adjudication.

• The Bill can also affect the composition of the members of various tribunals, and
has a provision to have a technical expert as the head of the tribunal. Currently all
tribunals are staffed by members of the judiciary, nominated by the Chief Justice.
Significance:
• This panel will attempt to resolve differences between warring States in an
institutionalized way. Only when the committee fails in its attempt, will the matter
go to the tribunal. This way, the tribunal will be saved from being over-burdened as
well.
• Among the best features of the Bill is that it has a provision to settle disputes within
definite time frame(four-and-a-half years).
• This is marked departure from the present situation, where there is no time limit.
Cases have dragged on for not just years but also decades. This has had disastrous
consequences, because the failure in a reasonable period of time to resolve keeps
the issue boiling and erupting from time to time.
Unlawful activities (Prevention) Act

In News:The Centre has banned a separatist group, Sikhs for
Justice, on grounds of secessionism under the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act.
• UAPA is anti-terrorist law aimed at effective
prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.
• Its main objective is to make powers available for
dealing with activities directed against integrity and
sovereignty of India.
• It bans certain terrorist associations, punishes
membership and association with such organizations
and punishes terrorist activities.
• The law been legislated to impose reasonable
restrictions in interests of sovereignty and integrity of
India on exercise of freedom of speech and expression, to assemble peaceably
without arms and to form associations.
Crime under the Act:
• To support any secessionist movement
• To support a foreign power’s claim over Indian territories
• Threatening economic security of India
• Raising funds for terrorist activities (including the production and circulation of Fake
Indian Currency Notes (FICN)
• Member of unlawful associations or terrorist gang or terrorist organisation
Model mains Question: Comment on the needed reforms in the Unlawful activities
(Prevention) Act.

The law is criticized for few draconian provisions:
• The Act introduces a vague definition of terrorism to encompass a wide range of non-
violent political activity, including political protest.
• It empowers the government to declare an organisation as ‘terrorist’ and ban it. Mere
membership of such a proscribed organisation itself becomes a criminal offence.

• It allows detention without a chargesheet for up to 180 days and police custody can
be up to 30 days.
• It creates a strong presumption against bail and anticipatory bail is out of the
question.
• It creates a presumption of guilt for terrorism offences merely based on the evidence
allegedly seized.
• It authorises the creation of special courts, with wide discretion to hold in-camera
proceedings (closed-door hearings) and use secret witnesses but contains no sunset
clause and provisions for mandatory periodic review.
Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019

In News: The Rajya Sabha passed the Aadhaar and Other
Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which allows voluntary use of
Aadhaar as proof of identity for users to open bank
accounts and get mobile phone connection.
• Offline verification of Aadhaar number holder:
Under the Aadhaar Act, an individual’s identity may
be verified by Aadhaar ‘authentication’. The Bill
additionally allows ‘offline verification’ of an
individual’s identity.
• Voluntary use: The Act provides for the use of
Aadhaar number as proof of identity of a person, subject to authentication.
• No person shall be denied any service for not having an Aadhaar number, citizen can
use any of identification document notified by the government.
• Entities using Aadhaar: An entity may be allowed to perform authentication through
Aadhaar, if the UIDAI is satisfied that it is: (i) compliant with certain standards of
privacy and security, or (ii) permitted by law, or (iii) seeking authentication for a
purpose specified by the central government in the interest of the State.
• Aadhaar number of children: The Bill specifies that at the time of enrolling a child to
obtain an Aadhaar number, the enrolling agency shall seek the consent of his parent
or guardian. After attaining eighteen years of age, the child may apply for
cancellation of his Aadhaar.
• Disclosure of information in certain cases: Restrictions on security and confidentiality
of Aadhaar related information do not apply in case the disclosure is pursuant to an
order of High Courts (or above). An officer not below the rank of a Secretary may
issue directions for disclosing information in the interest of national security.
• UIDAI Fund: Under the Act, all fees and revenue collected by the UIDAI will be
credited to Unique Identification Authority of India Fund.
• Complaints: Under the Act, the individual can register complaints in certain cases,
including impersonation or disclosure of their identity.
• Penalties: Under the Bill, the UIDAI may initiate a complaint against an entity in the
Aadhaar ecosystem for failure to (i) comply with the Act or the UIDAI’s directions,
and (ii) furnish information required by the UIDAI. Adjudicating Officers appointed
by the UIDAI shall decide such matters, and may impose penalties up to one crore
rupees on such entities. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal
shall be the appellate authority against decisions of the Adjudicating Officer.

India’s SDG dashboard

In News: In a bid to effectively track the
progress on Agenda 2030, the Ministry
of Statistics and Programme
Implementation (MoPSI) launched
India’s first Sustainable Development
Goal (SDG) dashboard.
• The dashboard is a national
platform that pulls together

reliable data from over 100
different data sets, portals and
sectors on to one an easy-to-use, intuitive The Sustainable Development
platform, to power better informed Goals are:
decision making on the SDGs. It has been 1. No Poverty
developed in partnership with the UN in 2. Zero Hunger
India, DFID India and Social Cops. 3. Good Health and Well-being
• The dashboard will be India’s official data 4. Quality Education
repository of the National Indicator 5. Gender Equality
Framework on SDGs, the country’s largest 6. Clean Water and Sanitation
monitoring framework with 306 statistical 7. Affordable and Clean Energy
indicators. 8. Decent Work and Economic
• It provides an aggregated overview of all Growth
goals, maps data for over 130 indicators, 9. Industry, Innovation, and
measures all targets against national Infrastructure
benchmarks with state and district filters, 10. Reducing Inequality
and leverages data-driven insights to roll 11. Sustainable Cities and
out targeted development plans. Communities
• “The dashboard can help fast-track this 12. Responsible Consumption and
journey by helping state governments Production
contextualize, visualize, track and measure 13. Climate Action
their progress towards the goals more 14. Life Below Water
effectively”. 15. Life On Land
About Sustainable Development Goals: 16. Peace, Justice, and Strong
• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Institution.
are a collection of 17 global goals set by the 17. Partnerships for the Goals.
United Nations General Assembly in 2015
for the year 2030. The SDGs are part of Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations General
Assembly, the 2030 Agenda.
• The goals are broad based and interdependent. The 17 sustainable development goals
each have a list of targets that are measured with indicators.

Incredible India Campaign

In News: The Incredible India "Find the Incredible
You" campaign released globally by the Ministry of
Tourism during 2018-19 has been declared winner
of the PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Gold
Award 2019 in the “Marketing - Primary
Government Destination” category.
• The Ministry of Tourism, as part of its
promotional initiatives annually releases Global

Media Campaigns under the ‘Incredible India’
brand-line in the Television, Print, Digital and Social Media, in key and potential source
markets overseas.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the Potential of Tourism industry in inclusive
development of the country
• To take the Campaigns to the next level, the ‘Incredible India 2.0’ Campaign was
launched in September 2017, which marks a shift from generic promotions undertaken
across the world to market specific promotional plans and content creation.
• The campaign focuses on digital and social media and the promotion of Niche Tourism
products of the country.
Urban Haats
In News: There is a proposal to establish Urban Haat for Handicrafts and Craftsman at Bihar.
• The objective of the scheme “Infrastructure and Technology Support” is to setup a
permanent marketing infrastructure in big towns/ metropolitan cities to provide
direct marketing facilities to the handicrafts artisans/handloom weavers.
• The scheme is implemented through State Handicrafts/Handlooms Development
Corporations/Tourism Development Corporations/ Urban Local Bodies with
sufficient financial resources and organizational capacity to implement the project.
• Ministry of Textiles is the nodal agency for the scheme.

Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM)
In News: KUSUM is in news because of its low policy reach to the farmers.
• KUSUM aims to provide energy
sufficiency and sustainable irrigation
access to farmers.
• At present, despite burgeoning farm
power subsidies, nearly 30 million

farmers, especially marginal
landholders, use expensive diesel for
their irrigation needs as they have no
access to electricity. More than half of
India’s net sown-area remains unirrigated.

About KUSUM:
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is the nodal agency for the policy
implementation.
• Funding will be done with support from the states.
The proposal on KUSUM Scheme provides for :-
• Installation of grid-connected solar power plants each of Capacity up to 2 MW in
the rural areas;
• Installation of standalone off-grid solar water pumps to fulfil irrigation needs of
farmers not connected to grid; and
• Solarisation of existing grid-connected agriculture pumps to make farmers
independent of grid supply and also enable them to sell surplus solar power
generated to DISCOM and get extra income.
Concerns and solutions:
• The existing disparity among States with regard to solar pumps deployment and
irrigation access is a concern. The states with higher number of desal engines shows
lower number of solar motors.
• Inequity within a State is another concern. There is need for allocation towards
beneficiaries from socially disadvantaged groups due to the mandate of the State.
Skill India Mission

In News: Under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) component of PMKVY 2.0, up skilling of
farmers have been made via bridge course training in the job roles namely organic grower,
dairy farmer, pulses cultivator etc.
• The main goal of the mission is to create opportunities,
space and scope for the development of the talents of
the Indian youth and to develop more of those sectors
which have already been put under skill development
for the last so many years and also to identify new
sectors for skill development.
• The programme aims at providing training and skill
development to 500 million youth of our country by

2020, covering each and every village.

Various schemes are also proposed to Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
achieve this objective. Yojana 2.0 :
• The training programmes would be on the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
lines of international level so that the Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship
youths of our country can not only meet the scheme of the Ministry of Skill
domestic demands but also of other Development & Entrepreneurship
countries. (MSDE).
• Another remarkable feature of the ‘Skill The objective of this Skill

India’ programme would be to create a Certification Scheme is to enable a
hallmark called ‘Rural India Skill’, so as to large number of Indian youth to
standardize and certify the training process. take up industry-relevant skill
• It will align employer/industry demand and training that will help them in
workforce productivity with trainees’ securing a better livelihood.
aspirations for sustainable livelihoods, by Individuals with prior learning
creating a framework for outcome focused experience or skills will also be
training. assessed and certified under
• It will build capacity for skill development in Recognition of Prior Learning
critical un-organized sectors (such as the (RPL).
construction sector, where there few
opportunities for skill training) and provide
pathways for re-skilling and up-skilling workers in these identified sectors, to enable
them to transition into formal sector employment.
• It also seeks to develop a network of quality instructors/trainers in the skill
development ecosystem by establishing high quality teacher training institutions.
Maintain a national database, known as the Labour Market Information System
(LMIS), which will act as a portal for matching the demand and supply of skilled
workforce in the country.
National Bamboo Mission
In News: Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
informed Lok Sabha that the restructured National Bamboo
Mission (NBM) has been providing intended results.
• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Ministry
of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
• The restructured NBM focuses to supplement farm
income with the development of complete value
chain of bamboo sector and link growers with markets.
Its Objectives are:
• To increase the area under bamboo plantation in non-forest Government and private
lands.
• To improve post-harvest management through establishment of innovative primary
processing units and market infrastructure.
• To promote product development by assisting R&D, entrepreneurship & business
models at MSME level.

• To rejuvenate the under developed bamboo industry in India and promote skill
development, capacity building, awareness generation for development of bamboo
sector.
• To realign efforts so as to reduce dependency on import of bamboo and bamboo
products by improved productivity.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan

In News: Jal Shakti Abhiyan for Water

Conservation was Launched by government.
• It is a time-bound, mission-mode
campaign that would focus on 1,592
“water-stressed” blocks in 257
districts.
• The campaign will run through citizen
participation during the monsoon
season, from 1st July, 2019 to 15th
September, 2019.
• The blocks, identified as “water-
stressed” as per the Central Ground
Water Board’s 2017 data, include 313
critical blocks, 1,000-odd over-
exploited blocks and 94 blocks with
least water availability (for states
without water-stressed blocks).
• Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a collaborative
effort of various Ministries of the
Government of India and State
Governments, being coordinated by
the Department of Drinking Water
and Sanitation.
• Under the campaign, teams of officers
from the central government will visit
and work with district administration
in water stressed blocks, to ensure
five important water conservation
interventions.
• These will be water conservation and
rainwater harvesting, renovation of
traditional and other water
bodies/tanks, reuse, bore well
recharge structures, watershed
development and intensive afforestation.
Model Mains Question: India is running Out of water resources at an alarming rate.
Analyse the reason and suggest some measures.

Jalyukta Shivar
In News: Prime Minister in his latest Mann ki Baat,
mentioned about Maharashtra government’s
Jalyukta Shivar scheme.
• Jalyukta Shivar is the flagship programme of
the Maharashtra government launched in
December 2014. It aims to make 5,000 villages
free of water scarcity.
• The scheme targeted drought-prone areas by

improving water conservation measures
in order to make them more water
sustainable.
• The scheme envisaged to arrest
maximum run-off water, especially
during the monsoon months, in village
areas known to receive less rainfall,
annually.
• Under the scheme, decentralised water
bodies were installed at various locations
within villages to enhance the
groundwater recharge.
• Besides, it also proposed to strengthen
and rejuvenate water storage capacity
and percolation of tanks and other
sources of storage.
• Dedicated committees were formed to
assist in construction of watersheds like
farm ponds, cement nullah bunds
alongside rejuvenating the existing water
bodies in the villages.
National Waterways
In News: National water ways was in news related to India’s national aquatic animal Gangetic
dolphin.
• National Waterways Act came into effect in 2016. It proposed 106 additional National
Waterways and merges 5 existing Acts which were declared the 5 National
Waterways.
• In 1986, the Government of India created Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)
for regulation and development of Inland Waterways for navigation and shipping.
• There are 111 officially notified Inland National Waterways (NWs) in India identified
for the purposes of inland water transport, as per The National Waterways Act, 2016.
• Out of the 111 NWs, 106 were created in 2016. NW-1, 2, & 3 are already operational.
Cargo as well as passenger / cruise vessels are plying on these waterways.
• Under Entry 24 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the
central government can make laws on shipping and navigation on inland waterways
which are classified as national waterways by Parliament by law.

Bharatmala Pariyojana
In News: The Government of India has approved Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana to develop
24,800 km Highways along with 10,000 km residual NHDP stretches over a period of five
years.
• Bharatmala Project is the second largest highways construction project in the

country since NHDP, under which almost 50,000 km of highway roads were targeted
across the country.
• Bharatmala will look to improve connectivity particularly on economic corridors,
border areas and far flung areas with an aim of quicker movement of cargo and
boosting exports.
• It is an umbrella project under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• It focuses on the new initiatives like development of Border and International
connectivity roads, Coastal & port connectivity roads, improving efficiency of
National Corridors, Economic corridors and others.
• The project will build highways from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and then
cover the entire string of Himalayan states - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand - and then portions of borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar alongside
Terai, and move to West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and right up to
the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram.
• Special emphasis will be given on providing connectivity to far-flung border and rural
areas including the tribal and backward areas.
• Bharatmala will connect 550 district headquarters (from current 300) to minimum 4-
lane highway by raising the number of corridors to 50 (from current 6) and move 80%
freight traffic (40% currently) to national highways by connecting 24 logistics parks, 66
inter-corridors (IC) of total 8,000 km (5,000 mi), 116 feeder routes (FR) of total 7,500
km (4,700 mi) and 7 north east multimodal waterway ports.
• The ambitious umbrella programme will subsume all existing highway projects
including the flagship National Highways Development Project (NHDP).
• It is both enabler and beneficiary of other key Government of India schemes, such
as Sagarmala, Dedicated Freight Corridors, Industrial corridors, UDAN-RCS, BharatNet,
Digital India and Make in India.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

In News: In a major developmental boost for
road connectivity around villages, Cabinet
has approved the Pradhan Mantri Gram
Sadak Yojana-III (PMGSY-III).
The duration of the projects’ implementation
is 2019-2020 to 2024-2025. According to the
Cabinet decision, some of the prominent
features of the PMGSY-III scheme are as

follows:
• The project will be able to facilitate
easy and faster movement to and
from the GrAMs, higher secondary schools as well as hospitals.
• The roads constructed under the PMGSY scheme would also be maintained properly.
• The funds would be shared in the ratio of 60:40 between the Central government
and the State governments for all the states, except for eight Northeastern states
and three Himalayan states, namely Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand, for which the share ratio is 90:10.
• The selection of the candidate roads will be based upon the sum total of the marks
obtained by that particular road on the basis of parameters such as population
served, market, educational as well as medical facilities
• The construction of bridges in this scheme have been proposed up to 150 metre
across the plain areas and 200 metre in the Himalayan and Northeastern States, as
against the existing provisions of 75 metre and 100 metre in plain areas and
Northeastern, Himalayan states respectively.
National Career Service
In News: Government has implemented the National Career Service (NCS) Project which
comprises a digital portal that provides a nation-wide online platform for the job seekers and
employers for job-matching in a dynamic, efficient and responsive manner and has a
repository of career content to job seekers.
• It is being implemented by Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) for linking
employment exchanges and other institutions using technology.
• It aims to provide a variety of employment related services like job postings, career
counselling, vocational guidance, skill courses, apprenticeship, etc.

• These services are available online on the National Career Service Portal accessible
to both employers as well as job seekers.
• The NCS service can be availed directly through the Employment Exchanges/ Career
Centres and Common Service Centres.
• Under the NCS Project 100 Model Career Centres (MCCs) are being established in
collaboration with States and other institutions to deliver employment services.
Solar Charkha Mission

In News: The Ministry of MSME has launched the

Mission Solar Charkha for implementation of 50
Solar Charkha Clusters across the country.
• In order to promote the production of Khadi,
the Indian Government has launched a
scheme called as Solar Charkha Mission under
Solar Spindle Mission. The scheme supports
Khadi production by offering five crore employment opportunities.
• The scheme is envisaged to generate direct employment for nearly one lakh persons.
Solar Charkha units have been classified as Village Industries.
• The scheme is being implemented by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
An innovative way of cotton production by using solar energy thereby saving the
electricity.
• Over 5 crore jobs will be given exclusively to women.
• An investment of Rs. 40,000 crores in every Lok Sabha constituency has been proposed.
• 1 lakh women will be employed in every
parliament constituency through the
Social Security Scheme.
Operation Thirst
In News: Many people were arrested and
large quantity of bottles were seized by the
Railway Protection Force (RPF) under
'Operation Thirst', an all India drive to
crackdown the selling of unauthorised
packaged drinking water.
• The operation was launched in all major
railway stations across the country to
curb the menace of unauthorised
packaged drinking water on railway
stations.
• Stalls on platforms were also found
selling packaged drinking water bottles
of brands which are not authorised by
the Indian Railways.

Central welfare database of citizens

In News: The Economic Survey 2018-19 pitched for setting up a central welfare database of
citizens by merging different data maintained by separate Ministries and departments which
can be tapped for enhancing ease of living for citizens, particularly the poor.
• Survey pointed out that governments can create data as a public good within the legal
framework of data privacy. Care must also be taken not to impose the “elite’s
preference of privacy on the poor, who care for a better quality of living the most.”
• Surveys recommendation includes granting access to select database to private
sector for a fee with a stringent technological mechanisms to safeguard data privacy.
• Linking of datasets, primarily through the seeding of an Aadhaar number across
databases such as PAN database, bank accounts and mobile numbers is also under
consideration. For example, banks can use the tokenized Aadhaar number to combine
duplicate mean that the UIDAI or government can read the bank records and weed
out benami accounts.
• The linking does not
account information or
other data related to
the individual.
Significance of Data
utilization:
• The governments
already held a rich
repository of
administrative, survey,
institutional and
transactions data about citizens, but these data were scattered across numerous
government bodies.
• Merging these distinct datasets would generate multiple benefits.
• The government could utilize the information embedded in distinct datasets to
enhance ease of living for citizens, enable truly evidence-based policy, improve
targeting in welfare schemes, uncover unmet needs, integrate fragmented markets,
bring greater accountability in public services and generate greater citizen
participation in governance, etc
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS)

In News: Among the many milestones recorded by Election Commission of India during the
recently concluded Lok Sabha Election 2019,
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) is
one of its kind.
• ETPBS is a fully secured system, having two security
layers. Secrecy of voting is maintained through the
use of OTP and PIN and no duplication of casted ETPB
is possible due to the unique QR Code in the portal.
• Through this system the service voters cast their vote on an electronically received
postal ballot, from anywhere outside their constituency, thus reducing the chances of
losing the voting opportunity.

• The purpose of the online system was to create convenient and easy-to-use online
system for Defense Personnel to become Service Voters. Service Voter turnout in 2014
was only 4%. E-postal ballot recorded 60.14% turnout in 2019
• Persons working in Central Forces under Arms Act and Government officials deployed in
Embassies outside the country are classified as Service Voters and are provisioned for
online enrolment.
Government e Marketplace (GeM)

In News: A government meeting was recently held to review and formulate an action plan for
Government e Marketplace (GeM) to achieve a
target .
• GeM is a state-of-the-art national public
procurement platform of Ministry of
Commerce and Industries that has used
technology to remove entry barriers for
bonafide sellers and has created a vibrant e-
marketplace with a wide range of goods and
services.
• GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
• It facilitates online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various
Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs. It provides the tools of e-bidding,
reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users, achieve
the best value for their money.
MGNREGA
Why in News: MGNREGA is
in news related to the
implementation glitches.
• The Mahatma
Gandhi National
Rural Employment
Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA), also
known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS)
is Indian legislation enacted on August 25, 2005.
• The MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in
every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public
work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage. The Ministry
of Rural Development (MRD), Govt of India is monitoring the entire implementation
of this scheme in association with state governments.
• This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural
people, primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living below poverty line in rural
India. It attempts to bridge the gap between the rich and poor in the country. Roughly
one-third of the stipulated work force must be women.
• Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with photo to
the Gram Panchayat. The Gram Panchayat registers households after making enquiry

and issues a job card. The job card contains the details of adult member enrolled and
his /her photo. Registered person can submit an application for work in writing (for
at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to Panchayat or to Programme
Officer.
• The Panchayat/Programme officer will accept the valid application and issue dated
receipt of application, letter providing work will be sent to the applicant and also
displayed at Panchayat office. The employment will be provided within a radius of 5
km: if it is above 5 km extra wage will be paid.
Concerns:
• Inadequate Fund: The 2019-20 Budget has Rs 60,000 crore for MGNREGA, lower than
the Rs 61,084 crore revised estimate for 2018-19. This reduction in the budget has no
explanation. Independent activists, researchers and organisations working on
MGNREGA have repeatedly claimed with rationales that the scheme can't function
properly with anything less than Rs 88,000 crore.
• Faulty MIS (Management Information system): The government has the power to
release funds centrally to workers’ accounts and the liberty to control the pace of the
programme through slowing down administrative processes, non-release of funds to
states and delay allocating supplementary budget. Therefore, it becomes easy for
them to play with the numbers on the MIS and keep the figures well below targets
set at the beginning of the year.
• Work demand for NREGS: Considering each application demands work for at least 14
days, according to 2018-19 data, the government should allocate funds for at least
310 crore person days. The government though approved only 256 crore person days
in ’18-19 and 258 crore for ’19-20. Registered work demands on MIS are far less than
the actual needs and demands. Genuine work demands are not registered in most
regions and dated receipts are not provided, thereby denying employment to workers.
• NREGA wages: Workers across the nation have been demanding higher wages in
accordance with the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, but to no
avail.
• The recent central committee for fixation of national minimum wage, headed by
Anoop Satpathy, recommended that the national minimum wage should be fixed at
Rs 375 per day. Union Minister for Rural Development however, recently said the
national minimum wage will not be applicable to MGNREGA and will be governed by
its own law. His knowledge and understanding of the Act seems incomplete as it
primarily states that the MGNREGA wages cannot be less than the minimum wage.
These open violations of the law raise a question mark on the government’s
intention for the poorest communities.
• The Aadhaar-linked payments (ALP) system: Most of the beneficiaries are digital
illiterate and facing issues using the payment systems. MGNREGA payments worth
more than Rs 1,000 crore have been rejected citing “inactive Adhaar” from 2015-16
to 2018-19. How can an Aadhaar be inactive is a mystery.
• The 2018-2019 economic survey claimed a reduction in delays in wage payments
post-ALP. The use of Aadhaar in payments arise once pay orders are sent to the
Centre and wages are released centrally through the electronic payment system via
Aadhaar-based DBT.
• Prior to the signing of the pay order, there are multiple reasons for payments being
delayed due to local administrative lapses. Aadhaar has no solution for these

implementing and delivery flaws. The survey report seemed to have completely
ignored the current state of governance and the incompetence of the administration
in ensuring proper supply.
Way Forward:
• Adequate allocation of Budget funds
• Timely payments to workers: Eliminating the administrative/Technical delays.
• Further decentralising Implementation: Give gram Sabha more responsibility and
power. Further strengthening of social Audit Mechanism, Giving sufficient attention
towards the data of the audit. (Social audits are a requisite tool under the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to monitor and
evaluate the works that are being carried out under MGNREGA, in line with annual
village plans.)
• Improving entitlements (ie, wages, compensations and worksite facilities)
• Genuine data collection and analysis for further improvement in the Policy
implementation.
New Interventions:
• The Centre is all set to revamp MGNREGA. The revamp would include providing
training to the rural poor to upgrade their skills and equip them for better
employment opportunities with a stipend.
• Training will be provided to five crore unskilled labourers under the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with stipend to
compensate wage loss.
• The ministry plans to undertake 10 lakh water conservation works under MNREGA.
• Another major initiative is Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase III in
convergence with MGNREGA, which would involve building 1.25 lakh kilometres of
roads connecting markets and mandis and other places of economic importance in
rural India.
National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill

In News: The National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill was
introduced in Lok Sabha.
• The bill provides for the constitution of four
autonomous boards entrusted with conducting
undergraduate and postgraduate education,
assessment and accreditation of medical institutions
and registration of practitioners under the National
Medical Commission.
• Composition of National Medical Commission: It will have government nominated
chairman and members, and the board members will be selected by a search committee
under the Cabinet Secretary. There will be five elected and 12 ex-officio members in the
commission.
• As per the Bill, the government, under the National Medical Commission (NMC), can
dictate guidelines for fees up to 40% of seats in private medical colleges. The bill also
has a provision for a common entrance exam and licentiate (exit) exam that medical
graduates have to pass before practising or pursuing PG courses. For MBBS, students have
to clear NEET, and before they step into practice, they must pass the exit exam.

• Recognised medical institutions don’t need the regulator’s permission to add more
seats or start PG course. This mechanism is to reduce the discretionary powers of the
regulator.
• Under the new bill, the powers of the regulator are reduced to establishment and
recognition. This means less red tape, but also less scrutiny of medical colleges.

Significance and the need: Why is Medical Council of India being
• The Bill seeks to regulate medical replaced?
education and practice in India. ® The Medical Council of India has repeatedly
• The Bill attempts to tackle two been found short of fulfilling its mandated
main things on quality and responsibilities.
quantity: Corruption in medical ® Quality of medical education is at its lowest
education and shortage of medical ebb; the current model of medical education
professionals. is not producing the right type of health
• The Bill aims to overhaul the professionals that meet the basic health
corrupt and inefficient Medical needs of the country because medical
Council of India, which regulates education and curricula are not integrated
medical education and practice and with the needs of our health system.
replace with National medical ® Medical graduates lack competence in
commission. performing basic health care tasks.
® Compromised individuals have been able to
Concerns: make it to the MCI, but the Ministry is not
• Indian Medical Association (IMA) empowered to remove or sanction a
opposed the bill that it will cripple Member of the Council even if he has been
the functioning of medical proved corrupt.
professionals by making them ® The amendment has dropped the provision
completely answerable to the that allowed practitioners of homoeopathy
bureaucracy and non-medical and Indian systems of medicine to prescribe
administrators. NMC will become allopathy medicines after a bridge course.
subservient to the health ministry,
given that the representation of
the medical profession in the new regulatory framework is minimal.
• The bill takes away the voting right of every doctor in India to elect their medical council.
• The bill allows private medical colleges to charge at will, nullifying whatever solace the
NEET brought. The proposed NMC Bill discreetly intends to equate the post-graduate
degrees given by MCI or proposed NMC and the National Board of Examination (NBE),
which is unjustified too.
• Standards have been laid down for MCI courses, but not for NBE courses which are often
run in private hospitals and nursing homes.
• It would replace an elected body (Medical Council of India, MCI) with one where
representatives are “nominated.

The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019

In News: The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in Lok Sabha
recently.
• The Bill amends the Protection of
Human Rights Act, 1993. The Act
provides for a National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC), State Human
Rights Commissions (SHRC), as well as
Human Rights Courts.

Amendments:
• Composition of NHRC: Under the Act,
the chairperson of the NHRC is a person
who has been a Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. The Bill amends this to
provide that a person who has been
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or a
Judge of the Supreme Court will be the
chairperson of the NHRC.
• The Act provides for two persons having
knowledge of human rights to be
appointed as members of the NHRC. The
Bill amends this to allow three members
to be appointed, of which at least one
will be a woman.
• Under the Act, chairpersons of various commissions such as the National Commission
for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, and National
Commission for Women are members of the NHRC. The Bill provides for including the
chairpersons of the National Commission for Backward Classes, the National
Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, and the Chief Commissioner for
Persons with Disabilities as members of the NHRC.
• Chairperson of SHRC: Under the Act, the chairperson of a SHRC is a person who has
been a Chief Justice of a High Court. The Bill amends this to provide that a person who
has been Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court will be chairperson of a SHRC.
• Term of office: The Act states that the chairperson and members of the NHRC and
SHRC will hold office for five years or till the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier.
The Bill reduces the term of office to three years or till the age of seventy years,
whichever is earlier. Further, the Act allows for the reappointment of members of
the NHRC and SHRCs for a period of five years. The Bill removes the five-year limit
for reappointment.
• Powers of Secretary-General: The Act provides for a Secretary-General of the NHRC
and a Secretary of a SHRC, who exercise powers as may be delegated to them. The
Bill amends this and allows the Secretary-General and Secretary to exercise all
administrative and financial powers (except judicial functions), subject to the
respective chairperson’s control.
• Union Territories: The Bill provides that the central government may confer on a SHRC
human rights functions being discharged by Union Territories. Functions relating to
human rights in the case of Delhi will be dealt with by the NHRC.

The Code on Wages Bill, 2019

In News: The bill will amalgamate the Payment of Wages
Act, 1936, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of
Bonus Act, 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
Provisions of the Bill:
• Coverage: The Code will apply to all employees.
The central government will make wage-related
decisions for employments such as railways, mines,
and oil fields, among others. State governments

will make decisions for all other employments.
• Floor wage: According to the Code, the central
government will fix a floor wage, taking into
account living standards of workers. Further, it
may set different floor wages for different
geographical areas. Before fixing the floor wage,
the central government may obtain the advice of
the Central Advisory Board and may consult with
state governments.
• The minimum wages: Minimum wage decided by the central or state governments
must be higher than the floor wage. In case the existing minimum wages fixed by the
central or state governments are higher than the floor wage, they cannot reduce the
minimum wages.
• Fixing the minimum wage: The Code prohibits employers from paying wages less than
the minimum wages. Minimum wages will be notified by the central or state
governments. This will be based on time, or number of pieces produced. The
minimum wages will be revised and reviewed by the central or state governments at
an interval of not more than five years. While fixing minimum wages, the central or
state governments may take into account factors such as: (i) skill of workers, and (ii)
difficulty of work.
• Overtime: The central or state government may fix the number of hours that
constitute a normal working day. In case employees work in excess of a normal
working day, they will be entitled to overtime wage, which must be at least twice the
normal rate of wages.
• Determination of bonus: All employees whose wages do not exceed a specific
monthly amount, notified by the central or state government, will be entitled to an
annual bonus.
• Gender discrimination: The Code prohibits gender discrimination in matters related
to wages and recruitment of employees for the same work or work of similar nature.
• Advisory boards: The central and state governments will constitute advisory boards.
The Central Advisory Board will consist of: (i) employers, (ii) employees (in equal
number as employers), (iii) independent persons, and (iv) five representatives of state
governments. State Advisory Boards will consist of employers, employees, and
independent persons. Further, one-third of the total members on both the central
and state Boards will be women. The Boards will advise the respective governments
on various issues including: (i) fixation of minimum wages, and (ii) increasing
employment opportunities for women.

Concerns:
• If existing minimum wages set by states are higher than the national minimum
wage, they cannot reduce the minimum wages. This may affect the ability of states
to reduce their minimum wages if the national minimum wage is lowered.
• While the Code prohibits gender discrimination on wage-related matters, it does
not include provisions regarding discrimination during recruitment.
Himalayan State Conclave

In News: Himalayan States came together at a
conclave to demand a separate Ministry to deal
with problems endemic to them and a green
bonus in recognition of their contribution to
environment conservation.
• Ten out of 11 States took part in the conclave.
It is for the first time that the Himalayan States
have come on a single platform to take a
unanimous stand on the issue of green bonus and demanded a separate Ministry to deal
with problems unique to them.
• A green bonus thus was needed to compensate the Himalayan States for their
disadvantages.
• The rationale behind the demand was that most of the country’s rivers originate in the
Himalayas and therefore, the Himalayan States had to play the most significant role in the
Prime Minister’s water conservation initiative.
• It was also necessary because the Himalayan States’ contribution to environmental
conservation was the biggest with all their green cover.
• The Himalayan States were also at a disadvantage because large swathes of land fell into
eco-sensitive zones where all sorts of development activities could not be carried out.

Census data on Migrations

In News: Census 2011 data on migration has been released recently.
• Over 45.58 crore Indians
were found to be
“migrants” for various
reasons during the
enumeration exercises of
Census 2011. The
previous Census (2001)

had recorded the number
of migrants at 31.45 crore
— more than 30% lower
than the 2011 figure.
• Marriage and
employment are the
major reasons for
migration.
• In that, ‘Women’
comprised two-thirds of
the total migrant
population.
• The bulk of the migration
takes place within
individual states, out of
the total number of
persons registered as
“migrants” in the 2011 Census, only 11.91% (5.43 crore) had moved to one state from
another, while nearly 39.57 crore had moved within their states.
Model Mains Question: Analyse the trends and patterns of migration in India.
State wise Comparison:

• U.P and Bihar have a disproportionately high number of out-migrants.
• Migrants constitute more than one-third of the population in metros like Delhi and
Mumbai.
• U.P has the highest share of out-migrants while Maharashtra has the highest share
of in-migrants
• The 4 states U.P, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh accounted for 50% of India’s
total inter-state migrants.
• Gujarat, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh are among the top destinations to which
people migrate. Among southern States, Karnataka to Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to
Tamil Nadu are the most common migration patterns.
• The northeast States are among those with the lowest numbers of immigrants. The
8 northeast States together accounted for just 2% of the total immigrants.
• About 38% of the migration was from rural to urban areas, while urban to urban
migration accounted for the second highest 32%.

Challenges to Nagaland's RIIN Initiative

In News: The Nagaland government has initiated a move
to compile a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of
Nagaland (RIIN). Various stake holders expressed
concerns on this matter.
Naga peace talks:
• The negotiators engaged in the ongoing Naga
peace talks could now articulate new and
hardened positions.
• The talks on the contentious issue of integration of contiguous Naga-inhabited areas
(of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh) could take pace now.
• The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) is engaged in peace talks with
the government of India since 1997.
• The self-styled government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim is the parallel
government run by the NSCN(I-M).
• This has opposed the compilation of RIIN, saying that all Nagas, wherever they are,
were indigenous in their land by virtue of their common history.
• So it sees the RIIN process as being contradictory to the inherent rights of the Nagas.
Cut-off date:
• Since 1977, to be eligible to obtain a ILP :
certificate of indigenous inhabitants of • There is a proposal to link RIIN with the
Nagaland, a person has to fulfil either of the ILP (Inner Line Permit) system.
below conditions: • [The ILP is a travel document issued by
• The person must be settled permanently in the government of India to allow a
Nagaland prior to December 1, 1963 ‘domestic tourist’ to enter Nagaland, and
• His or her parents or legitimate guardians is valid for 30 days.]
were paying house tax prior to the cut-off • Other state- Arunachal Pradesh and
date (December 1, 1963) Mizoram have ILP
• The applicant, or his/her parents or • The complexity is that unless otherwise
legitimate guardians, acquired property officially clarified, the RIIN proposal may
and a patta (land certificate) prior to this require large numbers of non-indigenous
cut-off date inhabitants to obtain an ILP to carry out
• The compilation of RIIN involves the day-to-day activities.
complexities of deciding on the claims of • Notably, most of them are migrated ones
the children of non-Naga fathers as well as from other States and have been carrying
non-Naga children adopted by Naga out trade, business and other activities
parents. for decades, especially in the Dimapur
• In this regard, the Nagaland government district.
may choose to go ahead with the above cut-
off date.
• In such case, all Naga people who have migrated to the State after this day will have
to be excluded.
• These include migrants from the neighboring Assam, Manipur and Arunachal
Pradesh and elsewhere in India.
• The public opinion is still divided on compiling RIIN without a consensus on the cut-off
date.

Certificates:
• There is the limitation of non-issuance of domicile certificates or permanent residence
certificates to a large number of non-Naga, non-indigenous inhabitants.
• This could also make the RIIN task even more difficult for the Nagaland government.
Model Mains Question: Comment on Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland
(RIIN) initiative and the challenges ahead of Nagaland’s government.
National Data Quality Forum (NDQF)

In News: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s National Institute for Medical
Statistics (ICMR-NIMS), in partnership with Population Council, launched the National Data
Quality Forum (NDQF).
• NDQF will integrate learnings from scientific and evidence-based initiatives and
guide actions through periodic workshops and conferences.
• Its activities will help establish protocols and good practices of data collection,
storage, use and dissemination that can be applied to health and demographic data,
as well as replicated across industries and sectors.
• Data on health and demographics in India is plagued by incomplete information,
overestimation, and under- and over-reporting that lead to hindrance in policy
planning.
• National Data Quality Forum (NDQF) will help to redress these problems and aid in
policy planning and better service delivery.
Swadesh Darshan scheme

In News: Ministry of Tourism under the Swadesh Darshan
Scheme has identified Tirthankar Circuit as one of the
fifteen thematic circuits for development in the country.
All the sites associated with Jainism are covered under
this circuit.
• It will cover Vaishali-Arrah-Masad-Patna-Rajgir-
Pawapuri-Champapuri in Bihar.
About Swadesh Darshan Scheme:

• Ministry of Tourism (MoT) launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme (Central Sector
Scheme) for integrated development of theme based tourist circuits in the country .
• It is 100% centrally funded for the project components undertaken for public funding.
• To leverage the voluntary funding available for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
initiatives of Central Public Sector Undertakings and corporate sector.
• Funding of individual project will vary from state to state and will be finalised on the basis
of detailed project reports prepared by PMC (Programme Management Consultant).
• Under this scheme, 15 thematic circuits have been identified for development
• They are Buddhist Circuit, North-East India Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Himalayan Circuit,
Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Rural Circuit,
Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Heritage Circuit, Sufi and Thirthankar circuit.

Iconic Tourist Sites

In News: Union government is planning to develop 17
“Iconic Tourist Sites” in the country into world-class
tourist destinations and to serve as a model for other
tourism sites.
• The initiative is aimed at enhancing India’s soft
power. Under this plan government is looking at
overall development from the tourism point of
view in and around these sites which includes roads and infrastructure, hotels and lodges,
connectivity and access.
• As such, several ministries, from Railways to Civil Aviation, will be involved, while the
Tourism Ministry will be the nodal agency.
The Sites which are planned to be developed under this plan are:
• Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri (Uttar Pradesh),
• Ajanta & Ellora (Maharashtra),
• Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and Qutub Minar (Delhi),
• Colva (Goa),
• Amer Fort (Rajasthan),
• Somnath and Dholavira (Gujarat),
• Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh),
• Hampi (Karnataka),
• Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu),
• Kaziranga (Assam),
• Kumarakom (Kerala)
• Mahabodhi Temple (Bihar)
Ambedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana

(AHVY)
In News: The Union Minister of Textiles mentioned
the steps taken by the government to implement
the Ambedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana in the Lok
sabha.
• It focuses on integrated development of handicrafts clusters with participation of craft
persons.
• The selected artisans in these clusters are supported for sustainable development
through NGO partners.
• The package of support under AHVY can be clubbed under Social Interventions,
Technological interventions, marketing interventions, financial interventions and Cluster
specific infrastructure related interventions.
• Under this scheme 90 clusters across the country are identified.
• It also cover aspirational districts, women clusters, weaker section and export potential
clusters.
• The objective is to transform these clusters by ensuring self-sustainment of the Self Help
Groups/artisans of these clusters.
• ‘Hastkala Sahyog Shivirs’ was organized all over the country for providing Aadhaar linked
Pahchan card, marketing facilities, to artisans through Mudra loan.

Krishonnati Yojana
In News: The ‘Green Revolution - Krishonnati Yojana’ was
approved coterminous with the period of the Fourteenth
Finance Commission from 2017-18 to 2019-20. ‘Green
Revolution– Krishonnati Yojana’ is an Umbrella Scheme
comprising both Central Sector as well as Centrally
Sponsored Schemes/Missions.
The government of India introduced the green
revolution Krishonnati Yojana in 2005 to boost the

agriculture sector. It comprises of the following schemes
and mission under a single umbrella scheme:
1. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH): It aims to promote
holistic growth of horticulture sector.
2. National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP): National Mission on Oilseeds
and Oil Palm (NMOOP) launched during 2014-15 envisages increasing production and
productivity of oilseeds crops and oil palm through bringing in fallow areas under
oilseed crops and diversification of area from low yielding cereals.
3. National Food Security Mission (NFSM): It aims to increase production of rice, wheat,
pulses, coarse cereals and commercial crops, through area expansion and productivity
enhancement. It will work toward restoring soil fertility and productivity at the
individual farm level and enhancing farm level economy. It further aims to augment
the availability of vegetable oils and to reduce the import of edible oils.
4. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA): NMSA aims at promoting
sustainable agriculture practices best suitable to the specific agro-ecology focusing on
integrated farming, appropriate soil health management and synergizing resource
conservation technology.
5. Submission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE): SMAE aims at achieving food and
nutritional security and socio-economic empowerment of farmers.
6. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP): SMSP aims to increase
production of certified/quality seed.
7. Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM): SMAM aims to increase the
reach of farm mechanization to small and marginal farmers and to the regions where
availability of farm power is low.It will promote ‘Custom Hiring Centers’ to offset the
adverse economies of scale arising due to small landholding and high cost of individual
ownership.
8. Sub-Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine (SMPPQ): SMPPQ aims to
minimize loss to quality and yield of agricultural crops from the ravages of insect pests,
diseases, weeds, nematodes, rodents, etc.
9. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics (ISACES): It seeks
to improve agricultural statistics methodology and create a hierarchical information
system on crop condition and crop production from sowing to harvest.
10. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (ISAC): It aims to provide financial
assistance for improving the economic conditions of cooperatives, remove regional
imbalances and to speed up cooperative development.The scheme will particularly
help cotton growers fetch remunerative price for their produce through value addition
besides ensuring supply of quality yarn at reasonable rates to the decentralized
weavers.

11. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM): ISAM aims to develop

agricultural marketing infrastructure;Provide infrastructure facilities for grading,
standardization and quality certification of agricultural produce.It aims to establish a
nationwide marketing information network and integrate markets through a common
online market platform to facilitate pan-India trade in agricultural commodities, etc.
12. National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A):It aims to bring farmer
centricity & service orientation to the programs. Improving access of farmers to
information & services throughout crop-cycle.
Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme

In News: The prestigious Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) scheme, a lucrative
scholarship that enables students to pursue PhD at country’s premier technical institutes, was
failed to get qualified students.
• In the two calls of proposals had
so far, only 176 fellows have been
selected as against the envisaged
target of 3,000 fellows over a
period of three years.
About The Scheme:
• In order to attract meritorious
students into research,
Government of India, in 2018
launched Prime Minister’s
Research Fellows (PMRF)
Scheme, which offers direct
admission to such students in the
Ph.D programmes in IITs, IISERs
and IISc.
• The scheme is aimed at attracting
the talent pool of the country to
doctoral (Ph.D.) programmes for
carrying out research in cutting
edge science and technology
domains, with focus on national
priorities.
• A fellowship of Rs.70,000/- per
month for the first two years, Rs.75,000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs.80,000/-
per month in the 4th and 5th year provided under the scheme.
• Apart from this, a research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh per year will be provided to each of
the Fellows for a period of 5 years to cover their academic contingency expenses and
for foreign/national travel expenses.
• At present the scheme has been opened for eligible students from all recognized
institutions/universities in the country.
• There will be a rigorous review of the performance of Prime Minister’s Research
Fellowship holders and continuation of the next year fellowship shall be contingent
upon successful review.

Schemes for Brain Gain

In News: It is equally important to retain the students passing out
of the premier educational institutions in the country and attract
the non-resident Indian high skilled researchers back to the
Country. Several initiatives have been launched in this regard.
Schemes for attracting talents:
1. Faculty Recharge Programme: This scheme and positions
have been created as part of a new Initiative designed to
augment faculty resources in Indian Universities.

2. Raman Post-Doctorate Program: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has created the
Raman Post-Doc Program, a highly selective Post-Doc program. Selected candidates
will receive a consolidated monthly package of Rs. 1 Lakh. In addition, they will receive
a research grant of Rs. 8 Lakhs per year.
3. Ramanuja Fellowship: The Department of Science & Technology, has established
Ramanujan Fellowships to award scientists and engineers from all over the world who
have proven their worth and wish to do further research in India. The Ramanujan
Fellows could work in any of the scientific institutions and universities in the country
and they would be eligible for receiving regular research grants.
4. JC Bose Fellowship: The JC Bose fellowship is awarded to active scientists in
recognition for their outstanding performance. The fellowship is scientist-specific and
very selective.
5. Swarnjayanti Fellowship: Govt. of India had instituted a scheme "The Swarnajayanti
Fellowships" to commemorate India's fiftieth year of Independence. Under this
scheme a selected number of young scientists, with proven track record, are
provided special assistance and support to enable them to pursue basic research in
frontier areas of science and technology.
6. Young Scientist Award: It is a scheme of Awards for Young Scientists in CSIR system
in order to promote excellence in various fields of science and technology. These
Awards are known as “CSIR Young Scientist Awards”.
7. Women Scientist Programme: This initiative primarily aimed at providing
opportunities to women scientists and technologists between the age group of 27-57
years who had a break in their career but desired to return to mainstream. Through
this endeavor of the Department, concerted efforts have been made to give women
a strong foothold into the scientific profession, help them re-enter into the
mainstream.
8. Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship: The Department of Biotechnology has
instituted a scheme known as “Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship” for Indian
Nationals who are working overseas in various fields of biotechnology and life sciences
and are interested in taking up scientific research positions in India.
9. Global Initiative for Academic Networks (GIAN): It is aimed at tapping the talent pool
of scientists and entrepreneurs internationally to encourage their engagement with
the institutes of Higher Education in India. GIAN is an evolving scheme which will
initially include participation of foreign faculty in Institutes as Distinguished / Adjunct
/ Visiting faculty / Professors of Practice, etc., to participate in delivering Short or
Semester-long Courses. Other activities will be included in due course.

National Crèche Scheme

In News: Minister of Women and Child Development provided the information on National
Crèche Scheme.
More on the Topic:
• It is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored
Scheme through States/UTs.
• It aims at providing a safe place for mothers to leave
their children while they are at work, and thus, is a
measure for empowering women as it enables them

to take up employment.
• It is an intervention towards protection and
development of children in the
age group of 6 months to 6 years.
• The fund sharing pattern under
National Creche Scheme amongst
Centre, States/UTs & Non-
Governmental
Organisations/Voluntary
Organisations for all recurring
components of the scheme is in
the ratio of 60:30:10 for States,
80:10:10 for North Eastern States
and Himalayan States and 90:0:10
for UTs.
Features:
• Provides for day care facilities to
the children of working mothers.
• Provides supplementary nutrition,
health care inputs like
immunization, polio drops, basic
health monitoring, sleeping
facilities, early stimulation (for
children below 3 years), pre-
school education for children aged
between 3-6 yrs.
Significance:
• Facility enables the parents to leave their children while they are at work and where
the children are provided with a stimulating environment for their holistic
development.
• Ensures to improve the health and nutrition status of the children.
• It promotes physical, social, cognitive and emotional/holistic development of the
children.
• It also educates and empowers parents/caretakers for the better childcare.
• The scheme is being structurally revised with the enhanced financial norms, stringent
monitoring and sharing pattern between the Government of India and the
implementing agencies and NGOs.

Minority Panel’s Report

In News: The National Commission of Minorities (NCM) has refused to entertain a plea to
declare Hindus a “minority community” in those States where they do not form a majority of
the population.
• A report of NCM
sub-committee,
which was
approved and
adopted by the
NCM recently,
said the role of
the minorities
commission was
not to declare
new minority
communities but
to, instead, work
and ensure the
progress and
development of
minorities and protect their religious, National Committee on
cultural and educational rights. Minorities:
• NCM has no jurisdiction to declare The Union Government set up the
minorities. The repository of such powers National Commission for Minorities
to declare a community as minority lies (NCM) under the National
with the Central government. It cannot be Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
usurped by the NCM. Six religious communities, viz;
• The report refers to the Supreme Court’s Muslims, Christians, Sikhs,
own judgment in 1999 in Bal Patil vs Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and
Union of India which detailed the function Jains have been notified in Gazette of
of the NCM. India as minority communities by the
What Supreme Court has said? Union Government all over India.
• The court had said the constitutional goal
of minority commissions is to “create social conditions where there remains no
necessity to shield or protect the rights of minorities”.
• The minority commissions have to direct their activities “to maintain the unity and
integrity of India by eliminating the need for identifying communities as majority
and minority”.
• According to the judgement, if one group would vie with another for minority status
if it is solely given on the basis of claims of religious thoughts, less numerical
strength, lack of health, welfare, education or power or social rights made by a
section of the society. Conflict and strife would ensure.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the challenges faced by minorities in India and
suggest measures to mitigate the same.

Background:
• The NCM was responding to a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay to either
frame guidelines for identification of minorities at the State level or use the powers of
the NCM Act of 1992 to declare Hindus a minority in States where they do not form
the majority of the population.
• The NCM formed a sub-committee of George Kurian, Manjit Singh Rai and Atif
Rasheed,to deliberate on the issue.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019

In News: The Transgender Persons (Protection of
Rights) Bill, 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the
Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment.
• It provides for recognition of identity of
transgender persons, prohibition against
discrimination, welfare measures by the
Government, obligation of establishments and
other persons, education, social security and health of transgender persons.
• It also provides for setting up of National Council for transgender persons.
Definition:
• As per the bill, a transgender person is one whose gender does not match the gender
assigned at birth.It includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex
variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities.
• Intersex variations are defined to mean a person who at birth shows variation in his
or her primary sexual characteristics, external genitalia, chromosomes, or hormones
from the normative standard of male or female body.
Provisions of the bill:
• The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of
service or unfair treatment in relation to:
• Education: Educational institutions funded or recognised by the relevant government
shall provide inclusive education, sports and recreational facilities.
• Employment: No government or private entity can discriminate in employment
(recruitment and promotion). Every establishment should have a complaint officer to
deal with their complaints.
• Healthcare: The government must take steps to provide health facilities to them. It
shall review medical curriculum to address their health issues and provide medical
insurance schemes for them.
• Access to or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public.
• Right to movement.
• Right to reside, rent, or otherwise occupy property: If the immediate family is unable
to care for them, the person may be placed in a rehabilitation centre (on the orders
of the court).
• Opportunity to hold public or private office;
• Access to a government or private establishment in whose care or custody a
transgender person is.
• Certificate of identity for a transgender person: A person may make an application to
the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as

‘transgender’. A revised certificate may be obtained only if the individual undergoes

surgery to change their gender either as a male or a female.
• Offences and their penalties: The offences against transgender persons
include,Forced or bonded labour (excluding compulsory government service for public
purposes),Denial of use of public places,Removal from household, and
village,Physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse. The penalties vary
between six months and two years, and a fine.
National Council for Transgender persons (NCT):

Composition of NCT:
§ Chairperson - Union Minister for Social Justice.
§ Vice - Chairperson - Minister of State for Social Justice.
§ Secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice.
§ One representative from ministries including Health, Home Affairs, and Human
Resources Development.
§ Other members - Representatives of the NITI Aayog, and the National Human
Rights Commission.
§ State governments will also be represented.
§ The Council will also consist of 5 members from the transgender community and 5
experts from non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Functions of the Council:
• It will advise the central government.
• It will monitor the impact of policies, legislation and projects with respect to
transgender persons.
• It will also redress the grievances of transgender persons.
Land Rights of Scheduled Tribes

In News: According to a report by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
recognising land tenures of indigenous communities
and their management rights over forests can help
tackle climate change.
• Land and its management falls under the List-
II (State List) in the Seventh Schedule of the
Constitution.
• In so far as land related issues are concerned,
the Ministry of Rural Development acts as a the nodal Ministry at the Centre.It plays
a monitoring role in the field of land reforms.
• The Scheduled Tribes (STs) have been the most marginalised, isolated and deprived
population.
To protect and safeguarding the land rights of STs and to address the issue of Land
Acquisition and displacement of tribals, following Constitutional and legal provisions have
been put in place:
• The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) states that no member of STs or Other Traditional Forest
dweller shall be evicted from the forest Land till the recognition and verification
procedure is complete.

• Gram Sabha is empowered to regulate community forest resources and stop any
activity which adversely affects the biodiversity.
• A National Level Monitoring Committee for Rehabilitation and Resettlement has
been constituted Under ‘Right to fair compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR), to review and to
monitor the implementation of rehabilitation schemes related to land acquisition.
• As per RFCTLARR Act, 2013, acquisition of land shall be made in the Scheduled Areas
only as last resort.
• The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Area) Act, 1996, PESA, also provides that the
Gram Sabha or the Panchayats shall be consulted before making the acquisition of
land.
• The Governor of the State, which has scheduled Areas is empowered to prohibit or
regulate transfer of land from tribals.
• The Scheduled castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
has been introduced to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against
members of the SCs and the STs.
• Apart from this, Supreme Court in its judgement also held that forest approval cannot
be granted for a development project without the informed consent of the Gram
Sabhas.
Global Multidimensional Poverty Index

In News: UN Development Programme released the 2019 global Multidimensional Poverty
Index.
• It is an international measure of acute multidimensional poverty covering over 100

developing countries. It defines poor not only on the basis of income, but on other
indicators, including poor health, poor quality of work and the threat of violence.
• The global MPI factors are measured using 10 indicators.
• The MPI assesses poverty at the individual level. If someone is deprived in a third or
more of ten indicators, the global index identifies them as ‘MPI poor’.
Key Highlights:
• About 1.3 billion people are 'multi-dimensionally poor' across the globe, according to
the report.

• India has reduced MPI from 0.283 to 0.123 in a decade lifting 271 million people out of
poverty in 10 years.
• The number of people living in multidimensional poverty has gone down from 690.55
million in 2005-06 to 369.55 million in 2015-16.
• It was found that Jharkhand has made the fastest improvement among Indian states in
reducing poverty.
• Jharkhand reduced the incidence of multidimensional poverty from 74.9 % to 46.5 %
between 2005-06 and 2015-16.
• Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh together accounted for 196
million MPI poor people more than half of all multi dimensionally poor in India.
• The report also showed that children suffer poverty more intensely than adults and are
deprived in all 10 indicators.
TRIFED and Tribal Crafts

In News: The Centre’s Tribal Cooperative Marketing
Federation (TRIFED) is partnering with the e-commerce
giant Amazon’s Global Selling Programme to improve
the product reach.
About TRIFED:
• The full form of TRIFED is ‘The Tribal Cooperative
Marketing Development Federation of India’. It
was established in 1987. The basic objective of
the TRIFED is to provide good price to the products made or collected from the forest
by the tribal peoples.
• The sales rised sevenfold over the last two years
• The generation of income and livelihood for tribal communities, increased from less
than 2 lakh mandays in 2016-17 to more than 13 lakh last year. The number of
empanelled artisans has risen to more than three lakh, from 75,000.
Vandhan Programme:
• It aims to transform the ₹50,000 crore market for minor forest produce, ultimately
putting control into the hands of Adivasi gatherers.
• Tribal communities who hold the sole rights to gather such produce — such as mahua,
imli, chironji, amchur, wild honey get a meagre 10% share of that pie, with the rest
of the money going to middlemen.
• Leveraging the existing self-help groups of the Aajeevika scheme, Vandhan will work
through 60,000 SHGs, each with 20 members, who will be trained in value-addition,
packaging, distribution and marketing.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the journey of Tribal welfare in India. Where do you
think we stand today?

Social issues
Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY)
In News: A distribution camp of Physical Aids &
Assistive Devices to Citizens under Rashtriya
Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) was held recently.
• The scheme is fully funded by the Central
Government.
• The scheme will be distributing free of cost
physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to BPL category.
• It will be implemented through the sole implementing agency ‘Artificial Limbs
Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under Union Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment.
• The devices will help the Senior Citizens to overcome their age related physical
impairment and to lead a dignified and productive life with minimal dependence on care
givers or other members of the family.
• As per the Census of 2011, there are 10.38 crore senior citizens in the country and 5.2%
of them suffer from some sort of old age-related disability.
Manual Scavenging
In News: The number of deaths of sanitation
workers while cleaning septic tanks and sewers has
risen, despite a ban on manual scavenging, with 620
cases reported since 1993, of which 88 occurred in
the past three years, according to the Social Justice
and Empowerment Ministry.
Data regarding Manual Scavenging:
• Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC)
released in 2015, states that there were around 18 million manual scavenging
households in rural areas.
• A government survey identifies 12,226 manual scavengers in 12 states. Most septic
tanks are emptied manually in Indian cities.
• The lack of proper safeguards puts manual scavengers at risk of infections, which
are occasionally fatal.
• Statistics show that 80% of India’s sewage cleaners die before they turn 60, after
contracting various infectious diseases.
• The biggest challenge before the government is to check on private firms, which
illegally engage people to clean sewers manually.
• Recently, Delhi Jal Board has prepared a Standard Operating Procedure for cleaning
of sewers.
• The National Policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management, 2017, states that
employment of manual scavengers is illegal, but it does not suggest mechanical
alternatives to unclog septic tanks, drains and sewers.

Available Provisions against manual scavenging:

• The workers are apparently asked to perform the cleaning task in violation of Section
7 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation
Act, 2013.
• Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013’
came into effect from 6thDecember, 2013. This Act intends to achieve its objectives
of eliminating insanitary latrines, prohibition of employment as manual scavengers
etc.
• The act says National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK)would monitor
implementation of the Act and enquire into complaints regarding contravention of
the provisions of the Act.
• Under the provision, no person, local authority or agency should engage or employ
people for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
• Mechanised cleaning of septic tanks is the prescribed norm.
• A violation can be punished with two years of imprisonment or fine or both.
Way Forward:
• In spite of a well-funded programme such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in operation,
little attention is devoted to this aspect of sanitation.
• India’s sanitation problem is complex, and the absence of adequate toilets is only one
lacuna.
• The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should make expansion of the sewer network a top
priority and come up with a scheme for scientific maintenance that will end manual
cleaning of septic tanks.
• If the law on manual scavenging is to be effective, the penalties must be uniformly
and visibly enforced. It is equally important for State governments to address the
lack of adequate machinery to clean septic tanks.
News related to children

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme
In News: A new study suggests that nutrition and health counselling delivered under the ICDS
programme’s auspices is one of the best possible investments that can be made by any
government.
• The Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS) scheme is one of the world’s largest
programmes for early childhood care and
development.
• As a behavioural change intervention, nutrition
and health counselling is relatively low cost for every person that is reached.
• This programme does not provide food, but instead provides information to the
mother, making it more likely that the child will receive more and better food. And
that in turn leads to lifelong benefits.
• Many studies have now demonstrated that these benefits can be large. Improving the
nutrition and health outcomes of the children of mothers reached makes this a highly
cost-effective intervention.
• Based on previous studies, it is estimated that counselling leads to a 12% reduction
in stunting. This leads to better cognitive skills.

About ICDS Scheme:

• The Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) Scheme providing for
supplementary nutrition, immunization and pre-school education to the children
is a popular flagship programme of the government.
• ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by state governments and
union territories. The scheme is universal covering all the districts of the
country.The Scheme has been renamed as Anganwadi Services.
• Beneficiaries : Children in the age group of 0-6 years,Pregnant women and and
Lactating mothers
Services under ICDS:
• The ICDS Scheme offers a package of six services, viz.Supplementary Nutrition,Pre-
school non-formal education,Nutrition & health education,Immunization,Health
check-up and Referral services
• Three of the six services viz. immunization, health check-up and referral services
are related to health and are provided through National Health Mission and
Public Health Infrastructure. The services are offered at Anganwadi Centres
through Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHS) at
grassroots level.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

In News: All States and UTs except West Bengal have
constituted the State Task Force headed by Chief Secretary/ UT
Administration as per the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme
guidelines.
Objectives
• Prevent gender biased sex selective elimination
• Ensure survival & protection of the girl child
• Ensure education of the girl child
Strategies:
• Implement a sustained Social Mobilization and Communication Campaign to create
equal value for the girl child & promote her education.
• Place the issue of decline in CSR/SRB in public discourse, improvement of which
would be a indicator for good governance.
• Focus on Gender Critical Districts and Cities low on CSR for intensive & integrated
action.
• Mobilize & Train Panchayati Raj Institutions/Urban local bodies/ Grassroot workers
as catalysts for social change, in partnership with local community/women’s/youth
groups.
• Ensure service delivery structures/schemes & programmes are sufficiently
responsive to issues of gender and children’s rights.
• Enable Inter-sectoral and inter-institutional convergence at District/Block/Grassroot
levels.
Components:
• Mass Communication Campaign on Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao

• The programme will be initiated with the launch of “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”, a
nation-wide campaign to increase awareness on celebrating the Girl Child & enabling
her education.
• Multi-Sectoral interventions in 161 Gender Critical Districts covering all States/UTs
low on CSR
• Multi-Sectoral actions have been drawn in consultation with MoHFW & MoHRD.
• Measurable outcomes and indicators will bring together concerned sectors, states
and districts for urgent concerted Multi-Sectoral action to improve the CSR.
• The States/UTs will adapt a flexible Framework for Multi-Sectoral Action.
POCSO Act
In News: Watching, possessing or circulating
animations or cartoons that depict a minor
engaging in a sexually explicit conduct could
land you in jail. The Union Cabinet has
approved a new definition for child
pornography in its amendments to the
POCSO Act.
• According to the spokesperson of the
Women and Child Development Ministry, the amended law will also apply to
pornographic content where adults or young adults pretend to be children.

About POSCO Act:
• In order to effectively address the heinous crimes of sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation of children through less ambiguous and more stringent legal provisions,
the Ministry of Women and Child Development championed the introduction of the
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Salient features:
• The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age, and regards the
best interests and well-being of the child as being of paramount importance at every
stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development
of the child.
• It defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative
assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography, and deems a sexual assault to
be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is
mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or
authority vis-à-vis the child, like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor.
• People who traffic children for sexual purposes are also punishable under the
provisions relating to abetment in the Act. The Act prescribes stringent punishment
graded as per the gravity of the offence, with a maximum term of rigorous
imprisonment for life, and fine.
• The Act provides for the establishment of Special Courts for trial of offences under
the Act, keeping the best interest of the child as of paramount importance at every
stage of the judicial process.
• The Act incorporates child friendly procedures for reporting, recording of evidence,
investigation and trial of offences.

• The Act recognizes that the Intent to commit an offence, even when unsuccessful for
whatever reason, needs to be penalized.
• The Act also provides for punishment for abetment of the offence, which is the same
as for the commission of the offence.
• For the more heinous offences of Penetrative Sexual Assault, Aggravated Penetrative
Sexual Assault, Sexual Assault and Aggravated Sexual Assault, the burden of proof is
shifted to the accused. This provision has been made keeping in view the greater
vulnerability and innocence of children.
• For speedy trial, the Act provides for the evidence of the child to be recorded within
a period of 30 days. Also, the Special Court is to complete the trial within a period of
one year, as far as possible.
• To provide for relief and rehabilitation of the child, as soon as the complaint is made
to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) or local police, these will make immediate
arrangements to give the child, care and protection such as admitting the child into
shelter home or to the nearest hospital within twenty-four hours of the report.
Pencil Portal
In News: 361 Complaints of Child Labour Resolved Through Pencil Portal.

• PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) is an electronic
platform for no child labour in the country is being developed by the Labour Ministry.
• PENCIL portal has five components Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State
Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence.
• Online complaints in regard to child labour can also be filed by anybody on Pencil
Portal.
About National Child Labour Project:
• Government had initiated the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme in 1988 to
rehabilitate working children.
• Under the Scheme, survey of child labour engaged in hazardous occupations &
processes has been conducted.
• The identified children are to be withdrawn from these occupations & processes and
then put into special schools in order to enable them to be mainstreamed into formal
schooling system.
• The entire funding is done by the Central Government (Ministry of Labour &
Employment).


News related to women

Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana
In News: In line with the provisions of National Policy
for Farmers (NPF) (2007), the Department of Rural
Development, Ministry of Rural Development is
implementing a programme exclusively for women
farmers namely, Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran
Pariyojana (MKSP).
• The “Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana”
(MKSP), a sub component of the Deendayal
Antodaya Yojana-NRLM (DAY-NRLM) seeks to improve the present status of women
in Agriculture, and to enhance the opportunities available to empower her.
• MKSP recognizes the identity of “Mahila” as “Kisan” and strives to build the capacity
of women in the domain of agro-ecologically sustainable practices.
• It has a clear vision to reach out to the poorest of poor households and expand the
portfolio of activities currently handled by the Mahila Kisan.
• The focus of MKSP is on capacitating smallholders to adopt sustainable climate
resilient agro-ecology and eventually create a pool of skilled community
professionals.
• Its objective is to strengthen smallholder agriculture through promotion of
sustainable agriculture practices such as Community Managed Sustainable
Agriculture (CMSA), Non Pesticide Management (NPM), Zero Budget Natural Farming
(ZBNF), Pashu-Sakhi model for doorstep animal care services, Sustainable
regeneration and harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Produce.
Faminisation of Indian Agriculture

In News: Faminisation of Indian agriculture was
mentioned along with the government scheme Mahila
Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana.
• The term ‘Feminization of agriculture’ refers to
increasing participation of women in agricultural
activities. It can be interpreted in the following
ways:
• An increase in the percentage of women who are economically active in agricultural
sector either as self-employed or as agriculture wage workers or unremunerated family
workers
• An increase in the percentage of women in agricultural labour force relative to men,
either because of more women are working or because of fewer men are working in
agriculture.
Model Mains Question: ‘Inclusive transformative agricultural policy’ needs gender-specific

interventions. Comment.
Causes of Feminization of Indian Agriculture:

• Poverty: Poverty is a major factor due to which women are women are forced to work
as agricultural labourers to supplement the family’s income.

•
Agrarian Distress and Shift of men to Casual work: Agrarian distress is a predominant
factor for disruption of farm labour or de-pesantatization i.e. migration of males from
agriculture towards casual work. Women in Indian agriculture:
• Mechanization of agriculture: With increased Statistics
mechanisation of agriculture, men have • Participation of both men and
moved to other non-farm activities while women in agriculture has declined,
women have been confined to traditional but the rate of decline has been
roles such as winnowing, harvesting, sowing
faster among men than it has

seeds and rearing livestock. among women.
• Mobility: The upward mobility of women for • The Agriculture Census (2010-11)
employment is restricted and is further shows that out of an estimated
constrained by gender wage differentials. 118.7 million cultivators, 30.3%
Way Forward: were females. Similarly, out of an
• A gender analysis is important for estimated 144.3 million
development policies and programs directed agricultural labourers, 42.6% were
at agriculture. The Economic Survey (2017-18) females.
recommended that there is an urgent need for • According to Census 2011, there
‘inclusive transformative agricultural policy’ has been a 24% increase in the
aimed at gender-specific interventions. number of female agricultural
• The government should ensure access to labourers between 2001 and 2011.
secure land and property rights. A formal
access to land will help increase
productivity by facilitating investments and
would ensure household food security and
nutrition
• Provision of credit without collateral under
the micro-finance initiative of the National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development should be encouraged
• The training of rural women to help them
adopt modern agricultural techniques that
are tailored to local conditions and that use
natural resources in a sustainable manner.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendras in every district can
be assigned an additional task to educate
and train women farmers about innovative
technology along with extension services.
• It is important to have gender-friendly
tools and machinery for various farm
operations.
• Legal measures should be taken to ensure
equal pay for work of equal value.
• To achieve the full economic benefit from
employment, rural women should be provided a greater choice over their
occupations so that they are not forced to do the work left behind by men. It is thus
important to have overall women empowerment through education, awareness and
doing away with gender biases.

Surrogacy regulation bill

In News: The Cabinet approved the introduction of Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 that aims
to prohibit commercial surrogacy in India.
• The Bill proposes to regulate surrogacy in India
by establishing a National Surrogacy Board at
the central level and state surrogacy boards and
appropriate authorities in the state and Union
Territories.
• The purpose of the Bill is to ensure effective

regulation of surrogacy, prohibit commercial
surrogacy, and allow ethical surrogacy.
• While commercial surrogacy will be prohibited,
including sale and purchase of human embryos and gametes, ethical surrogacy for
needy couples will be allowed on fulfillment of stipulated conditions.
• It will also prevent exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through
surrogacy.
One Stop Centre Scheme

In News: The Minstry of Women and Child development informed that 462 'One Stop
Centres' have been set up in the country in the last three years and over two lakh women
have benefitted from it.
• One Stop Centres (OSC) are intended to support women affected by violence, in
private and public spaces, within the family, community and at the workplace.
• Women facing physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and economic abuse,
irrespective of age, class, caste, education status, marital status, race and culture will
be facilitated with support and redressal.
• Aggrieved women facing any kind of violence due to attempted sexual harassment,
sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, honour related crimes, acid attacks or
witch-hunting who have reached out or been referred to the OSC will be provided
with specialized services.
• The Scheme will be funded through Nirbhaya Fund . The Central Government will
provide 100% financial assistance to the State Government /UT Administrations under
the Scheme.
Model Mains Question: Women empowerment in India needs gender budgeting.

Comment.
The objectives of the Scheme are:

• To provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both
in private and public spaces under one roof.
• To facilitate immediate, emergency and non - emergency access to a range of
services including medical, legal, psychological and counselling support under one
roof to fight against any forms of violence against women.

Vishaka guidelines
In News: Former chief justice of Delhi High
Court, Justice A.P. Shah, said there is a need to
engage in how the Vishaka guidelines, which
deal with sexual harassment in the workplace,
should be made applicable to the judiciary.
• In 1997,the Supreme Court formulated
the Vishaka guidelines that made it
mandatory for institutions across the

country to put in place measures to
prevent and redress sexual harassment
in the workplace.
• The Vishakha guidelines laid the
foundation for the Sexual Harassment of
Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
The Guidelines issued by the court said that:
• It shall be the duty of the employer or other responsible persons in workplace or
other institutions to prevent or deter the 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.
• The rules/regulations of the government and the public sector bodies relating to
conduct and discipline should include rules/regulation 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."
Model Mains Question: Analyse the importance of Vishaka guidelines in ensuring safety
for women at workplaces.
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and

Redressal) Act, 2013:
• This act was enacted in April 2013 as India’s first law dealing with the protection of
women against sexual harassment at workplace. Some important feature of this act
are as follows:
• This Act aimed to provide every woman, irrespective of her age or employment status,
a safe and secure working environment free from all forms of harassment.
• This Act covered both the organized and unorganized sectors in India.
• This Act defined ‘sexual harassment’ in line with the Supreme Court’s definition in
the Vishaka Judgment.
• The Act extended the meaning of the word sexual harassment to include “presence
or occurrence of circumstances of implied or explicit promise of preferential
treatment in employment, threat of detrimental treatment in employment, threat
about present or future employment, etc.
• The Act also introduced the concept of ‘extended workplace’ since sexual
harassment is not always confined to the primary place of employment.

•The Act provided for the establishment of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at
each and every office or branches of the organization employing 10 or more
employees, in order to provide a forum for filing complaints to facilitate fast redressal
of the grievances pertaining to sexual harassment.
• It also provided for the establishment of local complaints committee (LCC) at the
district level by the Government to investigate and redress complaints of sexual
harassment of the unorganized sector or from those establishments where the ICC
has not been constituted for the reason being, it having less than 10 employees.
Challenges:
• Lack of initiative on the part of government authorities to monitor the
implementation and enforce the law.
• The government at the State level has not even bothered to appoint district officers
or local committees under the 2013 Act.
• There are no appointments of nodal officers or internal complaints committees in
certain offices.
• There has been no move to ensure the reporting and collection of annual compliance
reports from workplaces. Hence, the law meant to protect working women has hit a
roadblock.
The Odisha model of Women Empowerment

In News: Odisha’s women empowerment
model can be used to solve nation’s women
empowerment struggles.
• Odisha State government was among
the first to reserve 50% of seats in
Panchayati Raj institutions for
women. Further, Odisha Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik nominated
women for one-third of the seats in
Lok Sabha election.
• Thus, seven candidates out of 21
fielded by the party for the 2019 election were women. The success rate among the
women candidates was higher than for men, as five out of seven won the elections.
• Besides empowering women politically, the government has been organising women
into self-help groups in order to empower them economically ever since the BJD
assumed power two decades ago. As of now, Odisha has six lakh self-help groups with
seven million women under its flagship ‘Mission Shakti’ programme. The programme
aims at empowering women by helping them start income-generating activities.
• The self-help groups are linked to the Odisha Livelihoods Mission and Odisha Rural
Development and Marketing Society. Members of the self-help groups are
encouraged to sell products at fairs and exhibitions organised by the State round the
year.
• This gives them an opportunity to travel across different parts of the State and gain
greater exposure. The State government had announced an interest-free loan of ₹3
lakh in January 2019 to each of the self-help groups.

• The Women and Child Development Department has been rechristened as the
Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti Department.
• The nomination of Pramila Bisoi, a self-help group leader as a candidate for a Lok
Sabha constituency could be seen as a deliberate and strategic move to bring self-help
group members to the forefront of public life. The decision also sent the signal that
rural women can also aspire to reach higher echelons in politics.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the importance to provide attention to gender

specific policy and planning.
Present Status of Women’s Participation in Lok Sabha:

• The number of women taking leadership roles in India is rather small compared to
the global average.
• The representation of women MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha has seen an improvement
from 11% in 2014 to 14% in 2019, but it is still lower than the world average of
24.3%.
• In 2019, 715 women candidates contested the Lok Sabha election, while the
number of men who contested stood at 7,334.
• It is widely acknowledged that women’s empowerment helps in the achievement
of critical development goals. If there are a greater number of women in politics,
there is a concomitant increase in the level of attention given to gender-specific
policy and planning.
Disuses the merits and demerits of Women reservation in Loksabha….
News related to education

Draft National Education Policy
In News: Draft NEP 2019 has been uploaded on MHRD’s website and also at
innovate.mygov.in platform to elicit
suggestions/comments from all stakeholders.
More on the Topic:
• The New Education Policy is designed to
meet the changing dynamics of the
requirements in terms of quality
education, innovation and research.
• The policy aims at making India a
knowledge superpower by equipping
students with the necessary skills and
knowledge.
• It also focusses on eliminating the shortage of manpower in science, technology,
academics and industry.
What are the key changes proposed?
• The committee has proposed to rename the Ministry of Human Resource
Development as Ministry of Education (MoE). In school education, a major
reconfiguration of curricular and pedagogical structure was proposed.

• The policy calls for an Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as an integral part
of school education.
• The policy also seeks to reduce content load in school education curriculum.
• There will be no hard separation of learning areas in terms of curricular, co-curricular
or extra- curricular areas.
• The policy promotes active pedagogy to focus on the development of core capacities
and life skills, including 21st century skills.
• RTE Act: The committee recommends Extension of Right to Education Act 2009 to
cover children of ages 3 to 18 (currently, 6-14).

• Teacher education: The committee proposes for massive transformation in teacher
education. It calls for shutting down sub-standard teacher education institutions.
• The 4-year integrated stage-specific B.Ed. programme will eventually be the
minimum degree qualification for teachers.
• Higher education: A restructuring of higher education institutions with three types
of higher education institutions was proposed -
• Type 1: Focused on world-class research and high quality teaching, Type 2: Focused
on high quality teaching across disciplines with significant contribution to research
and Type 3: High quality teaching focused on undergraduate education
• There will be re-structuring of Undergraduate programs such as BSc, BA, BCom, BVoc
of 3 or 4 years duration and having
multiple exit and entry options.
• Institution - A new apex body
Rashtriya Shiksha Ayog is proposed.
• This is to enable a holistic and
integrated implementation of all
educational initiatives and
programmatic interventions. The
body will also coordinate efforts
between the Centre and states.
• The National Research Foundation:
an apex body, is proposed for creating
a strong research culture.It will help
build research capacity across higher
education.
• The four functions of Standard
Setting, Funding, Accreditation and
Regulation will be separated and
conducted by independent bodies.
• National Higher Education
Regulatory Authority will be the only
regulator for all higher education
including professional education.
• The policy proposes to create an accreditation eco-system led by a revamped NAAC
(National Assessment and Accreditation Council).
• Professional Standard Setting Bodies for each area of professional education was
proposed.

• UGC is to be transformed to Higher Education Grants Commission (HEGC).

• The private and public institutions will be treated on par, and education will remain a
'not for profit' activity.
• Besides the above, the committee also recommended several new policy initiatives
for -promoting internationalization of higher education,strengthening quality open
and distance learning,technology integration at all levels of education,facilitating
adult and lifelong learning,enhancing participation of under-represented
groupseliminating gender, social category and regional gaps in education outcomes.
• Language: Promotion of Indian and classical languages and setting up three new
National Institutes for Pali, Persian and Prakrit were proposed.
• Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) has been recommended.
• The policy called for the proper implementation of the three-language formula
(dating back to 1968) in schools across the country.
• Accordingly, students in Hindi-speaking states should learn a modern Indian language,
apart from Hindi and English.In non-Hindi-speaking states, students will have to learn
Hindi along with the regional language and English.
• The controversial three language provision was, however, dropped after protests
against it in many states.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the draft New education Policy 2019.

Concerns:
• It does look forward-looking, but what the final draft needs to do is differentiate
between deregulation and liberalization. The incentive for the private sector to
invest, grow and stand on quality parameters needs to be clearly articulated.
• The draft lacks operational details and does not offer insights into how the policy will
be funded. The Centre must also ensure that the policy does not face litigation, state
resistance, and operational challenges on the ground.
• Draft policy has nothing for students with special challenges.
• The draft NEP has ignored the root of the inefficiency afflicting public education,
namely the lack of school and teacher accountability. Till it is sorted out via DBT
funding of schools, the well-intentioned and laboriously crafted provisions of the NEP
will come to naught.
‘National Mission on Education through Information and

Communication Technology’ (NMEICT)
In News: Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development is
administering a programme ‘National Mission on Education through Information and
Communication Technology’ (NMEICT) to leverage the potential of ICT to make the best
quality content accessible to all learners in the country, free of cost.
The various initiatives under this programme are:
• SWAYAM: The ‘Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds' (SWAYAM)
is an integrated platform for offering online courses and covering school (9th to
12th) to Post Graduate Level.
• SWAYAM Prabha: SWAYAM Prabha is an initiative to provide 32 High Quality
Educational Channels through DTH (Direct to Home) across the length and breadth
of the country on 24X7 basis.

• National Digital Library (NDL): The National Digital Library

of India (NDL) is a project to develop a framework of
virtual repository of learning resources with a single-
window search facility. The NDL is available through a
mobile app too.
• Spoken Tutorial: They are 10-minute long, audio-video
tutorial, on open source software, to improve
employment potential of students. It is created for self-
learning, audio dubbed into all 22 languages and with the

availability of online version. The languages are C, C++, Java, PHP, Python, PERL,
Scilab, OpenFOAM, OpenModelica,DWSIM, LibreO and many more. The Spoken
Tutorial courses are effectively designed to train a novice user, without the support of
a physical teacher.
• Free and Open Source Software for Education (FOSSEE): FOSSEE is a project
promoting the use of open source software in educational institutions.
• Virtual Lab: The Virtual Labs Project is to develop a fully interactive simulation
environment to perform experiments, collect data, and answer questions to assess
the understanding of the knowledge acquired
• E-Yantra: e-Yantra is a project for enabling effective education across engineering
colleges in India on embedded systems and Robotics. The training for teachers and
students is imparted through workshops where participants are taught basics of
embedded systems and programming.
Study in India
In News: Study in India scheme was mentioned in the budget speech.
• The ‘Study in India’ is a programme of HRD Ministry.
Its objectives-
• To make India a preferred education destination for foreign students.
• To improve the soft power of India with focus on the neighbouring countries and use it
as a tool in diplomacy.
• To double India’s market share of global education exports from less than 1 % to 2 %.
• To reduce the export, Import imbalance in the number of International students.
• To boost the number of inbound International students in India.
• Increase in contribution of international student in the form of direct spends, indirect
spends, spillover effects.
• Increase in global ranking of India as educational destination.
• Growth of India’s global market share of International students.
• Fee waivers are proposed to meritorious foreign students.
• It also envisages setting up of call centres for support, algorithm for allocation of seats
to the meritorious candidates.
• This programme will also act as a source of Forex.
• Study in India is helmed by EdCIL (Educational Consultants of India), a Central Public
Sector Enterprises (CPSE).
• It’s under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India.
• It is a joint initiative of Ministry of HRD, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home
Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

STRIDE Scheme
In News: UGC has approved a new initiative known as
STRIDE (Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s
Developing Economy).
• STRIDE scheme will strengthen research culture
and innovation in colleges and Universities and
help students and faculty to contribute towards
India’s developing economy with help of
collaborative research’.
• Focus on Humanities and Human Sciences will boost quality research on Indian
languages and knowledge systems.
Key Initiatives of UGC under STRIDE:
• Research Project: STRIDE will provide support to research projects that are socially
relevant, locally need-based, nationally important and globally significant.
• Research Capacity Building: STRIDE shall support research capacity building as well
as basic, applied and transformational action research that can contribute to national
priorities with focus on inclusive human development.
• Innovation: STRIDE shall support creation, development and integration of new
ideas, concepts and practices for public good and strengthening civil society.
UGC’s STRIDE Objectives:
• To identify young talent, strengthen research culture, build capacity, promote
innovation and support trans-disciplinary research for India’s developing economy
and national development.
• To fund multi institutional network high-impact research projects in humanities and
human sciences.
Paramarsh Scheme
In News: The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, launched ‘Paramarsh’, a
University Grants Commission (UGC) scheme.
• The scheme is for Mentoring
National Accreditation and
Assessment Council (NAAC)
Accreditation Aspirant
Institutions to promote Quality
Assurance in Higher Education.
• The Scheme will be
operationalized through a
“Hub & Spoke” model wherein
the Mentor Institution, called
the “Hub” is centralized and will have the responsibility of guiding the Mentee
institution through the secondary branches the “Spoke” through the services provided
to the mentee for self-improvement.
Expected Benefits:
• It will lead to enhancement of overall quality of the mentee institutions and enhance
its profile as a result of improved quality of research, teaching and learning
methodologies.

• It will help the mentee institution in getting NAAC accreditation.

• It will also facilitate the sharing of knowledge, information and opportunities for
research collaboration and faculty development in Mentee Institutions.
• It will help in providing quality education to the 3.6 crore students who are enrolling
to Indian Higher Education system at present.
About National Accreditation and Assessment Council:
• It was established in the year 1994 as an autonomous institution of the UGC with
its Headquarter in Bengaluru.

• The mandate of NAAC is to make quality assurance an integral part of the
functioning of HEIs.
• It makes arrangement for periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions
of higher education or units thereof, or specific academic programmes or
projects.
News related to health

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDS) In India
In News: Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) released the report
entitled “India: Health of the Nation’s
States”, Contribution of Non-
Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
According to the report total death in the
Country due to NCDs was 61.8% in 2016,
as compared to 37.9% in 1990.
More on the topic:
• Noncommunicable diseases
(NCDs) are a group of diseases that
affect individuals over an
extended period of time causing
socio-economic burden to the
nation.
• There are primarily 5 types of Noncommunicable diseases - Cancer, Chronic
respiratory disease, Stroke, Cardiovascular diseases and Diabetes, which are
responsible for a majority of morbidity and mortality in the country.
• Mental health and injuries also have a considerable burden too.
• NCDs cause 61% of deaths in India states WHO report. Cardiovascular diseases is at
the top, in 2016 a staggering 28.1% of all deaths in India were caused by heart
conditions.
• Also India has the highest number of diabetes cases in the world, with 72 million
reported in 2017.
• Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, all wealthy states, were found to have some of the
highest rates of heart disease in the country.

Government’s Initiatives:
• National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes,
Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) under the National Health Mission
(NHM) is an effort by Central Government which supplements State Governments
effort.
• The objectives of the programme include health promotion activities and
opportunistic screening for common NCDs including cancer.
• Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) Deendayal

outlets have been opened at 159 Institutions/Hospitals.
• It’s objective is to make available Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases drugs and
implants at discounted prices to the patients.
• Jan Aushadhi stores are set up by Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide
generic medicines at affordable prices
Ebola Outbreak
In News: WHO declared Ebola outbreak in Congo a global health emergency.
• Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known
as Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) or
simply Ebola, is a viral hemorrhagic
fever of humans and other primates
caused by ebolaviruses.
• Humans may spread the virus to other
humans through contact with bodily
fluids such as blood.
• Initial symptoms include fever,
headache, muscle pain and chills.
Later, a person may experience
internal bleeding resulting in vomiting
or coughing blood.
• There's no cure for Ebola, though
researchers are working on it.
Treatment includes an experimental
serum that destroys infected cells.
Doctors manage the symptoms of
Ebola with: Fluids and electrolytes.
• There is no approved vaccine for
clinical use in humans for Ebola.
AIDS
In News: A recent report of UNAIDS shows that in many countries, continued access to HIV
treatment and prevention options is reducing AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections.
• Community participation acted as main pillar in attaining the desired result.
Sustained investment in community responses led by people living with HIV and
those most affected is important.

•Adopting the latest scientific research and medical knowledge, strong political
leadership, and proactively fighting and reducing stigma and discrimination are
crucial necessities.
UN Political Declaration:
• The UN Sustainable Development Goals
include ensuring good health and well-being
for all by 2030. This includes the commitment
to end the AIDS epidemic.
• By signing the 2016 UN Political Declaration

on Ending AIDS, countries affirmed the
critical role that communities play in
advocacy, coordination of AIDS responses
and service delivery.
About AIDS:
• The word AIDS stands for Acquired Immuno
Deficiency Syndrome. This means deficiency
of immune system, acquired during the
lifetime of an individual.AIDS is caused by the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV).
• Transmission of HIV-infection generally occurs by: sexual contact with infected
person,by transfusion of contaminated blood and blood products, by sharing infected
needles as in the case of intravenous drug abusers and from infected mother to her
child through placenta.
• It is important to note that HIV/AIDS is not spread by mere touch or physical contact;
it spreads only through body fluids.
• A widely used diagnostic test for AIDS is Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay
(ELISA).
• Treatment of AIDS with anti-retroviral drugs is only partially effective. They can only
prolong the life of the patient but cannot prevent death, which is inevitable.
• Migratory birds along with pigs in the community play an important role in the
transmission of JE from one area to another.
Ban on antibiotic Colistin for food producing animals

In News:The Health Ministry has banned the manufacture, sale and distribution of antibiotic,
Colistin and its formulations for food producing animals, poultry, aqua farming and animal
feed supplements in a bid to preserve the drug’s efficacy in humans.
• The ban has been imposed under provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
• The use of the drug Colistin and its formulations for food producing animals, poultry,
aqua farming and animal feed supplements is likely to involve risk to human beings.
• Following which the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), the government’s top
advisory body on technical matters related to drugs in the country considered the
matter and recommended prohibiting the said drug.
About Colistin:
• Colistin is an antibiotic for therapeutic purpose in veterinary. But the drug is highly
misused in poultry industry as a growth promoter for prophylactic purpose.
• One of the reason for antibiotic resistance in India is due to unwanted use of Colistin
in poultry industry. The ban will prevent use of the drug for prophylactic use.

Chandipura virus
In News: Chandipura virus was detected in Gujarat.
• The Chandipura virus was discovered by 2 Pune-based virologists of the National
Institute of Virology (NIV) in 1965.
• The Chandipura Vesiculovirus (CHPV) predominantly affects children.
• The virus spreads mainly through the bite of sand flies and sometimes through
mosquitoes.
• The symptoms include sudden high fever accompanied by headache, convulsions and
vomiting, sometimes leading to unconsciousness.
• Cases have mostly been reported during monsoon and pre-monsoon, when sand flies
breed.
Generic Medicine
In News: The Central Government is considering amendments to the Drugs and Cosmetic
Rules, 1945 to ensure that registered medical practitioners dispense only generic medicines.
• The Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control
Organisation (CDSCO) proposed that registered medical practitioners shall supply
generic medicines only and physicians samples shall be supplied free of cost.
• Generic medicines are unbranded medicines which are equally safe and having the
same efficacy as that of branded medicines in terms of their therapeutic value. The
prices of generic medicines are much cheaper than their branded equivalent.
• Since the manufacture of these generic drugs do not involve a repeat of the
extensive clinical trials to prove their safety and efficacy, it costs less to develop them.
Generic drugs are, therefore, cheaper.
• However, because the compounds in the generic versions have the same molecular
structure as the brand-name version, their quality is essentially the same.
Concerns:
• Efficacy of Indian-made drugs: Oftentimes, such drugs have been found to contain
less than the required amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), rendering
them ineffective.
• Lack of data integrity: The poorly managed documentation practices of Indian generic
firms featured as the primary criticism flagged by foreign regulatory authorities. The
lack of reliable and complete data on the test results of specific drug batches, along
with inconsistencies in the records presented, meant that inspection and verification
of drug quality was extremely difficult.
• Hygiene standards of the manufacturing plants: Individuals suffering from illness are
especially susceptible to infections, and inspections of generic drug plants reveal pest
infestations and dilapidated infrastructure.
Government Policies in this regard:

• ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana’ is a campaign launched by the
Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. Of India, to provide quality medicines at
affordable prices to the masses through special kendra’s known as Pradhan Mantri
Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
• Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) is the implementing agency of PMBJP. BPPI
(Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India) has been established under
the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. of India, with the support of all the CPSUs.
Dengue Infection
In News: Dengue cases are
rising in Mumbai region.
• Dengue is the fast emerging
‘mosquito-borne viral
infection’.It flourishes in
urban poor areas, suburbs
mostly in tropical and
subtropical countries.
• The dengue virus (DEN) comprises four distinct serotypes, which belong to the genus
Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae.The ‘Aedes aegypti’ mosquito is the main vector.
• ‘Aedes aegypti’ mosquito breeds in freshwater. (unlike Malaria mosquito (Anopheles)
breeds in any water accumulating in open areas).The mosquito mainly acquires the virus
while feeding on the blood of an infected person.
• It develops severe flu-like symptoms. In India it peaks from Monsoon every year.
• There is no specific treatment for dengue fever.The only current method of controlling
dengue is to effectively combat the vector mosquitoes.
• Dengue cases have been recorded by the ‘National Vector Borne Disease Control
Programme’ (NVBDCP).

Economy
GST gains momentum
In News: The historical goods and services tax (GST) turned two years old.
Industry’s Take Away:
• The industry loves GST for harmonising taxes,
elimination of cascading effect of tax, widening the
scope of input tax credit and for achieving a

uniform tax rate for a product or service across the
country.
• Tangible benefits include faster refunds, less
interaction with tax authorities, abolition of check
posts, etc.
• Under GST, a supplier can supply goods from any part of India and tax or input tax credit
is no longer an arbitrage in competition.
• The customer is now in a position to source from any supplier and the latter is in a
position to access markets across India.
• Industry gains include elimination or dismantling of structures created under the pre-GST
era for tax purposes, supply-chain efficiencies, direct customer access, and a robust
transparent trail for the movement of goods.
Model Mains Question: The historical goods and services tax (GST) which was
implemented across the country from July 1, 2017 is now two years old. Critically analyse
the success of GST.
Concerns:
• The industry is dissatisfied with technical glitches in the portal.
• Frequent changes in law, including scenarios where the portal does not permit what the
law permits is also a serious concern.
Government’s Take away:
• Monthly revenue from GST has crossed ₹1,00,000 crore.
• GST has resulted in the widening of the tax base.
• Excellent data mining has resulted in identification of tax evasion at an early stage.
E-way bill system has brought in an effective, transparent movement trail.
• The formalisation of economy takes place with GST.
• Many manufacturing states had anticipated huge losses on account of GST
compared to their pre-GST collections.This has not happened due to significant
consumption of services in such manufacturing States.
Concerns:
• The government is concerned with the fake invoice racket. These players provide a
disservice to the economy and also to honest tax payers.

Government eases angel tax norms

In News: To encourage start-ups in the
country, Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman announced a series of
measures for the sector, including
easing of the much-debated angel tax.
• To resolve the ‘angel tax’ issue,
the start-ups and their investors
who file requisite declarations

and provide information in their
returns will not be subjected to
any kind of scrutiny in respect of
valuations of share premiums.
• Additionally, the issue of
establishing identity of the
investor and source of his funds
will be resolved by putting in
place a mechanism of e-
verification.
• Special administrative
arrangements shall be made by
Central Board of Direct Taxes for
pending assessments of start-
ups and redressal of their
grievances.
• At present, start-ups are not
required to justify fair market value of their shares issued to certain investors,
including Category-I Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), Goverment has proposed to
extend this benefit to Category-II Alternative Investment Funds also. Therefore,
valuation of shares issued to these funds shall be beyond the scope of income tax
scrutiny.
• The government proposed to relax some of the conditions for carry forward and set
off of losses in the case of start-ups.
• The proposed programme on start-ups will serve as a platform for promoting start-
ups, discussing issues affecting their growth, matchmaking with venture capitalists
and for funding and tax planning.
About Angel Tax:

• Angel Tax is a 30% tax that is levied on the funding received by startups from an
external investor. However, this 30% tax is levied when startups receive angel
funding at a valuation higher than its ‘fair market value’. It is counted as income to
the company and is taxed.
• The tax, was introduced by in 2012 to fight money laundering. The stated rationale
was that bribes and commissions could be disguised as angel investments to escape
taxes. But given the possibility of this section being used to harass genuine startups,
it was rarely invoked.
• There is no definitive or objective way to measure the ‘fair market value’ of a
startup. Investors pay a premium for the idea and the business potential at the angel
funding stage. The discretion of tax officials to decide the angel tax puts many stat
ups in trouble.
International Financial Service Centre (IFSC)

In News: India’s only International Financial Service Centre (IFSC), at GIFT City, Gandhinagar,
is one of the most ambitious endeavors of the Government for bringing offshore financial
transactions to the Indian territory. The recent budget proposed more tax incentives to IFSC.
• An IFSC caters to customers outside
the jurisdiction of the domestic
economy. Such centres deal with
flows of finance, financial products
and services across borders.

• IFSC enables bringing back the
financial services and transactions
that are currently carried out in
offshore financial centers by Indian
corporate entities and overseas
branches / subsidiaries of financial institutions (FIs)to India by offering business and
regulatory environment that is comparable to other leading international financial centers
in the world like London and Singapore.
• It would provide Indian corporates easier access to global financial markets. IFSC would
also compliment and promote further development of financial markets in India.
What are the services an IFSC can provide?

• Fund-raising services for individuals, corporations and governments.
• Asset management and global portfolio diversification undertaken by pension funds,
insurance companies and mutual funds.
• Wealth management.
• Global tax management and cross-border tax liability optimization, which provides a
business opportunity for financial intermediaries, accountants and law firms.
• Global and regional corporate treasury management operations that involve fund-
raising, liquidity investment and management and asset-liability matching.
• Risk management operations such as insurance and reinsurance.
• Merger and acquisition activities among trans-national corporations.

Basel Norms
In News: The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has said that India is compliant
regarding regulation on large exposures though, in some respects, regulations are stricter
than the Basel large-exposures framework.
• Basel the headquarters of Bureau of International Settlement (BIS).
• BIS fosters co-operation among central banks with a common goal of financial
stability and common standards of banking regulations.
• Basel guidelines refer to broad supervisory standards formulated by this group of
central banks- called the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The set of
agreement by the BCBS, which mainly focuses on risks to banks and the financial
system are called Basel accord.

• The purpose of the accord is to ensure that

financial institutions have enough capital
on account to meet obligations and absorb
unexpected losses. India has accepted Basel
accords for the banking system.
• The Basel Committee makes the Basel
norms. The Committee’s decisions have no
legal force. Rather, the Committee
formulates supervisory standards and

guidelines and recommends statements of
best practice in the expectation that
individual national authorities will
implement them.
• India can either accept them or reject them
depending on the kind of financial system it wants. So far, we have implemented or
wished to implement all Basel norms.
Jalan committee report
In News: Jalan panel report on surplus RBI reserves 'finalised.'
• It was set up to review the economic capital framework of the RBI.
• According to Section 47 of the RBI Act, profits of the RBI are to be transferred to the
government, after making various contingency provisions.
• The contingency provisions includes public policy mandate of the RBI, financial
stability considerations etc.
• The committee proposes transfer of RBI reserves to govt in tranches over 3-5 years.
• It recommended transferring of funds from both contingency and revaluation reserves
to the government.
• The panel has also sought a 'period
review' of the RBI capital
framework.
• In the past, the issue of the ideal size
of RBI's reserves was examined by
three committees,V Subrahmanyam
(1997) Usha Thorat (2004) and Y H
Malegam (2013).
• At present RBI continue with the
recommendation of the
Subrahmanyam panel.The RBI board
did not accept the recommendation
of other committees.
• For the year ending June 2018, RBI had total reserves of Rs 9.59 lakh crore.It comprises
mainly currency and gold revaluation account (Rs 6.91 lakh crore) and contingency
fund (Rs 2.32 lakh crore).
• The government was seeking Rs 3.6 lakh crore from the RBI.The transfer of surplus
capital may help the government meet its fiscal deficit target.

Disinvestment for Development

In News: Government has reinitiated for disinvestment in AirIndia. Receipts of disinvestment
arose from ₹1.05 trillion for FY2019-20 from ₹90,000 crores.
• Disinvestment can be defined as the action of an organization (or government) selling
or liquidating an asset or subsidiary. It is also referred to as ‘divestment’ or
‘divestiture.’
The following main objectives of
• In most contexts, disinvestment
disinvestment were outlined:
typically refers to sale from the

government, partly or fully, of a • To reduce the financial burden on the
government-owned enterprise. Government
• The new economic policy initiated in • To improve public finances
July 1991 clearly indicated that PSUs • To introduce, competition and market
had shown a very negative rate of discipline
return on capital employed. • To fund growth
Inefficient PSUs had become and • To encourage wider share of
were continuing to be a drag on the ownership
Government’s resources turning to
• To depoliticise non-essential services
be more of liabilities to the
Government than being assets.
• Many undertakings traditionally established as pillars of growth had become a
burden on the economy.
• The national gross domestic product and gross national savings were also getting
adversely affected by low returns from PSUs.
• Hence, the need for the Government to get rid of these units and to concentrate on
core activities was identified.
• The Government also took a view that it should move out of non-core businesses,
especially the ones where the private sector had now entered in a significant way.
Finally, disinvestment was also seen by the Government to raise funds for meeting
general/specific needs.
In this direction, the Government adopted the 'Disinvestment Policy'. This was identified as
an active tool to reduce the burden of financing the PSUs.
Govt considers enhancing RBI powers

In News: Finance Minister said that the government is actively considering a proposal from
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking more powers to improve its regulatory and
supervisory mechanism for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
Why is this being proposed?
• Recent defaults and delays in loan repayments by a section of NBFCs have shaken
the confidence in the financial markets, leading to fears that potential solvency risks
at certain companies can be contagious.
• Liquidity for NBFCs with default ratings has completely dried up, creating broader
challenges for policymakers. In this backdrop, the government’s plan to consider a
proposal from the RBI seeking more powers to improve its regulatory and supervisory
mechanism for NBFCs is significant.

What changes are being sought by RBI?

• The RBI has conventionally adopted light-touch regulatory approach towards NBFCs
to enable them reach masses through innovative financial products and service
delivery mechanisms.
• More powers will enable RBI to close regulatory gaps between banks (which are
tightly regulated) and NBFCs. The RBI has already reduced the periodicity of the NBFC
supervision to 12 months from 18 months earlier.
What is the scale of the challenge?
• NBFCs were the largest net borrowers of funds from the financial system. These
companies depend largely on public funds such as bank borrowings, debentures and
commercial papers, which account for 70 per cent of the total liabilities of the sector.
• When banks and mutual funds stop fresh loans to NBFCs facing default possibility, it
can potentially lead to contagion in the financial markets.
India e-commerce rules

In News: Walmart told the U.S. government privately in January that India’s new investment
rules for e-commerce were regressive and had the potential to hurt trade ties.
More on the Topic:
• India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has
said the government was committed to
protecting small traders and open to ironing
out policy-related issues.
• Government warned both Flipkart and
Amazon to comply with the new rules in letter
and spirit, and questioned them on their
discounting policies.
Key Highlights of the India e-commerce rules:
• Bar online retailers from selling products through vendors in which they have an
equity interest.
• Also bars them from entering into exclusive deals with brands for selling products
only on their platforms.
• All online retailers will be required to maintain a level playing field for all the vendors
selling their products on the platform, and it shall not affect the sale prices of goods
in any manner.
• Disallows e-commerce players to control the inventory of the vendors. Any such
ownership over the inventory will convert it into inventory based model from
marketplace based model, which is not entitled to FDI.
• Under the new rules, the e-commerce retailer shall be deemed to own the inventory
of a vendor if over 25 per cent of the purchases of such a vendor are through it.
• Restricts marketplaces from influencing prices in a bid to curb deep discounting. With
this, special offers like cashback, extended warranties, faster deliveries to some
brands will be prohibited, with the view to provide a level playing field.
Significance:
• The key objective behind the revising the FDI rules for the e-commerce giants is to
level the playing field in the retail space, as heavy discounting on online retail sites
was causing heavy losses to the small and medium brick and mortar stores.

Expected impacts and outcomes:

• The policy will impact global e-commerce players like Walmart-owned Flipkart and
Amazon, who would have to change their business structures to comply with the new
policy.
• The new norms could take a massive toll
on the earnings of Amazon and Flipkart.
• It will protect the Indian small scale
vendors from anti competition activities.
Core Investment Companies

In News: With corporate group structures
becoming more complex and layered, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) has set up a working group to
review the regulatory and supervisory framework
for core investment companies (CICs).
• The six-member working group will
examine the current regulatory regime for
CICs and suggest changes to the current
approach for their registration, including
the practice of multiple CICs being allowed
within a group.
• Additionally, it will also suggest measures
to strengthen corporate governance and disclosure requirements for CICs and assess
the adequacy of supervisory returns submitted by these entities.
• It will recommend appropriate measures to enhance RBI’s off-sight surveillance and
on-site supervision over CICs.
• The RBI had in August 2010 introduced a separate framework for the regulation of
systemically important CICs after recognising the difference in the business model of
a holding company compared to other non-banking financial companies.
About Core Investment Companies:

• Core Investment Companies (CICs) are a specialized Non-Banking Financial
Companies (NBFCs).They have asset size of Rs 100 crore and above.
• Their main business is acquisition of shares and securities with certain conditions.
• It holds not less than 90% of its net assets in the form of investment in equity
shares, preference shares, bonds, debentures, debt or loans in group companies.
• It does not trade in its investments in shares, bonds, debentures, debt or loans in
group companies except through block sale for the purpose of dilution or
disinvestment.
• It does not carry on any other financial activity referred to in RBI Act, 1934 except
investment in bank deposits, money market instruments, government securities,
loans to and investments in debt issuances of group companies or guarantees
issued on behalf of group companies.
• It accepts public funds.

Financial Stability Report

In News: The Reserve Bank of India released the 19th issue of the ‘Financial Stability
Report’(FSR). It is a biannual publication.
• It analyses the overall state of
the various segments and it
highlights the risk-related issues
which can cause potential
challenges. It also discusses
issues relating to the

development and regulation of the financial sector.
Highlights of the report:
• NPAs peaked out in March 2018, are now set to steadily diminish.
• The problem areas in terms of NPAs still remain metals, mining and engineering
where the ratios are above 25%.
• Recent developments in the NBFCs sector have brought the sector under greater
market discipline as the better-performing companies continued to raise funds.
• Public Sector Banks showed a noticeable improvement with recapitalisation and
hence the efforts to improve the balance sheets of banks should therefore continue.
• The number of banks having very high NPA ratio (more than 20%) came down in
March 2019 as compared to September 2018.
• The credit growth of commercial banks picked up, with PSU banks registering near-
double-digit growth.
• The report cautioned that CAR (capital adequacy ratio ) for 55 banks is projected to
fall from 14% in March 2019 to 12.9% in March 2020. (The capital adequacy ratio
(CAR) is a measurement of a bank's available capital expressed as a percentage of a
bank's risk-weighted credit)
• In short, the system is fairly stable but the risks need to be recognised and worked
upon to ensure smooth progress.
Making India Aviation Hub

In News: The government plans to make India a hub for
financing aircraft purchases and leasing of planes.
Government will implement the essential elements of the
regulatory roadmap for making India a hub for such
activities.
• The government proposed tax incentives, like tax
deductions, for companies setting up business in IFSC
for fifteen years.
• The government will also adopt suitable policy
interventions to create a congenial atmosphere for development of MRO(Maintenance,
Repair and Overhaul) in the country.
Significance of the move:
• Indian airlines have a combined fleet size of more than 600 planes and they have over
700 planes on order.

• A report by leasing firm Avolon stated that around 76 per cent of the aircraft flown in
India are on operating lease—the highest in the world. A majority of the lessors operate
out of Ireland given its attractive tax norms.
• Around 80 per cent of all maintenance work of airlines in value terms is carried out by
units overseas and government wants to boost the sector locally.
• Hence this initiative will save lot of forex, create job and make India an aviation hub.
Minimum Support Price

In News: The Centre has hiked the minimum support

price (MSP) for paddy by less than 4%. The decision
was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs.
• MSP is the minimum price set by the
Government at which farmers can expect to
sell their produce for the season. When
market prices fall below the announced MSPs,
procurement agencies step in to procure the crop and ‘support’ the prices.
• The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs announces MSP for various crops at the
beginning of each sowing season based on the recommendations of the Commission
for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• The CACP takes into account demand and supply, the cost of production and price
trends in the market among other things when fixing MSPs.

Significance of MSP:
• Price volatility makes life difficult for farmers.
• MSPs ensure that farmers get a minimum price for their produce in adverse markets.
MSPs have also been used as a tool by the Government to incentivise farmers to
grow crops that are in short supply.
Concerns:
• All farmers do not have access to the government's minimum support price. Further,
even in case of paddy, the procurement operations vary across different parts of the
country. They are very good in some parts and almost non-existent in others.
• Given the fact that the procurement of paddy and wheat is better in comparison to
other crops for which an MSP is announced, it encourages farmers to grow paddy and
wheat, instead of other crops leading to its over production.
• The one-solution that has been proposed to lessen the agriculture distress in India, is
the government procuring more and more of the crops that are being produced. But
this is really no solution simply because the government does not have the bandwidth
to first create a system and then manage the procurement of the nearly 20 crops for
which MSPs are announced but not much procurement happens.

Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)

In News: The Department of Commerce has approved financial assistance for three trade
promotion centres under the ‘Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)’.
• The scheme replaces a centrally sponsored scheme Assistance to States for creating
Infrastructure for the Development and growth of Exports (ASIDE).
• The objective of the TIES is to enhance export competitiveness by bridging gaps in
export infrastructure, creating focused export infrastructure and first-mile and last-
mile connectivity.
• The Central and State Agencies, including Export Promotion Councils, Commodities
Boards, SEZ Authorities and Apex Trade Bodies recognised under the EXIM policy of
Government of India; are eligible for financial support under this scheme.
• The scheme would provide assistance for setting up and up-gradation of
infrastructure projects with overwhelming export linkages like the Border Haats, Land
customs stations, quality testing and certification labs, cold chains, trade promotion
centres, dry ports, export warehousing and packaging, SEZs and ports/airports cargo
terminuses.
Link between global warming and

unemployment
In News: Working on a Warmer Planet” report, by the
International Labour Organization (ILO) stated that India
could lose 34 million jobs by 2030 because of global warming.
• Decrease in productivity means a 5.8% reduction in
working hours. India’s agriculture and construction
industries are expected to be hit the hardest.

• By 2030 in the next two decades the whole world will see a 2% loss in productivity
because the temperature will be too hot for workers.
• This means that 80 million jobs across the world will be lost.
• India will be one of the most impacted countries by the rising levels of global warming
because labourers in the country will feel “heat stress.” India’s dependency on
agriculture and development industries like construction makes it particularly
vulnerable.
• The ILO has analysed “heat stress” or the increase in body heat from working and the
outside temperature. The organisation found that the greater the heat stress, the less
able humans will be able to work in labour-intensive jobs.
• The rising levels of heat stress will also create more income inequality and a greater
urban-rural divide.
• Significantly, during the 2005-15 period, higher levels of heat stress were associated
with larger out-migration flows a trend not observed for the preceding 10-year
period.
• Asian and African countries are predicted to see the most unemployment and lack
of productivity and resultant declining GDPs. Thailand, Cambodia, India and Pakistan
will see an erosion of around 5% in their GDPs by 2030.
• Even developing countries that will increasing concretise their cities will feel the
impact of rising temperatures because of the loss of green cover.
Way Forward:
To protect citizen from the adverse effects of climate change, government needs to adopt a
dual-focus on sustainability and growth and invest in commodities, services, and technology
that benefits the environment in the long run while also spurning development in India.
Minimum Wage System

In News: Economic survey stated that a well-designed and effective implementation of
minimum wages will strengthen the trend towards decreasing wage inequality especially at
lower levels.
Policy recommendations for an effective design of minimum wages system:
• Simplification and Rationalisation: Rationalisation of minimum wages as proposed under
the Code on Wages Bill needs to be supported. This code amalgamates the Minimum
Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and
the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 into a single piece of legislation.
• Setting a National Floor Level Minimum Wage: Central Government should notify a
“national floor minimum wage” that can vary broadly across five geographical regions.
Thereafter, states can fix their minimum wages at levels not lower than the “floor
wage”. This would bring some uniformity in minimum wages across country and would
make all states almost equally attractive from the point of view of labour cost for
investment as well as reduce distress migration.
• Criteria for setting minimum wage: The Code on Wages Bill should consider fixing
minimum wages based on (i) the skilled category i.e. unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and
highly skilled; and (ii) the geographical region, or else both. This Key change would
substantially reduce the number of minimum wages in the country.

• Coverage: The proposed Code on Wages Bill should extend applicability of minimum
wages to all employments/workers in all sectors and should cover both the organized as
well as the unorganized sector.
• Regular Adjustment and Role of Technology: A mechanism should be developed to
adjust minimum wages regularly and more frequently. A national level dashboard can
be created at the Centre with access to the state governments whereby the states can
regularly update the notifications regarding minimum wages. This portal must be made
available at Common Service Centres (CSCs), rural haats etc., with the required mass
media coverage so that the workers are well-informed their bargaining skills and decision-
making power are strengthened.
• Grievance Redressal: There should be an easy to remember toll-free number to register
grievance on non-payment of the statutory minimum wages should be given wide-
publicity to provide low-paid workers a forum to voice their grievance.
‘Utkarsh 2022’
In News: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board, finalized a three- year roadmap to improve
regulation and supervision, among other functions of the central bank. This medium term
strategy named Utkarsh 2022 is in line with the global central banks’ plan to strengthen the
regulatory and supervisory mechanism.
• It is a three-year road map for medium term objective to be achieved for improving
regulation, supervision of the central bank.
• Worldwide, all central banks strengthen the regulatory and supervisory mechanism,
everybody is formulating a long-term plan and a medium-term plan. So, the RBI has
also decided it will formulate a pragramme to outline what is to be achieved in the
next three years.
• It is for the central bank to play a proactive role and to take preemptive action to avoid
any crisis.
Odisha Rasagola
In News: The rasagola, a popular dessert of Odisha, has
received the geographical indication tag from the Registrar of
Geographical Indication.
• Both Odisha and West Bengal have been contesting the
origin of the rasagola. Historical records submitted say
the ‘Odisha Rasagola’ is associated with world famous
Puri Jagannath Temple.
• The reference of rasagola is found in the late 15th-
century Odia Ramayana written by Balaram Das.
• Balaram Das’s Ramayana is known as Dandi Ramayana or Jagamohana Ramayana as
it was composed and sung at the Jagamohana of the Puri Temple.
About Geographical Indication Tag:
A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical
origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function
as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place.
For UPSC preparations- visit www.mentors4ias.com


External commercial borrowings

In News: The RBI has decided to relax norms for end-use of funds raised via the external
commercial borrowing (ECB) route by companies and non-banking finance companies,
following feedback from various stakeholders.
• External commercial borrowing (ECBs) are loans in India made by non-resident
lenders in foreign currency to Indian borrowers. They are used widely in India to
facilitate access to foreign money by Indian corporations and PSUs (public sector
undertakings).

Advantages of ECBs:
• ECBs provide opportunity to borrow large volume of funds.
• The funds are available for relatively long term.
• Interest rate are also lower compared to domestic funds.
• ECBs are in the form of foreign currencies. Hence, they enable the corporate to have
foreign currency to meet the import of machineries etc.
• Corporate can raise ECBs from internationally recognized sources such as banks,
export credit agencies, international capital markets etc.
Disadvantages of External Commercial Borrowing
• The company could develop a lax attitude as the funds are available at lower rates.
Companies could borrow excessively due to this and it could eventually lead to
higher debt on the company’s balance sheet, thereby adversely affecting financial
ratios.
• Rating agencies see companies with higher debt on their balance sheets in a negative
light, which could lead to a potential downgrade of such companies.
• Furthermore, the shares of the company could also be subject to a decline in market
value over a period of time.
• Considering the fact that raising funds through External Commercial Borrowing is done
in foreign currencies, the principal as well as the interest will have to be paid in foreign
currencies. As such, the company is exposed to risks associated with exchange rates.
Dholera Special Investment Region’ (DSIR)

In News: The ‘Dholera Special Investment Region’ (DSIR) is envisaged to be a first “green city
in the world”.
• It is located to the south-west of Ahmedabad.
• It is one of the several Greenfield cities that have been planned on the Delhi Mumbai
Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
• It will be the world's largest urban development project.
• The DSIR is slated to be bigger than Singapore.
• It will be connected to the city by a six-lane Expressway with a Metrorail running
through its centre.
• It has been well planned and is well connected through all modes of transport
including rail, road, metro and port.
• The Dholera greenfield International Airport is a part of DSIR.
About Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC):
• Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is a mega infra-structure project of USD 90 billion
with the financial & technical aids from Japan, covering an overall length of 1483 KMs

between the political capital and the business capital of India, i.e. Delhi and Mumbai.
A MoU in this regard was signed in 2006.
• The project would include six mega investment regions of 200 square kilometres
each and will run through six states Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Southern
Haryana, Eastern Rajasthan, Eastern Gujarat, and Western Maharashtra. However,
the Project Influence Region of DMIC includes parts of Madhya Pradesh too.
• The project aims to develop an environmentally sustainable, long lasting and
technological advanced infrastructure utilizing cutting age Japanese technologies and
to create world class manufacturing and investment destinations in this region.
Insolvency Code
In News: The Rajya Sabha passed an amended version of
the three-year-old Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
• The Code provides a time-bound process for
resolving insolvency in companies and among
individuals.
• Insolvency is a situation where individuals or
companies are unable to repay their outstanding
debt.
• Under the Code, a financial creditor may file an
application before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for initiating the
insolvency resolution process. The NCLT must find the existence of default within 14 days.
Thereafter, a Committee of Creditors (CoC) consisting of financial creditors will be
constituted for taking decisions regarding insolvency resolution. The CoC may either
decide to restructure the debtor’s debt by preparing a resolution plan or liquidate the
debtor’s assets.
• The CoC will appoint a resolution professional who will present a resolution plan to the
CoC. The CoC must approve a resolution plan, and the resolution process must be
completed within 180 days. This may be extended by a period of up to 90 days if the
extension is approved by NCLT.
• If the resolution plan is rejected by the CoC, the debtor will go into liquidation. The Code
provides an order of priority for the distribution of assets in case of liquidation of the
debtor. This order places financial creditors ahead of operational creditors (e.g.,
suppliers). In a 2018 Amendment, home-buyers who paid advances to a developer were
to be considered as financial creditors. They would be represented by an insolvency
professional appointed by NCLT.
• The Bill addresses three issues, First, it strengthens provisions related to time-limits.
Second, it specifies the minimum payouts to operational creditors in any resolution plan.
Third, it specifies the manner in which the representative of a group of financial
creditors (such as home-buyers) should vote.
• Initiation of resolution process: As per the Code, the NCLT must determine the existence
of default within 14 days of receiving a resolution application. Based on its finding, NCLT
may accept or reject the application. The Bill states that in case the NCLT does not find
the existence of default and has not passed an order within 14 days, it must record its
reasons in writing.

• Resolution plan: The Code provides that the resolution plan must ensure that the
operational creditors receive an amount which should not be lesser than the amount
they would receive in case of liquidation.
• Time-limit for resolution process: The Code states that the insolvency resolution process
must be completed within 180 days, extendable by a period of up to 90 days. The Bill
adds that the resolution process must be completed within 330 days.
• Representative of financial creditors: The Code specifies that, in certain cases, such as
when the debt is owed to a class of creditors beyond a specified number, the financial
creditors will be represented on the committee of creditors by an authorised

representative. These representatives will vote on behalf of the financial creditors as per
instructions received from them.
Plastic alternative from jute

In News: Bangladeshi scientist has found a way to turn the jute
fibre into low-cost biodegradable cellulose sheets that can be
made into greener throwaway bags that look and feel much like
plastic ones.
• The sacks are biodegradable after three months buried
in soil, and can also be recycled. Bangladesh is now
producing 2,000 of the bags a day on
an experimental basis, but plans to About Jute Industry:
scale up commercial production. ® Known as the ‘golden fibre’ jute is one
• It can be used in garments and food of the longest and most used natural
packaging work also as wrapping fibre for various textile applications.
material and carrying bag. ® It thrives in tropical lowland areas
Government Support: with humidity of 60% to 90%. Jute is a
• To promote and popularize jute rain-fed crop with little need for
diversification work, National Jute Board, fertilizer or pesticides.
Ministry of Textiles, acts as the apex body ® World's leading jute producing
for promotion of the products in India and countries are India , Bangladesh ,
abroad. China and Thailand.
• The Government has mandated the ® India is the world's largest producer
packaging of 100% of foodgrain and 20% of raw jute and jute goods ,
of sugar in jute bags for 2018-19. contributing to over 50% and 40%
• The decision aims to benefit farmers and respectively of global production.
workers in the Eastern and Northeastern ® The cultivation of jute in India is mainly
parts of the country. confined to the eastern region of the
• The order follows the Jute Packaging country. The jute crop is grown in
Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing seven states - West Bengal , Assam ,
Commodities) Act (JPM), 1987 to protect Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh , Tripura
the jute sector from the plastic packaging and Meghalaya . West Bengal alone
segment. accounts for over 50% of the total raw
• The Act mandates compulsory use of jute production.
sacks in certain areas to bring buoyancy
to the raw jute market.

Inter-ministerial committee on virtual currencies

In News: The inter-ministerial committee set up by the government on virtual currencies has
suggested banning of cryptocurrencies in India.
Recommendation of the committee:
1. Impose fines and penalties for
carrying on of any activities connected
with cryptocurrencies
2. The government should consider
setting up of a standing committee to

revisit the issues addressed in the
report, as virtual currencies and its
technology are still evolving.
3. The government in consultation with the RBI, may consider approving digital
rupee to be legal tender to come into effect as and when notified and to an extent
as may be specified.
4. The digital rupee shall be governed by such regulations as may be notified by the
Reserve Bank under the relevant provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act,
1934.
5. The panel backed use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) or blockchain for
selected areas. It has asked the department of economic affairs to take the
necessary measures to facilitate the use of DLT in the financial field after
identifying its uses.
6. Use of DLT to reduce compliance costs for know-your-customer (KYC)
requirements.

About Virtual Currencies:
• Virtual currency is a currency that operates through codes using computer
technology as its basic platform.
• There are block-chains which are online registers and through these online registers,
people can actually buy these currencies and mine the currencies and use them as
instrument of exchange.
Concerns:
• Founded as a peer-to-peer electronic payment system, cryptocurrencies enable transfer of
money between parties, without going through a banking system. It is nearly impossible to
find the transaction details.
• Virtual currencies would not be overseen by any single regulatory authority. It falls outside
the purview of the Reserve banks, which oversees banks, and no other body exists.
• Virtual currencies could be harnessed for illegal purposes, by providing a financial platform
for terrorists, drug dealers and other criminals looking to operate outside traditional
systems.
• Cryptocurrencies are also frequently targeted by hackers. In the first eight months of 2018,
hackers stole nearly $1 billion from cryptocurrency exchanges.
Arguments against the ban:
• A ban would inhibit new applications and solutions from being deployed and would
discourage tech startups. It would handicap India from participating in new use cases that
cryptocurrencies and tokens offer.
• Ban is more likely to deter only the legitimate operators as they have no intent to be non-
compliant.

Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019

In News: In a bid to save gullible investors from ponzi schemes, Lok Sabha passed the Banning
of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019 that seeks to put in place a mechanism by which
poor depositors get back their hard earned money.
• The proposed laws would have provisions to
combat three different types of offences running
unregulated deposit schemes, fraudulent default
in regulated deposit schemes, and wrongful
inducement in relation to unregulated deposit

schemes.
• It also provides for attachment of properties or
assets and subsequent realization of assets for repayment to depositors. Clear-cut
timelines have been provided for attachment of property and restitution to
depositors.
• In the recent past, there have been rising instances of people in various parts of the
country being defrauded by illicit deposit taking schemes.
• The worst victims of these schemes are the poor and the financially illiterate, and
the operations of such schemes are often spread over many States.
About Ponzi scheme:

• It is a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a non-existent enterprise is
fostered by the payment of heavy returns to the first investors from money
invested by later investors.
• The scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming from product sales or
other means, and they remain unaware that the later investors are the source of
their returns.
• A Ponzi scheme can maintain the illusion of a sustainable business as long as new
investors contribute to funds and as long as most of the investors do not demand
full repayment and still believe in the non-existent assets of the enterprise.

Science and technology

NASA’s PUNCH mission
In News: NASA is finalizing its PUNCH Mission.
• PUNCH, which stands for “Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere,” is
focused on understanding the transition of particles from the Sun’s outer corona to
the solar wind that fills interplanetary space.

• PUNCH will consist of a ‘constellation’ of four suitcase-sized microsats that will orbit
the Earth in formation and study how the corona, which is the atmosphere of the Sun,
connects with the interplanetary medium. The mission is expected to be launched in
2022.
• The mission will image and track the solar Indian Presence:
This is a landmark mission that will
wind and also the coronal mass ejections –
image regions beyond the Sun’s
which are huge masses of plasma that get
outer corona. Dipankar Banerjee,
thrown out of the Sun’s atmosphere. The
solar physicist from Indian Institute
coronal mass ejections can affect and drive
of Astrophysics is also a Co-
space weather events near the Earth.
Investigator of the PUNCH mission.
• Other missions such as NASA’s Parker Solar
Probe and the ESA-NASA joint project,
Solar Orbiter, which is due to be launched in 2020, can study the structures of the
Sun’s atmosphere.
• The PUNCH mission enhances these by tracking these structures in real time. Since
the Sun’s corona is much fainter than its surface layers, it cannot be viewed by the
instruments directly. So PUNCH will block out the light from the Sun to view its
corona and the structures in it.
Gravitational Wave and LIGO

In News: In collaboration with LIGO, a gravitational wave
detector is being set up in Maharashtra, India. The LIGO India
project is expected to join the international network in a first
science run in 2025.
• The acronym LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory.
• LIGO consists of a pair of huge interferometers, each
having two arms which are 4 km long. Remarkable
precision is needed to detect a signal as faint as a
gravitational wave, and the two LIGO detectors work as
one unit to ensure this.
• Naturally, this requires weeding out noise very carefully, for when such a faint signal
is being detected, even a slight human presence near the detector could derail the
experiment by drowning out the signal.
• LIGO, unlike usual telescopes, does not “see” the incoming ripples in spacetime. It
does not even need to, because gravitational waves are not a part of electromagnetic
spectrum or light.

• They are not light waves but a different phenomenon altogether, a stretching of
spacetime due to immense gravity.
• A single LIGO detector cannot confidently detect this disturbance on its own. At least
two detectors are needed.
• This is because the signal is so weak that even a random noise could give out a signal
that can mislead one.
Model Mains Question: What is gravitational waves? Why it is important to detect them?

• In Einstein’s general theory of relativity, gravity is treated as being a result of space
and time bending in the presence of mass.
Gravitational Waves:
• Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime travelling at the speed of light. They’re
produced when bodies with mass accelerate, changing the curvature in spacetime
around them, with those changes then spreading outwards from their source as
waves.
• Gravitational waves passing through an object distort that object’s shape, stretching
and squeezing it in the direction the wave is travelling.
• Gravitational wave detectors can pick up these distortions by splitting laser light into
two perpendicular beams that travel for several kilometres before being reflected
back to a detector.
• Any differences in the wavelength of the two parts of the beam indicate a distortion
suggestive of gravitational waves.
• The Ligo detectors on which a group of physicists claims to have detected
gravitational waves began operating in 2002 and was upgraded in 2015.
Why does one study gravitational waves?
• The gravitational waves that LIGO seeks to detect are caused by some of the most
energetic events in the Universe colliding black holes, merging neutron stars,
exploding stars, and possibly even the birth of the Universe itself.
• Detecting and analyzing the information carried by gravitational waves is now
allowing us to observe the Universe in a way never before possible.
• It has opened up a new window of study and new research in physics, astronomy,
and astrophysics.
Hayabusa-2
In News: Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 has
touched down on a faraway asteroid Ryugu.It was
launched by Japan’s Space agency JAXA.
• It is the second touchdown for the robotic
Hayabusa-2 craft, which grabbed rocks from the
asteroid. After blasting a crater into Ryugu, it
has returned to pick up fresh rubble.
• As the samples will come from within the
asteroid, they will have had reduced exposure to the harsh environment of space.
• It's hoped the rock will give scientists more data on the origins of the Solar System.

• Ryugu belongs to a particularly primitive type of space rock, left over from the early days
of our Solar System.
• Hayabusa-2 started its mission to reach Ryugu in 2014, launching from Japan's space port
Tanegashima.
• The asteroid is a 900m-wide space rock, about 290 million km (180 million miles) from
Earth.
• Asteroids are essentially leftover building materials from the formation of the Solar
System.
Artificial gravity
In News: A team from the University of
Colorado is working on making a device which
could create artificial gravity in space.
• Artificial gravity is a force that simulates
the effect of gravity in a spaceship.
• It is not caused by the attraction to the
Earth but is instead caused by
acceleration or centrifugal force.
• Artificial gravity or rotational gravity is thus the appearance of a centrifugal force in a
rotating frame of reference.
• The research centrifuge is called as ‘Human Eccentric Rotator Device’ (HERD) and the
device is compact enough to fit into a small room.
• A rotating circular space station can create artificial gravity. The rate of rotation is
necessary to duplicate the Earth's gravity depends on the radius of the circle.
• Future astronauts heading into an artificial-gravity room to spend time on a small
revolving system. It is built with the aim of counteracting the negative effects of
weightlessness.
Neutrino Project
In News: The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), a particle physics research project that
aims to study atmospheric neutrinos, has received the go ahead from the Centre even as it
has been the subject of controversy in Tamil Nadu.
• The project aims to set up a 51,000-ton Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector to observe
naturally occurring atmospheric neutrinos in a cavern at the end of an
approximately 2 km long tunnel in a mountain.
• This will help to reduce the noise from cosmic rays that is ever present over-ground
and which would outnumber the rare neutrino interactions even in a detector as large
as ICAL (sic).
• Environmental activists from the state have raised concerns regarding the project
being located in the fragile ecosystem of the Western ghats.
• With regard to the environmental concerns, the Environment Ministry replied that the
INO project does not disturb the ecosystem around the site and does not release
any radiation, as it does not have any radioactive substance. It measures cosmic rays.

What are neutrinos and how are they detected?

• Proton, neutron, and electron are tiny particles that make up atoms. The neutrino is
also a tiny elementary particle, but it is not part of the atom. Such particles are also
found to exist in nature.
• Neutrino has a very tiny mass, no charge and spin half. It interacts very weakly with
other matter particles. So weakly that every second trillions of neutrinos fall on us and
pass through our bodies unnoticed.
• Neutrinos come from the sun (solar neutrinos) and other stars, cosmic rays that
come from beyond the solar system, and from the Big Bang from which our Universe
originated. They can also be produced in the lab.
How will the Iron calorimeter detect the neutrinos?

• The ICAl consists of 150 layers of alternating iron slabs and glass detectors called
Resistive plate chambers.
• The muon neutrino interacts with the iron to produce a muon which is electrically
charged. This charge is picked up by sensors in the glass RPCs which set off an
electrical pulse, to be measured by the electronics.
• By piecing together the pulses set off in successive glass plates, the path followed
by the muon is tracked. This is used to infer the properties of the neutrino which
caused the pulses.
Some immediately possible future applications of neutrino science:
• The visible light that reaches us from the sun is emitted from the surface of the sun.
The neutrinos which also take close to this time to reach us from the sun, known as
solar neutrinos, were produced in the core of the sun. Therefore they give us
information about the interior of the sun. Studying these neutrinos can help us
understand what goes on in the interior of the sun.
• If the properties of neutrinos are understood better, they can be used in astronomy
to discover what the universe is made up of.

• Neutrinos interact very little with the matter around them, so they travel long
distances uninterrupted. The extragalactic neutrinos we observe may be coming from
the distant past. These can give us a clue about the origin of the universe and the
early stages of the infant universe, soon after the Big Bang.
• Apart from direct future uses of neutrinos, there are technological applications of the
detectors that will be used to study them. For instance, X-ray machines, PET scans,
MRI scans, etc., all came out of research into particle detectors. Hence the INO
detectors may have applications in medical imaging.
Model Mains Question: What are neutrinos? Comment on the potential application of
neutrinos.
Smart India Hackathon - 2019

In News: The Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) -2019 (Hardware Edition) was
inaugurated by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development.
• In Smart India Hackathon-2019 Hardware edition, problems are broadly based on
Agriculture & Rural Development, Food Technology, Waste management, Clean
Water, Renewable Energy, Healthcare & Biomedical devices, Smart Vehicles, Robotics
and Drones, Security & Surveillance, Smart Communication, Sports and Fitness,
Sustainable Environment, Smart Textile, Smart Cities areas.
• Depending upon nature of problem, cash prizes for selected ideas and solutions will
be given to participating teams.
About Smart India Hackathon:
• In order to make development a
comprehensive mass movement
and innovate on all fronts, MHRD,
AICTE, i4c and Persistent Systems
have come together to organise
Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2019 -
a unique Open Innovation Model
for identifying new and disruptive
technology innovations to solve
the challenges faced in our
country.
• It's a non-stop product
development competition, where
problem statements are posed to
technology students for
innovative solutions. It can help
to:
• The first two editions of the
hackathon proved to be extremely
successful in promoting
innovation, out-of-the-box
thinking in young minds,
especially engineering students
from across India.

Malicious Soft wares

In News: Globally, losses from malicious software rose
by 60% last year to $8 bn, according to latest data.
• Globally, losses from ransom ware rose by 60%
last year to $8 billion, according to data
compiled by the Internet Society’s Online Trust
Alliance.
• At least 170 county, city or State government
systems have been hit since 2013, with 22

incidents this year, according to the U.S.
Conference of Mayors, which adopted a
resolution opposing ransomware payments.
• Victims often fail to take preventive measures
such as software updates and data backups that would limit the impact of
ransomware.
• Coordinated efforts can help identify some malware and sometimes unlock data.
About Malwares:
• Malware is the shortened form of malicious software.
• Malware is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive
software including Ransom wares, Computer Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses,
Spyware, Adware, Scareware etc.
• This is any program or file that is harmful to a computer user.The term refers to
software that is deployed with malicious intent.
• Malware can be deployed even remotely, and tracking the source of malware is hard.It
can take the form of executable code, scripts, active content, and other software.
• These malicious programs can perform a variety of functions, including stealing,
encrypting or deleting sensitive data, altering or hijacking core computing functions
and monitoring users’ computer activity without their permission.
• This combination has enabled commercial malware providers to supply sophisticated
black markets for both malware and the information that it collects.
Drones
In News: The Delhi High Court has suggested use of drones
to aid civic authorities in identifying sites where
waterlogging takes place so as to tackle traffic snarls in the
city during the monsoon.
• A drone is an unmanned aircraft or a flying robot
which may be remotely controlled or can fly
autonomously through software-controlled
systems, onboard sensors and GPS.
Applications of drones:
Aerial photography for journalism and film and Geographic mapping, Gathering information
or supplying essentials for disaster management, Thermal sensor drones for search and
rescue operation, Precision crop monitoring, Unmanned cargo transport,Law enforcement
and border control surveillance etc.

India- Drone Policy:

• India has a defined policy on flying drones or unmanned/remotely operated
aircrafts. The policy and the guidelines have been finalized by the Directorate
General Civil Aviation (DGCA).
• The operators of drones will have to make an online registration and obtain a
Unique ID before they start using the drones. There is also the restriction that a
drone should be within the visual sight of 450 metres.
• Operator has to adhere to the various guidelines such as no fly over restricted
areas.
• Five categories of drones have been drawn out from the smallest (nano) ones being
those less than 250 grams and the largest ones those that weigh more than 150
kgs.
Electronic RFID (radio frequency identity) systems
In News: Electronic RFID (radio frequency identity) systems that will allow the automatic
collection of toll tax and environment compensation charge from commercial vehicles was
inaugurated at New Delhi.
• Delhi ETCS will incorporate data of all vehicles entering and leaving the city. This will
help block blacklisted vehicles.
• It will help curb vehicular congestion in the city and at toll plazas. It enables
continuous traffic flow at toll-plazas and thus expected to cut traffic jams in city.
• It will help curb vehicular pollution in the city.
About Radio-frequency Identification (RFID):
• Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) is a general term used for a system that
communicates using radio waves between a reader and an electronic tag attached
to an object.
• RFID systems are typically made up of three components namely: An antenna (also
called reader or interrogator),Tag (transponder) and a software system.

• When a RFID tag passes through the electromagnetic field of the radio signal, it will
be detected.
• Then the reader decodes the data stored in the tag and the data transferred in to
the software system for processing.
• Currently RFID is widely used for asset tracking, tracking parts in manufacturing
processes, tracking shipments in supply chains, payment systems like road tolls and
for access controlling for security purposes etc.
Chandrayaan 2
In News: Chandrayan 2 was launched successfully.
How will the launch work?
• The GSLV Mark III rocket first launched the
spacecraft into an Earth Parking Orbit (170 km X
40,400 km). Then the height of the orbit was
enhanced until the spacecraft reached out to the
Lunar Transfer Trajectory.
• On entering the moon’s sphere of influence, on-board thrusters will slow down the
spacecraft, allowing it to be captured by the moon.
• Then it will be eased into a circular orbit (100 km X 100 km). From this orbit, the lander
and rover will separate as a unit from the orbiter, and, through a series of braking
mechanisms, the duo will “soft-land” on the moon.

What is special about Chandrayaan 2?
• Chandrayaan 2 will be the first mission to reach and study the south pole of the moon.
It is made up of an orbiter, a lander named ‘Vikram’, after Vikram A. Sarabhai, the
founding father of space science research in India, and a rover named ‘Pragyan’, which
means ‘wisdom’.
• At about 3,877 kg, the spacecraft weighs nearly four times its predecessor, Chandrayaan
1.
• It will be launched by the GSLV Mark III, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s)
most powerful and massive launcher.
• While Chandrayaan 1 sent its lander crashing into the moon, Chandrayaan 2 will use
rocket technology to soft land ‘Vikram’, carrying its ‘Pragyan’ rover in a suitable high
plain on the lunar surface, between two craters, Manzinus-C and Simpelius N, at a
latitude of about 70º South.
• The total cost of the project is about ₹978 crore. The lander-rover combo has an expected
lifetime of 14 days, while the orbiter will continue for a year.

About Chandrayaan 1:
• Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft was launched by ISRO on 22 October 2008 from Satish
Dhawan Space Centre using a PSLV rocket and operated until August 2009.
• By Chandrayaan 1 India researched and developed its own technology for moon
exploration.
• Main objectives of the mission:
i) Detect presence of water,
ii) Click high resolution images of surface,

iii) Create a 3D atlas and

iv) Perform chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface.
• 95 % of its planned objectives were achieved.
• The mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. An orbiter is a space probe that
orbits a planet(Mangalyaan). A lander is a spacecraft that descends towards and
comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body.
• The presence of solid ice on moon in its polar regions was confirmed by Moon
Mineralogy Mapper (M3). The instrument, an imaging spectrometer, was contributed
by NASA.
• Its X-ray spectrometer detected Titanium, Calcium, Magnesium, Aluminum and Iron
on the lunar surface.
• This discovery of ice makes moon a potentially habitable destination.
• Scientists are exploring the possibility of melting this ice into water and further
splitting the water molecule into Hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2) for rocket fuel.
Oxygen can also be used for breathing by astronauts.

About GSLV MK-III:
• The GSLV MK-III is a 3 stage vehicle and will have an Indian cryogenic third stage.
• The 3 stages of GSLV MK III are solid boosters, liquid motor and cryogenic upper
stage.
• GSKV-Mk III is capable of launching four-tonne satellites in the Geosynchronous
Transfer Orbit (GTO).
• The rocket is also capable of placing up to eight tonnes in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO),
enough to carry a manned module.
• This is India’s first fully functional rocket to be tested with a cryogenic engine that
uses liquid propellants — liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
• The 640-tonne rocket, equal to the weight of 200 fully-grown Asian elephants, is the
country’s heaviest but shortest rocket with a height of 43 metre.
• GSLV-Mk III is a three-stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons (S200), a liquid
propellant core stage (L110) and a cryogenic stage (C-25).
• C-25, the large cryogenic upper stage of the GSLV, is the most difficult component of
the launch vehicle to be developed.

Vande Bharat Express

In News: The production of India’s first semi high-speed train has come to a grinding halt at
the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. Reason: the design of the successfully running
Train18 has been found to be violative of certain specifications and will go back to the drawing
table.
• Indigenously built by Team
ICF in record time, the
Train18, later christened as
Vande Bharat Express, was

launched by Prime Minister
between New Delhi and
Varanasi on February 2019.
• Vande Bharat Express , also
known as Train 18, is an
Indian semi-high speed
intercity electric multiple
unit.
• It was designed and built by
Integral Coach Factory (ICF)
Chennai under the Indian
government's Make in India
initiative over a span of 18
months.
• At the original price, it is
estimated to be 40% less
costly than a similar train
imported from Europe.
Ethanol pumps
In News: Pushing for the use of biofuels like ethanol and
butanol to help cut India’s ₹7 lakh crore oil import bill,
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways will
partner with Petroleum Ministry to opening of ethanol
pumps in the country.
• Ethanol is domestically produced from renewable
plant sources. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, as
well as safe to handle, store and transport.
• An oxygenated fuel that contains 35% oxygen, ethanol reduces nitrogen oxide
emissions from combustion. It also helps reduce carbon monoxide emissions,
particulate matter and sulphur-di-oxide. However, there are no ethanol fuel stations
in the country right now.

JATAN: Virtual Museum Software

In News: Archaeological site museums under
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have been digitised
through JATAN software.
• JATAN is a virtual museum builder software, that
enables creation of digital collection management
system for Indian museums and is deployed in
several national museums across India.
• It’s objective is to make a digital imprint of all the

objects preserved in museums and help
researchers, curators and other people interested in the field.
• Designed and developed by Human Centres Design and Computing Group, Centre for
Development of Smart Computing (C-DAC) Pune.
• The digital imprints (of preserved objects and monuments) created using the JATAN
software are integrated in the national digital repository and portal for making them
accessible to the public.
• Centre for Development of Smart Computing (C-DAC) Pune has also developed
“Darshak”, a mobile-based applicationaimed at improving the museum visit
experience among the differently-abled.
• It allows real-time museum visitors gather all details about objects or artifacts simply
by scanning a QR code placed near the object.
Microdot Patches
In News: The Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways on July 24 issued a draft notification to
amend the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, allowing
motor vehicles and their parts, components,
assemblies and sub-assemblies to be affixed with
permanent and nearly invisible microdots that can
be read physically with a microscope and
identified with an ultra violet light source.
• Microdot technology involves spraying the
body and parts of a vehicle – or any other
machine – with microscopic dots. This gives the object or vehicle a unique
identification. Use of this technology is expected to help check vehicle theft and the
use of fake spare parts.
• The microdots and adhesive would be permanent fixtures that cannot be removed
without damaging the asset – the vehicle itself.
• The microdots, if affixed, will have to comply with AIS (Automotive Industry
Standards)requirements.

Deep Ocean Mission

In News: The ‘Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)’ to be led
by the Union Earth Sciences Ministry will commence
from October 2019.
• The mission proposes to explore the deep
ocean similar to the space exploration started
by ISRO about 35 years ago.
• It is a five-year, ₹8,000-crore plan to explore
the deepest recesses of the ocean.

• Among the key deliverables are an offshore desalination plant that will work with
tidal energy and developing a submersible vehicle that can go to a depth of at least
6,000 metres with three people on board.
• A major thrust of the mission will be looking for metals and minerals.
• India has been allotted a site of 75,000 sq. km. in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB)
by the UN International Sea Bed Authority for exploitation of polymetallic nodules
(PMN).
About Polymetallic Nodules:

• These are rocks scattered on the seabed containing iron, manganese, nickel and
cobalt.
• Being able to lay hands on even 10% of that reserve can meet the energy
requirement for the next 100 years.
• It has been estimated that 380 million metric tonnes of polymetallic nodules are
available at the bottom of the seas in the Central Indian Ocean.
• India’s Exclusive Economic Zone spreads over 2.2 million sq. km. and in the deep
sea, lies “unexplored and unutilised”.
New Space India Limited

In News: The Union Government has already set
up New Space India Limited (NSIL), a wholly
owned Government of India undertaking/
Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under
the administrative control of Department of
Space (DOS).
• It is a private entity, set up to aid the transfer
of ISRO technologies for commercial
purposes.
• NSIL was set up to meet the ever-increasing
demands of Indian space programme and to
commercially exploit the emerging global space market.
• This includes the small satellite programme, the small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV)
programme and the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV).
• This entity will be a link between ISRO and the industry and help transfer its technologies
to private firms for a fee.

• Other than commercially exploiting the tech transfer of SSLV, PSLV programmes and
lithium-ion cells etc, Newspace India is also meant to market space-based products in
India and abroad.
• While the space agency currently has a commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited,
Newspace India will play a different role since Antrix is solely involved in commercial
launches of foreign satellites.
• The emergence of NSIL would spur the growth of Indian industries in the space sector
and enable Indian industries to scale up manufacturing and production base.
Global innovation ranking

In News: India has jumped five places to rank 52 in the Global Innovation Index 2019, up from
the 57 it had in last year’s rankings.
• Switzerland continued to top the
ranking, China further improved its
ranking to 17th position from 20th
last year.
• India continues to be the most
innovative economy in central and
southern Asia.
• The report also highlighted that
India stands out in the world’s top
science and technology clusters,
with Bengaluru, Mumbai, and New
Delhi featuring among the top 100
global clusters. About Global Innovation Index:
• It also outperformed on innovation relative to its • The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an
GDP per capita for nine consecutive years. annual ranking of countries by their
• In the “knowledge and technology outputs" pillar, capacity for, and success in,
which saw the highest 11 spot jump, India’s ranking innovation.
improved for Intellectual Property-related • It is published by Cornell University,
variables and maintained its top position in ICT INSEAD, and the World Intellectual
(information and communications technology) Property Organization, in
services exports, where it ranks 1st in the world, partnership with other organisations
and in labor productivity growth with 4th position. and institutions.
• The nation is consistently among the top in the world in innovation drivers such as ICT
services exports, Graduates in science & engineering, the quality of universities,
Gross capital formation.
• When it comes to quality of innovation which includes quality of local universities,
internationalisation of patented inventions and quality of scientific publications,
China, India, and the Russian Federation hold the top 3 positions among middle
income countries with India ranking 26th globally.
• The performance was weak in logistics performance (down 9 spots to 43rd), Females
employed with advanced degrees (down 10 spots to 103rd) and Printing and other
media (down 12 spots to 88th).
• It fared poorly in Environmental performance (125), New businesses (100), and
Entertainment and media market 60).

News on security
Spike Missiles
In News: The Army has placed an order for procuring
Israeli anti-tank Spike missiles.
• The missiles are known for their precision
targeting with an ability to pierce even bunkers.

• This missiles are ordred under emergency
purchases to meet operational preparedness.
• The missiles can hits targets at a range of four
kilometers and can be deployed in both
mountains and plains.
• They can be fired from different platforms vehicles, helicopters, ships and ground
launchers and can be deployed even along the Line of Control (LoC).
About powers to make emergency purchases:
• After the February 14 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, the three
armed forces were given powers to make emergency purchases.
• Under this provision, the forces can make procurement up to Rs 300 crore.
Bhabha Kavach
In News: India’s lightest and cheapest bullet proof
jacket ‘Bhabha Kavach’ was displayed at the
International Police Expo 2019
• The bullet proof jacket weighs just 6.6 kg (in
comparison to traditional jackets which weigh
around 17-kg).
• Bhabha Kavach was developed indigenously by
Defence organizations like Ordnance Factory
Board and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited
(MIDHANI) with transfer of carbon-
nanomaterial technology from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
• Bhabha Kavach is built from layers of high-density, high-tenacity polyethylene, which are
fused together at high temperatures to form a thick, hard armour plate, which is then
sprayed with BARC’s carbon nanomaterial.
• The material used in the jacket are hard boron carbide ceramics, carbon nano-tubes and
composite polymer (polymer made up of two or other types of polymer).
Indian Aircraft Carriers
In News: Aircraft carrier Viraat which is de commissioned
will be scrapped. Decision to scrap INS Viraat has been taken
in due consultation with Indian Navy.
About Indian Aircraft Carriers:
• India currently has only one aircraft carrier INS
Vikramaditya.

• The country’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1), to be formally named INS
Vikrant, is being built in Cochin Shipyard.
• INS Vikrant has been delayed since its approval in 2003, and it is now expected to be
out for sea trials only by 2020.
• Navy Headquarters is working on a second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier or IAC-2, which
would give India a fleet of three aircraft carriers.
NAG Missile
In News: Indian Army has successfully carried out summer user trials of third Generation Anti-
Tank Guided Missile NAG at Pokhran Field Firing
Ranges.
• NAG missile has been developed to engage
highly fortified enemy tanks in all weather
conditions with day and night capabilities
and with a minimum range of500 metres
and maximum range of four kilometres.
• It is a third-generation fire and forget class
missile and uses an imaging infrared seeker
in lock-on-before-launch mode.
• The missile is launched from the NAG missile carrier (NAMICA) which is capable of carrying
up to six combat missiles. The robust imaging algorithm has made the missile hit the
target at four-kilometre distance even in severe summer desert conditions which is
unique in its class.
SAGAR MAITRI Mission

In News: Oceanographic research vessel of
Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO), INS Sagardhwani,
embarked on a two-month long SAGAR MAITRI
(SM) Mission-2.
• SAGAR MAITRI is a unique initiative of
DRDO which aligns with the broad
objective of Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi’s policy declaration “Safety And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)” to
promote closer co-operation in socio-economic aspects as well as greater scientific
interaction especially in ocean research among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries.
• INS Sagardhwani has been designed and developed by Naval Physical and
Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a premier systems laboratory of DRDO. It
conducts ocean research experiments in the Indian waters and spearheads NPOL’s
at-sea data collection activities.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the strategic importance of Indian Ocean region with
respect to India.

Mission Highlights:
• SAGAR MAITRIMission (Marine & Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research
Initiative))-2 commemorates the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of India’s lone
research ship INS Kistna’s missions as part of the historic International Indian
Ocean Expeditions(IIOE), which took place during 1962-65.
• The prime objectives of the SAGAR MAITRI Mission are data collection from the
entire North Indian Ocean, focussing on the the Andaman Sea and adjoining seas
and establishing long-term collaboration with eight IOR countries in the field of
ocean research and development.

• The other IOR countries, include Oman, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar.
• The programme also aims at establishing long term scientific collaboration with
these countries in the field of ‘Ocean Research & Development’ and data collection
with a focus in the Andaman Sea.

NAVIC
In News: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is in talks with processing chip
manufacturers such as Qualcomm to substitute the existing Global Positioning System (GPS)
with the Indian version of satellite navigation. The Indian positioning system is called
Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).
• The GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system that is owned by the United States
government and operated by the United States Air Force. Apart from GPS, there is
GLONASS of Russia, Galileo of the European Union and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System
(or BDS) of China.
• India got its system with the launch of the IRNSS 1-G satellite, is the seventh member of
the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), in November 2017.
• Its launch completed a constellation of satellites in geosynchronous and geostationary
orbits that gave Indian civilian and military users, and their partners, access to a
dedicated satellite navigation system that was not be dependent on foreign
governments or suppliers.

• All 7 satellites are configured identically. Three of the 7 satellites are located in suitable
orbital slots in geostationary orbit; remaining four are in geosynchronous orbits with the
required inclination and equatorial crossings in two different planes.
Applications of IRNSS:
• The IRNSS can provide Standard Positioning Service (SPS) to all users, and an
encrypted Restricted Service (RS) to authorised users.
• The IRNSS has a position accuracy better than 20 metres in the primary service
area.
• It can help in terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation; disaster management; vehicle
tracking and fleet management; integration with mobile phones; precise timing;
mapping and geodetic data capture; terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and
travellers; visual and voice navigation for drivers.
• The regional navigation satellite system can provide accurate position information
service to users in India and the region, extending up to 1,500 km from its
boundary, which is its Primary Service Area. Beyond that lies an Extended Service
Area.
Significance:
• Having a global navigation system bolsters the ability of a nation to serve as a net
security provider, especially through the guarantee of such assurance policies. It
can also play a significant role in relief efforts post disasters such as the tsunami in
the Indian Ocean region in 2004 and the Pakistan-India earthquake in 2005.
Indo-French Joint Air Exercise Garuda-VI

In News: The Indian Air Force and French Air Force are going to be participating in a bilateral
air exercise Garuda VI at France.
• Exercise will see the most potent fighter
aircraft of the two countries including,
• Rafale is a French twin-engine multirole
fighter aircraft designed and built by
Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide
range of weapons, the Rafale is intended
to perform air supremacy, interdiction,
aerial reconnaissance, ground support,
in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and
nuclear deterrence missions.
• The Mirage 2000: is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter
manufactured by Dassault Aviation.
• Sukhoi 30: The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter
developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, it is a heavy,
all-weather, long-range fighter

Operation ‘Sudarshan’
In News: The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched a massive exercise, code named
‘Sudarshan’, to fortify the ‘anti-infiltration grid’ along the Pakistan border in Punjab and
Jammu.
• The operation will cover the entire over the 1,000-km length of the India-Pakistan
International Border.
• While Jammu shares about 485-km of the border with Pakistan, about 553-km of
the front is in Punjab. It further runs down towards Rajasthan and Gujarat on India’s
western flank.
Defence Corridor
In News: In pursuance to the budget announcement (2018-19) it has been decided to set up
two Defence Industrial Corridors in the Country, one in Uttar Pradesh and another in Tamil
Nadu.
• It refers to a route along
which domestic productions
of defence equipment by
public sector, private sector
and MSMEs are lined up to
enhance the operational
capability of the defence
forces.
• Development of these
corridors will help in
accelerated growth and
regional industry
agglomeration.
• It will encourage domestic production and benefit all small and medium
manufacturers along the corridor.
• The locations of these corridors are strategically decided by the Defence Ministry.
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS)

In News: Against a target of covering 14306 police stations, a total of 14874 police stations
(excluding police stations in Bihar) have been covered under the Crime and Criminal Tracking
Network and Systems (CCTNS), which includes new police stations.
• CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance Plan of Govt.
of India.
• The project aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the
efficiency and effectiveness of policing at the Police Station level.
• This will be done through adoption of principles of e-Governance, and creation of a
nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-the-art
tracking system around “investigation of crime and detection of criminals”.
• The Project will interconnect about 15000 Police Stations and additional 5000 offices of
supervisory police officers across the country and digitize data related to FIR registration,
investigation and charge sheets in all Police Stations.

• In 2015, an additional objective of

establishing a basic platform for an Inter-
operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)
was added to the Project.
Benefits:
• Benefits to Police Department:
Enhanced tools for investigation,
Centralized crime and criminal
information repository, Enhanced ability

to analyze crime patterns, Faster
turnaround time for the analysis results
(criminal and traffic) to reach the officers
on the field, Reduced workload for the
police stations, Better co-ordination and
communication with external
stakeholders.
• Benefits to Ministry of Home Affairs (NCRB): Standardized means of capturing the crime
and criminal data across the police stations in the country, Faster and easier access to
crime and criminal information, Enhanced ability to detect crime patterns, the ability to
respond faster and with greater accuracy to inquiries from the parliament, citizens and
citizens groups; and to RTI queries, Easy and low-cost scalability of crime and criminal
systems in the future.
• Benefits to Citizens: Multiple channels to access services from police, Simplified process
for registering petitions, accessing general services such as requests for certificates,
verifications, and permissions, tracking the progress of the case during trials, grievance
registration. Improved relationship management for victims and witnesses, faster and
assured response from police to any emergency calls for assistance.
Model Mains Question: e- governance can add value to good governance. Comment

Environment &Ecology
Compensatory Afforestation (CA)
In News: Telangana woman forest officer, on plantation drive, as a part of compensatory
afforestation for the at Kaleshwaram project site was
thrashed by a mob.
• Compensatory Afforestation (CA) refers to

afforestation and regeneration activities
carried out as a way of compensating for
forest land diverted to non-forest purposes.
• As per the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, and
the Rules and Guidelines made thereunder,
whenever a forest land is to be diverted for non-forestry purposes, the equivalent
non-forest land has to be identified for compensatory afforestation and funds for
raising compensatory afforestation are to be imposed.
• The government enacted Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016 to provide a
proper institutional mechanism for compensatory afforestation matters.
• It established the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public
Account of India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public
Account of each state.
About Compensatory Afforestation Fund:
• The funds for CA are to be recovered from the user agencies on the basis of the
rates fixed by the State Forest Department.
• The money received is to be used as per site specific schemes submitted by the
State along with the approved proposals for diversion of forest land.
• To compensate for the loss of tangible as well as intangible benefits from the
forest lands which has been diverted for non-forest use, the net present value of
the land is to be recovered from the user to adequately compensate for the loss
of natural forests.Net Present Value (NPV) of the diverted forest is calculated for
a period of 50 years.
Organic agro revolution

In News: Even as organic agriculture is gaining momentum in the country, a self-help group
of tribal women in Wayanad district of Kerala is scripting a success story in production of 13
different varieties of bio agents to support organic farming.
• Eight members of the Sabari Swasraya Sanghom tribal hamlet were guided to
biotechnology by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) under the Kerala Agricultural
University (KAU) a decade ago.
• They began their venture with production of trichoderma and pseudomonas,
biocontrol agents to fight quick wilt disease in various crops, and are producing 13
varieties of bio agents now.
• The members produced nearly 183 tonnes of bio agents, including 16 tonnes of bio
fertilizers such as azospirillum, azotobacter, rhizobium, bio potash and vesicular-
arbuscular mycorrhiza; 80 tonnes of biocontrol agents like pseudomonas and

trichoderma as well as 20 tonnes of bio pesticides, including beauveria, verticillium,

pochonia, paecilomyces and metarhizium.
About Organic Farming:
• Organic farming is an agricultural
system that works in harmony with
nature. It largely excludes the use of
synthetic inputs (such as fertilizers,
pesticides, hormones, feed additives
etc.) and rely upon crop rotation,

crop residues, animal manures, off-
farm organic waste, mineral grade
rock additives and biological system
of nutrient mobilization and plant
protection.
• It protects the long term fertility of
soils by maintaining organic Matter
levels and encouraging soil
biological activity. It often involves vermiculture and vermicomposting too.
• The biological processes, driven by mycorrhiza, allow the natural production of
nutrients in soil throughout growing season.
• Legumes are planted to fix nitrogen into the soil. It allows nitrogen self-sufficiency
through biological nitrogen fixation.
• It allows effective recycling of organic materials .
• Natural insect predators are encouraged which can be specific for certain pests or of
broad-range.
• Crop Rotation supports a wider range of beneficial insects, soil micro-organisms, and
hence, protects species from going extinct.
• A key characteristic of organic farming is the rejection of genetically engineered
plants and animals.
• Hardier plants are generated through plant breeding rather than genetic engineering.
MOSAiC Arctic Mission

In News: The German icebreaker RV Polarstern,
will act as the base for scientists from 17 nations
studying the impact of climate change on the Arctic
and how it could affect the rest of the world.
• The MOSAiC mission, which stands for
Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for
the Study of Arctic Climate, comes about
125 years after Norwegian explorer Fridtjof
Nansen first managed to seal his wooden expedition ship, Fram, into the ice during a
three-year expedition to the North Pole.
• Scientists plan to sail the ship into the Arctic Ocean, anchor it to a large piece of sea
ice and allow the water to freeze around them, effectively trapping themselves in
the vast sheet of white that forms over the North Pole each winter.

• As temperatures drop and the days get shorter, they’ll build temporary winter
research camps on the ice, allowing them to perform tests that wouldn’t be possible
at other times of the year or by satellite sensing.
• By combining measurements on the ice with data collected from satellites, scientists
hope to improve the increasingly sophisticated computer models for weather and
climate predictions.
• The cold cap that forms each year is key to regulating weather patterns across the
Northern Hemisphere.
Significance:
• The warming of the Arctic affects the climate patterns globally. The mission will
produce robust scientific basis for political decisions regarding climate change.
• Understanding the processes is crucial for world leaders to build policies to tackle
climate change effectively.
Blue Flag’ challenge

In News: The Union Environment Ministry has selected 12 beaches in India to vie for a ‘Blue
Flag’ certification, an international recognition conferred on beaches.
• These beaches are at Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Bhogave (Maharashtra), Ghoghla (Diu),
Miramar (Goa), Kasargod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Eden
(Puducherry), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden
(Odisha), and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).

About Blue Flag Challenge:
• The ‘Blue Flag’ is a certification by
the Foundation for
Environmental Education (FEE)
that a beach, Marina or
sustainable boating tourism
operator, meets its stringent
standards.
• Its purpose is to enhance
standards of cleanliness, upkeep
and basic amenities at beaches.
• Under the pilot project, each of
coastal state/UT was requested to
identify and nominate a beach,
which is to be funded through
ongoing Integrated Coastal
Management Programme (ICMP).
• The FEE is a non-governmental,
non-profit organisation
promoting sustainable
development through
environmental education.

Integrated Coastal Management Programme (ICMP)

• ICZM aims to improve livelihood of coastal communities and conserve the coastal
ecosystem.
• The ICZM plan involves identification of infrastructure requirements and livelihood
improvement means in coastal districts. Conservation of mangroves is among the
components.It is a World Bank assisted project.
• It is being implemented by the Department of Forests and Environment with
assistance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
(MoEFCC).
India and Plastic Pollution Menace

In News: The Central Pollution Control Board
(CPCB) has pulled up 52 companies including
Amazon, Flipkart, Danone Foods and Beverages
and Patanjali Ayurved Limited for not specifying
a timeline or a plan to collect the plastic waste
that results from their business activities.
• The Plastic Waste Management Rules,
2016, (which was amended in 2018)
prescribed by the Union Environment
Ministry, says that companies that use plastic in their processes packaging and
production have a responsibility to ensure that any resulting plastic waste is safely
disposed of.
• Under this system called the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) companies have to
specify collection targets as well as a time-line for this process within a year of the rules
coming into effect on March 2016. The plastic waste can be collected by the company or
outsourced to an intermediary.
• The Rules also mandate the responsibilities of local bodies, gram panchayats, waste
generators and retailers to manage such waste.
India’s Experience with Handling Plastics:

• Inspite of these laws, India has made little progress in managing its plastic waste.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates in 2015, Indian cities
generate about 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste per day and about 70 per cent of the
plastic produced in the country ends up as waste.
• Nearly 40 per cent of India’s plastic waste is neither collected nor recycled and ends up
polluting the land and water.
• Plastic packaging has been singled out as one of the key contributors to plastic waste
though there isn’t any number on its relative contribution. However like the companies,
states too have come in the CPCB’s firing line.
• The National Green Tribunal earlier this year hauled up 25 states and union territories for
not following its orders on submitting a plan by April 30, 2019, on how they would comply
with the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016. They stand to potentially pay a fine of
Rs 1 crore.

Way Forward:
• In order to reduce the plastic waste management problem, we need to adopt the
principles of waste prevention. The use of durable plastics need not be reduced, but
we need to promote judicious use and reuse of single-use plastics.
• If plastic compounds are made more durable and if the general perception of
consumers regarding the reuse of plastic and reduced disposal is changed, then the
waste plastic problem can be sorted out.
• However, there are several constraints for proper plastic waste management in India
such as proper collection, segregation, and transportation of the discarded plastic

material. Increase in public awareness coupled with changes in individual behavior
can be an effective way to reduce the environmental repercussions of waste plastics.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the India’s plastic menace and potential solutions.
Sea Level Rise India

In News: According to data tabled
in the Lok Sabha by the Ministry
of Earth Sciences, of the major
ports in India, Diamond Harbour
in West Bengal located at the
mouth of river Hooghly has
recorded the maximum sea level
increase.
More on the Topic:
• While recent studies reveal
that sea level rise in the
country has been estimated
to be 1.3 mm/year along India’s coasts during the last 40-50 years, at Diamond Harbour
the rise was almost five times higher at 5.16 mm per year.
• The sea level rise is higher in West Bengal, particularly in the Sunderbans delta is because
of the deltaic sediment deposition as a result of the mixing of fresh water and saline
water.
• The mean sea level rise for Diamond Harbour was based on recordings over the period
from 1948 to 2005. This is followed by Kandla port in Gujarat and followed by Haldia in
West Bengal. Port Blair also recorded a sea level rise of 2.20 mm per year.
The link with Global warming:
• Sea level rise is said be linked with global warming and as per the fifth assessment report
of the International Panel on Climate Change, the global sea level was rising at an average
rate of 1.8 mm per year over the last century.
• Global warming not only causes melting of ice and glaciers, but also leads to internal
expansion of water in oceans and thus a rise in the sea level.
• Rising sea levels can exacerbate the impacts of coastal hazards such as storm surge,
tsunami, coastal floods, high waves and coastal erosion in the low lying coastal areas in
addition to causing gradual loss of coastal land to sea.

Comprehensive Census of Orchids of India

In News: The Botanical Survey of India has come up with
the first comprehensive census of orchids of India putting
the total number of orchid species or taxa to 1,256.
• Orchids can be broadly categorised into three life
forms: epiphytic - abundant up to 1800 m above the
sea level (plants growing on another plants including
those growing on rock boulders and often termed
lithophyte)
• Terrestrial - grow directly on soil, are found in large
numbers in temperate and alpine region (plants growing on land and climbers)
• Mycoheterotrophic - mostly associated with ectomycorrhizal fungi, are found in
temperate regions, or are found growing with parasites in tropical regions. (plants which
derive nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi that are attached to the roots of a vascular plant).
• A State-wise distribution of orchid species point out that the Himalayas, North-East parts
of the country and Western Ghats are the hot-spots of the beautiful plant species.
• Orchids have complex floral structure that facilitates biotic cross-pollination and makes
them evolutionarily superior to the other plant groups.
Protection Status:
• The entire orchid family is listed under appendix II of CITES (Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and hence any trade of wild orchid
is banned globally.
Coral Rehab Programme

In News: The National Centre for Coastal Research’s (NCCR) proposal of dropping ‘melted
plastic rocks or slabs’ on the seabed for growing coral reefs and address the problem of
disposal of plastic waste has drawn criticism from the
Gulf of Mannar (GoM) Marine National Park, which has
been implementing coral rehabilitation programme
since 2002.
• The NCCR suggested that plastic waste materials
could simply be wound around as hard substrates
as a way of disposing of them and help build coral
colonies.
• Therefore, researchers have expressed apprehensions that the NCCR’s ‘innovative idea’
for the growth of marine organisms like algae for coral reefs building would destroy the
existing coral reef colonies.
• Corals in the Gulf of Mannar were already stressed and bleached under climate change
and the NCCR’s idea would turn the reefs into graveyards.
About the Coral Rehabilitation Programme:
• The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park has been implementing the corral
rehabilitation programme since 2002.
• It has so far covered eight sq km areas in GoM region, where coral reefs suffered
bleaching and degradation due to climate change and high temperature.
• The program employs ‘concrete frame slabs’ method.

• Corals would start growing in 60 days using the concrete frames as sub-state. The
acropora coral species grow by 10 to 12 cm per year on these slabs.
Great Indian Bustard

In News: The Centre government has initiated a project
worth ₹33.85 crore for the conservation of Great Indian
bustards.
• Through ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife
Habitats’, government provides funds to states &

Union Territories under the component ‘Species
Recovery Programme’.
• The fund is for conservation and protection of 21
critically endangered species, including the Great
Indian Bustard. About Great Indian
• The ministry has also initiated ‘Habitat Improvement bustard:
and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard’ – • Only 130 great Indian
An Integrated Approach. bustards left in the
• The important objective of this is to, build up captive country.
population of great Indian bustard and to release the • Protection Status:
chicks in the wild for increasing the population. Schedule I of the Indian
• Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra are the Wildlife (Protection)Act,
important range states involved in this programme. 1972.
Threats: • Appendix I of CITES
Agriculture & aquaculture,Energy production & • Critically Endangered on
mining,Transportation & service corridors,Human the IUCN Red List
intrusions & disturbance,Invasive and other problematic
species and diseases
Rhino Protection Force

In News: An 82-member special protection force trained
to combat poachers and understand animal behaviour
was deployed in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP).
• The SRPF is basically a tiger protection force
named after the rhino since the threat of
poaching is more for the one-horned herbivore.
Their job profile includes protecting tigers since
Kaziranga is also a tiger reserve.
• Among the 82 personnel of the Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) are eight
women.
About Kaziranga National Park:
• It is a national park in the state of Assam, India.It is a World Heritage Site.
• The sanctuary hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses. Rhinos
are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species.
• Tigers: Kaziranga is home to the highest density of tigers among protected areas in
the world, and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.

• Fauna: The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water
buffalo, and swamp deer.
• Important Bird Area: Kaziranga is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife
International for conservation of avifaunal species.
Ganges River Dolphin

In News: The Ministry of Shipping informed that
Restricting the speeds of vessels and blowing sirens and
horns will be used to protect population of the Ganges

River Dolphin, in the country’s one dolphin reserve
through which National Waterway-1 connecting Haldia
to Varanasi passes.
• The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary
(VGDS), from Sultanganj to Kahalganj on the Ganga in Bihar is the only dolphin
sanctuary in the country. The Ministry in its response admitted that the Sultanganj-
Kahalgaon stretch of National Waterway-1 passes through it.
• The other mitigation measures include fitting vessels with propeller guards and
dolphin deflectors to minimise dolphin accidents and using non-toxic paints for
painting vessels.
• The mitigations are based on Comprehensive Environmental and Social lmpact
Assessment (ESIA) study on National Waterway-I including on stretches falling within
VGDS.
About Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary:

• Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is located in Bihar, India. The sanctuary is a
50 km stretch of the Ganges River. Designated in 1991, it is protected area for the
endangered Gangetic dolphins in Asia.
About Gangetic Dolphin
• The Gangetic dolphins have been declared as the National Aquatic Animal of India.
• The Ganges River dolphin, or susu, inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and
Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. This vast area
has been altered by the construction of more than 50 dams and other irrigation-
related projects, with dire consequences for the river dolphins.
• The Ganges River dolphin lives in one of the world's most densely populated areas,
and is threatened by removal of river water and siltation arising from
deforestation, pollution and entanglement in fisheries nets.
• In addition, alterations to the river due to barrages are also separating populations.
A recent survey conducted by WWF-India and its partners in the entire distribution
range in the Ganga and Brahamaputra river system - around 6,000 km - identified
fewer than 2,000 individuals in India.

Tamil Yeoman
In News: A Tamil Yeoman (Cirrochroa thais), a butterfly species endemic to Western Ghats,
has been declared as the state butterfly of Tamil nadu.
More on the topic:
• The Tamil yeoman, is a species of nymphalid butterfly, found in forested areas of

tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.
• The Tamil Yeoman is the only member of genus Cirrochroa recorded in Sri Lanka which
is round the corner from South India.
• The butterfly lays its eggs on larval host plants which belong to the family
Flacourtiaceae. This is a family of chiefly tropical trees and shrubs having flowers with
numerous stamens.
HT Bt Cotton
In News: Few Haryana farmers tried to defy a government restriction against sowing banned
HT Bt Cotton .
• Herbicide-tolerant Bt (HT Bt)Cotton is genetically
modified cotton crop.It is also known as BG-III
cotton, an advanced version of Bt Cotton, as it
takes care of weeds problem.
• Herbicide is like a poison which is used to destroy
unwanted vegetation. They are designed to
tolerate specific broad-spectrum herbicides, which kill the surrounding weeds, but leave
the cultivated crop intact.
• The herbicide-tolerant trait was developed and commercialized by US-based
multinational seed giant Monsanto.
• Herbicide-Tolerant Bt-cotton has unapproved genes which is not permissible in India.
• The herbicide-resistant gene in HT cotton can spread through pollen into biodiversity
system leading to transformation of weeds into super weeds.
• It will threaten growth and yields of all crops in future and leads to health hazards.
• In the absence of government approval, production of HT Bt cotton is illegal.
• Currently, Bt-Cotton is the only GM crop allowed to be grown in India.

‘Plan Bee’
In News: Plan Bee, an amplifying system imitating the
buzz of a swarm of honey bees to keep wild elephants
away from railway tracks, earned the Northeast
Frontier Railway (NFR) the best innovation award in
Indian Railways for the 2018-19 fiscal.
• There are 29 earmarked elephant corridors
with the operating zone of NFR spread across the north-eastern states and parts of
Bihar and West Bengal.

• The desperation to find an “elephant repellent” was triggered by 67 elephants being
knocked down by trains from 2013 to June 2019. Most of these cases were reported
from Assam and northern West Bengal.
• A device was subsequently designed to generate the amplified sound of honey bees
audible from 700-800 metres. The first instrument was installed at a level crossing
west of Guwahati on a track adjoining the Rani Reserve Forest, an elephant habitat.
• A mix of Plan Bee and other measures have helped them save 1,014 elephants from
2014 to June 2019.
International Whaling Commission

In News: Japan has formally withdrawn from the
International Whaling Commission (IWC) after 30
years, and has resumed hunting of whales for
commercial purposes.
• As an IWC member, Japan halted commercial
whaling in 1988 but hunted whales for what it
claims were research purposes, a practice
criticized internationally as a cover for commercial whaling.
• The IWC was founded in 1948 and Japan joined it in 1951. It was originally composed
of whaling nations, but increasing memberships of anti-whaling countries led the
Commission to adopt a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982.
• Japan has long sought to lift the moratorium and finally withdrew from the IWC
recently after the organization last September voted down its proposal to resume
commercial whaling of species considered abundant such as minke whales.

About The International Whaling Commission (IWC)
• The IWC is the global body charged with the conservation of whales and the
management of whaling. The IWC currently has 88 member governments from
countries all over the world.
• The Commission's role has expanded since its establishment in 1946.
• In addition to regulation of whaling, today's IWC works to address a wide range of
conservation issues including bycatch and entanglement, ocean noise, pollution
and debris, collision between whales and ships, and sustainable whale watching.

Namdapha Tiger Reserve

In News: The authorities of the Namdapha Tiger Reserve
in Arunachal Pradesh have discontinued the services of
some of the front line casual employees. This was in view
of non-payment of wages of the casual employees by the
NTCA.
• Namdapha National Park is a large protected
area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India.
With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400

faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the
Eastern Himalayas.
• The national park harbours the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests.
• Namdapha was originally declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1972, then a National Park
in 1983 and became a Tiger Reserve under the Project Tiger scheme in the same
year.It is the fourth largest national park in India.
The Trade Record Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce

(TRAFFIC)
In News: The Trade Record Analysis
of Flora and Fauna in Commerce
(TRAFFIC) had announced the
winners of the first Canines for
Felines, a special contest for wildlife
“super sniffer” dogs trained under a
TRAFFIC and World Wide Fund-India programme in
India.
More on the Topic:
• TRAFFIC was established in 1976.
• TRAFFIC is governed by the TRAFFIC
Committee, a steering group composed of
members of TRAFFIC's partner
organizations, WWF and IUCN. A central aim
of TRAFFIC's activities is to contribute to the
wildlife trade-related priorities of these
partners.
• TRAFFIC also works in close co-operation
with the Secretariat of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• TRAFFIC's Vision is of a world in which trade
in wild plants and animals is managed at
sustainable levels without damaging the
integrity of ecological systems and in such a manner that it makes a significant
contribution to human needs, supports local and national economies and helps to
motivate commitments to the conservation of wild species and their habitats.

Tiger Census
In News: According to results of a tiger census
made public recently, India has 2,967 tigers, a
third more than in 2014.
• The survey, the fourth such since 2006,
is conducted once in four years.
• Since 2006, the Wildlife Institute of
India, an Environment Ministry-funded

body has been tasked with coordinating
the exercise.
Highlights of the Census:
• Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number of tigers at 526, closely followed by
Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).
• Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in tiger population and all other States saw
a “positive” increase.
• While Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of tigers,
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu registered the “maximum
improvement” since 2014.
• The brightest spot in the non-protected tiger-bearing areas is the Brahmapuri division
of Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, which has more than 40 tigers.
• No tiger has been found in the Buxa, Palamau and Dampa reserves.
Why have the numbers gone up? Project Tiger:

• The success owes a lot to increased • The tiger reserves are constituted on a
vigilance and conservation efforts by core/buffer strategy.
the Forest Department. • The core areas have the legal status of a
• From 28 in 2006, the number of tiger national park or a sanctuary, whereas the
reserves went up to 50 in 2018, buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest
extending protection to larger numbers and non-forest land, managed as a multiple
of tigers over the years. use area.
• Healthy increases in core area • The Project Tiger aims to foster an exclusive
populations eventually lead to tiger agenda in the core areas of tiger
migrations to areas outside the core; reserves, with an inclusive people oriented
this is why the 2018 census has found agenda in the buffer.
tigers in newer areas. • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the
• Over the years, there has been Ministry of Environment, Forests and
increased focus on tigers even in the Climate Change providing central assistance
areas under the territorial and to the tiger States for tiger conservation in
commercial forestry arms of Forest designated tiger reserves.
Departments. • The National Tiger Conservation Authority
• The other important reason is (NTCA) is a statutory body of the Ministry,
increased vigilance, and the fact that with an overarching supervisory /
organised poaching rackets have been coordination role, performing functions as
all but crushed. There has been no provided in the Wildlife (Protection) Act,
organised poaching by traditional gangs 1972.
in Central Indian landscapes since 2013.

• The increased protection has encouraged the tiger to breed.

• The rehabilitation of villages outside core areas in many parts of the country has led
to the availability of more inviolate space for tigers.
• Also, because estimation exercises have become increasingly more accurate over the
years, it is possible that many tigers that eluded enumerators in earlier exercises were
counted this time.
22 species have gone extinct in India

In News: According to wildlife survey organisations,

Four species of fauna and 18 species of flora have
gone extinct in India in the past few centuries.
More on the Topic:
• India is home to 11.5% of all flora in the world.
According to the International Union for
Conservation Of Nature, a new study has shown
that since 1750, more than double the number of
plants have disappeared from the wild than
birds, mammals and amphibians combined.
• Among mammals, the cheetah (Acionyx jubatus) and the Sumatran rhinoceros
(Dicerorhinus sumatrensisi) are considered extinct in India.
• The pink-headed duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllaceai) is feared extinct since 1950 and the
Himalayan quail (Ophrysia supercililios) was last reported in 1876.
Causes for Extinction:
• Factors like “competition, predation, natural selection, and human induced factors
like hunting, habitat degradation” are some of the important reasons that have led
to these extinctions.
Gharial
In News: Odisha has renewed its effort to revive the
population of gharial.
• They are critically endangered” species of crocodile.
• Gharials were abundant in the main rivers and
tributaries of the Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra and
Mahanadi-Brahmani, are now limited to only 14
widely spaced and restricted locations in India and
Nepal.
• Odisha is the only State in India having all three species of crocodile nalgharial,
mugger and saltwater crocodile.
• The Odisha State forest department began conservation of these crocodile species in
1975 by establishing three rearing centres namely Tikarpada for gharials ,Ramatirtha
for muggers in Mayurbhanj and Bhitarkanika for saltwater crocodiles.
• National Chambal Sanctuary and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary are protected
areas for gharials.

20 million-year-old species of Vine Snake

In News: Researchers found a new species of vine snake
belonging to an ancient ancestry dating back to between
20 and 30 million years in Western ghats.
• Latest discovery of ancient vine snake will not
only help to know more about the evolution of
vine snakes but also the evolutionary history of
the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are older
than Himalayas.
• This research and finding report was recently published in a journal in collaboration
with researchers from Chennai Snake Park, Chennai and Bombay Natural History
Society, Mumbai, the team has described the unique features of this snake.
Muga Yarns
In News:For the conservation of Muga in natural habitat, under
Integrated Sericulture Development Project (ISDP) of North
East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS), the
Government of India has approved a project on conservation
of Muga in natural habitat in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and Meghalaya.
• Muga silk is a variety of wild silk geographically tagged to
Assam.
• It is extremely durable with a glossy, shimmering texture. It also has a natural yellowish-
golden tint.
• Previously used only by royalty, Muga silk is now used in saris, mekhalas and chadors
(traditional Assamese dress).
Himalayan knotweed
In News: A knotweed specie native to the Himalayas has begun taking
root in the upper slopes of the Nilgiris, potentially threatening
biodiversity along streams and rivers.
• Himalayan knotweed (Persicaria wallichii) is a plant species in the
knotweed family.
• It is a native to the Himalayas and it was originally introduced as an
ornamental garden plant.
• It grows on stream sides, hedge banks, woodland edges, roadsides, railway banks and
waste ground. Once established this plant grows into extremely dense stands that out-
compete all native vegetation.
• It can grow to about 6 feet in height, alter natural ecosystems and are difficult to
eradicate.
• It is among 27 different species of invasive flora identified by Keystone Foundation.
• Invasive species are flora and fauna whose introduction into a habitat disrupts the native
eco-system.

Dragon blood-oozing tree

In News: A group of researchers has discovered
Dracaena cambodiana, a dragon tree species in the
Dongka Sarpo area of West Karbi Anglong, Assam.
• This is for the first time that a dragon tree
species has been reported from India.
• In India, the Dracaena genus belonging to the
family Asparagaceae is represented by nine

species and two varieties in the Himalayan
region, the northeast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• But Dracaena cambodiana is the only true dragon tree species.
• Recent overexploitation to meet the increasing demand for dragon’s blood has
resulted in rapid depletion of the plant.
• Uses: It is a major source of dragon’s blood, a precious traditional medicine in China.
Several antifungal and antibacterial compounds, antioxidants, flavonoids, etc., have
been extracted from various parts of the plant.
Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary

In News: The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to declare the Ratapani Wildlife
Sanctuary a tiger reserve.
• The sanctuary is spread over Bhopal-Raisen forest division of Madhya Pradesh.
• The sanctuary has a population of about 40 tigers and the movement of 12 tigers has
been reported in the forest area of Bhopal. The whole area will be combined as one to
declare it as a tiger reserve.
• The 1,500 sq km will be designated as a core area while 2,000 sq km as a buffer zone.
• The declaration of the sanctuary as a tiger reserve will help in better conservation of tigers
in the area which is facing the problem of illegal mining and poaching.
Red Mud
In News: In a step towards productive utilization of bauxite residue, commonly known as the
‘Red Mud’, an interactive workshop called ‘Waste To Wealth’ was organized by Ministry of
Mine.
• Red Mud is a solid waste generated during the aluminium production process. This is an
environmental concern due to presence of impurities such as caustic soda and others
minerals. Red mud generation in India is around 9 million tons per year.
• It is composed of a mixture of solid and metallic oxides. The red colour arises from iron
oxides, which comprise up to 60% of the mass.
• The mud is highly basic with a pH ranging from 10 to 13. In addition to iron, the other
dominant components include silica, unleached residual alumina, and titanium oxide.
• It can be used in construction activity.

International relations
Kulbhushan Jadhav Case
In News: International Court of Justice (ICJ) has directed Pakistan to review conviction order
of Kulbhushan Jadhav and, until then, put his death sentence on hold. This is a major
diplomatic and legal victory for India in Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
• Jadhav was captured by Pakistan in 2016 and accused of being a spy, fomenting
trouble in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province. He was arrested on 3 March 2016,
while India was informed on March 25.
• New Delhi has denied that Jadhav had any links to India’s intelligence or security
agencies after he retired from the Navy.
• He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in 2017 after a “farcical trial".
India approached the ICJ in May 2017 against Pakistan for denying consular access to
Jadhav.
• The ICJ on May, 2017 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the adjudication
of the case.

Highlights of The Verdict:
• In a 15:1 verdict, the ICJ granted India consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav and asked
Pakistan to review and reconsider the death sentence awarded to him.
• Pakistan violated the provisions under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations.
• There was a three-week delay in informing India about Jadhav’s arrest on March 3,
2016, leading to a “breach” of Pakistan’s obligations under the convention.
• Pakistan ‘deprived India of the right to communicate with and have access to
Kulbhushan Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal
representation.
• ICJ rejects annulment of military court decision convicting Kulbhushan Jadhav, his
release and safe passage to India.
• On Pakistan’s argument that India has failed to prove Jadhav’s nationality, ICJ said it
was satisfied that the evidence before it proves Jadhav is of Indian nationality.
About Vienna Convention on consular relations:

• The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 is an international treaty
that defines a framework for consular relations between independent states. A
consul normally operates out of an embassy in another country, and performs two
functions: (1) protecting in the host country the interests of their countrymen,
and (2) furthering the commercial and economic relations between the two
states.
• Article 36 of the convention addresses communications between consular officers
and nationals of the sending state. The Convention provides that "consular
officers shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State and to
have access to them.
• Foreign nationals who are arrested or detained be given notice "without delay"
of their right to have their embassy or consulate notified of that arrest, and
"consular officers shall have the right to visit a national of the sending State who
is in prison, custody or detention, to converse and correspond with him and to
© www.NammaKPSC.com
arrange for his legal representation. |Vijayanagar | Hebbal 133
About ICJ:
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial body of the UN.
Established in 1946 to replace the Permanent Court of International Justice, the
ICJ mainly operates under the statute of its predecessor, which is included in the
UN Charter.
• It has two primary functions: to settle legal disputes submitted by States in
accordance with established international laws, and to act as an advisory board
on issues submitted to it by authorized international organizations.

• The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year
terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
• These organs vote simultaneously but separately. In order to be elected, a
candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies. In order
to ensure a measure of continuity, one third of the Court is elected every three
years. Judges are eligible for re-election.
• Once elected, a Member of the Court is a delegate neither of the government of
his own country nor of that of any other State. Unlike most other organs of
international organizations, the Court is not composed of representatives of
governments.
• Despite having no-binding force, the Court’s advisory opinions nevertheless, carry
great legal weight and moral authority and thus help in the development and
clarification of International Laws.
India to have NATO ally-like status

In News: The U.S. Senate has passed a legislative
provision that brings India at par with America’s NATO
allies and countries like Israel and South Korea for
increasing defence cooperation.
• The amendment provides for increased U.S.-India
defence cooperation in the Indian Ocean in the
areas of humanitarian assistance,
counterterrorism, counter-piracy and maritime security.
• The Senate directed the Trump administration to explore "additional steps to implement
the major defence partner designation to better facilitate interoperability, information
sharing, and appropriate technology transfers" and to undertake "strategic initiatives to
help develop the defence capabilities of India".
About NATO:
• It is an intergovernmental military alliance based on Treaty that was signed on 4
April 1949 and headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.
• It constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member
states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
• NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and
cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust
and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
• NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts
fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.
• These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO’s founding treaty
Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or
in cooperation with other countries and international organisations.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the recent developments in the India-US relations.
International Solar Alliance

In News: Palau became the
76th country to sign the ISA
Framework Agreement, which
till date has been ratified by a
total of 54 of the 76 countries.

• The International Solar
Alliance (ISA) is an
alliance of more than
122 countries initiated
by India, most of them
being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of
Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, now extended to all members of UN.
• The Paris Declaration establishes ISA as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of
solar energy among its member countries.
• The ISA’s major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000GW of solar
generation capacity and mobilisation of investment of over US$ 1000 billion into
solar energy by 2030.
• As an action-oriented organisation, the ISA brings together countries with rich solar
potential to aggregate global demand, thereby reducing prices through bulk
purchase, facilitating the deployment of existing solar technologies at scale, and
promoting collaborative solar R&D and capacity building.
• International Solar Alliance (ISA) is the first international organization that has
secretariat in India, (headquartered at Gurugram).ISA will increase the stature of
India at the international level.
Rohingyas
In News: Two years after more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to
camps in Bangladesh alleging ethnic cleansing by Myanmar
forces, the Indian government says it is stepping up efforts to
help them return to their villages.
• Ambassador to Myanmar handed over 250 completed
pre-fabricated homes to the Myanmar government for
use by the refugees when they return.
More on the Topic:
• The project is part of an agreement signed by the two governments in 2017, under which
the government had committed to spending $25 million over five years.
• Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, mostly Muslim, fled the violence that started after
a local militant group ARSA attacked several Myanmar police posts in August 2017,
killing about 12 and also Hindus in nearby Rakhine villages.
• In attacks on the Muslim Rohingya, termed ‘retaliatory’ by Myanmar’s Junta and the
majority Buddhist community, thousands were killed. Nearly a million Rohingya,
including about 400 Hindu families, are now living in precarious conditions in the
Bangladesh’s mud tracts in Kutupalong camp.

Model Mains Question: Discuss India’s stand on Illegal Migrants.
Rohingya in India:
• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs there are approximately 40,000
Rohingyas living in India. They have reportedly reached India from Bangladesh
through the land route over the years.
• MoS Home Affairs, informed the parliament that all the Rohingyas in India were
“illegal immigrants” and they will be deported soon, a decision that has surprised
many given the record of India accepting refugees.
• Without overtly mentioning Rohingya, the Home Ministry in an advisory to states
said “infiltration from Rakhine State of Myanmar into Indian territory…besides
being burden on the limited resources of the country also aggravates the security
challenges posed to the country.”
• Recently two Rohingya men had moved the Supreme Court against the Centre’s
proposed plan to deport 40,000 members of the community to the land of their
origin, Myanmar. They had fled Myanmar fearing execution and discrimination at
the hands of the government there.
• The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a “substantial question" on whether
illegal immigrants can be granted the status of refugees.
• India first deported seven Rohingya men to Myanmar in October 2018 and it
sparked fears of further repatriations among those sheltered in Indian refugee
camps. It followed India’s Supreme Court refusing to stop the deportation of the
seven.
Chabahar Port development

In News: The government has
allocated ₹45 crore for India’s building
activities in the port of Chabahar Iran.
This is a reduction from the previous
year’s allocation of ₹150 crore.
• India is at the forefront of the
construction of Chabahar port
which is a major regional
initiative from India. India’s
works at the port received a
waiver from the anti-Iran
sanctions of the U.S.
• Iran’s Chabahar port is located on the Gulf of Oman and is the only oceanic port of
the country. The port gives access to the energy-rich Persian Gulf nations’ southern
coast.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the strategic importance of Iran’s Chabahar port
which is being developed by India.

Significance of the Port:

• The first and foremost significance of the Chabahar port is the fact that India can
bypass Pakistan in transporting goods to Afghanistan.
• Chabahar port will boost India’s access to Iran, the key gateway to the
International North-South Transport Corridor that has sea, rail and road routes
between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia.
• Chabahar port will help in countering Chinese presence in the Arabian Sea which
China is trying to ensure by helping Pakistan develop the Gwadar port. Gwadar port
is less than 400 km from Chabahar by road and 100 km by sea.
• With Chabahar port being developed and operated by India, Iran also becomes a
military ally to India.
• With Chabahar port becoming functional, there will be a significant boost in the
import of iron ore, sugar and rice to India.
• From a diplomatic perspective, Chabahar port could be used as a point from where
humanitarian operations could be coordinated.
UNWFP
In News: Union Minister launched Coffee Table Book
commemorating 50 years of partnership with UNWFP
towards food and nutrition security in India.
• The Coffee Table Book “50 years of Partnership
for Change” showcases key milestones
achieved by the Government of India in its
efforts to make the nation free from hunger
and malnutrition and WFP’s role in this endeavour.
• Some of the major turning points in India’s journey towards food and nutrition
security captured in the book include the Green Revolution, the White revolution,
improvements in livestock and dairy development and digitization of food safety nets.
About World Food Programme:
• The World Food Programme(WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United
Nations and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and
promoting food security.
• From its headquarters in Rome and from more than 80 country offices around the
world, the WFP works to help people who cannot produce or obtain enough food
for themselves and their families. It is a member of the United Nations
Development Group and part of its executive committee.

Commonwealth Nations
In News: India has urged the Commonwealth to
expedite readmission of the Maldives as a member
country.
Background:
• The support came weeks after Mr. Modi
visited Male in his first overseas trip after his
re-election. The Maldives withdrew from the
Commonwealth during the tenure of President Abdullah Yameen in 2016 after the
Commonwealth expressed serious concern over the deteriorating human rights
situation in the country.
• Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was elected President in a democratic wave against the rule
of Mr. Yameen.
Model Mains Question: Comment on the relevance of common wealth nations in the
present era.
About Common Wealth Nations:

• Formerly called the British Commonwealth
• It is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that were mostly
territories of the former British Empire
• HQ : London
• Mozambique and Rwanda are also its members, who were never colonies of Britain
• This was set up after the second world war (in 1949) by Britain, to maintain close
economic ties with its erstwhile colonies that were now rapidly becoming
independent
• It is not a trade block. It aims to promote democracy, human rights, world peace
etc.
• Commonwealth countries in theory do not consider each other ‘foreign’, and hence
send ‘High Commissioners’ and not ‘Ambassadors.’
• Several countries (such as Britain, Caribbean islands) grant the right to vote to any
commonwealth country citizen residing in their territory to vote in their elections.
• In non-commonwealth countries, commonwealth countries can seek assistance at
the British embassy, in case their own country does not have consular services in that
country
• On occasion, the commonwealth has suspended members for not maintaining
democratic governments (such as Nigeria, Maldives).

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

In News: Ministerial meeting of Coordinating Bureau of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was

held recently in Caracas, capital of Venezuela.
• Theme for 2019 is Promotion and Consolidation of Peace through Respect for
International Law.
• India suggested that Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) needs to be re-examined and revise
its methodology and the grouping needs to undertake a new journey.
About NAM:
• Founded in 1961 in Belgrade.
• It was created by the heads of Yugoslavia, India, Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia.
• The Non-Aligned Movement was formed during the Cold War as an organization of States that
did not seek to formally align themselves with either the United States or the Soviet Union,
but sought to remain independent or neutral.
• The movement represented the interests and priorities of developing countries. The
Movement has its origin in the Asia-Africa Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955.
Key features of the NAM policy:
•The policy of non-alignment meant the acceptance of the inevitability of war but on the
conviction that it could be avoided.
• The non-aligned movement emerged from India’s initiative for formulating an independent
foreign policy.
• This independent foreign policy was based on a solid
moral and sound political foundation.
The five principles of
• The non-alignment was a strategy designed to Panchasheel: These principles
maximise newly independent India’s gains from the are mutual respect for each
world system. other’s territorial integrity and
• India’s non-alignment gave her the opportunity to sovereignty; non interference in
get the best of both the global superpowers of the each other’s military and
time in terms of aid, military support etc. This was in internal affairs; mutual non
line with her objectives of national development. aggression; equality and mutual
Why NAM is perceived not up to the date: benefit and finally, peaceful
• The end of cold war lead to unipolar world and now coexistence and economic
tending towards multi-polarity. The NAM is now cooperation
reached irrelevance.
• NAM could not push for reforms in the global bodies like UN, IMF, WTO.
• Inability to find solution to the West-Asian crisis. Withdrawal of one of the founder
members- Egypt, after the Arab Spring.
• Most of the members are economically weak; hence they have less say in world politics or
economy.
Model Mains Question: The end of cold war lead to unipolar world and now the world is tending
towards multi-polarity. Comment

BRICS
In News: Terrorism and Venezuelan crisis were discussed at the recent BRICS ministerial
meeting.
• At the meeting, the five foreign ministers all agreed to safeguard the purposes and
principles of the UN Charter, defend multilateralism and free trade, oppose
unilateralism and protectionism,
strengthen global governance, and
build a community with a shared

future for humankind.
• They agreed that regional hotspot
issues should be resolved through
dialogue and consultation and that
BRICS cooperation should work to
benefit the peoples of the five
countries.
• The foreign ministers also agreed to
maintain vigilance on cybersecurity
issues and expressed opposition to
the use of cybersecurity to suppress
the development of science and
technology in other countries.
• They agreed to strive toward an open
and non-discriminatory
environment for the application of
information technology.
• The foreign ministers were tasked
with preparing for the BRICS summit
to be held in Brasilia in November.
About BRICS:
• BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies,
namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• Together, BRICS accounts for about 40% of the world’s population and about 30% of
the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), making it a critical economic engine.
• It’s an emerging investment market and global power bloc.
• The first BRIC Summit took place in 2009 in the Russian Federation and focused on
issues such as reform of the global financial architecture.
• South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted
the acronym BRICS.
• BRICS is emerging as a new and promising political-diplomatic entity with diverse
objectives, far beyond the original objective of reforming global financial institutions.
New Development Bank:
• During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (2014) the leaders signed the Agreement
establishing the New Development Bank (NDB).
• NDB’s key areas of operation are clean energy, transport infrastructure, irrigation,
sustainable urban development and economic cooperation among the member
countries. NDB is headquartered in Shanghai.

History, Art & culture

Shankaracharya
In News: Vice President of India, Shri M.
Venkaiah Naidu releases a book titled
‘Vivekadeepini’, a concise book of aphorisms
(a memorable expression of a general truth

or principle) initially written by Adi
Shankaracharya, one of India’s greatest
spiritual and literary geniuses.)
• Born in Kaladi, Kerala in 788
CE.Propounded the Doctrine of Advaita
(Monism).
• He wrote many commentaries on the
Vedic canon (Upanishads, Brahma
Sutras and Bhagavad Gita) in Sanskrit.
• His major work is Brahmasutrabhasya (Bhashya or commentary on the Brahma Sutra).
• His most famous stotra is Bhajagovinda Stotra. He also composed the Nirvana Shatakam.
• He travelled the length and breadth of India spreading Advaita Vedanta.He was
responsible for reviving Hinduism in India to a great extent when Buddhism was gaining
popularity.
• He was a devotee of Shiva.He criticised the Mimamsa School of philosophy and
explained a major point of deviance between Hinduism and Buddhism. While Buddhism
asserts that there is ‘no Soul, no Self’; Hinduism, according to Adi Shankara, says that
‘Atman (Soul, Self) exists’.
• The basic theme of Advaita is that the one unchanging entity (Brahman) alone is real,
while changing entities do not have absolute existence. The world is Maya or illusion and
only the Self is real. A person who realises this attains moksha (liberation of the soul).
• The doctrine says that there is no difference between the Atman and the Brahman. The
individual soul is not different from Brahman. Hence, its name Advaita meaning non-
duality.
• He preached renunciation and adoption of the knowledge path to realise Brahman.
Karachi Pooja
In News: The Prime Minister,has greeted everyone, especially the people of Tripura on the
start of the auspicious Kharchi Pooja.
• It is an important festival celebrated in Tripura.The word Kharchi is derived from the word
‘Khya’ which means ‘Earth’. It is basically done to worship mother Earth.
• It is performed after ‘Ama pechi’ or ‘Ambu bachi’ period.
• The Puja is performed to wash out the sins and to clean the post menstrual phase of
mother earth’s menstruation.The festival lasts for 7 days and 14 gods of the dynasty deity
of Tripuri people are worshipped.

Kartarpur Gurudwara
In News: Pakistan agreed to give year-long visa-
free access for Indian pilgrims to the holy
Gurdwara of Kartarpur Sahib.
• It was agreed to allow visa-free travel for the
Indian passport-holders and OCI card-
holders seven days a week. Throughout the
year, 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed to visit the
Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara per day.

• India proposed that the holy shrine be open
to Indian citizens of all faiths. However, a
message from the government of Pakistan
reiterated that there will be provision for a permit system for the pilgrims travelling
through the religious corridor.
• India also asked Pakistan to prevent Khalistan supporters from misusing this historic
initiative.
About Gurdwara of Kartarpur Sahib:
• The gurdwara in Kartarpur stands on the bank of the Ravi, about 120 km northeast of
Lahore.
• It was here that Guru Nanak assembled a Sikh community and lived for 18 years until
his death in 1539.
• The shrine is visible from the Indian side, as Pakistani authorities generally trim the
elephant grass that would otherwise obstruct the view.
• Indian Sikhs gather in large numbers for darshan from the Indian side, and binoculars
are installed at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak.
• There have long been demands from pilgrims and political leaders to build a “corridor”
flanked by barbed wire to allow pilgrims to cross over into Pakistan to visit the
Kartarpur Sahib shrine, and return the same day.
• The Government of Pakistan in September 2018, decided to open the corridor before
the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak for visa-free entry of Indian Sikhs from India
to Pakistan.
• The Government of India approved the building and development of Kartarpur
corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to International India–Pakistan
border. The long awaited Kartarpur Corridor is taking shape and has been termed a
“Corridor of Peace”.
Pink City Jaipur
In News: The Walled City of Jaipur, known for its iconic
architectural legacy and vibrant culture made its entry into
the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
• The announcement was made after the 43rd Session
of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC),
at Baku (Azerbaijan).
• The historic walled city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, was
founded in 1727 AD under the patronage of Sawai Jai Singh II. It serves as the capital
city of the culturally-rich state of Rajasthan.

• In town planning, it shows an interchange of About The World Heritage

ancient Hindu, Mughal and contemporary Committee:
Western ideas that resulted in the form of the city. The World Heritage Committee
• In addition, Jaipur City is an exceptional example of is composed of representatives
a late medieval trade town in South Asia and of 21 States Parties to the
defined new concepts for a thriving trade and World Heritage Convention
commercial hub. In addition, the city is associated who meet annually. The
with living traditions in the form of crafts that have Committee is in charge of
national and international recognition. implementing the Convention.

July 2019 Mahithi Monthly Magazine

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MAHITHI MONTHLY

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ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD ................................................................................................................................ 124

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In news: Nearly 52.5 sq. km of land, will be submerged

reservoir and drinking water project.

About the Project

Chuku Buku suburban rail project

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• It will be operational in KSR Bengaluru City–Yelahanka-Devanahalli (41.4km),

In news: Karnataka to get its sixth tiger reserve:

About MM Hills wildlife sanctuary

Vaccination drive against monkey fever

in Shivamogga district and

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UNESCO world heritage tag for Belur, Halebid

In news: The two monuments were included

and Halebid though they were

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About Belur and Halebid

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Bengaluru firm offers solar-powered e-transit system

KIA to get face-recognition boarding

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• Once the domestic passenger roll-out

at the airports. Passengers will be

Karnataka’s 1st electric loco shed

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Approval granted for mini-Vidhana Soudha

In news: The Revenue Department granted administrative

Karnataka faces rain deficit

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Start-ups working on defence projects are from Bengaluru

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prevents it from reaching the earth’s in 2017.

Bengaluru will get outdoor air purifiers

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Circle air purifier over a period of eight peak traffic hours.

Karnataka home to only 1% of international migrants

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Tribal development schemes

70 years entailing expenditure to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees.

Hidden agenda of NGOs:

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Govt. publishes draft rules to regulate PG accommodations

mushrooming PG accommodations across