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Pmfias Ca 2023 11 02
Pmfias Ca 2023 11 02
Pmfias Ca 2023 11 02
Table of Contents
Context (TH): Conservationists in the Nilgiris warn of biodiversity threats from drone pesticide
spraying. They have cited of the aerial spraying of Endosulfan in Kasargod, Kerala.
Ban on Endosulfan
• Kerala Government banned the use of Endosulfan in 2005.
• In 2011, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) placed a global ban on
the manufacture and use of endosulfan.
• In the 2011, the Supreme Court of India also banned its use, manufacture and distribution.
Context (TH): Railways are most suited for large volumes of bulky materials over long distances.
Rail freight movement is cost-effective, reliable, fast, and environmentally friendly.
Indian Railways (IR) was introduced in 1853 when a line was constructed from Bombay to Thane.
In 2017, the GoI merged the Railway Budget with the Union Budget.
Modes of Transportation
• The principal modes of world transportation are land, water, air, and pipelines.
• The significance of a mode depends on the type of goods and services to be transported, the
costs of transport and the mode available.
Railway Gauges
• Based on the width of the track of the Indian Railways, three categories have been made:
1. Broad gauge: The distance between rails is 1.676 metres. It accounts for 74.14 per cent of the
length of rail routes in the country.
2. Metre gauge: The distance between rails is one metre. It accounts for 21.02 per cent of the
length of rail routes in the country.
3. Narrow gauge: The distance between the rails is 0.762 metres or 0.610 metres. It accounts for
4.94 per cent of the length of rail routes in the country.
Broad gauge (74%) > Meter gauge (21%) > Narrow gauge (5%)
Operating Ratio
• It is the ratio of ordinary working expenses to the gross traffic receipts.
• A lower ratio implies better profitability and surplus for capital investment.
Issues of IR
Rising debt: IR’s passenger segment makes huge losses.
Reducing the share of the railway in bulk cargo (trucks doing the job inefficient supply chain
high costs as well as more carbon emissions)
High logistic cost (due to long waiting times and inefficient operations)
Need of DFCs
• The Indian Railways network is heavily tilted in favour of passenger traffic, increasing the logistic
cost (goods trains have to stay idle to make way for passenger trains wasted man-hours, high
transportation costs) and making Indian products uncompetitive in the global market.
• To make the supply chain efficient, the GoI is emphasizing freight rail infrastructure by constructing
DFCs nationwide.
The National Rail Plan (2030) aims to increase the modal share of railways in freight to 40-45%
from the current level of 26-27%.
Benefits of DFCs
Creates additional rail transport capacity.
Improve operational efficiency.
Reduce cost of operation.
Carry higher volumes of freight traffic.
Decongesting Indian roads.
Saving foreign exchange by reducing diesel imports.
Context (IE): President Murmu has terminated the services of an Indian Army Major posted with a
Strategic Forces Command (SFC) unit.
• The President exercised powers under Section 18 of the Army Act, 1950 and Article 310 of IC.
Article 310 of IC
• Unless otherwise stated in this Constitution:
Anyone in the defence or civil services of the Union or holding posts related to the defence or
civil service of the Union holds the office during the pleasure of the President.
Anyone in the civil services of the State or holding posts related to the civil service of the State
holds the office during the pleasure of the Governor.
• This is subject to the provisions of IC and hence does not apply to:
Judges of the SC
Judges of the HC
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
Doctrine of Pleasure
• This idea was developed in England. In England, the civil services are considered part of the Executive,
with the Crown serving as its head.
• According to the theory of pleasure, the Crown has the authority to fire civil workers without giv-
ing them notice of termination. That is, they serve at the discretion of the Crown.
• Public servants are not entitled to pursue legal action against the Crown for wrongful termination
when terminated.
Article 52 of IC
• There shall be a President of India.
Article 53 of IC
• The president is the executive head of the Union and can use the executive power of the Union
either directly or through subordinate officers.
• The President of India is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India.
Context (IE | IE): The RBI is considering OMO to manage liquidity in the system.
• OMO is a monetary policy tool central banks use to control money supply and interest rates.
• OMO involves the purchasing and selling of government securities (G-Sec) in the open market.
Types of OMO
Permanent OMO
• Permanent OMO involves the outright purchase or sale of G-Secs.
• This implies the central bank permanently holds the securities it buys or sells.
• It is typically used to achieve long-term monetary policy goals.
Temporary OMO
• Temporary OMO involves the repurchase (repo) or reverse repurchase (reverse repo) of G-Secs.
• In a repo, the central bank buys G-Secs with an agreement to sell them back on a future date at a
predetermined price.
• In a reverse repo, the central bank sells G-Secs with an agreement to repurchase them at a prede-
termined price on a future date.
• Temporary OMO is used for managing liquidity and short-term interest rates.
Concern
• Tightening financial conditions will affect not only consumer credit (buying unwanted stuff on
EMI) but also industrial credit (which might adversely hit job creation).
Context (TH): October Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue is ₹1.72 lakh cr.
• This is the second-highest collection ever since the introduction of GST in 2017.
• The highest monthly collection was Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023.
• GST was introduced in 2017 by the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act of 2016.
• The amendment was passed under Article 368 of IC. As mandated by Article 368, the GST Bill was
passed by the Parliament by a special majority and ratified by more than half of the states.
• As per the GST Act, The Central Government has enacted:
1. Central GST (CGST) Act.
2. The Integrated Goods and Services (IGST) Act applies to interstate transactions.
3. GST (Compensation to States) Act 2017 to compensate for the revenue shortfall of the
States.
• Every State Government has enacted the State GST (SGST) Act in their respective States.
GST has subsumed 17 Central and state indirect taxes.
Five commodities — crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) —
are outside the purview of GST.
Alcohol does not come under GST due to an exclusion mandated by constitutional provisions.
Context (TH | PIB): The Indian Air Force (IAF) replaced one more MiG-21 squadron with SU-30MKIs.
• Now, only two MiG-21 squadrons remain in service.
• MiG-21s will be fully replaced by indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A by 2025.
What is MiG-21?
• The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 21 is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft designed by the
Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
• It has participated in all major conflicts, including the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars and the 1999
Kargil conflict.
• India adopted the MiG-21 in 1963 and had the right to build it in the country.
• Russia ceased production in 1985, but India continued with upgraded versions.
Sukhoi Su-30MKI
• The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a twin-seater, multirole, long-range fighter/bomber, air superiority Aircraft.
• It was developed by Russia's Sukhoi Corporation in 1995 and built under licence by India's Hindu-
stan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• Range: 3000 Km
• Speed: Mach 2
Context (IE): China to build the world’s largest ‘ghost particle’ detecting telescope named ‘Trident’ in
the South China Sea.
The University of Madison-Wisconson’s “IceCube” telescope in the Antarctic is the largest neutrino-
detecting telescope.
• Neutrinos are nicknamed ghost particles because they are very difficult to detect.
• They are subatomic particles with little mass and no electric charge.
• They are among the most abundant and tiniest particles in our universe.
• Significance:
Netrinos defy established rules of physics.
Understanding their source will enable them to explain the origins of cosmic rays.