CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR CAPF 2020 - PATHFINDERS' ACADEMYpathfindersacademypune.com/downloads/ZkLeMs9i0H.pdf · • A total of 32,559 rapes were reported in 2017 in India. • Madhya Pradesh

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PAPER 2

JANUARY 2020

Asst. Comdt. Dr. Prashant Jagtap (CISF)

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Accessible India campaign

In News

• Accessible India campaign aims at making public spaces friendly for persons with

disabilities.

• The deadline for the government’s Accessible India campaign has been extended to

March 2020 due to “slow progress,” the Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment has informed the Lok Sabha

• The original deadlines under the Accessible India campaign were July 2016 for

conducting an accessibility audit of 25-50 of the most important government buildings in

50 cities and making them completely accessible and March 2018.

• Under the Rights of PwD Act, 2016, all existing and new public buildings have to follow

the accessibility standards notified on June 15, 2017. The existing buildings were given

five years to comply.

Andhra Pradesh Disha Bill, 2019

Context:

• The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the Andhra Pradesh Disha Bill, 2019

(Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2019).

• Disha is the name given to the veterinarian who was raped and murdered in Hyderabad.

Highlights:

• The bill provides for awarding death sentence for offences of rape and gangrape and

expediting trials of such cases to within 21 days.

• At present, provision for punishing an offender in a rape case is a fixed jail term leading

to life imprisonment or the death sentence.

• Completion of investigation in seven days and trial in 14 working days, where there is

adequate conclusive evidence.

• Reducing the total judgment time to 21 days from the existing four months.

• The existing judgment period as per the Nirbhaya Act, 2013 and Criminal Amendment

Act, 2018 is 4 months (two months of investigation period and two months of trial

period)

• The AP Disha Act also prescribes life imprisonment for other sexual offences against

children and includes Section 354 F and 354 G in IPC.

• Two years imprisonment for the first conviction and four years for second and subsequent

convictions for cases of social media harassment.

• The Government of Andhra Pradesh prescribes life imprisonment for other sexual

offences against children.

• At present,in cases of molestation/sexual assault on children under the POCSO Act, 2012,

punishment ranges from a minimum of three years to maximum of seven years of

imprisonment.

• Andhra Pradesh government will establish, operate and maintain a register in electronic

form, to be called the ‘Women & Children Offenders Registry’.

• This registry will be made public and will be available to law enforcement agencies.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2017 report:




• A total of 3,59,849 cases were reported against women in 2017.( 2016, 3.38 lakh , 3.2

lakh cases 2015) The number of cases reported has increased.

• Uttar Pradesh has again topped the list with 56,011 cases of crime against women,

followed by Maharashtra with 31,979 cases and West Bengal at 30,002.

• Crimes against women constitute murder, rape, dowry death, suicide abetment, acid

attack, cruelty against women and kidnapping.

• ‘Cruelty by husband or his relatives’ accounts for 27.9 per cent of the crimes against

women.

• ‘Assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty’ comprise 21.7 per cent, followed

by ‘kidnapping and abduction of women’ with 20.5 per cent and ‘rape’ with 7.0 per cent

of reported cases.

Rape data:

• ‘Rape’ stands with 7.0 per cent of reported cases.

• A total of 32,559 rapes were reported in 2017 in India.

• Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest number of rape cases at 5,562 cases being

reported in 2017. Uttar Pradesh is second to MP.

• Delhi, saw a decline in reporting of rape cases, in 2017, 13,076 were reported, which is

the lowest in the last three years.

• 1 percent cases the accused were known to the victims.

• Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,

Sikkim, Tripura can be seen as moderately safer than other states as they recorded the

lowest number of cases.

Conclusion:

Make the criminal justice system tougher on an offender committing sexual crimes against

women and children.




Hydrogen cell technology (Fuel Cell Technology)

In News

• Ahead of next July’s Tokyo Olympics, Japan is gearing up to put on its roads thousands of

vehicles based on a hydrogen cell technology, also known as ‘fuel cells’.

• At the heart of the fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) is a device that uses a source of fuel,

such as hydrogen, and an oxidant to create electricity by an electrochemical process.

• Like conventional batteries under the bonnets of automobiles, hydrogen fuel cells

too convert chemical energy into electrical energy.

• From a long-term viability perspective, FCEVs are billed as vehicles of the future, given

that hydrogen is the most abundant resource in the universe.

• Fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process, it does not store

energy

• Relies on a constant supply of fuel and oxygen — in the same way that an internal

combustion engine relies on a constant supply of petrol or diesel, and oxygen

• Unlike battery-powered electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles do not need to be plugged in,

and most models exceed 300 km of range on a full tank. They are filled up with a nozzle,

just like in a petrol or diesel station

Criticism of Hydrogen Cell Technology:

• The process of making hydrogen needs energy — often from fossil fuel sources. That

has raised questions over hydrogen’s green credentials.

• Safety — hydrogen is more explosive than petrol.

Increase Lok Sabha seats

In News

• Former President Pranab Mukherjee made a case for raising the number of Lok Sabha

constituencies to 1,000 from the existing 543 and for a corresponding increase in the Rajya

Sabha’s strength,

• He argued that India has a “disproportionately large size” of electorate for elected

representatives and thus needs expansion of Parliament

• The last time the strength of the Lok Sabha was revised was in 1977, which, he noted,

was based on the 1971 census that put the total population at 55 crore.

• The population since then has more than doubled, and there is a ‘strong case’ to remove

the freeze in the delimitation exercise. It should be ideally increased to 1,000,

Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019

Context:

• Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi and

Aligarh Muslim University, followed by violent clash between students and police, have

had a ripple effect across the country.

Background




Acquiring Indian citizenship:

• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are four ways in which Indian citizenship

can be acquired: birth, descent, registration and naturalisation.

• The provisions are listed under Citizenship Act, 1955.

By birth:

1. Every person born in India on or after 26.01.1950 but before 01.07.1987 is an Indian citizen

irrespective of the nationality of his/her parents.

2. Every person born in India between 01.07.1987 and 02.12.2004 is a citizen of India given

either of his/her parents is a citizen of the country at the time of his/her birth.

3. Every person born in India on or after 3.12.2004 is a citizen of the country given both his/her

parents are Indians or at least one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant at

the time of birth.

By registration with conditions:

1. A person of Indian origin who has been a resident of India for 7 years before applying for

registration.

2. A person of Indian origin who is a resident of any country outside undivided India.

3. A person who is married to an Indian citizen and is ordinarily resident for 7 years before

applying for registration.

4. Minor children of persons who are citizens of India.

By descent:

1. A person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India by descent if

his/her father was a citizen of India by birth.

2. A person born outside India on or after December 10, 1992, but before December 3, 2004 if

either of his/her parent was a citizen of India by birth.

3. If a person born outside India or or after December 3, 2004 has to acquire citizenship, his/her

parents have to declare that the minor does not hold the passport of another country and

his/her birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of birth.

By naturalisation:

• A person can acquire citizenship by naturalisation if he/she is ordinarily resident of India

for 12 years (throughout 12 months preceding the date of application and 11 years in the

aggregate) and fulfils all qualifications in the third schedule of the Citizenship Act.

Dual citizenship:

• The amended Citizenship Act of 1955 does not provide for dual citizenship or dual

nationality.

• Any citizen of India, who by registration, naturalisation or otherwise voluntarily takes the

citizenship of another country, shall upon such acquisition cease to be a citizen of India.

• Cases of termination or cessation of citizenship will be determined ultimately by courts of

law.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019:

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB, which grants Indian citizenship to the non-

Muslims of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh(Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist,

Jains and Parsis)

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill proposes to grant citizenship to the non-Muslims

Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis — from Afghanistan, Pakistan and

Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.




• CAB paves way for Indian citizenship to lakhs of immigrants, who identify themselves

with any of the given religions, even if they lacked any document to prove their residency.

It also means that any immigrant who does not belong to the said communities would not

be eligible for Indian citizenship

• Any illegal immigrant from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who belongs to these

said communities will not be deported or imprisoned if they are not carrying any valid

documents for their residency in India

• The duration of the immigrants’ residency was 11 years. The amended bill has reduced it

to five years. This means that immigrants from the three countries and from the mentioned

religions, who have entered India before December 31, 2014, would not be treated as illegal

immigrants.

Exemptions:

• Bill exempts certain areas in the North-East from this provision tribal areas of Assam,

Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura as included in Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and

the area covered under the Inner Limit notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier

Regulation, 1873.(Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram along with almost whole of

Meghalaya and parts of Assam and Tripura)

The Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders:

• As per the citizenship bill, a foreigner may register as an OCI under the 1955 Act if they

are of Indian origin (e.g., former citizen of India or their descendants) or the spouse of a

person of Indian origin.

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill entitles the OCI cardholders to benefits such as the right

to travel to India, and to work and study in the country. The Citizenship Bill, which was

passed in the Rajya Sabha, amends the Act to allow cancellation of OCI registration if the

person has violated any law notified by the Central government.

Concerns :

• Lack of inclusion of several non-Muslim countries around India, such as Sri Lanka,concern

about the citizenship status of Tamil-speaking Hindus who were allowed to legally settle

in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu due to previous discrimination on the

• Tibetan refugees from China are also excluded from the bill despite being an ongoing

concern and being unable to acquire Indian nationality

• The passage of the Act caused large scale protests in India Muslim groups and secular

groups have protested alleging religious discrimination, for violating the secular

Constitution of India and its promise of equality under Article 14 and believe it legalises

religious discrimination

• The people of Assam and other north-eastern states continue to protest fearing that the non-

Muslim illegal immigrants in their regions would be allowed to stay. The protests stem

from the fear that illegal Bengali Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, if regularised under

CAB, will threaten cultural and linguistic identities of the state.

• Act was criticised by the United States Commission on International Religious

Freedom

Way forward:

• Conciliation would be the best way forward to contain violence and reassure those in need

of reassurance, pending a determination by the Supreme Court on the constitutional validity

of the Act.




• Incendiary statements and irresponsible finger-pointing on the basis of no evidence is not

needed

Conclusion:

• Preamble of India ensures equality of status and opportunity the act is evident that it

violates this principle and it also violates UDHR 1948 declaration so steps must be taken

to ensure this status

COP25: Longest climate talks end

Context:

• The 25th annual talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC), referred to as the Conference of Parties (COP), was recently held in Madrid.

• It ended without any outcome.

• It was the 15th meeting of the parties for the Kyoto Protocol (CMP15), and also, it was the

second meeting of the parties for the Paris Agreement.

• The prime objective of the conference is to complete the rule-book to the 2015 Paris

Agreement that will become effective in 2020 to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (comes

to an end in 2020).

Conference of Parties (COP)

• The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention.

• All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they

review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP

adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the

Convention.

• The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995.

Kyoto Protocol 1997

• The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to

reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part one) global

warming is occurring and (part two) it is extremely likely that human-made CO2 emissions

have predominantly caused it.

• That protocol legally bound developed countries to emission reduction targets.

• However, the agreement was widely believed to be ineffective because the world’s two top

carbon dioxide-emitting countries, China and the United States, chose not to participate

Paris Agreement, 2015

• Paris Agreement or COP21 was adopted in December 2015.

• It aimed to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to global warming.

• The Paris Agreement also aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol(to strengthen emission

reductions, in 1997)

Aims of Paris Agreement




The aim of the agreement is to decrease global warming, enhancing the implementation of the

UNFCCC through:

• Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-

industrial levels .

• Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.

• Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions

and climate-resilient development

• This strategy involved so-called 20/20/20 targets, namely the reduction of carbon dioxide

(CO2) emissions by 20%, the increase of renewable energy’s market share to 20%, and a

20% increase in energy efficiency.

COP 25: Focus

• Ambitions for this conference were limited because many countries were focused on

narrow technical details such as the workings of the globalcarbon markets.

• It was hoped that countries would resolve to work on more ambitious carbon targets needed

to fulfil the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement.

No State-wise minority classification

In News

• The petition asked the Supreme Court to frame guidelines to “identify and define” religious

minorities in every State, especially where Hindus are in a minority (in eight states) so

as to protect their culture and interests.

• Articles 29 (protection of the interests of minorities) and Article30 (the right of minorities

to administer educational institutions) of the Constitution deals with special provisions for

minorities.

• However, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition stating that the States have been carved

language-wise. But religion is beyond all borders, especially political borders. Religion

has to be taken on a pan-India basis

Right to information: ‘Abuse’ of RTI

Context:

• Chief Justice of India said the unbridled use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act had

created a sense of “paralysis and fear” in the government.




• Paralysis and fear about this Act (RTI). People are not taking decisions

• CJI said time had come to lay down guidelines on the use of the RTI. Guidelines should be

put in place to check the locus of the RTI applicant and put a “filter” on the kind of requests

made under the 2005 Act.

Justice Bobde said :

The court was not against the exercise of the right to information. “But it cannot be an unrivalled right. There is the serious problem

of people filing RTI requests with malafide intentions, people set up by rivals,” he said. The RTI Act had become a source of

criminal intimidation by people with an axe to grind. “Criminal intimidation is a nice word for ‘blackmail’,” Justice Bobde said.

Genesis of RTI:

• 1975, in State of Uttar Pradesh vs Raj Narain “The people of this country have a right to

know every public act, everything that is done in a public way by their public functionaries.

They are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing. Their

right to know, which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute,

is a factor which should make one wary when secrecy is claimed for transactions which

can at any rate have no repercussion on public security.”

• It observed, “Voters’ (little man-citizens’) right to know antecedents including criminal

past of his candidate contesting election for MP or MLA is much more fundamental and

basic for survival of democracy.

RTI Act

• An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for

requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary

for contacting him.

• “The information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall

not be denied to any person ”Bhagat Singh vs CIC in 2007, then Delhi High Court Justice

Ravindra Bhat (now a Supreme Court judge) observed: “Access to information, under

Section 3 of the Act, is the rule and exemptions under Section 8, the exception.

• Section 8 being a restriction on this fundamental right, must therefore be strictly

construed. It should not be interpreted in manner as to shadow the very right itself.”

SC Judgements:

Jayantilal N Mistry vs Reserve Bank of India

• Public Information Officers under the guise of one of the exceptions given under Section 8 of RTI Act, have evaded the general

public from getting their hands on the rightful information that they are entitled to.

• The ideal of ‘Government by the people’ makes it necessary that people have access to information on matters of public

concern.

DAV College Trust and Managin vs Director of Public Instructions

• Declared that NGOs are not beyond the RTI Act.

• This was based on an examination of the question whether NGOs are substantially financed by the government.

• Because of this observation, the spotlight falls of several NGOs that have been getting public money and were not covered under

the RTI.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) & Anr vs Aditya Bandhopadhyay and Others in 2011

• Nearly 60-70 lakh RTI applications are filed in India every year, and activists have questioned whether addressing these would

require 75% of the time of government staff.




• Several public authorities have used this observation while denying information, ignoring the fact in the same case, the Supreme

Court had ordered disclosure of the requisite information.

SC : “The nation does not want a scenario where 75% of the staff of public authorities spends 75% of their time in collecting and

furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties”

Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs Central Information Commission & Ors in October 2012

• The performance of an employee/officer in an organisation is primarily a matter between the employee and the employer and

normally those aspects are governed by the service rules which fall under the expression ‘personal information’ the disclosure of

which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest.

• if the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer of the Appellate Authority is satisfied that the

larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information, appropriate orders could be passed but the petitioner cannot

claim those details as a matter of right

Conclusion:

• A Transparency Audit report submitted to the Central Information Commission (CIC) in

November 2018 sought feedback from 2,092 PAs under the CIC to evaluate

implementation of Section 4 of the Act. Only 838 (40%) responded and even here, 35% of

the PAs fared poorly with little transparency in parameters such as organisation and

functions, budget and programme, e-governance, and other information disclosures.

• The other key misgiving with RTI implementation has been the persisting problem of

vacancies in the CIC and State commissions — the CIC has four vacancies and 33,000

pending cases. After the top court’s directions, this lacuna should be addressed by

governments quickly.

Section 144: Protests against Citizenship Amendment Act & Section 144

Context:

• As protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act hit the streets in large numbers in

several states, state governments sought to tamp down on the demonstrations by issuing

prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973.

Section 144 CrPC:

• Section 144 CrPC, a law retained from the colonial era,

• It empowers a district magistrate, a sub-divisional magistrate or any other executive

magistrate specially empowered by the state government in this behalf to issue orders to

prevent and address urgent cases of apprehended danger or nuisance.

• The magistrate has to pass a written directed against a particular individual, or to persons

residing in a particular place or area, or to the public generally.

• In emergency cases, the magistrate can pass these orders without prior notice to the

individual against whom the order is directed.

Powers under Section 144 CrPC




• The magistrate can direct any person to abstain from a certain act or to take a certain order

with respect to certain property in his possession or under his management.

• This usually includes restrictions on movement, carrying arms and from assembling

unlawfully. It is generally believed that assembly of three or more people is prohibited

under Section 144.

• It can be used to restrict even a single individual.

• Order passed under Section 144 can remain in force for more than two months from the

date of the order

Criticisms:

• It is too broad and the words of the section are wide enough to give absolute power to a

magistrate that may be exercised unjustifiably.

• An aggrieved individual can approach the High Court by filing a writ petition if his

fundamental rights are at stake. However, fears exist that before the High Court intervenes,

the rights could already have been infringed

• Imposition of Section 144 to an entire state has also drawn criticism since the security

situation differs from area to area.

SC Judgements:

1961 in Babulal Parate vs State of Maharashtra and Others

• The Supreme Court refused to strike down the law, saying it is “not correct to say that the

remedy of a person aggrieved by an order under the section was illusory”.

1970 (Madhu Limaye vs Sub-Divisional Magistrate):

• a seven-judge Bench the power of a magistrate under Section 144 “is not an ordinary power

flowing from administration but a power used in a judicial manner and which can stand

further judicial scrutiny”.

• It ruled that the restrictions imposed through Section 144 cannot be held to be violative of

the right to freedom of speech and expression, which is a fundamental right because it falls

under the “reasonable restrictions” under Article 19(2) of the Constitution. The fact that

the “law may be abused” is no reason to strike it down

Conclusion:

• Section 144 is a useful tool to help deal with emergencies. However, absence of any narrow

tailoring of wide executive powers with specific objectives, coupled with very limited

judicial oversight over the executive branch, makes it ripe for abuse and misuse.

Dolphin’s Nose: Joint Operation to crackdown on Espionage racket

In News

• In a joint operation —‘Dolphin’s Nose’ — conducted by the Andhra Pradesh State,

Naval and Central intelligence agencies, seven naval personnel and hawala operator were

arrested for alleged espionage and suspected links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services

Intelligence (ISI)

• Two of the personnel were from the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) and the rest from the

Western Naval Command (WNC).




• The importance of the Eastern Naval Command (HQ at Vishakapatnam, AP) has

grown with the presence of the Ship Building Centre, which builds the Arihant-class

nuclear submarines.

• The ENC is also coming up withstrategic Naval Alternative Operations Base (NAOB)in

Visakhapatnam district.

• The NAOB and the Arihant Project are listed under the “top-secret” strategic weapons

projects and are directly under the control of the Prime Minister’s Office.

National Mathematics Day: Tribute to S. Ramanujan

In News

• December 22, the birth anniversary of India’s famed mathematician Srinivasa

Ramanujan, is celebrated as National Mathematics Day.

• Ramanujan was born in 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu (then Madras Presidency) in an Iyengar

Brahmin family.

• At age 12, despite lacking a formal education, he had excelled at trigonometry and

developed many theorems by himself.

• Living in dire poverty, Ramanujan then pursued independent research in mathematics.

• In 1914, Ramanujan arrived in Britain who worked with GH Hardy and in 1917,

Ramanujan was elected to be a member of the London Mathematical Society.

• His work in the number theory is especially regarded. He was recognised for his mastery

of continued fractions, and had worked out the Riemann series, elliptic integrals,

hypergeometric series, and the functional equations of the zeta function

• Ramanujan could not get accustomed to the England’s diet, and returned to India in 1919.

Ramanujan’s health continued to deteriorate, and he died in 1920 at the age of 32.

• The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015) was a biopic on the mathematician.

Core Catcher: Device to contain nuclear accidents

In News

• Moscow-based Rosatom State Corporation installed a core melt localisation device

(CMLD) or “core catcher” at Unit 3 of Tamil Nadu’s Kudankulam Nuclear Power

Plant (KKNPP).

• The device is designed to localise and cool the molten core material in case of a meltdown

accident.

• Such an accident occurs when the nuclear fission reaction taking place inside a reactor is

not sufficiently cooled, and the buildup of heat causes fuel rods to melt down




• In 2011, the device was first installed at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China, which

is of Russian design

• In 2018, a 200-tonne core catcher is being installed Rooppur 1 Nuclear Power Plant in

Bangladesh (India-Russia collaboration which goes into operation in 2023)

Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP)

In News

• Afghanistan has become the first country to formally recognize Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP).

• As per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, IP is designated as the official book of standards

for drugs imported and/or manufactured for sale, stock or exhibition for sale or distribution

in India.

• The IP specifies the standards of drugs manufactured and marketed in India in terms of

their identity, purity and strength.

About Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC)

• It is an autonomous institution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which sets

standards (in form of IP) for all drugs that are manufactured, sold and consumed in India.

• The IP Commission’s mission is to promote public and animal health in India by

bringing out authoritative and officially accepted standards for quality of drugs including

active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients and dosage forms, used by health

professionals, patients and consumers

• The Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is the Chairperson and the

Chairman-Scientific Body is the Co-Chairman of the Commission

Sarvatra Kavach: Indigenously developed Bullet-proof jacket

In News

• Major Anoop Mishra was felicitated by Army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat with the Army

Design Bureau (ADB) excellence award for indigenously developing Sarvatra Kavach.

• Sarvatra Kavach is a bulletproof jacket that can provide protection against various

ammunition including that of sniper rifles.

• The suit was named Sarvatra Kawach as it provides protection from neck to ankle and

upper arms

• The project was sanctioned in June 2017 and initially the design and development of a

Level IIIA soft body armour suit was sanctioned and was subsequently revised to include

a Level IV hard armour panel inserts.

• The ADB was set up to liaise with the industry and the academia and develop indigenous

solutions for the Army




Rohtang Pass: Strategic tunnel under it

In News

• The Union Cabinet has decided to name the Strategic Tunnel under Rohtang Pass after

former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

• Rohtang Pass is a high mountain pass on the eastern PirPanjal Range of the Himalayas. It

connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh.

• The 8.8-kilometre long tunnel is the world’s longest tunnel above an altitude of 3,000

metres. It will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres.

• It will provide all weather connectivity to remote border areas of Himachal Pradesh and

Ladakh which otherwise remained cut off from the rest of the country for about six

months during winters.

• The decision to construct tunnel was taken during A.B.Vajpayee’s time and it is nearing

completion.

Hypersonic Weapons: Russia becomes the first country to deploy it

In News

• President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is the only country in the world that has

hypersonic weapons- weapons that travel faster than Mach5 (~6174kmph) and have the

capability to manoeuvre during the entire flight.

• The first unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle is set to go on duty

by Dec 2019, while that the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles already have

entered service.

• Its ability to change both its course and its altitude en route to a target makes it immune to

interception by the the enemy.

• The Kinzhal, which is carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, entered service with the Russian air

force last year. The missile flies 10 times faster than the speed of sound, has a range of

more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and can carry a nuclear or a conventional

warhead. It is capable of hitting both land targets and navy ships.

Do You Know?

• Mach Number is the ratio of the speed of the body to the speed of sound in the

undisturbed medium through which the body is traveling. E.g. If the body is flying at Mach

3, then its speed is thrice the speed of sound in air (which is 332 m/s or 1195 km/hr).

• It is named in honor of Ernst Mach (1838-1916), a physicist from Austria.

• Types of Aircrafts/missiles based on Mach Number:

o Subsonic (M < 1)

o Transonic (M = 1)

o Supersonic (1 < M < 3)

o High Supersonic (3 < M < 5)

o Hypersonic (M > 5)

o High Hypersonic (M ~ 25)




National Population Register (NPR) : Census will be conducted in 2021

Context:

• The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to conduct Census 2021 and update the National

Population Register (NPR). While the Census will be conducted in 2021, the NPR update

will take place from April to September 2020 in all the States/UTs except Assam.

• According to the sources, the Union Cabinet has approved a proposal of the Home Ministry

to spend Rs 8,754 crore for the Census 2021 and Rs 3,941 crore for updating the NPR.

NPR

• The NPR is a register of usual residents of the country.

• It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.

• It includes both Indian citizens as well as a foreign citizen.

Objectives:

• To create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.

• The first National Population Register was prepared in 2010 and updating this data was

done during 2015 by conducting door to door survey.

• The next update of the NPR will take place next year from April to September with the

House listing phase of the Census 2021.

• It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and

National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship

(Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

Usual resident

• According to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards)

Rules, 2003, a usual resident is a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6

months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or

more.

Census:

• The Census is the enumeration of the population of the country It is being conducted at an

interval of 10 years.

• Census 2021 will be 16th census in the country since the first census happened in 1872

• For the first time, the Census 2021 will use the Mobile App for data collection. It will also

provide a facility to the public for self-enumeration.

NPR connected to NRC?

• The Citizenship Act empowers the government to compulsorily register every citizen and

maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens.

• A nationwide NRC — if undertaken — would flow out of NPR.

• This does not necessarily mean that an NRC must follow NPR — no such register was

compiled after the previous NPR in 2010.

• After a list of residents is created, a nationwide NRC — if it happens — could go about

verifying the citizens from that list.

Concerns:

• Another debate has been about privacy.

• The NPR intends to collect many details of personal data on residents.

• The government position is based on two grounds. One is that every country must have a

comprehensive identity database of its residents with demographic details.




• Largely to justify the collection of data such as driving licence, voter ID and PAN, is that

it will ease the life of those residing in India by cutting red tape

Concerns in West Bengal and Kerala:

• These Opposition-ruled states are making a political point. Citizenship, aliens and

naturalisation are subject matters listed in List 1 of the Seventh Schedule that fall

exclusively under the domain of Parliament.

• Legally, the states have no say in implementing or ruling out NPR. However, given that

the manpower is drawn from the states, the defiance could potentially result in a showdown.

Desertification: Another 30% of the India’s land is undergoing degradation

Context:

• Every year during the monsoon, Hemant Waman Chowre faces a peculiar situation. On the

one hand, he hopes for good rainfall to water his crops but on the other, he is scared, for

even a mild shower can destroy his saplings.

• These are clear signs of desertification which, as per the United Nations Convention to

Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is degrading 12 million ha of productive land across

the world every year. This is over 80 times the size of Delhi and is enough to grow 20

million tonnes of grain.

• Dry lands affected by desertification not only lose their ability to support plant life, but also

their ability to offer ecosystem services, such as management of water systems and storage

of carbon use in global warming.

• Desertification has occurred throughout history. But what’s alarming is that its pace has

accelerated 30 to 35 times the historical rate in the recent decades. With changing climate,

prolonged droughts and increasing incidences of floods, landslides and frost heaving are in

any case reducing the amount of productive land.

• The World Atlas of Desertification, 1997, shows overgrazing is responsible for 90 per cent

of dryland degradation in Australia and 60 per cent in Africa. Deforestation has caused 40

per cent dryland degradation in South America and Europe and 30 per cent in Asia.

“According to Desertification and Land Degradation of Selected Districts of India, an atlas

published by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Space Application Centre (SAC),

Ahmedabad in 2018, some 96.40 million ha, or about 30 per cent of the country’s total area,

is undergoing degradation”




• SAC mapped India’s 76 drought-prone districts and two sub-basins in Ladakh to prepare

the atlas and found that in drylands, which span 228.3 million ha, or 70 per cent of the

country’s total land, 82.64 million ha is under desertification.

• TERI’s conservative estimate shows land degradation costs $48.8 billion to the country’s

exchequer annually.

• This is almost 2.08 per cent of India’s GDP in 2014-15 and over 13 per cent of gross value

added from agriculture and forestry that year.

• The economic cost of forest degradation accounts for 55 per cent of the total loss. There

has been a consistent increase in the area under water erosion, said the report.

State-wise plight:

• In Maharashtra, the timber mafia was eating into already thin forests, leading to soil

erosion. More than a million trees were felled between 2005 and 2014, using permits issued

by the state’s forest department every year. Another 0.26 million were cut illegally.

• Excessive mining in Jharkhand has triggered soil erosion and aggravated water scarcity

in the state. Data with the Central Ground Water Board shows that water table in the entire

block has lowered from 8 m below the ground level in 2013 to about 10 m in 2017.

• Rampant mining and expanding urbanisation has taken a toll on Goa. Lack of planning

could, further, degrade land in the state.

• In Nagaland, shifting cultivation (where people slash trees and burn them to prepare the

land for farming), deforestation and rising population are to blame for desertification. The

rapidly vanishing vegetation cover has intensified soil erosion in the state.

• In Andhra Pradesh, low rainfall and increased dependence on borewells have led to soil

aridity, while less snow and more rainfall has deepened the desertification crisis in

Himachal Pradesh.

• Overgrazing and encroachment of grassland for agricultural activities have

affected Gujarat.

• On the other hand, in Rajasthan, canals, tubewell irrigation and shelterbelts have led to an

increase in the green cover.

Various schemes by the Government of India which are helping to reduce land

degradation:

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• Soil Health Card Scheme

• Soil Health Management Scheme

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PKSY)

• Per Drop More Crop

Launch of a flagship project on enhancing capacity on forest landscape restoration (FLR) and

Bonn Challenge in India, through a pilot phase of 3.5 years implemented in the States of

Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Karnataka. Ministry of Environment,

Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in partnership with The International Union for

Conservation of Nature (IUCN), through this flagship project aims to develop and adapt best

practices and monitoring protocols for the Indian states and build capacity within the five pilot

states on FLR and Bonn Challenge. This will be eventually scaled up across the country

through subsequent phases of the project.




BrahMos Missile: Latest upgrades

In News

• DRDO carried out two successful tests of the latest variant of the BrahMos missile, one

from the land platform and the other from air.

• BrahMos is a cruise missile, meaning it can be guided towards a pre-determined land- or

sea-based target. With a capability to attain speeds 2.8 times that of sound (Mach 2.8),

BrahMos is classified as supersonic cruise missile.

• An amalgam of the names of the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva, BrahMos is being

produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by DRDO and

Mashinostroyenia of Russia in 1998.

• Its land-to-land, submarine-fired and now air-fired variants have been developed stage by

stage

• A newer version under development is aimed at flying at speeds greater than Mach 5.

These are called hypersonic cruise missiles.

• BrahMos Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM): Another test was carried out from air,

using the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets of the Indian Air Force as the base. The missile

destroyed a target at sea

Cruise Missile Vs Ballistic Missile

• The ballistic missile is targeted as a projectile from a single launch force with not much-

added guidance.

• A cruise missile locates its target, or has a preset target, and navigates there. It generally

consists of a guidance system, payload, and aircraft propulsion system, housed in

an airframe with small wings and empennage for flight control.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya

In News

• December 25 is the birth anniversary of Madan Mohan Malaviya, the famed Indian

educationist and freedom fighter who is also called ‘Mahamana’

• Malaviya is known for founding the Banaras Hindu University and for becoming one of

the torchbearers of the freedom struggle — acting as a bridge between the Moderates

and the Extremists in the Congress.

• Malaviya joined the Indian National Congress at its Calcutta session in 1886 — it had been

founded a year previously at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Mumbai

• He became president of Congress four times — in 1909 (Lahore), in 1918 (Delhi), in 1930

(Delhi), and in 1932 (Calcutta). Malaviya was part of the Congress for almost 50 years.

• Malaviya was one of the early leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha, and helped found it in

1906.

• He was a social reformer and a successful legislator, serving as a member of the Imperial

Legislative Council for 11 years (1909–20).

• Malaviya espoused free and compulsory primary education, opposed the system of

indentured labour in the British Empire, and supported the nationalisation of railways.




• In 2015, the government bestowed Malaviya with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest

civilian honour, 68 years after his death.

• In 2016, the Indian Railways started the Varanasi-New Delhi Mahamana Express in the

leader’s honour.

Non-Performing Asset

• The gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of banks may increase to 9.9% by September

2020 from 9.3% in September 2019.

• due to change in macroeconomic scenario, marginal increase in slippages and the

denominator effect of declining credit growth.

• The asset quality of agriculture and services sectors, as measured by their GNPA ratios,

deteriorated to 10.1%

• Reviving the twin engines of consumption and investment remains the key challenge even

while remaining vigilant about spillovers from global financial markets.

• A non performing asset (NPA) is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest

payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days.

NPAs classified further into Substandard, Doubtful and Loss assets.

1. Substandard assets: Assets which has remained NPA for a period less than or equal to 12

months.

2. Doubtful assets: An asset would be classified as doubtful if it has remained in the

substandard category for a period of 12 months.

3. Loss assets: As per RBI, “Loss asset is considered uncollectible and of such little value that

its continuance as a bankable asset is not warranted, although there may be some salvage or

recovery value.”

Internet rights: Internet shutdown in India

In news:

• In Kashmir, the government imposed a complete.

• The enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act led to protests all over the country and

State governments responded by suspending the Internet.

• The Software Freedom Law Centre data says there have been more than a 100 Internet

shutdowns in different parts of India in 2019 alone.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Internationally, the right to access to the Internet can be rooted in Article 19 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that “everyone has the right to

freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without

interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and

regardless of frontiers.”




Human Rights Council

• The Human Rights Council of the United Nations Resolution dated 2018, noted with

concern the various forms of undue restriction on freedom of opinion and expression

online, including where countries have manipulated or suppressed online expression in

violation of international law.

Recommendation by: Justice BN Srikrishna Committee

• The appropriateness of a right to be forgotten in specific circumstances would require that

the right to privacy be balanced with the freedom of speech

• It called right to confirmation, access and correction to be included in the data protection

law.

Kerala High Court:

• In Faheema Shirin v. State of Kerala, the Kerala High Court declared the right to Internet

access as a fundamental right forming a part of the right to privacy and the right to

education under Article 21 of the Constitution

• This judgment acknowledges the role of the right to access Internet in accessing other

fundamental rights

Observations by the Court

• The Court observed that the internet acts as a learning tool and nobody can impose

restrictions on it, citing discipline.

• The petitioner argued that the restriction on the use of internet amounted to a violation of

the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the

Constitution.

• The Kerala HC in response cited the Supreme Court judgment in the S. Rengarajan and

others v/s P. Jagjivan Ram case (1989) that the fundamental freedom under Article

19(1)(a) can be reasonably restricted only for the purposes mentioned in the Article 19(2).

Conclusion:

• Internet broadband and mobile Internet services are a lifeline to people in India from all

walks of life. While the Internet is certainly a main source of information and

communication and access to social media, it is so much more than that. Hence it is high

time to recognise the right to Internet access as a fundamental right.

US astronaut Christina Koch

In News

• US astronaut Christina Koch set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman

when she reached, and crossed, 289 days in her current mission at the International Space

Station (ISS).

• Having reached the ISS in March this year, she is expected to spend a total of 328 days on

board before returning to Earth in February 2020.

• In October 2019, she was part of the first all-female spacewalk, together with Jessica Meir

Did you Know?




• Gennady Padalka of Russia holds the record longest cumulative time spent in space by any

astronaut, male or female, accumulating the 878 days (about 2½ years) across five

spaceflights between 1998 and 2015.

• The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station (habitable artificial satellite) in low

Earth orbit.

• The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA

(United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).

The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and

agreements

Bhima-Koregaon battle of 1818: 202nd Anniversary

In News

• The battle was fought on 1 January 1818 between the British East India Company and the

Peshwa faction of the Maratha Confederacy, at Koregaon Bhima, a small village in Pune

district of Maharashtra,

• A few hundred Mahar soldiers of the East India Company, led by the British, defeated the

massive Peshwa army, led by Peshwa Bajirao II

• The Vijay Sthamb (victory pillar) was erected by the East India Company in memory of

those who fought the battle. The names of the Mahar soldiers who unknowingly brought

an end to the Peshwa rule in 1818 are inscribed on the pillar.

• The Dalits who follow BR Ambedkar view this battle as a victory of Mahars over the

injustice and torture meted out to them by the Brahminical Peshwas.

Department of Military Affairs (DMA): Created in the Defence Ministry,

• The Department of Military Affairs (DMA) has been created in the Defence Ministry, and

General Bipin Rawat who is the new Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) will head it.

• The DMA will be the fifth department in the Ministry after the Department of Defence,

the Department of Defence Production, the Department of Defence Research and

Development and the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.

• The DMA’s mandate includes promoting jointness in procurement, training and

staffing for the Services; facilitating restructuring of the military commands for optimal

utilisation of resources by bringing about a jointness in operations, including through the

establishment of joint/theatre commands and promoting use of indigenous equipment

• The DMA would deal with

o The armed forces;




o The integrated headquarters of the Ministry, comprising the Army, Naval and Air and

defence staff headquarters;

o The Territorial Army; and

o Works relating to the three services and procurement exclusive to them, except capital

acquisitions.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS): Gen. Bipin Rawat Appointed as first CDS

Context:

• General Bipin Rawat (December 30) appointed the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), a

newly created post meant to enhance the quality of military advice to the political

leadership through integration of service inputs.

• The CDS is a high military office that will oversee and coordinate the working of the three

Services, and offer seamless tri-service views and single-point advice to the Executive (in

India’s case, to the Prime Minister) on long-term defence planning and management,

including manpower, equipment and strategy, and above all, “jointsmanship” in operations.

Need for Chief of Defence Staff

• In general, the policy formulation is done by Defense Secretary, who is a bureaucrat, while

its execution rests with Chiefs of armed forces. This makes defence policy incoherent.

• The emergence of modern warfare domains like Space, Cyber etc, requires a

more integrated approach to defense strategy.

• A group of ministers that was formed in 2001 to explore necessary reforms required to

improve India’s national security had also favoured creating the post of Chief of Defence

Staff.

• In 2012 Naresh Chandra task force recommended the appointment of a permanent

chairman of chiefs of staff committee.

• The permanent chairman of chiefs of staff committee is the senior most of the three Chiefs.

• The CDS is also one of the 99 recommendations made by the Lt. General D.B. Shekatkar

(retd.) committee (2016).

Significance

• The creation of the CDS will eventually lead to the formation of tri-service theatre

commands intended to create vertical integration of the three forces.

• This is expected to save money by avoiding duplication between the Services, at a time of

shrinking capital expenditure within the defence budget.

• It will help India in Defense diplomacy.

United States: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

• According to the US Department of Defence website, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of

Staff (CJCS) is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer and the principal military

adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defence (equivalent to Minister for Defence in

India) and the National Security Council.

United Kingdom: Chief of the Defence Staff




• The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the Armed Forces and

principal military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence (equivalent to Minister for

Defence in India) and the government.

• The UK CDS reports to the Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister.

Australia: Chief of the Defence Force

• Australia has a diarchy system, under which the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the

Secretary for the Department of Defence (a senior civilian public servant in the Ministry)

jointly manage the Defence organisation, per the Department of Defence website.

Challenges:

1. The KRC Report pointed out that India is the only major democracy where the Armed

Forces Headquarters is outside the apex governmental structure.

2. It observed that Service Chiefs devote most of their time to their operational roles, “often

resulting in negative results”.

3. Long-term defence planning suffers as day-to-day priorities dominate.

4. Also, the Prime Minister and Defence Minister do not have the benefit of the views and

expertise of military commanders, in order to ensure that higher level defence

management decisions are more consensual and broadbased.

5. The CDS is also seen as being vital to the creation of “theatre commands”, integrating

tri-service assets and personnel like in the US military.

Gaganyaan : In mission mode

In news:

• Four pilots from the Indian Air Force (IAF) will leave for Russia this month to receive

training as astronauts of Gaganyaan, the first Indian crewed flight to space.

• It is a ₹10,000-crore Indian human space flight scheduled for 2022.

• The chosen astronauts will be sent to space on-board Gaganyaan, a crew capsule, to be

launched with the help of Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV)

• If Gaganyaan is successful, India would become the fourth nation to achieve the feat

• India has signed agreements with Russia and France for cooperation on the Gaganyaan

mission.

• DRDO signed MoUs with ISRO to offer technologies for the mission, including space

food, survival kits for crew, radiation protection equipment and parachutes.

• India’s first man in space Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard the Soyuz T-11, launched on

2 April 1984, was an Indian Air Force pilot.

Background and Timeline: From an idea to a plan

• Preparations have been going on since 2004, when the manned space mission was first

endorsed by the ISRO Policy Planning Committee; there was lack of clarity on when

exactly the mission would be launched, the target initially in was 2015.

• 2004: ISRO Policy Planning Committee recommends manned space mission

• 2006: National committee comprising 80 scientists and technocrats endorses proposal




• 2007: First public announcement of the human space programme

• 2009: Another experts’ committee, discusses the desirability and feasibility of the

programme and expresses support

• 2010: Failure of GSLV-D3 and Failure of GSLV-F06

• 2014: Successful testing of experimental flight of GSLV Mk-III; this also successfully tests

an experimental crew module, demonstrating re-entry capability

• June 2017: First ‘developmental’ flight of GSLV Mk-III

• July 2018: First successful flight of the crew escape system or “pad abort” test.

• August 15, 2018: Prime Minister announces manned mission to take place before 2022

Challenges:

• A manned space mission is very different from all other missions that ISRO has so far

completed.

• In terms of complexity and ambition, even the missions to the Moon (Chandrayaan) and

Mars (Mangalyaan) are nowhere in comparison.

• For a manned mission, the key distinguishing capabilities that ISRO has had to develop the

ability to bring the spacecraft back to Earth after flight, and to build a spacecraft in which

astronauts can live in Earth-like conditions in space.

• Over the years, ISRO has successfully tested many of the technologies that are required,

but many others are still to be developed and tested.

The rocket: GSLV Mk-III

• The spacecraft carrying human beings, called crew module, is likely to weigh in excess of

5 to 6 tonnes.

• ISRO’s main launch vehicle, the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), which carried the

Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions too, can carry payloads that are barely up to 2

tonnes, and that too only to orbits at about 600 km altitude from the Earth’s surface.

• That is why the development of GSLV Mk-III, a launch vehicle with capabilities to deliver

much heavier payloads much deeper into space, was necessary.

• After three decades of efforts, mainly concentrated at developing an indigenous cryogenic

engine to power the rocket, ISRO successfully tested GSLV Mk-III, now called LVM-3

(Launch Vehicle Mark-3), in an experimental flight in December 2014.

• June 2017, ISRO successfully launched the first “developmental” flight of LVM-3, which

carried the GSAT-19 satellite into space.

• The LVM-3 is the declared launch vehicle for taking the manned crew module into space.

Over the next few years, many more flights of GSLV are scheduled.

Re-entry & recovery tech

• The satellites launched by ISRO including Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan, normally meant

to remain in space, even when their life is over.

• Any manned spacecraft, however, needs to come back. This involves mastering of the

highly complicated and dangerous re-entry and recovery ability.

• While re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft needs to withstand very high

temperatures, which is created due to friction.

• Also, the spacecraft needs to renter the atmosphere at a very precise speed and angle, and

even the slightest deviation could end in disaster.

• The first successful experimental flight of GSLV Mk-III on December 18, 2014, also

involved the successful testing of an experimental crew module that came back to Earth

after being taken to an altitude of 126 km into space.




• The Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) spacecraft re-entered

the atmosphere at about 80 km altitude and landed in the sea near the Andaman and Nicobar

Islands.

Crew Escape System

• This is a crucial safety technology, involving an emergency escape mechanism for the

astronauts in case of a faulty launch.

• The mechanism ensures the crew module gets an advance warning of anything going

wrong with the rocket, and pulls it away to a safe distance, after which it can be landed

either on sea or on land with the help of attached parachutes.

• Recently, ISRO completed the first successful flight of the crew escape system. A

simulated crew module weighing about 3.5 tonnes was launched from Sriharikota.

Life support

• The Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) is meant to ensure that

conditions inside the crew module are suitable for humans to live comfortably.

• The inside of the crew module is a twin-walled sealed structure that will recreate Earth-

like conditions for the astronauts.

• The ECLSS maintains a steady cabin pressure and air composition, removes carbon dioxide

and other harmful gases, controls temperature and humidity, and manages parameters like

fire detection and suppression, food and water management, and emergency support.

• While the design and configuration of the ECLSS and the inside of the crew module has

been finalised, other components and systems are in the process of being tested.

• Ground testing will have to be followed by tests in the space orbit while simulating zero

gravity and deep vacuum.

Astronaut training

• In the early part of the planning, a proposal for setting up an astronaut training centre

in Bangalore was floated. Initially targeted by 2012, it is yet to take off.

• While ISRO still plans to set up a permanent facility, the selected candidates for the first

manned mission will most likely train at a foreign facility.

• Candidates will need to train for at least two years in living in zero gravity and dealing

with a variety of unexpected experiences of living in space.

• Some training would also be imparted at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine of the Indian

Air Force at Bengaluru.

Budget

• During the early years of planning, the cost of India’s first manned space mission was

estimated at about Rs 12,400 crore. But that was for a mission to be launched in 2015.

• The mission would now be completed for less than Rs 10,000 crore.

• Recently, the government approved the funding for the next 10 flights of GSLV Mk-III at

an estimated cost of Rs 4,338.2 crore. This was supposed to take care of GSLV Mk-III

missions till 2024.

Conclusion:

• If India does launch the Gaganyaan mission, it will be the fourth nation to do so after the

United States, Russia and China.

• These developments will help ISRO in perfecting the cryogenic technology for sending up

heavier and heavier payloads and will reduce India’s dependency on other countries to

launch heavier satellites.




NORTHEAST (WINTER) MONSOON

• The northeast, or winter, monsoon has ended on a high, with an overall surplus rainfall

being recorded for the season.

• North-East monsoon– permanent a feature of the Indian subcontinent’s climate system

– from October to December – rainfall is experienced over Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and

Andhra Pradesh, along with some parts of Telangana and Karnataka

• Winter monsoon season contributes only 11 per cent to India’s annual rainfall of

1,187 mm. South-west Summer monsoon season between June-September bring about 75

per cent of India’s annual rainfall (the remaining rain comes in other non-monsoon

months).

• Many other parts of the country, like the Gangetic plains and northern states, also receive

some rain in November and December but this is not due to the northeast monsoon. It is

caused mainly by the Western Disturbances.

• Western Disturbance: It is an eastward-moving rain-bearing wind system that originates

beyond Afghanistan and Iran, picking up moisture from as far as the Mediterranean Sea,

even the Atlantic Ocean.

Savitribai Phule

In News

• Savitribai Phule, the social reformer who is considered to be one of India’s first modern

feminists, was born on January 3, 1831

• Both Savitribai Phule & her husband Jyotirao Phule went on to found India’s first school

for girls called Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848.

• The Phules started the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society for Truth-Seeking), through which

they wanted to initiate the practice of Satyashodhak marriage, in which no dowry was

taken.

• The Phules also started the Literacy Mission in India between 1854-55

• Savitribai Phule is especially remembered for being India’s first female teacher who

worked for the upliftment of women and untouchables in the field of education and literacy.

S-Iran: Qassem Soleimani , the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force Killed

Context:




• Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated after a US air raid killed Qassem

Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy

commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces, or PMF.

Consequences:

• These deaths are a potential turning point in the Middle East and are expected to draw

severe retaliation from Iran and the forces it backs in the region against Israel and US

interests.

About Soleimani:

• Soleimani, had a unique celebrity status among Iran’s military leaders, was highly popular

among the hardliners.

• He was very close to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who once called him

a “living martyr of the revolution”.

• He was also the main architect of Iran’s recent foreign operations, mainly in Syria and

Iraq, which were crucial in saving the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and defeating the

Islamic State (IS) in both countries.

Impacts:

• The attack has already killed off even the possibility of renegotiating the nuclear deal.

• Iran might see this as an act of war like any sovereign country would do.

• It could trigger multiple attacks across the region, destabilising it further, cause heavy

casualties and help the jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the IS regroup and re-emerge.

• Resumed attacks on oil tankers and other low hanging but high value economic targets,

particularly in the oil sector

Impact on India:

• India need to be on the right side of the U.S., our ties with Iran, have their own geostrategic

logic.

• Rises India’s oil import bill

• Creates difficulties in supplies,

• The safety of an estimated eight million expatriates in the Gulf may be affected.

• Iran has the capacity to influence the U.S.-Taliban peace process in Afghanistan which

could impact India

• The possibility of some of Shia Muslims being radicalised by this event cannot be ruled

out.

Conclusion:

• U.S. President Donald Trump is responsible for where U.S.-Iran ties stand today as he

single-handedly destroyed the co-operation between the two nations established by the

2015 Iran nuclear deal by unilaterally pulling the U.S. out of the agreement in 2018 and

reimposing sanctions on Iran.

• By sabotaging the fragile peace negotiated over years between world powers, Mr. Trump,

in a single act, pushed both the U.S. and Iran down a dangerous slope.

Smog Towers: Delhi gets its first tower to tackle pollution

In News




• Smog towers are structures designed to work as large-scale air purifiers.

• These air filters shall draw in the air through fans installed at the top before passing it

through the filters and releasing it near the ground.

• The filters installed in the tower will use carbon nanofibres as a major component and

will focus on reducing particulate matter load.

• The Supreme Court had directed the Centre and the Delhi government to prepare a plan to

install ‘smog towers’ across the capital to deal with air pollution.

• The 100m Xi’an tower in China which is dubbed the world’s largest has reportedly brought

down PM 2.5 by 19% in an area of around 6 sq km in its vicinity.

Scientific Social Responsibility

In News

• Under this programme, researchers who are working on a science project funded by any of

the Ministries under the Central government will have to undertake activities to popularise

science and make it more accessible to the public.

• Centre would draw up a list of activities which could be taken up under the Scientific Social

Responsibility programme, that was similar to Corporate Social Responsibility.

• The activities could range from going to colleges delivering lectures, writing an article in

a magazine or doing something beyond the curriculum.

• The move would not only bridge the gap between research institutes and the civilians, but

also help scientists hone their communication skills.

oncept of Democracy, then and now

Introduction:

• We are all familiar with the idea that democracy is a government of the people, by the

people, and for the people.

• Today, the most common form of democracy is representative democracy, in which

citizens elect officials to make political decisions, formulate laws, and administer

programmes for the public good.

Different definitions of Democracy –

• “Democracy is a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

• – Abraham Lincoln

• “Democracy really means nothing more or less than the rule of the whole people,

expressing their sovereign will by their votes.”

• – Bryce

• “Democracy is not a way of governing, whether by majority or otherwise, but primarily a

way of determining, who shall govern, and broadly to what ends.”

• – Maclver




Idea of Democracy during British India and Post-independence

Mahatma Gandhi on Democracy

• “Democracy must mean the art of science of mobilizing the entire physical, economic

and spiritual resources of all the various sections of people in the service of the common

good for all.”

• “To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-

respect and their oneness, and should insist upon choosing as their representatives only

such persons as are good and true.”

Gandhian concept of Self Rule means Swaraj is real democracy, where people’s power rests

in the individuals and each one realizes that he or she is the real master of one’s self.

Nehru on Democracy

• “Democracy, if it means anything, means equality; not merely the equality of possessing

a vote but economic and social equality.”

Karachi resolution

• In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session reflected the vision of democracy that

meant not just formal holding of elections but a substantive reworking of the Indian

social structure in order to have a genuine democratic society.

The framers of the Indian Constitution were inspired by principles of social equality and

political justice to introduce adult suffrage immediately–a big step forward to protect our

Indian Democracy.

After independence, India decided to have democratic political system. This system is

characterised by three elements: one, there is a high degree of autonomy; two, economic

agents and religious organisations are free from political interference; and three, competition

between various orders does not endanger integration but helps it.

The first generation of Indian leaders wanted their country to be a liberal democracy, in

which a person’s faith—or language, or caste, or gender—didn’t earn her better or worse

treatment by the state.

Positive aspects of Democracy

Positively, democracy seeks to maintain and assert the below rights:

• the right to free expression of opinion and of opposition and criticism of the Government

of the day;

• the right to change the Governments of which the people disapprove through

constitutional means;

• protection from arbitrary interference on the part of the authorities, primary safeguards

against arbitrary arrest and prosecution;

• fundamental rights of citizens, subject to their duties to the state;

• the right of minorities to be protected with equal justice under law;

• equal treatment and fair play for the poor as well as the rich, for private persons as well as

Government officials;

• The right to hold unpopular or dissident beliefs.

Modern day democracy on decline




Since independence, India has managed to stay on the democratic path in a way

unprecedented among states freed from colonialism during the last century.

The makers of our Constitution designed the institutions of our democracy with great care

and attention to detail. They were designed to endure and it was expected that these

institutions will strengthen the democracy in India.

Recently, however, the dominance of the Hindu nationalists and the manner in which they

have ruled – has given rise to claims that India’s democracy and its minorities are in grave

danger.

Freedom of expression has been curtailed; institutions of democracy are weakened and

diminished; democratic deliberation has been bypassed; attacks on religious minorities have

been carried out.

At a time when politics almost everywhere is leaning dangerously towards a centralised,

authoritarian, national security state with a strong leader committed to the ideology of

cultural nationalism, the values and ideas of democracy provided by early leaders becomes

important.

The values and democratic principles embraced by them are relevant not yesterday or today

but forever!!

Naga Peace Process: Stuck due to inflexibility of NSCN(I-M)

Context:

The government announced ‘Christmas Gift’ deadline for concluding talks with Naga groups

has passed without any concrete results on the progress made since government Framework

Agreement with NSCN(I-M) in 2015

Origin of the Issue and the timeline of the events

The assertion of Naga Nationalism began during Colonial period and continued in

Independent India. Below is the pictorial representation of the timeline




What are the key demands of the Naga groups?

• Greater Nagalim (sovereign statehood) i.e redrawing of boundaries to bring all Naga-

inhabited areas in the Northeast under one administrative umbrella.

o It includes various parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Assam and Myanmar as well.

• Naga Yezabo (Naga Constitution)

• Naga national flag.

What was the Ceasefire Agreement which was signed in 2015?

• The Government of India recognised the unique history, culture and position of the Nagas

and their sentiments and aspirations. The NSCN(Isak-Muivah) also appreciated the Indian

political system and governance.

• Significance: It shows the governments strong intent to resolve the long standing issue

and adoption of diplomatic peaceful approach by Naga Society to fulfil their aspirations.

Reasons for not accepting Naga Demand of Separate Flag & Separate Constitution

• Regressive: Yezhabo is far less liberal than what Indian Constitution presently offers for

Naga people. It is regressive and some of its provisions are against modern Constitutional

values of liberty, equality & rule of law

• Challenges of Wider Acceptance: Yezhabo also proposes Naga leader Muivah as the

over-arching figure of Naga politics, development and destiny which will not be acceptable

to Naga Citizenry which are spread in adjoining states of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and

Assam

• Sets a Bad Precedent: Acceding to the demand of Separate Flag will set a dangerous

precedent whereby other states also demand similar provisions

• Identity Politics: Acceding to these demands is akin to giving racial and ethnic identity an

equal footing with National Identity which will act as catalyst to Identity Politics in rest of

India.

• Weakens National Integrity: The overall National Consciousness and National

integration process will be weakened.


https://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-6th-august-2015/



• Failure of Article 370: Working of Article 370 which had provided for separate Flag and

Constitution has shown that such type of measures has not yielded results but has instead

widened the gap between regional society and Indian mainstream.

Why the agreement has not been finalised yet?

• It was signed only with NSCN (I-M) which in uneasy ceasefire since 1997. The agreement

excluded half a dozen more groups, besides Naga citizenry. This has weakened the process

• Inflexibility by NSCN(I-M) over the contentious issue of Naga Flag and Naga

constitution—Yezhabo. Muivah who is now 85 has decided he cannot die leaving a legacy

of surrender

• Union government’s and the North-East’s political energy has been considerably spent on

allaying the fears over CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and the proposed

NRC (National Register of Citizens) thus diluting the focus on Naga peace talks

Steps taken by government over last 2-3 years to fast track the process of finalising the

agreement

• Talks with I-M has clearly spelt out disarmament, rehabilitation and assimilation of cadres

and leaders through induction in paramilitary forces and political structures (expanded

legislature in Nagaland)- thus ensuring smooth integration into Indian political system

• Legislative and administrative autonomy for Naga regions outside Nagaland has been a

part of talks with the Naga leadership

• A breakaway faction of I-M’s arch enemies, NSCN’s Khaplang, joined the peace process

with government in 2019

• Government-led outreach programs to bring on board non-Naga people in Manipur,

Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam, promising much development as a trade-off for offering

Naga people in these states more legislative representation and administrative autonomy

• The State government that has decided to prepare the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of

Nagaland (RIIN) but later due to pressure from various fractions, the decision has now

been put on hold.

Way Ahead

• The government will whittle away at I-M’s political, administrative and military structure

and strive to reduce I-M’s heft along with Muivah’s and also stoke other lines of

leadership.

• Reaching a consensus with broader Naga Citizenry and also convincing the non-Naga

people in adjoining states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur & Assam is necessary to ensure

sustainable workable agreement.

Connecting the dots:

• What would be the consequence if Naga peace deal is not signed at the earliest in the

backdrop of growing tensions over CAA-NRC in North east?

• Impact of acceding to demand of Nagalim on other States in North East.

Indian Constitution – Unitary tilt & Future Federal Challenges

Context:




• Kerala Legislative Assembly passing a resolution stating that Citizenship Amendment Act

(CAA) passed by Parliament contradicts the basic values and principles of the Constitution.

• West Bengal Government had put anti-CAA advertisements on its websites using public

funds which was later withdrawn on order of High court.

• Several States have declared that they will not participate in NPR (National Population

Register) exercise which will be used as basis for NRC (National Register of Citizens)

In this background where Centre and States are on conflicting stands it becomes

important to analyse the Constitutional features of Federalism.

The below pictorial representation explains the plausible reason for the emergence such type

of opposition by States

Some of the features of Federalism in India:

• Division of Powers: Presence of Union List, State list and Concurrent list

• Written Constitution

• Supremacy of the Constitution

• Rigidity of the Constitution

• Independent Judiciary

• Bicameralism

However, there are various other features that makes the Constitution tilted towards

Centre (Unitary bias)

• Single Constitution

• Single Citizenship

• Integrated Judiciary

• Flexibility of the Constitution under Article 368

• Appointment of State Governors by the State

• All India Services – Controlled by Centre but deputed in State administrative set up


https://iasbaba.com/2019/12/nrc-caa-citizenship-amendment-act-caa-national-register-of-citizens-nrc/



• Emergency Provisions

• No equality of State representation in Rajya Sabha

• Parliament’s authority over State List

• Veto Over State Bills

• Article 256 of the Constitution obligates the State government to ensure implementation

of the laws made by Parliament. If the State government fails to do so, the Government of

India is empowered to give “such directions to a State as may appear… to be necessary”

even resulting in dismissal of the State government and imposition of Presidents Rule

under Article 356 & 365.

Why was the Constitution structured with Unitary Bias?

The Indian Constitution is not based on American Model but based on Canadian Model. The

reason why India adopted Canadian model was because:

• The way federal governments are formed is by way of disintegration and not by the

way of agreement amongst the states coming together like in American Federation

• The States have no right to secede from the federation. Giving this right would have further

strengthened the “fissiparous tendencies” in newly born Nation which was reeling under

the aftereffects of Partition. Thus to avoid such secession tendencies a Strong centre was

created.

Working of Federalism

• However, Indian working of Constitution has shown that Federalism is not just limited to

legal space where there is division of Power between Centre & State governments

but Federalism has peculated into Public participation in Democratic process.

• Federalism has been reflected in people’s voting behaviour. There are examples of huge

vote swings between national and State elections, separated by only a few months, in the

same constituencies. This indicates that people make distinction between regional concerns

and National concerns.

As shown in the diagram above, the emergence of Single Party Dominance system since 2014

along with vacating of Opposition Space (partly due to decline in Parliament) has allowed

regional & State governments to occupy this space.

This opposition by State governments now poses a threat to Federalism and questions the bias

provided for in the original Constitution especially when India is integrated now more than

ever (declining fissiparous tendencies)

Decline of Parliament involves

• Using disruption as a tactic to oppose legislative discussions and stall executive’s agenda

• Misuse of Office of Speaker to push forward ruling party’s agenda without meaningful

debates (ex: Certifying bills as Money bill so as to avoid scrutiny by Rajya Sabha)

• Tyranny of Political Parties: The presence of Tenth Schedule prohibits legislators to

freely air their opinion. Instead they are supposed to follow their Party’s dictates thus

prioritising Political Party’s interest over and above the Public interest

• Criminalization of Politics: 43% of the 17th Lok Sabha members (2019 general elections)

have criminal charges against them according to Association of Democratic reforms

• Less number of time spent on legislative deliberations: In fact, in the last 10 years, the

lower House has met for an average of 70 days a year.

• Lack of Leader of Opposition since 16th Lok Sabha: With no political party gaining 10%

of the strength of the Lower House, the position has remained vacant. This has effectively




weakened the opposition voice in various platforms & committees which hold government

accountable

But All is not Gloomy, this is because

• There is thrust by the Central government on Cooperative & Competitive Federalism, in

spite of having majority in Lok Sabha

• Political and Administrative leadership realizes that there has to be decentralization

where States will act as engines of growth and Centre will act as facilitator of growth.

The 42% devolution of funds from Central pool of taxes to State is a reflection of this

sentiment

• The example of GST Council clearly shows that Constitution provides an outlet for Sates

to engage collaboratively with Centre so as to get its concerns addressed.

• Federalism is a Basic Structure of Constitution: Examples of Indian Judiciary reversing

some of the Central government’s decisions like the imposition of Article 356, reversing

President’s or Speaker’s decision (Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka) shows that

Federalism will be an integral of our system.

Australia Wildfires

Context

Australia’s devastating fire season that began in August 2019 continues unabated and caused

large scale destruction particularly in New South Wales and Queensland region

Why are the wildfires unprecedented?

• Although Australia has always had bushfires, this season has been a lot worse than normal

with nearly 12 million acres burned by the fires




• Very high temperatures (averaging 42O C), extended drought period(driest spring on

record) and strong winds (spreads the bushfires) have converged to create disastrous fire

conditions.

Is Climate Change to Blame?

• Australia is normally hot and dry in the summer, but climate change, which brings longer

and more frequent periods of extreme heat, worsens these conditions and makes vegetation

drier and more likely to burn.

• Australia’s bush fires will become now more frequent and more intense as climate change

worsens.

Impact of Such wildfires

• Agricultural Production impacted

• Loss of Human lives

• Loss of Flora and Fauna- Loss of Biodiversity

• Leads to evacuation of communities – Temporary migration to other places

• Economic disruption

• Frequent wildfires in near future will make the region uninhabitable and thus catalysing

environmental migration.

• Questions the developmental Model of the Country (Dependence on Coal Sector for its

economic development which leads to GHG emissions)

• Questions the commitment of World towards battling Climate Change especially its impact

now being clearly felt. This will pressurize US (which has withdrawn from the Paris deal)

and other Countries to increase their Paris Deal commitments

Impact on India

• Strengthen the voices of people who argue against India’s dependence on fossil fuels like

Coal & petroleum

• India’s ability to import high quality of Coal from Australia will be impacted.

• Indian investment in Australia’s coal sector will be endangered Ex: Adani Carmichael Coal

mine project in Galilee Basin in Queensland, Australia

• Moral Pressure on India to take up leadership of fighting climate change in the Asia-Pacific

region.

Way Ahead

• Adoption of Cleaner technologies which emits less greenhouse gases.

• Enhancing capabilities of government authorities to face similar such incidents in the

future.

• Citizen awareness about the dangerous of Climate Change and thus persuade them to

adopt a more sustainable lifestyle having less carbon footprint

• Diversifying energy basket so as to reduce dependence on Coal & other fossil fuels.

Instead promoting use of renewable energy like solar power.

• Developing a comprehensive Migration & Refugee Policy in the wake of increasing

possibilities of environmental refugees

Connecting the dots

• Does India also have Climatic conditions similar to that in Australia which were

responsible for wildfires?

Do You Know?




• Coal is Australia’s second largest export behind iron ore. In 2016-17 Australia exported

202 million tonnes of thermal coal and 177 million tonnes of metallurgical coal with a

combined value of $54 billion.

• Australian coal is highly sought after around the world for its high energy content and low

impurities which make it ideal for use in modern High Efficiency-Low Emission (HELE)

power plants and steel mills.

• India is the fourth largest producer of Coal and second largest importer of Coal

Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) Inaugurated

In News

• The I4C is a seven-pronged system, which includes a cybercrime reporting portal,

analysis of threats, capacity building, research and innovation, creating an ecosystem for

cybercrime management and a joint cybercrime investigation platform for law enforcement

agencies.

• I4C is located in New Delhi

Do You know?

• In Aug 2019, the MHA had unveiled its National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal through

which citizens can report any kind of cybercrime irrespective of the place where it has

occurred

• So far, more than 700 police districts and more than 3,900 police stations have been

connected with this portal

Indian Coast Guard Ships (ICGS) — Annie Besant and Amrit Kaur —commissioned

In News

• ICGS Annie Besant will be based at Chennai and ICGS Amrit Kaur will be based at Haldia.

• The ships are fitted with state-of-the-art technology, and navigation equipment, along with

Bofors 40/60 guns and 12.7 mm Stabilised Remote Controlled Guns for enhanced fighting

efficiency.

About Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

• Kaur co-founded the All India Women’s Conference along with Margaret Cousins in

1927.

• She was also a member of Constituent Assembly and a member Sub-Committee on

Fundamental Rights and Sub-Committee on Minorities.

• She went on to become independent India’s first health minister




Internet Shutdown and Section 144

Context:

• Supreme Court ruling on the internet shutdown in Jammu & Kashmir since August 5th,

2019.

• Also, in recent times whenever there is possibility of peaceful democratic protests,

the administrative authorities immediately shut down internet & imposes section 144. This

is used as a precautionary measure so that the protests doesn’t spiral out of hand leading to

violence, arson and law & order issues disturbing public.

What is section 144?

• It is a section of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits assembly of five or more

people, holding of public meetings, and carrying of firearms and can be invoked for up to

two months (extendable upto 6 months)

• Section 144 also empowers the authorities to block the internet access.

What are the impact of such restrictive measures, especially blocking internet access?

• Freedom of peaceful assemble guaranteed under Article 19 (1)(b) is restricted especially

when the executive orders imposing this section is not made public

• Right to Freedom of speech & expression under Article 19(1)(a) is impacted as the

medium to access information i.e. internet is blocked

• Right to carry on trade activities under Article 10(1)(g) is also negatively impacted with

the restrictions placed on movement of people.

• Economy of the region adversely affected as access to e-banking facilities blocked due to

temporary ban on internet. Internet shutdown around the world in 2019 has cost

the global economy over $8 billion.

• Delivery of government welfare provisions affected especially in today’s age of e-

governance and digitization of the process

• Healthcare provisions impacted especially where government schemes like Ayushman

Bharat have adopted digital means for delivery process

What was the Supreme Court ruling in case dealing with internet shutdown in J&K?

• Right to Freedom of Speech & Expression is constitutionally protected. Therefore,

an order suspending internet services indefinitely is impermissible

o The Court applied the proportionality doctrine to reason that “complete

blocking/prohibition perpetually cannot be accepted”.

• The review committee should be constituted under the suspension rules (of Indian

Telegraph Act) that will conduct a periodic review of the suspension within seven working

days of the previous review

With regard to Section 144

• Any order passed under Section 144, CrPC should be published alongside stating

the material facts to enable judicial review of the same.

o Lack of public accessibility of these orders (citing National Security reasons) has

prevented citizens from filing cases in High Court against such executive order

o It was against the “sealed cover jurisprudence” that is a recent phenomenon in Indian

Judiciary

• Section 144 cannot be used to suppress legitimate expression of opinion

1.

1.




▪ Executive cannot arbitrarily impose section 144. Not just an apprehension of danger,

but there has to be an emergency question for passing such executive orders

• Repetitive orders passed under Section 144 would be an abuse of power

Criticisms of the judgement

• The judgement was a statist expression of law. It was one one premised on legal centrism

than one advancing fundamental rights.

• Lack of powers to review committee: The committee will be principally composed of

bureaucrats and no independent members will lack independence and real power to

overturn the initial Internet shutdown orders.

• The court stopped short of ruling that access to Internet is a fundamental right, it

however said that the Internet as a medium is used to exercise other fundamental rights

• The judicial review, guaranteed by the court, itself takes a long time to provide relief

as was in the present case. The Supreme Court should have given a timeframe within which

such cases should be dealt with given its impact on the Democratic foundations of society.

Way Ahead

• Given that State has balance the need to ensure liberty & National Security, such type of

preventive law & order measures should be used as last resort.

Indian Federalism

Challenges of Non-Scheduled Indian Languages

Context

An MP from Kerala’s Kasargud region arguing for including Tulu in the Eighth Schedule

Present Scheme of Indian Languages

• Hindi and English are the official languages of the Central Government for communication

and administrative purposes, no language in India has been conferred the status of the

national language.

• There is no national language in India as all the states are free to decide their own official

languages. This is primarily to address the huge linguistic diversity in the country.

• The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the official languages of the

Republic of India. Presently, it consists of 22 languages.

• Also, till date, six languages have been conferred the status of ‘Classical Language’ in

India. They are Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit, Malayalam and Odia

• However, Article 351 of the Constitution says that it shall be the duty of the Union

to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium

of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India

• According to the 2001 Census, India has 30 languages that are spoken by more than a

million people each.

• India also has 1,599 languages, most of which are dialects. These are restricted to specific

regions and many of them are on the verge of extinction.

Constitutional Safeguards




• Article 29 of the Constitution provides that a section of citizens having a distinct language,

script or culture have the right to conserve the same.

• Eighth Schedule and Classical Status

• No National Language

• Article 350B: Appointment of Special Officer for linguistic minority with the sole

responsibilities of safeguarding the interest of language spoken by the minority groups.

Cause of Concern

• Many languages that are kept out of Eighth Schedule are in some ways more deserving to

be included in the Schedule

• For Example: Sanskrit, an Eighth Schedule language, has only 24,821 speakers (2011

Census). Manipuri, another scheduled language, has only 17,61,079 speakers.

• Similarly, many unscheduled languages have a sizeable number of speakers: Bhili/Bhilodi

has 1,04,13,637 speakers; Gondi has 29,84,453 speakers; Garo has 11,45,323; Ho has

14,21,418; Khandeshi, 18,60,236; Khasi, 14,31,344; and Oraon, 19,88,350.

Case for Tulu Language to be included in Eighth Schedule

• Tulu is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in two coastal

districts of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district of Kerala.

• The Census reports 18,46,427 native speakers of Tulu in India. The Tulu-speaking people

are larger in number than speakers of Manipuri and Sanskrit, which have the Eighth

Schedule status.

• Robert Caldwell (1814-1891), in his book, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or

South-Indian Family of Languages, called Tulu as “one of the most highly developed

languages of the Dravidian family”.

Advantages of Inclusion of a Language in Eighth Schedule:

• Recognition from the Sahitya Akademi.

• Members of Parliament (MP) and Member of the Legislative Assembly

(MLA) could speak Tulu in Parliament and State Assemblies, respectively.

• Translation of Tulu literary works into other languages

• Option to take competitive exams in Tulu including all-India competitive examinations

like the Civil Services exam.

• Special funds from the Central government.

• Teaching of Tulu in primary and high school.

Way Ahead

• Placing all language on equal footing will promote Social harmony, inclusion and

National Solidarity

• Protection and preservation of diverse languages should not just remain on paper but also

implemented on ground with adequate provision of funds on language development

programs

Did You know?

The Yuelu Proclamation:

• The Proclamation was made by the UNESCO at Changsha, China in 2018.

• The The Yuelu Proclamation is the first UNESCO document of its kind dedicated to

the protection of linguistic diversity, and is also an important supporting document for

the “UN International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019”.




• It confirms that protecting linguistic diversity is the cornerstone for building a global

community with a shared future, and for promoting equality, mutual learning and

understanding, and facilitating exchanges around the world.

• The document calls on member states to formulate action plans to promote language

and cultural diversity, and urges academic and indigenous organizations to provide the

resources required to help combat the loss of indigenous languages.

Connecting the dots

• Languages are an important identity of India’s liberal and democratic society.

Inflation

Context:

• Consumer price inflation (Retail inflation) has touched a high of 7.35% in

December which has set off fears over whether India is entering a period of slow growth

accompanied by high inflation, in other words, stagflation.

Inflation is defined as a situation where there is sustained, unchecked increase in the general

price level of goods and services in an economy

Indices which measure inflation in an economy

Wholesale Price Index (WPI)

• WPI measures the changes in the prices of goods sold and traded in bulk by wholesale

businesses to other businesses. In other words, WPI tracks prices at the factory

gate before the retail level.

• The numbers are released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry

• Even as the WPI is used as a key measure of inflation in some economies, the RBI no

longer uses it for policy purposes, including setting repo rates.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) – Retail Inflation

• It is an index measuring retail inflation in the economy by collecting the change in prices

of most common goods and services used by consumers.

• It is released by Central Statistics Office (CSO) under Ministry of Statistics and

Programme implementation

• In April 2014, the RBI had adopted the CPI as its key measure of inflation

What is the difference between WPI & CPI?

• WPI, tracks inflation at the producer level and CPI captures changes in prices levels at

the consumer level.

• Both baskets measure inflationary trends (the movement of price signals) within the

broader economy, the two indices differ in which weightages are assigned to food, fuel

and manufactured items.

• WPI does not capture changes in the prices of services, which CPI does.

Headline Retail Inflation vs Core Inflation




• Headline inflation is the raw inflation figure reported through the Consumer Price Index

(CPI) that is released by CSO. The headline figure is not adjusted for seasonality or for

the often-volatile elements

• Core inflation removes the CPI components that can exhibit large amounts of volatility

from month to month, which can cause unwanted distortion to the headline figure. The

most commonly removed factors are those relating to the cost of food and energy.

Concern for RBI

• Price stability in an economy is one of the major responsibility of the Central Bank.

Untamed inflation will eventually erode confidence in an economy thus derailing

economic growth.

• The December inflation is also way above the monetary policy committee’s (MPC)

mandated limit of CPI at 6% (4% plus 2%)

• High inflation means RBI is constrained to cut rates (repo rate) further especially when

there is pressure on the central bank to cut rates at least one more time to stimulate

growth (projected GDP growth for FY-2020 is just 5%)

What is the reason for unexpected inflation in December?

• The headline inflation number is driven mainly by food inflation at 14.12%

• Since the overall retail inflation has 45.86 per cent of food articles, the overall CPI has

also shot up.

• Heavy rains from september to November 2019 has caused heavy damage to the

standing Kharif crops leading to supply shortage and thus driving up the food prices

• Onion pushed up price inflation in vegetables to a huge 60.50% compared to December

2018, prices of other food items such as meat and fish (up 9.57%), milk (up 4.22%), eggs

(up 8.79%) and some pulses were also on the upswing.

• Minus the increase in prices of onion, potato and ginger, headline CPI inflation would be

just 4.48%.

• Core inflation, which is the one that should be of concern, has only inched up marginally

from 3.5% in November to 3.7% in December.

Is High Food inflation going to continue in near future?

• High prices of vegetables being mostly seasonal and short-duration are expected to fall

in the coming months.

• The prices will reverse once the supply shortfall is addressed.

Food price may ease due to same reason it rose

• Heavy rains in recent months have helped to recharge groundwater aquifers, and filled

the major irrigation reservoirs to near full capacity, proving beneficial to the rabi crop

• Data shows that there has been 8 per cent more area sown and this coupled with the

improved soil moisture conditions and a normal winter, is expected to translate into a

bumper harvest, offsetting any Kharif losses and cutting the food prices

Caution

• One major factor that can still keep the customers paying more for the food articles is

a turbulence in the global prices as the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation’s Food

Price Index (base year: 2002-04 = 100) averaged 181.7 points in December 2019, the

highest since the 185.8 level of December 2014.

• This reflected a hardening trend in the international prices of food items which makes

imports of food articles (like Palm oil, pulses) costlier.

Way Ahead




• Climate resilient agriculture which is able to better adapt to frequent climate extremities.

• Better collaboration at international level to ensure that essential food articles are

distributed evenly across the globe where at present we have wastage on one hand &

hunger/shortage on other hand

Indian Economy: Comparison with other economies in the Asian region

Context:

• India’s Economic growth (2QFY20 GDP growth at 4.5%) is at its lowest in six years, while

inflation (December 2019- CPI is 7.35%) is at its highest in five years.

• Trade war going on between USA and China that has led to realigning of global supply

chain providing an opportunity for India to tap this shift.

Comparison with rest of Asian economies that are broadly at a comparable level of

development as India

1. Economic Growth

o India is no longer the fastest growing economy in the region.

o There are eight regional economies that are growing faster than India is at this point in

time, including China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam,

Bangladesh and Nepal.

2. Slowdown in the past

o Many of these countries have experienced growth slowdowns in the past couple of years.

China, the Philippines and Nepal have lost the momentum. Nevertheless, there are some

that have broadly maintained their rates of economic expansion, such as Cambodia,

Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar,

o Trade tensions, inventory de-stocking, weak corporate investment, new emission norms

and the electronics technology cycle are some of the reasons which can explain this

broad regional economic slowdown.

o One country that has actually accelerated in the midst of the regional slowdown,

Bangladesh.

o There is no country that has slowed down as sharply as India has since 2017, by 2.2

percentage points.

3. 1.Macro-economic Stability (Fiscal Deficit and Inflation)

o Most regional economies have macro stability indicators, fiscal and monetary, that are

on par with India’s.

o Most of the other regional Asian economies run on relatively tight budgets, ranging from

the Philippines (1.1%) and Cambodia (1.3%) to Vietnam (4.4%) and Bangladesh

(4.8%).

o What does this (better fiscal management) mean?

▪ This essentially means that these countries have more policy space to increase public

spending to support growth in case it falters.

o The only other comparable regional economy that has a fiscal deficit in excess of 5% of

gross domestic product (GDP) is China, though the actual number is likely to be far

higher than the Indian fiscal deficit




o 2.Inflation

▪ Four of the eight Asian countries have average annual inflation that was higher than

India’s in 2019. The other four have lower inflation. India is the median.

o What does it mean?

▪ This challenges the growing consensus in India that the pursuit of low inflation has

wrecked growth, because there are countries such as the Philippines that are growing

faster than India with lower inflation

4. Trade Diversion

o it is well known that Vietnam and Bangladesh have got an early lead in the race to attract

global supply chains that are moving away from China. They have been the principal

beneficiaries of trade diversion

o What were some of the reasons that led India to falter in tapping the opportunities?

▪ Indian public discourse gave up on manufacturing too early in the game, either citing

a unique growth model based on services or arguing that automation was anyway

killing manufacturing jobs

▪ India’s Make in India scheme could not take off

▪ Domestic Financial crisis – Twin Balance sheet problem & NBFC crisis- has

negatively impacted the demand and thus weakened the prospects of FDI inflow.

However, there is still reason for hope

• A look at manufacturing as a percentage of value added in the eight Asian

countries provides hope for India to revive its tag of fastest growing nation in the world

• China is obviously the leader, with manufacturing accounting for 20% of gross value

added. India is at 15%, which does not compare too badly with Cambodia (16%), Indonesia

(20%), the Philippines (19%), Vietnam (16%) and Bangladesh (18%)

• This data suggests that there is still an opportunity for India to take advantage of the trade

war, rather than prematurely losing hope.

Way Ahead

• India will need a policy framework that plugs it into global supply chains, rather than

moving back into a protectionist shell.

• Timely implementation of the infrastructure projects which reduces logistics cost thus

enhancing the competitiveness of Indian products.(104 Lakh Crore announced for

Infrastructure development between 2019-24)

• There needs to be domestic peace & harmony to ensure that business sentiment is intact

thus assuring that economy will thrive in a Vibrant Democratic market

Naval version of LCA Tejas takes off from INS Vikramaditya

In news:

A naval prototype of the homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas successfully took

off from the deck of Indian Navy’s sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya

From Prelims Point of view:

• India is now among a select group of countries that have the capability to design a fighter

jet that can operate from an aircraft carrier.




LCA Tejas:

• Tejas is a Light Combat Aircraft developed by the Defence Research and Development

Organisation’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in coordination with the

Aircraft Research and Design Centre of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd

• Single-engine, delta wing, multirole light fighter

INS Vikramaditya

• The country’s most powerful aircraft carrier.

• It was built in 1987 and had served the Soviet navy

• It can carry over 30 aircraft comprising MiG-29Ks, Kamov-28s, Kamov-31s, ALH-Dhruv

and Chetak helicopters.

• It was retrofitted with a Barak missile system under joint development with Israel.

• It is based at its home port at Karwar in Karnataka.

Fertiliser Subsidy: Direct Benefit Transfer

Context:

• A survey conducted by NITI Aayog showed that nearly two-thirds of the farmers don’t

favour direct benefit transfer (DBT) of fertiliser subsidy.

The present regime of fertilizer subsidy – Partial DBT (Since April 2018)

• Manufacturers of fertilizers receive 100% of subsidy after fertiliser is delivered to the

farmer, and the latter’s identity viz. Aadhaar is captured on the point of sale (PoS) machine

at the dealer’s shop.

• Therefore, the subsidy continues to be routed through manufacturers even though the sale

of fertilizer is being verified using Aadhar ecosystem

• The manufacturers sell urea at the maximum retail price (MRP) controlled by the

Centre, which is kept at a low level. They also get subsidy reimbursement on unit-specific

basis under the new pricing scheme (NPS).

• The manufacturers of non-urea fertilisers are given ‘uniform’ subsidy (on per nutrient

basis) under the nutrient based scheme (NBS).

Example to illustrate the scheme

• At present, for a bag of urea (containing 50 kg) a farmer pays Rs 268 —as against the cost

of supply that is at least twice as much , or Rs 536

• The difference is claimed by the manufacturer as subsidy from the government (after the

sale to farmer has been verified through Aadhar)

• Under this arrangement, subsidy to farmer is embedded in the price—also termed as

subsidised price.

Implications:

This system helps ensure the subsidy is not being siphoned off by another beneficiary, but it

doesn’t help the larger issue of farmers overusing urea many times over as there is a huge

subsidy on it.

The unacceptably large urea subsidy has ensured that against the ideal N:P:K ratio of 4:2:1,

the average is 6.1:2.5:1, and it is as much as 25.8:5.8:1 in states like Punjab.

What is the full-fledged DBT scheme?




• The farmer will have to pay the higher cost-based price or Rs 536 to the manufacturer, and

get subsidy of Rs 268 ‘directly’ in his bank account.

• In total, he will be spending Rs 268 only for bag of Urea.

• Yet, the switch-over makes a big difference as he has to first pay the full price, and

thereafter, get the subsidy.

Benefits of Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme:

• It will empower farmers to make the right choices based on crop/soil need, as now the

market for fertilizers will be less under government control

• It reduces imbalance in fertiliser use – as DBT would mean a dramatic increase in urea

prices, farmers would buy only the amount of urea they really need and more of other

fertilisers

• It improves efficiency in the supply chain as now private players will be encouraged to

enter the sector and give a boost to ‘Make in India’.

• It will lead to saving on the subsidy by eliminating misuse, and owing to better targeting.

Why government has not undertaken full-fledged DBT?

• Inadequate working Capital among farmers:

• Farmer has to sell out entire cost price of fertilizer (if subsidy is not provided before hand

by the government). Given that 85% of Indian farmers are small and marginal and that their

incomes are meagre it would be burdensome for them to arrange for this high upfront

money.

• This would make them depend on informal money lenders making them vulnerable to debt

trap

• Cash- Strapped government which puts it in a politically difficult situation for DBT

• In FY 2020, the government could end up owing Rs 60,000 crore to the industry. While it

is possible to accumulate such dues in the current system (partial DBT), the government

will have to make upfront payment to farmers to overcome the above obstacle

• If farmers don’t get the subsidy before they buy the fertiliser, they will never buy it as doing

so will mean a big dent in their budgets – thus impacting production & food security

• Cash- strapped government will thus not be able to postpone payments (which is being

done in present system). Owing payment to farmers will be politically sensitive issue which

is thus deterring government to adopt full-fledged DBT

Way forward

Government should ensure fiscal discipline and undertake reforms in subsidy management

(rationalisation and DBT) so as to ensure that neither the food security of a Nation nor the

welfare of farmers is not compromised.

Plogging

In News

• PM in his Mann Ki Baat radio address highlighted the efforts of RipudamanBelvi who has

started the movement of plogging




• Plogging is a combination of jogging with picking up litteri.eworkout combined with an

activity to keep the environment clean

• The picking-up-litter part can be seen as a cooling-down exercise after the exhausting

cardio.

• It started as an organised activity in Sweden in 2016 and started spreading to other countries

• Plogging encapsulate the government’s two initiatives together — Fit India Movement and

Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.

• Sports Ministry has organised “Fit India Plogging” run on October 2nd in which

participants from across India would plog for 2 kms

IAU names asteroid after PanditJasraj

• The International Astronomical Union has named as asteroid discovered in 2006, after

Indian Classical Singer PanditJasraj

• The asteroid or more formally known as minor planetoid is located between Mars and

Jupiter.

INDIA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS

TOPIC: General Studies 2 :

• India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Context :

• The imposing Lotus Tower in Colombo, which was opened to the public recently, is

considered to be the latest symbol of Sri Lanka-China ties.

Srilanka:

• Island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of

Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea.

• The island is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar

and the Palk Strait.

• Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the

time of the ancient Silk Road through to the modern Maritime Silk Road

• a 26-year civil war, which ended decisively when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009

• founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and

a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G77, and the Non-

Aligned Movement




China – Sri-lanka relations:

• 1957, China and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations

• Relations between both countries during the rule of Sri Lankan president, Mahinda

Rajapaksa, saw closer relations due to Rajapaksa’s pro-China stance

• Under current Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, relations remain strong with

Sirisena interested in balancing both Chinese and Indian influence in the country.

• recent developments have shown a pro-China tilt in Sri Lanka’s current foreign policy

• support of China’s position in the South China Sea dispute

• Sri Lanka is a major country on the String of Pearls (Chinese strategic initiative in the

Indian Ocean,)

• Srilanka is part of the Belt and road initiative(BRI) of china

• Though economic ties with China are driving Sri Lanka into a “debt trap”, the bilateral

relationship on the economic front is only becoming stronger. Ex : (Hambanatota )

Did you know:

• Back in 1952, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and China signed a barter trade pact under which

the two countries agreed to exchange Sri Lanka’s natural rubber for Chinese rice. With the

international market for its natural rubber much reduced, Sri Lanka’s economy slumped.

China’s purchase of Sri Lanka’s natural rubber helped ease the crisis.

Hambantota port:

• The Hambantota Port is a maritime port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka

• Total estimated construction cost of the Phase 1 of the project is US$361 million, out of

which 85% was funded by China




• As the port incurred heavy losses, making debt repayment difficult, in 2016 it was proposed

to lease 80% of the port in a debt-for-equity swap to China Merchants Ports holding

company (CMPort)(Signed ) for 99 years

• In July 2018, it was announced that Sri Lanka would relocate its naval base at Galle to

Hambantota.

India srilanka relations:

• Srilanka was before part of various Indian kingdoms.

• India is the island’s largest trading partner

• India is the only neighbour of Sri Lanka, separated by the Palk Strait

• India and Sri Lanka are republics within the Commonwealth of Nations.

• India has signed a nuclear energy deal to improve relations

• the Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene Accord of 1987 and the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan

Constitution, envisaging devolution of powers for provinces, still provide a solid

framework to address the ethnic question

• India’s assistance during the 2004 tsunami and Mr. Modi’s visit to Colombo in June (the

first foreign dignitary to do so) in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks show India’s

sincerity of approach

Low time in India – srilanka relations:

• The anti-Tamil program of 1983 dragged India into the Sri Lankan Tamil question.

• withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in March 1990 a

• the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 made New Delhi

adopt a “hands-off approach” towards Colombo till the final phase of the civil war.

Recent development:

• India cannot claim to have accomplished much in the Sirisena years, despite its

“neighbourhood first” policy since May 2014. India cannot boast of having taken up any

major infrastructure project in Sri Lanka.

• the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, an improved version of the existing

bilateral Free Trade Agreement, has been shelved.

• In recent years, only a couple of social sector projects of the Indian government— gathered

momentum.( — building 60,000 homes for Tamils and ambulance services)

• concern over delays in projects proposed by India. The joint development of an oil storage

facility in Trincomalee is one such project

India – Srilanka – China:

• China’s footprint in Sri Lanka is expanding into the island’s Tamil-dominated areas where

India’s influence in the island has been the strongest, is worrying” as its role here

could grow at India’s cost.

• According to the 2018 annual report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, imports from China

accounted for 18.5%, just a little less than the 19% from India.

Way forward:

• India must sit with that leader not just to get expeditious approvals for all the pending

infrastructure projects but also contribute to a holistic development of Sri Lanka’s youth.

• India must encourage the voluntary repatriation of nearly 95,000 refugees who live in

Tamil Nadu back to Sri Lanka.

Conclusion:

• China-funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka may look great, but India-Sri Lanka ties

are deeper and more complex.




• A benign and comprehensive approach, backed by the sincerity of purpose, will earn India

greater respect of Sri Lankans, and also send a message to the world about the strength of

its ties with Sri Lanka.

Air Pollution and health risks

In News

• Previously, air pollution was exclusively linked only to respiratory diseases.

• But in recent times, multiple clinical studies have proved the role of air pollution in

causing cardiovascular diseases

• The study says that out of one lakh Indians, about 200 people are prone to heart diseases

due to air pollution.

• A study also found that approximately 35% of patients with no conventional risk factors

suffered from cardiovascular diseases (CAD) due to air pollution.

• Institutes involved in study: Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and

Research, & NIMHANS Bengaluru.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act empowers Central Pollution Control Board

to set standards for the quality of air.

• Current NAAQS were notified by CPCB in the year 2009.

• Pollutants covered under NAAQS are Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2),

Particulate Matter (PM 10, PM 2.5), Ozone (O3), Lead (Pb), Carbon Monoxide (CO),

Ammonia (NH3), Benzene (C6H6), Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP), Arsenic(As), Nickel (Ni).

National Air Quality Index

• NAQI, launched by CPCB, is a number used to communicate to the public how polluted

the air currently is or how polluted it is forecasted to become.

• The classifications of air quality are part of a 6 grade, colour coded taking into account 8

pollutant levels.

• These pollutants measured in this index are: Ground-level Ozone (O3), Particulate Matter

(soot and dust) – PM 2.5 and PM 10, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2),

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Ammonia (NH3)

• India and its Nepal- relations.

Context:

• Memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the NCP(Nepal communist party)

with the Communist Party of China .

• President Xi Jinping is visiting Nepal in October 2019




• Background about Nepal:

• Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia.

• It borders China in the north and India in the south, east

• Hinduism is the predominant religion of the country

• The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms Nepal as a secular federal

parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces.

• Friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and the People’s Republic of China in

1960.

• Member of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Non Aligned

Movement(NAM) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative.

India – Nepal relations:

• The 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship




• treaty provides Nepalese, the same economic and educational opportunities as Indian

citizens in India, while accounting for preferential treatment to Indian citizens and

businesses compared to other nationalities in Nepal

• The Indo-Nepal border is open; Nepalese and Indian nationals may move freely across the

border without passports or visas and may live and work in either country

• since late 2015, political issues and border disputes have strained relations between the two

countries with anti-Indian sentiment growing amongst the government and people of Nepal

• No border agreement between two countries

Recent developments in India – Nepal relations:

• In August 2014, when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited and number

of sops were announced.

• When a big earthquake struck Nepal, India was quick to respond with help and relief

materials.

• India’s failure to complete past projects on time has created frustrations.

• In 2015 India objected to Nepal’s constitution and exerted pressure for Nepal to

accommodate the voices of Madhesi people led to blockade this infringed the relations

China- Nepal relations:

• The Sino-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed in 1960.

• From 1975 onward, Nepal has maintained a policy of balancing the competing influence

of China and India

• China has been making an effort to gain entry into SAARC, and, Nepal has continuously

backed and supported the proposal to include China as a member in the regional grouping

• China being the largest source of FDI, (while India still remains one of the major source of

remittance to Nepal)

• The Nepal and China ratified the border agreement treaty 1960.

Recent development in China – Nepal relations:

• Nepali leaders played the nationalism card to reach out to China (after blocked).

• With the announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), exchanges and interactions

between the two countries grew.

• Nepal signed agreements with China to ensure it was not “India locked”, in turn opening

transit and trade opportunities through its northern border.

Problems with the Nepal:

• Nepal’s engagements with the outside world have been more of theatrics, speeches and

little action.

• Nepal has never been about seeking investments and get into a partnership model such as

what Bangladesh has been able to do successfully with both China and India.

• With a strong patriarchal and feudal culture embedded in Hinduism, rituals dominate

Nepali life, there is much emphasis on rituals rather than an understanding of the deeper

issues.

Communism in Nepal Vs China:

The recent rise of the Nepali communist has been due to the empathy of and support from the

Communist parties of India that were part of the United Progressive Alliance(UPA). The

Maoists, while underground, received tacit support. With the communist parties in India in

disarray now, the Nepali communist leaders are looking for options.

• Communism to Nepal came through Calcutta and not straight from China. Therefore, what

we see in Nepal is the West Bengal version of communism rather than a Chinese one.




• The communist movement in both India and Nepal has been about rent-seeking on

positions and selling rhetoric and hypocrisy. In contrast to the Chinese societal model of

hard work and encouraging entrepreneurial pursuits.

• Nepali communists, especially the former insurgents, still talk about Mao and the Maoist

ideology. In China, Mao is a word best avoided and is jarring for the current key leadership.

• In China, over the years, when a majority group within the party decides on an issue, people

with opposing views accept the decision and do not challenge them in the future. Nepali

communism has been about continuous infighting and creating fiefdoms rather than

accepting an individual’s leadership.

China- India-Nepal Trilateral:

• China wants to invest in big connectivity projects in Nepal but prefers to bring India, on

board. But India have not shown much interest.

• Chinese engagement in Nepal is sharply increasing, making India uncomfortable. India

views Nepal as its traditional sphere of influence, and wants to contain Chinese influence.

Thus India is rejecting the proposal for trilateral cooperation

• Nepal wants to change the old pattern of a heavy economic dependence on India by

expanding large-scale ties with China.

• China, meanwhile, is keen to increase its economic, military, and strategic influence in

Nepal without direct confrontation with India.

• Ongoing Trade and transit agreement of Chinese and Nepal governments. Once it is

finalized, Nepal, a land-locked country, could use Chinese ports and seas for the export and

imports of goods .Currently, Nepal uses Indian ports and cities for exports and imports.(

The border blockade of 2015 taught Nepal the lesson)

• China is perceived as a trusted neighbor, agreements, treaties, and conventions. India is

greeted with suspicion..

• China’s noninterference policy seems to have played a vital role in creating positive public

opinion toward China.

• By contrast, there are widespread perceptions that India interferes in Nepal’s politics.

Ex : In 2015, India objected to Nepal’s constitution and exerted pressure for Nepal to

accommodate the voices of Madhesi people, China welcomed the promulgation of the

constitution in Nepal, lauding it as a historic progress.

How far is the progress of China – Nepal relation?

• China-funded projects such as constructing Pokhara International Airport and the

Kathmandu Ring Road expansion are underway.

• Chinese investment in various sectors is increasing.

• Chinese tourists have also noticeably increased in fact surpassed Indian tourists in 2018

• Nepal Army and People’s Liberation Army of China is on the rise, after their first joint

military exercise last year

• Nepal and China signed a framework agreement on the BRI and now the onus lies on Nepal

to select the projects under the BRI framework(2017)

• Nepal is asking China to open more border crossings. Though both countries are talking

about broader connectivity, China has opened very few border points.

• China and Nepal are also exploring the possibility of a free trade agreement (FTA).

Way forward:

• Longstanding people-to-people ties and cultural connect.




• India should focus on fructifying the potential of hydropower cooperation, which has

remained untapped largely due to differing perceptions.

• Timely completion of projects

• India should maintain the policy of keeping away from internal affairs of Nepal

Conclusion:

• President Xi’s visit will be once again be one made by a “friendly neighbour or cousin”,

who brings some gifts, exchanges pleasantries and then moves on.

• With its immense strategic relevance in the Indian context as Indian security concern, stable

and secure Nepal is one requisite which India can’t afford to overlook

Climate change action

Context

The UN Climate Change Summit, 2019 was recently held in New York. The key focus of the

summit is to accelerate the actions to implement Paris agreement.

Did you know?

• Climate change is a change in the usual weather found in a place. This could be a change

in how much rain a place usually gets in a year. Or it could be a change in a place’s usual

temperature for a month or season.

• Climate change is also a change in Earth’s climate. This could be a change in Earth’s usual

temperature. Or it could be a change in where rain and snow usually fall on Earth.

Evidences of climate change across the world:

• Sea level rise is accelerating, and oceans have become 26% more acidic since the dawn of

the Industrial era.

• Europe saw the highest temperatures ever in recorded history. (Paris recorded its highest

temperature of 42.6°C)

• Hurricane Dorian rendered large parts of the Bahamas unliveable;

• simultaneous raging fires in the Amazon, central Africa and even Siberia.

• heat wave in France and Germany

• Nearly 500 species have become extinct in just the last century.

• We are depleting 25% more natural resources than the planet can sustain right now.

Evidences of climate change across India:

• Cyclones such as Thane, Vardah, Ockhi and Gaja have affected Tamil Nadu

• Chennai floods in 2015.

• Floods in Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar this year

• Mumbai received record monsoon rains.

• Kerala witnessed floods for the second consecutive year.

• Cyclone Fani devastated Odisha, Cyclone Vayu ravaged Gujarat this year.

Causes:

• indiscriminate use of fossil fuels.

• The increase in global temperatures started with the industrial revolution




• Industries, vehicles, burning of fossil fuels, thermal power plants and large-scale rearing of

cattle are emitting heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous

oxide.

• The main cause of climate change is global warming, which has many negative

consequences on physical, biological and human systems, as well as other effects.

Consequences of the climate change

• drastically affect agriculture , the production of rice, wheat, maize and soya will decrease

significantly

• give birth to newer infections and illness.

• This imbalance will in turn affect the economy which will lead to conflict, war and global

unrest.

• sea levels will rise and submerge coastal cities

Way forward:

climate change cannot be avoided. We can mitigate its effects and adapt to its consequences

These actions are known as climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Like

• launching actions to reduce and limit greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of preventing

the global temperature

• improving infrastructure and making facilities safer and more resilient,

• reforesting and landscape restoration,

• water treatment and purification,

• flexible and varied farming to be prepared for natural catastrophes

• invest in research and development into the behavior of temperature or possible occurrence

of atmospheric phenomena.

• Research and international collaboration are essential to combat climate change,.like IPCC

, Paris agreements ,conference of the Parties (COP) ,the Montreal Protocol The Paris

Agreement.

Immediate steps to be taken :

• The Indian government should declare a climate emergency immediately.

• Immediate policy changes should include reducing the usage of fossil fuels by half by 2030,

• encouraging the use of public transport,

• increasing forest area,

• promoting non-conventional energy,

• devising good water management policies,

• implementing the plastic ban stringently,

• banning the burning of waste,

• Promoting innovative urban planning policies and reducing mass rearing of cattle for

human consumption.

Conclusion:

• It is the duty of every human and government to take steps to stop the climate crisis. Let us

all join together to save the only planet we have.




Presidential Pardoning Powers

• Article 72 says that the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites

or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person

convicted of any offence

1. Commutation: It means reducing the punishment by changing the nature of punishment.

For example, punishment to death may be changed to life imprisonment.

2. Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely absolves the

convict from all the sentences, punishments and disqualifications.

3. Remission It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its character

4. Respite It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded due to some

special fact, such as the physical disability of convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender.

5. Reprieve It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (especially that of death) for a

temporary period. its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or

commutation from the President.

The link between jobs, farming and climate

Context:

• Slowing economy is taking place, growth has slowed for the past two-and-a-half years

• Unemployment is the biggest crisis that India is facing today

Data:

• Periodic Labour Force Survey point to a dramatic rise in the unemployment rate since

2011-12

• Unemployment is the highest in the 45 years since 1972-73

• Unemployment in ‘Rural Males’, in 2017-18, is four times the average for the 40 years up

to 2011-12.

Causes for the slow growth in rural income:

• Since 2008-2009, crop agriculture activity has recorded zero or negative growth in five

years not seen anything like this since 1947.

• Other causes include low export growth , the state of the banking sector etc

• Decline in investment rate (due to poor agricultural growth)

• ecological factors like land degradation involving loss of soil moisture and nutrients, and

the drop in the water table, leading to scarcity which raises the cost of cultivation

• excessive fertilizer use caused over-abuse of the earth’s resources.

• increasingly erratic rainfall, due to climate change

Measures to be taken :

• Recent Reduction in the corporate tax rate. ( but large part of corporate sales is driven by

rural demand )

• The future growth of demand for much of industrial production is likely to come from rural

areas so the rural picture matters

Way Forward:

• Govt must strive to increase rural income




• Intelligent governance, resource deployment and change in farmer behaviour is a need of

the hour

• Draw in the public agricultural institutes and farmer bodies for their views on how to

resuscitate the sector.

• Policy focus is disproportionately on the tax rate, the ease of doing business in the non-

agricultural sector which must be turned towards agricultural sector

Did you know:

• In the average country of the OECD, an increase in unemployment of such magnitude

would have triggered a nationwide debate and agitation on the streets.

India-Bangladesh ties to move to the next level

Context:

• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will embark on a four-day visit to India

beginning from with an aim to further intensify bilateral relations between the two

countries.

• There is scope for India-Bangladesh ties to move to the next level, based on cooperation,

coordination and consolidation

Did you know:

• Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north and the east and Myanmar to

the east, whereas the Bay of Bengal lies to its south.

• Bangladesh’s land border with India is quite long stretching up to 2,582 miles.

• Indian states Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and West Bengal share the India-

Bangladesh border.

• The country’s geography is dominated by the Ganges delta which empties into the Bay of

Bengal the combined waters of several river systems, including those of the Brahmaputra

and the Ganges

• The endangered Bengal tiger, the national animal..

• The borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the separation of Bengal and

India in August 1947, when the region became East Pakistan as a part of the newly formed

State of Pakistan following the Boundary of the Partition of India. Later the rise of the

Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement led to the Liberation War and

eventually resulted in the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent sovereign in 1971

• Bengalis, who speak the official Bengali language, make up 98% of the population of

Bangladesh

• Islam is the country’s established religion

• In the recent years Bangladesh has registered notable success in using Microcredit as a tool

for poverty alleviation, women empowerment, generation of income through export of

RMG, population control, reducing child mortality and combating natural disasters;

• The country continues to face the challenges of Rohingya refugee, terrorism, corruption,

and erratic climate change




India- Bangladesh relations:

• Common members of SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORA and the Commonwealth.

• The two countries share many cultural ties. (esp :Bengali-speaking)

• In 1971, the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out between East Pakistan and West

Pakistan; India intervened in December 1971 on behalf of East Pakistan and helped secure

East Pakistan’s independence from Pakistan as the country of Bangladesh.

• Since 2015, the notable developments have taken like resolution of long-pending land and

maritime boundaries.

• Observed increase in bilateral trade from US$9 billion to US$10.46 billion in the Fiscal

Year (FY) 2018-19, followed by US$7 billion to US$9 billion in FY 2017-18, an increase

of 28.5 percent.

Present scenario:

• India and Bangladesh today enjoy one of the best periods of their relationship, with positive

development in the areas of diplomatic, political, economic and security relations.

• The current Bangladesh government has uprooted security threats and acts of insurgency

against India

• The India-Bangladesh border is one of India’s most secured

• The signing of the Land Boundary Agreement in 2015 was a milestone

• Land Boundary Agreement in 2015

• Bilateral trade was a little over $9 billion in FY 2017-18 and Bangladeshi exports increased

by 42.91%.

• Indian export of electricity increased by another 500 MW. A 1,600 MW power station with

a dedicated transmission system is being developed to boost power trade.

• Train services are doing well, Five additional bus services were introduced in 2018

• Bangladeshi tourists accounted for 21.6% of the total percentage of tourists visiting India

in 2018

• Bangladesh contributes 50% of India’s health tourism revenue

• Border killings have decreased.

• Since 2010, India has approved three lines of credit to Bangladesh of $7.362 billion to

finance development projects. Due to bureaucratic red tape, just $442 million has been

disbursed till December 2018

• Memoranda of understanding were also signed for cooperation between the naval forces.

•

• Teesta River long river that rises in the eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states

of West Bengal and Sikkim through Bangladesh and enters the Bay of Bengal.

• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to endorse water-sharing terms

agreed upon by Prime Minister Modi in 2015 has resulted in the current impasse.

2. National Register of Citizens (NRC)

• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) has left out 1.9 million Assamese from the list

with a group labelled as “illegal immigrants from Bangladesh” living in Assam post-

1971.(Bangladesh refuses)

3. Rohingya issue

• The Rohingya issue and India’s remarks in 2017 on the issue have been upsetting for

Bangladesh .




• The Indian government is concerned over Rohingyas’ stay in India for security regions, it

is looking for ways to deport over 40,000 Rohingyas living in the country illegally.

Way forward:

• Removal of non-tariff barriers will help Bangladeshi exports such as harmonising the

standards for goods accepted by India

• Approved lines of credit to Bangladesh must be cleared on time

• Both countries must reach consensus on the issues like NRC, Rohingya and Teesta rivers.

Conclusion:

• In a neighbourhood where distrust and cynicism prevail over friendship and hope(Pakistan

& China), the relationship between the two countries(India & Bangladesh) has given hope

for optimism.

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) under RTI Purview

Context:

• Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) receiving substantial financing from the

government are bound to give information to the public under the RTI Act, the Supreme

Court.( D.A.V. College Trust and Management Society Vs. Director of Public

Instructions)

• Institutions like schools, colleges and hospitals which receive substantial aid from the

government both directly or indirectly in the form of land at discounted rate are also

bound to give information to the citizens under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Why?

• Several schools and colleges and associations running this educational institution have

moved the apex court claiming that NGOs are not covered under the RTI Act

Do you know?

• Non-governmental organisations which were substantially financed by the appropriate

government fall within the ambit of ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h) of the Right to

Information Act, 2005.

• Under this section of the RTI Act, ‘public authority’ means “any authority or body or

institution of self-government established or constituted by or under the Constitution and

included… any non-government organisation substantially financed directly or indirectly

by funds provided by the appropriate government.”

• ‘Substantial’ means a large portion which can be both, direct or indirect.

For instance, if land in a city is given free of cost or at a heavily subsidised rate to hospitals,

educational institutions or other bodies, it can qualify as substantial financing.

Political parties:

• The Law Commission opines that political parties are the lifeblood of our entire

constitutional system.

• Political parties act as a conduit through which interests and issues of the people get

represented in Parliament.

• Since elections are predominantly contested on party lines in our parliamentary

democratic polity, the agenda of the potential government is set by them.




Transparency in Political parties:

• In 2010, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) filed an application under the

RTI to all national parties, seeking information about the “10 maximum voluntary

contributions”.

• None of the national political parties volunteered to disclose the information.

• Consequently, ADR and RTI activist Subhash Agarwal filed a petition with the Central

Information Commission (CIC).

• In 2013, a full bench of the CIC delivered a historic judgment by declaring that all national

parties came under ‘public authorities’ and were within the purview of the RTI Act.

• Notwithstanding the binding value of the CIC’s, none of the six political parties complied

with it

• Finally, in 2019, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a declaration of political

parties as ‘public authority’ and the matter is sub judice

Ambedkar’s remarks:

“The working of a Constitution does not depend wholly upon the nature of the Constitution.

The Constitution can provide only the organs of State…The factors on which the working of

those organs of the State depend are the people and the political parties they will set up as their

instruments to carry out their wishes and their politics.”

Implication:

• It can be argued that national parties are ‘substantially’ financed by the Central

government.

• If an entity gets substantial finance from the government, there is no reason why any

citizen cannot ask for information to find out whether his/her money which has been given

to the entity is being used for the requisite purpose or not.

Connecting the dots:

• The creation of an ‘informed’ citizenry, containment of corruption and holding of

government and its instrumentalities accountable to the governed is a need of hour

PLOGGING

In News

• ‘Plogging’ is a combination word formed from ‘jogging’ and ‘plocka upp’, which is

Swedish for ‘pick up’.

• It refers to an emerging international trend in which people picks up trash while jogging or

brisk walking as a way of cleaning up litter while also taking care of fitness.

• The trend was started in Sweden by Erik Ahlström in 2016. Thanks to social media and

word of mouth, it has gradually turned into an international movement involving both

fitness and environmental enthusiasts.

• In India, the government organised the Fit India Plog Run on October 2, as part of the Fit

India Movement launched by the Prime Minister on August 29.

• In his Mann Ki Baat address on September 29, PM Modi urged people to start plogging for

a litter-free India.




• According to Ahlström, plogging for half an hour will burn at least 288 calories on an

average as compared to 235 calories from regular jogging.


Documents

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR CAPF 2020 - PATHFINDERS' ACADEMYpathfindersacademypune.com/downloads/ZkLeMs9i0H.pdf · • A total of 32,559 rapes were reported in 2017 in India. • Madhya Pradesh