CURRENT AFFAIRS · © Winnishers Educational Services Pvt Ltd A LETTER FROM MY HEART Dear IAS Aspirant Friends,

CURRENT AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2019

ORGANIC AND ORGANISED

© Winnishers Educational Services Pvt Ltd

A LETTER FROM MY HEART

Dear IAS Aspirant Friends,

It gives me immense pleasure to present to you the 360º Current

Affairs Magazine for the month of December 2019. I am pleased

and proud to share with you all, that the team that compiles and

edits Current Affairs at IAS WINNISHERS exemplifies Integrity

and Commitment of highest level. Our mission is to facilitate the

Current Affairs knowledge that is ORGANIC and ORGANISED.

Current Affairs plays a significant role in your Success at Civil

Services Examination. By fully coming into terms with this need,

we make an effort to provide to you relevant news from the point of

view of Interview, Mains and Prelims with an Integrated

Approach.

Many students, both freshers and veterans often struggle to find a

right way to Approach, Compile and Consolidate Current Affairs.

This compilation solves that problem, enhances your knowledge

base with an analytical approach and helps you to counter all the

current affairs related challenges faced during the preparation.

Wishing You Success

Vinay Kumar R

Founder & CEO, IAS WINNISHERS

© Winnishers Educational Services Pvt Ltd 1

CONTENTS

1. POLITY & CONSTITUTION .......................................................................... 4

1.1 126th CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL ................................................................... 4

1.2 CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT ....................................................................................... 5

1.3 VACANCIES IN HIGHER JUDICIARY ................................................................................. 7

1.4 GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX .............................................................................................. 8

1.5 KALASA BANDURI PROJECT .............................................................................................. 9

1.6 JAL SHAKTI ............................................................................................................................ 9

2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS .................................................................. 11

2.1 NEW ARAB SPRING IN IRAQ ............................................................................................. 11

2.2 INDIA - MALDIVES .............................................................................................................. 13

2.3 ANTARCTIC DIPLOMACY .................................................................................................. 14

3. ECONOMY ................................................................................................ 16

3.1 NPCI & UPI ........................................................................................................................... 16

3.2 NO EXTRA CHARGE ON DIGITAL PAYMENTS ............................................................... 16

3.3 “OPERATION TWIST” .......................................................................................................... 17

3.4 MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE (MPC) ........................................................................ 18

3.5 INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY CODE (IBC) .............................................................. 18

3.6 MERGER OF BANKS ........................................................................................................... 19

3.7 RTGS & NEFT ....................................................................................................................... 20

3.8 PROMPT CORRECTIVE ACTION ....................................................................................... 21

3.9 IRDAI ..................................................................................................................................... 22

3.10 NATIONAL COMPANY LAW APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (NCLAT) ................................. 22

3.11 GST (COMPENSATION TO STATES) ACT, 2017 ............................................................. 23

3.12 SABKA VISHWAS SCHEME .............................................................................................. 24

3.13 MISSION BHAGIRATHA ................................................................................................... 24

3.14 FASTag ................................................................................................................................ 25

3.15 ATAL BHUJAL YOJANA .................................................................................................... 25

3.16 ELECTORAL BONDS/POLL BONDS: ............................................................................... 26

3.17 EASE OF DOING BUSINESS INDEX (EODB) ................................................................. 27

3.18 GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX ........................................................................................ 27

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3.19 INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION ......................................................................... 28

3.20 ECONOMIC CENSUS ......................................................................................................... 28

3.21 KHADI AND VILLAGE INDUSTRIES COMMISSION (KVIC) ........................................ 29

3.22 ECONOMIC STRUCTURAL SLOWDOWN vs. CYCLICAL SLOWDOWN ...................... 29

3.23 NATIONAL GANGA COUNCIL ......................................................................................... 30

3.24 NET ASSET VALUE IN MUTUAL FUNDS ....................................................................... 30

3.25 FISCAL STIMULUS ............................................................................................................ 31

3.26 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) .................................................................................. 31

4. ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY .............................................................................. 32

4.1 DAKSHINA PINAKINI RIVER ............................................................................................ 32

4.2 SARASWATI/GHAGGAR-HAKRA RIVER ........................................................................... 32

4.3 ASIATIC CHEETAH ............................................................................................................. 33

4.4 COP25, UNFCCC .................................................................................................................. 34

4.5 ANTARCTICA – UNDER THREAT ...................................................................................... 38

4.6 AIR POLLUTION .................................................................................................................. 39

4.7 INDIA STATE OF FOREST REPORT .................................................................................. 39

4.8 INVASIVE ALIEN PLANT SPECIES ................................................................................... 41

5. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY .................................................................................. 43

5.1 RED SEA BREAM IRIDOVIRUS .......................................................................................... 43

5.2 TACKLING DRUG-RESISTANT ACINETOBACTER BAUMANNII ................................. 43

5.3 NPPA HIKES CEILING PRICE OF 12 ESSENTIAL MEDECINES ................................... 44

5.4 INDUSTRY 4.0 ...................................................................................................................... 44

5.5 BRAHMOS ............................................................................................................................. 45

5.6 SOLAR ECLIPSE .................................................................................................................. 46

5.7 ELECTRO-KINETIC PHENOMENON ................................................................................ 48

5.8 CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX .................................................................. 49

6. SOCIAL ISSUES ....................................................................................................... 51

6.1 DISHA ACT 2019 ................................................................................................................... 51

6.2 KARNATAKA SCHEDULED TRIBES LIST ........................................................................ 51

6.3 AWARD-WINNING FILM ‘MISHING’ ON SHERDUKPEN ............................................... 52

6.4 CHAKMAS AND MARMAS .................................................................................................. 53

6.5 THE SCHEDULED TRIBES AND OTHER TRADITIONAL FOREST ............................... 53

DWELLERS (RECOGNITION OF FOREST RIGHTS) ACT, 2006 ........................................... 53

6.6 UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1967 ..................................................... 54

6.7 CRIME RATE AGAINST SC/STs REMAIN HIGH IN KARNATAKA ................................. 55

6.8 POPULATION STABILISATION ......................................................................................... 55

6.9 UIGHURS .............................................................................................................................. 56

6.10 NATIONAL SAFAI KARAMCHARIS FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

(NSKFDC) .................................................................................................................................... 57

6.11 GLOBAL GENDER GAP INDEX ........................................................................................ 57


6.12 BAN ON SURGERIES ON CHILDREN WITH INTERSEX TRAITS ............................... 59

6.13 G-FILES GOVERNANCE AWARD ..................................................................................... 60

7. SCHEMES .................................................................................................................. 61

7.1 PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA (PMUY) ............................................................ 61

7.2 JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAAN ..................................................................................................... 62

7.3 SUKANYA SAMRIDDHI SCHEME ..................................................................................... 62

7.4 AROMA MISSION ................................................................................................................. 63

7.5 JAN SOOCHNA (SOOCHAN) PORTAL ............................................................................... 64

7.6 POSHAN ABHIYAAN ........................................................................................................... 64

7.7 SANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA (SAGY) ...................................................................... 66

7.8 JAGA MISSION ..................................................................................................................... 67

7.9 NPS – NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME ............................................................................. 68

8. MISCELLANEOUS/FACTS ..................................................................................... 69

8.1 BOUGAINVILLE VOTES TO BECOME WORLD’S NEWEST COUNTRY ........................ 69

8.2 TARUN RAMDORAI COMMITTEE ..................................................................................... 69

8.3 GLOBAL WEALTH REPORT ............................................................................................... 70

8.4 PETTA THULLAL ................................................................................................................. 70

8.5 FATF – FINANCIAL ACTION TASK FORCE ..................................................................... 70

8.6 DSC PRIZE FOR SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE ................................................................ 71

8.7 GLOBAL ALLIANCE ON HEALTH AND POLLUTION (GAHP) REPORT, 2019 ............. 71

MISCELLANEOUS ....................................................................................................... 72


1. POLITY & CONSTITUTION

1.1 126thCONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL

Why in news?

Parliament passed a Constitutional Amendment Bill to extend quota to SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies by another 10 years. But nomination of Anglo-Indians has not been extended.

• Reservation for members of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), given for the past 70 years in Lok Sabha and State assemblies, is due to end on January 25, 2020. The reservation for Anglo-Indians in the form of "nomination" is set to expire on January 25th as the bill does not extend the facility to the community.

• Since the amendment falls within the purview of Article 368 (2)(d) dealing with “the representation of States in Parliament”, it is required to be ratified by the Legislature of not less than half of the States by simple majority.

• With approval of both the Houses, the bill would now be sent to states for ratification by 50 per cent of the assemblies before it comes into force.

Constitutional Provisions for Reservation of seats for SCs/STs

Article 330 and 332 provides for the reservation of seats for SCs/STs in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies respectively, on the basis of their population ratio. Also, there is no bar on SCs/STs candidates contesting from general seats.

Constitutional Provisions for Reservation of seats for Anglo Indians

• Under Article 331, President can nominate two members of Anglo-Indian community in Lok Sabha, if not adequately represented.

• Article 333 provides some powers to Governor of a state to nominate one Anglo-Indian members of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies can take the membership of any party within six months of their nomination. But, once they do so, they are bound by their party whip.

• The Anglo-Indian members enjoy the same powers as other MPs, but they cannot vote in the Presidential election.

Who is an Anglo-Indian?

According to Article 366(2), an Anglo-

Indian means a person whose father

or any of whose other male

progenitors in the male line is or was

of European descent but who is

domiciled within the territory of India

and is or was born within such

territory of parents habitually resident

therein and not established there for

temporary purposes only.


1.2 CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT

• In 1955, Parliament has enacted the Citizenship Act 1955, to regulate the

acquisition of Indian citizenship. It has prescribed the grounds on which a person

can become an Indian Citizen.

• According to this Act, a person born in India or have Indian parentage or have

resided in the country for the prescribed period of time etc can acquire the Indian

citizenship.

• The cut-off date for citizenship is December 31,2014 which means the applicant

should have entered India on or before that date.

• Indian citizenship, under present law, is given either to those born in India or if

they have resided in the country for a minimum of 11 years.

• The Act seeks to amend the definition of illegal immigrant for Hindu, Sikh, Parsi,

Buddhist and Christian immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh,

who have lived in India without documentation.

• They will be granted fast track Indian citizenship in six years. So far, 12 years of

residence has been the standard eligibility requirement for Naturalisation.

Refugees

United Nation 1951 Refugee Convention defines refugees as those who have fled their

Compass country owing to well founded fear of persecution, because of their race,

religion, nationality, membership in particular social group or political opinion.

What is Centre's logic behind the Act?

Centre says these minority groups have come escaping persecution in Muslim-majority

nations. However, the logic is not consistent – the bill does not protect all religious

minorities, nor does it apply to all neighbours.

Who is an illegal immigrant?

The act defines the illegal immigrant as a foreigner

(i) who enters the country without valid travel documents like passport and Visa.

OR

(ii) enter with valid documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period.


How much of Northeast does the Act cover?

CAA won't apply to areas under the sixth schedule of the Constitution – which deals

with autonomous tribal-dominated regions in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

The bill will also not apply to states that have the Inner-Line Permit regime (Arunachal

Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram).

Why is Assam angry about it?

Among the states in the Northeast, the outrage against CAA has been the most intense in

Assam. While a chunk of these states have been exempted from the legislation, CAA

covers a large part of Assam. The protests stem from the fear that illegal Bengali Hindu

migrants from Bangladesh, if regularised under CAA, will threaten cultural and linguistic

identities of the state.

Isn't it the same like the NRC?

The National Register of Citizens or NRC that we saw in Assam targeted illegal

immigrants.

A person had to prove that either they, or their ancestors were in Assam on or before

March 24, 1971. NRC, which may be extended to the rest of the country, is not based on

religion unlike CAA.

Criticism

This violates the Constitution’s Article 14, the fundamental right to equality to all

persons. This basic structure of the Constitution cannot be reshaped by any

Parliament.

Key provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 The amendment provides that illegal migrants who fulfill four conditions will not be treated as illegal migrants under the Act. The conditions are:

1. They are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians. 2. They are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan. 3. They entered India on or before December 31, 2014. 4. They are not in certain tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, or Tripura

included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, or areas under the “Inner Line” permit, i.e., Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland.

• These tribal areas include Karbi Anglong (in Assam), Garo Hills (in Meghalaya), Chakma District (in Mizoram), and Tripura Tribal Areas District.

• All legal proceedings against above category of migrants in respect of their illegal migration or citizenship will be closed.

• The period of naturalisation has been reduced from 11 years to 5 years for above category of migrants.

• The 1955 Act allows a person to apply for citizenship by naturalisation, if the person meets certain qualifications. One of the qualifications is that the person must have resided in India or been in Central Government service for the last 12 months and at least 11 years of the preceding 14 years.


Link between NRC and NPR

• The National Population Register (NPR) is a list of “usual residents of the country”. A “usual resident of the country” is one who has been residing in a local area for at least the last six

months or intends to stay in a particular location for the next six months. So, NPR may have foreigners as well.

• However, after a list of residents is created, if a nationwide NRC is needed, it could be done by verifying the citizens from that list. So, a NRC, if undertaken, would flow out of NPR.

1.3 VACANCIES IN HIGHER JUDICIARY

Why in news? The Union Cabinet of India has approved increasing the strength of judges in the

Supreme Court.

• The Cabinet has taken a decision to increase the strength (an increase of 10%)

from 31 to 34 judges including the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

• The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 was last amended in 2009 to

increase the judge’s strength from 25 to 31 (including the CJI).

• As per the Article 124(1) of the Constitution of India, the strength of the Supreme

court is fixed by the law made by the Parliament.

NRC (National Register of Citizens )

o It was first prepared after 1951 census of India. o Earlier this was started in Assam alone but in

20th Nov 2019 declared during parliamentary session that it would be extended to entire country.

o Recently it is updated in Assam to identify Bangladesh foreign nationals. These Bangladeshi had entered into the Assam during the 1971 Bangladeshi war of freedom.


Need :

Between 2006 and 2018 (upto April) there has been an 8.6% rise in the pendency of

cases across courts.

1.4 GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions launched ‘Good Governance Index’ on the occasion of Good Governance Day (25th December).

The Good Governance Day is observed on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It has been designed keeping in mind the citizen-centricity, which is the prime mantra of Government led by PM Shri Narendra Modi.

Significance:

• It is a welcome exercise to incentivise states to competitively deliver on public services to the citizens. This is not the first time that benchmarking of states has been carried out.

• Different agencies including NITI Aayog, the government’s policy think-tank, are

evaluating the States on different parameters.

The states and UTs are divided into three groups :

a) Big states

b) North-East & Hill States

c) Union Territories

• Big states category :Tamil Nadu has topped followed by MMaharashtra,

Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

• North-East and Hill States :Himachal Pradesh ranked first, followed by

Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim.

• Union Territories :Puducherry topped followed by Chandigarh and Dellhi.

Shortcomings of GGI:

Some indicators — farmers’ income, prevalence of micro irrigation or water

conservation systems and inflow of industrial investment — have been left out. The

indicator, “ease of doing business”, has been given disproportionate weight in the

sector of commerce and industries.

It goes without saying that the GGI requires fine-tuning and improvement. But

that does not take away the inherent strength of the work that has been

accomplished, keeping in mind India’s size and complexity.


1.5 KALASA BANDURI PROJECT

Why in News?

Ministry of Environmnet, Forests and Climate Changehas issued clearance for Kalasa

Banduri project of Karnataka for diversion of water from Mahadayi river when dispute is

still pending before Supreme Court and Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal.

• Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (KNNL), is executing the Kalasa-Banduri project

worth nearly Rs 850 crore.

• The project aims to provide water to Belagavi and Dharwad districts of Karnataka.

• It involves the construction of dams and canals across Kalasa Banduri, two

tributaries of the Mahadayi River to divert 7.56 TMC of water to Mallaprabha river (a

tributary of Krishna River), which supplies the drinking water needs of the said 3

districts i.e; Dharwad, Belagavi and Gadag.

• The project was in a legal battle between Karnataka and Goa Governments over

sharing of water of Mahadayi River.

Mahadayi River

• Mahadayi River rises in the Western Ghats, from the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in

Khanapur taluk of Karnataka’s Belagavi district.

• Flowing westward, it enters Goa from Sattari Taluk of North Goa districts.

• Nearly 4 sq.km. of forestland of Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (eco-sensitive zone) is

expected to be submerged by the three dams to be constructed across Haltara, Kalasa

and Banduri streams of Mahadayi River.

1.6 JAL SHAKTI

• It has been created by merger of Ministry of Water Resources,River Development

& Ganga Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

• The ministry will roll out government’s ambitious plan (‘Nal se JAl’ scheme under

JAl Jivan Plan) to provide piped water connections to every household in India by

2024.

• It will also address international and inter-states water disputes and the Namami

Gange project which is the flagship initiative to clean the River Ganga, its

tributaries and sub-tributaries.


National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD)

• NRCD is responsible for implementing the centrally sponsored national river

conservation plan for all rivers across the country except river Ganga and its

tributaries (as issues related to Ganga and its tributaries are taken up by

National Mission for Clean Ganga).

• It has been shifted from the Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate

Change to Jal Shakti Ministry.

• Move aims at consolidating administration and bringing water-related issues

like conservation, development, management and abatement of pollution under

a single ministry.


2.INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2.1 NEW ARAB SPRING IN IRAQ

It is more than eight years since people across the Arab rose up, calling for freedom and democracy and demanding an end to dictatorial rule, corrupt elites and social inequality.

Anti-Government protests in Iraq and Lebanon can impact on the balance of power in West Asia.

Why protests Now?

1. Citizens are fed up with current corrupt ruling elites.

2. Members of all sects are joining hands to challenge primary sect based leaders.

3. There is revulsion among Iraqi population against foreign intervention.

International Repercussions

• If the upheavals in Lebanon and Iraq succeed, the biggest loser will be Iran.

• U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran to

curtail its growing regional influence has been unable to achieve, could well be

attained by the Iraqi and Lebanese demonstrations against Iran’s influence in

these countries.

Impact

The people in Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon and Iraq are not following a single, overarching

strategy. Instead, their activism was borne out of sheer anger and desperation.Protests

have persisted due to spontaneous actions.


Arab Spring

o The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed

rebellions that spread across much of the Islamic world in the early 2010s.

o It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting with

protests in Tunisia.

o The effects of the Tunisian Revolution spread strongly to five other

countries: Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, where either the regime was

toppled or major uprisings and social violence occurred, including riots, civil wars or

insurgencies.

o A power struggle continued after the immediate response to the Arab Spring.

o While leadership changed and regimes were held accountable, power vacuums opened

across the Arab world.

o Ultimately it resulted in a contentious battle between a consolidation of power by

religious elites and the growing support for democracy in many Muslim-majority

states.

o The early hopes that these popular movements would end corruption, increase

political participation, and bring about greater economic equity quickly collapsed in

the wake of the counter-revolutionary moves by foreign state actors in Yemen and of

the Saudi–UAE-linked military deep state in Egypt, the regional and international

military interventions in Bahrain and Yemen, and the destructive civil wars in Syria,

Iraq, Libya and Yemen.

o Some have referred to the succeeding and still ongoing conflicts as the Arab Winter.

o As of May 2018, only the uprising in Tunisia has resulted in a transition to

constitutional democratic governance.

o Recent uprisings in Sudan and Algeria show that the conditions that started the Arab

Spring are not going away and political movements against authoritarianism and

exploitation are still occurring.


2.2 INDIA - MALDIVES

• India and Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial

links and enjoy close, cordial and multi-dimensional relations.

• India was among the first to recognize Maldives after its independence in 1965

and to establish diplomatic relations with the country.

• As per India’s “Neighborhood First Policy,” India “stands ready to fully support

the Government of Maldives in its socio-economic development” and Maldivian

government has reiterated its “India First” policy” i.e. to work closely with the

government of India on all issues.

Maldives importance to India: Security:

• Geostrategic:

Maldives is located just 700 km from the strategic Lakshadweep island chain and 1,200 km from the Indian mainland, and the growing Chinese presence in the archipelago could have serious security implications.

• Indian Ocean Region hegemony: Chinese heavy presence in Maldives would have given China an opportunity and a base to influence and control the Indian Ocean region. Also, the energy supplies coming from Gulf nations to India pass through this area.

• Regional imbalance: India enjoys unparalleled access and influence in many of the Indian Ocean Island states, including the Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius which has been a problem for China. China-Maldives bonhomie can act as a counter to Indian influence in the region. Economic:

• Indian expatriates:

There are about 25,000 Indian expatriates in Maldives who are engaged in a number of professional pursuits and their security is also of prime concern for India.

• Blue economy: Maldives plays an integral role in realising the potential of Indian Ocean blue economy as a contributor to the security and sustainable development of sea resources.

• Tourism: India and Maldives see regular tourist visits between the two and Indian tourists also account for close to 6% of tourists Maldives receives each year.


• Health: India is a preferred destination for Maldives citizens seeking health services, which boosts Indian healthcare sector. Political:

• Political chaos: Uncertainty in Maldives could prove a fertile breeding ground for extremism and religious fundamentalism, smuggling and drug trafficking. Islamic State(IS) and Lashkar-e-Taiba are also reported to have established bases in Maldives.

• SAARC factor: SAARC has a special importance for India because it includes all India’s neighbors and excludes China. Of lately, China has been creating inroads into SAARC countries which is reducing India’s influence in the bloc, for example Pakistan’s CPEC, China’s Hambantota port etc. and Maldives could be China’s next destination.

2.3 ANTARCTIC DIPLOMACY

Why in News?

On December 2-3, 2019, the first ever high-level Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly

was organised by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) headed by UK at the

Westminster, London. The two-day meeting began with experts from world over

presenting current scenarios of climate change in Antarctica to the parliamentarians.

Key takeaways of the meeting:

• Heralding the beginning of a new world mechanism towards the upkeep of the

Antarctic regions, this Assembly called for proactive action at the policy level

within each signatory country.

• The Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly has been mandated to be reconvened bi-

annually with the next to be held in Australia or New Zealand in December, 2021.

Why should India concentrate on Antarctica?

• It is vitally important for India to comprehend the uncertainty of the lives and livelihoods likely to be affected by the sea-level rise.

• If at all the global community is hardening its stand towards the exploration and exploitation of the Southern Ocean and the Antarctica, it is imperative for India to critically examine its ramifications.


• With an unequal rise in sea levels skewed against tropical lands, India needs to lead a number of collaborative polar programmes towards cognisable projections about the futures of tropical countries and coastal cities.

• India’s stewardship of similar populous tropical nations bereft of a polar programme would be a pragmatic move.

• Nations with large and vulnerable population, therefore, need to bid for interactions with the Antarctica, different from the current scenario.

Indian Antarctic Program:

The Indian Antarctic Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program under

the control of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth

Sciences, Government of India. It was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to

Antarctica.

India’s research stations in Antarctica:

Dakshin Gangotri, Maitri and Bharati

Bharati :Located beside Larsmann Hill at 69°S, 76°E, Bharati is established in 2015.

This newest research station for oceanographic research will collect evidence of

continental breakup to reveal the 120-million-year-old ancient history of the Indian

subcontinent.

Antarctic Treaty :

• The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica.

• The treaty entered into force in 1961 and currently has 54 parties.

• India officially acceded to the Antarctic Treaty System on 1 August 1983.

• On 12 September 1983, the country became the fifteenth Consultative Member of the Antarctic Treaty.

• The treaty sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation, and bans military activity on the continent.

• The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War.

• Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat headquarters has been

located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.


3. ECONOMY

3.1NPCI & UPI

Why in News? Google has written to the U.S Federal Reserve Board detailing the successful example of

UPI-based digital payments in Inida in order to build ‘FedNow’- a new inter-bank real time gross settlement service (RTGS) for faster digital payments in the U.S.

NPCI(National Payments Council of India):

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

• It is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.

• Founded in 2008, the NPCI is a not-for-profit organisation registered under section 8 of the Companies Act 2013.

• It is the inter-bank transfer system of over 140 member banks.

• It provides services like RuPay, BHIM, UPI, Bharat Bill Payment System, National Electronic Toll Collection, Bharat QR etc

UPI (Unified Payments Interface):

• UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by NPCI facilitating inter-bank transactions.

• It is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.

• On August 16, 2018 UPI 2.0 was launched which enabled users to link their Overdraft accounts to a UPI handle.

• Money can be sent or requested with the following methods: Virtual Payment

Address (VPA) or UPI ID, Account number & IFSC, Mobile number, QR code and Aadhar.

3.2 NO EXTRA CHARGE ON DIGITAL PAYMENTS

The Department of Revenue will soon notify RuPay and UPI as the prescribed mode of payment for digital transactions without any Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), from January 1, 2020. RuPay Card?


• RuPay is an Indian card scheme, conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on 26 March 2012.

• It was created to fulfill the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) vision to have a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments.

• RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions. Merchant Discount Rate (MDR):

• The Merchant Discount Rate is thepercentage of the digital transaction that a merchant pays to banks.

• This cost is often passed on to the customer. The decision to choose RuPay and

UPI as the platforms which will not attract this levy, may promote these home-grown digital payment pathways over those promoted by foreign companies, including VISA and MasterCard.

3.3 “OPERATION TWIST”

Why in News?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a simultaneous sale and purchase of government bonds under the Open Market Operations (OMO) mechanism, on lines of the “Operation Twist” that was adopted by the US Federal Reserve in 2011-12. What is Operation Twist? Operation Twist’ is when the central bank uses the proceeds from sale of short-term securities to buy long-term government debt papers, leading to easing of interest rates on the long term papers. What RBI does?

• RBI will sell four short-term securities maturing in 2020 and will purchase the 6.45 percent long-term government bond maturing in 2029.

• The RBI will purchase the long-term maturities, that are trading at a spread of 150bps (basis points) over the repo rate, so that the yield of these papers will soften and sell the shorter duration ones.

Open Market Operations(OMO): Open Market Operations is a tool that the RBI uses to smoothen liquidity conditions through the year and regulate money supply in the economy. About:

• Open market operations is the sale and purchase of government securities and treasury bills by RBI or the Central Bank of the country.

• When the RBI wants to increase the money supply in the economy, it purchases the government securities from the market and it sells government securities to suck out liquidity from the system.


• RBI carries out the OMO through commercial banks and does not directly deal with the public.

3.4 MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE(MPC)

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) constituted by the Central Government under Section 45ZB is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India. About MPC:

• The Monetary Policy Committee of India is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India.

• The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 was amended by Finance Act (India), 2016 to constitute MPC which will bring more transparency and accountability in fixing India's Monetary Policy.

• The basic objective of MPC is to maintain price stability and accelerate the growth rate of the economy.

• The committee comprises six members - three officials of the Reserve Bank of India and three external members nominated by the Government of India.Governor of RBI, Deputy Governor of RBI, one officer of RBI is to be nominated by the Central Board and the three other members nominated by the Government of India will hold office for a period of four years from the date of appointment. All the central government nominees are not eligible to be re-appointed.

• The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least 4 times a year.

• The committee is answerable to the Government of India if the inflation exceeds the range prescribed for three consecutive months.

What is Monetary Policy? Monetary policy refers to the use of monetary instruments under the control of the central bank to regulate magnitudes such as interest rates, money supply and availability of credit with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy. Monetary policy instruments are of two types namely qualitative instruments and quantitative instruments. 1. Quantitative instruments include Open Market Operations, Bank Rate, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, Cash Reserve Ratio, Statutory Liquidity Ratio, Marginal standing facility and Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF). 2. Qualitative Instruments refer to direct action, change in the margin money and moral suasion.

3.5 INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY CODE (IBC)

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) is the bankruptcy law of India which seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_India_Act,_1934

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India




The code aims to protect the interests of small investors and make the process of doing business less cumbersome.

Key features:

• Insolvency Resolution : The Code outlines separate insolvency resolution processes for individuals, companies and partnership firms.

• Insolvency regulator: The Code establishes the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, to oversee the insolvency proceedings in the country and

regulate the entities registered under it. The Board will have 10 members, including representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Law, and the Reserve Bank of India.

• Insolvency professionals: The insolvency process will be managed by licensed professionals. These professionals will also control the assets of the debtor during the insolvency process.

• Bankruptcy and Insolvency Adjudicator: The Code proposes two separate tribunals to oversee the process of insolvency resolution, for individuals and companies: (i) The National Company Law Tribunal for Companies and Limited Liability Partnership firms. (ii) The Debt Recovery Tribunal for individuals and partnerships.

3.6 MERGER OF BANKS

A situation in whichtwo banks pool their assets and liabilities to become one bank which can have a significant impact on the financial industry, involving bank holding companies to more intensive regulation. Difference between Merger, Acquisition &Consolidation : A Merger occurs when two separate entities combine forces to create a new, joint organization. Acquisition refers to the takeover of one entity by another. Consolidation is the process by which one company takes over or merges with

another. Provisions for Bank Mergers: Under Banking Regulation Act-1949,

• Section 44 lays down the norms for voluntary mergers.

• No Banking Company under force of any law, shall be amalgamated with another banking company, unless a scheme containing the terms of such amalgamation has been placed in draft before the shareholders of each of the banking companies concerned separately, and approved by a resolution passed by 2/3rd majority of shareholders of each of said companies.(Sec 44A)


• Section 45:Forced Mergers, The RBI can apply to the central government for an order of moratorium for a banking company.

The Central Government after consulting the application made by the RBI may make an order of moratorium staying commencement or continuance of all actions and proceedings against the company for a fixed period of time on such terms and conditions as it finds proper and may from time to time extend the period on condition that the total period of moratorium shall not exceed 6 months. Procedure of Merging: • Bank mergers are regulated under Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

• Any two public sector banking entities can initiate merger talks, but the scheme of the merger must be finalized by the government in consultation with the RBI and it must be placed in the Parliament.

• Parliament reserves the right to modify or reject the mergers. • Alternative Mechanism Panel for PSBs merger– Recently, the government has

put in place an Alternative Mechanism Panel headed by the Finance Minister to oversee and fast-track merger procedures. The other member of the panel areRailway Minister and Defence Minister.

Few Mergers in India:

• Punjab National Bank (PNB) and New Bank of India (NBI) (1993-1994) – first ever merger between two nationalized banks.

• SBI merger with associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (2017). The merger helped SBI gain a spot among the top 50 banks globally.

• Merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda in 2019. Amalgamated will be 3rd Largest Bank in India.

3.7 RTGS & NEFT

Real Time Gross Settlement(RTGS) :

• Real Time Gross Settlement(RTGS), is a system where there is continuous and real-time settlement of fund-transfers, individually on a transaction by transaction basis (without netting). 'Real Time' means the processing of

instructions at the time they are received; 'Gross Settlement' means that the settlement of funds transfer instructions occurs individually.

About:

• RTGS is not a 24x7 system. The RTGS service window for customer transactions is available to banks from 7 am to 6 pm on a working day, for settlement at the RBI end. However, the timings that the banks follow may vary from bank to bank.

• The RTGS system is primarily meant for large value transactions. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is ₹ 2,00,000/- with no upper or maximum ceiling.

• UTR number: Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) number is a 22 character code used to uniquely identify a transaction in RTGS system.


National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is a nation-wide payment system facilitating one-to-one funds transfer. Under this Scheme, individuals, firms and corporates can electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual, firm or corporate having an account with any other bank branch in the country participating in the Scheme. About:

• For being part of the NEFT funds transfer network, a bank branch has to be

NEFT- enabled.

• Individuals, firms or corporates maintaining accounts with a bank branch can transfer funds using NEFT. Even such individuals who do not have a bank account (walk-in customers) can also deposit cash at the NEFT-enabled branches with instructions to transfer funds using NEFT. However, such cash remittances will be restricted to a maximum of ₹ 50,000/- per transaction.

• Individuals, firms or corporates maintaining accounts with a bank branch can receive funds through the NEFT system. It is, therefore, necessary for the beneficiary to have an account with the NEFT enabled destination bank branch in the country.

• There is no limit – either minimum or maximum – on the amount of funds that could be transferred using NEFT. However, maximum amount per transaction is limited to ₹ 50,000/- for cash-based remittances within India and also for remittances to Nepal under the Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility Scheme.

Difference Between NEFT and RTGS: • The basic difference between them are settlement timings. RTGS is based on

the gross settlement where the transaction is settled on an instruction by instruction basis. NEFT is an electronic fund transfer system that operates on a Deferred Net Settlement (DNS)basis which settles transactions in batches.

• As per the Reserve Bank of India for RTGS the minimum amount should be above Rs 2 lakh and NEFT has no limit either minimum or maximum – on the amount of funds that could be transferred using NEFT.

3.8 PROMPT CORRECTIVE ACTION

Prompt Corrective Action or PCA is a framework under which banks with weak financial metrics are put under watch by the RBI. The PCA framework deems banks as risky if they slip below certain norms on three parameters — capital ratios, asset quality and profitability.

It has three risk threshold levels (1 being the lowest and 3 the highest) based on where a bank stands on these ratios:


1)Threshold 1: Banks with a capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of less than 10.25% but more than 7.75%. 2)Threshold 2: Those with CRAR of more than 6.25% but less than 7.75%. 3)Threshold 3: In case a bank’s common equity Tier 1 (the bare minimum capital under CRAR) falls below 3.625%.

• Also if banks that have a net NPA of 6% or more but less than 9% fall under threshold 1, and those with 12% or more fall under the third threshold level.

• On profitability, banks with negative return on assets for two, three and four consecutive years fall under threshold 1, threshold 2 and threshold 3, respectively.

• The PCA framework is applicable only to commercial banks and not extended to co-operative banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio It is a measurement of a bank’s available capital expressed as a percentage of a bank’s risk- weighted credit exposures. It is also called as Capital Adequacy Ratio.

3.9IRDAI

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is an autonomous, statutory body tasked with regulating and promoting the insurance and re-insurance industries in India.

• It was constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 an Act of Parliament passed by the Government of India.

• The agency's headquarters is in Hyderabad, Telangana.

3.10NATIONAL COMPANY LAW APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (NCLAT)

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is a tribunal which was formed by the Central Government of India under Companies Act, 2013.

About:

• NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by NCLT(s) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).

• NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction issued or decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

• NCLAT decisions can be challenged in the Supreme Court on a point of law. In some cases, NCLAT decisions have been overturned by the Supreme Court.

What is NCLT? The National Company Law Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies. The tribunal was established under


the Companies Act 2013 and was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India and is based on the recommendation of the Justice Jaincommittee on law relating to insolvency and winding up of companies. Difference between NCLT v/s NCLAT:

• Judgement on: NCLT makes the judgement on the insolvency resolution proceedings. NCLAT makes judgement on the decisions made by the NCLT.

• Types of tribunal: NCLT is the primary Tribunal and NCLAT is the appellate tribunal.

• Analysis: NCLT analyzes the evidences that are presented by the insolvent debtor or their creditors. NCLAT analyzes the decisions that are made by the NCLT.

3.11 GST (COMPENSATION TO STATES) ACT, 2017

Purpose of the Act

GST is a destination-based tax which is seen as an advantage to the consuming states

and detriment to producing states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka etc. So the

Centre has assured the states to compensate with the losses accruing from the

implementation of GST.

What does the Act Say?

• Loss of revenue to the States on account of implementation of Goods and Services Tax shall be payable during transition period of 5 years (Section 7).

• The total compensation payable in any financial year shall be difference between the projected revenue for any financial year and the actual revenue collected by a State(Section 7c).

• Financial year 2015-16 has been taken as the base year for the payment of compensation (Section 4).

• The projected nominal growth rate of revenue subsumed for a state during the transition period shall be 14% per annum.

From where does the Government earn the income for the compensation? GST Council has allowed the centre to impose additional cesses for 5 years on certain goods over and above the highest tax bracket of 28%.


3.12SABKA VISHWAS SCHEME

The Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 is a scheme proposed in the Union Budget, 2019, and introduced to resolve all disputes relating to the erstwhile Service Tax and Central Excise Acts, which are now subsumed under GST, as well as 26 other Indirect Tax enactments. About:

• The scheme has been notified by the CBIC (Central Board for Indirect Taxes and

customs) to come into force on the 1st of September, 2019, and shall be operational until the 31st of December, 2019.

• The objective of the Scheme is to free as large a segment of the taxpayers from the legacy taxes (a tax levied on the privilege of passing title by will to property, especially personal property) as possible, the relief given thereunder is substantial. The Scheme is especially tailored to free the large number of small taxpayers of their pending disputes with the tax administration

• The two main components of the Scheme are dispute resolution and amnesty. 1) The dispute resolution component is aimed at liquidating the legacy cases of Central Excise and Service Tax that are subsumed in GST and are pending in litigation at various forums. 2) The amnesty component of the Scheme offers an opportunity to the taxpayers to pay the outstanding tax and be free of any other consequence under the law.

• This scheme provides for a substantial relief margin on all Duty demands, ranging from 40% to 70% of the demand, except in the case of voluntary disclosure.

• Adjudication Procedure: 1) For all the cases pending in adjudication or appeal – in any forum - this

Scheme offers a relief of 70% from the duty demand if it is Rs.50 lakhs or less and 50% if it is more than Rs. 50 lakhs

2) Further, in cases of confirmed duty demand, where there is no appeal pending, the relief offered is 60% of the confirmed duty amount if the same is Rs. 50 lakhs or less and it is 40%, if the confirmed duty amount is more than Rs. 50 lakhs.

3) Finally, in cases of voluntary disclosure, the person availing the Scheme will have to pay only the full amount of disclosed duty.

3.13MISSION BHAGIRATHA

• Bhagiratha is a project for safe drinking water for every village and city household in Telangana State, with a budget of Rs 43,791 crores.

• It aims to provide piped water to 2.32 crore people in 20 lakh households in urban and 60 lakhs in rural areas of Telangana.

• The ambitious project will supply clean drinking water to all households in the state through water sourced from River Godavari and River Krishna.


3.14 FASTag

Why in news? MoRTH(Min of Roads, Transport and Highway) was with the mission of achieving 100% FASTag toll plaza by December 15 which is now extended by 30 more days with only 25% of toll booths operating with cash transactions. What is FASTag?

• NHAI (National highways Authority of India) has rolled out program for Electronic Toll Collection on Toll Plazas on National Highways to be called FASTag.

• FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction.

• The tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle's windscreen after the tag account is active.

• FASTag is under National Electronic Toll Collection programme, a flagship initiative of MoRTH.

• Indian Highways Management Corporation Limited (IHMCL) of NHAI is the implementing agency.

3.15ATAL BHUJAL YOJANA

Why in news? Union Cabinet has approved the implementation of Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL), a Central Sector Scheme with a outlay of Rs. 6000 Crore to be implemented over a period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25). About the Scheme:

• The scheme aims to improve ground water management through community participation in identified priority areas in 7 states: Gujarat, Haryana,

Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

• The scheme aims to strengthen the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management and bringing about behavioural changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management in seven States.

• Of the total outlay of Rs.6000 Crore to be provided from 2020 to 2025, 50% will be in the form of World Bank loan to be repaid by the Central Government. The remaining part will be made available from Central Assistance from regular budgetary support.

• This entire fund will be transferred as Grants to the states by Central Government.


• ATAL BHUJAL has two major components: A. Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Component for strengthening institutional arrangements for sustainable groundwater management in the States including improving monitoring networks, capacity building, strengthening of Water User Associations, etc. B. Incentive Component for incentivising the States for achievements in improved groundwater management practices namely, data dissemination, preparation of water security plans, implementation of management interventions through convergence of ongoing schemes, adopting demand side management practices etc.

Add-on:

• Ground water contributes to nearly 65% of total irrigated area of the country and nearly 85% of the rural drinking water supply.

3.16 ELECTORAL BONDS/POLL BONDS:

Why in news? Finance Minister informed the Rajya Sabha that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had not objected to the issuance of electoral bonds through the State Bank of India (SBI). What is a bond? A bond is a fixed income instrument that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (typically corporate or government). It is a debt security, which is similar to an Instrument of Understanding (IOU). Borrowers issue bonds to raise money from investors, who are willing to lend them a sum for a certain amount of time. What is an Electoral Bond? The Finance Bill, 2017, introduced "electoral bonds", that are interest free bearer bonds. It is an instrument that is used to donate money to political parties. The Electoral Bond Scheme was notified on 29th January, 2018.

Its provisions:

• The parties involved will be a donor, the political party and the RBI - which acts as the intermediary.

• Electoral bonds were introduced by amendments made through the Finance Act 2017 to the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, Representation of Peoples Act 1951, Income Tax Act 1961 and Companies Act of 2013.

• These bonds can be purchased by an Indian citizen with a KYC-compliant account or a body incorporated in India (not a foreign company). A firm can donate a maximum of 7.5% of its average net profits of last 3 years and disclose it in their financial statements (Section 182 of the Company Act).


• Electoral bonds can be purchased from the specified branches of State Bank of India. The name of the donor will not be mentioned in the bond. It will be valid for only 15 days.

• Donations will be tax deductible, and the benefitting political party will get a tax exemption for the amount received.

• The bonds will be available for purchase only for a period of 10 days in the beginning of each quarter, in the months of January, April, July and October.

• They can be bought for any value, in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh or Rs 1 crore.

3.17 EASE OF DOING BUSINESS INDEX (EODB)

• India ranks 63rd among 190 countries improving by 14 ranks from its rank of 77 in 2019. India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices.

• The 2020 edition of the Report acknowledges India as one of the top 10 improvers, third time in a row, with an improvement of 67 ranks in 3 years. It is also the highest jump by any large country since 2011.

EODB Index:

• Doing Business 2020, a World Bank Group flagship publication, is the 17th in a series of annual studies measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.

• It is based on 10 indicators: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.

• New Zealand tops the list followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark and South Korea. Somalia, Eritrea and Venezuela are least ranked countries.

• The economies with the most notable improvement in Doing Business 2020 are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, India and Nigeria based on the improvement.

3.18 GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX

• India’s rank in the GII has improved from the 81st rank in 2015 to the present 52nd rank in GII 2019 report which is published annually.

• India became the first developing country to launch the Global Innovation Index (GII) in association with World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and Confederation of India (CII).


GII:

• The Global Innovation Index 2019 (GII), in its 12th edition this year, is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, a specialized agency of the United Nations).

• The core of the GII Report consists of a ranking of world economies’ innovation capabilities and results.

• The Global Innovation Index (GII) aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of innovation and provide the tools that can assist in tailoring policies of world economies.

• It provides a key tool and a rich database of detailed metrics for economies, which

in 2019 encompasses 129 economies.

• Switzerland tops the list followed by Sweden, USA, Netherlands and UK. Israel is the only country from Asia in the top 10 list.

• The GII is computed by taking a simple average of the scores in two sub-indices, the Innovation Input Index and Innovation Output Index, which are composed of five and two pillars respectively.

3.19INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index which shows the growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a stipulated period of time.

• The base year for the calculation of IIP is revised to 2011-12

• The IIP index is computed and published by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) on a monthly basis under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

• Number of items included in the Index is 407 under 2011-12 series.

• Classification has been adopted with following categorization: 1) Primary Goods, 2) Capital Goods, 3) Infrastructure/Construction Goods, 4) Intermediate Goods, 5) Consumer Durables and 6) Consumer non-durables.

• 8 Core Industries in India are Electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilisers. It constitutes 40.27% of the total weights included in the IIP.

3.20ECONOMIC CENSUS

• The 7th Economic Census was launched by Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) which has tied up with Ministry of Electronics and IT.

• For the first time the entire Census is being conducted on a digital platform by the use of an application which will ensure high accuracy and data security. An IT based digital platform is being used for data capture, validation, report generation and dissemination will be used.


• The process of Economic Census was first held in 1978. This is the Seventh Census which will provide disaggregated information on various operational and structural aspects of all establishments in the country.

3.21KHADI AND VILLAGE INDUSTRIES COMMISSION (KVIC)

• The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is a statutory body formed by

the Government of India, under the Act of Parliament, 'Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956'.

• It is an apex organisation under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, with regard to khadi and village industries within India, which seeks to - "plan, promote, facilitate, organise and assist in the establishment and development of khadi and village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.”

• In April 1957, it took over the work of former All India Khadi and Village Industries Board.

• Its head office is in Mumbai and its six zonal offices are in Delhi, Bhopal, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Guwahati.

3.22ECONOMIC STRUCTURAL SLOWDOWN vs. CYCLICAL SLOWDOWN

Why in News? The Indian economy is passing through a phase of economic slowdown, with the GDP growth registering one of the lowest rates of 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of FY19. While there is a consensus that the economy is slowing down, the debate is still going on whether the slowdown is structural or cyclical. What is Structural Slowdown?

• When the problems of the economy can go very deeper, impeding the efficient and fair production of goods and services.

• In such a scenario, a monetary and fiscal stimulus won't be enough to revive the economy.

• Fixing such problems would require the government to undertake some structural policies like that of Economic Reforms in 1991.

Structural reforms are essentially measures that change the fabric of an economy, the institutional and regulatory framework in which businesses and people operate. They are designed to ensure the economy is fit and better able to realise its growth potential in a balanced way. What is Cyclical Slowdown?


A Cyclical Economic Slowdown (trade/business cycle) is a part of the business cycle

having its peaks and troughs. The economy will be moving in economic cycles (Boom,

Recession, Depression, Recovery) with periods of peak performance followed by a

downturn and then a trough of low activity. These are expected to be short-term

problems that could be addressed with an adequate mix of fiscal and monetary policies.

3.23 NATIONAL GANGA COUNCIL

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting of the National Ganga Council in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. About:

• It is one of the 5 tier structure of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Chairmanship of PM. It was constituted in the year 2016 which was supposed to meet once in a year.

• The Council has been given overall responsibility for superintendence of pollution prevention and rejuvenation of River Ganga Basin, including Ganga and its tributaries.

• The first meeting of the Council was aimed at reinforcing the importance of a ‘Ganga-centric’ approach in all departments of the concerned states as well as relevant Central Ministries.

• The Government has set up the Clean Ganga Fund (CGF) to facilitate contributions from individuals, NRIs, corporate entities for funding Ganga rejuvenation projects.

SOME TERMINOLOGIES IN ECONOMY

3.24 NET ASSET VALUE IN MUTUAL FUNDS

NAV is the value or the price of each unit of a mutual fund (MF) of a particular scheme. It is a function of the total value of all the underlying securities (It is a security of stock, index, bond, currency, or commodity on which a commodity/asset value is based) and the number of MF units that the scheme has. For Example, if a particular scheme has issued 10 lakh units and the total value of its holdings is ₹100 crore, the NAV would be ₹1,000. Just like the value of each share is reflected by the share price, the value of the MF unit is the NAV.


3.25 FISCAL STIMULUS

An increase in public spending or a reduction in the level of taxation that might be performed by a government in order to encourage and support economic growth. For Example, most government bailout packages offered to various business types can be considered a form of fiscal stimulus. It is an attempt by governments or government agencies to financially stimulate an economy by using tactics such as lowering interest rates, increasing government spending and quantitative easing.

3.26 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND(ETF)

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a type of security that involves a collection of

securities—such as stocks, commodities or bonds—that often tracks an

underlying index, although they can invest in any number of industry sectors or use

various strategies. ETFs are in many ways similar to mutual funds; however, they are

listed on exchanges and ETF shares trade throughout the day just like ordinary stock.


4. ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY

4.1 DAKSHINA PINAKINI RIVER

Why in News?

• A private entity registered as Dakshina Pinakini River Rejuvenation Trust, Bengaluru has proposed rejuvenating the east flowing river and this has been recently given approved by the Karnataka State Government.

• The trust, in its report, has said that though the river catchment area receives 700 to 900mm water annually, nearly one crore population that resides in the 4,800 sq.km area has been denied continuous water supply. About the River

• Dakshina Pinakini(South Pennar) is an East flowing river of Karnataka originating from Nandi Hills (near Bengaluru). It is one of the six rivers that originates in the Nandi Hills.

• Known as Thenpennai or Ponnaiyar or Pennaiyar in Tamil.

• Other rivers originating from Nandi Hills are Arkavathi, Palar, Pagagni, Pennar(uttara pinakini) & Chikravathi.

• It traverses through Chickballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, and Kolar districts and enters Tamil Nadu in Hosur.

• The river drains in Bay of Bengal .

4.2 SARASWATI/GHAGGAR-HAKRA RIVER

Why in News?

• Researchers from Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad) &IIT(Bombay) have

analysed sand from 3-10 meters below surface of modern Ghaggar & found that it was a perennial river fed by glacier rivers in the past.

• Nearly 2/3rd of the 1,500 archeological sites of the Harrapan settlements occur on the dried up banks of the modern Ghaggar river.

• Today, the Ghaggar is a seasonal, monsoon-fed river originating in the Sub-Himalayas.

• The question arises about the role played by the Paleo Ghaggar, ancient counterpart of this river, in the lives of the Harappans. Did the Harappans live on the banks of the perennial river, mighty and fed by the glacial rivers arising in the Higher Himalayas, or was Paleo Ghaggar also a monsoon-fed and seasonal river that rose in the Sub Himalayas?


• Rig Veda mentions a mighty, snow-fed river Saraswati on whose bank the Veda literature was supposed to be derived.

• The researchers found Coarse-grained white or grey sands that contain abundant white mica which are typical of glacier-fed Higher Himalayan Rivers such as the Ganga and the Yamuna.

• The research paper submitted by them finds that River Ghaggar had two distinct perennial phases: one during 80,000- 20,000 years ago and the other during 9,000 - 4,500 years ago (correlated with Rig Vedic Saraswati).

4.3 ASIATIC CHEETAH

Why in news?

India is planning to bring back its cousin from Africa (African Cheetah). The proposal

submitted by the NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) is awaited the Supreme

Court’s approval.

• The word ‘cheetah’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘chitraka’, which means ‘spotted’.

• Asiatic Cheetahs are extinct in India. Study shows that they were hunted indiscriminately before the 19th Century.

• Since the 1970s, there were talks between India and Iran towards bringing the cat to India, but the project never took off ( barely 50 of them remain in Iran today).

• The last Asiatic cheetah, the lesser-known cousin of its more famous African

counterpart, was shot in 1947 by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of the

little-known princely state of Koriya in present-day Chhattisgarh.

• At the recent meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations

Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14), a researcher from the

Indian delegation pronounced desertification as the primary cause of the

extinction of the cheetah (and also the still-extant great Indian bustard) in India.

• So was desertification really the cause? Not exactly. What we know is this: two

idiosyncratic traits of the animal undeniably led to its end. One, the cat was very

easy to tame: it was often trained to race down and hunt animals, almost like a

hound — a ‘sport’ called coursing — and so was caught in large numbers for use

in such hunts. Second, cheetahs were nearly impossible to breed in captivity.

• In its application, the NTCA had also argued that there is very little difference

between the African and Asiatic subspecies of cheetah. It, however, admitted that

though the Iranian cheetah is genetically closest to cheetah that went extinct in

India it is now difficult to get them from Iran due to its small population size in

Iran.


• Therefore, it said, India will bring cheetah from southern Africa stating that it

would provide “best genetic stock” and that cheetah from southern Africa are

ancestral to all cheetah subspecies, including the Asiatic one.

Difference between Leopard and Cheetah

• Leopards have ‘rosette-shaped spots’ whereas Cheetahs have ‘solid round’ or ‘oval’ ‘spots’ and have a distinct ‘tear line’.

4.4 COP25, UNFCCC

Why in News?

The 25th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (COP25,UNFCCC) in Madrid, the longest in history, ended in deadlock and disappointment over most of the contentious issues.

• The delegates from 200 countries couldn't reach a consensus on Article 6 of Paris Agreement (deals with the establishment and functioning of carbon markets, the shares of proceeds from which had to feed into finances for mitigation, adaptation and implementation).

• The liability for damages caused by rising temperatures that developing countries were insisting on was mainly resisted by USA.

National Tiger Conservation Authority

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under enabling

provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for

strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it

under the said Act.

• The functions of NTCA are as follows :

➢ Ensuring normative standards in tiger reserve management.

➢ Preparation of reserve specific tiger conservation plan.

➢ Laying down annual/audit report before parliament.

➢ Instituting State level Steering Committees under the Chairmanship of Chief

Minister and establishment of Tiger Conservation foundation.


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.

COP 25

• Ambitions for this conference were limited because many countries were focused on narrow technical details such as the workings of the global carbon markets.

• It was hoped that countries would resolve to work on more ambitious carbon targets needed to fulfill the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement.

Why CoP25 failed?

• The failure of the talks underlined starkly the massive gap between what scientists say the world’s nations need to do on climate change, and what the most powerful political leaders on the planet are prepared to even discuss.

• According to scientist, talks focused on some of the rules for implementing the

2015 Paris agreement, but the overriding issue of how fast the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions has received little official attention.

• Countries agreed in Paris in 2015 to revisit their climate pledges by 2020.

• But many countries were pushing this year for a clear call for all countries to submit more ambitious climate pledges next year.

• But countries such as China and Brazil opposed placing any obligation on countries to submit enhanced pledges next year, arguing it should be each country’s own decision.

• They instead argued the focus should be on pre-2020 action by developing countries to meet their previous pledges.

• There was a recognition that tougher carbon targets are needed globally, but few countries came up with any and the resolve to come back next year with more ambitious plans was worded too weakly to satisfy most campaigners.

India’s stance:

• India played a mixed role at the recently concluded 25th Conference of Parties (CoP 25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at Madrid.

• On the question of markets, India emphasised the transition of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits earned under the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement.

• Pointed out that that excessively cheap emissions reductions enabled by the CDM as well as the possibility of double counting could corrupt the process.


• India played a strong role in critiquing the developed world’s continuing poor record on climate action.

• It argued that unless a stocktaking exercise of the fulfilment of various pre-2020 commitments by developed countries,India would not raise its climate ambition for its next round of Paris Agreement targets due in 2020.

• India also took a lead in calling for more finance for developing countries for climate action, (“not even 2 per cent” of the promised “$1 trillion in the last 10 years” had been delivered).

Article 6 under Paris Agreement Article 6 under Paris Agreement contains three separate mechanisms for “voluntary cooperation”towards climate goals: two based on markets and a third based on “non-market approaches”. Carbon markets under the Paris Agreement (Article 6)

• Market Mechanism 1 (Article 6.2) –

- It sets up a carbon market which allows countries to sell any extra emission reductions {called as Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMO)} they have achieved compared to their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) target. - E.g., if a country has committed to reducing its emissions by 100tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent), but actually reduces 120 tCO2e, it would be able to sell the extra 20tCO2e reduced to another country, which has not managed to meet its own target. This is a voluntary direct bilateral cooperation between the countries aiming to promote sustainable development, while ensuring environmental integrity and transparency(the reporting requirements under Paris regime).

Kyoto Protocol

• The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the UNFCCC, which

commits its parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.

• The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 and entered into force in

2005.

• It recognized that developed countries are principally responsible for the current

high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150

years of industrial activity.

• The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP-7

in Marrakesh, in 2001 and are referred to as the Marrakesh Accords.

• Kyoto Protocol Phase-1 (2005-12) gave the target of cutting down emissions by

5%.

• Phase- 2 (2013-20) gave the target of reducing emissions by at least 18% by the

industrialized countries.


• Market Mechanism 2 (Article 6.4) - The second mechanism would create a new international carbonmarket for the trading of emissions reductions created anywhere in the world by the public or private sector. - This new market referred to as the “Sustainable Development

Mechanism” (SDM) seeks to replace the CDM. - In contrast to direct bilateral cooperation under Mechanism 1, this mechanism

will be supervised by a body designated by the UN Conference of the Parties (CoP). O

- Another unique aspect of this mechanism is mobilizing the private sector to participate in climate change mitigation by providing suitable incentives.

• The non-Market Approach - Article 6.8 recognises “non-market” approaches to boost “mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer and capacity-building”, in situations where no trade is involved. - This could involve similar activities to those under Article 6.2 or 6.4, without the added element of trading. E.g., a country could support a renewable energy scheme overseas via concessional loanfinance, but there would be no trading of any emissions cuts generated.


4.5 ANTARCTICA – UNDER THREAT

Why in news?

On December 2-3, 2019, the first ever high-level Antarctic Parliamentarian Assembly was

organized by the all-party parliamentary group and it was attended by 13 countries. The

meeting concluded with a declaration that called for greater action in a number of

significant areas.

• Global warming, likely to melt a major portion of the continent, will potentially

raise sea levels, inundating huge tracts of low lying land, more so in the tropical

regions.

• Experts say warming of Southern Ocean region is likely to affect the monsoon,

which is of primary concern to India.

• Also, significant is the loss of rare and unmapped marine and land biodiversity, a

future source of food, feed and perhaps, pharmaceuticals.

India’s Policy

• India’s scientific programme to the Antarctic began in 1981 and is currently

continuing in full vigour.

• More than 2000 Indian scientists have worked in these hostile realms – for the

cause of bettering future climate projections.

• However, despite a vibrant scientific body, India is ill represented at global polar

policy and diplomatic fora.India nominating a parliamentarian for the event, and

consequently cancelling, marks the sorry state of Polar diplomacy.

What needs to be done?

• It is vitally important for India to comprehend the uncertainty of the lives and livelihoods likely to be affected by the sea-level rise.

• With an unequal rise in sea levels skewed against tropical lands, India needs to lead a number of collaborative polar programmes towards cognizable projections about the futures of tropical countries and coastal cities.

• A need for policy interest from India as the world embarks towards a greater uncertainty of the unknown is therefore, imperative.


4.6 AIR POLLUTION

• India should take urgent action to tackle air pollution as the levels of toxic air in many cities of the country are much higher than the recommended guidelines : WHO.

• Several studies conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), Centre for Science and Environment and others published in journals such as The Lancet, have linked pollution with premature deaths in India.

• The Lancet journal found that one out of every eight deaths in India in 2017 could

be attributed to air pollution

• WHO air quality guidelines estimate that reducing annual average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations from levels of 35 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3) to 10 µg/m3, could reduce air pollution-related deaths by around 15%.

4.7 INDIA STATE OF FOREST REPORT

Recently, The Ministry of Environment (MoEFCC) released biennial 'India State of

Forest Report (ISFR) – 2019’.

The ISFR, a biennial exercise assesses the-

o Tree cover

o Mangrove cover

o Growing stock inside & outside the forest areas

o Carbon stock in Indian forests

o Forest types & Biodiversity

o Forest fire monitoring

o Forest cover in different slopes & altitudes

1. Report is published by Forest Survey of India( founded in 1981, Hq: Dehradun)

2. It is the 16th report in the series , starting from 1987

3. 16th ISFR is completely digital.

4. Data from LISS 3 Sensor onboard resource sat-2 satellite is used.

Major Findings

• The forest cover in the country increased by 3,976 sqkm but with the sharpest

declines in the Northeastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and

Mizoram, according to the 2019 edition of ISFR.

• The forest cover constitutes21.67% of the nation’s geographical area or 0.12%

more than last year.

• Tree cover is defined as patches of trees less than 1 hectare and occurring

outside the recorded forest area.

• Total Forest & tree cover is -24.56% of geographical area of the country.


• There is an increase of 5,188 sq. km in the total forest and tree cover of the

country. “Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 3,976

sq km and that in tree cover is 1,212 sq. km.

• Range increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very

dense forest and moderately dense forest

• The top three States showing an increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq.

km) followed by Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) and Kerala (823 sq km).

• Forest Cover reported in ISFR includes all lands having trees >1 hectare in area

with tree canopy density >10% irrespective of ownership, legal status of the land &

species composition of trees.

• Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by

Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.

• Interms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States

are Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%),

Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).

India has set targets of bringing 33% of geographical area under forest cover (National

Forest Policy –1988).

It was explained that the decline in tree cover inside forests was due to tribal populations

getting “land titles” (patta) and the rise in

trees outside the forest area due to an

increase in tree plantation and afforestation

activities.

Mangrove Cover

• The Mangrove ecosystems are unique

& rich in biodiversity and they

provide numerous ecological services.


• Mangrove cover has been separately reported in the ISFR 2019 and the total

mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq km.

• An increase of 54 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the

previous assessment of 2017.

• Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Gujarat (37 sq km)

followed by Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km).

4.8 INVASIVE ALIEN PLANT SPECIES

An "Invasive Species" is defined as a species that is Non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem

under consideration and, whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or

environmental harm or harm to human health.

• According to the Convention for Biological Diversity, the second worst threat to the

biodiversity is the biological invasion of alien species.

• The spread of invasive plants especially Senna spectabilis, poses major threat to

forest areas of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve including the Wayanad Wildlife

Sanctuary.

• This is posing a major threat to the forest areas of the reserve, owing to its quick

growth and coppicing character(a dense growth of bushes).

• The tree species was found in nearly 10 sq km area of the 344.44 sq km sanctuary

around five years ago. Now, it had invaded to more than 50 sq km of the

sanctuary.

• The plant has started to invade the adjacent Bandipur and Nagarhole tiger

reserves in Karnataka and the Mudumalai tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.Earlier, the

plant species was planted as avenue trees in Wayanad.

• Due to mass flowering and drying of bamboo species in Wayanad, lots of open

spaces were created which had been occupied by Senna spectabilis.

• An adult tree grows up to 15 to 20 metres in a short period of time and every year

distributes thousands of seeds after gregarious flowering.

• The thick foliage arrests the growth of other indigenous tree and grass species and

causes food shortage for the wildlife population, especially herbivores.

• Moreover, wildlife will not feed on the leaf of the tree as it is not palatable for

them.

• The Vayal ecosystem (marshy land) of the forest area now has this plant in large

numbers.

• The allelochemicals produced by this plant adversely affects the germination and

growth of the native species.

• The Kerala Forest Research Institute(KFRI) has developed some physical and

chemical measures to tackle the threat of the plant. They are planning to adopt an


integrated method combining physical as well as chemical measures to address

the issue as physical measures haven't bore fruit.

Methods of Control-

1.Manual Control- This includes digging, flooding, destruction and removal of nests,

hand-pulling, burning and general destruction of the invasive species by hand. This is

most useful for small infestations and is the most environmentally friendly, yet is the

most labour intensive and least effective for larger populations.

2. Mechanical Control- Mowing, hoeing, cutting, tilling, girdling, chopping and

constructing barriers to the invasive species using tools and/or machines.

3. Chemical Control- includes pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. The

least labour-intensive option, chemical control on its own is usually the most effective

option, as it can target specific species and will kill them guaranteed. However, this has

the potential to be the most environmentally-damaging option, as chemicals could attack

other species and stay in the area long after the invasion has been dealt with.


5. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

5.1 RED SEA BREAM IRIDOVIRUS

Why in News?

College of Fisheries, Mangaluru has detected rare viral disease, Red Sea Bream Iridovirus in marine fish found in Udupi region.

• Earlier unknown to Indian waters, it is for the first time identified and isolated in the country.

• Affected fishes exhibited abnormal behaviour and clinical signs including slow movement, lethargy, reduced feeding and erratic movement along the sides of the cages.

• The RSIV was first observed in Japanese cultured Red Sea bream farm in 1990s.

• The main target organs for RSIV are spleen, kidney, heart, intestine and gill.

• The fish affected by RSIV is not advised for human consumption.

5.2 TACKLING DRUG-RESISTANT ACINETOBACTERBAUMANNII

Why in news?

A novel molecule developed by chemically linking an amino acid glycine to a polymer has been found to possess high anti-bacterial activity against multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, while showing no toxicity whatsoever to human cells.

• The most important feature of novel molecule is its ability to killboth active and dormant bacteria.

• A.Baumannii has a great propensity to form biofilm. (Biofilm formation is a

process whereby microorganisms irreversibly attach to and grow on a surface and produce extracellular polymers that facilitate attachment and matrix formation, resulting in an alteration in the phenotype of the organisms with respect to growth rate and gene transcription).

• The novel molecule could disrupt the biofilm formation.

• The efficacy of the novel molecule to disrupt the biofilm was comparable with the last resort antibiotic Colistin.

• Also the bacteria did not develop resistance against the novel molecule which is a very good sign.

• A.Baumannii is a Gram-negative bacteria having an outer and inner membrane which makes it difficult for the drugs to effectively kill them unlike the case of Gram-positive bacteria that have only one membrane.


5.3 NPPA HIKESCEILING PRICE OF 12 ESSENTIAL MEDECINES

Why in news?

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority(NPPA) has hiked ceiling price of 12 essential first-line treatment drugs, crucial in the public health programme by 50% to ensure

availability of these drugs.

• Since many companies had applied for discontinuation of the product on account of high cost of the raw material for these drugs, NPPA did not want these drugs to be jeopardized and also did not want the public to be forced to switch to costly alternatives.

• The NPPA invoked its extraordinary powers under DPCO 2013 for upward revision of the low priced drugs.

About National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a regulatory agency functioning under the aegis of Union Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizer.

• NPPA is not a statutory body and was formed in 1997 to fix/revise the prices of controlled bulk drugs and formulations as well as to enforce prices and availability of medicines under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO).

• Functions- a) Recovers amounts overcharged by manufacturers for the controlled drugs

from the consumers. b) Monitors the prices of decontrolled drugs to maintain them at reasonable

levels. c) Monitors availability of drugs and identifies shortages to take remedial

steps. d) Advises union government over changes/revisions in the drug policy. e) Advises union government in the parliamentary matters relating to the drug

pricing.

5.4 INDUSTRY 4.0

• Industry 4.0 is the trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes which include cyber-physical systems (CPS), the internet of things (IoT), industrial internet of things (IIOT), cloud computing, cognitive computing and artificial intelligence.


• The term "Industriy 4.0", shortened to I4.0 or simply I4, originated in 2011 from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government, which promotes the computerization of manufacturing. The term "Industry 4.0" was publicly introduced in the same year at the Hannover Fair.

• Challenges in implementation of Industry 4.0: a) Economic - High economic costs, Unclear economic benefits/excessive

investment. b) Social - Privacy concerns, Surveillance and distrust, General reluctance to

change by stakeholders, Loss of many jobs to automatic processes and IT-controlled processes, especially for blue collar workers.

c) Political - Lack of regulation, standards and forms of certifications, unclear legal issues and data security.

d) Organisational/ Internal - IT security issues, lack of adequate skill-sets to expedite the transition towards the fourth industrial revolution, insufficient qualification of employees.

• Industrial Internet of Things is also called as Connected Factory, or Smart Factory.

• The new initiatives and production lines being created in the industries are focusing on efficiency, flexibility and speed.

• There are many steps in the journey towards AI-enabled manufacturing, it’s important to address three key areas first—process, people and planning.

a) Optimise processes: There are thousands of processes in manufacturing, but not all can or should be optimised with AI. Identify the opportunities for greatest value and proceed accordingly.

b) Address the skills shortage: Reskilling the employees to be effective in the changing manufacturing environment is a top priority.

c) Long-term planning is crucial: To reach automation alone often takes at least 5-10 years. The process involves product redesigns to make products more automation friendly and to allow data gathering.

5.5 BRAHMOS

Why in News?

DRDO successfully test fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, one each from land (mobile launcher) and air (Sukhoi-30MKI) platforms.

About

• The BrahMos (designated PJ-10) is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.

• Brahmos is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world.

• It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.

• The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.


• It is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation.

• The land-launched and ship-launched versions are already in service, with the air and submarine-launched versions currently in the testing phase. An air-launched variant of BrahMos appeared in 2012.

• A hypersonic version of the missile, BrahMos-II, is also presently under development with a speed of Mach 7-8 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2020.

• In 2016, as India became a member of

the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), India and Russia are now planning to jointly develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 600 km-plus range and an ability to hit protected targets with pinpoint accuracy.

• In 2019, India upgraded the missile with a new range of 500 km.

5.6 SOLAR ECLIPSE

Why in news?

An annual solar eclipse occurred on the 26th of December 2019.

• A solar eclipse occurs when a portion of the Earth is engulfed in a shadow cast by the Moon which fully or partially blocks sunlight. This occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned.

• Such alignment coincides with a new moon indicating the Moon is closest to the ecliptic plane. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured.

• Solar (and lunar) eclipses therefore happen only during eclipse seasons resulting in at least two, and up to five, solar eclipses each year; no more than two of which can be total eclipses.

• There are four types of solar eclipses:

o Ramjet- An object moving at high speed through air generates a high pressure region upstream. A ramjet uses this high pressure in front of the engine to force air through the tube, where it is heated by combusting some of it with fuel. It is then passed through a nozzle to accelerate it to supersonic speeds. This acceleration gives the ramjet forward thrust.

o Supersonic travel- a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1).

o Cruise Missile- They are known specifically for the low-level flight which is staying relatively close to the surface of the earth to avoid detection from anti-missile systems and are designed to carry large payloads with high precision. The key is that the missile is guided entirely to the target under its own power.

tel:2012

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- A total eclipse occurs when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely obscures

the intensely bright light of the Sun, allowing the much fainter solar corona to be

visible.

- An Annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line with the

Earth, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence

the Sun appears as a very bright ring.

- A hybrid eclipse (also called annular/total eclipse) shifts between a total and

annular eclipse. At certain points on the surface of Earth, it appears as a total

eclipse, whereas at other points it appears as annular. Hybrid eclipses are

comparatively rare.

- A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line with the

Earth and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun.

• The phases observed during a total eclipse are called: 1. First contact- when the Moon's limb (edge) is exactly tangential to the Sun's

limb. 2. Second contact- starting with Baily's Beads (caused by light shining through

valleys on the Moon's surface) and the diamond ring effect. Almost the entire disk is covered. Totality- the Moon obscures the entire disk of the Sun and only the solar corona is visible.

3. Third contact- when the first bright light becomes visible and the Moon's shadow is moving away from the observer. Again a diamond ring may be observed.

4. Fourth contact- when the trailing edge of the Moon ceases to overlap with the solar disk and the eclipse ends.

• Looking directly at the photosphere of the Sun (the bright disk of the Sun itself),

even for just a few seconds, can cause permanent damage to the retina of the eye,

because of the intense visible and invisible radiation that the photosphere emits.

This damage can result in impairment of vision, up to and including blindness.

• The retina has no sensitivity to pain, and the effects of retinal damage may not

appear for hours, so there is no warning that injury is occurring.

\


5.7 ELECTRO-KINETIC PHENOMENON

• Electro-kinetic phenomena are a family of several different effects that occur in heterogeneous fluids, or in porous bodies filled with fluid, or in a fast flow over a flat surface.

• The term heterogeneous here means a fluid containing particles. Particles can be solid, liquid or gas bubbles with sizes on the scale of a micrometer or nanometer.

• There is a common source of all these effects—the so-called interfacial 'double layer' of charges. Influence of an external force on the diffused layer generates tangential motion of a fluid with respect to an adjacent charged surface. This force

might be electric, pressure gradient, concentration gradient, or gravity. In addition, the moving phase might be either continuous fluid or dispersed phase.

• According to J.Lyklema, the complete family of electrokinetic phenomena includes for example electrophoresis (as motion of particles under influence of electric field), electro-osmosis (as motion of liquid in porous body under influence of electric field), just to name a few.

• IIT-G offers a new technology of Electro-kinetic streaming to tap energy from water. It has developed materials that can produce energy from flowing or stagnant water in the household.


• The energy model involves a large number of small generation devices which can generate energy in every household and excess energy thus produced can be evacuated to energy deficient areas - (a) Electrokinetic streaming potential to harvest energy from flowing tap water. (b)

Contrasting interfacial activities telling different types of semiconducting materials

to generate power from stagnant water.

• When Fluids stream through tiny channels that are charged, they can generate an electrical voltage which may be harnessed through miniaturized generators is the principle of the technology.

• Doped graphene flakes are used for generating power by dipping in a bucket of

water or any stagnant water source for complementary charge transfer activities. (Graphene flake is produced by oxidation followed by reduction of natural graphite flakes).

5.8 CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX

Why in news? India joins the top 10 countries in this year’s Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) for the first time.

• India’s ranking is a result of efforts made to bring down India’s carbon emission.

• On the other hand, the United States was included in the worst-performing countries for the first time.

Climate Change Performance Index

• Climate Change Performance Index published by Germanwatch, CAN International and the NewClimate Institute evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 57 countries and the EU.

• The CCPI is an independent monitoring tool of countries’ climate protection performance.

• It aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables the comparability of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.

• The ranking results are defined by a country’s aggregated performance in 14

indicators within the four categories “GHG Emissions”, “Renewable Energy” and “Energy Use”, as well as on “Climate Policy”, in a globally unique policy section of the index.

• The CCPI 2020 results illustrate the main regional differences in climate protection and performance within the 57 evaluated countries and the EU.

• Still no country performs well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating in the index. Therefore, once again the first three ranks remain empty in 2019.



6. SOCIAL ISSUES

6.1 DISHA ACT 2019

Why in News?

Andhra Pradesh cabinet clears Disha Bill to ensure Rape verdicts in 21 days.

Key aspects of the bill

• Death penalty for heinous offences of rape and gang rape.

• Probe and trial will be completed in 7 and 14 days respectively.

• Judgement time reduced to 21 days from existing 4 months.

1. The proposed laws seek to amend relevant provisions in the Indian Penal Code

1860, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and to introduce Sections 354E

and 354F in the IPC for dealing with harassment of women through social media

and sexual assault of children respectively.

2. Under Section 354E (harassment of women through social media, digital mode or

any other form), it has been proposed to sentence the guilty to imprisonment for

up to two years on first conviction and four years on subsequent convictions.

3. Under Section 354F (molestation / sexual assault), imprisonment is sought to be

increased to a minimum of five years and maximum seven years

6.2 KARNATAKA SCHEDULED TRIBES LIST

Why in news?

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill to amend the Constitution (Scheduled

Tribes) Order, 1950 to include three tribes – Parivara, Talwara and the Siddi

community of Dharwad and Belagavi districts – in the list of Scheduled Tribes in

Karnataka. Currently, the Siddi tribe of Uttara Kannada district alone is included in the

list.

How the Government Identifies SCs and STs in India?


• The term 'Scheduled Tribes' first appeared in the Constitution of India.

• Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as "such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution".

Article 342:

• The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be.

• Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes. Essential characteristics of these communities are:

• Primitive Traits

• Geographical isolation

• Distinct culture

• Shy of contact with community at large

• Economically backward This criterion is not spelt out in the Constitution but has become well established.

6.3 AWARD-WINNING FILM ‘MISHING’ ON SHERDUKPEN

• Assamese Film maker - Bobby Sarma Baruah explores a popular tribal belief in

her latest project, that won the Rajat Kamal Award at the 66th National Film

Awards.

• Sherdukpen dialect is spoken by almost 4,000 people in ArunachalPradesh and

is now on the verge of extinction. Among the community of Sherdukpen, there is a

popular belief that people before their death communicate in the form of spirits

with their loved ones.

• The Mishings belong to the greater group of Tani people, who speak languages of

the Sino-Tibetan family, which comprise many tribes of Arunachal Pradesh in

India and Tibet.

• All Tani tribes share linguistic, cultural and ritual similarities.

• They believe Abotani (Progenitor of Tani tribes like Apatani,Nyishi,etc) as their

ancestor.

About Rajat Kamal award : The National Film Award for Best Actor, officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor, is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India instituted since 1967 to actors who have delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.


6.4 CHAKMAS AND MARMAS

Chakmas

• The Chakma people are the largest ethnic group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region in southeastern Bangladesh, second largest in Mizoram (Chakma Autonomous District Council) and fourth largest in Tripura of North East India.

• More than 4,30,000 Chakma people inhabit Bangladesh and adjoining areas of northeast India.

• They are the largest Buddhist group in the Muslim-dominated country. • The Chakmas have inhabited the Chittagong Hill Tracts since long before the region

became part of the Mughal empire in 1666. • Buddhism flourished in Bangladesh from the 5th to 12th centuries. Since the 13th

century, Buddhism has been confined to the Chittagong area. Marmas

• The Marma people are the second-largest ethnic community in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts.

• Marmas belong to the Mongoloid race.

6.5 THE SCHEDULED TRIBES AND OTHER TRADITIONAL FOREST

DWELLERS (RECOGNITION OF FOREST RIGHTS) ACT, 2006

Features of the Act

The act recognize and vest the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in forest

Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who

have been residing in such forests for generations.

• Establishes the responsibilities and authority for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance of FDST and OTFD.

• It strengthens the conservation regime of the forests while ensuring livelihood and food security of the FDST and OTFD.

• It seeks to rectify colonial injustice to the FDST and OTFD who are integral to the very survival and sustainability of the forest ecosystem.

The act identifies four types of rights:

1. Title rights: It gives FDST and OTFD the right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares. Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted.

2. Use rights: The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.


3. Relief and development rights: To rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection

4. Forest management rights: It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.

Who can claim these Rights?

1. Members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in and who depend on the forests or forest lands for bona fide livelihood needs.

2. It can also be claimed by any member or community who has for at least three generations (75 years) prior to the 13th day of December, 2005 primarily resided in forests land for bona fide livelihood needs.The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and OTFD.

6.6 UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1967

Why in news?

The union cabinet amended both the NIA (National act 2008 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

• Amendment to Schedule 4 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act will allow the NIA to declare an individual suspected to have terror links as a terrorist.

• Currently only organisations are designated as ‘terrorist organisations’ but after the change in the UAPA 1967, an individual can also be termed a terror suspect.

What is the NIA 2008?

• The Act makes the National Investigation Agency the only truly federal agency in the country, along the lines of the FBI in the United States, more powerful than the CBI.

• It gives the NIA powers to take suo motu cognisance of terror activities in any part of India and register a case, to enter any state without permission from the state government, and to investigate and arrest people.

NIA ( Amendment act ) 2019

• The latest amendments to the NIA Act will allow the agency to probe terrorist activities against Indians and Indian interests abroad, cyber crimes and cases of human trafficking, cyber terrorism, counterfeit currency or bank notes , manufacturer or sale of prohibited arms .

• Increased the jurisdiction of the NIA officers and entitled them to investigate offences committed outside India also, although NIA’s jurisdiction will be subject to international treaties and domestic laws of other countries.

• The Act allows the central government to constitute Special Courts for the trial of scheduled offences.


• State governments may also designate Sessions Courts as Special Courts for the

trial of scheduled offence. Extent and Application of the Act

1. It is applicable across the entire country.

2. Any Indian or foreign national charged under UAPA is liable for punishment under

this Act, irrespective of the location of crime / offense committed.

3. UAPA will be applicable to the offenders in the same manner, even if crime is

committed on a foreign land, outside India.

4. The provisions of this Act apply also to citizens of India and abroad.

5. Persons on ships and aircrafts, registered in India, wherever they may be are also

under the ambit of this act.

6.7 CRIME RATE AGAINST SC/STs REMAIN HIGH IN KARNATAKA

Why in news?

According to the Karnataka State Annual Monitoring Report on the Implementation

of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, one incident of murder or attempt-to-

murder is committed against SC and ST people once in three days in the State and an

SC or ST woman is raped every two days on an average.

• Bengaluru Urban district continues to take the top place for the 7th year, with 163 atrocity cases against SC and ST communities, the highest reported during 2018.

• This is because more number of people report cases here due to greater awareness about the legislation.

• The report recommends establishing special courts in all 30 districts of Karnataka. • The report sought establishment of exclusive special courts in Bengaluru Urban and

Bengaluru Rural districts.

6.8 POPULATION STABILISATION

Why in news? NITI Aayog to draft road map for population stabilization.

Unlawful activity refers any action taken by individual or association (whether by

committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs to questions, disclaims)

disrupts or is intended to disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 enables more effective prevention of

certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations and for dealing with terrorist

activities, and other related matters.


• Government think tank NITI Aayog will hold a consultative meeting to discuss a roadmap for population stabilization and come out with a working paper to address key gaps in India’s family planning programmes.

• The event, being held in partnership with the Population Foundation of India, will include government officials from the Centre as well as seven States — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and experts on the subject.

What is population stabilization? As per demographic definition, by population stabilization we mean constant birth rates

and constant death rates in the specific age structure of a population over a period of time. OR It is a stage when the size of the population remains unchanged.

Some Facts on Population in India

• India, with a current population size of 1.37 billion, has the second largest population in the world.

• Though birth rates are falling in India yet the population continues to grow as over 30% of the population is young and in the reproductive age group.

Some key recommendations expected to emerge from the meeting are:

• Increasing the basket of contraceptive choices.

• Greater focus on spacing methods.

• Helping women make informed choices about delaying pregnancy and spacing

between children.

About Population Foundation of India –

It is a national non-governmental organization (NGO), which promotes and advocates for

the effective formulation and implementation of gender-sensitive population, health and

development strategies and policies.

6.9 UIGHURS

Why in News ?

• Thousands of protesters marched in support of China’s Uighurs in Istanbul and

voiced solidarity with Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil after the furore caused by his

criticism of China’s policies towards the Muslim minority.

• Jailed Uighur economist Ilham Tohti received Sakharov Prize for Freedom of

Thought.


About Uighurs

• The Uighurs live in Xinjiang, the largest and most western of China’s

administrative regions, which is surrounded by Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan,

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

• They are Muslim, speak a language close to Turkish, and are culturally and

ethnically closer to Central Asia than the rest of China.

• Xinjiang has long had a rebellious and autonomous streak, with the indigenous

ethnic Uighurs clashing with the authorities.

6.10 NATIONAL SAFAI KARAMCHARIS FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

(NSKFDC)

• It is a wholly owned Government of India Undertaking under the Ministry of

Social Justice & Empowerment set up in January 1997.

• The schemes/programmes of NSKFDC are implemented through State

Channelizing Agencies (SCAs) nominated by the State Govts./UT Administrations,

Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Nationalised Banks.

• The financial assistance is provided at concessional rates of interest to the

• SCAs/RRBs/Nationalised Banks for onward disbursement to the target group of

NSKFDC.

• It was set ‘Not for Profit’ under Companies Act 1956.

• It is the Apex Corporation for all the round socio-economic upliftment of the Safai

Karamcharis, Scavengers and their dependents throughout India.

6.11 GLOBAL GENDER GAP INDEX

Why in news ?

India has slipped to the 112th spot from its 108th position in 2018 in the World

Economic Forum’sGlobal Gender Gap Index 2020, which covered 153 economies.

About the Report - The report examines four overall areas of inequality :


• Economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation

levels and access to high-skilled employment.

• Educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher level

education.

• Political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making

structures.

• Health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio.

Global Gender Gap Index 2020

• Iceland topped the gender parity rankings, redressing 87.7%of the gender gap.

India was ranked 112th, having addressed only 66.8 % of the gap.

• All sub-indices , except economic empowerment and opportunity index have

showed marginal improvement globally compared to 2018.


About The World Economic Forum

• The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

• The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

• It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

• It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.

• Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.

• The institution carefully blends and balances the best of many kinds of organizations, from both the public and private sectors, international organizations and academic institutions.

Important Reports of WEF

1. Social Mobility Index 2. Global Risk Report 3. Global Competitiveness Report 4. Travel and Tourism Report 5. The Inclusive Development Index

6.12 BAN ON SURGERIES ON CHILDREN WITH INTERSEX TRAITS

Why in news?

Intersex individuals and rights organisations have sought a national ban on

unnecessary medical surgeries conducted on children with intersex traits and

appealed to the Union government to protect their human rights.

• The demand for a nation-wide ban comes months after Tamil Nadu banned

normative surgeries on infants and children except in life-threatening situations

after a historic judgment of the Madras High Court .

• If adopted nationally, India could become only the third country after Malta and

Taiwan, to have a legal regime which protects the rights of intersex children.

• While the term intersex is confused with transgender, the two in-fact have very

different meanings.

• Individuals who identify as transgender or transexual have a gender that is

different from the one traditionally associated with the sex they were assigned at

birth, while intersex refers to people born with biological or physical

characteristics that are more diverse than stereotypical male or female bodies.


6.13 G-FILES GOVERNANCE AWARD

Why in news?

Superintendent of Police of Prakasham district of Andhra Pradesh has won the seventh

G-Files Governance award for Spandana project.

About Spandana project –

• Launched in July 2019.

• 52 percent of the complainants were women.

• The district police also introduced Spandana Beyond Borders—people of the

district living outside the district, state or abroad can interact with the SP through

video conferencing and register their complaints.

• Spandana, which means response, is also being held at District Collector’s offices

too but it is in the police department where it is creating an impact. The annual G

Files award is given to civil servants for innovative reforms in Governance.

G-File Governance Award:

• G-files award is an annual award presented to the Civil Servants at the national

level in India for extraordinary achievements in Governance.

• This award is constituted by GFiles Magazine, a national magazine on

bureaucracy and governance.Winners are selected by the jury members

comprising former senior bureaucrats and without the intervention of the Govt.


7. SCHEMES

7.1 PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJANA (PMUY)

Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas

About the Scheme

• It aims to provide LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.

• An adult woman belonging to a BPL family not having LPG connection in her household, is an eligible beneficiary under the expanded scheme.

• Release of LPG connection under this Scheme shall be in the name of the women belonging to the BPL family.

• Initially, the Government covered the following categories under the Scheme: Beneficiaries listed in the SECC 2011 list, all SC/STs households beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (Gramin), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Forest dwellers Most Backward Classes (MBC), Tea & Ex-Tea Garden Tribes People residing in Islands and people residing in river islands.

Aims

• Empowering women and protecting their health.

• Reducing the serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuel.

• Reducing the number of deaths in India due to unclean cooking fuel.

• Preventing younger children from significant number of acute respiratory illnesses caused due to indoor air pollution by burning the fossil fuel.


7.2 JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAAN

Ministry of Jalshakti

Department of drinking water and sanitation

• It is a campaign for water conservation and water security in the country.

• The campaign will run through citizen participation in two phases, firstly, during

the monsoon season, from 1st July, 2019 to 15th September, 2019 and then from 1st October, 2019 to 30th November, 2019 for states receiving the North East retreating monsoons.

• It is a collaborative effort of various ministries of the Government of India and state governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) that comes under the Jal Shakti Ministry.

• The focus of the campaign is on water stressed districts and blocks.

• Water-stressed districts: Districts with critical or over-exploited groundwater levels as per the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) 2017.

• For states without critical and over-exploited groundwater levels, districts with the least availability of groundwater in comparison to the rest of the districts in the state have been selected.

• Five important water conservation interventions are: Water conservationandrainwater harvesting, Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, Reuse of water and recharging of structures, Watershed development and Intensive afforestation.

• The water conservation interventions will also be supplemented with special interventions including the development of block and district water conservation plans, promotion of efficient water use for irrigation and better choice of crops through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

7.3 SUKANYA SAMRIDDHI SCHEME

Ministry of Woman and child development

• Launched on 22 January 2015 Small savings instrument for the girl child Account can be opened in a post office or a public sector bank.

• ELIGIBILITY Girl Child should be Indian citizen.

• Age limit: On the date of opening the account, the child’s age should be 10 years or younger.

• Investing persons: Parent, or Legal Guardian of the eligible Girl child Investment limit: In 1 year, minimum Rs 1000/- needs to be invested, thereafter in multiples Of 100/- Maximum of Rs 1,50,000/- can be invested Deposits can be made in lump-sum or spread out manner


• No limit on number of deposits either in a month or in a financial year Operation of the account: The account will be opened and operated by the guardian of a girl child till the girl child, in whose name the account has been opened, attains the age of 10 years

• On attaining age of 10 years, the girl child may herself operate the account.

• Tenure: Deposit needs to be made until 14 years from opening of account Deposit under scheme will mature 21 year after opening of the account.

• Withdrawal: No Premature Withdrawal is permitted However, maximum up to 50% of deposit amount can be withdrawn for marriage or higher education of girl child, once she reaches 18 years of age

• Termination: Scheme Tenure is 21 years from date of opening, or when the marriage of the girl child happens; whichever happens earlier account will compulsorily have to be closed after marriage of the girl child. In case after maturity of the account (21 years) the girl child does not marry, and if account is not closed after maturity, balance will continue to earn interest as specified for the scheme from time to time.

7.4 AROMA MISSION

• Aroma Mission aims to bring additional area of 5500 hectares under cultivation of

aromatic crops by interventions of CSIR to further catalyze the cultivation of aromatic crops in about 60,000 hectares.

• This will help in production of an additional 700 tonnes of essential oil for perfumery, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, and use of these oils in value addition and herbal products would generate a business of at least 200 crores.

• Aroma Mission aims to increase the income of the farmers through cultivation of high value and high demand aromatic crops by about Rs. 30,000 to 60,000/ha/year.

• About 45,000 skilled human resource capable of multiplying quality planting material, distillation, fractionation and value addition will also be developed under “Skill India” initiatives.

• Scientific interventions would provide assured benefits to the growers of Vidarbha, Bundelkhand, Gujarat, Marathwada, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and other states where farmers are exposed to frequent episodes of weather extremes and account for maximum suicide.

This Mission aims to achieve following outcomes

• Bring about 5500 ha of additional area under captive cultivation aromatic cash crops particularly targeting rain-fed /degraded land across the country

• Help in transforming India’s image from the producer of raw material to an exporter of finished, value-added products of consistent quality and efficacy.

• Provide technical and infrastructural support for distillation and values-addition to farmers/growers all over the country

• Enabling effective buy-back mechanisms to assure remunerative prices to the farmers/growers


• Value-addition to essential oils and aroma ingredients for their integration in global trade and economy.

ABOUT CSIR (Council of Science and Industrial Research ) • Ministry : Ministry of Science and Technology • Established in 1942. • Autonomous body under Societies Registration Act, 1860. • It is the largest research and development organisation in India.

7.5 JAN SOOCHNA (SOOCHAN) PORTAL

• It is inspired from the Section 4 (2) of Right to Information Act 2005, that is Proactive

Disclosure of Information. In this section, provisions were made that different authorities & govt. departments would voluntarily disclose information through various means like internet. So to seek information, people shall file number of applications.

• Jan Soochan (public information) portal, which is the Rajasthan government’s latest effort to offer wider and easier access to the State’s increasingly digitised databases.

• The single window portal aims to increase transparency and accountability in governance.

• It has 82 different information request options for 32 schemes across 13 departments. • It not only explains the schemes but also provides real-time information on

beneficiaries, authorities in charge, progress, etc.

7.6 POSHAN ABHIYAAN

Why in news?

3 years on, State governments and the Union Territories have utilised a mere 30% of the

funds released under the Poshan Abhiyan.

Ministry : Minstry of Women and child Development

About POSHAN ABHIYAN

• Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition or POSHAN Abhiyaan

or National Nutrition Mission, is Government of India’s flagship programme to

improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating

mothers. Launched by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the International

Women’s Day on March 8, 2018.


• The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anemia (among

young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by

2%, 2%, 3% and 2% respectively.

• The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age

group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.

• POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to ensure service delivery and interventions by use of

technology, behavioural change through convergence and lays down specific

targets to be achieved across different monitoring parameters.

• Under the Abhiyaan, Swasth Bharat Preraks will be deployed one in each district

for coordinating with district officials and enabling fast and efficient execution of

the Abhiyaan across the country.

• Swasth Bharat Preraks would would function as catalyst for fast tracking the

implementation of the Abhiyaan.

• For implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan the four point strategy/pillars of the

mission are:

1. Inter-sectoral convergence for better service delivery 2. Use of technology (ICT) for real time growth monitoring and tracking of

women and children 3. Intensified health and nutrition services for the first 1000 days 4. Jan Andolan

• As a part of its mandate, NITI Aayog is required to submit implementation status reports of POSHAN Abhiyaan every six months to the PMO. The first bi-annual report was prepared and presented at third National Nutrition Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges (which is housed within NITI) in November 2018.

• Mizoram on top: The five best performers were Mizoram (65.12%),Lakshadweep (61.08%), Bihar (55.17%), Himachal Pradesh (53.29%) and Meghalaya (48.37%). The worst five performers were Punjab(0.45%), Karnataka (0.74%),Kerala (8.75%), Jharkhand(13.94%) and Assam (23.01%).

The National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges

• Set up under the PoshanAbhiyaan, the council is also known as National Council on

Nutrition (NCN).

• The NCN is headed by the Vice-Chairman of the NITI Aayog.

• It provides policy directions to address nutritional challenges in the country and

review programmes.

• It is a national level coordination and convergence body on nutrition.

• $200 million loan from World Bank will be used for implementing the National

Nutrition Mission.


7.7 SANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA (SAGY)

Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is a village development project launched by

Government of India in October 2014, under which each Member of Parliament will take

the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages

by 2019.

The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams by March 2019, of which one would be

achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and

developed by 2024.

The main objectives of SAGY are:

• To trigger processes which lead to holistic development of the identified Gram

Panchayats

• To substantially improve the standard of living and quality of life of all sections of

the population throughout

• Improved basic amenities

• Higher productivity

• Enhance human development

• Better livelihood opportunities

• Reduced disparities

• Access to rights and entitlements

• Wider social mobilization

• Enriched social capital

• To generate models of local level development and effective local governance which

can motivate and inspire neighbouring Gram Panchayats to learn and adapt

• To nurture the identified Adarsh Grams as schools of local development to train

other Gram Panchayats.

Identification of Adarsh gram

1. A Gram Panchayat would be the basic unit.

2. It will have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal

and difficult areas.

3. In districts where this unit size is not available, Gram Panchayats approximating

the desirable population size may be chosen.

4. The MP would be free to identify a suitable Gram Panchayat for being developed as

Adarsh Gram, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse.

5. The MP will identify one Gram Panchayat to be taken up immediately, and two

others to be taken up a little later.


6. Lok Sabha MP has to choose a Gram Panchayat from within his/her constituency

and Rajya Sabha MP a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of a district of his/her

choice in the State from which he/she is elected.

7. Nominated MPs may choose a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of any district

in the country. In the case of urban constituencies, (where there are no Gram

Panchayats), the MP will identify a Gram Panchayat from a nearby rural

constituency.

Presently, not enough MPs are adopting model village scheme

According to data available till the end of December 2019 on the website of the Ministry

of Rural Development, only 252 MPs have adopted gram panchayats under Phase-4 of

SAGY — 208 members of Lok Sabha and 44 members of Rajya Sabha.

In Phase-1 of SAGY, 703 MPs had adopted gram panchayats but that number went down

to 497 in Phase-2 and 301 in Phase-3, showing a gradual decline in subsequent phases.

7.8JAGA MISSION

• Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission (OLHM)- JAGA is a society under the Housing &

Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha.

• It aims at transforming the slums into liveable habitat with all necessary civic

infrastructure and services at par with the better off areas within the same urban

local body and to continuously improve the standard of the infrastructure and

services and access to livelihood opportunities.

• The slum land titling mission was being executed in collaboration with Tata

Trusts and Norman Foster Foundation.

• Odisha government rolled out this first of its kind project on May 7, 2018.

• This mission was also awarded the 'India Geospatial Excellence Award' for

technological innovation in transforming the lives of urban poor.

• Recently, Odisha has won the 'World Habitat Award' for its ambitious initiative-

Jaga Mission..

• This award is given by World Habitat, in partnership with United Nations Habitat,

every year, in recognition of innovative, outstanding, and revolutionary ideas,

projects, and programmes from across the world in the field of housing.


7.9NPS – NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME

• The Central Government has introduced the National Pension System (NPS) with

effect from January 01, 2004 (except for armed forces).

• NPS is being implemented and regulated by Pension Fund Regulatory and

Development Authority in the country.

• National Pension System Trust (NPST) established by PFRDA is the registered

owner of all assets under NPS.

• NPS is structured into two tiers:

• Tier-I account: This is the non-withdrawable permanent retirement account into

which the accumulations are deposited and invested as per the option of the

subscriber.

• Tier-II account: This is a voluntary withdrawable account which is allowed only

when there is an active Tier I account in the name of the subscriber.

• The withdrawals are permitted from this account as per the needs of the

subscriber as and when claimed.

• NPS was made available to all Citizens of India from May 01, 2009.

• Any individual citizen of India (both resident and Non-resident) in the age group of

18-65 years (as on the date of submission of NPS application) can join NPS.

• However, OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card

holders and Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs) are not eligible for opening of NPS

account.

PFRDA

• The Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Act was passed on 19th

September, 2013.

• Its vision is to be a model regulator for promotion and development of an

organized pension system to serve the old age income needs of people on a

sustainable basis.

• Along with NPS, it also regulates other pension schemes subscribed by employees

of public and private sector of India.

• Till 26th of October 2019, the total number of subscribers under National Pension

System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has crossed 3.18 crores and Asset

under Management has grown to over Rs.3.79 lakh crore. Subscribers enrolled

under NPS includes more than 66 lakh government employees and 19.2 lakhs

subscribers in private sector with 6,812 entities registered as corporates.


8. MISCELLANEOUS/FACTS

8.1 BOUGAINVILLE VOTES TO BECOME WORLD’S NEWEST COUNTRY

• Bougainville, officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, is an autonomous

region of Papua New Guinea, chain of islands that lie 959 kilometres northwest of Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) capital, Port Moresby.

• Bougainville Island is the largest of the Solomon Islands archipelago.

• The interim capital is Buka, though it is expected that Arawa will become the permanent capital.

8.2 TARUN RAMDORAI COMMITTEE

A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted panel on household finances , headed by

Tarun Ramadorai which has recommended that households be given a suite of simple,

customized, financial products with a default opt-out structure to further their

participation in formal financial markets.


8.3 GLOBAL WEALTH REPORT

Credit Suisse Group, a Switzerland-based multinational investment bank, has

released the 10th edition of its annual Global Wealth Report.

1. China has overtaken the United States this year to become “the country with most people in the top 10% of global wealth distribution”.

2. 44% of total wealth with 0.9%.

Wealth per adult for India at $14,569 is nearly 80% below the global average.

8.4 PETTA THULLAL

• Petta Thullal is the ritualistic sacred dance to celebrate the victory of good over

evil in the legend of Lord Ayyappa.

• It also denotes the beginning of the last leg of the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage

season in Kerala.Pettathulal, also known as Petta Kettu, is performed during the

Mandalam – Makaravilakku period (November, December and January) in the

presence of thousands of devotees which depicts the joyfulness of people by the

slaying of Mahishi by Lord Ayyappa.

• Pettathullal is a symbolic representation of a community against the uprisings of

Adharma or injustice.By slaying the demoness Mahishi, Ayyappa empowered the

people by saying that “Unity is the key to social transformation”.

8.5FATF – FINANCIAL ACTION TASK FORCE

• The FATF is an inter-governmental body that works to set standards and promote

effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for

combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the

integrity of the international financial system.

• A country is put on the grey list when it fails to curb terrorism financing and

money laundering.

• Putting a country on the blacklist means shutting all doors to international

finance for that country.


8.6 DSC PRIZE FOR SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE

It is an International literary prize for an original full-length novel written in the English language or translated into English. Indian author Amitabha Bagchi has won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019 for his novel ‘Half the Night is Gone’.

8.7GLOBAL ALLIANCE ON HEALTH AND POLLUTION (GAHP) REPORT, 2019

About the report

• The report is titled Pollution and Health Metrics: Global, Regional and Country Analysis.

• It is released by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP). • It seeks to update findings from The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, and

provides a ranking of pollution deaths on global, regional and country levels. • The report uses the most recent Global Burden of Disease data from the Institute of

Health Metrics Evaluation.


MISCELLANEOUS

1. Madhya Pradesh gets its first elephant colony in Bandhavgarh forest . Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993.

2. Aarey protest: While hearing the Aarey forest petitions, the Supreme Court directed that no more trees should be cut in the colony. Aarey Colony falls within the eco sensitive zone of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).

3. Ispati irada: It is a collaborative branding campaign of Union minister for steel and Petroleum and natural gas. This campaign aims at promoting appropriate

usage of steel in bringing strength to the society. 4. Crystal award :World Economic Forum Announces 2019 Crystal Award Winners.

• Crystal Awards celebrate the achievements of leading artists and cultural figures whose leadership inspires inclusive and sustainable change.

• The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019 took place in Davos-Klosters,

Switzerland, on 22-25 January under the theme, “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a

Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

5. StrandHogg :It's the vulnerability of the Android operating system to a bug called

‘StrandHogg’. StrandHogg allows real-time malware applications to pose as

genuine applications and access user data of all kind.

Documents

CURRENT AFFAIRS · © Winnishers Educational Services Pvt Ltd A LETTER FROM MY HEART Dear IAS Aspirant Friends,