January - 2018

CONTENTS PAGE: 5 - 19

INTERNATIONAL / BILATERAL

 India’s Eastern Region And Trade  Asean Rising  The Arc Of South East Asia  Siege Of Terror  Memorandum Of Understandings Between India And Vietnam  Asean Summit - Delhi Declaration  Bbin Motor Vehicles Agreement: India, Bangladesh And Nepal  Joint Naval Exercises Between Indian And Japan Coast Guards  Navika Sagar Parikrama Insv Tarini Enters Port Stanley Falkland Islands

20 - 45

INDIAN POLITY & GOVERNANCE

 Law Commission Report  Simultaneous Elections  All About Office Of Profit  Anti Discrimination And Equality Bill 2016  Electoral Bonds  Sh. Rawat Appointed New Chief Election Commissioner  Standing Up For Human Rights  Is Aadhaar A Panacea For All  Jobs V/s Pension  Reform In Criminal Justice System  Training Teachers  Milestones In Education  Small Finance Banks And Payment Banks To Offer Atal Pension Yojana  The Government Of India And Asian Development Bank (Adb) To Improve Rural Connectivity - Pmgsy  Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana  E-sansad And E-vidhan In Parliament And State Legislatures  Pio-parliamentarian Conference  The Committee For The Purpose Of Control And Supervision Of Experiments On Animals (Cpcsea)  Meity Launches Cyber Surakshit Bharat  Centre Announces 9 New Smart Cities

46 - 57

DEFENCE & INTERNAL SECURITY

 Assam’s Migrant Issue  Persisting Dangers Of Maoists  The Perilous March Of Hindistan  Indian Navy Decommissions Ins Nirbhik And Ins Nirghat Warships  Saras Pt1n Makes Its Maiden Flight  Agreement Between India And Myanmar On Land Border Crossing  Indian Naval P-8i Lrmrasw Aircraft  Make-ii In Defence Procurement Procedure  Successful Fifth Flight Test Of Agni-5 Ballistic Missile

57 - 69

ECONOMICS

 Making India Wealthy  Oil Majors  Imf Global Growth Predictions  The Big Oil Risk  Banking On Good Faith  Cautious Optimism  Expanding The Tax Base  Economic Democracy Conclave  Economic Survey - Economic Facts On Indian Economy

69- 73

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 Economic Survey  India Needs To Be A Net Producer Of Knowledge - Economic Survey  India’s External Sector Continues To Be Strong - Economic Survey  India Launches High Performance Computer System Mihir  Govt Launches E-marketplace Gem 3.0

73 - 85

ENVIRONMENT

 East Kolkata Wetlands  A Sum Of Contributions  Turtle Recovery Plan  Red Alert On Green Index  Saksham 2018  Swachh Survekshan  Introduction Of Indian Medical Civil Service  National Mission For Clean Ganga  Biogas Programme  Global Forum For Food And Agriculture (Gffa)

85 - 92

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 Electric Vehicles And Auto Industry  Accelerating India’s Future With 5g  Compact Launchers For Small Satellites  Gps Enabled Device In Trains  Mou Between India And Canada For Cooperation In Field Of S&t

92 - 102

SOCIAL ISSUES

 Issues Of Depression And Mental Health  State Of Conflict: On The Bhima- Koregaon Violence  Triple Talaq  Are Political Activities Inside Universities Justifiable?  New India, Hyper Masculine  Held By Mob

103- 111

INFRASTRUCTURE

 Making Roads Safer  Rebuilding Our Cities  Jal Marg Vikas Project  2-lane Bi-directional Zojila Tunnel With Parallel Escape Tunnel In J&k  Bharat Net  Railways Launches Online Vendor Registration System  International Workshop On Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

112 - 114

ART AND CULTURE

 Film Censorship  Prime Minister To Launch Khelo India School Games  Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

114 - 117

AGRICULTURE

 Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana  Targeted Public Distribution System

118 - 119  Imf And Reforms

WORLD INSTITUTIONS


INTERNATIONAL / BILATERAL INDIA’S EASTERN REGION AND TRADE What Is The Issue?  Logistic bottlenecks choke freight transport to and from India’s eastern region which is

hindering both the trade potentiality and also the development of eastern India.

What Are The Existing Problems?  Economic cooperation and improved connectivity with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan,

referred as the BBIN sub-group, is a pet agenda of today’s government.  Still, trade costs are abnormally high in this region, pulling down formal cross-border

economic activities.

 On a sub-regional scale, India is pursuing projects such as seamless road transport where

gains are either limited or uncertain due to various physical, emotional and social issues on either side of the border.  This is already evident in the case of Bhutan.

January - 2018

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS


 In all fairness to the deal, India will probably see some restricted and low-scale roll-out,

which will not impact overall trade costs.  Bilaterally, India is pursuing many rail and inland water connectivity projects with its

largest regional trade partner, Bangladesh.  However, none of them promises to decongest the costly road traffic through Petrapole

border in West Bengal which is the largest trade route.  It is, therefore, time the Government revisited the connectivity agenda with a policy focus

on reducing trade costs in a time-bound manner.  Removing key domestic logistical bottlenecks and integrating the same with foreign policy

in the front-end is an immediate priority.  Since regional trade is heavily tilted in India’s favour, any reduction in trade costs should

primarily address the interests of the importing nations.  Thereby helping to create a positive environment for further economic integration and

seamless traffic.

What Are The Possible Ways To Increase Trade?  To start with, India should give a systemic push for conversion of non-containerised road

cargo to containerised rail cargo for regional trade.  Both landlocked Nepal and Bhutan have distinct interest in rail cargo.  This is evident from the fast growth of rail cargo and containerisation ever since India

connected the biggest Nepalese gate at Birgunj with a 6-km link from Raxaul in Bihar, in 2005.  But still India hasn’t extended the facility to other Nepalese gates all located close to

Indian railheads.  There is no progress either on the proposed 30-km rail link to Bhutan, India’s most

trusted partner in the region, despite repeated reminders from Thimphu.  Added with the above is that, Nepal imports third-country products through the Kolkata

port, which lies barely 700 km from Birgunj.  And, the freight train takes a minimum of three days to cross this distance due to poor

track capacity in North Bihar.  Thus the task at hand is to expand rail connectivity to border gates, invest in dry-port or

transhipment facilities across the border.  And also decongest key rail corridors without worrying about financial returns in the near

term.

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 This should also help us reduce rent-seeking on the Indian side which makes road

transport unduly costly.  It is no coincidence that India has failed to build a rail over-bridge at the border town

of Raxaul or that the 50-km stretch of the National Highway from Raxaul to Motihari is perennially potholed.  Many allege that it is a design to keep trucks in waiting and extort money. The price is

paid by customers in importing nations.

What Are The Causes For Concern In India-Bangladesh Trade?  Formal trade between India-Bangladesh was over $6-billion.  The majority of India’s $5.4 billion export cargo originates in the producing States of north

and south India, and travels 1,500-2,000 km by road to Petrapole.  Surprisingly, there is not much trace of containerisation in this trade.  The journey is prolonged by more than 20 rounds of checks en route and the last 70-80

km from Kolkata to Petrapole takes up to three days (down from seven days a couple of years ago).  This is partly due to a narrow road which is difficult to widen (many bids failed in the past)

for social and environmental reasons and mostly due to rampant rent-seeking.  This is a major source of political funding in the region.  The Petrapole border gates were connected by rail in 2001, but rail cargo didn’t go up.  The Railways refuses to carry break bulk, and Bangladeshi importers are not big enough

to afford a whole rake.  The rolling stock mismatch between the railways on either side added to the complexity.  There is broad-gauge connectivity to Dhaka through Gede-Darshana but it is not suitable

for freight movement due to load restrictions on Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh.  The Bangladeshi government is planning an infrastructure revamp in Bangladesh.  But given the track record of the nation in project completion and rampant corruption, it

will take years before the logistics gap is plugged.  Till then, investing in transhipment facilities right across the border is the only option

India has.  Inviting private logistics companies to run the facility and make the market for containerised

cargo are other logical steps to follow.

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What Role Can Private Participation Play In The Trade?  Increased participation of reputed private logistics players in serving regional trade is

another area India must focus on.  Awarding contracts to state-owned companies may be the right option to ward off

allegations of corruption but necessarily not the efficient one.  For example, India recently granted Nepal access to Vizag seaport for third-country imports

as an efficient alternative to Kolkata river port.  Both are controlled by the Government but the trade is barely benefited as costlier rail

freight erodes the advantage of efficient port handling at Vizag.  The government could have allowed an equally or more efficient privately-run Dhamra

Port, located 900-km from Birgunj, for trade purpose.  India could have pleased the Nepalese by giving access to lower cost alternatives, which

had all across been squeezed by the monopoly of Kolkata Port, Rail and CONCOR trio.  Moreover, with so many deep-sea ports on the east coast, India could have explored the

opportunity to extend third-country import services to Bangladesh.  There is every possibility that ports such as Dhamra or Paradip can serve south-eastern

Bangladesh better, provided India is quick to build the rail-connected transhipment facility. Source: The Hindu Business Line

••• ASEAN RISING

Why In News?  Leaders of the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathered in New

Delhi this week to give a dose of both symbolism and substance in India ASEAN ties.  The ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, followed by their attendance at the Republic

Day parade as joint chief guests, underlined the new consensus on the need for Southeast Asia and India to boost cooperation.  Why Is This Cooperation A Necessity?

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 First, as the demand for goods in Western economies comes down, the region needs to

look deeper within to grow markets and increase trade.  Second, continuing tensions between the “great powers” - between the U.S. and Russia,

or the U.S. and China - are forcing the unaligned countries of ASEAN and India to forge a common understanding.

 China’s moves in particular, both its naval forays in the Indo-Pacific and its Belt and Road

Initiative connectivity project, have the potential to change equations in the region.  Third, as Singapore’s Prime Minister and the Chairman of ASEAN reminded the world in

an editorial, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech at the summit, India’s cultural and trade ties with Southeast Asia go back 2,000 years.  And with Southeast Asia having come out of the overhang of Cold War divisions, India and

ASEAN have a unique opportunity to reap the potential of their geographic proximity.  The Delhi Declaration they signed articulated their urgent concerns as ASEAN and India

called for measures to deepen security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation, and connectivity.  These include joint mechanisms for maritime transport, trade and a “code of conduct” for

the South China Sea.

What Are The Obstacles That Linger Still?  They had made a similar commitment to trade and maritime security, and several promises

are yet to be realised.  With trade with ASEAN at $76 billion, India ranks lower than not just the U.S. and China,

but also South Korea, Japan and Australia.

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 The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations launched in 2012 have

been held up, largely because of Indian concerns over unfettered access to Chinese goods and ASEAN resistance to movement of Indian services and labour.  The other big unfulfilled promise is on connectivity, between ASEAN countries and India,

as well as India’s connectivity through its Northeast to Myanmar and beyond.  Work on the extension of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, the Kaladan

multimodal highway, and Tamu-Kalay rail link to Myanmar has lagged behind deadlines.  Border trade posts and infrastructure in the Northeast need much improvement to attract

investment in the region.

What Is The Way Forward?  India and the ASEAN countries have much to gain from each other, but heavy-lifting is

required to integrate India into the ASEAN equation.  Else, shared history and culture and political leaderships in sync may only yield rousing

summitry. Source: The Hindu

••• THE ARC OF SOUTH EAST ASIA

Why In News?  This week India will host heads of state or government of all 10 nations of the Association

of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the Republic Day celebrations in a dramatic declaration of intent by New Delhi to boost India’s ties with Southeast Asia.  The year 2017 was an important landmark as India and the ASEAN commemorated 25

years of their partnership, 15 years of summit-level interaction, and five years of strategic partnership.

How Is The Relationship With ASEAN At Present?  There has been a sense of disillusionment on both sides about the present state of play

in the relationship.  While the ASEAN member states have been disappointed that India continues to punch

below its weight in the region.

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 New Delhi’s expectations regarding a more robust support for its regional outreach too

have not been met.  India’s capacity to provide development assistance, market access and security guarantees

remains limited and ASEAN’s inclination to harness New Delhi for regional stability remains circumscribed by its sensitivities to other powers.  The interests and expectations of the two sides remain far from aligned, preventing them

from having candid conversations and realistic assessments.

How Is Present Indian Government Viewing The Relationship?  Though present government’s ‘Act East’ policy is aimed at enhancing India’s strategic

profile in East and Southeast Asia, New Delhi’s main focus remains on South Asia and the Indian Ocean region.  There has been a shift in emphasis, of course, with India moving away from the South Asian

Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and asserting its centrality in the evolving geography of the Indo-Pacific.  But it is no match for China’s regional profile which is largely about viewing Southeast

Asia as its backyard.  India’s economic focus too is not in tune with other regional powers which view ASEAN as

an important market for exports and investments.  India’s export sector remains weak and the government’s focus has shifted to boosting

manufacturing domestically.

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How Is The Ground Situation Now?  India’s interest in ASEAN as a multilateral forum remains lacklustre as it continues to

privilege bilateral partnerships to further its own interests.  As New Delhi’s gaze shifts to the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar and Thailand have emerged as

key players in its southeastern outreach.  The hope is to use these nations as a bridge to ASEAN.  The temptation to prioritise these countries over others in ASEAN may also prevent others

from looking at India as a regional stakeholder.  It is important for India and ASEAN to chart out a more operational, though modest,

agenda for future cooperation.  The three Cs of commerce, connectivity and culture have been highlighted but a more

granular perspective is needed in terms of a forging a forward-looking approach.  They also need to focus on areas such as digital technologies.  India, as a fast emerging major player, has significant comparative advantages.  As Chinese giants begin to dominate the digital space in Southeast Asia and concerns

rise about their ability to own data, the Indian IT sector may take some advantage of the seeming reluctance of ASEAN states to put all their eggs in the Chinese basket.  India as a facilitator of the ASEAN-wide digital economy would not only challenge China

but also emerge as an economic guarantor of its own.

What Areas Needs Focus?  Instead of talking about ASEAN-wide connectivity projects, New Delhi now needs to focus

on more effective delivery of projects it is already committed to.  In this context, prompt completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway,

which will run from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar, is key.  The plan is to extend this highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in an attempt to

project India’s role in the emerging transportation architecture.  With China having three times more commercial flights than India to Southeast Asia, im-

proving air connectivity between India and ASEAN countries should also be high on the agenda.  Besides, the Bay of Bengal can be used as an exploratory ground for the development of

an India-ASEAN maritime framework.

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 Finally, the cultural connect between the two needs strengthening.  While India offers scholarships to students from ASEAN states to study at Nalanda Uni-

versity, this initiative should be extended to the IITs and the IIMs.  Tourism too can be further encouraged between India and the ASEAN with some creative

branding by the two sides. Source: The Hindu

••• SIEGE OF TERROR

Why In News?  With four attacks in 10 days that killed at least 158 people in Afghanistan, terrorists have

sent a loud message to the government and its international backers.

Where Did The Bombings Take Place?  Of the four, two were claimed by the Taliban - the raid on January 20 in Kabul’s tightly-

guarded Intercontinental Hotel and the January 27 ambulance bombing in a busy street.  The Islamic State attacked a British children’s charity in Jalalabad on January 24 and an

army post outside the capital days later.

What Is The Main Agenda Behind The Attacks?  Though the IS and the Taliban are opposed to each other in the complex conflict landscape,

both share a goal.  To destabilise the state that has been built since 2001, and throw the country into further

chaos.  In recent years, despite the government’s claims of cracking down on militants, threats

from the IS and Taliban have only grown.  The IS, which lost territory in Iraq and Syria, is trying to build networks elsewhere,

particularly in war-torn Afghanistan.  From an enclave in Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan, the group has planned and

orchestrated several attacks, mainly targeting Shia minorities.  Last year, the IS claimed at least 15 bombings in Afghanistan, while the Taliban is steadily

expanding its firepower.

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 Earlier, the Taliban had said it was targeting Afghan military facilities and soldiers, not

civilians.  As the ambulance bombing that killed more than a hundred people shows, the facts are

to the contrary.

How Is The Afghan Government Handling The Crisis?  The Afghan government is caught in a classic security bind.  Over the years, whatever it has done, including stepping up the military campaign against

the Taliban, has only deepened the security crises.  The protracted war and the indiscriminate use of airpower by the U.S. have turned a

substantial portion of the rural population away from Kabul, a resentment the Taliban has tapped into.  And as the war drags on, other militant groups such as the IS have also swept in, making

a solution to the crisis even more elusive.

What Is The Ground Situation Now?  The Taliban is now too strong to be defeated outright, but not strong enough to unseat the

government in Kabul thus causing a stalemate  When U.S. President Donald Trump announced more troops for Afghanistan in August,

the plan was to break this logjam.  But since that announcement, the Taliban has increased its attacks, in an apparent

message to Washington that a military solution is not possible.  Even the tough line the U.S. has taken vis-à-vis Pakistan, which has direct links with the

Taliban and its allies in the Haqqani network, by withholding military aid doesn’t seem to have had any immediate impact on Islamabad.

Why No Solution Can Be Obtained?  The problem is the lack of a cohesive strategy.  The U.S. focusses too much on the military aspects of the problem, while the Afghan

government, plagued by corruption and infighting, remains incompetent in tackling the challenges it faces.  In such a scenario, it’s advantage Taliban.

Source: The Hindu

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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDINGS BETWEEN INDIA AND VIETNAM What Is It?  Memorandum of Understandings were exchanged between India and Vietnam in presence

of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnam counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc ahead of the India-Asean Commemorative Summit in New Delhi.  Both the countries have agreed to co-operate in the areas of Information & Broadcasting

(I&B) sector and space cooperation.  Vietnam is a key pillar in India’s Act East Policy and strategic partner in South East

Asia.  Agreement between ISRO and National Remote Sensing Department of Vietnam was also

concluded on the occasion, for establishment of tracking and data reception station and data processing facility in Vietnam under ASEAN India Space Cooperation.  The arrangement would define the framework and conditions of cooperation for estab-

lishment of facility to provide Indian remote sensing satellite data over ASEAN region to enable remote sensing applications, which include natural resources management, ocean development and disaster management by ASEAN member states.  The MoU intends to promote closer cooperation for exchange of knowledge and experience

in detection, resolution and prevention of cyber security-related incidents between India and Vietnam.  Implementation of the MoU will result in significant mutual benefits in the cyber security

sector, through institutional and capacity-building in the field of cyber security in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Source: PIB, Wikipedia, Economic Times

•••

ASEAN SUMMIT - DELHI DECLARATION What Is It?  India and the 10-member Asean decided to deepen partnership for combating terrorism

and radicalisation through information sharing, law enforcement cooperation and capacity-building projects.  Countering terror and maritime security cooperation were the top agenda for the plenary

session at the Commemorative Summit.

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 Delhi Declaration to increase commitment and promote comprehensive approach to

combat terrorism through disruption of militant activities.  Terrorism: Deepen cooperation in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,

violent extremism and radicalisation through information sharing,law enforcement cooperation and capacity building under existing ASEAN-led mechanism.  Cyber-security: Strengthen cooperation on cyber-security capacity building and policy

coordination, including through supporting the implementation of ASEAN Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy.  Economic Ties: Both sides reaffirmed to work to further strengthen ASEAN-India economic

relations, including through full utilisation and effective implementation of ASEAN-India Free Trade Area.  Strengthening relations: Called for strengthening and deepening ASEAN-India Strategic

Partnership for mutual benefit, across the whole spectrum of of political-security, economic, socio-cultural and development cooperation.  Political and Security Cooperation: Reaffirm importance of maintaining and promoting

peace, stability, maritime safety and security, freedom of navigation and overflight in the region.  Transnational

crimes: It called for strengthening cooperation to combat other

transnational crimes, including people smuggling, trafficking in persons, illicit drug trafficking, cybercrime, and piracy and armed robbery against ship.  Maritime cooperation: It emphasised need to promote maritime transport cooperation

and encourage potential private sector participation in development of seaports, maritime logistics network and maritime services in order to create greater efficient linkages and continue discussions on these priority areas.  Conservation and sustainable use of marine resources in Indian and Pacific Oceans and

address threats to these resources including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, loss of coastal ecosystems and the adverse impacts of pollution, , marine debris and ocean acidification.  Peaceful exploitation of outer space: India and ASEAN countries will continue to collaborate

in peaceful exploitation of outer space, through mplementation of the ASEAN-India Space Cooperation Programme. It will include launching of satellites, sustainable exploitation of ground, sea, atmospheric and digital resources for equitable development of region. Source: PIB, http://asean.org.

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BBIN MOTOR VEHICLES AGREEMENT: INDIA, BANGLADESH AND NEPAL What Is It?  Bangladesh, India and Nepal agreed on text of operating procedures for passenger vehicle

movement in sub-region under Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement.  The participating countries have also agreed to conduct more trial runs for cargo vehicles

under the agreement.

 The passenger protocol agreed upon is document detailing procedures for cross-border

movement of buses and private vehicles for transport facilitation in sub region.  India, Bangladesh and Nepal have already ratified MVA and have agreed to start its

implementation among three signatory countries. Bhutan will bandwagon them after it ratifies the agreement.  The agreement will permit member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for

transportation of cargo and passengers, including third country transport and personal vehicles.  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing technical, advisory, and financial support

to BBIN MVA initiative as part of its assistance to South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program. Source: PIB.

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JOINT NAVAL EXERCISES BETWEEN INDIAN AND JAPAN COAST GUARDS What Is It?  Joint search and rescue exercise between Indian Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard

was held near Chennai under the provisions of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed between the two agencies in 2006.  A High Level Meeting between two agencies focused on augmenting the operational level

interaction and capacity building in areas of search and rescue, pollution response and maritime law enforcement.  Observers from 27 maritime nations witnessed exercise and workshop on search and

rescue operations and also aimed to share best management practices and continuation of personnel exchange.  Relations between the two Coast Guards go back a long way with ICG ships calling on

ports in Japan for professional interactions since 2000.  This was eighth such in series of ‘National Maritime Search and Rescue Workshop and

Exercise’. Ships and aircraft of Coast Guards from India and Japan,Indian Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF) and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) took part in it. Source: PIB.

••• NAVIKA SAGAR PARIKRAMA INSV TARINI ENTERS PORT STANLEY FALKLAND ISLANDS

What Is It?  Navika Sagar Parikrama is a project wherein a team of women officers of the Indian Navy

would circumnavigate the globe on an Indian-built sail boat INSV Tarini.  This is the first ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew.  The expedition will be covered in five legs, with stop-overs at 4 ports Fremantle (Australia),

Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa) for replenishment of ration and repairs as necessary.

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 Navika Sagar Parikrama voyage is in consonance with National policy to empower women

to attain their full potential. It also aims to showcase India’s Nari Shakti on world platform and help revolutionize societal attitudes and mindset towards women by raising visibility of their participation in challenging environs.  The voyage also aims to show case ‘Make in India’ initiative by sailing onboard indigenously

built INSV Tarini.  INSV Tarini is 55 foot sailing vessel built indigenously in India by M/s Aquarius Shipyard

Pvt Ltd, Goa. It was inducted into the Indian Navy recently in Feb 2017.  It also encourage use of environment friendly non-conventional renewable energy

resources as ship harnesses wind, a renewable energy. The crew has also been collating and updating meteorological, ocean and wave data on a regular basis for accurate weather forecast by India Meteorological Department (IMD), as also monitoring marine pollution on the high seas Source: PIB, Wikipedia.

•••

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INDIAN POLITY & GOVERNANCE LAW COMMISSION REPORT Why In News?  Recently Law Commission released its report on bail law reform which deserves urgent

attention.

What Does The Report Say?  The Law Commission, in its 268th Report, highlights the problem where it has become the

norm for the rich and powerful to get bail with ease, while others languish in prison.  The Commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge B.S. Chauhan recommend

making it easier for all those awaiting trial to obtain bail.  The commission said that one of the first duties of those administering criminal justice

must be that bail practices are “fair and evidence-based”.  “Decisions about custody or release should not be influenced by factors such as gender,

race, ethnicity, financial conditions or social status,” the report says.  The main reason that 67% of the current prison population is made up of undertrials is

the great inconsistency in the grant of bail.  Even when given bail, most are unable to meet the onerous financial conditions to avail

it.  The Supreme Court had noticed this in the past and said that poverty appears to be the

main reason for the incarceration of many prisoners, as they are unable to afford bail bonds.

What Does The Commission Propose?  The Commission seeks to improve on a provision introduced in 2005 to grant relief to

thousands of prisoners languishing without trial and to decongest India’s overcrowded prisons.  Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that a prisoner shall be released

on bail on personal bond if he or she has undergone detention of half the maximum period of imprisonment specified for that offence.

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 The Law Commission recommends that those detained for an offence that would attract

up to seven years’ imprisonment be released on completing one-third of that period, and those charged with offences attracting a longer jail term, after they complete half of that period.  For those who had spent the whole period as under trials, the period undergone may be

considered for remission.  In general terms, the Commission cautions the police against needless arrests and

magistrates against mechanical remand orders.  It gives an illustrative list of conditions that could be imposed in lieu of sureties or financial

bonds.  It advocates the need to impose the “least restrictive conditions”.  However, as the report warns, bail law reform is not the panacea for all problems of the

criminal justice system.  Be it overcrowded prisons or unjust incarceration of the poor, the solution lies in expediting

the trial process. Source: The Hindu business line

••• SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS

Why In News?  Prime minister has made a persuasive case for holding simultaneous elections to the Lok

Sabha and the State assemblies.

Why Is It Important To Hold Simultaneous Elections?  Holding simultaneous elections will help reduce

cost and also reduce diversion of both security and teaching staff towards election duty.  The Election Commission (EC) estimates the cost

of holding simultaneous polls at

4,500 crore

whereas each Assembly election would cost the exchequer about 300 crore.

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 Simultaneous elections to the Centre and the States were held between 1951 and 1967,

after which the out-of-turn collapse of governments threw the cycle out of gear.  Former EC officials, Supreme Court judges and the Law Commission of India, besides a

recent report by an all-party Parliamentary Standing Committee, have endorsed, either wholeheartedly or with caveats, the idea of simultaneous elections.  A NITI Aayog paper points out that in the last 30 years, there has not been a single year

without an election to either the State assembly or the Lok Sabha or both.  The Model Code of Conduct will be in operation for four months in a year till 2021 under

the current election schedule, disrupting government functioning.  Simultaneous polls may reduce the circulation of black money by lowering campaign

costs and the corruption involved in recovering that sum.

What Are The Issues Involved In Such Method?  The logistical convenience and economic merit of the move is beyond dispute.  The issue is whether it undercuts federalism.  An IDFC Institute study, cited by NITI Aayog, says that there is a 77 per cent chance

of the voter choosing the same party at the Centre and the State if elections are held simultaneously, while others have suggested that regional parties are likely to suffer.  However, the causation between simultaneous elections and such trends is yet to be

established.  The ability of the voter to differentiate between local and national issues should not be

underestimated.  Questions are raised questions about how the transition will be achieved since it needs

extending or curtailing the tenure of State governments to synchronise their cycle with that of the Centre.  Constitutional amendments will be required at least to allow for extending the tenure of

governments, a situation that is permissible only in an emergency.  At present, a premature election is possible if the assembly is dissolved by imposition of

President’s Rule, or if the legislature opts for it.  If a government loses confidence on the floor of the House before elections are due (which

cannot be held in the event of simultaneous polls), it should not lead to a constitutional crisis.

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 These issues should be resolved through consultation with stakeholders.  It is possible for about 14 States to go to the polls in May 2019 with the general election and

the rest in 2021, coinciding with the mid-term of the 17th Lok Sabha, without inordinate disruption of tenures. Source: Business Line

••• ALL ABOUT OFFICE OF PROFIT

Why In News?  President approved the recommendations of the Election Commission Of India to disqualify

20 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).  They were deemed to have been holding offices of profit as they were parliamentary

secretaries to ministers in the Delhi government.

What Is Office Of Profit?  The concept of office of profit originates from Britain where, during the conflicts between

the Crown and the Parliament in the 16th century, the House of Commons disqualified members from holding executive appointments under the Monarch.  The underlying principle behind this is the doctrine of separation of powers.  The office of profit rule seeks to ensure that legislators act independently and are not

lured by offers from the executive.  India’s Constitution makers adopted this idea under Articles 102(1)(a) and 191(1)(a) which

state that a lawmaker will be disqualified if he or she occupies “any office of profit” under the Central or State governments, other than those offices exempted by law.  While the term “office of profit” is not defined in the Constitution, the Supreme Court, in

multiple decisions, has laid out its contours.  The trend of appointing MLAs as parliamentary secretaries is done across the political

spectrum.  Many of these have been legally challenged and struck down by the judiciary.  Recently, the Supreme Court struck down the Assam Parliamentary Secretaries (Appoint-

ment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004, calling it unconstitutional.

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What Is The Issue In Delhi Government?  Delhi Chief Minister had appointed 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries soon after the

AAP government assumed office in 2015.  When this decision was challenged before the High Court, the Delhi government

sought to retrospectively amend the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997 to exempt parliamentary secretaries from the definition of “office of profit”.  However, the Lieutenant Governor reserved the matter for the President, who refused to

give his assent to the Bill.  Thus the position of the parliamentary secretaries became precarious.  The Delhi High Court, in September 2016, set aside the appointment of parliamentary

secretaries since it lacked the approval of the Lieutenant Governor.  Citing this, the AAP claimed that since the appointment was anyway void, the MLAs could

not be said to have been occupying an office of profit.  However, the EC said that the MLAs “de facto” held the office of parliamentary

secretaries.  The AAP now alleges that the EC is acting in a partisan manner, as in other States,

the striking down of the office of parliamentary secretaries has not resulted in the disqualification of MLAs.

What Does Article 164(1-A) Say?  One of the major constraints in cabinet formation is Article 164 (1-A) of the Constitution

which limits the number of Ministers in State cabinets - including the Chief Minister - to 15% of the total number of MLAs of the State; for Delhi it is 10% of the total seats.  Article 164 (1-A) was inserted by the 91st Constitutional Amendment in 2003 on the

recommendation of the M.N. Venkatachaliah-headed National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution.  Constitutional constraints and office of profit restrictions seek to prevent the creation of

multiple executive posts to reward loyal legislators.  Rewarding MLAs with executive posts can restrict them from performing their primary

role of maintaining accountability and responsibility to people.

Why Is This Situation Continuing?  The creation of such posts can also be attributed to the larger institutional malaise facing

the legislatures.

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 Lawmakers have been enfeebled over the years through measures such as binding party

whips and a purely executive-driven legislative agenda.  In such an institutional milieu, lawmakers increasingly seek positions with perks to

exercise influence.  Unless legislatures are truly strengthened and the disproportionate power of the executive

in the legislature curtailed, the demand for creating such posts will continue to persist. Source: The HIndu

•••

ANTI DISCRIMINATION AND EQUALITY BILL 2016 Why In News?  Recently Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Introduced Anti-Discrimination and Equality Bill

in Lok Sabha.

What Is The Speciality Of The Bill?  The Bill’s highlights are symmetric protection, its experiential understanding of

discrimination, and its proportionate regulation of the private sector.  Almost everyone in our country has faced, or is likely to face, some form of

discrimination.  Women, Dalits, religious and sexual minorities, people from the North East, hijras,

disabled persons and the elderly are especially at the receiving end.  On the other hand, we have all also been perpetrators, sometimes consciously, but often

unconsciously do the discrimination.  Recognising this universality in the experience and perpetration of discrimination, the

ADE Bill seeks to symmetrically protect majorities as well as minorities (with exceptions for affirmative action and aggravated discrimination).  The bill explains comprehensively, multiple grounds upon which discrimination takes

place. Under the symmetric ADE Bill, anyone could potentially be a victim, and anyone, whether from a majority or minority group, could be a discriminator.  The ADE Bill understands discrimination as it is experienced by its victims, and is sensitive

both to the evolving nature of this social phenomenon and its particular character in the Indian context.

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 The Bill prohibits overt prejudice or stereotyping as direct discrimination.  But it also recognises that sometimes, one can discriminate indirectly by doing something

that disproportionately impacts a group (say, a minimum height requirement that is unnecessary for satisfactorily performing a given job.  The bill treats harassment, bullying, segregation, boycott, violence and victimisation as

the various guises that discrimination can take.  By focussing on the experience of the victim, rather than the intention of the discriminator,

the Bill understands that power is self-aggrandising and dynamic.  Finally, in prohibiting discrimination in public as well as private sectors (especially

employers, landlords, retailers and service-providers).  The ADE Bill recognises that decades of affirmative action in the public sector is insufficient

to tackle discrimination.  It also imposes diversification duties, while ensuring that private businesses can discharge

their social obligations with minimal regulatory burdens.  Marking a break from past laws that criminalised discrimination, the focus of the ADE

Bill is to create a civil liability to protect and compensate the victim, rather than to punish the discriminator.  The “lighter touch” approach of the ADE Bill is complemented by a dedicated, efficient

and independent enforcement mechanism. It therefore strikes a proportionate balance between competing demands. Source: Indian Express

••• ELECTORAL BONDS

What Is It?  The Union Government has announced details of electoral bonds for political funding that

can be routed by donors to political parties.  Aims to account the donations made to all major political parties in a transparent way.  Electoral bonds will be bearer instrument in nature of promissory note and an interest-

free banking instrument.

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 Electoral bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of Rs.1,000, Rs.10,000,

Rs.10 lakh, and Rs.1 crore from any of the specified branches of SBI.  These can be redeemed only through the registered accounts of a political party in a

prescribed time frame.  It aims at rooting out current system of largely anonymous cash donations made to

political parties which lead to generation of black money in the economy.

Why In The News?  As explained by Mr. Jaitley, the electoral bonds will not bear the name of the donor. In

essence, the donor and the party details will be available with the bank, but the political party might not be aware of who the donor is.  The intention is to ensure that all the donations made to a party will be accounted for in

the balance sheets without exposing the donor details to the public. Source: PIB, Wikipedia, The Hindu.

•••

SH. RAWAT APPOINTED NEW CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER What Is It?  President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Election

commissioner Om Prakash Rawat (64) as new Chief Election Commissioner.He will succeed Achal Kumar Joti who has retired from post.  President also appointed former finance secretary

Ashok Lavasa as Election commissioner. Both will have tenure of six years in office or till he or she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.  Om Prakash Rawat is 1977-batch IAS officer

from Madhya Pradesh cadre. He was appointed to Election Commission in August 2015.  ECI is permanent and independent constitutional body established directly by Constitution

of India to ensure fair and fair elections in the country. It is multi member body and currently has three members including Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

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 The service conditions and tenure of office of Chief Election Commissioner and Election

Commissioners are determined by an act of parliament titled he Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Act, 1991.  The CEC and election commissioners have equal power and receive equal salary, allowances

and other perquisites, which are similar to judge of Supreme Court.  In case of difference of opinion amongst CEC and Election Commissioner, matter is decided

by Commission by majority. Source: PIB, Wikipedia.

••• STANDING UP FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Why In News?  UN Secretary General referred to the pervasive and large-scale violation of human rights

across the world as a global challenge that defies our vision of a humane and just world order.  The message is particularly relevant for India, because the torture of individuals in state

custody remains a brazen human rights abuse despite the Supreme Court affirming it as “an intrinsic value, constitutionally protected in itself” (Puttaswamy, 2017, M. Nagaraj, 2006).

Why Are Human Rights –A Concern In India?  India’s approach towards eliminating torture as an affront to human dignity, have been

caught between legislative lassitude and judicial abdication.  Even years after India became a signatory to the Convention Against Torture in 1997,

India have not been able to ratify comprehensive anti-torture legislation.  It has not put in place a domestic legislation to effectuate the right to life with dignity read

into Article 21 of the Constitution.  In a departure from judicial precedents established in Vishakha (1997), D.K. Basu (1997),

Vineet Narain (1997), Association for Democratic Reforms (2002), Swami Achyutanand Tirth (2016) and the Triple Talaq (2017) case, the Supreme Court refrained from exercising even its limited function to prompt the government into bringing the necessary antitorture law.

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 Acts of custodial torture continue to defy constitutional diktat and mock the Supreme

Court’s declaration of torture.  The recent Constitution Bench judgment in Puttaswamy (Supra), citing its earlier

judgments, reaffirmed that torture infringes on human dignity which is “inalienable and inseparable from human existence”.

What Is The Role Of Supreme Court?  The court’s disinclination to exercise its expansive review jurisdiction for enforcing the

non-negotiable right to dignity in the face of legislative and government inaction is showing its callous attitude.  Despite the 2010 recommendation of the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha supported

by the National Human Rights Commission, the Law Commission of India and repeated assurances given on behalf of the Indian government at the UN Universal Periodic Review the sorry state of affair exits.  Those facing criminal trials and extradition proceedings abroad including Abu Salem,

Kim Davy, Jagtar Singh Johal and others have questioned the country’s investigative and criminal justice system in the absence of an effective and enforceable law against custodial torture.  The damning slur on the nation’s trial process and commitment to the rule of law itself

was also not enough to move the court to exercise its “suggestive” jurisdiction. Source: The Hindu

••• IS AADHAAR A PANACEA FOR ALL

Why Is In News Recently?  Aadhaar instead of being voluntary and limited to the programs that require it, the

government is forcing Indians to use their ID number to access a long list of services.

What Is Aadhaar?  Aadhaar is a 12 digit unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their

biometric and demographic data.

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 The data is collected by the Unique Identification

Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority established by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, under the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016.  Over a billion Aadhaar numbers have now been

handed out.

What Are The Positives In Having Aadhaar?  The number would serve as a unique identifier,

suitable for all forms of identification.  The government can transfer welfare payments

directly to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, cutting out India’s notoriously corrupt middlemen.  It could be used to borrow money, tap into a pension account.  It was a simple, lightweight, elegant solution with a minimal cost.  Initially using it was voluntary.  Proving ones identification is very simple.  Aadhaar designers promised robust privacy legislation.

What Are The Problems Of Aadhaar?  In India, proving one’s identity is sometimes impossible. Thus unable to prove their

identity, it becomes near impossible to open a bank account or even have an insurance and even access basic government services.  Aadhaar instead of being voluntary and limited to the programs that require it, the

government is forcing Indians to use their ID number to access all available government services.  Recent Examples: Aadhaar to withdraw pension money, to buy train tickets, to make

plane reservations, even to attend a cricket match and for getting new connection for reliance jio.  It is difficult for kids to access free lunches at school, which had been one of India’s most

useful policy interventions in recent decades.

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 Concerns about the security of the Unique ID system still lingers. The official stance is

that Indians have no fundamental right to privacy.  In the absence of any legal protections, citizens are left trusting Aadhaar’s administrators,

a body called the Unique ID Authority of India. UIDAI needs to be clearly accountable, but that’s not the case.

What Is The Solution?  Aadhaar is one of the world’s grandest policy experiments, a genuinely brilliant way to

use technology to make a billion people’s lives simpler. Using it judiciously will help government achieve good governance. Source: Live Mint

••• JOBS V/S PENSION

Why In News?  Recently the draft labour code on social security was published on the Ministry of Labour

& Employment website.

What Is The Issue?  The draft is an ambitious one but incomplete document in itself.  The draft tries to consolidate existing 15 labour laws but lacks substance due to following

three reasons.  One is it does not recognise that social security systems for old age are structurally

different from those designed for poverty.  Second, it tries to combine elements of Universal Basic Income, Direct Benefits Transfer,

Provident Fund, Health Insurance, Maternity Benefit, etc.  The above clubbing of all into one is done without thinking about financial

ramifications.  Third, it fails to learn lessons from the problems of rich country social security systems

like fiscal sustainability, administrative costs, political design abuse, and much else.  The need of the hour is that the draft should revert to its original mandate of consolidating

existing laws.  And a separate multi-ministry, multi-stakeholder commission should examine the

desirability and feasibility of migrating our 50 million formal employment benefit system into a universal social security system for 1.25 billion citizens.

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What Are The Problems Of The Draft?  The draft says, its attempt is to simplify, rationalise and consolidate the hitherto

fragmented laws to make them less complex for easier comprehension implementation and enforcement.  But in reality handles complicated and contradictory themes like universalisation of

benefits to citizen, poor or workers.  Ease-of-doing business which is hardly accomplished by moving from defined contribution

to defined benefit.  Cross-subsidisation where individual savings, payroll deductions and fiscal top-up be co-

mingled into one account.  Added with it is mandatory rights approach where 50 per cent of labour force which is

self-employed is exempted.  A single account for voluntary contribution, mandatory contributions, mandatory

subsidised scheme, and social assistance programme for poor which is an accounting and actuarial impossibility.  Affordability is another key issue discussed in the draft.  If somebody is capable of making mandatory employer based contributions in the second

employer layer why force them to join the third layer employer subsidised scheme.  And if the third layer requires subsidy how it is different from the fourth fully subsidised

layer.  Along with it is registration of workers where somebody they could be introduced to

Aadhaar.  And finally complexity of contribution due to its method based on seasonality.  The document’s philosophy seems overly influenced by the ILO.  An organisation that has seemed past its expiry date for the past decade because it is out

of touch with entrepreneurship, fiscal discipline and the new world of work.  One estimate suggests the proposed labour code could wipe out tax receipts.  If the Ministry of Labour & Employment wanted to demonstrate ambition it should have

reduced mandatory payroll confiscation of 45 per cent (PF, ESI, EDLI, EPS, LWF, etc.) that currently drives an unaffordable wedge between and thereby murdering low wage formal employment or it should have challenged uncompetitive monopolies like EPFO and

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ESI which are the world’s most expensive government securities mutual fund and health insurance scheme.  The only social security India can afford is higher wages.  And higher wages don’t come from regulatory fatwas but urbanisation, formalisation,

industrialisation and human capital.

What Is The Way Forward?  Social security is probably the most complex, political and inter-disciplinary horizontal in

a vertically organised government.  No single ministry has the knowledge to author a solution.  The present labour code didn’t talk anything on formal job creation, and sustainability.  Only formal job creation with high wages can contribute to high social security system.  There is a huge necessity to rethink on this labour code draft because it does not balance

the difficult trade-offs between rich and poor citizens.  Nor does it differentiates informal and formal enterprises, mandatory and voluntary

participation, employer versus individual funding, and unsubsidised versus subsidised accounts.  No single ministry can draft a bill on social security, thus making it mandatory to have a

multi ministerial model of developing a new draft with more pragmatism. Source: Business Standard

•••

REFORM IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM What Is The Issue?  The centre must act on Malimath report on criminal law revamp, but with due care.

What Is Malimath Committee Report?  The Centre’s decision to revisit the 2003 report of the Justice V.S. Malimath Committee

on reforming the criminal justice system needs to be examined through the prism of civil rights.  It includes controversial recommendations such as making confessions to a senior police

officer admissible as evidence, and diluting the standard of proof required for a criminal conviction.

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 It also contains valuable suggestions to revamp the administration of criminal law, covering

the entire gamut of the justice system from investigation to sentencing, from matters of policy to the nuances of criminal procedure and the law of evidence.  The committee made 158 recommendations, and since then some of these have become

law.  Its suggestion on permitting videography of statements has been implemented.  The definition of rape has been expanded and new offences against women have been

added.  Its advocacy of substantial witness protection has not been realised, but victim

compensation is now part of law.  The Centre would do well to ignore the recommendations relating to making confessions

to high-ranking officers admissible, and increasing the period of police custody from 15 to 30 days.  These provisions were available only in anti-terrorism laws that are now no more in

force.  There is no need to bring them into general criminal laws.  The Malimath report suggests a standard of proof lower than the current ‘beyond reasonable

doubt’ standard.  It moots a ‘clear and convincing’ standard, that is, it is enough if the court is convinced

that something is true.  Such a measure would have adverse implications for suspects, and requires considerable

deliberation.

Why Is There A Necessity To Revamp Criminal Justice System?  There is some understandable disquiet about the state of criminal justice administration

in the country and there is a crying need for a wide range of reforms.  As the Madhava Menon Committee’s ‘Draft National Policy on Criminal Justice’ (2007)

noted, such popular dissatisfaction arises from the low rate of conviction, the apparent role of money and influence in the outcome of cases, delayed and denied justice, lack of protection to witnesses and inadequate attention to crime victims.  The widespread perception that there is corruption on the one hand and a deep nexus

between crime syndicates and politicians on the other, has added to the erosion of public confidence in the justice delivery system.

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 Despite all these considerations, any move to make substantive changes in the way

criminal justice is administered will have to be done with great circumspection, lest vital constitutional safeguards against abuse of police and judicial powers are violated in the process.  In the name of revamping the law, investigation and trial should not be altered in a way

that undermines the principles on which the justice system was founded.  It is not bad to revist old committee report with a view to considering their possible

implementation.  However, such an exercise must be pursued with care and caution.

Source: The Hindu

••• TRAINING TEACHERS

What Is The Bill About?  The NCTE (Amendment) Bill, 2017 pending in Parliament, endeavours to make those

studying in such teacher training institutions, or those who have graduated from such institutions, eligible for teachers’ jobs.  The Bill was tabled by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of

Human Resource Development.  It seeks to amend the provisions of the NCTE Act, 1993, which was enacted to provide for

the establishment of a NCTE.

What Is NCTE?  The Act establishes the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).  The NCTE plans and co-ordinates the development of the teacher education system

throughout the country.  It also ensures the maintenance of norms and standards in the teacher education

system.

What Is The Issue?  Education is a fundamental right for those aged between six and 14 years, but there has

hardly been a coordinated effort to better the lot of teachers who teach these children.  For years, certain institutions which impart teacher training courses have failed to get the

necessary recognition from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

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 The future of those who graduate from such institutions, which are funded by the Central/

State government or Union Territory administration concerned, has been in jeopardy.  Section 14 of the 1993 Act provides that every institution offering a teacher education

course has to obtain recognition from the Regional Committee.  Section 15 says that any recognised institution that intends to start any new course

or training in teacher education has to obtain permission from the Regional Committee concerned.  However, certain institutions failed to obtain recognition and permission from the Council,

though they continued to admit students for teacher education and training courses.

What Does The Bill Offer?  The Bill introduces a one-time measure to grant retrospective recognition or permission to

such institutions or courses, as the case may be, by suitably amending Sections 14 and 15 of the 1993 Act.  The amendments include granting retrospective recognition to institutions funded by

the Central or State government or the Union Territory administration, and as may be notified by the Central government, which offered teacher education courses on or after the appointed day till the academic year 2017-2018.  It proposes to amend Section 15 to grant retrospective permission to the new course or

training in teacher education offered by the institutions, as may be notified by the Central government, on or after the appointed day till the academic year 2017-18. Source: The Hindu, Prs Legislation

••• MILESTONES IN EDUCATION

What Is The Issue?  Every year in January, when the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is re-

leased, there is a hue and cry about the status of children’s learning in India.

What Is Aser?  Pratham is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India.  It works towards the provision of quality education to the underprivileged children in

India.

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 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), India’s largest NGO-run annual survey,

has been conducted by Pratham since 2005 to evaluate the relevance and impact of its programs.  Findings are disseminated at national, state, district and village levels, and influence

education policies at both state and central levels.  Every year ASER releases data in the same school year in which the assessment is

conducted.

What Is The Report About?  The recently released ASER data is different from the usual survey.  It concentrates on the 14-18 age group, which is different from the usual target

population.  Also, unlike the usual ASER surveys which are carried out in all rural districts of the

country, this year the exercise was done only in one or two districts per State.  The ASER 2017 “beyond basics” assessment framework explores how youth cope with

everyday tasks that involve literacy and numeracy.  This is in line with the National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT)

learning outcomes approach where developing connections between mathematical thinking and daily life is stressed.  In a departure from usual practice, the NAS reports lay out performance of children by

different broad competencies rather than by reference to the syllabus or simply in terms of a score.  For example, for Class VIII, the report card gives the proportion of students who can “read

textual/non-textual materials with comprehension and identify the details, characters, main idea and sequence of ideas and events while reading” or “solve problems involving large numbers by applying appropriate operations”.  Both 2017 exercises, one by the government and the other done by non-governmental

organisations, indicate a significant shift in thinking about children’s learning.  In their own ways, both point to the importance of considering stage-wise learning

outcomes, a move which will contribute towards a much-needed rethinking of class-wise curricular expectations.  Now even district-level data are now available.  This is significant as within the government’s education system, planning focusses on the

district as the unit for planning, allocation and implementation.

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 Information on inputs or infrastructure are available annually at the district level.  However, until this year, other than the annual ASER data, estimates on children’s

learning were not available at the district level.  One of the reasons for ASER collecting data on a representative sample of children at the

district level was to contribute to decisions at that level.  The timely release of the NAS district report cards is also a welcome move.  Now districts in the same State will have the opportunity of making contextually relevant

and appropriate plans to address the needs of their children.

What Are The Methodologies Involved?  ASER is a household survey and NAS is a school-based effort.  ASER conducts its assessment one-on-one, while NAS is a pen-paper test.  ASER is aimed at a representative sample of all children (whether in school and attending

or out of school) whereas NAS is a representative sample of children who are enrolled in government or aided schools.  Typically, ASER focusses mainly on foundational skills like reading and arithmetic, while

NAS looks at a wider variety of skills.  They are also the only two sources of data that are repeatedly available (whether periodically

in the case of NAS or annually in the case of ASER).  Contrary to recent assertions in the media, many researchers have accessed and used

ASER data for more detailed analyses than is published in the ASER report.

What Is The Way Forward?  One profound suggestion to increase quality of education is to have a learning improvement

fund that districts can apply to for implementing a results-oriented multi-year learning improvement programme.  The focus now is moving from “providing schooling” towards “ensuring learning”, and for

this a multi-year period is needed for implementation.  And the planning process for education can be decentralised to the district level so that

effective implementation of the policies related to the improvement in quality of education can be substantially increased.  And in that process both the state and the centre government can help the district

administration in funds, functions. Source: The Hindu

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SMALL FINANCE BANKS AND PAYMENT BANKS TO OFFER ATAL PENSION YOJANA What Is It?  The Union Finance Ministry has relaxed norms of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to allow small

finance banks and payment banks to offer APY distribution.  The move is expected to help expand coverage of the scheme and strengthen existing

channels of APY distribution.  Payments Banks and Small Finance Banks are a New Model of banks conceptualized by

the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 11 Payment Banks and 10 Small Finance Banks have received license from Reserve Bank of India to start banking operations in India.

 Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks are new age banks and given the strength

of the bank, expertise and it reach, Small Finance Bank and Payment Bank can play a pivotal role in outreach of subscribers under APY.  The APY scheme follows same investment pattern as applicable to National Pension

Scheme (NPS) contribution of Central government employees. financial year 2016-17, the scheme has earned return of 13.91%. There are more than 84 lakh subscribers registered under APY scheme with an asset baseof more than Rs. 3,194 crore.  At present 233 Banks and Department of Post are involved with the implementation of

the scheme. With relaxation of the norms, now 11 Payment Banks and 10 Small Finance Banks (SFBs) can also offer APY distribution. Source: PIB.

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THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) TO IMPROVE RURAL CONNECTIVITY - PMGSY What Is It?  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India today signed a $250

million loan to finance the construction of 6,254 kilometres all-weather rural roads in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal under the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Program (PMGSY).  The program is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient

access to livelihood and socio-economic opportunities for rural communities through improvements to about 12,000 kilometresRural Roads across the 5 States.  Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched by

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government in December 2000 as a massive programme to provide all weather rural road connectivity to every rural habitation with a minimum population of 500 in the plains and 250-plus in hill states, tribal districts and desert areas.  This scheme is one of the most successful initiatives

in rural India. By March 2019 all States and UTs are expected to complete PMGSY-I by connecting all eligible habitations with 500 and 250 population as per 2001 Census.  In view of increased rainfall and storm surges in the project States, the road designs will

take into account these climate risks with measures such as greater elevation of road embankments, slope protection, and better drainage in flood-prone areas.  Women were extensively consulted during the project design and will gain some key

benefits, including improved access to healthcare, livelihoods, and schooling. Source: PIB.

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PRADHAN MANTRI VAYA VANDANA YOJANA What Is It?  To provide social security during old age and to protect elderly persons aged 60 and above

against a future fall in their interest income due to uncertain market conditions.  The scheme enables old age income security for senior citizens through provision of assured

pension/return linked to the subscription amount based on government guarantee to Life Insurance Corporation of India.

Benefits  Scheme provides an assured return of 8% p.a. payable monthly.  Pension is payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per

the frequency of monthly/ quarterly/ half-yearly/ yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase.  The scheme is exempted from Service Tax/ GST.

Source: Pib, Vikaspedia

•••

E-SANSAD AND E-VIDHAN IN PARLIAMENT AND STATE LEGISLATURES What Is E-Sansad And E-Vidhan?  They are mission mode project (MMP) within the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) that

focuses on one aspect of electronic governance to digitize and make their functioning paperless in Parliament and State Legislatures.  It is an ambitious project by the Centre, where it plans to digitise and make available all

Parliament documents, including debates, speeches, committee reports and questions, on the internet.

Why In News?  The crucial issue of Efficient Functioning of Legislatures will be deliberated by the Whips

of Parliament and Legislatures and the Ministers of Parliamentary Affairs of various States during a two-day Conference to be held in Udaipur.

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Impact:  According to the agenda prepared by MoPA for the Conference, these projects would make

the functioning of Parliament and State Legislatures participative, responsive, transparent, productive and more accountable to the public and make the entire Legislative process more efficient.  An environment friendly initiative is in line with the ‘Go Green’ initiative of the

Government.  Once available online, the database could turn out to be a valuable resource for researchers,

historians, academicians and activists.  It would primarily be helpful for legal professionals who, while preparing arguments, often

had to refer to the intention of lawmakers.  This initiative will also help bring India on a par with developed nations such as the US

and the UK, which have advanced digital archives online. Source: PIB, Wikipedia.

•••

PIO-PARLIAMENTARIAN CONFERENCE What Is It?  To forge stronger ties with Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) across the world, the first PIO

Parliamentary Conference was reached out to lawmakers of Indian origin spread across the world seeking support for its emerging status as a global power.

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 As many as 120 parliamentarians of Indian origin from 23 countries are attending the

summit.

Why In News?  The 1st PIO-Parliamentarian Conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India at

New Delhi. Source: Pib, Wikipedia, The Hindu.

•••

THE COMMITTEE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONTROL AND SUPERVISION OF EXPERIMENTS ON ANIMALS (CPCSEA) What Is It?  The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals

(CPCSEA) is a statutory Committee, which is established under Section 15(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.  All establishments engaged in research and education involving animals, are required to

comply with the various guidelines, norms and stipulations set out by CPCSEA.  India is one of the pioneering countries to institute Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act

in 1960 whereas such Act was instituted in France in 1963 and in USA in 1966.  The detailed rules for experimentation on animals were first enacted by the Ministry of

Agriculture in 1968 and were implemented by CPCSEA.

Why In News?  A one-day National Conference on Welfare of Laboratory Animals was recently organised

by CPCSEA, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with the theme of “Implementation of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) while using animals in academic research and regulatory testing in India.  The conference laid emphasis on the issue of ethical use of animals in academics and

regulatory testing in India. The discussions were focussed on evaluating the possibilities of exemption of animal experiments in academics and regulatory testing.

Functions Of CPCSEA  Selection and appointment of nominees in the Institutional Animal Ethics Committees of

registered establishments.

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 Registration of establishments conducting animal experimentation or breeding of animals

for this purpose.  Action against establishments in case of violation of any legal norm/stipulation.

Source: Pib, Wikipedia.

•••

MEITY LAUNCHES CYBER SURAKSHIT BHARAT What is it?  Recognizing the need to strengthen the cybersecurity ecosystem in India, and in alignment

with ‘Digital India’, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), announced the Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative.  It was launched in association with National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and industry

partners.  Cyber Surakshit Bharat is first public-private partnership of its kind. It will leverage the

expertise of the IT industry in cybersecurity.  Conceptualized with the mission to spread awareness about cybercrime and building

capacity for safety measures for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT staff across all government departments.  Cyber Surakshit Bharat will be operated on the three principles of Awareness, Education

and Enablement.  It will include an awareness program on importance of cybersecurity. It will also include a

series of workshops on the best practices and enablement of the officials with cybersecurity health tool kits to manage and mitigate cyber threats.  Cyber Surakshit Bharat aims to conduct a series of training programs in the next six

months across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.  The audience will include CISOs and technical officials from: The central government, State

governments and Union Territories, Public Sector Banks, Public Sector Units,Defense forces, defense PSUs and technical arms of the Air Force, Army and Navy. Source: PIB, Wikipedia.

•••

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CENTRE ANNOUNCES 9 NEW SMART CITIES What Is It?  Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced nine new smart cities in the

latest round of the central government’s flagship Smart Cities Mission, on Friday.  With the addition of these 9 smart cities in the fourth round, the total cities picked up

under Smart City Mission have reached 99.  The mission of hundred smart cities was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in

June 2015.

 The mission of hundred smart cities was announced by Prime Minister Narendra he focus

of mission is on sustainable and inclusive development and set examples which can be replicated in other parts of the city and other cities of the country.  The nine cities chosen in the fourth round are -Bareilly, Moradabad and Saharanpur in

Uttar Pradesh, Erode in Tamil Nadu, Bihar Sharif in Bihar, Silvasa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Diu in Daman and Diu, Kavarati in Lakshadweep and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.  Under the scheme, each city will get Rs 500 crore from the Centre for implementing

various projects.  The selection of the cities was based on scores of cities for carrying out urban reforms in

areas including sanitation and governance. Cities that score highest were picked for the project, to be implemented over a 10-year period. Source: Pib, Wikipedia.

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DEFENCE & INTERNAL SECURITY ASSAM’S MIGRANT ISSUE What Is The Issue?  The cut off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam, defined in

Section 6A of the Citizenship Act was March 25, 1971.  This has become the subject of a fresh debate more than 3 decades after the section was

introduced following the Assam Accord of 1985.

What Is The Background Of The Issue?  A bunch of petitions challenging the Citizenship Act’s Section 6A have come up in the

Supreme Court.  Five years ago, organisation called Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha filed a writ petition

challenging the constitutional validity of Section 6A.  The Assam Accord was already 27 years old then, and several lakh migrants who came

from erstwhile East Pakistan before March 25, 1971, had been accepted as citizens.  On December 17, 2014, a two-judge Bench of SC suggested that the matter be put before

a five-judge Constitution Bench, and listed 13 questions for it.  Most of the questions pertained to whether Section 6A violated the Constitution, and

contradicted other provisions of the Citizenship Act itself.  The two-judge Bench said that the Assam Accord had made a “huge number of illegal

migrants” deemed citizens of India.  Section 6A did not merely rest content with granting refugee status to those who were

illegal migrants from East Pakistan but went on to grant them the benefit of citizenship of India.

What Are For And Against Reasons For This Section?  The Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha has argued that there is no rational basis for having

separate cut off dates for regularising illegal migrants who enter Assam as opposed to the rest of the country.

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 According to article 6 of the constitution, the cut off date for determining citizenship in

India is July 19, 1948.  The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), whose then leaders had signed the Assam accord,

considers it “all-inclusive”, as it has provisions for detection and deportation of foreigners, apart from providing constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people.  If the base year is moved back to 1951, Assam will be pushed into fresh turmoil.  Thousands of people who came before 1971 and were granted citizenship by the Assam

Accord will be rendered stateless.  Groups that are challenging the validity of the Accord also want 1951 to be the base year

for updating the NRC (National Register of Citizens).  The process of updating the NRC has already given an indication as to how many people

will find it difficult to prove their Indian citizenship.  Last February, Gauhati High Court had declared as unacceptable residence certificates

issued by panchayat secretaries in rural areas and circle officers in urban areas as proof of citizenship for inclusion in the NRC.  Some 48 lakh persons who had submitted such certificates now face the prospect of being

left out.  The High Court stated that “Issuance of such certificates is contrary to the mandate of

the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, besides not being in the national interest”.  While the Centre and the Assam government have decided not to contest the court order,

the Centre told the Supreme Court in April that it was considering the reliability of the ration card as a supporting document for updating the NRC.  If the court declares ration cards as unacceptable, then another 20 lakh people stand to

be left out, rising to 68 lakh the number of those unable to prove their citizenship. Source: Indian Express

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PERSISTING DANGERS OF MAOISTS What Is The Issue?  Described by Ex PM Dr. Manmohan Singh as “India’s biggest internal security threat”,

the recent attack by the Maoists is a sign of their waning strength, although perhaps not the flicker of a dying flame.

What Is The History Behind The Maoists?  In the 1980s, they fanned out seven small groups in the Dandakaranya forest and took on

the forest department, industrial houses and tribal chieftains on behalf of the Adivasis.  They gained influence in the 1990s when affected tribal leaders attempted “either you are

with us or against us” campaigns to organize the local population against them.  Their power reached an apogee in the 2000s when the central government, in concert with

the state administration, started Salwa Judum, a devastating campaign to clear mineralrich areas of Maoists.  Like Mao Zedong, they swim like fish in a sea of people, i.e. rely on the local population

for shelter, food, labour and intelligence.  Most of the financial resources of the Maoists come from their ‘cuts’ in government and

corporate projects, including the construction of roads.  Since some government officials, contractors and politicians also line their own pockets

from the same projects, the situation has been described as “cooperative plunder”.  The official line of the Maoists is that they oppose hard-top roads because these are built

to move minerals away from tribal areas and bring in security personnel.  They do not object to second-grade roads to transport PDS grains and basic services, from

which they gain as well.

What Is The Course Of Action Taken By Government?  The response of the Indian state has been twofold.  It attempts to provide basic services to win back the Adivasis, and simultaneously, it

seeks military conquest of the Maoists.  Its battle strategy includes emptying out the river that gives the Maoists sustenance: the

people living in those areas.  Mass incarcerations (Chhattisgarh has the highest capacity utilization of prisons in India),

fake encounters, and large-scale recruitment into the police forces constitute the strategic line of the state.

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 This state of affairs benefits the Indian state as the focus on the “law and order problem”

allows it to avoid questions arising about the foundations of its development model.  Companies find it easier to pay off politicians and bureaucrats to secure their projects

rather than genuinely winning the hearts of people, something.  The Maoists also gain as they get a steady stream of recruits from people fleeing the

excesses of the government.

What Is The Present State Of Maoists?  The insurgents have been losing power for several years.  People have begun to fear them as much as they fear the Indian state.  Social services have begun to reach many areas.  The charms of modern society and education are exerting a pull on the youth, including

members of the Maoist cadre.  The elimination of many top leaders and the inability to offer a compelling alternate vision

has led to ideological bankruptcy of the rank and file.  In their current weakened state, the Maoists seem to have abandoned whatever principles

they espouse.  However, the ongoing excesses on the Adivasis, and, above all, the inexorable urge of the

Indian state to accelerate mineral extraction mean that Maoists may continue to serve as a refuge for some more time.  Like ordinary people, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), lawyers and journalists

are caught in the cross-fire between the government and the Maoists.  The government finds it convenient to classify them as over-ground organizations of the

Maoists and repress them.  In this manner, the state turns the threat posed by the Maoists against the cause they

claim to be struggling for.  While many NGOs have condemned the Sukma incident, there is a compelling need for

NGO’s to carry out a consistent and concerted communication campaign to counter the government’s strategy of labelling them “Maoist sympathizers”.

What Are The Issues With Government’s Developmental Model?  Our mining sector is a den of corruption and illegality.  In 2013-14, there were only 3,700 reporting mines out of over 50,000 believed to be in

operation.

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 The average daily employment of labour in mining decreased from 549,000 people in 2004-

05 to 512,000 people in 2013-14, despite a fourfold increase in the value of production.  Most development projects were accompanied by violence, not just those in Maoist areas

but also outside it.  There exists a much needed rethink on development, including the Panchayats (Extension

to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and the Forest Rights Act, 2006.  A healthy contestation over the pace of extraction and distribution of natural wealth will

be great for the country as well as the countryside. Source: Live Mint

••• THE PERILOUS MARCH OF HINDISTAN

Why In News?  Leaders recently questioned in Lok Sabha the purpose of making Hindi an official language

at the United Nations.

What Are The Other Precedents?  Last year, Karnataka Chief Minister termed the three-language policy as “not

reasonable.”  He sought exemption for Karnataka from the three-language policy (like Tamil Nadu) but

stopped short of demanding a policy change.

What Is Three Language Policy?  In the sixties, when the language policy ran into rough weather, the three-language

formula was conceptualised as a modus vivendi (an acceptable solution).  Parliament passed the Official Language Resolution in 1968, stipulating that a “modern

Indian language, preferably one of the southern languages”, be studied in Hindi-speaking areas (along with Hindi and English) and that Hindi be studied in areas where it is not spoken (along with the regional languages and English).  The three-language policy was meant for the entire country.  However, the policy took a whole different shape as if it was a prescription for non-Hindi-

speaking States alone.

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 While non-Hindi-speaking States (except Tamil Nadu) adhered to the three-language

policy, Hindi-speaking States took a U-turn: they not only gave up on teaching a nonHindi language in their schools but effectively delegitimised English.

What Are The Recommendations Of COPL?  The move to make Hindi an official language at the UN was a recommendation that the

Committee of Parliament on Official Language (CPOL) made in 2011.  CPOL was created in 1976 “to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official

purposes... of the Union” and make recommendations on the same.  In 2011, in its ninth report, the panel made 117 recommendations and the President

approved more than 95% of them.  Of the handful of recommendations that the President did not accept, two merit attention

to understand the wrong direction that the panel is showing to the nation.  The first recommendation pertains to adding a column on Hindi fluency in the annual

confidential report of all employees/officers.  This obviously targets Central government employees in non-Hindi States.  The second is to have only Hindi or one’s mother tongue as the language to be used in

Parliament.  In fact, the panel is more magnanimous than Article 120(2) of the Constitution.  While the Article (in abeyance since 1965) seeks to make Hindi the sole language in

Parliament, allowing any other language as an exception when a member cannot speak in Hindi, the panel recommendation gives equal space to Hindi and other Indian languages.  Other recommendations of the committee say that students in colleges and universities in

non-Hindi-speaking States will henceforth have the option of taking exams and interviews in Hindi.  It asks that government advertisements in Hindi newspapers be of “bigger size” and “at

starting pages”, while those in English newspapers be of “relatively smaller size” and “in middle or ending pages”.  It mandates the purchase of more Hindi newspapers and magazines in all Central

government offices, public sector undertakings, institutions funded by the government, and private companies engaged in public service.  Recommendation No. 107 reads: “In order to end the dominance of English (not its use),

such schools should not be given recognition by the government which do not impart education in Hindi or mother tongue.”

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Why Hindi As A Language Cannot Be Imposed?  Broadly, two factors are relevant to our language policy.  One, English has become a global language and a certain fluency in it is taken as a given

for mobility as well as for access to global knowledge.  Hindi possesses no such advantages.  Two, many non-Hindi Indian languages are older than Hindi and their speakers are justly

proud of their rich cultural and literary heritage.  They strive to make their respective languages prominent in governance and education,

while keeping English for what it is.  These States lack both the desire and the need to learn Hindi.  In any case, it is not apparent how not knowing Hindi renders one less of an Indian, or

even less of a Hindu.  India finds itself sandwiched between a relentlessness that assumes semi-religious

overtones to banish English and vehemence with latent subnationalism to reject Hindi. Source: The Hindu

•••

INDIAN NAVY DECOMMISSIONS INS NIRBHIK AND INS NIRGHAT WARSHIPS What Is It?  Indian Navy has decommissioned INS Nirbhik and INS Nirghat warships at Naval Dockyard,

Mumbai (Maharashtra), after a glorious 30 and 28 years respectively in the service of the nation.  During their glorious service over almost three decades, these ships had participated in

numerous operations including Operations Parakram and Vijay.  INS Nirbhik and INS Nirghat in their new avatars were commissioned at Poti in erstwhile

USSR (now in Russia) in December 1987 and December 1989 respectively.  They had four gas turbine engines that enabled them to achieve fast speeds close to 40

Knots.

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 Their weapon package included four Surface to Surface missile, medium range AK 176

gun and close range AK 630 in addition to small calibre guns packs a lethal punch.  These ships were inheritors of proud legacy as their original avatars were flag bearers of

naval offensive action on Karachi Harbour during India-Pakistan war in 1971. Source: PIB, Wikipedia, The Hindu.

•••

SARAS PT1N MAKES ITS MAIDEN FLIGHT What Is It?  SARAS PT1N (14 seater) designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories

(CSIR-NAL), a frontline aerospace research laboratory, has successfully made its maiden flight.  The primary objective is to evaluate the system performance

in about 20 flights and the data collected from this shall be used to freeze the design of production version aircraft.  The production version aircraft will be of 19 seat capacity

and will undergo civil / military certification.  The SARAS PT1N (the new aircraft) has undergone a lot of

modifications with additional features like a New Necelle design, stall warning system, larger rudder power, high power engine, an improved FCS and other features.

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 The SARAS programme had come crashing down after an accident in 2009. The original

design included a maximum take-off weight of 6,100kg and a maximum payload of 1,232kg.  The aircraft programme, named after the Indian crane Saras, was first conceptualised in

the 1990s as a way to establish a short-haul civil aviation market.  The indigenous aircraft with a range of 1,200 km, altitude up to 3,000 feet, and speed of

500 km/h has multiple applications for military transportation, air ambulance, maritime patrolling, border surveillance, commutation for regional connectivity and special missions. Source: PIB, Wikipedia, The Hindu.

•••

Highlights:

AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIA AND MYANMAR ON LAND BORDER CROSSING

 Agreement will facilitate regulation and harmonization of already existing free movement

rights for people ordinarily residing in the border areas of both countries.  Would give a boost to the economy of the North East and allow us to leverage our

geographical connections with Myanmar to boost trade and people to people ties.  Will safeguard the traditional rights of the largely tribal communities residing along the

border which are accustomed to free movement across the land border. Source: PIB

••• INDIAN NAVAL P-8I LRMRASW AIRCRAFT

What Is LRMRASW?  P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti Submarine Warfare (LRMRASW) the

Indian Naval variant of the P-8A Poseidon .  The aircraft is equipped with foreign & indigenous sensors for Maritime Reconnaissance,

Anti Submarine operations and Electronic Intelligence missions.  The aircraft is fully integrated with state of the art sensors and highly potent Anti Surface

and Anti Submarine weapons.

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Why In News?  A contract has been signed with Boeing, USA for procurement of Training Simulator for

P8I aircraft, along with construction of a 60,000 sq ft civil facility (Training, Support and Data Handling Centre) in INS Rajali. Source: PIB

••• MAKE-II IN DEFENCE PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE

What Is It?  Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, has

cleared a simplified ‘Make-II’ procedure which will enable greater participation of industry in acquisition of defence equipment.  This process will greatly help import substitution and promote innovative solutions.

This simplified ‘Make-II’ procedure will amend the existing ‘Make Procedure’ in Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-2016.  The revised procedure will make the procedure industry friendly, with minimal government

control. It will now allow Defence Ministry to accept suo motu proposals from industry and also allow start-ups to develop equipment for armed forces.  The minimum qualification criteria to participate in ‘Make II’ projects also was relaxed by

removing conditions related to credit rating and reducing financial net worth criteria.

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 Now all vendors meeting criteria will be allowed to participate in prototype development

process instead of only two vendors earlier. In addition there will be no need to submit detailed project report.  After accord of approval by DAC, all clearances will be accorded by Service Head-Quarters

(SHQ) which will also set up project facilitation teams to hand-hold the industry. Source: PIB

•••

SUCCESSFUL FIFTH FLIGHT TEST OF AGNI-5 BALLISTIC MISSILE What Is It?  Long Range Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile, Agni-5, was successfully flight tested for

its full range today from Dr Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha.  The Agni-5 is three-stage solid propellant nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile

(ICBM), indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).  It is about 17 metres long, 2 metres wide and has a launch weight of around 50 tonnes.

It has strike range of over 5,000 kilometres and can carry nuclear warhead of more than one tonne.  This was the fifth test of the Missile and the third consecutive one from a canister on a

road mobile launcher. All the five missions have been successful.  The flight performance of the missile was tracked and monitored by radars, range stations

and tracking systems all through the mission. All objectives of the mission have been successfully met.

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ECONOMICS

 This successful test of Agni-5 reaffirms the country’s indigenous missile capabilities and

further strengthens our credible deterrence.  Unlike other missiles of Agni series, Agni-5 is most advanced missile having new technologies

incorporated with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine  It is also a fire and forget missile, which once fired cannot be stopped, except by interceptor

missile which only US, Russia and Israel have. Source: PIB, Wikipedia

••• ECONOMICS MAKING INDIA WEALTHY

What Is The Issue?  Investing in institutions might seem impractical in the short term, but it is needed to give

our economy a competitive advantage.

How Can India Be Made Wealthy?  For the Indian economy to outstrip that of Japan and Germany there is no need to wait

till 2030 or beyond.  We only need to use two critical leverage points to remove the shackles on India’s growth:

namely, skilling of the workforce and security of property.  These can act as significant force multipliers but this, in turn, needs a fundamental shift

in Indian thinking i.e. abandon short-term practicality.  The never ending efforts to attract capital investment to the country in the hope that such

investments would lead to job growth and an increase in incomes.  Those efforts will reap benefit, but the increase in incomes would be substantial only if we

go up the value chain much more than wherever we are at present.  Capital, innovation and entrepreneurship are necessary but not sufficient conditions for

making India wealthy.

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ECONOMICS

 Today, India has no shortage of innovation and entrepreneurship and even capital.  The visible prosperity of many countries in the West, the state-of-the-art infrastructure,

often leads us to confuse the results of wealth with the process of creating it.  The process of creating wealth has far more to do with improving productivity and efficiency

than merely the building of bridges, roads and airports or even setting up factories.  Any improvement in productivity depends on a long-term vision of improving output and

reducing costs.  Improving output, in turn, is an outcome of a highly-skilled workforce.  That unfortunately is something India does not have in sufficient quantities.

How Can Skilling India Help Us?  An NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) report of 2013 says that only about 2% of the

Indian workforce has received technical education of any kind.  The data also shows that any increase in skills, even in a sector like agriculture, can lead

to a 30% rise in incomes.  In the manufacturing sector, the increase in income is of the order of 80-95%.  The Skill Development Mission has made serious efforts to plug this skill gap.  But they have not yet roped in academic institutions: It is these that could provide an

institutional mechanism for skill development.  To produce better results, we need to make efforts to encourage our academic institutions

to tie up with local industry so that curricula are more suited to what the industry needs.  We need to look at higher-order skills to go up the value chain.  India is earning a great deal in IT services but we do not possess skills for a lead in terms

of product design.  Academic institutions need investments in sunrise sectors like design engineering, robotics,

geoinformatics, supply-chain management, cyber security, nanosciences, biotechnology etc.  This is what the Western world recognized long ago like in the 1940s, American state

poured money into knowledge creation, but no substantial outcome was there in short term.  And this was called a sunk cost where nothing can be reaped in immediate terms, but in

longer term it will benefit the host country.  India is rather uncomfortable with the idea of “sunk costs”, cause policy makers needs to

have an immediate practical value.

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ECONOMICS

What Is The Need For Security Of Property?  Security of property is fundamental to institutional infrastructure of any kind.  The knowledge that title to land is secured and can be used for taking out any kind of

mortgage.  For providing clear title to property, the government only needs to do two things: to pass

an enabling legislation and to take up an exercise for mapping urban and peri-urban land and providing geospatial coordinates to each piece of property.  The main reason that cases linger on in the courts for years together is that the government

today does not have a master database of land which is updated regularly.  The steps to be taken are quite simple: Assign each piece of property a unique number

which could be dependent on the road where the property is located; map properties through a combination of satellite imagery and a ground-level survey; seed properties with the Aadhaar numbers of owners; award clear title to the owners.  For a country that can boast of one of the least expensive space programmes anywhere in

the world and one that is a major provider of global IT services, all this is easy to do.  An international study of the value of public sector information says that the American

government invests roughly €19 billion per year in putting information on spatial mapping and environmental services free of cost or at nominal cost in the public domain.  The value added to users in the economy is €750 billion per year.  In comparison, countries in the European Union, which recover the costs of such

information from users, spend €9.5 billion per year in collecting the information and the value added is roughly €68 billion per year.  Strong institutional support structures are needed to give our economy a competitive

advantage.  It is these that would build a supportive ecosystem for fledgling businesses to grow.  Investing in institutions might seem impractical in the short term, but surely governments

need to take a long-term view. Source: Live Mint

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OIL MAJORS Why Is This In News?  An integrated public sector ‘oil major’ was proposed in this year’s Budget.

Why Is It Needed?  Indian PSU energy companies such as ONGC, Oil India, Indian Oil and BPCL have either

by themselves, or in consortium, bought asset stakes abroad.  But their buys are small in comparison to deals struck by big national oil companies, like

those from China, and independent oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and BP.  Thus the concept could give it the financial muscle and management bandwidth to hold

its own in the highly competitive arena of global energy asset shopping.  Oil major could help explore interests spanning both exploration and refining

businesses.  Bigger scale and balance sheet size could give Indian energy companies better bargaining

power and access to big capital to bag mega deals  Also, an integrated company will be better placed to weather events such as a crude oil

rout.  With oil and gas prices subdued, global energy assets are available at reasonable cost,

making it a good time to buy

What Are The Associated Problems?  Possibility of dampening competition within the country.  Reducing the choice for customers in areas such as fuel retailing.  Core competencies and work cultures of these entities could be quite different, making

mergers a tricky affair. Source: The Hindu

••• IMF GLOBAL GROWTH PREDICTIONS

Why In News?  According to the IMF’s January update of the World Economic Outlook, the global economy

is all set to clock its best growth rate in seven years in 2018 following a pick-up since midd-2016.

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What Is The Global Growth Prospect?  The IMF estimated that the global economy could accelerate to 3.9% in both 2018 and

2019, an upward revision of 0.2 percentage point over its previous estimates.  This is due to the cyclical recovery in global growth and the historic tax cuts in the U.S.  India’s economy is projected to grow at 7.4% during the financial year 2019, and at an

even faster pace of 7.8% the following year.  If the IMF’s predictions come true, India will be the fastest-growing major economy next

year as China’s growth is expected to slow from 6.6% this year to 6.4% in 2019.  What comes as a further surprise is the upward revision in growth forecasts for many

countries in Europe, thanks to stronger demand.

What Are The Cautions Needed To Be Followed?  The IMF, however, was not oblivious to the threats that could severely derail the broad-

based economic recovery.  In particular, it warned about the “troubling” rise in debt levels across countries, including

the U.S., which could pose a huge risk to financial stability and drag down economic growth.  It is no secret that since the 2008 financial crisis the global economy has been propped up

mainly by the unprecedented easy money policies adopted by global central banks.  In fact, the absence of substantial structural reforms to complement central bank stimulus

measures has been another feature of the present global economic recovery.  Such a recovery comes with the inherent risk of being derailed whenever easy monetary

conditions that fuelled it cease to exist.

What Is The Issue With Higher Interest Rates?  While central banks until now have been careful not to spook markets with the prospect

of higher interest rates, it is unlikely that they can keep markets calm forever.  As the IMF has pointed out, the possible end to the era of abundant liquidity and debt-

fuelled economic activity is likely to cause disruption by affecting asset prices.  As interest rates reach higher levels, it is likely to also expose the various real economic

distortions created by a low interest rate policy, particularly across borders.  While it is hard to predict the next downturn, it seems the day of reckoning may not be

too far as consumer price inflation begins to push central banks to rethink their dovish stance.

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 The IMF is right to urge countries to make use of the current rosy conditions to enact

useful structural reforms.  It is time countries recognise that monetary policy alone won’t solve all growth

problems. Source: The Hindu

••• THE BIG OIL RISK

What Is The Issue?  As International oil price heads higher, India will have to brace itself for the economic

risks of expensive energy.

What Is The Current Oil Trend Prices?  Brent crude oil futures were trading at about $70 a barrel on Friday, marking a four-year

high and a price increase of close to 6% since the start of the year.  The rise in international prices has been particularly sharp given that oil had been selling

at below $45 in June.  Oil price dynamics have often been explained by changes in the supply outlook influenced

by the decisions of major oil producers.  Oil trading at $70 should offer some respite to traditional oil producers like the OPEC

members, which have suffered the onslaught of U.S. shale producers.  According to the IMF, last year, for instance, Saudi Arabia would break even on its budget

with oil at $70.

How Dollar Is Influencing Oil Prices?  The recent spurt in oil prices, however, seems to be more the result of a weakening of the

U.S. dollar than anything else.  The dollar has been gradually weakening against major global currencies since the

beginning of last year.  But the trend was given a new push following comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary

Steven Mnuchin in favour of a weak-dollar policy.  At Davos this week, Mr. Mnuchin noted that a weaker dollar would be good for American

trade.

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 However, given that the U.S. is right in the middle of a monetary tightening cycle, it is

unlikely that the dollar will continue to boost oil prices, unless the Federal Reserve slows the projected pace of interest rate increases.

How Is India Facing The Spike In Oil Prices?  Consumers in India are already beginning to feel the pinch as petrol and diesel prices

have hit multi-year highs.  The retail selling price of both petrol and diesel in Delhi, for instance, has risen by close

to

3 a litre since the beginning of 2018.

 The rise in domestic fuel prices is on expected lines given the policy of dynamic daily

pricing of petrol and diesel adopted by the Centre.  But as rising oil prices put pressure on domestic consumers, the government will have to

desist from resorting to subsidies to ease the pain.  It should work towards rationalising taxes on petrol and diesel to bring down retail

prices.  This will help consumers without imposing an undue burden on the oil marketing

companies.  An even bigger risk posed by higher oil prices is to the government’s fiscal management.  With the fiscal windfall from low oil prices likely to end for now, the government should

think for the long term and make crucial tweaks to its hydrocarbon exploration and licensing policy to expedite oil discovery and production.  Simultaneously, it must take a leaf from China’s book and actively support Indian energy

firms’ bids for overseas oilfields. Source: The Hindu

••• BANKING ON GOOD FAITH

Why In News?  About 1lakh crore is expected to be pumped into India’s 21 public sector banks by March,

which the Centre hopes will enable them to extend fresh credit lines worth over 5 lakh crore to spur economic activity.

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How The Split Of Money Is To Be?  Of the capital injection - the first half of an ambitious

2.11-lakh crore recapitalisation

programme for ailing public sector banks announced last October - about 8,100 crore is from the government’s budgetary resources.  Banks are expected to tap the markets for

10,300 crore, while recapitalisation bonds

worth 80,000 crore are to be issued to finance the rest.  Leaving aside the market-raising efforts by banks, over half the fresh capital of over

52,000 crore is being directed to the 11 public sector banks that the Reserve Bank of India has placed under the prompt corrective action, or PCA, framework.  The RBI deploys the PCA to monitor the operation of weaker banks more closely to

encourage them to conserve capital and avoid risks.  For these entities, this capital offers a fresh lease of life as it will help meet regulatory

requirements under the Basel-III regime as well as cushion them to an extent from possible haircuts on stressed loans that are going through the insolvency resolution process.  State Bank of India, the country’s largest, and the nine others that are out of the RBI’s

PCA net will receive nearly 36,000 crore in order to strengthen their lending capacity.

What Are The Government Assurances?  While announcing this package, the government has described each of the banks as “an

article of faith”.  Its assertion that no public sector bank will fail and that depositors’ money will remain

safe should allay customers’ worry about the safety of their savings under the proposed Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance legislation.

What Are The New Safeguard Measures?  Rating agencies have given the move the thumbs up, but remain unimpressed about

governance reforms packaged with it.  These include tweaks to existing systems for closer monitoring of big-ticket loans,

identifying niche areas where a bank has strengths, restricting corporate exposure to 25%, and a new performance management system.  Actual capital inflows will depend on their performance on these fronts and their ability

to meet the government’s service priorities, including smoother credit flows to small businesses.  Yet, the absence of any reference to consolidation through mergers is glaring.

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 Moreover, while the government has repeatedly ruled out privatisation of these banks,

the only one where it intended to offload its majority stake, IDBI Bank, has got the largest allocation of

10,610 crore.

Source: The Hindu

••• CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

Why In News?  The economic survey of 2017-2018 gives the picture of an economy that gives reason for

both optimism and caution.

What Does The Economic Survey Say?  It projects that GDP growth could accelerate to 7-7.5% in 2018-19, from 6.75% in the

current fiscal, reinstating India as the world’s fastest-growing major economy.  The key factors contributing to this positive outlook are the reform measures carried out

by the government recently.  The July 1 implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and the steps taken to address

the twin balance sheet problem in the banking sector.  The latter includes the push to use the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for debt resolution

and the initiative to recapitalise public sector banks.  Adding to these domestic enablers are the fair winds of a global recovery that have already

lent a lift to overseas demand for India’s goods and services.  Economic survey also says that it is prudent to remain vigilant to other macroeconomic

threats, including a key risk in the form of persistently high oil prices.  Survey also cautions about “a classic emerging market ‘sudden stall’ induced by sharp

corrections to elevated stock prices.”  With Indian stock indices continuing to soar to new highs on an almost daily basis, the

Survey warns against “sanguineness about its sustainability”.  A correction in the stock market, besides triggering capital outflows, could force

policymakers to raise interest rates, choking off the nascent recovery.

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What Does The Survey Say About The Fiscal Front?  The survey contends that the Centre needs to reappraise its priorities.  It argues against “setting overly ambitious targets for consolidation, especially in a pre-

election year” that are based on optimistic and unrealistic assumptions.  Instead, it recommends a “modest consolidation” that would signal a return to the path of

calibrated deficit reductions.  Survey is signalling that the government may have to retain the elbow room to stabilise

the GST, complete the recapitalisation exercise and, most crucially, support agriculture.

What Are The Focussed Areas?  Devoting an entire chapter to ‘Climate, Climate Change and Agriculture’, survey have

stressed on the dangers climate change poses to the outlook for farm growth.  With the potential to reduce annual agricultural incomes - by as much as 20-25% for

unirrigated areas - the Survey calls for a range of mitigation measures including extensive provision of efficient irrigation technologies and a wholesale review of the cereal-centric approach to policy.  Citing job creation and education as key priorities, the Survey sets out a plan for rapid

economic expansion by recommending that policymakers keep their sights trained on strengthening “the only two truly sustainable engines - private investment and exports.” Source: The Hindu

••• EXPANDING THE TAX BASE

What Is The Issue?  The demonetisation of high-value currency notes and the advent of the goods and services

tax regime have triggered a surge in the number of those filing taxes in the country.

What Does The Economic Survey Reveal?  The Economic Survey argues that the large gains on the indirect and direct tax fronts

indicate that the primary intentions behind the two big-bang economic strides - of formalising the economy and bringing more income into the tax net - have been met to some extent.  From about 59 million individuals who filed income tax returns or whose tax was deducted

at source in 2015-16, the number of tax-filers rose by 10.1 million since the note ban.  Stripped of statistical adjustments to avoid a bias in findings, the Survey assesses that

roughly 1.8 million, or 3% of the existing compliers, started paying up.

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 Many of them are reporting incomes close to the 2.5-lakh threshold for personal income

tax, so this may not swell the exchequer much.  But it holds potential for growth as the new taxpayers progress in their vocations.  Personal income tax collections are expected to rise to a historic high of 2.3% of GDP in

2017-18, compared to 2% between 2013-14 and 2015-16.  This may seem glacial progress but could be considered a tipping point in a country where

just 4% of adults pay personal income tax, though the government reckons that number should be 23%.

What Does Survey Say About Gst?  The Survey finds a 50% increase in unique indirect taxpayers in the first six months of

GST, with around 10 million registered taxpayers now compared to an estimated 6.5 million pre-GST.  The GST regime, despite the initial chinks, could end up boosting India’s macro-economic

stability by breaking what the Survey terms ‘inertia’ of the tax-GDP ratio.  This ratio for the Centre has remained at the same level since the 1980s, though the

economy grew at an annual average of about 6.5%.  The Survey has noted that both of India’s underlying macro weaknesses - the fiscal and

current account deficits - tend to get exacerbated when oil prices move up.  A wider tax base could at least help tackle the former.  Fixing exporters’ GST woes and continuing to ease the transition pains under its new

features, such as e-way bills to deter evasion, would be critical to attain the 7%-7.5% growth projected for the coming year.

What Is The Way Forward?  At the same time, the government needs a road map to expand the direct tax pie by

pruning blanket exemptions for vocations such as farming and using a more proactive Big Data-driven approach to target evaders.  The government must reward this tax base expansion by offering the ‘compliant’ some

relief in the Budget, even if it means slashing high duties on petroleum products.  After all, high indirect taxes pinch the poorest the most.

Source: The Hindu

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ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY CONCLAVE What Is It?  The conclave’s objective is to create a platform for young entrepreneurs and self-employed

individuals.  The conclave will also deliberate on challenges and opportunities to motivate young

entrepreneurs. Source: PIB, Wikipedia

•••

ECONOMIC SURVEY - ECONOMIC FACTS ON INDIAN ECONOMY What Is It?  The Economic Survey presented by the Union Finance Minister in Parliament today has

relied upon analysis of the new data to highlight ten new economic facts:  Goods and Services Tax (GST) has given a new perceptive of the Indian economy with fifty

percent increase in the number of indirect taxpayers. There has also been a large increase in voluntary registrations, especially by small enterprises that buy from large enterprises wanting to avail themselves of input tax credits.  India’s formal sector, especially formal non-farm payroll, is substantially greater than

what it currently is believed to be. It became evident that when “formality” was defined in terms of social security provisions like EPFO/ESIC the formal sector payroll was found to be about 31 percent of the non-agricultural work force.  Data on the international exports of states indicates a strong correlation between export

performance and states’ standard of living. States that export internationally and trade with other states were found to be richer. Such correlation is stronger between prosperity and international trade.  It was pointed out that the Rebate of State Levies (ROSL) has increased exports of ready-

made garments (man-made fibers) by about 16 per cent but not of others.  It pointed out that most parents continued to have children until they get number of sons.

The survey gave details of various scenarios leading to skewed sex ratios and also gave a comparison on sex ratio by birth between India and Indonesia.

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 The survey pointed out that tax departments in India have gone in for contesting against

in several tax disputes but also with a low success rate which is below 30 per cent. About 66 per cent of pending cases accounted for only 1.8 per cent of value at stake.  Extrapolating the data the survey indicated that growth in savings did not bring economic

growth but the growth in investment did  The survey mentions that collections of direct taxes by Indian states and other local

governments, where they have powers to collect them is significantly lower than their counterparts in other federal countries. A comparison has been given between ratios of direct tax to total revenues of local governments in India, Brazil and Germany.  The survey captures adverse impact on agricultural yields.Extreme temperature increases

and deficiency in rainfall have been captured on the Indian map and the graphical changes in agricultural yields are brought out from such data. The impact was found to be twice as large in un-irrigated areas as in irrigated ones. Source: PIB.

••• SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ECONOMIC SURVEY

What Is It?  India currently spends far below its economic capacity on research, according to a chapter

in the Economic Survey. India spent only 0.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research and development in 2015.  In comparison, China and the U.S. spent 1% and 2.5%, when their per capita GDP were

similar to that of India. Currently China’s GDP is five times and the U.S.’ about eight times that of India.  At this rate, India would barely reach 1% of GDP by the time it becomes as rich as the

USA,” the Survey noted. This is the first time the annual survey of the economy earmarked

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a dedicated chapter on the state of science and technology that emphasizes science and technology needs a big push. We need to increase the R&D, and perhaps we need to do this much more in mission mode.  In the last two decades, India had improved its output of scientific publications and was

currently sixth in the world. However, in quality, India was still woefully short.  The Survey also proposed missions in mathematics as well as genomics. The latter

involved emulating projects in Finland and the U.K. and creating a detailed gene map of a sample of Indians that can be used as reference to better understand disease patterns. The government also ought to be reaching out more to scientists based abroad, it said.  There were more than 100,000 people with PhDs of Indian origin who work outside more

than 91,000 in the U.S. alone.With the strength of India’s economy and growing antiimmigrant atmosphere in some Western countries, India has an opportunity to attract back more scientists,” the Survey noted. Source: PIB, The Hindu.

•••

INDIA NEEDS TO BE A NET PRODUCER OF KNOWLEDGE - ECONOMIC SURVEY What Is It?  India needs to gradually move from being a net consumer to a “net producer of knowledge”

in order to address some of the country’s most pressing development challenges.  The Survey tabled in Parliament pointed out that India needs to “rekindle” the excitement

and purpose that would attract more young people to scientific enterprise as the country is emerging as one of the world’s largest economies.  As India emerges as one of the world’s largest economies, it needs to gradually move from

being a net consumer of knowledge to becoming a net producer.  An enhanced focus on scientific research would lay the knowledge foundation to tackle

some of India’s most pressing development challenges besides maintaining a “decent, open society.  Doing so would lay the knowledge foundations to address some of India’s most pressing

development challenging in addition to maintain a decent, open society, the Survey said. Source: PIB.

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INDIA’S EXTERNAL SECTOR CONTINUES TO BE STRONG - ECONOMIC SURVEY What Is It?  India’s external sector continued to be resilient and strong in 2017-18, as observed in the

Economic Survey.

International Developments  The global economy is gathering pace and is expected to accelerate from 3.2 percent in

2016 to 3.6 percent in 2017 and 3.7 percent in 2018 which reflects an upward revision of the earlier projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  India’s balance of payments situation, which has been benign and comfortable since

2013-14, continued to be so in the first half of 2017-18, despite some rise in the Current Account Deficit (CAD) in the first quarter, with a relatively lower CAD in the second quarter. India’s CAD stood at US$7.2 billion (1.2 percent of GDP) in Q2 of 2017-18, narrowing sharply from US$ 15.0 billion (2.5 percent of GDP) in the preceding quarter.

Trade Deficit  India’s trade deficit (on custom basis) which had registered continuous decline since

2014-15, widened to US$ 74.5 billion in HI of 2017-18 from US$ 43.4 billion in HI of 2016-17. India’s trade deficit was US$ 108.5 billion in 2016-17, with reduction in both POL deficit and non- POL deficit.  In 2017-18 (April-December) trade deficit (on custom basis) shot up by 46.4 percent to

US$ 114.9 billion with POL deficit growing by 27.4 percent and non-POL deficit by 65.0 per cent.

Composition Of Trade  Export growth in 2016-17 was fairly broad based with positive growth in major categories

except textiles & allied products and leather and leather manufactures. In 2017-18 (AprilNovember) among the major sectors, there was good export growth in engineering goods and petroleum crude and products, moderate growth in chemicals & related products, and textiles & allied products; but negative growth in gems and jewellery.  The prospects for India’s External Sector in this and coming year look bright with world

trade projected to grow at 4.2 percent and 4 percent in 2017 and 2018 respectively from 2.4 percent in2016; trade of major partner countries improving and above all India’s export growth also picking up.

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 The downside risks lie in the rise in oil prices. However, this could also lead to higher

inflow of remittances which have started picking up. The supportive policies like GST, logistics and trade facilitation policies of the government could help further. Source: PIB.

•••

INDIA LAUNCHES HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTER SYSTEM MIHIR What Is It?  Union Minister for Science and Technology naugurated the high performance computer

system ‘Mihir’, country’s largest HPC facility in terms of peak capacity and performance, at National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting at Noida.  Mihir is expected to improve weather forecasts at the block level, predict extreme weather

events, and offer high resolution seasonal and extended range forecasts of active/break spells of the monsoon.  It is an initiative to improve India’s weather forecasting, the ministry of earth science

(MoES) on Tuesday launched a high performance computer (HPC) system named Mihir.  The HPC will be India’s largest in terms of peak capacity and performance and will propel

the country’s ranking from the 368th position to the top 30 in list of HPC facilities across the world.  India will now also be ranked 4th, after Japan, UK and US for dedicated HPC resources

for weather/climate community. Soon India will be able to match the capacities of these nations.  The new HPC facility is expected to improve:

 Weather forecast at block level

 High resolution range of forecast

 Prediction of cyclones with more accuracy and lead time

 Ocean state forecast including marine water quality forecast

 Tsunami forecast with greater lead time

Source: PIB.

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ENVIRONMENT

GOVT LAUNCHES E-MARKETPLACE GEM 3.0 What Is It?  Government has launched the advanced version of GeM - the Government e Marketplace

portal. The new version GeM would offer standardised and enriched catalogue management, powerful search engine, demand aggregation, user rating and analytics.  GeM 3.0 has undergone a digital transformation with superior technology and ability to

scale from the previous version.  This will bring together many sellers and service providers for products and services

across the country under one roof and also will also give a huge uplift for growth of MSME’s, manufacturers & service providers.  The portal with GeM 2.0 version was launched in August 2016 for online purchases of

goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments.  So far, 72,941 sellers and service providers are registered with the portal to sell 4,54,853

products and services. Source: PIB.

••• ENVIRONMENT EAST KOLKATA WETLANDS

What Is The Issue?  The state government is planning a “proper utilisation” of the land currently lying along

the east Kolkata wetlands.

What Is Ramsar Site?  The east Kolkata wetlands is the biggest ecological asset of the city and a Ramsar Site.  A Ramsar Site is a wetland (shallow waters) which is designated to be of international

importance under the Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental environmental treaty established nearly 50 years ago (1971) by UNESCO.

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 It came into force in 1975 and takes its name from Ramsar, the Iranian city where the

convention was adopted.

What Is The Significance Of East Kolkata Wetland?  The east Kolkata wetlands are a fascinating natural resource to which tremendous value

has been added by traditional knowledge.  The wetlands have been historically created by a natural shift of the Bidyadhari, a tributary

of the Ganga.  The land on which Kolkata is built slopes to the east.  So the British created canals to take out the city’s waste water into in the wetlands.

What Happens To This Waste Water?  The traditional knowledge is used to treat this waste water.  For the past century, the waste water has been first fed into settling ponds.  There the biodegradation of organic components takes place.  Then the nutrient-rich sewage is transferred into a fish pond to improve the organic

quality of the water.  Fish is grown in this pond and the used water is transferred to fields to irrigate crop.

How Else Is The Wetland Helpful?  In the 12,500 hectares of wetlands, water bodies account for almost 50%, agricultural

land - 39%, garbage landfills - 5% and urban and rural settlements over 10%.  The wetlands grow 10,500 tonnes of fish per year and 150 tonnes of vegetables per day,

providing livelihood for over 50,000 people.  The solid waste brought to the landfills is composted in pits and used for growing paddy

and vegetables.  The natural process saves Rs. 500 crore annually in sewage treatment costs.

What Is The Current Problem?  The government has assured to maintain the balance between ecology and development.  But the reality is that the wetlands are slowly and steadily disappearing.  Satellite imagery indicates that in Bhagabanpur, a part of the wetlands, water bodies have

shrunk from 77% to 14% of the area since 2002.

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 This is corroborated by census data which say that during the 2001-11 decade, there was

a fourfold rise in the number of houses and population density in the area.  The nature of the liquid waste coming to the wetlands from the city is changing.  The presence of non-biodegradable chemicals is increasing as income and lifestyle in the

city change.  With the increase in lead and mercury used for the manufacture of batteries, paint and

glass, city will have to forget about relishing the fish and vegetables that come out of the wetlands.  Therefore the timely warning to be taken seriously to reduce the chemicals in the sewage

and to save the wetlands. Source: Business Standard

••• A SUM OF CONTRIBUTIONS

Why In News?  The Emissions Gap Report 2017 underlined that fulfilment of national pledges related

to carbon emission reductions under the Paris Agreement would be inadequate to keep global warming below 2°C.  Thus, a renewed focus on climate governance is imperative.  The Talanoa Dialogue of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, beginning

this month, will facilitate the parties to take stock of progress post-Paris.

What Is The Issue For India?  As a key player in international climate governance, India could set the precedent in deep-

ening the dialogue process through an action-oriented, inclusive, bottom-up approach, involving extensive participation and collaboration of its States.  India’s State Action Plan on Climate Change supports the integration of national climate

change goals into subnational policies.  India has committed to meet its current target of 33% reduction in emission intensity of

the 2005 level by 2030, by generating 40% of its energy from renewables.  States are important for the realisation of this goal.

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What Is The Progress Made On Emission Reduction?  Enhancing climate actions is expected to involve routine engagement of the States in the

international process.  The Under2 Coalition, a Memorandum of Understanding by subnational governments

to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions towards netzero by 2050, is generating a unique precedent for bold climate leadership, with its member states and regions surpassing 200 in number.  Currently, Telangana and Chhattisgarh are signatories to this pact from India, as compared

to representations from the other top emitters: 26 subnational governments in China and 24 in the U.S.

What Needs To Be Done?  It is imperative to examine the progress of subnational actions in meeting national climate

targets.  Towards this end, both national and State plans would need to be periodically reassessed

and reviewed.  A transparent framework for review, audit and monitoring of GHG emissions is needed.  As State capacities vary significantly, the principle of common but differentiated

responsibilities should be applied to allocate mitigation targets in different States, based on the principle of equity.  States have enormous mitigation potential, but the evidence pertaining to its effectiveness

is still scarce.  Therefore, India must look towards creating knowledge action networks and partnerships

under both national and State action plan frameworks.  Kerala has taken the lead to build such a knowledge network funded by the National

Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change. Source: The Hindu

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TURTLE RECOVERY PLAN What Is The Issue?  Every year, thousands of sea turtles are accidentally captured, injured or killed by

mechanised boats, trawl nets and gill nets operated and used by comercial fishermen.  They can also sustain internal injuries from fishing hooks or suffer serious external

injuries after becoming entangled in nets.  Each year, environmentalists record a high number of dead turtles washing up ashore.  This heavy toll, of injuries and deaths, occurs when turtles begin migrating to their nesting

grounds on beaches and in fishing areas that are their feeding grounds.

What Are The Turtle Species Found In India?  There are five species in Indian waters — Leatherback, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, Green and

Olive Ridley.  In India, though sea turtles are protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972,

under the Schedule I Part II, they face grave threats.

What Are Bycatches?  Bycatch is one such example, which is the name given to ocean animals that are

unintentionally caught by fishing gear.  Scientists are now working on programmes such as new fishing nets and gear that reduce

the amount of bycatch while fishing.  Growing public interest in bycatch reduction programmes is motivated by factors such as

an appreciation for endangered species and concern for maintaining marine biodiversity.

What Is The Turtle Breeding Season?  The turtle breeding season is usually between November and December.  In Tamil Nadu, for example, the Olive Ridley nests between December and April along the

Chennai-Kancheepuram coastline.  The eastern coastline is the feeding area for Olive Ridley, juvenile Hawksbills and Green

turtles.  Off-shore waters are also migratory routes for the Olive Ridley while moving towards

beaches in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

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What Is The Role Of Turtles In Marine Ecosystem?  Sea turtles, especially the leatherback, keep jellyfish under control, thereby helping to

maintain healthy fish stocks in the oceans.  The Green turtle feeds on sea grass beds and by cropping the grass provide a nursery for

numerous species of fish, shellfish and crustaceans.  The Hawksbill feeds on sponges in the reef ecosystem and opens up crevices for other

marine life to live in.  Turtles are also transporters of nutrients and energy to coastal areas. Unhatched eggs,

eggshells and fluids help foster decomposers and create much needed fertilizer in sandy beaches.  As turtle populations in general decline, so does their ability to play a vital role in

maintaining the health of the world’s oceans.  Integrated conservation measures are needed to rebuild their populations to healthy levels

so that they can carry out the full extent of their key roles in ocean ecosystems.

What Are The Possible Solutions?  Under current regulations, mechanised trawl boats are not allowed to operate within 8

km of the shore in Andhra Pradesh, 5.5 km in Tamil Nadu and 5 km in Odisha.  However, these limits are not being enforced.  Similarly, nets set for ray fish are banned under the law during the season.  However, their use by some categories of fishermen is widespread.  The ban needs to be enforced at all levels of fishing and monitored by the respective

Fisheries departments, marine police and the Indian Coast Guard.  All areas where fishing boats land need to be monitored.  In the U.S., all trawl shrimp fishing vessels need to be equipped with turtle excluder

devices or TEDs, which are two-dimensional net inserts with large escape openings for turtles.  Likewise in India, trawlers meant for shrimp fishing are required by law to be fitted with

TEDs. If used correctly, TEDs have been found to reduce turtle captures by 90%.  There are closed seasons for certain types of fishing vessels.  In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the closed season for commercial fishing boats is from

April 15 to May 29 (east coast) and June 15 to July 29 (west coast).  Here, mechanised fishing trawlers are banned from fishing.  In Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, the season is between April 15 and May 31.

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 Trawlers and motorised craft with an engine output greater than 25 hp are banned.  In all these areas/States, all non-motorised and motorised craft with an engine output of

less than 25 hp are permitted to fish during this season.  Unfortunately, none of these closed seasons takes into account the sea turtle nesting

season that falls between January and April.  Areas where sea turtles forage and congregate need to be identified and additional seasonal

closures need to be implemented within these areas.  If sea turtle conservation is to have meaning, all trawl boats should be fitted with a vessel

monitoring system that must be kept on at all times.  This will provide a simple system of monitoring by the Coast Guard.  These small but meaningful measures will help the sea turtles that are our marine heritage

have another chance at survival. Source: The Hindu

••• RED ALERT ON GREEN INDEX

Why In News?  India’s improved ranking in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Index (from

130 to 100) have been cause for much celebration, but its dismal performance in the Environment performance index( EPI) 2018, slipping from rank 141/180 in 2016, to 177/180 in 2018.

What Is EPI?  The EPI is produced jointly by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration

with the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.  The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a method of quantifying and numerically

marking the environmental performance of a state’s policies.  This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published

in 2002, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals  The EPI was preceded by the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), published between

1999 and 2005.

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 In comparison, emerging peer economies, Brazil and China, rank 69 and 120,

respectively.  The EPI ranks countries on 24 performance indicators across 10 issue categories.

What Are The Steps Taken By Government In Protecting Environment?  In December 2015, it notified new, strict environmental standards for coal-fired power

plants, to be effective from January 2018.  An aggressive target was set to implement Bharat Stage VI emission norms from April 1,

2020, skipping Stage V norms.  In 2017, the Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy said that a road map was

being prepared so that only electric vehicles would be produced and sold in the country by 2030.  In order to accelerate the transition to renewable sources of power, the government, under

the National Solar Mission, revised the target for setting up solar capacity from 20 GW to 100 GW by 2021-22.  The Centre has also assured the Supreme Court of India that the highly polluted Ganga

will be cleaned up by 2018.

What Are The Hurdles Present?  Unfortunately, there appears to be a big gap between policy goals and action.  While we seem to be moving in the right direction on solar targets, we are seriously lagging

behind in a number of other goals.  For example, the government has gone back on its promise of implementing strict power

plant emission norms by December 2017, and may even dilute the norms.  The automobile industry has categorically stated that based on current estimates, full

conversion to electric vehicles is realistically possible only by 2047.  After setting electronics manufacturers a reasonable annual electronic waste collection

target of 30% of the products sold in the market, the figure has now been relaxed to 10%.  And late last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General, in a report, pulled up the

government for not developing an action plan and for its poor utilisation of allocated funds in the clean-up of the Ganga.

What Are The Costs Involved?  A recent study by the World Bank and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation,

University of Washington, Seattle, U.S., showed air pollution to be the cause of an estimated 1.4 million premature deaths in India, which translated into a welfare loss equivalent around 8% of India’s GDP in 2013.

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 In addition, the cost of lost labour productivity was 0.84% of its GDP.  These estimates do not account for many other forms of environmental degradation and

are quite conservative also because of our lack of scientific understanding of several other key ecological impacts.  A significant concern is also the fact that the poor are affected disproportionately because

of environmental degradation.

What Is The Way Forward?  Thus viewing environmental problems even from a purely market logic suggests that the

solutions lie in recognising the environmental costs of development and “getting the prices right”.  Rapid transition to solar energy can be accomplished not only by enabling subsidies but

also by pricing the more polluting fuels correctly.  The strict environmental standards for coal plants are expected to do precisely that - the

price we pay for coal-based electricity reflect, at least partially, the true costs of producing such electricity.  The failure to implement these standards would be a step backwards.  Similarly, the transition to electric vehicle use would be aided by pricing petrol and diesel,

and perhaps the vehicles that use these fuels, to reflect their external costs to society.  It is of course not the case that the current environmental mess we are in is entirely

because of our recent environmental policy failures.  It is linked also to the lack of political will to implement even existing environmental laws

and regulations.  It is not possible to restore environmental quality overnight. However, we must ensure

that we are moving forwards, not backwards, in meeting our environmental targets.  Being among the four worst countries in the world in terms of environmental performance

should hopefully serve as a wake-up call. Source: The Hindu, Wikipedia

•••

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SAKSHAM 2018 What Is It?  Saksham is annual flagship event of PCRA with active involvement of Oil & Gas PSUs

along with other stakeholders like State Governments.  Aims at creating focused attention on fuel conservation through people centric activities

and sensitize masses about conservation and efficient use of petroleum products leading to better health and environment.  It also aims to intensify efforts for making citizens aware about conservation and effective

utilization of petroleum products.  It seeks to enthuse masses with new energy coupled with all-out effort for saving precious

fuel, which will also contribute in keeping our environment green.

Why In News?  The Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of

Petroleum & Natural Gas has launched month long Saksham 2018 (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav). Source: PIB, Wikipedia, The Hindu.

••• SWACHH SURVEKSHAN

What Is It?  Swachh Survekshan is a ranking exercise taken up by the Government of India to

assess rural and urban areas for their levels of cleanliness and active implementation of Swachhata mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner.  The objective of the survey is to encourage large scale citizen participation and create

awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in.  The Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India takes up the Swachh Survekshan

in urban areas and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in rural areas.  The Quality Council of India (QCI) has been commissioned the responsibility of carrying

out the assessment.

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Why In News?  Minister of State(I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs has informed that the focus of Swachh

Survekshan 2018 been shifted from process and output based indicators to indicators focusing on outcome and sustainability.  Swachh Survekshan 2018 will have two categories of ranking, they are 500 cities with

more than 1 lakh population will have National Ranking.  3541 cities with less than 1 lakh population will have State and Regional ranking.  The survey attempts to capture the progress in following 6 broad parameters- Collection

and Transportation of Municipal Solid Waste, Processing and Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste, Sanitation related progress, IEC (Information, Education and Communication), Capacity Building, innovation and Best Practices. Source: PIB, Vikaspedia

•••

INTRODUCTION OF INDIAN MEDICAL CIVIL SERVICE What Is It?  There are three existing All India Civil Services, - Indian Administrative Service, Indian

Police Service & Indian Forest Service.  Based on the recommendations of the Cadre Review Committee, the Central Government

has sought views of all States / UT Governments on the proposal for creation of All India Medical Services. Source: PIB

••• NATIONAL MISSION FOR CLEAN GANGA

What Is It?  The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is the implementation wing of National

Ganga Council which was set up in October 2016 under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities order 2016.  The order dissolved National Ganga River Basin Authority.

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 The aim is to clean the Ganga and its tributaries in a comprehensive manner.  National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society under the Societies

Registration Act 1860.  It was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.

Why In News?  National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved five projects in west Bengal,

Uttrakhand and Varanasi. Source: PIB, Wikepedia, National Ganga Council Website.

••• BIOGAS PROGRAMME

What Is The Issue?  Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been implementing programmes such

as National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP), Biogas Power (Offgrid) Generation Programme (BPGP), and Waste to Energy Programme.  These are done for setting up of Biogas Plants based on cattle dung and other mixed

biodegradable wastes to meet cooking, heating, lighting & small power and thermal energy needs of the people of remote and rural areas.  Under the NBMMP, about 49.6 lakh household size biogas plants have been installed

since the inception of the biogas programme in the country.  AndraPradesh tops the biogas plant installation.

Source: PIB

•••

GLOBAL FORUM FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE (GFFA) What Is It?  The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) is an international conference that

focuses on central questions concerning the future of the global agri-food industry. It is held during International Green Week (IGW).  The forum gives representatives from the worlds of politics, business, science and civil

society an opportunity to share ideas and enhance understanding on a selected topic of current agricultural policy.

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 The GFFA is organised by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer

Protection (BMEL) in cooperation with GFFA Berlin e.V., the Senate of Berlin and Messe Berlin GmbH.  The theme of this year’s event is “Shaping the future of livestock – sustainably, responsibly,

efficiently”. The discussions will focus on sustainable and productive animal production among other issues.  Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

is leading the Indian delegation to 10th Global Forum for Food & Agriculture. Source: PIB

•••

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND AUTO INDUSTRY What Is The Issue?  The prospect of electric vehicles (EV) disrupting the automobile industry has led to both

excitement and fear.

Why Is The Transition Problematic To India?  Some experts feel it is all doom and gloom for the incumbent auto original equipment

manufacturers (OEMs) as EVs replace internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and create a change never seen before.  They will suffer the same fate as the horse carriage manufacturers which OEM’s replaced

more than a hundred years ago.  The transition from conventional to electric vehicles is of huge significance as globally the

passenger vehicle industry has a turnover of $1.8 trillion and volumes of 90 million.  The sheer size of the revenues and profits at risk, and the multitude of players in the value

chain affected are not trivial.

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 From power semiconductor designers to cobalt miners and cathode manufacturers, the

beneficiaries are numerous as are the losers.  The reality is that automobiles are one of the few manufacturing sectors where India has

had success.  The country will export nearly 800,000 cars in 2017, a value of at least $4 billion, with

nearly 90 per cent localisation.  In small cars, we are now a global manufacturing hub and added with it is our success in

auto components, another $4-5 billion of exports and global competitiveness.  India is projected to be the third largest car market in the world by 2020, with domestic

volumes over 4.5 million.  Currently, we have component localisation of above 85 per cent, with the majority of the

value addition in India.  If the industry is moving to EVs, it undercut whatever manufacturing edge we have in this

space.

What Is The Inevitability?  The move towards EVs is inevitable as it a technology changing innovative product.  The only question is timing and it is also driven by global warming concerns.  Disruption has started at the high-end premium vehicles but will come down to the mass

market eventually.  The biggest issue is cost, as the battery of an EV is about $17-18,000, compared to an ICE

(engine, transmission and exhaust systems) of about $5,000.  This gap will narrow as the costs of batteries fall by about 20 per cent annually and more

stringent emission and fuel efficiency norms raise the costs of conventional engines.  Since EVs are faster, more fuel-efficient, easier to manufacture and with zero emission,

once costs are similar the switchover should happen rapidly.  The industry will see 10 per cent penetration in 2025 and 30 per cent by 2035.  China will lead this transition followed by the European Union while Emerging Market

(EM) countries will lag, given the lack of adequate charging infrastructure.  As the OEMs lose control of the core technology, which are batteries, their ability to

differentiate and earn reasonable margins will reduce.  This will severely impact the component suppliers, specialists in engine and transmission

components, or companies focused on fuel injection and exhaust systems.

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 However, the industry has at least a decade to adjust.  Even under the most bullish assumptions of EV adoption, global ICE vehicle volumes

(including mild hybrids) will decline by only 0.75 per cent per annum between 2016 to 2026.  This is due to rising ICE sales in the EM markets offset the rapid switch to EVs in the

developed world.  In 2016, China led the world in sales of EVs, driven by subsidies and forced government

fleet purchases.  It is going to create a national champion in batteries and is determined to close the gap

with Korean and Japanese battery makers by 2020.  India unfortunately has a very limited play in this technology disruption with no battery

manufacturing plant.  No attempt by any Indian company or the government to try and catch up.  We missed the semiconductor, the smartphone, the polysilicon and the flat-panel

technology waves.  We cannot afford to miss another transition, and remain just an importer of critical

enabling technologies of the future.  The government will have to help leap this transition safely with a better strategy.

Source: Business Standard

•••

ACCELERATING INDIA’S FUTURE WITH 5G Why Is This News Recently?  5G technology is expected to roll out in developed nations around 2020, and by 2022, in

India.

What Is 5G?  5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems, abbreviated 5G, are

the proposed next telecommunications standards beyond the current 4th generation.  5G aims at higher capacity than current 4G, allowing a higher density of mobile

broadband users, and supporting device-to-device, ultra reliable, and massive machine communications.

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 5G also aims at lower battery consumption, for better implementation of the Internet of

things.  The Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance defines the following requirements that a

5G standard should fulfil:  Data rates of tens of megabits per second for tens of thousands of users  Data rates of 100 megabits per second for metropolitan areas  1 Gb per second simultaneously to many workers on the same office floor  Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections for wireless sensors  Spectral efficiency significantly enhanced compared to 4G  Coverage improved  Signalling efficiency enhanced  Latency reduced significantly compared to LTE.

What Are The Advantages Of 5G?  The major advantages to be derived are Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence

(AI), to improve the quality of e-governance and education, as well as to enable financial inclusion, smart cities, and an intelligent transportation system.

How Can 5G Help Agriculture?  In a rapidly developing economy such as India, 5G will show impactful results in

agriculture.  An assessment made by the UN shows that 5G and IoT could enable the agriculture

industry to deliver a 70 per cent increase in food production worldwide by 2050, catering to the ever-growing global population.  Smart farming is one of the few outstanding examples of how farmers can be empowered

to harness new technologies that improve farming.  For example last year, when several villages and cities around Punjab, Haryana and Delhi

were engulfed in thick smog resulting from burnt crop residue.  Taraori, a small village in Haryana, adopted climate-smart agriculture technology to break

away from such archaic and hazardous crop management techniques.  Through the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security project, farmers in the village

have access to ‘climate smart’ agro advisories on their mobiles, including weather forecasts and recommended actions, as well as information on pests, seed varieties and techniques for conservation agriculture.

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What Are The Benefits For Health Sector?  Another beneficiary of the 5G roll-out will be the healthcare sector.  The Indian medical tourism industry is expected to double in size by 2020, to touch $8

billion.  The advent of 5G will allow for blistering fast broadband, combined with Virtual Reality

(VR) and AI, to empower medical practitioners providing more data on diseases.  It also helps in better delivery of diagnosis and treatment that is not restricted by physical

limitations.

What Needs To Be Done?  While there is much to hope for 5G, the slow penetration of 4G in the country has created

a general sense of scepticism around the arrival of 5G.  Given the fact that India does not have the needed infrastructure for 4G, we must aspire

to leapfrog to 5G.  The Ericsson Mobility report reiterates this point and predicts that India, along with North

America, will lead the way in numbers of 5G subscriptions by 2022.  The report also states that 5G will speed up the digital transformation in a number of

industries, enabling new use cases in areas such as IoT, automation, transport and big data.  The technologies to make this a reality are already here — for example, 5G modems that

support LTE and CDMA, and a mobile trial platform, are already available.

What Must Government Do?  The Indian government needs to focus on spectrum policies and regulations for 5G

deployment.  It also needs to study potential coexistence issues before deciding spectrum allocations.  An early robust policy will help the operators and ecosystem prepare their products and

services for 5G roll-out, and enable backhaul and network solutions to reach rural India on time.

What Is The Role Of The Industry?  The industry must become a partner to accelerate technology, standards and spectrum.

No one player can move this technology forward alone.  The industry must define prototype and deliver early 5G products and solutions and use

cases that will shape the market.  Industry must ready itself as an estimated 50 billion devices begin to speak with each

other and generate zettabytes of data.

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 The industry must set standards that support interoperability.  It must guide the development of technologies that work with other products or systems,

present or future.  It is equally necessary for industry, academia and research labs to collaborate to build 5G

test beds in a build-up to deploy the technology in India.  Our vision is to connect everything to everything, and everybody to everything and making

‘Digital India’ a truly connected one can be achieved by 5G Source: The Hindu Business Line

•••

COMPACT LAUNCHERS FOR SMALL SATELLITES Why In News?  ISRO is working on the design of a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), that is a compact

launcher for small satellites.

What Is SSLV?  A small-lift launch vehicle is a rocket orbital launch vehicle that is capable of lifting up to

2,000 kg of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO).

Impact:  The small launch vehicle is likely to reduce the cost for launching satellites in the

competitive space technology market.  Isro launched a record 104 satellites in February last year, except the Cartosat-2, all were

small satellites. Source: PIB

••• GPS ENABLED DEVICE IN TRAINS

Why In News?  Ministry of Railways in collaboration with ISRO is implementing Real-Time Train Informa-

tion System (RTIS).  It involves tracking of train by placing GPS / GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Naviga-

tion System) based devices on locomotives.

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 In Phase-I, the RTIS project will cover about 2700 electric locomotives in which the GPS

device will be installed.

Impact:  A reliable and high level (about 99.3%) real time reporting of arrival departure timing updates

has been observed, which is considered adequate to meet the RTIS requirements.  Advanced

navigational aid is provided to locomotors and preventing mishaps and

accidents.  System that can ensure trains no longer move at a snail’s pace in foggy weather.  Fog Pass (Fog Pilot Assistance System) or FSD - is GPS-enabled and can continuously

calculate the distance of the train in relation to the next landmark, enabling drivers to know when exactly a signal is approaching.  In the absence of this device, crew has to reduce speed, often to walking speed in search

for signals.  With the deployment of FSDs, train pilots are able to know precisely and, in advance,

about the location of signals, level-crossing gates and other such approaching markers. Source: PIB

•••

MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND CANADA FOR COOPERATION IN FIELD OF S&T Why In News?  The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Canada for cooperation in the field of Science & Technology.  The MoU will provide a mechanism and help to foster scientific cooperation between R&D

and academic institutions of India and Canada.

Features Of MOU:  An innovative model of R&D cooperation between India and Canada will be implemented

under a MoU concluded by the Department of Science and Technology with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.

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 Under this MoU, the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnership to

Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS) programme will be supported to promote India-Canada multidisciplinary research partnerships.  The R&D projects will be aimed at accelerating social transformation by providing solutions

through application of science and technology.  The participants will include researchers from scientific organizations, academia and R&D

laboratories from India and Canada.  Identified areas of mutual cooperation include safe and sustainable infrastructure and

integrated water management.  This will help to develop institutional networking and support the establishment of

connections between scientific organizations, scientists and specialists of India and Canada. Source: PIB

••• SOCIAL ISSUES

ISSUES OF DEPRESSION AND MENTAL HEALTH What Is The Issue?  Education in India doesn’t discuss depression and mental health, thus making cinema

the only crusader to deal about the issues.

What Is The Stigma Related With Depression And Mental Health?  In our country, talking about depression is more of a taboo than talking about sex.  We simply don’t discuss mental health, particularly its emotional aspect.  Not just because of the stigma attached to it, but also because people don’t understand

the subject properly.  Because emotional development isn’t taught in schools or homes.

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 No one has ever tried to tell us about emotions in a manner that doesn’t seem like an

academic exercise or in a way that could make us relate to the issue and evoke genuine interest.  Depression and suicides resulting from it, is the second leading cause of morbidity amongst

15 to 29-year-olds globally.  Every year, more than 8,00,000 people die having committed suicide and many more

attempt it.  As WHO put states preventing suicide: a global imperative.  Interest and motivation are in the domain of emotion, not cognition.  Formal education helps the development of cognitive intelligence, not sensory.  Because it focuses on learning through reading and writing, language, words, not images

and sound.  But films combine the two - that is the advantage of films; that makes cinema a richer

medium of instruction.

What Is The Role Of Cinema?  For far too long, we’ve perpetuated the theory that anything that has to be taught should

be through books; cinema is only for entertainment.  But cinema’s purpose goes far beyond.  You may watch cinema for entertainment but a lot of information from screen goes into

your subconscious mind.  If this information isn’t authentic, it results in misunderstandings, but when authentic

cinema tackles a subject, it is a much better tool of education than any other.  For e.g. one knew the words “dyslexia” and “learning disability” but never gave them much

thought till Taare Zameen Par lent viewers a new understanding.  With depression becoming the second largest reason for morbidity amongst the young,

cinema can help create larger public opinion to remove the stigma.

How Is Depression Viewed In India?  It is unspoken, unrecognised depression that leads to suicide or substance abuse.  Depression is part of a psychiatric disorder.  To talk about it, one doesn’t require intelligence but acceptance.

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 Society is now accepting the concept of the intellectually challenged, but not the emotionally

challenged.  In India, a sign of maturity, especially amongst women, is apparently how successfully

they can conceal their emotions, rather than expressing them.  Meanwhile, social pressures are only rising.  The phenomenal growth in means of communication today could result in your getting

lost within a jungle of information.  This in turn causes information bombardment which is a major cause for today’s

depression.  Added with it is today’s changing lifestyle where in pursuit of getting all materialistic

things we tend to lose ourselves which also leads to depression. Source: Indian Express

•••

STATE OF CONFLICT: ON THE BHIMA- KOREGAON VIOLENCE Why In News?  The recent Maharastra violence which spread from Bhima- Koregaon a village on the

outskirts of Pune and the failure of the police to anticipate the potential for trouble breaking .

What Is The History Behind The Incident?  Every year on January 1, a large number of Dalits visit a memorial in Bhima-Koregaon to

mark an 1818 battle in which the East India Company, with Mahar soldiers prominent in its ranks, had defeated the Peshwa.  Over the years Bhima-Koregaon came to be marked as a site of Dalit valour and repudiation

of caste stereotypes.  With a visit by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in 1927, it got invested with political and spiritual

meaning beyond the specifics of the original battle and in a forward-looking politics.  This year being the 200th anniversary, the commemoration was always going to be larger

and more high-profile.

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What Is The Government’s Response?  The judicial inquiry promised by the government must determine who provoked the

violence, how it spread, and to what extent right-wing Hindu groups were responsible for fomenting it.  Law and order may have been restored in Maharashtra, but there is a political failing

framed by the caste tensions that have bubbled over in the State.  These are the result of many factors ranging from contested histories, at a more abstract

level, to economic insecurities about jobs and livelihood, on the ground.  The tensions of this past week have come against the backdrop of neo-reservation

movements, such as by the Marathas in Maharashtra over the past couple of years.  This and demands by Marathas to dilute the provisions of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled

Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act may be borne of economic and social anxieties.  But they, in turn, have created understandable anxieties among Dalits and their political

battle for their protection on their own. Source: The Hindu

•••

TRIPLE TALAQ Why In News?  The triple talaq Bill — the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill - has

come to the Rajya Sabha for consideration after a smooth sailing in the Lok Sabha.

What Is Triple Talaq?  Triple Talaq, also known as talaq-e-biddat, instant divorce and talaq-e-mughallazah

(irrevocable divorce),is a form of Islamic divorce which has been used by Muslims in India, especially adherents of Hanafi Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence.  It allows any Muslim man to legally divorce his wife by stating the word talaq (the Arabic

word for “divorce”) three times in oral, written, or more recently, electronic form.

What Did Supreme Court Say On The Issue?  Supreme Court rendered three separate judgements on the issue.  One bench stated thattalaq-e-biddat (triple talaq) as a practice was arbitrary and declared

it to be unconstitutional and consequently void.

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 Second bench held that being a 1,400-year-old practice, this had become an integral part

of the faith of Muslims and could not be struck down as being violative of fundamental rights.  They, however, stated that since such a practice is otherwise abhorrent and considered

illegal in various Muslim countries around the world and, taking note of the stand of the Muslim Personal Law Board deprecating the practice, it should be discontinued.  Third bench disagreed with previous views and noted that provisions of Muslim personal

law cannot be struck down as arbitrary and unconstitutional.  They also held that this particular practice, being sinful and not sanctified by the Koran,

was consequently not part of personal law.  In essence, therefore, three of the five judges of the Court held this practice to be void,

albeit for different reasons.

What Are The Provisions Of The New Legislation?  The first one is that triple talaq or any form of instantaneous and irrevocable divorce

pronounced by a Muslim is void.  Second is that a Muslim husband pronouncing triple talaq is criminally culpable.  Third is that the offence is non-cognisable and non-bailable.

Why Is The New Legislation A Bone Of Contention?  Criminalisation of this act does not emanate from any part of any of the three judgments

rendered by the Supreme Court.  Thus the legislation stands vindicating the muslim men, who are now liable to be prosecuted

for breaching a civil contract, a Muslim marriage being a contract of a civil nature.  The other aspect, which is of concern, is that there is no provision in this legislation which

states that the wife alone can file a complaint alleging that an offence of triple talaq has been committed.  A third person can file such a complaint on the basis of which the husband alleged to

have pronounced triple talaq can be arrested forthwith.  Being non-bailable, only a court is entitled to grant bail and this several implications.  First one is that the wife who may not wish to complain, her marriage being intact, has to

suffer the consequences of her husband being sent to jail.  That affects her husband’s capacity to provide for the family.  Second one is that the complaint may be based on a lie, yet the husband may land in

jail.

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 And finally it is not understood why the husband needs to go to jail when the marriage is

subsisting and valid.  Further, the concept of subsistence allowance and the right of a woman to custody of her

minor children in the event of pronouncement of talaq by her husband are both alien to a marriage which is subsisting and intact.  Subsistence allowance or maintenance and child custody are issues which become relevant

if there is a proceeding for divorce and the husband chooses not to maintain the family. Source: The Hindu, Wikepedia

•••

ARE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES INSIDE UNIVERSITIES JUSTIFIABLE? Why Is This In News Recently?  The continued occurrence of violence inside Delhi University’s (DU’s) Ramjas College and

in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has created a debate about the relevance of political activities and political organisations inside educational institutions.  The intrusion by political parties has negated the essential concept of universities as

autonomous spaces, where freedom of expression, exploration of ideas and advancement of knowledge are an integral part of the learning process.

When Did This Political Intrusion Started?  Political intrusion in universities is not new.  It began almost five decades ago and has gathered momentum in the past 25 years, and

has now reached a stage where it is difficult to disband it.  Starting in the late 1960s, state governments began to interfere in universities  For one, it was about dispensing patronage and exercising power in appointments of vice-

chancellors (VCs), faculty and non-teaching staff.  For another, it was about extending the political influence of ruling parties.  Unions of students, teachers and employees became instruments in political battles.  Campuses were turned into spheres of influence for political parties.  Provincial politics also played a role, with an implicit rejection of national elites and an

explicit focus on regional identities.

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 The decline of public universities in India has been an inevitable consequence of this

process.  The first set to bear the brunt were the universities of national standing in states. The

obvious examples are Allahabad, Lucknow and Patna among the old, with Baroda and Rajasthan among the new.  The next set to be progressively damaged were the oldest national universities in the

states—Bombay, Calcutta and Madras—established more than 150 years ago. Their drop in quality is alarming.

Is It Necessary To Have Political Activities Inside Universities?  It is a serious mistake to think of universities as campuses or classrooms that teach young

people to pass examinations, obtain degrees, and become employable, where research is subsidiary or does not matter.  Universities are about far more.  For students, there is so much learning outside the classroom that makes them good

citizens of society.  For faculty, apart from commitment to their teaching and their research, there is a role

in society as intellectuals who can provide an independent, credible, voice in evaluating governments, parliament, legislatures, or the judiciary, as guardians of society.  These roles are particularly important in a political democracy.

What Is The Necessity For University’s Autonomy?  Academic freedom is primary because universities are places for raising doubts and asking

questions about everything.  Exploring ideas, debating issues and thinking independently are essential in the quest for

excellence.  It would enable universities to be the conscience-keepers of economy, polity and society.  Hence, the autonomy of this space is sacrosanct.  Of course, this cannot suffice where quality is poor or standards are low. That needs

reform and change within universities.

What Is The Ground Scenario?  The political process, parties and governments alike, meddle in universities  In India, there has been more and more intrusion with the passage of time.  Micromanagement by governments is widespread.

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 Interventions are purposive and partisan.  These can be direct, or indirect, through the University Grants Commission and pliant

VCs.  The motives are political.  Such interventions are characteristic of all governments, whether at the Centre or in the

states, and every political party, irrespective of ideology  It is essential for governments to recognize that the provision of resources to universities

does not endow them with a right to exercise control.  The resources are public money for public universities, which are accountable to students

and society through institutional mechanisms that exist or can be created.  Every government laments the absence of world-class universities, without realizing

that it is attributable in part to their interventions and the growing intrusion of political processes.  Where politics is largely kept out—as in Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes

of Management or the Indian Institute of Science—institutions thrive.

What Is The Solution?  Differences in views are natural, but these must be addressed through discussion, with

open minds.  There must be respect, not contempt for the other.  Political organisations inside the universities have a right to disagree.  It should pose questions, engage in debate, or organize events to articulate its views, but

it cannot and must not seek to silence others.  The best model to be followed in a university would be a board of governors, to which

governments could nominate at the most one-third the total number.  The other members, two-thirds or more should be independent, of whom one-half should

be distinguished academics while one-half should be drawn from industry, civil society or professions.  The chairman should be an eminent academic with administrative experience.  Members of the board should have a term of six years, with one-third retiring every two

years.  The VC, to be appointed by the board with six-year tenure, would be an ex-officio

member.

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 Except for nominees of governments, the board should decide on replacements for its

retiring members.  Such institutional mechanisms are necessary but not sufficient.  Governments and political parties must stop playing politics in universities and stop

turning them into arenas for political battles.  Universities must reclaim their autonomy from governments, for which university

communities need to come together, and just focus on raising academic standards in pursuit of academic excellence. Source: Live Mint

••• NEW INDIA, HYPER MASCULINE

What Is The Issue?  Recent spate of images and reports quoting diverse incidents in public life has featured

men in various attitudes of aggression.

What Is The Reason Behind Such Incidents?  Hypermasculinity is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical

behaviour, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality.  Road rage, for example, is almost routine now, at least on Delhi roads, and is almost

always a male affair.  Student disputes and clashes with the police, though not exclusively male, nevertheless

often witness male-instigated and male-directed violence.  Cow vigilantes, anti-Romeo squads, the goons engaged by various strongmen and

political parties, extra-constitutional “militias”, khap panchayats, the list seem long and alarming.  Hypermasculinism is about resisting any dilution of its essential attributes.  It equates femininity with weakness, needing its “protection” at all times.  Strength lies in subjugation, in bending the disobedient to your will via force or violence.  Hypermasculinism has no time for androgyny (having both feminine and masculine

attributes).

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 To preserve their masculinity it is imperative they contempt and reject feminism in all its

form.  By extension, Hypermasculinism abhors hybridity, the stain of “impurity”, which is the

basis of all culture, and indeed, of all creativity.  Love jihad is part of this anxiety, as are conversions, ghar wapsi, honour killings, and all

forms of moral policing that enforce “discipline” on those who dare to defy.  This assertion of hypermasculinism, however, is predicated on violence; violence is often

its first resort, and its message is unequivocal.  Everyone who does not subscribe to this hypermasculinist regime, to such cultures of

masculinism, is vulnerable.  As a culture that has acknowledged androgyny, cherished hybridity, advocated non-

violence and celebrated difference, we need to first recognise hypermasculinism for what it is.  And then repudiate the cultures of masculinism that are now on the ascendant.

Source: Indian Express

••• HELD BY MOB

Why In News?  The attack on school children captures the state’s failure to stand up to vigilantism.

What Is The Reason For This Vigilantism?  The attack on a bus carrying schoolchildren on Wednesday must serve to jolt State

governments across north India out of their hands-off approach to acts of vandalism by way of protests against the film Padmaavat .  At the end of days of violence in at least six States by protestors purporting to be upholding

Rajput honour.  This is the image India must confront: a busload of children ducking for cover as the state

looked away.  The image collectively frames the abdication of State governments in maintaining law and

order in the face of violence.

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 Even Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, among

others, played an encouraging role in keeping up protests against the film.  Public viewing of the final version of Padmaavat as cleared by the Central Board of Film

Certification has called the protestors’ bluff on their stated objections to its contents.  But the mob is clearly led by its own narrative, unmindful of the reality of the film in

question or of the historical blurriness in it.

What Is The Courts View On The Issue?  The state has been repeatedly reminded of its duty to protect freedom of expression, most

notably in S. Rangarajan v. P. Jagjivan Ram (1989), when the Supreme Court held that the government cannot cite the possibility of violence to prohibit a film’s screening.  In fact, this month, after Gujarat and Rajasthan banned the CBFC-cleared Padmaavat ,

the court stayed the ban and iterated the state’s responsibility to maintain law and order during its screening.  That State governments have chosen to mostly ignore the court order is evident from

the decision of the Multiplex Association of India to not screen the film in Gujarat and Rajasthan, for fear of further violence of the sort that hit two Ahmedabad malls.  It is a sobering conclusion that whether or not Padmaavat is remembered for its cinematic

merits or shortcomings, it has become a byword for the government’s failure to control the mob. Source: The Hindu

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INFRASTRUCTURE MAKING ROADS SAFER What Is The Issue?  The process of introducing legislation for road safety is still lingering for the past four

years.  The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2017.  If passed by the Rajya Sabha, it will be the first of its kind to extensively reform existing

legislation on road safety, the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.  The Amendment Bill is robust and rectifies several systemic issues by providing for a

uniform driver licensing system, protection of children and vulnerable road users, rationalising penalties, and much more.

What Is The Issue With Road Safety?  The World Health Organisation (WHO) points out that for effective road safety management,

it is imperative to have an institutionalised and sustainable data system.  This includes information pertaining to drivers, such as types of licences held and a

record of violation of traffic laws.  The driver licensing system in India controls and filters the number and quality of drivers

on the road.  Currently, the procedure is largely manual, while the number of licences issued per year

is over a crore.  The inefficiencies of a predominantly manual system results in lakhs of licences being

issued without the prescribed checks and balances.  In the absence of a central registry, often multiple licences are held by one person for

different States.  Low penalties for licensing offences allow erring drivers to be behind the wheel and get

away with life-threatening violations.

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 The Bill addresses each of these challenges by introducing technology in the licensing

procedure.  A digitised, uniform and centralised driver licensing system will go a long way in ensuring

ease of access, efficiency and transparency in the filtering process.  The Bill also proposes to introduce digitisation in the monitoring and enforcement of

traffic laws.  Electronic monitoring and enforcement can already be seen in practice in Kerala.  The State has a ‘city surveillance and traffic monitoring system’, and automated traffic

enforcement systems to detect traffic light violations as well as speeding.  The enactment of the Bill will facilitate the replication and creation of such digitised

systems for all other States.

What Is The Issue With Children And Road Accidents?  Since 2008, in India, over 55,000 children have lost their lives in road accidents.  In 2016 alone, 7% of road crash deaths were attributed to children below 18 years.  The WHO asserts that using child-restraint systems in vehicles decreases the risk of

death in a crash by about 70% for infants and 54-80% for small children.  In the current piece of legislation, there is no provision for protection of children, and this

lacuna has been addressed for the first time.  The Bill proposes to mandate the use of protective headgear by every person above the age

of four driving, riding or being carried on a two-wheeler.  It provides for measures to be laid down for the safety of children below the age of four.  Similarly, the Bill mandates the use of safety belts and child restraints for those under

14 years and introduces a fine of 1,000 for the driver or guardian for the violation of the same.

What Is The Issue With Penalties?  Penalties for behaviour that results in fatalities and grievous injuries have remained

minimal, largely unrevised, and, consequently, have failed to deter violators.  This Bill promises to rationalise these fines.  For instance, the penalty for drunk driving has been increased to 10,000 for the first

offence and 15,000 for the subsequent one.  For exceeding lawful speeds, the penalty has been increased to

1,000 for light motor

vehicles and 2,000-4,000 for medium and heavy motor vehicles.

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 For the non-use of helmets and seat belts, the fines have been increased from 100 to

1,000.  As a signatory to the Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety, India has committed to reducing,

by 2020, the number of road crash fatalities and serious injuries by 50%.  This will be impossible to achieve if the sole statute governing road safety in India, the

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, is not overhauled.  The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017, will serve as the first and most essential step

towards fulfilling this vision. Source: The Hindu

••• REBUILDING OUR CITIES

What Is The Issue?  It takes great government initiative in terms of funding and policy decisions to revitalise

Indian cities in an inclusive way.

How Did The Indian Cities Outgrow Itself?  Chandigarh, under Jawaharlal Nehru, began with a minuscule population of 20,000. This

has grown to 1.2 million people today and the city’s construction has no allegiance to its original conception.  Similarly, Delhi began its post-Independence life with less than a million inhabitants.  Today, on a GPS map, the National Capital Region’s unhindered spread across three

States resembles muddy water spreading from a broken drain.  Delhi’s per capita GDP rate gives no indication of its true demographics.  The city has the largest population of urban poor in the world.  Its antiquated urban policies - by-laws, civic regulations and building parameters -

that were drawn for a city of 750,000 middle-class residents are today out of sync for a population of 22 million, of which 80% are poor, homeless, or slum inhabitants.  With similar statistics, a continual expansion northwards, and a system out of touch with

ground reality, Mumbai is a close second.

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How Is The Current State Of Affairs?  The liberalised economy of the last few decades has created two pockets of city life.  A small exclusive elite that occupies urban space but remains cloistered and outside of

its civic forces, and a majority of dispossessed who fill the empty crevices of the city with meagre possessions and rudimentary needs.  A supposedly thriving middle class remains a figment of the bureaucratic imagination,

while the overwhelming population is of the poor.

What Are The World Experiences From Which India Can Learn?  If the bureaucrat and the politician wish to deal with the real city today, they must look

closely at Lagos and Kumasi rather than Copenhagen or Shanghai.  Like Delhi and Mumbai, West African cities are migrant towns whose development and

future prospects are tied to the economy of day-to-day minor endeavours.  To give civic space to people with nothing, to allow for a spread of temporary commerce,

cattle fairs, public festivals and vegetable markets as the mainstay of civic life makes West African towns strikingly similar to Indian cities.  A mix of agricultural town, rural outpost and cosmopolitan centre, the city’s migrant

economy takes centre stage in civic life.  Indian towns too rely on the surrounding farming economy or are artisan centres for

small-scale - often illegal - industry.

How Should The Cities Be?  Unless there is a serious rethink of the value of urban life, the city will remain mired in

its present muddled state of trial, error and miscalculation.  Norms of space occupation, building design, size and density have to grow out of people’s

own comfort and familiarity, not as an imposition of imaginary European models.  Civic mayhem is created by persistent and erroneous calls for public space, cultural

centres, stadia, etc., rather than open maidans and temporary bazaars where migrant patterns can be openly expressed in city life.

What Steps Need To Be Followed To Revitalise The Cities?  First, given the trends of migration and the free-for-all approach to civic resources, land

and facilities, the government’s inclination to appease the larger numbers should take precedence.

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 The city’s overriding plan should be directed towards an accommodation of all migratory

tasks - home, employment, entertainment, and commerce - in buildings and public facilities altered to suit their primary needs.  This may radically change the overall structure of the city.  But when bylaws and regulations are specifically and only written for a migrant city, it

would be far more acceptable than the current city profile as desperate slum.  The second idea could adopt a draconian model of restrictions similar to Chinese and

some European cities, allowing entry and civic facilities only to those with either home or employment.  Physical control and access to roads, parks, housing and utilities becomes a position of

fewer people sharing a limited reserve of urban space and resources.  As most social scientists now admit, only controlled undemocratic space can be a

functioning model for a city.  The third model, which is the most difficult and yet most sought-after, seeks a divergent

and all-inclusive solution.  It is what American urbanist Jane Jacobs described as ‘a cultural cohesion’ where

the integration of economic disparities is so complete that it resembles a finely woven carpet.  The design incorporates all the essential elements of habitation - home, commerce,

recreation and institution - and merges them mysteriously in the carpet weave. The city and its neighbourhoods are no longer a visible intrusion of small private capitalist parts in a larger socialist city-state, or vice-versa, but an unconscious mixing of interdependence.  In small medieval towns in western India, even in some long-established poorer city

tenements.  Such cities do not follow physical, statistical or design models, but are formed out of a

deeper evolutionary social core.  It takes a brave government to believe these are worth doing, and an even braver one to

attempt such coalescing. Source: The Hindu

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JAL MARG VIKAS PROJECT What Is Jal Marg Vikas Project?  Jal Marg Vikas project (JMVP) is a National Waterways development project announced

during the budget 2015-16 for national integration.  Envisaged to make the most of navigational challenges to bring prosperity to the

country.  It is a non- water consumptive transport project formulated with the aim of reducing rail

& road congestion, reducing the carbon footprint and minimal resource depletion.

Importance  Alternative mode of transport that will be environment friendly and cost

effective.  The project will contribute in bringing down the logistics cost in the

country.  Socio-economic impetus; huge employment generation.  Integrating the vast network of perennial rivers in India with modern

technology would create huge employment opportunities and facilitate trade.  JMVP is strategic communication campaigns aimed at securing citizen

participation, particularly the communities living along the project corridor.

Why In News?  The phase-1 of JMVP between Varanasi and Haldia is being implemented with technical

and financial assistance from the World Bank.  It envisions, developing a navigable channel on the River Ganga, between Allahabad and

Haldia (1620 Kms).  The development of National Waterway (NW)-1 would facilitate bulk transport of cargo

and thereby result in the economic development of the region.  The NW-1 passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, serving

major cities like Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Howrah, Calcutta, Haldia etc. Source: PIB, Wikipedia, The Hindu.

•••

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2-LANE BI-DIRECTIONAL ZOJILA TUNNEL WITH PARALLEL ESCAPE TUNNEL IN J&K What Is Zojila Tunnel?  Zojila Tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir is an upcoming project which aims at providing all

weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.  The tunnel along with Z-Morh Tunnel (which is 22 kilometers from Zoji-la tunnel towards

Srinagar) will ensure year long road connectivity between Srinagar and Leh which currently remains closed for about seven months due to snow.  The tunnel will be build under EPC mode (engineering, procurement, construction).

Impact:  The main objective of the project is to provide all whether connectivity to strategically

important Leh region in Jammu & Kashmir.  This project alongwith other ongoing projects like 6.5 km long Z-Morh tunnel at Gagangir

would ensure safe, fast and cheap connectivity between the two regions of Kashmir and Ladakh.  It will further increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the project

activities.  The project, on completion, would lead to enormous boost in employment as local

businesses get linked to National market and the beautiful region is able to receive round the year tourist traffic.  These sectors will generate employment at multiple levels.

Source: PIB, Wikipedia, The Hindu

••• BHARAT NET

What Is Bharat Net?  BharatNet is Union Government’s ambitious rural internet connectivity programme which

is implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL).  It is world’s largest rural broadband connectivity programme using Optical fibre.  Bharat Net seeks to connect all of India’s households, particularly rural areas, through

demand, affordable high-speed broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to realise the vision of Digital India.

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Why In News?  Government has achieved a significant milestone under the BharatNet by completing

Phase-1 of the project by connecting over one lakh Gram Panchayats (GP) across the country with high speed optical fibre network as per the declared deadline of 31 Dec 2017.  BharatNet network built under Phase 1 envisages delivery of high-speed broadband

services in over 2.5 lakh villages benefitting more than 200 million rural Indians. Source: PIB, Wikipedia.

•••

RAILWAYS LAUNCHES ONLINE VENDOR REGISTRATION SYSTEM What Is It?  In a bid to bring transparency, the Railways on Tuesday said that it has launched an

online vendor registration system that will allow small and medium enterprises to become railway vendors.  The new online vendor registration system has been developed by Research Designs and

Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research arm of the Railways which is headquartered in Lucknow.  With the new system in place the vendor need not come to RDSO for any activity related to

his case for registration, while the process of documents scrutiny and physical verification of the vendor’s facility has been made a parallel exercise.  Vendors can now deposit registration fee, submit documents, download technical drawings

and specifications and interact with RDSO online.  Public access to the information, expeditious process completion with defined timelines,

simplification of procedures, round-the-year services, availability of all related information on RDSO Website.  Constant monitoring at all levels, reduction in cycle timelines, regular updation of online

data, user friendly interface etc. are the hallmarks of the new system. Source: PIB, Wikipedia, The Hindu.

•••

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INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON DISASTER RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE What Is It?  The workshop aimed to take this dialogue on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and global

cooperation further.  The workshop also saw participation of multilateral development banks, United Nations,

private sector and academics to identify best practices in infrastructure sector as well as key issues in existing practices and ways to address them.  It provided great opportunity to learn from their unique experiences in their efforts towards

building disaster resilient infrastructure.

Why In News?  The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the International Workshop on

Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) here today.  The two-day workshop is being organised by the National Disaster Management

Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). Source: PIB, The Hindu.

•••

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ART AND CULTURE FILM CENSORSHIP What Is The Issue?  21st century has become a place of almost anyone and everyone taking exception to a

film.

Why Is This Problem Arising?  There are some groups which don’t like a film because of some very genuine reasons.  These could range from an incorrect portrayal of an ancestor (fictional or otherwise),

of a politician (living or dead), a religious figure (god forbid), a professional occupation (lawyers) and so on.  On the religious front, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians have been equal rights

censors when it comes to defending their faith.  On the political front, almost all have united in their call to censor a film without watching

it.  With so many non-state censors, where does that leave the official ‘censor board?

What Are The Pressure Points?  CBFC chiefs have often conceded to the demands made by the public and elected

representatives of the public.  For example, a film proposal based on Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten’s

relationship did not even get past the Ministry.  The main objection of the Congress, though it was never stated, was the portrayal of

Nehru.  Against the backdrop of much censorship led by non-state actors, governments have done

their bit to appoint committees to suggest certification of films.  Yet, as experience shows, their findings have had no takers.

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What Is The Solution?  The next time the Board is constituted, with the exception of the film-maker, people of

all faiths, cricketers, politicians, businessmen, traders, lawyers, women, and from the defence forces should have a fair representation.  That will allow everyone to express self-righteous indignation at facts/fiction and ensure

that nothing, virtually nothing, escapes the censors. Source: The Hindu

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Prime Minister to launch Khelo India School Games What is it?  Khelo India School Games (KISG), a government initiative with focus on reviving the

sports culture at the grassroots and establishing the country as a sporting nation, will kick off from Wednesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi consenting to preside over the opening ceremony at the Indira Gandhi Indoor (IGI) Stadium.  The week-long inaugural edition will be an Under-17 event where athletes have been

invited to participate across 16 disciplines: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Shooting, Swimming, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wrestling.  Khelo India is expected to help scout young talent from the schools in various disciplines

and groom them as future sports champions.  Talented players identified in priority sports disciplines at various levels by a High-Powered

Committee will be provided annual financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh per annum for 8 years.  199 gold medals, 199 silver medals and 275 bronze medals are at stake in the Khelo India

School Games. The country’s brightest talent in the under-17 age group will compete in the Games. Source: PIB.

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PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS What is this?  A celebratory day observed annually on 9 January by the Republic of India to mark the

contribution of the overseas Indian community towards the development of India.  The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on

9 January 1915.

Why in news?  Shri Gadkari will attend and inaugurate the session on ASEAN India Economic Partnership

in Singapore. Source: PIB

••• AGRICULTURE PRADHAN MANTRI KRISHI SINCHAYEE YOJANA

What Is It?  PMKSY is central scheme that aims at providing irrigation facilities to every village in the

country by converging ongoing irrigation schemes implemented by various ministries.  The objective of PMKSY is to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease

Agri-Waste.  It will focus on ‘end-to-end solution’ in irrigation supply chain by implementing new

programme in a “project mode” with decentralised state-level planning and execution.

Impact  The implementation of PMKSY will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient

supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.  It will provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country.  It will help in providing better prices to farmers and is a big step towards doubling of

farmers’ income.

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 It will create huge employment opportunities especially in the rural areas.  It will also help in reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing

level, availability of safe and convenient processed foods at affordable price to consumers and enhancing the export of the processed foods.

Features And Implementation  Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with an outlay of Rs.50,000 crores for a period of 5 years (2015-

16 to 2019-20) is to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level.  Funding will be shared between Centre and States will be 75: 25 per cent. In case of

north-eastern region and hilly states it will be 90:10.  States are provided with all flexibility and autonomy in planning and executing irrigation

projects in order to ensure water to every farm.  Irrigation plans ensure that state and district irrigation plans are prepared on the basis of

sources of availability of water and agro-climatic conditions in that region.  PMKSY has been formulated amalgamating ongoing schemes viz.  Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of Ministry of Water Resources, River

Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.  Integrated

Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land

Resources.  On Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable

Agriculture (NMSA) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.

Why In News?  The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation during last

week released Central Assistance (CA) for 9 prioritized projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) for Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) works and for Command Area Development (CAD) works of 17 projects. Source: PIB, Wikipedia, Vikaspedia.

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TARGETED PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM What Is The Issue?  From providing minute digital records to seeding out fake claims, the targeted public

distribution system is visibly reforming.

How Is The Pds Reforming?  With 2011-12 National Sample Survey (NSS) data, two-thirds of the population (75 per

cent rural, 50 per cent urban) is entitled to subsidised foodgrain through the Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) schemes.  There are other provisions on the Integrated Child Development Services, ICDS, Mid Day

Meal Scheme, MDMS, and maternity benefits.  Though the NFSA came into force on July 5, 2013, because states needed to evolve criteria

and identify beneficiaries, its adoption by states was staggered, with Nagaland, Kerala and Tamil Nadu the last to join, in 2016.  All states and/or Union Territories (UTs) are now part of the NFSA.  The reforms in NFSA include doorstep delivery of foodgrains to the Targeted Public

Distribution System outlets.  Application of information and communication technology tools including end-to-end

computerisation in order to ensure transparent recording of transactions at all levels, and to prevent diversion.  Leveraging “Aadhaar” for unique identification, with biometric information of entitled

beneficiaries for proper targeting of benefits under this Act.  Full transparency of records.  Preference to public institutions or public bodies such as panchayats, self-help groups,

co-operatives, in licensing of fair price shops and management of fair price shops by women or their collectives.  Diversification of commodities distributed under the Public Distribution System over a

period of time.  Support to local public distribution models and grains banks.  Introducing schemes, such as cash transfer, food coupons, or other schemes, to the

targeted beneficiaries in order to ensure their foodgrain entitlements.

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How The Reforms Help In Better Targeted Approach?  For subsidised grain, there are 186.6 million ration cards, 23 million AAY and 163.5

million PHH.  If these are digitised and seeded with Aadhaar numbers, duplication is reduced.  Ghost ration cards are eliminated.  All 36 states and UTs have digitised ration cards now.  For some states, there are live links or reports on digitisation.  As of March 31, 2017, 77.04 per cent of ration cards (178.2 million) have been seeded

with Aadhaar numbers.  Between 2013 and 2016, 23.3 million bogus ration cards were identified and removed.  Once records and databases have been fixed, one moves to the online allocation of

foodgrains, down to the FPS (fair price shop) level — 30 states/UTs have done this.  Since Chandigarh and Puducherry (and partly Dadra and Nagar Haveli, in urban areas)

opted for direct benefit transfers (DBTs), with an equivalent cash transfer into seeded bank accounts.  Now, 2,33,520 households are covered by such cash transfers, the bulk in Puducherry.  The “equivalence” is worked out by multiplying the minimum support price (MSP) by a

factor of 1.25 and subtracting the central issue price (CIP).

What Is The Way Forward?  The next step is the automation of the supply chain management (delivery orders, release

orders, truck chalans, gate passes, receipts and issuance of foodgrains, monitoring of stock positions, payments and SMS alerts when opted for).  As of now, 20 states and/or UTs have done this, some featuring live links.  All have transparency portals and toll-free helplines.  Except for Arunachal Pradesh and J&K, all have online grievance registration facilities.  The last step in this end-to-end computerisation of the TPDS which is the most difficult

task.  This is the automation of fair price shops, through handheld devices or computers like

EPOS (electronic point of sale) devices. Source: Indian Express

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WORLD INSTITUTIONS IMF AND REFORMS Why In News?  India calls for reforms in IMF quota system.

Why Is The Quota System A Matter Of Concern?  Quotas determine the size of contingency funds at the disposal of the IMF to lend to

countries in need of help.  It also decides the power of individual countries to influence lending decisions and tap

into the funds themselves.  Though developing countries hold less than half the overall quota at the moment, with

their rapidly increasing economic heft they have demanded a greater share - with limited success.  The 15th General Review of Quotas (GRQ), the most recent attempt to revise the size and

composition of the system, was to be completed by October 2017, but now extended to 2019.  The delay was not unexpected, given the poor precedent set by the long delay in adoption

in 2016 of the previous GRQ (originally approved in 2010).  That had doubled the overall size of the quotas to $659 billion (from $329 billion) while

allotting an additional 6% of quotas to the developing world.  This delay is raising the question of relevance of the Bretton woods institutions among the

developing countries.  Also at stake is the potency of the IMF in keeping up with the changed fundamental needs

of developing economies.  The developing world is looking beyond the short-term crisis management tools that the

IMF, as the sole international lender of last resort, has traditionally offered them for decades now.

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 China, for instance, with its steadily rising influence on the global economy, has grown to

be the focal point for economies seeking alternative sources of capital to fund their longterm growth needs.  India announced that it is seeking $2 billion from the New Development Bank, set up by

the BRICS countries in 2015 with a more equitable power structure, to fund infrastructure projects.  The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched in 2014, could be an even bigger

threat to the IMF’s influence given its larger membership, lending capacity and international reach.  In this environment of competition, the IMF will have to do more than just superficially

tinker with its asymmetric power structure and outdated quota system. Source: The Hindu

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