OCTOBER 1 TO 15 CURRENT AFFAIRS

OCTOBER 1 TO 15 CURRENT AFFAIRS

FORTNIGHT REVISION OF IMPORTANT NEWS ARTICLES IN OCTOBER

1.NDRF(National Disaster Response Force )(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT:Bihar floods: NDRF rescues Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi from his residence

Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi was rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from his residence on September 30.

Several parts of Bihar are reeling under  floods following incessant showers over the past few days.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting with officials of the flood-affected districts. The meeting will be held via video conferencing.

NDRF(National Disaster Response Force ):

Facts:

• NDRF stands for National Disaster Response Force
• It comes under Ministry of Home Affairs
• It is the only dedicated disaster response force in the world
• Established in 2006
• HQ: New Delhi
• It works under National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) which lays down policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management.
• At present there are 12 battalions in NDRF which are deployed strategically across country to provide immediate response.
• 4 new battalions are sanctioned by Union Cabinet.

 Background:

• The Disaster Management Act, 2005 has made the statutory provisions for constitution of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the purpose of specialized response to natural and man-made disasters.
• Two national calamities in quick succession in the form of Orissa Super Cyclone (1999) and Gujarat Earthquake (2001) brought about the realization of the need of having a specialist response mechanism at National Level to effectively respond to disasters. This realization led to the enactment of the DM Act on 26 Dec 2005.

Role and Mandate of NDRF:

• Specialized response during disasters.
• Proactive deployment during impending disaster situations.
• Acquire and continually upgrade its own training and skills.
• Liaison, Reconnaissance, Rehearsals and Mock Drills.
• Impart basic and operational level training to State Response Forces (Police, Civil Defence and Home Guards).
• Community Capacity Building Programme.
• Organize Public Awareness Campaigns.

Why it is said to be UNIQUE?

It is the only dedicated disaster response force of the world.

The only agency with comprehensive response capabilities having multi-disciplinary and multi-skilled, high-tech, standalone nature.

Experienced paramilitary personnel specially trained and equipped for disaster response.

Capabilities for undertaking disaster response, prevention, mitigation and capacity building

2.Global warming and Climate change,Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Mamallapuram(GS-1,3)

CONTEXT:PM Modi calls upon best brains in Asia to collaborate for solutions to global warming, climate change

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for collaborative efforts among the “best brains in Asian countries to offer innovative solutions” to global warming and climate change.

Pointing out that “technology unites people, even across countries and across continents,” Mr. Modi, who handed over prizes to winners of the Singapore-India Hackathon 2019 at the IIT- Madras Research Park here, responded favourably to the suggestion of Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Education Minister, that the contest be extended to students of universities belonging to member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Prime Minister pointed out that Indian school students, even at the level of sixth grade, were being given exposure to concepts such as artificial intelligence and block chain

On the forthcoming India-China summit to be held in Mamallapuram, the Singaporean Minister recounted the historical ties between the two countries even during the Pallava era and said how they got extended up to the southeast Asian countries.

Global warming and Climate change:

Anthropogenic (Human Caused) Factors

Anthropogenic or manmade factors result in short term climatic changes. It involves the changes in the energy
balance of the Earth - atmosphere system leading to changes in weather and climate. Scientists have been
observing a change in the climate since the beginning of the 20th Century that cannot be attributed to any of the
‘natural’ influences of the past. Global warming has occurred faster than any other climate change recorded by
humans and so is of great interest and importance to the human population.
Cause of anthropogenic (human caused) climate change includes greenhouse gases, aerosols and pattern of land
use changes.

Carbon dioxide (CO2): It is the most important GHG and is

produced both naturally and through human activities.
Naturally CO2 is released into the atmosphere through
volcanic eruptions and animal respiration. It is also released
through human activities such as deforestation and the
burning of fossil fuels for energy. CO2 spends a long time in
the atmosphere increasing its impact. Since the industrial
revolution, humans have increased atmospheric
CO2 concentration by 30%. Deforestation contributes to
global warming as fewer plants are available to take up
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 
Since HFCs are not ozone-depleting, they have been kept out of the Montreal Protocol that currently
deals with phasing out ozone depleting substances like hydro-chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC). HFCs, on the other hand, contribute to global warming and come under

Kyoto Protocol. 

In the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference that was held in Bonn, the UNEP expressed its
view that the HFCs are a part of Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) but have higher global warming
potential when compared to carbon dioxide. Many of the western countries led by US are of the view
that HFCs should be dealt under Montreal protocol and the use of HFCs should be reduced. 

International Efforts to Counter GLOBAL WARMING AND Climate Change :

• 1.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 

IPCC was founded in November 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United

Nations Environment Program (UNEP) jointly as a place to study global warming problems at a

governmental level.

It is the mechanism that accumulates scientific knowledge on global warming while debates on the

international countermeasures have been made in the COPs (Conference of the Parties) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These two mechanisms are complementing each other. 

• 2.United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 

Following its effectuation, the COP1 was held in Berlin, COP2 in Geneva, and the COP3 was held in Kyoto

to adopt "Kyoto Protocol", which implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to fight global warming by

reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to 'a level that would prevent dangerous

anthropogenic interference with the climate system' 

• 3.National action plan on climate change (NAPCC)( India’s India’sEffortto Counter Climate Change to Counter Climate Change to Counter Climate Change )

National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem

The plan aims to conserve biodiversity, forest cover, and other ecological values in the Himalayan region,

where glaciers that are a major source of India's water supply are projected to recede as a result of

global warming. 

What is ASEAN?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional organization which was established to promote political and social stability amid rising tensions among the Asia-Pacific’s post-colonial states.

The motto of ASEAN is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”.

8th August is observed as ASEAN Day.

ASEAN Secretariat – Indonesia, Jakarta

Member Nations

• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Thailand
• Brunei
• Vietnam
• Laos
• Myanmar
• Cambodia

Genesis of ASEAN

• 1967 – ASEAN was established with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by its founding fathers.
• Founding Fathers of ASEAN are: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• 1990s – Membership doubled after the changing conditions in the region following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the Cold War in 1991.
• Addition of Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), and Cambodia (1999).
• 1995 – Members signed a deal to create a nuclear-free zone in Southeast Asia.
• 1997 – Adoption of ASEAN Vision 2020.
• 2003 – Bali Concord II for the establishment of an ASEAN Community.
• 2007 – Cebu Declaration, to accelerate the establishment of ASEAN Community by 2015.
• 2008 – ASEAN Charter comes into force and becomes a legally binding agreement.
• 2015 – Launch of ASEAN Community.
• ASEAN Community is comprised of three pillars:
• ASEAN Political-Security Community
• ASEAN Economic Community
• ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community

Objectives

• To accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian Nations.
• To promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
• To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields.
• To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilisation of agriculture and industries, the expansion of their trade, the improvement of transportation and communications facilities and the raising of the living standards of peoples.
• To promote Southeast Asian studies.
• To maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organisations.

Mamallapuram

• Mamallapuram, also known as Seven Pagodas or Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on the coastline 58 kilometres (36 mi) south of the city of Chennai. An ancient historic town and a bustling seaport in the 1st millennium CE, now a beachside tourism center with a group of Hindu monuments declared as UNESCO world heritage site, it is one of the most visited towns in South India.
• Mamallapuram was one of two major port cities by the 7th century within the Pallava kingdom. Along with economic prosperity, it became a center of a group of battle monuments carved out of rock. These are dated to the 7th and 8th centuries: rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air rock reliefs such as the famous Descent of the Ganges, and the Shore Temple dedicated to Shiva, Durga, Vishnu, Krishna and others. The contemporary town plan was established by the British Raj in 1827

3.Niti Aayog’s School Education Quality Index(GS-2)

CONTEXT:Kerala tops Niti Aayog’s School Education Quality Index; U.P. is worst performer

There are huge differences in the quality of school education across the country, according to a Niti Aayog ranking released on Monday. Among 20 large States, Kerala was the best performer with a score of 76.6%, while Uttar Pradesh came in last with a score of 36.4%.

However, Haryana, Assam and Uttar Pradesh showed the most improvement in their performance in 2016-17, in comparison to the base year of 2015-16. The School Education Quality Index assesses States on the basis of learning outcomes, access, equity and infrastructure and facilities, using survey data, self-reported data from States and third-party verification.

Tamil Nadu was the top performer in access and equity outcomes, while Karnataka led in learning outcomes. Haryana had the best infrastructure and facilities.

Among smaller States, Manipur emerged as the best performer, while Chandigarh topped the list of Union Territories. West Bengal refused to participate in the evaluation process and has not been included in the rankings.

Niti Aayog’s  School Education Quality Index (SEQI):

As per the report released by the NITI Aayog, among 20 large states in the country 18 have improved their overall performance between 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, which is otherwise referred to as the incremental performance in the report. The highest incremental performance has been recorded in Kerala. As against 77.6% score in 2015-2016, the state has recorded 82.2% in 2016-2017.

Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have improved their performances in school education sector.

NITI Aayog's school education report has considered 2015-2016 as the base year and 2016-2017 as the reference year.

Among all the improving states, Rajasthan has made a quantum jump in the education sector by scoring more than eight percentage points than its previous score. Other states like Haryana, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha have improved their ranking as well.

The overall performance has declined in Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

All seven union territories have shown an improvement in their overall performance scores.

Among the small states the overall performance has increased in five states-- Tripura, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland. The performance and ranks have decreased in Mizoram, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

In the launch event, Amitabh Kant CEO NITI Aayog, Dr Rajiv Kumar Vice Chairman NITI Aayog, Rina Ray Secretary Higher Education were present along with other dignitaries

4.Scientists excavate ‘ancient river’ in Uttar Pradesh(GS-1)

CONTEXT:The Union Water Ministry has excavated an old, dried-up river in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) that linked the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. The aim is to develop it as a potential groundwater recharge source, according to officials at the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), a body under the Union Jal Shakti Ministry that coordinates the cleaning of the Ganga.

The “ancient buried river” as it was described at a conference organised by the Ministry, is around 4 km wide, 45 km long and consisted of a 15-metre-thick layer buried under soil.

According to Executive Director, NMCG, D.P. Mathuria, the discovery was made last December by a team of scientists from the CSIR-NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute) and the Central Groundwater Board during a helicopter-borne geophysical survey covering the Prayagraj and Kaushambi region in Uttar Pradesh.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG):

National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986. NGRBA has since been dissolved with effect from the 7th October 2016, consequent to constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga

The Act envisages five tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river Ganga as below; 

• 1. National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. 
• 2. Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation). 
• 3. National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG). 
• 4. State Ganga Committees and 
• 5. District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states. 

    NMCG has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive Committee. Both of them are headed by Director General, NMCG. Executive Committee has been authorized to accord approval for all projects up to Rs.1000 crore. Similar to structure at national level, State Programme Management Groups (SPMGs) acts as implementing arm of State Ganga Committees. Thus the newly created structure attempts to bring all stakeholders on one platform to take a holistic approach towards the task of Ganga cleaning and rejuvenation. 

     The Director General(DG) of NMCG is a Additional Secretary in Government of India. For effective implementation of the projects under the overall supervision of NMCG, the State Level Program Management Groups (SPMGs) are, also headed by senior officers of the concerned States.

5.ACCOUNT DEFECIT(GS-3)

CONTEXT: Current account deficit shrinks

The country’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to 2% of GDP, or $14.3 billion, in the first quarter of the current financial year from 2.3% of GDP, or $15.8 billion, reported during the same period of the previous year, data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

However, the gap was bigger than the preceding quarter which was $4.6 billion, or 0.7% of GDP.

Current account deficit:

• A current account deficit happens when a country spends more money on what it imports compared to the money it receives for what it exports. That means there is more money leaving the country than there is coming in. The current account of a country is the money it receives and pays for goods and services, investments, and other things such as any money sent abroad, salaries, and pensions
• Current account deficits mainly occur in developed or underdeveloped countries. The current accounts of emerging markets typically operate in a surplus.
• A deficit isn't necessarily a bad thing. A country may have a deficit because it is importing the inputs it needs to produce goods and services it will export in the future. In that case, it may plan to create a current account surplus, which ultimately makes it an attractive investment opportunity for foreigners. The deficit may be problematic, though, if a country decides to overspend on its exports when it could be spending money on domestic production.
• The longer a deficit remains on a country's books, the worse off it will be for its future generations. That means they will be saddled with excessive levels of debt and heavy interest payments to make to its creditors.
• When a country has a deficit, it must find a way to make up for the shortfall. Deficits are reduced through the capital account, which records transactions between entities in one country and those in the rest of the world. That means the deficit can be reduced through the sale of assets, foreign currency, and through foreign direct investment.
• Another way to reduce the deficit is to increase the value of its exports compared to its imports. But this can put economic or political pressure from international trade partners in the form of tariffs.

6.Core sectors(GS-3)

CONTEXT:Core sector growth slips to 52-month low

5 out of 8 sectors in negative zone

Growth in the eight core sectors in August slumped to the lowest in four years and four months. That is, the -0.5% registered in August 2019 was the lowest since April 2015.

Growth in five out of the eight sectors of the Index of Eight Core Industries fell into the negative zone in August. The index had registered a growth of 2.7% in July 2019 and a robust 4.72% in August 2018.

Core sectors :

Core sectors or industry can be defined as the main industry of the economy. In most countries, particular industry qualifying to be the core industry are said to be the backbone of all other industries. In India, there are eight core sectors comprising of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. The electricity has maximum weight of 10.32% followed by Steel (6.68%), Petroleum Refinery (5.94%), Crude Oil production (5.22 %), Coal production (4.38 %), Cement (2.41%), Natural Gas production (1.71 %) and Fertilizer production (1.25%). These eight Core Industries comprise nearly 40.27% of weight of items included in IIP, which measures factory output.

7.Fiscal Deficit(GS-3)

CONTEXT:States’ gross fiscal deficit stayed within 3%: RBI

States’ gross fiscal deficit (GFD) has remained within the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM) threshold of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) during 2017-18 and 2018-19, a Reserve Bank of India report on State Finances said. For 2019-20, States have budgeted a consolidated GFD of 2.6% of GDP, the report said. However, outstanding debt of States have risen over the last five years to 25% of GDP, posing medium-term challenges to its sustainability.

Observing that in the recent five-year period, the combined GFD of the States (excluding Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna in 2015-16 and 2016-17) averaged 2.5% of GDP, which was in striking range of the recommendation of the FRBM Review Committee, the report said and added that this has, however, been achieved by a sharp reduction in capital expenditure.

What Is a Fiscal Deficit?

A fiscal deficit is a shortfall in a government's income compared with its spending. The government that has a fiscal deficit is spending beyond its means.

A fiscal deficit is calculated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), or simply as total dollars spent in excess of income. In either case, the income figure includes only taxes and other revenues and excludes money borrowed to make up the shortfall.

A fiscal deficit is different from fiscal debt. The latter is the total debt accumulated over years of deficit spending.

Understanding the Fiscal Deficit

A fiscal deficit is not universally regarded as a negative event. For example, the influential economist John Maynard Keynes argued that deficit spending and the debts incurred to sustain that spending can help countries climb out of economic recession.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

A government creates a fiscal deficit by spending more money than it takes in from taxes and other revenues excluding debt.

The gap between income and spending is closed by government borrowing.

The U.S. government has had a fiscal deficit in most of the years since World War II.

8.Global Bird Rescue (GBR) (GS-3)

CONTEXT:

Global Bird Rescue Week: Bird Count India documents

Forty two million — that is the number of birds killed every year in Canada, according to a study published in Environment Canada. And, across North America, the estimated number of migratory birds killed is over 100 million. “Birds getting injured or dying after colliding with glass windows, walls, power lines, and other man-made structures has always been a topic of deep concern. But, there is hardly any data on ‘bird-building collisions’ in India,” says Mittal Gala, Programme Co-ordinator of Bird Count India, an organisation that promotes bird listing, documentation and monitoring in India.

Bird Count India has now partnered with a citizen science initiative called Global Bird Rescue (GBR) for a week long campaign (from September 30 to October 6) to document bird-building collisions across the country. “Bird watchers do raise a concern when they see a dead bird or one that collided with glass. Most of the time when the birds see a reflection of a tree on a glass they mistake it for their habitat and collide with it and die. 

Anyone in the country can become a part of the campaign. During the week, participants have to go around the neighbourhood, and scan the ground to look for injured or dead birds. Areas in and around high rises and other man-made structures are where one may find them.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:

https://birdcount.in/event/global-bird-rescue-2019/

9.Prime Minister Modi declares country open defecation free(gs-2,3)

Context: On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the country open defecation free, claiming success for the government’s initiative under which every household now apparently has access to a toilet
“I am satisfied that on the occasion of Gandhi at 150, we are witnessing the fulfillment of his dream of Swachh Bharat. I feel lucky that on this occasion, when India has successfully stopped open defecation, I’m here at the ashram,” he wrote in the visitor’s book at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram on Wednesday.The Prime Minister pressed a remote, unveiling the map of India as open defecation free at the Sabarmati riverfront ground in the presence of more than 20,000 village heads from across the country and also representatives from several countries.

SWACHH BHARAT GRAMEEN:

TO accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation, the Prime Minister of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October, 2014.

Objectives:

To bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas, by promoting cleanliness, hygiene and eliminating open defecation.To motivate communities to adopt sustainable sanitation practices and facilities through awareness creation and health education.To encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies for ecologically safe and sustainable sanitation.To develop community managed sanitation systems focusing on scientific Solid & Liquid Waste Management systems for overall cleanliness in the rural areas.To create significant positive impact on gender and promote social inclusion by improving sanitation especially in marginalized communities.

10.Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)(gs-2,3)

Context: U.S. warns partners of sanctions riskOn a day when External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said he was “reasonably convinced” of persuading the U.S. to accept India’s decision on the purchase of the Russian S­400 missile defence system, U.S. officials warned that any such purchase might risk sanctions.

What is the issue?

The controversial “CAATSA Act” of the U.S. is proving to be a stress point in Indo-U.S. bilateral ties. 

While there is hope that India will get certain exemptions, the larger picture remains dull.  

What is CAATSA Act and how does it affect India?

Why in news? India is buying S-400 system from Russia that might invite sanctions under CAATSA

• “Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)”, is a U.S. law that seeks to constrain its enemy powers economically.
•  Through this law, U.S. imposes economic sanctions on its adversaries and all countries and firms dealing with its adversaries.
• Considering the economic might of the U.S., it would be a big challenge for any nation to overlook U.S. and continue its trade with other partners.
• U.S. has classified Iran and Russia (and North Korea) as adversary countries, but India has strong and critical trade ties with both these countries.
• Notably, Russia is India’s major defence supplier for over 6 decades now, and Iran is India’s second largest oil supplier.
• Hence, if India doesn’t cut trade ties with Iran and Russia, CAATSA Act would’ve kicked in U.S. sanctions against India.   
• This has put India in a tight spot as it can neither dare U.S. sanctions nor antagonize Iran and Russia (or forego supplies from them).

How does the future look?

• CAATSA was a major irritant in the bilateral relationship, and the current waivers are likely to ease the situation considerably.
• Nonetheless, the risk of sanctions against energy trade with Iran still looms large, which could revive tensions.
• The standoff at “World Trade Organisation” (WTO) over tariffs and counter-tariffs the two countries have imposed on each other is another stress point.
• Given the capricious and unpredictable policy swings Mr. Trump has shown, it will be prudent for India to not presume that CAATSA waiver solves all issues.(source:th)

11.System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research(SAFAR)(gs-2,3)

Context: Air quality likely to dip to ‘moderate’ by Oct. 5 

SAFARSAFAR stands for System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research

It is a research program to build Air-Pollution mitigation strategies in consonance with nation’s economic development

12. C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group(gs-2,3)

Context: Delhi CM to endorse clean airdeclaration at C40 summit.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be among 20 leaders from megacities around the world to launch the ‘Clean Air Cities Declaration’, a set of short and long­term commitments towards cleaning the air, during the C40 Summit in Copenhagen. The Delhi government will endorse the declaration and pledge to reduce emissions and air pollution in a set time frame on October 11 at the Tivoli Conference Centre in Copenhagen. The summit will be held from October 9­-12

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is a group of 94 cities around the world that represents one twelfth of the world's population and one quarter of the global economy. Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of urban citizens.

13.‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative launched(gs-2)

Context: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to Wednesday launched his government’s new governance initiative ‘Mo Sarkar’ on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti when different parties organised padayatras and other events to derive political mileage on the occasion.

‘Mo Sarkar’ :objectives:

• The objective of the ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme is to provide service with dignity to people who are coming to government offi??ces for diff??erent purposes. The phone numbers of people who are coming to government offi??ces will be collected randomly with the purpose to improve the governance system by collecting feedback on behaviour and professionalism of government officers. 
• Feedback collection :
• The Chief Minister, Departmental Minister, Director General of Police (in case of police stations) and Departmental Minister, Secretary and Director (in case of hospitals) will call on random numbers to collect feedback. The employees will be ranked as good or bad on the basis of the feedback and those with good rank will get out­of­turn promotion and action will be taken against employees with bad rank.

14.Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad.(gs-1,2)

Context:India hails U.K. verdict on former Nizam Court rejects Pakistan claim, says descendants of Osman Ali Khan are entitled to £35 million fund

The government claimed victory on Wednesday after a U.K. High Court ruled in favour of India and the descendants of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, Osman Ali Khan. Rejecting Pakistan’s claim in the case that dates back to 1948, the High Court of England and Wales ruled in favour of India and the Nizam’s descendants — now mostly based in Turkey and the U.K. — granting them access to a £35 million fund (worth approximately rupees 306 crore).

Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad:

• His Exalted Highness Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Siddiqi, Asaf Jah VII GCSI GBE (6 April 1886 – 24 February 1967), was the last Nizam (ruler) of the princely state of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ruled Hyderabad State between 1911 and 1948, until it was annexed by India. He was styled as His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad. He was one of the wealthiest people of all time. In 1937, he was featured on the cover of Time magazine, labelled as the 5th richest man in history and the richest Indian ever.
• In many accounts, he is held to have been a benevolent ruler who patronized education, science and development. During his 37-year rule, electricity was introduced, railways, roads and airways were developed. He is credited with the establishment numerous public institutions in the city of Hyderabad, including the Osmania University, Osmania General Hospital, State Bank of Hyderabad, Begumpet Airport, and Hyderabad High Court. Two reservoirs, namely Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were built during his reign, to prevent another great flood in the city.
• He was also a philanthropist, donating millions of rupees to various educational and religious institutions all over India. Apart from his wealth, he was known for his eccentricities, as he used to knit his own socks, and borrow cigarettes from guests.
• After India's independence in 1947, the Nizam did not wish to accede his state to the newly formed nation. By then, his power had weakened due to the Telangana movement and rise of a radical militia known as the Razakars. In 1948, the Indian Army invaded and annexed Hyderabad State, and the Nizam was forced to surrender. Later he was made the Rajpramukh of Hyderabad State between 1950 and 1956, after which the state was partitioned and became part of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The Nizam died in 1967.

15.Andhra Pradesh CM launches Village Secretariat system(gs-2)

• Context: Opening a new chapter in public administration by inaugurating the Village Secretariat system at Karapa village near Kakinada on Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said it was a happy coincidence that the launch coincided with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who firmly believed that the country would perish if development eluded villages. 
• Andhra Pradesh became a role model for other States by setting up village and ward secretariats. These institutions would act as a bridge between the government and the people by rendering over 500 types of services at their doorstep, Mr. Reddy said, pointing out that they were a major step towards his poll promise of decentralisation of administration.

Main objective:

• The Village Secretariats would showcase government programmes and make pictorial representations of government schools and hospitals under the caption ‘then and now’ to show how reforms had changed their functioning.

8.HYDERI MANZIL(gs-1)

Context:The Mahatma’s home in Kolkata opened to public State govt. converts house into Gandhi Bhawan Museum

HYDERI MANZIL

The building was originally the property of Dawoodi Bohra Community, a branch of Shia Islam, centered in western India. Some members of the community had migrated from Surat to Bengal in as early as 1843 and later became known as Bengaliwalla. They settled in 19th century Bengal with the objective of business and bought extensive properties in Calcutta including a large one in Beliaghata. Hyderi Manzil was a part of this property. In 1923, Sheikh Adam, a Dawoodi Bohra inherited this single-storey building with a pond behind it.
MAHATMA GANDHI'S VISIT AND FAST, 1947 -The seed of Communal Violence in different parts of India during 1946-47, was probably implanted in 1942 when Gandhiji launched QUIT INDIA, a civil disobedience movement demanding British Withdrawal from the Country. Though the movement was supported by Indian National Congress but parties like Muslim League, Hindu Mahasava, Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) opposed to it. The movement had created a national consciousness along with the sense of power and its distribution. This has resulted in a sense of insecurity, contradictions and an environment of uncertainty. Due to the fundamentalism of Muslim League and aggressiveness of Hindu Mahasava, the social climate was extremely tense and sensitive. The common mass were worried about the partition. It was awaiting a spark !!

16.‘Einstein Challenge’(gs-2,3)

Context: PM moots ‘Einstein Challenge’ in tribute to the Mahatma 

Observing that Mahatma Gandhi envisioned Indian nationalism as one that was never narrow or exclusive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday proposed what he called the ‘Einstein Challenge’ to ensure that Gandhiji’s ideals are remembered by future generations

Writing an opinion column in The New York Times, the Prime Minister recalled Albert Einstein’s famous words on Gandhi, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.”

Due to this, as a tribute to the Father of the Nation, he invited thinkers, entrepreneurs and tech leaders to spread Gandhi’s ideas “through innovation”.

“Let us work shoulder to shoulder to make our world prosperous and free from hate, violence and suffering. That is when we will fulfill Mahatma Gandhi’s dream, summed up in his favorite hymn, “Vaishnava Jana To,” which says that a true human is one who feels the pain of others, removes misery and is never arrogant,” Modi wrote in the piece title ‘Why India and the World Need Gandhi’

17.Amit Shah to flag off new Delhi-Katra Train 18; big gift for Vaishno Devi pilgrims(gs-2,3)

Context:

Home Minister Amit Shah will flag off the new Vande Bharat Express train between Delhi and Katra at around 9:30 AM today. The new Train 18 will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Mata Vaishno Devi Katra stations to just 8 hours. Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways is launching the new Vande Bharat train during Navratras. Vande Bharat Express train tickets are available for booking at railway stations and on IRCTC website and Rail Connect App. Train number 22439/22440 will begin commercial services from October 5. The New Delhi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express train will run all days of the week, except for Tuesday.

Vande Bharat Express:

• It is India’s first indigenously built engineless semi-high speed train. Earlier, it was known by the name Train 18.
• It runs between Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 160 kmph.
• It has been built by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, in a record time of 20 months.
• The train is a 100% ‘Make in India’ project and is claimed to be built at half the cost of a similar train set that is imported.
• It is energy-efficient as its coaches will be fitted with LED lights. Coaches will have automatic doors and retractable footsteps.
• It will be inter-connected with fully sealed gangways along with a GPS-based Passenger Information System. It is provided with Bio toilets.

  
  

18.Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS)(gs-2)

Context: Delhi’s tap water fails to meet BIS test; not safe to drink

• With a new investigation of Delhi tap water showing that it is not safe to drink, the Centre has announced plans to test the quality of piped drinking water in the states and release Swachh Pani rankings early next month. It is also trying to build a consensus to make quality standards for tap water a mandatory requirement.
• A team from the Bureau of Indian Standards has been sent to state capitals to collect samples of tap water to see if they meet quality standards, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters on Thursday..
• 

Bureau of Indian Standards :

Bureau of Indian Standards Act

• BIS Act allows multiple types of simplified conformity assessment schemes including self-declaration of conformity.
• BIS act provides enabling provisions for making hallmarking of precious metal articles mandatory.
• The Act enables the Central Government to appoint any authority/agency, in addition to the BIS, to verify the conformity of products and services with the established standard and  issue certificate of conformity.
• There is a provision for repair or recall, of the products (bearing Standard Mark) that do not conform to the relevant Indian Standard.
• New areas identified in standardization are: 
• Alternate fuels
• E-mobility
• Medical Devices
• Smart Cities
• Digital Technologies (e.g. Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain etc.)
• New and Renewable energy.

Important initiatives for effective implementation of the BIS Act, 2016 are

• BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations, 2018 under the BIS act calls for Hallmarking of:
• Gold jewellery and gold artefacts
• Silver jewellery and silver artefacts
• Penal provisions for better and effective compliance have been made stringent under BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations, 2018.

Bureau of Indian Standards

• BIS is the National Standard Body of India for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods.
• BIS has been providing traceability and tangibility benefits to the national economy in a number of ways by:
• Providing safe reliable quality goods.
• Minimizing health hazards to consumers.
• Promoting exports and imports substitute.
• Control over proliferation of varieties etc through standardization, certification and testing.

19.Rafale fighter jet(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to fly Rafale sortie on October 8 in Paris

Defence Minister Rajnath Mr. Singh will fly a sortie in a Rafale fighter jet on October 8 from a French airbase in Paris to gain first-hand experience of the aircraft, official sources said on October 3.

Mr. Singh is scheduled to travel to Paris on October 7 on a three-day visit, primarily to receive the first of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

The ceremony to hand over the first Rafale jet will take place on October 8, the foundation day of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the sources said.

Rafale fighter jet:

• The Dassault Rafale literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense)is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The Rafale is referred to as an "omnirole" aircraft by Dassault.
• In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs and boost prospective sales, France entered into an arrangement with UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to produce an agile multi-purpose fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon. Subsequent disagreements over workshare and differing requirements led to France's pursuit of its own development programme. Dassault built a technology demonstrator which first flew in July 1986 as part of an eight-year flight-test programme, paving the way for the go-ahead of the project. The Rafale is distinct from other European fighters of its era in that it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of France's major defence contractors, such as Dassault, Thales and Safran.
• Many of the aircraft's avionics and features, such as direct voice input, the RBE2 AA active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the optronique secteur frontal infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor, were domestically developed and produced for the Rafale programme. Originally scheduled to enter service in 1996, the Rafale suffered significant delays due to post-Cold War budget cuts and changes in priorities. The aircraft is available in three main variants: Rafale C single-seat land-based version, Rafale B twin-seat land-based version, and Rafale M single-seat carrier-based version.
• Introduced in 2001, the Rafale is being produced for both the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations in the French Navy. The Rafale has been marketed for export to several countries, and was selected for purchase by the Indian Air Force, the Egyptian Air Force, and the Qatar Air Force. The Rafale has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria. Several upgrades to the weapons and avionics of the Rafale are planned to be introduced by 2018

20.Single-use plastic(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT: Odisha to strictly enforce ban on single-use plastic

After it faced strong opposition over implementation of the amended traffic rules a few weeks ago, the administration is taking no chances before strictly enforcing the ban on single-use plastic in Odisha.

The administration has launched an awareness drive in all the urban areas, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and Berhampur, in a big way to make people aware of the threats plastic bags, polythene and single-use plastic pose to the environment.

Though raids are being conducted in different areas, a period of one month has been given to traders in Bhubaneswar to make necessary arrangements to cope with the ban on single-use plastic. Cases will be registered against repeat offenders, an official said.

Single-use plastic:

What are single use plastics?

• There is no central and comprehensive definition for single-use plastic, crucial for any ban to be successful. Governments currently use various definitions.  
• Some states like Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh banned plastic bottles and Tetra packs, single-use straws, plastic/styrofoam tea cups/containers, etc. But many like Bihar banned only polythene bags.

India’s efforts to beat plastic pollution:

• More than 20 States and Union Territories have joined the fight to beat the plastic pollution, announcing a ban on single-use plastics such as carry bags, cups, plates, cutlery, straws and thermocol products.
• India has also won global acclaim for its “Beat Plastic Pollution” resolve declared on World Environment Day last year, under which it pledged to eliminate single-use plastic by 2022.
• All such efforts have yielded positive results: Voluntary initiatives are having an impact in many States, as citizens reduce, reuse and sort their waste. A Bengaluru waste collective estimates that the volume of plastic waste that they collect dropped from about two tonnes a day to less than 100 kg.

Gaps existing:

• Waste plastic from packaging of everything from food, cosmetics and groceries to goods delivered by online platforms remains unaddressed.
• Collect-back system: The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 are clear that producers, importers and brand owners must adopt a collect-back system for the plastic they introduce into the environment. However, not much has been done to take the process forward.
• Extended Producer Responsibility clause: Small producers of plastics are facing the ban, while more organised entities covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility clause continue with business as usual

What is needed?

• Governments must start charging the producers for their waste, and collect it diligently, which will lead to recovery and recycling.
• State and local governments should upgrade their waste management systems, which is necessary to even measure the true scale of packaging waste.
• Role of local bodies: Local bodies should consult manufacturers or importers to assess the problem. Cities and towns need competent municipal systems to achieve this.
• A central legislation with a clear definition of what constitutes single-use plastic is also necessary.

21. National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC),WHO(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT: NHSRC to be WHO collaborating centre for medical devices

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), has announced the re-designation of the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Priority Medical Devices and Health Technology Policy.
• In the past, NHSRC as a collaborating centre has supported WHO in formulating technical specifications for medical devices such as oxygen concentrators and resuscitation devices and continues to support evaluation of innovations for WHO’s compendium on innovative devices.

National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC):

• Established in 2006, the National Health Systems Resource Centre's mandate is to assist in policy and strategy development in the provision and mobilization of technical assistance to the states and in capacity building for the Ministry of Health.
• National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) has been set up under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of Government of India to serve as an apex body for technical assistance.
• Established in 2006, the National Health Systems Resource Centre's mandate is to assist in policy and strategy development in the provision and mobilization of technical assistance to the states and in capacity building for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) at the centre and in the states.The goal of this institution is to improve health outcomes by facilitating governance reform, health systems innovations and improved information sharing among all stake holders at the national, state, district and sub-district levels through specific capacity development and convergence models.
• It has a 23 member Governing Body, chaired by the Secretary, MoHFW, Government of India with the Mission Director, NRHM as the Vice Chairperson of the GB and the Chairperson of its Executive Committee. Of the 23 members, 14 are ex-officio senior health administrators, including four from the states. Nine are public health experts, from academics and Management Experts. The Executive Director, NHSRC is the Member Secretary of both the Governing body and the Executive Committee. NHSRC's annual governing board meet sanctions its work agenda and its budget.
• The NHSRC currently consists of seven divisions – Community Processes, Healthcare Financing, Healthcare Technology, Human Resources for Health, Public Health Administration, Public Health Planning, Quality Improvement in Healthcare
• The NHSRC has a branch office in the north-east region of India. The North East Regional Resource Centre (NE RRC) has functional autonomy and implements a similar range of activities.

WHO:

World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations’ specialized agency for Health was founded in 1948.

• Its headquarters are situated in Geneva, Switzerland.
• There are 194 Member States, 150 country offices, six regional offices.
• It is an inter-governmental organization and works in collaboration with its member states usually through the Ministries of Health.
• The WHO provides leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
• It began functioning on April 7, 1948 – a date now being celebrated every year as World Health Day.

Objectives

• To act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work.
• To establish and maintain effective collaboration with the United Nations, specialized agencies, governmental health administrations, professional groups and such other organizations as may be deemed appropriate.
• To provide assistance to the Governments, upon request, in strengthening health services.
• To promote cooperation among scientific and professional groups which contribute to the advancement of health.

Governance

World Health Assembly

• The Health Assembly is composed of delegates representing Members.
• Each Member is represented by not more than three delegates, one of whom is designated by the Member as chief delegate.
• These delegates are chosen from among persons most qualified by their technical competence in the field of health, preferably representing the national health administration of the Member.
• The Health Assembly meets in regular annual session and sometimes in special sessions as well.

Functions

• The Health Assembly determines the policies of the Organization.
• It supervises the financial policies of the Organization and reviews and approves the budget.
• It reports to the Economic and Social Council in accordance with any agreement between the Organization and the United Nations.

22. Climate change(GS-3)

CONTEXT:New calendar imagines a ‘world without climate change’

A page from Lavazza’s 2020 calendar.

“Earth CelebrAction” is the theme of Lavazza’s 2020 calendar, released here on Thursday, as the world heads into an uncertain future singed by extreme weather cycles, Amazon wildfires and brinkmanship over the climate deal.

Shot by the celebrated American photographer David LaChapelle for the Lavazza Group, the stunning photos set in Maui, Hawaii are as life affirming as they are a contrast to a world under siege by 20th century lifestyles.

In their conception and execution, they are a fitting continuation of Amy Vitale’s shots of art installations in natural settings in the “Good to Earth” series of the 2019 calendar.

Climate change(NOTES)….

‘Climate change’ as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. The major characteristics of climate change include rise in average global temperature, ice cap melting, changes in precipitation, and increase in ocean temperature leading to sea level rise.

GLOBAL WARNING

• Unprecedented warming over the last few decades.

• -0.8°C since 1880 and still continue.

• Increase in the average global temperature of Earth’s atmosphere, near the surface and in the troposphere.

Green House (Glass House)

• Cold climate areas

• Inside temperature higher than a low outside temperature

• Protects the plants from plant

Green House Effects

• Naturally occurring phenomenon that blankets the lower atmosphere and warms it, maintaining the temperature suitable for living to survive.

• Frozen and lifeless in the absence of Green House Effects, like moon

• Venus- thick atmosphere

• Average temperature – 14°C

• In the absence of green house effect- 18°C

• Green house (Conventional) v/s Green house effect (Radiative)

Gas that absorbs and emits infrared Radiation are known as Green House Gases.

Trap Heat in Atmosphere:

– Water Vapour ( H2O)

– Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

– Methane (CH4)

– Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

– Fluorinated Gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF6, etc.)

– Nitrogen Fluoride ( NF3)

Factors that determine the degree to which any GHG will influence global warming:

– Abundance

– Ability to absorb energy (global warming potential)

– Life – how long it stays in atmosphere.

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

A measure of the total energy that a gas absorbs over a particular period of time (usually 100 years) compared to CO2.

Larger than GWP, more warming the gas causes:

(CO2-1)-Carbon Dioxide (CO2):

• Fossil fuel Burning

• Energy production – Coal and natural Gas

• Transportation- petrol and diesel industry

• Industry, production of chemicals, cements etc.

(CH4- 21)-Methane (CH4):

• Wetland

• Coal Mining

• Agriculture

– Domestic Livestock

– Rice field

• Industry

• CH4- Component of Natural Gas

(N2O- 300)-Nitrous Oxide (N2O):

• Fossil fuel combustion- In industry and transportation

• Synthetic fertilizers in Agriculture

• Livestock manual and Urine- Nitrogen complexes breakdown

(F- Gases – High GWP Gases)-Fluorinated Gases:

• HFCs to replace CFCs

• PFCs in semiconductor manufacturing

• SF6 in industrial processes

Basics of Climate Change

BASICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

‘Climate change’ as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. The major characteristics of climate change include rise in average global temperature, ice cap melting, changes in precipitation, and increase in ocean temperature leading to sea level rise.

GLOBAL WARNING

• Unprecedented warming over the last few decades.

• -0.8°C since 1880 and still continue.

• Increase in the average global temperature of Earth’s atmosphere, near the surface and in the troposphere.

Green House (Glass House)

• Cold climate areas

• Inside temperature higher than a low outside temperature

• Protects the plants from plant

Green House Effects

• Naturally occurring phenomenon that blankets the lower atmosphere and warms it, maintaining the temperature suitable for living to survive.

• Frozen and lifeless in the absence of Green House Effects, like moon

• Venus- thick atmosphere

• Average temperature – 14°C

• In the absence of green house effect- 18°C

• Green house (Conventional) v/s Green house effect (Radiative)

Gas that absorbs and emits infrared Radiation are known as Green House Gases.

Trap Heat in Atmosphere:

– Water Vapour ( H2O)

– Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

– Methane (CH4)

– Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

– Fluorinated Gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF6, etc.)

– Nitrogen Fluoride ( NF3)

Factors that determine the degree to which any GHG will influence global warming:

– Abundance

– Ability to absorb energy (global warming potential)

– Life – how long it stays in atmosphere.

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

A measure of the total energy that a gas absorbs over a particular period of time (usually 100 years) compared to CO2.

Larger than GWP, more warming the gas causes:

(CO2-1)-Carbon Dioxide (CO2):

• Fossil fuel Burning

• Energy production – Coal and natural Gas

• Transportation- petrol and diesel industry

• Industry, production of chemicals, cements etc.

(CH4- 21)-Methane (CH4):

• Wetland

• Coal Mining

• Agriculture

– Domestic Livestock

– Rice field

• Industry

• CH4- Component of Natural Gas

(N2O- 300)-Nitrous Oxide (N2O):

• Fossil fuel combustion- In industry and transportation

• Synthetic fertilizers in Agriculture

• Livestock manual and Urine- Nitrogen complexes breakdown

(F- Gases – High GWP Gases)-Fluorinated Gases:

• HFCs to replace CFCs

• PFCs in semiconductor manufacturing

• SF6 in industrial processes

Impacts of the Climate Change:

Impact on Biodiversity

• Climate change is expected to have a significant influence on terrestrial biodiversity at all system levels – ecosystem, species and genetic diversity.

• The changing climate will stimulate species-level changes in range and abundance, life cycle and behaviour, and, over time, genetic evolutionary responses.

• These changes will in turn be linked with changes in natural disturbance patterns and changes in ecosystem structure and function.

Impact on Agriculture

• According to World Meteorological Organization, climate change can adversely impact global environment, agricultural productivity and the quality of human life.

• More importantly in developing countries, it will be difficult for farmers to carry on farming in the increased temperatures.

• While in temperate latitudes a rise in temperature would help countries increase food productivity, it will have adverse effects in India and countries in the tropics.

• The monsoon accounting for 75% of India’s rainfall significantly impacts country’s agriculture and livelihood of tens of millions of small farmers.

• Climate change is likely to intensify the variability of monsoon dynamics, leading to a rise in extreme seasonal aberrations, such as increased precipitation and devastating floods in some parts of the country as well as reduced rainfall and prolonged droughts in other areas.

Impact on fisheries and Aquaculture

• Climate change, more particularly harsher weather conditions, will have impact on the quality, productivity, output and viability of fish and aquaculture enterprises, thereby affecting fishing community.

• The small-scale fishers may be faced with greater uncertainty as availability, access, stability and use of aquatic food and supplies would diminish and work opportunities would dwindle. Aquaculture development opportunities will increase in particular in tropical and sub-tropical regions.

• The climate change in warmer regions offers new opportunities as production in warmer regions will increase because of better growth rates, a longer growing season and the availability of new fish farming areas where it was once too cold.

Impact on Demography

• Rising sea levels owing to climate change would force communities in low-lying coastal areas and river deltas to move to higher ground level.

• Similarly, increase in frequency of droughts due to climate change would force farmers and pastoralists, who rely on rainfall to raise their crops and livestock, to migrate to areas in search of land and water.

• This migration/displacement of people would result in direct conflict and competition between migrants and established communities for access to land and water.

• It may be difficult for displaced communities to maintain their farming or pastoral traditions.

Impact on Glacier

• Glaciers the world over are thinning and shrinking as the planet warms, and glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than anywhere else.

• If the earth keeps warming at the current rate, Himalayan glaciers are likely to disappear altogether in 25 years.

• In the absence of glaciers, rivers in the Indo-Gangetic plain will become much more seasonal, threatening the rabi crop as well as domestic and industrial water supplies in the non-monsoon months.

• In addition, more precipitation will fall as rain rather than snow and the greater water run-offs will increase flooding.

Impact on Weather

• Increasing global temperatures will lead to higher maximum temperatures, more heat waves, and fewer cold days over most land areas.

• More severe drought in some areas, combined with other factors, has contributed to larger and more frequent wildfires.

Impact on Human Health

• Changes in the greenhouse gas concentrations and other drivers alter the global climate and bring about myriad human health consequences.

• Environmental consequences of climate change, such as extreme heat waves, rising sea-levels, changes in precipitation resulting in flooding and droughts, intense hurricanes, and degraded air quality have impact directly and indirectly on the physical, social, and psychological health of humans.

Impact on Water Resources

• Climate change will have an impact on the predictability and variability in the availability of water and also increase in frequencies of droughts and floods.

• Worst sufferers would be farmers of the rainfed agriculture, which covers 60% of all cultivated land in the country.

• The risk of crop failures will increase in semi-arid zones with prolonged dry seasons forcing people to migrate, when stability of food production cannot be assured.

• Irrigated areas in large river basins and deltas can also be at risk because of a combination of factors, such as reduced runoff, salinity, increasing floods, sea level rise, urban and industrial pollution.

Lead to Sea Level Rise

• The Bay of Bengal points to the sea rising 3.14 mm a year in the mangrove swamps of ‘the Sunderbans delta’ against a global average of 2 mm, threatening the low-lying area which is home to about 4 million people.

• A trend of sea level rise of 1 cm. per decade has been recorded along the Indian coast. The major delta area of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus rivers, which have large populations reliant on riverine resources, will be affected by changes in water regimes, salt water intrusions and land loss.

• The rise in sea temperature also causes coral bleaching, which negatively affects fishes, sponges, giant clams, and other sea creatures.

• The El Nino event of 1998 resulted massive mortality of corals in the Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Threat to Cities

• The Indian cities will face the impact of climate change in various forms. Indian urban infrastructure is less advanced and over-stressed in most cities.

• The floods and heavy rains caused by climate change will devastate the urban dwellings and make havoc to the lakhs of poor lives.

• Nowadays rural population is migrating towards cities increasing the demands of power, housing and drinking water and transportation.

• The water scarcity due to glacial melting and irregular rainfalls will reduce the availability of clean drinking water.

Steps taken by Government:

• India’s Energy Conservation Act ( Energy Conservation Act), 2001; The 2010 amendment to the S ENERGY CONSERVATION ACT created PAT scheme as a market-based trading scheme enable industries to meet the mandatory energy efficiency standards that had begun to be developed under the original Energy Conservation Act.

• PAT scheme is now India’s main effort-defining policy. It is overseen by the BEE and was introduced by the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE).

• Use of Renewable Energy-The Electricity Act 2003 together with the National Electricity Policy 2005 (NEP) and the Tariff Policy (TP) mandate promotion of electricity generation from renewable sources. The Electricity Act and these policies envisage regulatory interventions for promotion of renewable energy sources.

• Climate Friendly Transport Sector-Transport India has taken substantial initiatives to make the transport sector less emission intensive. One of the major initiatives has been upgradation of vehicular emission norms such as Bharat Stage II, Bharat Stage III and Bharat Stage IV. The commercial manufacture of battery-operated vehicles has begun in India with a view to promoting low/ no carbon emitting vehicles.

• Conservation of Agriculture, Forest and Water Resources- National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture. There are also programmes for crop improvement and drought proofing. India has launched an ambitious Green India Mission to increase the quality and quantity of forest cover in 10 million ha of land. Also an incentive-based additional special grant of US$ 1.2 billion had been announced by the central government to all states for sustainable forestry management.

• Forestry Sector- The National Forest Policy (1988), Participatory Forest Management/Joint Forest Management Programme, National Afforestation Programme, National Forestry Action Programme and National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas.

• Coastal Area- Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction Systems (COMAPS), Land Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ), Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management (ICMAM), and Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM).

• Enhancing Adaptive Capacity- the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is India’s National Implementing Entity (NIE) for the Adaptation Fund created under the UNFCCC. At present, NABARD is the only NIE in the Asia Pacific Region.

India is a part of the international collaboration for mitigating climate change; such as- international forum, regional forum, negotiation group etc.

23.PM Modi inaugurates metro service, ENT hospital in Mauritius (GS-2)

CONTEXT:Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated a metro express service and a hospital in Mauritius with Mauritian premier Pravind Jugnauth via video on Thursday and described the projects as a symbol of New Delhi's strong commitment towards the development of the island nation.

India–Mauritius relations:

• India–Mauritius (or Indo-Mauritian relations) refers to the historical, political, economic, military, social and cultural connections between the Republic of India and the Republic of Mauritius. Connections between India and Mauritius date back to 1730, diplomatic relations were established in 1948, before Mauritius became independent state.The cultural affinities and long historical ties between the two nations have contributed to strong and cordial relations between the two nations. More than 68% of the Mauritian population are of Indian origin, most commonly known as Indo-Mauritians. India and Mauritius co-operate in combating piracy, which has emerged as a major threat in the Indian Ocean region and Mauritius supports India’s stance against terrorism

24.World Economic Forum(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT:No problem with NRC, I had a talk with PM Modi in New York: Sheikh Hasina

While the NRC could figure during discussions between the two Prime Ministers, sources said Modi has already assured Hasina on this matter. “It will depend on the Bangladesh PM. The Indian position will remain the same as articulated by the PM during their meeting in New York,” sources said.

No problem with NRC, I had a talk with PM Modi in New York: Sheikh Hasina

Meanwhile, addressing the WEF’s summit, Hasina said that Bangladesh “can serve as the economic hub for the sub-region”. “Beyond our own 162 million people, Bangladesh can be the connecting landmass to a combined market of nearly 3 billion people,” she said.

World Economic Forum:

• It was established in 1971 by Klaus Schwab as a not-for-profit foundation
• headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
• Formerly called European Management Forum
• Motto : Committed to improve the state of the world

• It is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
• It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.
• The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.

Governance

• Chairperson : Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab
• Board of Trustees : exceptional individuals who act as guardians of its mission and values, and oversee the Forum’s work in promoting true global citizenship.  Its membership is divided equally between representatives of the business community and leaders from international organizations and civil society.
• Managing Board : acts as the executive body of the WEF& acts as its representative to outside parties.
• The organization also convenes some six to eight regional meetings each year in locations across Africa, East Asia, and Latin America, and holds two further annual meetings in China, India and the United Arab Emirates
• Until 2012, it had observer status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council; it is under the supervision of the Swiss Federal Council.

Publications:

• Global risk report, 2018
• Readiness for the future of production
• Global gender gap report
• Inclusive development index
• Global competitiveness report (index)
• Global human capital report (index)
• Travel and tourism competitiveness report (index)
• Global energy architecture performance index reporT

Summer annual meeting:

• In 2007, the foundation established the Annual Meeting of the New Champions (also called Summer Davos), held annually in China, alternating between Dalian and Tianjin, bringing together 1,500 participants from what the foundation calls Global Growth Companies, primarily from rapidly growing emerging countries such as China, India, Russia, Mexico, and Brazil, but also including quickly growing companies from developed countries. The meeting also engages with the next generation of global leaders from fast-growing regions and competitive cities, as well as technology pioneers from around the globe. The Chinese Premier has delivered a plenary address at each annual meeting

25.NILGIRIS,Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve(GS-1,3)

CONTEXT: Drone cameras threaten Nilgiris wildlife

Aerial threats: The Shaheen Falcon is known to be very aggressive around unmanned drones.

With more and more amateur photographers descending on the Nilgiris and the rest of the Western Ghats to capture footage of stunning vistas and exotic wildlife, conservationists are concerned that enthusiasts using drone cameras may be posing a significant threat to the endangered species of birds, especially raptors, many of which are known to attack the equipment and sustain injuries in the process.

The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in western Tamil Nadu of Southern India. At least 24 of the Nilgiri Mountains' peaks are above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), the highest peak being Doddabetta, at 2,637 metres (8,652 ft).

Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve:

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is an International Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills ranges of South India. The Nilgiri Sub-Cluster is a part of the Western Ghats, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012.It includes the Aralam, Mudumalai, Mukurthi, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Silent Valley national parks, as well as the Wayanad and Sathyamangalam wildlife sanctuaries.

A fascinating ecosystem of the hill ranges of Nilgiris and its surrounding environments covering a tract of over 5000 square kilometers was constituted as Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in September 1986 under Man and Biosphere Programme. Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve is India's first and foremost biosphere reserves with a heritage, rich in flora and fauna. Tribal groups like the Todas, Kotas, Irullas, Kurumbas, Paniyas, Adiyans, Edanadan Chettis, Allar, Malayan, etc., are native to the reserve.

26.United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations(gs-2,3)

• Context: In a first, U.S. lawmakers take a step against India on Kashmir.
• In what could become the first step towards legislative action by American lawmakers against India on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has added an appeal to end what it calls a “humanitarian crisis” in Kashmir in its report ahead of the annual Foreign Appropriations Act for 2020.
• The amendment was proposed by Senator Chris Van Hollen, who visited Delhi this week as a part of a congressional delegation that discussed the Kashmir situation as well as India-U.S. bilateral relations, trade ties and defence purchases with key officials.

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations:

• The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. 
• The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing (but not administering) and funding foreign aid programs as well as funding arms sales and training for national allies. 
• The committee is also responsible for holding confirmation hearings for high-level positions in the Department of State. The committee has considered, debated, and reported important treaties and legislation, ranging from the Alaska purchase in 1867 to the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. 
• It also holds jurisdiction over all diplomatic nominations. Along with the Finance and Judiciary Committees, the Foreign Relations Committee is one of the oldest in the Senate, going back to the initial creation of committees in 1816. Its sister committee in the House of Representatives is the Committee on Foreign Affairs (renamed from International Relations by the 110th Congress in January 2007)

27.LOKPAL(GS-2)

CONTEXT:Lokpal receives 1,065 complaints, disposes of almost all

• The anti-corruption ombudsman became functional after appointment of its chairperson and eight members in March
• Lokpal, the apex anti-corruption ombudsman that became functional after the appointment of its chairperson and eight members in March, has heard and disposed of 1,000 of the 1,065 complaints received till September 30.
• “Although the form for filing complaint has not yet been notified, Lokpal decided to scrutinise all the complaints received in the office, in whatever form they were sent,” said the authority on its website.
• As recommended by the Selection Committee, under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, the President appointed the Lokpal chairperson and eight members (including four from the judicial side) on March 19.
• Justice (retired) Pinaki Chandra Ghose took charge as the first Lokpal chairman on March 23, following which the members joined on March 27.
• The Lokpal has jurisdiction to inquire into corruption allegations against anyone who is, or has been, Prime Minister, or a Minister in the Central government, or an MP and Central government officials.
• Chairpersons, members, functionaries and directors of any organisation set up under a law passed by Parliament, or wholly/partly funded by the Central or State government, are also covered, apart from the registered bodies that receive foreign contribution above RS 10 lakh.

What are Lokpal and Lokayukta?

• The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 provided for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for States.
• These institutions are statutory bodies without any constitutional status.
• They perform the function of an "ombudsman” and inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for related matters.

Why do we need such institutions?

• Maladministration is like a termite which slowly erodes the foundation of a nation and hinders administration from completing its task. Corruption is the root cause of this problem.
• Most of the anti-corruption agencies are hardly independent. Even Supreme Court has been termed CBI as a “caged parrot” and “its master’s voice”.
• Many of these agencies are advisory bodies without any effective powers and their advice is rarely followed.
• There is also the problem of internal transparency and accountability. Moreover, there is not any separate and effective mechanism to put checks on these agencies.
• In this context, an independent institution of Lokpal has been a landmark move in the history of Indian polity which offered a solution to the never-ending menace of corruption.

Background

• In 1809, the institution of ombudsman was inaugurated officially in Sweden.
• In the 20th century, Ombudsman as an institution developed and grew most significantly after the Second World War.
• New Zealand and Norway adopted this system in the year 1962 and it proved to be of great significance in spreading the concept of the ombudsman.
• In 1967, on the recommendations of the Whyatt Report of 1961, Great Britain adopted the institution of the ombudsman and became the first large nation in the democratic world to have such a system.
• In 1966, Guyana became the first developing nation to adopt the concept of the ombudsman. Subsequently, it was further adopted by Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia, and India as well.
• In India, the concept of constitutional ombudsman was first proposed by the then law minister Ashok Kumar Sen in parliament in the early 1960s.
• The term Lokpal and Lokayukta were coined by Dr. L. M. Singhvi.
• In 1966, the First Administrative Reforms Commission recommended the setting up of two independent authorities- at the central and state level, to look into complaints against public functionaries, including MPs.
• In 1968, Lokpal bill was passed in Lok Sabha but lapsed with the dissolution of Lok Sabha and since then it has lapsed in the Lok Sabha many times.
• Till 2011 eight attempts were made to pass the Bill, but all met with failure.
• In 2002, the Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution headed by M.N. Venkatachaliah recommended the appointment of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas; also recommended that the PM be kept out of the ambit of the authority.
• In 2005, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission chaired by Veerappa Moily recommended that the office of Lokpal should be established without delay.
• In 2011, the government formed a Group of Ministers, chaired by Pranab Mukherjee to suggest measures to tackle corruption and examine the proposal of a Lokpal Bill.
• "India Against Corruption movement" led by Anna Hazare put pressure on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre and resulted in the passing of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2013, in both the Houses of Parliament.
• It received assent from President on 1 January 2014 and came into force on 16 January 2014.

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill, 2016

• This Bill was passed by Parliament in July 2016 and amended the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013.
• It enables the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha to be a member of the selection committee in the absence of a recognized Leader of Opposition.
• It also amended section 44 of the 2013 Act that deals with the provision of furnishing of details of assets and liabilities of public servants within 30 days of joining the government service.
• The Bill replaces the time limit of 30 days, now the public servants will make a declaration of their assets and liabilities in the form and manner as prescribed by the government.
• It also gives an extension of the time given to trustees and board members to declare their assets and those of their spouses in case of these are receiving government funds of more than Rs. 1 crore or foreign funding of more than Rs. 10 lakh.

Structure of Lokpal

Lokpal is a multi-member body, that consists of one chairperson and a maximum of 8 members.

• Chairperson of the Lokpal should be either the former Chief Justice of India or the former Judge of Supreme Court or an eminent person with impeccable integrity and outstanding ability, having special knowledge and expertise of minimum 25 years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management.
• Out of the maximum eight members, half will be judicial members and minimum 50% of the Members will be from SC/ ST/ OBC/ Minorities and women.
• The judicial member of the Lokpal either a former Judge of the Supreme Court or a former Chief Justice of a High Court.
• The non-judicial member should be an eminent person with impeccable integrity and outstanding ability, having special knowledge and expertise of minimum 25 years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management.
• The term of office for Lokpal Chairman and Members is 5 years or till the age of 70 years.
• The members are appointed by the president on the recommendation of a Selection Committee.
• The selection committee is composed of the Prime Minister who is the Chairperson; Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha,  Chief Justice of India or a Judge nominated by him/her and One eminent jurist.
• For selecting the chairperson and the members, the selection committee constitutes a search panel of at least eight persons.

Lokpal Search Committee

• Under the Lokpal Act of 2013, the DoPT is supposed to put together a list of candidates interested to be the chairperson or members of the Lokpal.
• This list would then go to the proposed eight-member search committee, which would shortlist names and place them before the selection panel headed by the Prime Minister.
• The selection panel may or may not pick names suggested by the search committee.
• In September 2018, the government had constituted a search committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
• The 2013 Act also provides that all states should set up the office of the Lokayukta within one year from the commencement of the Act.

Lokpal Jurisdiction and Powers

• Jurisdiction of Lokpal includes Prime Minister, Ministers, members of Parliament, Groups A, B, C and D officers and officials of Central Government.
• Jurisdiction of the Lokpal included the Prime Minister except on allegations of corruption relating to international relations, security, the public order, atomic energy and space.
• The Lokpal does not have jurisdiction over Ministers and MPs in the matter of anything said in Parliament or a vote given there.
• Its jurisdiction also includes any person who is or has been in charge (director/ manager/ secretary) of anybody/ society set up by central act or any other body financed/ controlled by central government and any other person involved in act of abetting, bribe giving or bribe taking.
• The Lokpal Act mandates that all public officials should furnish the assets and liabilities of themselves as well as their respective dependents.
• It has the powers to superintendence over, and to give direction to CBI.
• If Lokpal has referred a case to CBI, the investigating officer in such case cannot be transferred without the approval of Lokpal.
• The Inquiry Wing of the Lokpal has been vested with the powers of a civil court.
• Lokpal has powers of confiscation of assets, proceeds, receipts and benefits arisen or procured by means of corruption in special circumstances.
• Lokpal has the power to recommend transfer or suspension of public servant connected with allegation of corruption.
• Lokpal has the power to give directions to prevent the destruction of records during the preliminary inquiry.

Limitations

• The institution of lokpal has tried to bring a much needed change in the battle against corruption in the administrative structure of India but at the same time, there are loopholes and lacunae which need to be corrected.
• Five years have passed since the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 was passed by parliament, but not a single Lokpal has been appointed till date indicating the lack of political will.
• The Lokpal act also called upon states to appoint a Lokayukta within a year of its coming to force. But only 16 states have established the Lokayukta.
• Lokpal is not free from political influence as the appointing committee itself consist of members from political parties.
• The appointment of Lokpal can be manipulated in a way as there is no criterion to decide who is an ‘eminent jurist’ or ‘a person of integrity.’
• The 2013 act did not provide concrete immunity to the whistle blowers. The provision for initiation of inquiry against the complainant if the accused is found innocent will only discourage people from complaining.
• The biggest lacuna is the exclusion of judiciary from the ambit of the Lokpal.
• The Lokpal is not given any constitutional backing and there is no adequate provision for appeal against the Lokpal.
• The specific details in relation to the appointment of Lokayukta have been left completely on the States.
• To some extent, the need for functional independence of the CBI has been catered to by a change brought forth in the selection process of its Director, by this Act.
• The complaint against corruption cannot be registered after a period of seven years from the date on which the offence mentioned in such complaint is alleged to have been committed.

28.REPO RATE(GS-3)

• CONTEXT: RBI’s 25-bps rate cut leaves market disappointed
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) delivered another rate cut on Friday — the fifth in as many policy review meetings to boost a slowing economy. However, the move failed to cheer the market which was betting on a bigger rate reduction.

• The central bank also revised its growth forecast for the current financial sharply, from 6.9% projected in the August policy, to 6.1%. Growth forecast for the first quarter of the next financial year was also trimmed to 7.2% from 7.4%.
• Inflation forecast for the second half of FY20 has been retained at 3.5-3.7%.
• The market was clearly disappointed as it was expecting a bigger rate cut. Equity indices ended in the red with the Sensex shedding over 434 points or 1.14%, led by a fall in financial sector stocks.

Reserve Bank of India formulates and administers monetary policies specifically for the purpose of controlling the supply of money in the economy to stimulate various aspects of economic growth. The primary objective of such monetary policies are promoting economic development through price stability, regulation of the volume of bank credits, improving efficiency of the financial system, promoting investments and increasing diversification in financial markets. In this context, repo rate and reverse repo rate are instruments of RBI’s monetary policy that can help control the money supply in the economy.

What are Repo Rate and Reverse Repo Rate?

• Repo Rate: The term ‘Repo’ stands for ‘Repurchase agreement’. Repo is a form of short-term, collateral-backed borrowing instrument and the interest rate charged for such borrowings is termed as repo rate. In India, repo rate is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India lends money to commercial banks in India if they face a scarcity of funds. Commercial banks sell government securities and bonds to Reserve Bank of India with an agreement to repurchase the securities and bonds from Reserve Bank of India on a future date at a pre-determined price including interest charges. 

• Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse repo as the name suggests is an opposite contract to the Repo Rate. Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India borrows funds from the commercial banks in the country. In other words, it is the rate at which commercial banks in India park their excess money with Reserve Bank of India usually for a short-term. 

How do Repo and Reverse Repo Rates Differ?

The following are the key differences between repo and reverse repo in India:

Comparison Criteria	Repo Rate	Reverse Repo Rate
Lender and Borrower	Lender – RBI, Borrower – Commercial Banks.	Lender – Commercial Banks, Borrower – RBI.
Borrower’s Objective	To manage short term deficiency of funds	To reduce overall supply of money in the economy
Rate of Interest	Higher than reverse repo rate	Lower than repo rate
Interest Charge Applicable to	Repurchase Agreement	Reverse Repurchase Agreement
Mechanism of Operation	Commercial banks get funds from RBI using government bonds as collateral.	Commercial banks deposit their excess funds with RBI and receive interest from the deposit.
Impact of Higher Rate	Cost of funds increases for commercial banks hence loans become more expensive.	Money supply in the economy decreases as commercial banks park more surplus funds with RBI.
Impact of Lower Rate	Cost of funds is lower for commercial banks leading to reduced interest rates on loans.	Money supply in the economy increases as banks lend more and reduce their deposits with RBI.

29.NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR(NSA)(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT: Peace is of utmost importance, says NSA Ajit Doval

India is willing to work for peace and growth in the neighbourhood on a “non-reciprocal basis and assume the responsibilities befitting its size and the advantages that it has got” said National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday.

The National Security Advisor (NSA) 

• The National Security Advisor (NSA) is the senior official on the National Security Council (NSC) of India, and the chief Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on national and international security policy. Ajit Doval is the current NSA.
• The post has high vested powers, so the NSA is a highly prominent and powerful office in the Government of India. All NSAs appointed since the inception of the post in 1998 belong to the either Indian Foreign Service or to the Indian Police Service, and serve at the discretion of the Prime Minister of India.
• The National Security Advisor (NSA) is tasked with regularly advising the Prime Minister of India on all matters relating to internal and external threats and opportunities to India, and oversees strategic and sensitive issues on behalf of the Prime Minister. The NSA of India also serves as the Prime Minister's Special Interlocutor with China as well as the envoy to Pakistan and Israel on security affairs. He can be seen frequently accompanying the Prime Minister on official and State visits.
• The NSA receives all intelligence reports and co-ordinates them to present before the Prime Minister. NSA is assisted by the Deputy National Security Advisors, Deputy NSAs. Retired Indian Police Service officer Rajinder Khanna and Indian Foreign Service officer Pankaj Saran currently serve as Deputy National Security Advisors.The policy group is the main mechanism for inter-ministerial coordination and integration of inputs in forming national security policies. The group members include the NITI Aayog vice chairman, the cabinet secretary, the three military chiefs, the Reserve Bank of India governor, the foreign secretary, home secretary, finance secretary and the defense secretary.
• Brajesh Mishra was appointed the first National Security Advisor of India. The post was created on 19 November 1998 by the Government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and has become increasingly influential and powerful over the years with the rise of India on the world stage

30.HATE CRIMES(GS-1,3)

CONTEXT:Amnesty report: Hate crimes rose sharply the first half of 2019

• Tracker records 181; Dalits are most victimised; highest number of cases in U.P.
• Amnesty India’s hate crime tracker has recorded 181 incidents of alleged hate crimes in the first half of 2019, the steepest rise in such incidents since 2015. The count is almost double that of the same period last year, when 100 such cases were recorded.
• Over two-thirds of the victims were targeted because because they were Dalits, while 40 of them suffered on account of their Muslim identity. In 37 reported incidents, the victims were killed. In 30 cases, victims were raped or sexually assaulted, with sexual harassment in another 19 cases
• The tracker works by collating information from reports in English and Hindi language media. It classifies hate crimes on the basis of alleged motives, types of targeted victims and level of violence. Official government data is not available, as Indian law does not recognise a hate crime as a separate offence.

Why in news?

India’s hate crime tracker has recorded 181 incidents of alleged hate crimes in the first half of 2019, the steepest rise in such incidents since 2015.……ACCORDING TO Amnesty India..

What is the reaction to the crimes?

Domestically - There have been a number of editorials, OpEds and talk shows calling for action.

Internationally - India has begun to feature prominently on a growing list of countries marked by hate crime.

Why in news?

The first week of the second term of the present government has been marked by more hate crimes in Jharkhand, Tripura, Rajasthan, etc.

Amnesty report: Hate crimes rose sharply the first half of 2019

Amnesty International India - Documented 721 hate crime incidents between 2015 and 2018, with 218 incidents last year alone.The more common hate crimes were honour killings and then cow-related violence (more frequent over the past five years).Hate Crime Watch - Says crimes based on religious identity were in single digits until 2014.They surged from 9 in 2013 to 92 in 2018.In both studies - Uttar Pradesh topped the list for the third year, followed by Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Bihar.Show that they have steadily risen over the past five years

LATEST STUDY…..Amnesty report: Hate crimes rose sharply the first half of 2019

What do these facts mean?

• These are striking enough to concern any government.
• The Rajasthan administration is introducing a Bill prohibiting cow vigilantism i.e. dealing with only one hate crime.
• An omnibus act against all hate crimes is required across India and should be a priority of the 17th Lok Sabha.

What are legislations in other countries?

• France has a draft Bill to prohibit hate speech.
• Germany amended Section 46 of its Criminal Procedure Code, dealing with sentencing in violent crime (Sentence must be based on consideration of the motives and aims of the offender).

What is the current situation in India?

• We have a number of sections in the IPC that can be used to punish or even prevent hate crime.
• But they are disparate and few policemen are aware of them.
• Those that are, fear to use them in areas whose political leaders mobilise through hate speech.

What is the Court directive?

• Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India, 2018 - The Supreme Court (SC) directed Central and State governments to make it widely known that lynching and mob violence would invite serious consequence under the law.
• Then the government had formed a panel to suggest measures to tackle mob violence.
• But, the panel’s recommendations are not in the public domain.

What does the Human Rights Watch India’s report say?

• Only some States had complied with the SC’s orders,
• To designate a senior police officer in every district to prevent incidents of mob violence and
• To ensure that the police take prompt action,
• To set up fast-track courts in such cases and
• To take action against policemen or officials who failed to comply.
• Those State governments that did comply did so only partially.
• In several instances, the police obstructed investigations.

What are the concerns?

• Whether it is political hate speech or police bias on the ground, there is little doubt that national bar against hate crime has been lowered.
• The commentary of hate speech and videos of lynching in TV is critical, repeated iterations normalise the hateful.
• The print media too is failing in dealing with these issues.
• Criticism of blatantly communal government actions has grown increasingly muted.

What are the key steps needed?

• The issue of dealing with incitement to violence through social media. But the focus is on hate in relation to terrorism.
• Parliament - Could enact an omnibus act against hate crime.
• Home Minister - Could set benchmarks for policemen and administrators to deal with hate crime.
• Legislature and political parties - Could suspend or dismiss members who are implicated in hate crimes or practise hate speech.
• Electronic and print media - Could stop showing or publishing hateful comments and threats.
• Priests  - Could preach the values of tolerance and respect that are common to all religions.
• Schools - Could revitalise courses on the directive principles of our Constitution.

31.National Register of Citizens(NRC)(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT:NRC is an internal, legal process: Narendra Modi assures Sheikh Hasina

• Two weeks after they met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again assured Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the issue of the National Register of Citizens in Assam, officials said, after a meeting between the two in Delhi on Saturday.
• They also discussed the fate of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, witnessed the exchange of seven MoUs, agreements in the areas of water-sharing, implementation of India’s Lines of Credit, a coastal surveillance system, as well as education, culture and youth. They inaugurated three projects, including one for the export of LPG cooking gas from Bangladesh to India.

National Register of Citizens(NRC):What is NRC?

• The NRC is the list of Indian citizens and was prepared in 1951, following the census of 1951.
• The process of NRC update was taken up in Assam as per a Supreme Court order in 2013.
• In order to wean out cases of illegal migration from Bangladesh and other adjoining areas, NRC updation was carried out under The Citizenship Act, 1955, and according to rules framed in the Assam Accord.
• The Assam government released the final draft of NRC on July 30, 2018. The list incorporates names of 2.89 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants. The names of 40.07 lakh people have been left out.

Why is it being carried out?

• Crisis of identity: Influx of immigrants has created a crisis of identity among the indigenous. Locals fear that their cultural survival will be affected, political control weakened and employment opportunities undermined because of immigrants.
• Environmental degradation: Large areas of forest land were encroached upon by the immigrants for settlement and cultivation. The state experienced declining percent of land area under forest from 39% in 1951-52 to about 30% now.
• Increase financial burden: Immigration has increased pressure on the part of state government, as the government has to increase the expenditure on education and health facilities to the immigrants.

Assam agitation:   

• The  failure  of  government  to  respond  the  issue  of  illegal  migration  led  to  the  agitation  by  the  Assamese  under  the  leadership  of  All  Assam  Gana  Sangram  Parishad  (AAGSP)  and  All  Assam   Student’s   Union   (AASU). Assam   witnessed   governmental   instability, sustained civil disobedience campaigns and worst cases of ethnic violence. Assam accord was the result of this agitation.
• Illegal voters: Most of the Bangladeshi immigrants have got their names enlisted in the voting list illegally, thereby claiming themselves as citizens of the state. The immigrant’s population act as a vote bank for the political parties in Assam.

Why is this worrisome?

• The official presumption that people residing in Assam areas are foreigners has reduced several million of these highly impoverished, mostly rural, powerless and poorly lettered residents to a situation of helplessness and extreme poverty, destitution, hardship.
• It has also caused them abiding anxiety and uncertainty about their futures. They are required to convince a variety of usually hostile officials that they are citizens, based on vintage documents which even urban, educated, middle-class citizens would find hard to muster.
• Women are especially in danger of exclusion from the citizenship register. Typically, they have no birth certificates, are not sent to school, and are married before they become adults.

• UN experts recently warned that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam could render millions of citizens stateless and create instability in India.

Way ahead:

• A person’s citizenship is a basic human right. Declaring people foreigners in haste without judicially verifying their credentials can leave many human beings stateless.
• The need of the hour is that Union Government should clearly chart out the course of action regarding the fate of excluded people from final NRC data and political parties should refrain from colouring the entire NRC process through electoral prospects that may snowball in to communal violence.
• There is a need for a robust mechanism of legal support for the four million who have to prove their citizenship to India with their limited means.

Measures to boost border security:

• The Central Government should appoint a National Immigration Commission to  frame  a  National  Migration  Policy  and  a  National  Refugee  Policy.  The  Commission  should  examine  ways  of  strengthening  the  Foreigners  Act  1946,  as  well  as  feasibility of Identity Cards for both citizens and non-citizens and Work Permits for migrants.
• Border fencing in Assam must be completed forthwith on a war footing. The existing Border Security Force posts and the BSF water wing should be strengthened.
• Our nationals  in  the  border  districts  and  for  that  matter  in  the  whole State should be provided multipurpose photo identity card.
• The ongoing NRC updating should be completed without delay and proper arrangement for the deportation of illegal migrants should be done.
• The Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal (IMDT) Act of 1983 should be repealed.

Mock Question RELATED TO NRC BY MRUNAL SIR

• Enumerate the major points of the ‘Assam accord (1985)’. How is it associated with the present issue of the National Register of Citizens? (250 words, 15 marks.)
• असम समझौते (1985) के प्रमुख बिंदुओं की सूचि दीजिए. राष्ट्रिय नागरिक रजिस्टर के वर्तमान मुद्दे से यह कैसे जुड़ा हुआ है?
• Relevance to Syllabus? Polity: Constitution subtopic ‘Citizenship’.

• QUESTION FOR YOUR PRACTICE...
• QUESTION-1.Which of the following statements correct
• A) Assam is the only State in the country that prepared an NRC in 1951 following the census of that year and has become the first State to get the first draft of its own updated NRC.
• B) The publication of the first draft of the NRC by December 31, 2017 was ordered by the Supreme Court.
• 1) A only
• 2) B only
• 3) Neither A nor B
• 4) Both A and B

32.Green crackers,Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) (GS-2,3)

CONTEXT:Green crackers set to reduce pollution, says Harsh Vardan

• To reduce particulate matter by 30%: CSIR
• Ahead of Dasara and Deepavali, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Friday said it had developed and brought to market “green crackers” that, by its own assessment, would reduce particulate matter pollution by 30%.
• The organisation has signed agreements with 230 companies to manufacture and make them available for sale.
• Concerned about the pollution levels and the role firecrackers played in exacerbating it, the Supreme Court last October banned the sale, use and manufacture of crackers that weren’t ‘green’. This meant that these crackers couldn’t be loud beyond a certain limit, had to be approved by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and had to be free of mercury, arsenic and barium. However, compliant crackers weren’t available in the market.
• Earlier this year, the Supreme Court allowed the bulk manufacture of green crackers from May after the CSIR said its labs had been able to make trial samples and had them approved by the PESO.
• The apex court is expected to take a decision on “improved crackers”, which have reduced levels of barium nitrate on October 22.
• Earlier this year, the Supreme Court allowed the bulk manufacture of green crackers from May after the CSIR said its labs had been able to make trial samples and had them approved by the PESO. However, only crackers that eschewed barium nitrate would be allowed and the boxes they are sold in bear a unique logo as well as sport a unique QR code (to trace their origin).
• These “new crackers” are available as sparklers, flowerpots, maroons and “atom bombs” and have been developed by the National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), a CSIR lab

GREEN CRACKERS:

About

• The Supreme Court, in its verdict allowed bursting of green crackers, understood to be low on harmful chemical emissions.
• Scientists associated with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are ready with functional prototypes of a range of crackers and fireworks that promise up to 40% less emission.

Green crackers:

• A low-polluting firecracker within the permitted decibel and emission norms is a green cracker
• Green crackers are so named because they do not contain harmful chemicals that would cause air pollution. Components in firecrackers are replaced with others that are less dangerous and less harmful to the atmosphere.Broadly, it avoids the use of ash or filler materials and use charcoal as per specifications by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).
• Green crackers are expected to bring a 30-35% reduction in particulate matter and a significant decline in hazardous nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide as these would release water vapour and air which would suppress dust as well as dilute the gases emitted.
• Researchers are also trying to contain the sound levels to less than 120 decibels. 

Background:

• The idea of green firecrackers is carried forward by a network of CSIR labs after it was proposed by Union Science & Technology Minister.
• The idea was to assess if we can replace or reduce dangerous components with materials that are less harmful.
• The CSIR-CECRI has developed flower pots by using eco-friendly materials that can potentially reduce particulate matter by 40%.
• Scientists have given these crackers alternative names: Safe Water Releaser (SWAS), Safe Thermite Cracker (STAR) and Safe Minimal Aluminium (SAFAL).

Significance

• The apex court order will definitely impact sales of conventional crackers, but is difficult to quantify losses as the industry operates mostly unorganized.
• Green crackers are relatively new methods and there aren't enough studies to show how it can impact health and environment. Many experts believe that crackers of any kind, be it green or the usual ones only add to the pollution.
• But it is an attempt to make our religious beliefs and lifestyle more sustainable. Not only green, but another concept towards a cleaner environment is being tested, called E-Crackers. E-crackers or electric crackers are being tested by at the CSIR-CEERI in Pilani, Rajasthan.

ABOUT Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO)

• Petroleum And Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) is a department formed by Government of India under Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under Ministry of Commerce and Industry,to administer Explosives Act 1884,Explosive Substance Act, Petroleum Act 1934, Inflammable substance Act 1952 and Environment Protection Act 1986 to control import, export, transport, storage and usage of explosive materials,flammable materials, pressure vessels, cryogenic vessels, design and installation of all necessary and relevant infrastructure etc. PESO is a regulatory authority with autonomous status. The Department is headed by Chief Controller of Explosives and is headquartered at Nagpur in the State of Maharashtra in India. The authority framed various rules like Petroleum Rules 2002, Explosive Rules 2008, Gas Cylinder Rules 2002, Static & Mobile Pressure Vessels (Unfired) 2016, Ammonium Nitrate Rules, Calcium Carbide Rules 1987, Cinematographic Films Rules, 1948 etc.
• It was established during the British India in 1890s as Department of Explosives and later expanded to various other activities. PESO is known for one of the most efficient departments in India. The officers are selected by the UPSC into Indian Petroleum and Explosives Safety Service (IPESS), a central civil services cadre.

ABOUT National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (NEERI):

• The CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) is a research institute created and funded by Government of India. It was established in Nagpur in 1958 with focus on water supply, sewage disposal, communicable diseases and to some extent on industrial pollution and occupational diseases found common in post-independent India. NEERI is a pioneer laboratory in the field of environmental science and engineering and part of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). NEERI has five zonal laboratories at Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. NEERI falls under the Ministry of Science and Technology (India) of central government.The NEERI is an important partner organisation in India’s POPs national implementation plan (NIP).
• The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur was established in 1958 as Central Public Health Engineering Research Institute (CPHERI), when environmental concerns were limited to human health with a focus on water supply/sewage disposal/ communicable diseases and to some extent on industrial pollution and occupational diseases. The chemical and biological solutions to address these problems were simple, though challenging. However, slowly world wide public awareness on the contamination of environment on regional to global scale started getting attention in 1970’s. Shrimati Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, rechristened the Institute as National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in the year 1974. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur is devoted to research and innovations in environmental science and engineering 

• QUESTION FOR YOUR PRACTICE...
• QUESTION-2.ACCORDING TO UNIOUN ENVIRONMENT MINISTERY,AT WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING PLACES THE EMISSION TESTING CENTRE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED?
• 1)CSIR-CBRI
• 2) CSIR-NEERI
• 3) CSIR-CDRI
• 4) CSIR-NPL

33.MINORITIES IN INDIA(GS-1,2)

CONTEXT:‘Minorities are completely safe here’, says Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

• “Minorities are completely safe here. India is heaven for minorities. Our neighbouring country Pakistan is hell,” Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister for Minority Affairs, said here on Saturday.
• To a question whether minorities were feeling increasingly unsafe in the country, Mr. Naqvi said it was untrue. The Union government is committed to the development of minorities, he went on to add, arguing that India was the only country to provide constitutional protection for minorities to start educational institutions.
• He claimed the widening of the scholarship programme by the Ministry of Minority Affairs had brought down the school dropout rate among girls from minority communities from about 70% to around 40%

Definition of Minority Communities

The following communities have been notified as minority communities by the Government of India, Ministry of Minority Affairs;

• Sikhs
• Muslims
• Christians
• Zoroastrians
• Buddhists
• Jains

Geographic spread of minorities in India

• Notified minorities constitute about 19% population of the country.
• In rural India during 2009-10, 11 per cent of households followed Islam with about 12 per cent of the population. Christianity was followed by around 2 per cent of the households constituting about 2 per cent of the population. In urban areas, the percentages of households and population following Islam were about 13 and 16 and following Christianity were about 3 and 3, respectively.
• Government of India has also forwarded a list of 121 minority concentration districts having at least 25% minority population, excluding those States / UTs where minorities are in majority (J & K, Punjab, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Lakshadweep). To access the list of 121 districts

Socio-economic status of minorities in India

According to 66th round of NSS,

• The sex-ratio for Muslims in both rural and urban areas showed a decline between 2004-05 and 2009-10; however those corresponding to Christians showed an improvement during this period.
• The average household size, in both rural and urban areas, for Muslims was higher than those of other religious groups, and the average household size was the lowest among Christians. The household size in rural areas was higher than that of urban areas for each of the religious groups.
• In rural areas, self-employment was the mainstay for all the religious groups. The proportion of households with major income from self-employed in agriculture was the highest among Sikh households (about 36 per cent). The proportion of households belonging to the household type rural labour was the highest among Muslims (about 41 per cent). In urban India, the proportion of households with major source of earnings as self-employment was highest for Muslims (46 per cent). The major source of earnings from regular wage/salaried was the highest for Christians households (43 per cent) in urban areas.
• Among all the land possessed classes, in rural areas, proportion of households belonging to the land possessed class ‘0.005-0.40’ hectare was the highest for all the major religious groups, which was more than 40 per cent.
• About 43 per cent of Christian households and 38 per cent of Muslim households cultivated more than or equal to 0.001 hectare of land but less than 1.00 hectare of land. The proportion of households cultivating more than 4.00 hectares of land was the highest for Sikhs (6 per cent), followed by Hindus (3 per cent).
• For both rural and urban India, average Monthly per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) was the highest for Sikh households followed by Christians. At the all-India level, the average MPCE of Sikh household was Rs. 1659 while that for Muslim household was Rs. 980.
• The literacy rate among persons of age 15 years and above was the highest for Christians, for both the sexes in rural and urban areas. The proportion of persons of age 15 years and above with educational level secondary and above was the highest for Christians, followed by Sikhs.
• The current attendance rates in educational institutions were higher among males than females and also higher in urban areas than in rural areas. The current attendance rates in educational institutions among persons of age 0-29 years were the highest among Christians for rural males, rural females, urban males and urban females.
• The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for male was much higher than female for all religious groups - the differential being greater in urban areas. The male-female differential in LFPR was the lowest among Christians. The LFPR for rural male, rural female and urban female was the highest for Christians while that for urban male was the highest for Sikhs.
• Work Participation Rate (WPR) for male was much higher than female for all the religious groups - the differential being greater in the urban areas. The male-female differential in WPR was the lowest among Christians.
• In rural areas, majority of male workers belonged to the categories not literate (28 per cent) or literate and up to primary (28 per cent) while majority of female workers belonged to the category not literate (59 per cent). The proportion of male workers with general education level secondary & above was the highest for Christians (32 per cent), followed by Sikhs (30 per cent). In urban areas, majority of male workers belonged to the education category level secondary & above (52 per cent). Among urban males, proportion of workers with level of education secondary & above was 58 per cent each for Christians and Sikhs whereas those were 30 per cent for Muslims.
• The unemployment rate in rural areas is less than that of urban areas. In rural areas, during 2009-10, unemployment rate was the highest for Christians for both males (3 per cent) and females (6 per cent). In urban areas, unemployment rate was the highest for Sikhs for both males (6 per cent) and females (8 per cent).

Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities

• Government of India has formulated the “Prime Minister’s New 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities”. An important objective of the Programme is to ensure that an appropriate percentage of the priority sector lending is targeted for the minority communities and that the benefits of various government sponsored schemes reach the under-privileged, which includes the disadvantaged sections of the minority communities. The Programme is being implemented by the Central Ministries/Departments concerned through State Governments/Union Territories and envisages location of certain proportion of development projects in minority concentration districts.
• 
  

UNACADEMY VIDEO ....RELATED QUESTIONS TO MINORITIES...

34.National Nutrition Mission(GS-2)

CONTEXT: Nutrition Mission benefits 7,700 children

Their health is being monitored through anganwadi centres in Rajasthan

ABOUTNational Nutrition Mission

• Government is implementing several schemes and programs under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. All these schemes address one or other aspects related to nutrition and have the potential to improve nutritional outcomes in the country.
• Malnutrition is not a direct cause of death but contributes to mortality and morbidity by reducing resistance to infections. There are a number of causes of death of children such as prematurity, low birth weight, pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases, non-communicable diseases, birth asphyxia & birth trauma, injuries, congenital anomalies, acute bacterial sepsis and severe infections, etc.

POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), Government of India, which ensures convergence with various programmes i.e., Anganwadi Services, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) of MWCD Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), National Health Mission (NHM), Swachh-Bharat Mission, Public Distribution System (PDS), Department Food & Public Distribution, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation.

POSHAN ABHIYAN

About the Mission

1. The goals of NNM are to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner during the next three years beginning 2017-18.
2. The National Nutrition Mission (NNM) has been set up with a three year budget of Rs.9046.17 crore commencing from 2017-18. The NNM is a comprehensive approach towards raising nutrition level in the country on a war footing. It will comprise mapping of various Schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition, including a very robust convergence mechanism, ICT based Real Time Monitoring system, incentivizing States/UTs for meeting the targets, incentivizing Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for using IT based tools, eliminating registers used by AWWs, introducing measurement of height of children at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), Social Audits, setting-up Nutrition Resource Centres, involving masses through Jan Andolan for their participation on nutrition through various activities, among others.

Major impact

• The programme through the targets will strive to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and low birth weight babies.
• NNM targets to reduce stunting, under- nutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively. Although the target to reduce Stunting is atleast 2% p.a., Mission would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).
• It will create synergy, ensure better monitoring, issue alerts for timely action, and encourage States/UT s to perform, guide and supervise the line Ministries and States/UT s to achieve the targeted goals.

Benefits & Coverage

• More than 10 crore people will be benefitted by this programme. All the States and districts will be covered in a phased manner i.e. 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20 .

35.India is home to Asia’s oldest bamboo(GS-1,3)WE WILL TRY TO UNDERSTAND BAMBOO CULTIVATION IN INDIA.

CONTEXT: With over 49,000 plant species reported as of 2018, India holds about 11.5% of all flora in the world. Now, a new fossil record has shown that India is the birthplace of Asian bamboo, and they were formed about 25 million years ago in the north­eastern part of the country.

Ancient fossils 

• An international team of researchers found two fossil compressions or impressions of bamboo culms (stems) and after further study noted them to be new species. They were named Bambusiculmus tirapensis and B. makumensis ­ as they were found in the Tirap mine of Makum Coal­ field in Assam. These belonged to the late Oligocene period of about 25 million years ago. They also found two impressions of bamboo leaves belonging to new species Bambusium deomarense, and B. arunachalense, named after the Doimara region of Arunachal Pradesh where it was discovered. These leaves were found in the late Miocene to Pliocene sediments, indicating that they were between 11 and three million years old. Yunnan Province in China now has the highest diversity of bamboo, but the oldest fossil in that region is less than 20 million years old, clearly indicating that Asian bamboo was born in India and then migrated there. This finding further strengthens the theory that bamboo came to Asia from India and not from Europe

BAMBOO CULTIVATION IN INDIA:

Which state is the largest producer of bamboo in India?

Assam produces the maximum amount of bamboo in India as most of its forests are throbbing with bamboo plantation of various species. The North Eastern region of India has a good amount of bamboo resources in its kitty. This fastest growing plant has the capacity to substitute wood in the near future. India stands at the second spot in the production of bamboo resources in the world, next to China.

Areas where bamboo is grown in Assam

Bamboo is not just grown in the forest regions of the state but also in the villages. The areas where bamboo is mostly grown in Assam are North Cachar Hills, Cachar, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, and Lakhimpur.

Species of bamboo grown in Assam

• About 51 species of bamboo plant is grown in Assam. The species are being used for multiple purposes like in construction of buildings, and in making of furniture and various devises. The most-used species of bamboo of monetary value are the Muli (Melocanna bambusoides), Khang (Dendrocalmus longispatnus), Dalu (Teinostachyum dalloa), Kaligoda (Oxytenanthera nigrociliata), and Pecha (Dendrocalamus Hamilton-ii). The Muli and the Dalu have immense economic importances. The former is used for pulping, fencing, and constructional purposes, and the latter one in the mat and basket industry.

Exploitation of Bamboo in Assam

• Bamboo is considered as an indispensable part of the state’s culture, way of living, and livelihood of the people. The communities have good amount of knowledge and skills relating to the procreation, altering, and usage of bamboo. There is a conventional understanding of the bamboo and a tradition of skill that can be relied upon for fresh emerging products and applications. The products such as bamboo houses, bamboo mats, bamboo baskets, bamboo hats, walking sticks, umbrella handles, fishing rods, tool handles, cordage, tent poles, hand-fans, ladders, yokes, bamboo and leaf headgear; handicrafts like musical instruments, toys and dolls, and various household and agricultural instruments are made of bamboo.

• Bamboo is majorly used in the manufacturing of paper in Assam. The Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd. is engaged in the paper manufacturing in the state through its operational unit in Panchgram located in Hailakandi district and in Jagiroad. The prospects of the establishment of various pulp and paper units depending on the bamboo plantation in the state are tremendous.

Government initiatives to develop the industry

• The Government of Assam is striving to develop the bamboo sector in an exhaustive manner. It is following an integrative and multidimensional approach to provide monetary advantages to the people of the state.
• The state government inaugurated a Bamboo Technology Park worth Rs. 62.28 crore on 23rd June 2017, at Chaygaon in Kamrup district. The main objective behind the establishment of this park was to provide infrastructure resources to the bamboo entrepreneurs. Ever since its inception, this technology park has been engaged in introducing various advanced technologies that can be employed in the bamboo sector to produce diversified bamboo products. All of this can lead to the generation of employment, skill building, and a change in the economic and industrial scenario of Assam

36.Organic Pollutants(gs-3)

Context: IISER Pune team synthesises photocatalyst to degrade organic pollutants

• 

  Cleansing water: The catalyst becomes active when exposed to sunlight and degrades the pollutants. | Photo Credit: KrimKate

  Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune have successfully converted the highly unstable perovskite into a highly stable photocatalyst capable of decomposing toxic organic pollutants commonly present in water. The catalyst that becomes active when exposed to sunlight was synthesised by encapsulating nanocrystals of organic­inorganic perovskite inside a metal­organic framework (MOF)

Organic pollutants :

Organic pollutants include many insecticides and herbicides that have been used in agriculture and pest control. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is a pesticide, highly effective in controlling mosquitos, which was banned in the USA in 1972, but is persistent and its metabolite (DDE) is found in the blood of many populations. Other pollutants were manufactured for use in various industries [e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalates], and others, such as dioxin, are unintended by-products of manufacturing. Phthalates are plasticizers used in bottles, toys and personal care products. PCBs are a large group of similarly structured compounds with variation in toxicity and persistence in the environment and in the body. Some forms are very similar to dioxin. Polybromated diphenyl esters (PBDEs) are fire retardants added to a large variety of consumer items that leach into surrounding materials and now can be detected in many populations. Organic pollutants such as PCBs, dioxin and DDT are lipophilic; they are stored in fat cells and can be retained for years. They cross the placenta, and lactation is a significant source of exposure. They are also found in dietary items such as fish, meat and dairy products.

37.BREXIT(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT:EU to reach Brexit position by end of next week: Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the possibility of a Brexit accord would be evaluated by the end of next week.

Mr. Johnson, in a telephone conversation with Mr. Macron, “presented his latest proposals,” the French presidency said in a statement.

Background

• Post the Second World War, two countries Germany and France came together and decided that they wanted to establish trade relations as it would prevent their countries waging war against each other in the future.
• The result was the 6 members (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxemburg and Netherlands) signed a deal covering resources like coal and steel.
• In 1957 a treaty was signed in Rome (Europe)-European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market
• This has expanded and now has 28 member states.
• There are four key institutions in the EU
• European Commission- based at Brussels (Belgium), it consists of 28 commissioners (1 each from the member states, it administers the money spent and also formulates new laws
• European Parliament- based at Brussels (Belgium), there are 751 members in the parliament, their function is to discuss and vote all the laws that have been proposed by EC
• Council of European Union- based at Brussels (Belgium), It is where the government of each member country will have their say and hold discussions as to in what political direction should the EU be moving. Usually the deals are signed at the end of the discussions
• European Court of Justice- based at Luxembourg. The function is to make sure that all the member states abide by the rules and regulations; will also come into picture if there are any frictions between the above three institutions.

  The Great Britain

• It became a member country in 1973 and held the first referendum in regards to EU in 1975 (when they voted to stay in EU)
• A referendum is basically a vote in which everyone of voting age takes part specifying –yes or no- answer to a question. Whichever side gets the majority of votes (of the total votes cast) is considered to be a winner.

• Today the arguments in favor of BREXIT have increased because the representatives of BRITAIN are of the opinion that the EU over the decades has undergone a lot of transformation and has taken away the powers of Britain to decide on various matters

Some of the reasons for Britain to seek BREXIT are...

• Sovereignty- Although the British Government has an influence in some form in selecting the members to the European Commission, the members are neither under the influence nor accountable to the British Parliament and some of the policy decisions such as competition policy, agriculture, copyright and patent law go against the interests of Britain (these laws override the domestic laws)
• Regulations are becoming burden- some of the regulations such as –limits on the power of vacuum cleaners, non-recycling of tea bags etc have often been seen as a burden on some of the conservatives in Britain. As per Michel Gove these regulations have cost Britain to the tune of £3 billion per year.
• Euro the disaster- although Euro is the common currency for EU, Britain still uses pound as its currency. Now if the euro had to be successful then it would have required greater fiscal and monetary integration and this cannot be achieved unless all the member states have the same currency. The problem with euro as a common currency has also been exposed wherein on one side countries such as Greece and Spain are suffering from high debt, high unemployment, whereas other countries such as Germany are enjoying higher growth. Now in this situation the ECB (European Central Bank) is in dilemma whether to go for fiscal stimulus or prudence.
• Immigration- Britain is not a signatory of Schengen Border free zone (allows easy travel across Europe), over the last ten years there has been a quite an opposition towards migration into the country from within the EU and its effects on wages and public services especially post 2008 recession wherein the workers from Lithuania, Poland, Italy, Romania etc have moved to Britain
•   The “leave” proponents show the example of Canada and Australia which follow a point based immigration system and say Britain could adopt such measure rather than being forced to follow the laws laid down by EU

• Point based immigration system-under this the potential migrants are awarded points based on factors such as language, job skills, education and age. In simple words those who can contribute to the economy once they allowed to immigrate will be rated higher
• Finance- although EU doesn’t have the powers to collect the taxes from the people directly, it mandates member countries to make payments. In case of Britain it comes around $19 bn per year or $300/person. Although the funds are again used on Britain, the BREXIT supporters say, the money could be used more efficiently, if Britain is out of EU
• EU pro or anti corporate?- there has been a mixed response to this question. The far left in Britain argues that EU is too pro-corporate and the far right argues the vice versa

  Any measures taken to prevent call for BREXIT- In the beginning of 2016, David Cameroon (Britain’s PM) sought an agreement to change the terms of Britain’s membership, the deal was conditioned on BREXIT outcome to remain within EU.   Some of the points under the agreement are

a) Migrant workers will still be able to send child benefit payments back to their home country ( Mr. Cameron had wanted this abolished), but the payments will be set at a level reflecting the cost of living in their home country rather than the full UK rate

b) New migrant arrivals will not be able to claim tax credits and other welfare payments straight away – but will gradually will gain the right to more benefits. (he had promised a blanket ban)

c) Britain will retain pound also an assurance from EU that it will not be discriminated as it has a different currency and any money of Britain used to bail out the nations in crisis (in Euro Zone) will be reimbursed.

d) Britain’s large financial service industry will be protected from imposition of euro zone regulations

e) It will be incorporated in an EU treaty change that Britain will not be a part of “ever closer union” (one of the core principles of EU).

f) Red card system- If 55% of national EU parliaments object to a piece of legislation then the legislation has to be rethought (the critics say it is not clear if this would ever be used in practice).

  The critics pointed out that what was proposed under the agreements made no change and fell short of what he had promised when he had announced his plan for referendum   Why Scotland voted in favor of staying- as per the numbers it was found that 62% of the voters in Scotland chose to remain within EU. The reasons for their decision are

a) EU is a common market which not only allows the movement of four freedoms (finance, goods, services and labour) but also provides a huge market for Scotland to export

b) With Scotland being a part of EU, the trade barriers will be eliminated to a great extent (both for exports from and imports into Scotland)

c) Scotland has been able in attracting foreign investments as a result of which there has been employment creation, contribution to growth etc (in 2013, 40% of the companies in Scotland were foreign owned which employed more than 3 lakh workers)

d) When the EU negotiates a deal with other countries (has trade deals with more than 50 countries), it is automatically applicable to Scotland but with BREXIT, Scotland may be forced to sign all the deals again with the trade partners (the advantages may be lost)

e) As a member of EU, it will get access to various development funds (Regional Social Funding, Rural Development Programme etc)

f) With BREXIT, the citizens of Scotland may lose the freedom of movement i.e. to move freely in Europe

g) In a nutshell Scotland is much safer than remaining within rather than moving out of EU. (on moving out it will face security/terrorist threats, climate change, trade barriers etc all alone)

Global impact of BREXIT

a) The globalization has increased correlation between the countries. If there is a disturbance in one country then there will be impact on other countries

b) The BREXIT would affect the global growth

c) It is a big blow when more countries are moving towards multilateral trade arrangements

d) It will further alienate the investors and the capital will move from risky markets to more safer havens

e) The major exporting countries such as China and India would get affected as EU is one of the major export market

f) As per one of the estimates BREXIT would lead to 25% reduction in imports by Britain

g) BREXIT was a referendum which rode on many components-anti immigration, increasing protectionism etc. with this these sentiments are going to increase in other parts as well

h) Britain was one of the major financial and military contributors to the EU but with BREXIT, the financial of EU will suffer.

i) With BREXIT there are calls for NEXIT(Netherlands exit), Italeave (Italy leaving) and FREXIT (France Exit) etc

j) With BREXIT there have been demands for Scotland exiting from UK

Impact of BREXIT on India

a) India is the third largest source of FDI for UK. There are more than 800 Indian companies in Britain. With BREXIT, the business of these companies will be affected. With the fluctuation in exchange rates, the bottom line of these companies will suffer.

b) Although the pro exit supporters have claimed that the Britain can sign bilateral agreements free of restrictions any restrictions imposed by EU now, but the experience has shown that it takes a long period to negotiate and sign a new atrade agreement (eg- India and Japan took around 5 years to discuss and conclude CEPA)

c) India considers Britain as a gateway to EU, now with Britain opting out, India loses the advantage. Hence there is a need to get border free access

d) The FTA that India was negotiating with EU will not have the same impact (negotiations are going on since 2007). Now since Britain is out, India needs to work on an agreement separately with Britain

e) UK accounts for 17% of India’s IT exports. With BREXIT the overhead costs are going to increase. Nasscom in a report has said that the Indian IT industry is going to experience a negative influence in the short term. The depreciation of pound also will have an effect on the returns of these companies.

f) One argument is that BREXIT could lead to movement of skilled labour from India to Britain but this might be a misplaced argument as immigration into Britain from other EU countries was one of the reasons for BREXIT.

g) UK and EU both account for 23.7% of rupee’s effective exchange rate. BREXIT would lead to outflow of foreign portfolio investments and this may further weaken rupee. (on the positive side the central bank will try to maintain the liquidity in the market so the fear of fed hike of interest rate could be brought down)

h) Brexit is a blow to the commodity prices. As such because of lower global demand, slowdown in china and many European countries had led to drop in the prices of commodities and this will be further accentuated because of BREXIT.

i) The sectors that would get affected are-auto and auto components; IT sector, metals, oil, aviation, pharmaceuticals etc

j) The central bank has to recaliberate the monetary policy so as to reduce the market volatility

List of some of the companies that export to Europe and the drop in the share prices  

Company	Share of revenues from EU	Note
Tata motors	31%	Almost half of these revenue come from UK
TCS	11%	Almost 15% revenue from UK
Tata steel	52%	Share prices dropped by  6.37% (on 24thJune 2016)
Infosys	23%	Share prices dropped by  1.41% (on 24thJune 2016)
TechM	28.5%	Share prices dropped by  4.7% (on 24thJune 2016)

What could be done in India

a) The central bank has to recalibarate its monetary policy so as to account for the volatility that will be craeted in the market

b) SEBI and the stock markets will have to be very watchful in not allowing any manipulators from taking undue advantage. Brokers, portfolio managers and other market intermediaries have to be prevented from any attempts to lure small retail investors into promises of hefty gains from the futures and options trading, especially in banking stocks and indices, the official added.

c) Since Brexit makes the revival of global growth more difficult, there is a need for Indian to focus more on the domestic demand so that the impact is minimized

d) The strong forex reserves position has to be maintained so that any fluctuations in the exchange rate of rupee can be limited

e) The companies that have business in Europe (especially in UK and it pertains more to the IT industry) have to rework their strategy.

What most of the experts agree upon is the effect of BREXIT on the global economy coupled with weakening/depreciating currencies of various countries will make it more harder for recovery and in case of India, thanks to the stability in the fundamentals of domestic economy and huge forex reserves position, the effect of BREXIT can be minimized, but nevertheless the effect is going to be felt in short term. Approach to UPSC GS 3- International economics, trade relations Questions

The BREXIT makes the global economic recovery more difficult-discuss
In the light of recent BREXIT what will be the impact on the Indian economy
When elephants fight, grass suffers-discuss the statement in the light of BREXIT

38.Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR)(GS-3)

CONTEXT:India starts sharing maritime data

The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) set up last year has started functioning as an information sharing hub of maritime data and “cuing incident responses” to maritime security situations through a collaborative approach, Navy sources said.

At the just concluded Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC), National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had offered countries in the IOR use of the facility to track movement of vessels on the high seas.

The major centres with which regular exchange of maritime security information is being undertaken include Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Centre (VRMTC), Maritime Security Centre - Horn of Africa(MSCHOA), Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery (ReCAAP), Information Fusion Centre-Singapore (IFC-SG), and International Maritime Bureau - Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC).

The IFC-IOR was inaugurated in December 2018 within the premises of the Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram.The IMAC is the single point centre linking all the coastal radar chains to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km coastline.

Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR)…..

39.BUDGET(GS-2)

CONTEXT: Budget work to start on October 14

• The Finance Ministry will start its pre-Budget work from October 14 onwards, according to a circular it sent to all Ministries and Departments.
• The other Ministries will have to prepare and send their budgets, expenditure trends, and non-tax revenue estimates for 2020-21 by October 9 to the Finance Ministry. Following this, the Finance Ministry will hold separate meetings with all the other Ministries, from October 14 to the first week of November.

Government Budgeting:

What exactly is a budget?

• As you know, the budget is a report presented by the government. It is a report of the government finances which includes revenues and outlays.
• Thus, the budget can be defined as the most comprehensive report of the government’s finances in which revenues from all the sources and outlays for all activities are consolidated.
• In simple terms, the budget is an annual financial statement of the revenue and expenditure of a government.

Budget in the Indian Constitution

The term ‘Budget’ is not mentioned in the Indian Constitution; the corresponding term used is ‘Annual Financial Statement’ (article 112).

What are the constitutional requirements which make Budget necessary?

• Article 265: provides that ‘no tax shall be levied or collected except by authority of law’. [ie. Taxation needs the approval of Parliament.]
• Article 266: provides that ‘no expenditure can be incurred except with the authorisation of the Legislature’ [ie. Expenditure needs the approval of Parliament.]
• Article 112: President shall, in respect of every financial year, cause to be laid before Parliament, Annual Financial Statement.

Budget Documents

Do you know that Annual Financial Statement is only one of the several budget documents presented by Finance Minister?

The Budget documents presented to Parliament comprise, besides the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech, the following:

• Annual Financial Statement (AFS) – Article 112
• Demands for Grants (DG) – Article 113
• Appropriation Bill – Artice 114(3)
• Finance Bill – Article 110 (a)
• Memorandum Explaining the Provisions in the Finance Bill.
• Macro-economic framework for the relevant financial year – FRBM Act
• Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement for the financial year – FRBM Act
• Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement – FRBM Act
• Medium Term Expenditure Framework Statement – FRBM Act
• Expenditure Budget Volume-1
• Expenditure Budget Volume-2
• Receipts Budget
• Budget at a glance
• Highlights of Budget

Status of Implementation of Announcements made in Finance Minister’s Budget Speech of the previous financial year.

There are also other related documents like Detailed Demands for Grants, Outcome Budget, Annual Reports and Economic Survey presented along with the budget documents in Parliament.

PS: The documents shown at Serial 1, 2, 3 and 4 are mandated by Art. 112,113, 114(3) and 110(a) of the Constitution of India respectively, while the documents at Serial 6,7, 8 and 9 are presented as per the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. Other documents are in the nature of explanatory statements supporting the mandated documents with narrative or other content in a user-friendly format suited for quick or contextual references. Hindi version of all these documents is also presented to Parliament.

Railway Budget

• Do figures related to Railways find mention in Annual Financial Statement or are they part of only Railway budget?
• Until 2016 (for 92 years), the budget of the Indian Railways was presented separately to Parliament and dealt with separately. Even then the receipts and expenditure of the Railways formed part of the Consolidated Fund of India and the figures relating to them are included in the ‘Annual Financial Statement’.
• The last Railway Budget was presented on 25 February 2016 by Mr. Suresh Prabhu.

• Since 2017, Railway Budget is merged with the Union Budget.

Budget Presentation

• In India, the Budget is presented to Parliament on such date as is fixed by the President.
• Between 1999 to 2016, the General Budget was presented at 11 A.M. on the last working day of February. However, since 2017, the Indian Budget is presented on 1 February.
• In an election year, Budget may be presented twice — first to secure Vote on Account for a few months and later in full.

Vote on Account

• The discussion on the Budget begins a few days after its presentation.
• If the Parliament is not able to vote the entire budget before the commencement of the new financial year (ie. within 1 month or so), the necessity to keep enough finance at the disposal of Government in order to allow it to run the administration of the country remains. A special provision is, therefore, made for “Vote on Account” by which Government obtains the Vote of Parliament for a sum sufficient to incur expenditure on various items for a part of the year.
• Normally, the Vote on Account is taken for two months only. But during the election year or when it is anticipated that the main Demands and Appropriation Bill will take longer time than two months, the Vote on Account may be for a period exceeding two months.

So what exactly is Vote on Account?

• Vote on Account is a special provision by which the Government obtains the Vote of Parliament for a sum sufficient to incur expenditure on various items for a part of the year, usually two months.
• Vote on Account was widely used along with every budget before 2016 when the date of the budget presentation was the last day of February. Now vote on account is used only in special years like the election years (used along with interim budget).
• Vote on Account deals only with expenditure part. But the interim budget, as well as full budget, has both receipt and expenditure side.
• So presentation and passing of vote on account is the first stage in the budget passing process. Vote on Account is necessary for the working of the government until the period the full budget is passed.

Budget Speech

The Budget speech of the Finance Minister is usually in two parts. Part A deals with the general economic survey of the country while Part B relates to taxation proposals. He makes a speech introducing the Budget and it is only in the concluding part of his speech that the proposals for fresh taxation or for variations in the existing taxes are disclosed by him. The ‘Annual Financial Statement’ is laid on the Table of Rajya Sabha at the conclusion of the speech of the Finance Minister in Lok Sabha.

UNACADEMY VIDEO ON COMPONENTS OF BUDGET FOR YOUR BETTER UNDERSTANDING......

40.Rafale jet(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT:Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to perform ‘Shastra Puja’ for Rafale jet in France
• Mr. Singh will receive the first of the 36 Rafale fighter jets at a facility of Dassault Aviation in the French port city of Bordeaux.
• Mr. Singh is leaving for Paris on a three-day visit, primarily to receive the first of 36 Rafale fighter jets on Tuesday when Dussehra is coinciding with the foundation day of the Indian Air Force.
• Before leaving for Bordeaux on the morning of Tuesday, the minister will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and is expected to discuss issues relating to defence and security ties between the two countries.
• The ceremony to hand over the Rafale jet will take place at a facility of Dassault Aviation, the makers of the aircraft, in Merignac of Bordeaux, some 590 km from Paris.
• Though Mr. Singh will receive the first of 36 Rafale jets on Tuesday, the first batch of four aircraft will come to India only by May next year.

BACKGROUND:

• India in September 2016 signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with France to procure 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition for €7.8 billion.
• As a part of the contract, India will also get the latest weapons like the Meteor and Scalp missiles, besides a five-year support package that assures high availability of the fighter. Under the deal, it was decided that India will pay 15 per cent in advance. 
• The first Rafales are expected to be delivered by 2019, and India is set to have all 36 jets within six years.

What is Rafale?

 Introduced in 2001, Rafale is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole combat aircraft designed and built by French company Dassault Aviation. The aircraft is considered one of the most potent combat jets globally.

• The fighter jet, equipped with a wide range of weapons, is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. 

• The aircraft is fitted with an onboard oxygen generation system (OBOGS) which suppresses the need for liquid oxygen re-filling or ground support for oxygen production.

• It is capable of carrying out a wide range of missions including air-defence/air-superiority, reconnaissance, close air support dynamic targeting, air-to-ground precision strike/interdiction, anti-ship attacks, nuclear deterrence and buddy-buddy refuelling.

• It is distinct from other European fighters of its era, as it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of France's major defence contractors, such as Dassault, Thales and Safran.

• Many of the aircraft's avionics and features, such as direct voice input, the RBE2 AA active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the optronique secteur frontal infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor, were domestically developed and produced for the Rafale programme. 

• The aircraft is available in three main variants: Rafale C single-seat land-based version, Rafale B twin-seat land-based version and Rafale M single-seat carrier-based version.

Significance

The Rafale is referred to as an ‘omnirole’ aircraft by Dassault, as the company claims that it has the capability to perform several actions at the same time, such as firing air-to-air missiles at a very low altitude, air-to-ground and interceptions during the same sortie.

Several upgrades to the weapons and avionics of the Rafale are planned to be introduced by 2018.

Why does India need Rafale aircraft?

The Indian government felt the need to revamp its IAF fleet by introducing multi-role combat aircraft considering the prevalent security environment.

After the Kargil experience, the Indian Armed Forces and the Defence Ministry were of the opinion that the combat ability of the Indian Air Force to strike targets required radical improvement. 

The Defence Ministry came to a conclusion that an aircraft adds to the combat strength of the forces only when it is loaded with the requisite weaponry, which enables it to strike targets. This need was first recorded in 2001.

Current Controversy

India’s main opposition party had raised an issue over Dassault partnering with Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence, a private company instead of state-owned HAL. 

Both French government and Dassault had issued a press release stating it was Dassault's decision to choose Reliance Defence.

41.C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group(GS-3)

• CONTEXT:Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is scheduled to speak at the C40 Cities Climate Summit in Copenhagen, between October 9­12, is yet to receive clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to travel abroad, Delhi government sources claimed.

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

• The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is a group of 94 cities around the world that represents one twelfth of the world's population and one quarter of the global economy.Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of urban citizens.
• As of 2018, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo serves as the C40's Chairwoman, former Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg as President of the Board, and Mark Watts as Executive Director. All three work closely with the 13-member Steering Committee, the Board of Directors and professional staff. The rotating Steering Committee of C40 mayors provides strategic direction and governance.Steering Committee members include: Amman, Boston, Copenhagen, Durban, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Seoul, and Tokyo.
• Working across multiple sectors and initiative areas, C40 convenes networks of cities providing a suite of services in support of their efforts, including: direct technical assistance; facilitation of peer-to-peer exchange; and research, knowledge management & communications. C40 is also positioning cities as a leading force for climate action around the world, defining and amplifying their call to national governments for greater support and autonomy in creating a sustainable future.
• C40's work is made possible by three strategic funders: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children's Investment Fund Foundation and Realdania.

42.FATF(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT:FATF exposes Pakistan's false claims on action against terror financing
• Titled Mutual Evaluation Report of Pakistan, the APG report was adopted by the group during the annual meet in Canberra, Australia in August 2019 and it has exposed Pakistan by saying that the Islamabad "has not taken sufficient" measures to fully implement UNSCR 1267obligations against all listed individuals and entities.
• The Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering, the regional affiliate of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has once again exposed Pakistan, saying in its report that Islamabad has failed to take credible action to stop terror financing.

Background:

Pakistan was placed on the grey list by the FATF in June for failing to curb anti-terror financing. It has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations by the Paris-based FATF, a measure that officials here fear could further hurt its economy.

Implications of this move:

• Pakistani analysts say being put on the FATF watchlist could deal a blow to Pakistan’s economy, making it harder for foreign investors and companies to do business in the country.
• It would be counterproductive to put Pakistan on the watch list as it would hurt its capability to fight terrorism. Also, being put back on the grey list would heighten Pakistan’s risk profile and some financial institutions would be wary of transacting with Pakistani banks and counterparties.
• Being placed on the FATF watchlist carries no direct legal implications but brings extra scrutiny from regulators and financial institutions that can chill trade and investment and increase transaction costs.

About FATF:

What is it? The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7.  It is a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in various areas. The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.

• Objectives: The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
• Functions: The FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally.  In collaboration with other international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.

What is blacklist and grey list?

• FATF maintains two different lists of countries: those that have deficiencies in their AML/CTF regimes, but they commit to an action plan to address these loopholes, and those that do not end up doing enough. The former is commonly known as grey list and latter as blacklist.
• Once a country is blacklisted, FATF calls on other countries to apply enhanced due diligence and counter measures, increasing the cost of doing business with the country and in some cases severing it altogether. As of now there are only two countries in the blacklist — Iran and North Korea — and seven on the grey list, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria and Yemen.

43.AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION (AEOI)(GS-2,3)

CONTEXT: India gets first tranche of Swiss account details under automatic exchange framework

• India has received first tranche of details about financial accounts of its residents in Swiss banks under a new automatic exchange of information framework between the two countries, marking a significant milestone in the fight against black money suspected to be stashed abroad.
• India figures among 75 countries with which Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has exchanged information on financial accounts within the framework of global standards on AEOI, an FTA spokesperson told PTI.
• This is the first time that India has received details from Switzerland under the AEOI framework, which provides for exchange of information on financial accounts that currently active as well as those accounts that were closed during 2018.

AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION (AEOI):

What does this mean for India, and how will the exchange of information be governed?

• This is not a new measure. In 2016, India and Switzerland had signed an information-sharing deal on bank accounts, which was to come in effect from September 2019.
• The step is likely to shed more light on the wealth Indians have stashed away in Swiss bank accounts, for so long governed by strict local rules of secrecy.
• In 2018, data from Zurich-based Swiss National Bank (SNB) had shown that after declining for three years, money parked by Indians in Swiss Banks rose 50 per cent to CHF (Swiss Franc) 1.02 billion (Rs 7,000 crore) in 2017 over the previous year.

What is AEOI?

• Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) is systematic and periodic transmission of “bulk” taxpayer information by the source country to the residence country, which is possible under most of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) and Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAC).
• It aims to reduce global tax evasion. 
• It is to be carried out under Common Reporting Standard (CRS) of OECD.
• AEOI is the exchange of information between countries without having to request it.

Need for AEOI:

• Tax payers operate cross border whereas tax administration is limited to national borders. This has helped tax evasion by shifting money to other countries by citizens. Both tax evasion and tax avoidance have escalated; facilitated by quick transfer of income from one country to another.
• Vast amounts of money are kept offshore and go untaxed to the extent that taxpayers fail to comply with tax obligations in their home jurisdictions.
• Tackling this cross national transfer of money to avoid and evade taxes indicate that national efforts are not enough to fight black money. Hence there is the need for tax cooperation and tax information exchanges between countries.

Significance and benefits of AEOI:

• Enables the discovery of formerly undetected tax evasion.  
• Enable governments to recover tax revenue lost to non-compliant taxpayers, and will further strengthen international efforts to increase transparency, cooperation, and accountability among financial institutions and tax administrations.
• Generate secondary benefits by increasing voluntary disclosures of concealed assets and by encouraging taxpayers to report all relevant information.

44.Status quo(GS-1,3)

CONTEXT: Supreme Court orders status quo in Aarey case till Oct 21; Maharashtra assures no trees will be felled

• The Supreme Court on Monday recorded an assurance given by the State of Maharashtra that no more trees will be felled in the Aarey forest for a Metro car shed till the next date of court hearing on October 21.
• A Special Bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Ashok Bhushan, convened urgently and exclusively to hear the case after the apex court took suo motu cognisance of a letter written by law student Rishav Ranjan to the Chief Justice of India about the cutting of over 2600 trees in the Aarey, ordered status quo.
• The Bench also recorded the submission made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for Maharashtra, that the detained protestors have already been released, and if any are left to be freed, they would be so immediately on the furnishing of personal bond.

Status quo :

• Status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social or political issues.In the sociological sense, it generally applies to maintain or change existing social structure and values.With regard to policy debate, the status quo refers to how conditions are at the time and how the affirmative team can solve these conditions for example "The countries are now trying to maintain a status quo with regards to their nuclear arsenal which will help them if the situation gets any worse."
• It is the nominative form of the prepositional Latin phrase "in statu quo" – literally "in the state in which", which itself is a shortening of the original phrase in statu quo res erant ante bellum, meaning "in the state in which things were before the war". To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are. The related phrase status quo ante, literally "the state in which before",means "the state of affairs that existed previously

VIDEO:Aarey Protest: What Has Happened So Far?....BY INDIA TODAY..

45.Reang or Bru Tribes(GS-1,3)

CONTEXT:Mizoram Bru refugees stall another repatriation attempt in north Tripura

• Mizoram Bru refugees housed in makeshift camps in north Tripura stalled another repatriation initiative on Monday. Hundreds of women inmates dressed in black fatigues and carrying black flags staged noisy protests around the vehicles sent by Mizoram government to take back the refugees.
• Authorities managed to send only 46 families under a rehabilitation package sponsored by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) after the current repatriation initiative launched on October 3. Over 30,000 Bru, also known as Reang, refugees are stranded in six camps in Kanchanpur subdivision of north Tripura since they fled ethnic strife in Mizoram in September 1997.

Reang or Bru Tribes:

• Riang or Bru  are one of the 21 scheduled tribes of the Indian state of Tripura.
• The Bru are the second most populous tribe of Tripura after the Tripuris.
• The correct nomenclature for this ethnic group is actually Bru although the name Reang was accidentally incorporated by the Indian government during a census count.
• The Bru can be found all over the Tripura state in India.
• However, they may also be found in Mizoram, Assam, Manipur and Bangladesh.

Culture and religion

• The marriage system is similar to other Tripuri tribes of Tripura.
• There is no dowry system.
• Dance is an integral part of Reang life.
• The Hojagiri folk dance of Riang sub tribe is rather well known all over the world.
• ‘Buisu’, not ‘bihu’ is the most popular festival of reang tribes.
• The majority of the Reang belong to the Vaishnav school of Hinduism and claim Kshatriya status.
• They are polytheists and believe in multiple Gods and Goddesses.

Language

• They speak the Reang dialect of Kokborok language which is of Tibeto-Burmese origin and is locally referred to as Kau Bru.

• Why in news? More than 30,000 people belonging to the Bru community, who fled from Mizoram to Tripura in 1997 in the wake of inter-community violence, are set to be repatriated to Mizoram
• LATEST:Mizoram Bru refugees stall another repatriation attempt in north Tripura

46.Trio win Nobel Medicine Prize for work on cells, oxygen(GS-3)

2019 Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine: Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, Gregg L. Semenza and William G Kaelin Jr

(BY RSTV)

• US researchers William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza and Britain’s Peter Ratcliffe on Monday shared the Nobel Medicine Prize for discoveries on how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability, the Nobel Assembly said.
• “They established the basis for our understanding of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism and physiological function,” the jury said.
• Their research has “paved the way for promising new strategies to fight anaemia, cancer and many other diseases.”
• The jury said the trio had identified molecular machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen, which is central to a large number of diseases.
• “Intense ongoing efforts in academic laboratories and pharmaceutical companies are now focused on developing drugs that can interfere with different disease states by either activating or blocking, the oxygen-sensing machinery,” the jury said.
• Kaelin works at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US, while Semenza is the director of the Vascular Research Program at the John Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering.
• Ratcliffe is the director of clinical research at the Francis Crick Institute in London, and director of the Target Discovery Institute in Oxford.
• The three will share the Nobel prize sum of nine million Swedish kronor (about USD 914,000).
• They will receive their prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist Alfred Nobel who created the prizes in his last will and testament.
• Last year, the honour went to immunologists James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, for figuring out how to release the immune system’s brakes to allow it to attack cancer cells more efficiently.
• The winners of this year’s Physics Prize will be revealed on Tuesday, followed by the Chemistry Prize on Wednesday.
• The Literature Prize will be announced on Thursday, with two laureates to be crowned after a sexual harassment scandal forced the Swedish Academy to postpone the 2018 award, for the first time in 70 years
• The Peace Prize will follow on Friday, with bookies predicting a win for Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg on betting sites such as Ladbrokes.
• The Economics Prize will wrap up the Nobel prize season on Monday, October 14.

47.Faceless e-assessment scheme for taxpayers launched

(GS-3)

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday inaugurated the Income Tax Department’s National E-assessment Centre (NeAC), which will reduce face-to-face interaction between taxpayers and tax officials. The setting up of NeAC is a step for better taxpayer service, reduction of taxpayer grievances in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India’ and promotion of ease of doing business, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. It added that under the new system, taxpayers will receive notices on their registered e-mails as well as on registered accounts on the official web portal. They will also receive real-time alerts by way of SMS on their registered mobile number, specifying the issues for which their cases have been selected for scrutiny

• Dubbed as a major initiative in the direction of taxation reform, the Income-Tax Department on Monday launched a faceless e-assessment scheme to eliminate interface between an assessing officer and a taxpayer.
• To begin with, 58,322 income tax cases have been selected under the National e-Assessment Center (NeAC), officially launched by Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey here.
• The scheme was to be launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, but due to her official exigencies, including meetings with the Prime Minister, she could not formally launch the initiative.
• He said the initiative, aimed at improving taxpayer’s ease and convenience, has been achieved in record time.
• The revenue department said the scheme will bring in a “paradigm shift” in taxation by eliminating human interface in the income tax assessment system.
• “This will improve taxpayer’s ease and convenience,” it said.
• The National e-Assessment Center (NeAC) will facilitate the faceless e-assessment scheme across the country and benefit taxpayers, it added.
• Ease of compliance for taxpayers, transparency and efficiency, functional specialisation, improvement in the quality of assessment, risk-based and focussed approach, better monitoring and expeditious disposal of cases are some of the salient features of the scheme.
• A total of 2,686 officials of the I-T department have been deputed for implementation of the scheme.
• Later talking to reporters, Pandey said, “Anyone whose case is selected for scrutiny will be able to file all the documents online. Now the officer who is going to assess the case will also be selected randomly,” he said and added that the number of cases that are selected for scrutiny is based on certain criteria, including cases where there are serious discrepancies
• To a question, if the government will be providing relaxation in personal income tax, the revenue secretary said: “I have no idea”.
• In her July Budget speech, Sitharaman had announced the faceless assessment scheme.
• The existing system of scrutiny assessments in the Income-tax Department involves a high level of personal interaction between the taxpayer and the Department, which leads to “certain undesirable practices on the part of tax officials”, she had noted.
• To eliminate such instances, she had said the scheme of faceless assessment in electronic mode involving no human interface will be launched in a phased manner.
• The setting up of National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) is a “momentous step” towards the larger objectives of better taxpayer service, reduction of taxpayer grievances in line with Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India’ and promotion of ease of doing business, the finance ministry said.

48.Govt launches Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan, a month long exploratory open water rafting expedition(GS-2,3)

• Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat yesterday launched a unique initiative called 'Ganga Amantran' to connect with the stakeholders of the river. It is a pioneering exploratory open- water rafting and kayaking expedition on the Ganga river to begin on coming Thursday and will continue till 11th of next month.
• The expedition will start at Devaprayag and culminate at Ganga Sagar covering the entire stratch of over 25,000 kilometres of the River. This is the first ever effort by National Mission for Clean Ganga to raft across the entire stretch of the river and also the longest ever social campaign undertaken through an adventure sporting activityy to spread the message of River Rejuvenation and Water Conservation on a massive scale.  

49.Indian Air Force to mark 87th anniversary today(GS-3)

Air Force Day is being celebrated today, marking 87th anniversary of Indian Air Force. IAF is the fourth largest air force in the world after the US, China and Russia. The IAF has over 60 airbases all over India. The Hindon Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force is the largest in Asia and 8th largest in the world. Its motto 'Nabha Sparsham Deeptham' meaning 'Touch the sky with glory' is taken from the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. During its 'Raahat' mission in Uttarakhand flash floods. IAF made a world record in aviation by rescuing almost 20,000 civilians.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet today, on Air Force Day, a proud nation expresses gratitude to our air warriors and their families. He further said, the Indian Air Force continues to serve India with utmost dedication and excellence.

50.WTO to host first World Cotton Day celebrations in Geneva(GS-3)

World Trade Organisation, WTO will host the first World Cotton Day (WCD) celebrations in Geneva today. This event stems from the application by the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) to the United Nations General Assembly for its official recognition of a World Cotton Day, reflecting the importance of cotton as a global commodity.

Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani is representing India in the five-day event of World Cotton Day being observed at Geneva beginning today. The plenary session will be attended by heads of states, heads of international organisations and executives from the private sector.

World Cotton Day will celebrate the many advantages of cotton, from its qualities as a natural fibre, to the benefits people obtain from its production, transformation, trade and consumption. World Cotton Day will also serve to shed light on the challenges faced by cotton economies around the world because cotton is important to least developed, developing and developed economies worldwide.

The World Cotton Day launch will give more than 30 countries exposure to producers, processors and businesses and more than 400 participants will be celebrating cotton in Geneva with thousand more around the world.

A cotton exhibition is also being held where TEXPROCIL, Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC), Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will be setting up their stalls.

A sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi made out of cotton will be displayed to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) will be displaying India’s high quality cotton textiles at the exhibition.

At the exhibition HEPC will be displaying hand woven products from prominent clusters of India and will also have a live demonstration of the charkha by Pitta Ramulu, National Awardee weaver. The charkha will be donated to the WTO after the event.

The India pavilion at the World Cotton Day exhibition is being curated and designed by NIFT, a pioneer institute of fashion education in India. Fabrics which have been given Geographical Indication like Venkatagiri, Chanderi, Maheshwari and Ikkat sarees will be displayed along with many other traditional Indian textiles and organic cotton fabrics.

Between 2011 and 2018, India implemented a Cotton Technical Assistance Programme (Cotton TAP-I) of about 2.85 million US dollars for seven African countries namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad and also Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria.

Cotton is a global commodity that is produced all over the world and a single tonne of cotton provides year-round employment for five people on average. Cotton is a drought - resistant crop ideal for arid climates, it occupies just 2.1 per cent of the world’s arable land, yet it meets 27 per cent of the world’s textiles need. In addition to its fibre used in textiles and apparel, food products are also derived from cotton like edible oil and animal feed from the seed

51.Rafale(gs-2,3)

• Context: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh receives IAF’s first Rafale fighter jet from France
• The Indian Air Force on Tuesday received its first Rafale fighter jet from a series of 36 aircraft purchased from France in presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh here.
• Singh attended the handover ceremony of the first Rafale fighter jet acquired by the IAF along with his French counterpart Florence Parly at aircraft maker Dassault Aviation facility in Merignac, southwestern France.
• India had ordered 36 Rafale fighter jets from France in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore in September 2016. The first batch of four Rafale jets will fly to their home base in India by May 2020.
• All 36 jets are expected to arrive in India by September 2022, for which the IAF has been reportedly undertaking preparations, including readying required infrastructure and training of pilots.

Rafale:

• The Rafale is a twin-jet fighter aircraft able to operate from both an aircraft carrier and a shore base. The manufacturers describe it as a fully versatile aircraft which can carry out all combat aviation missions to achieve air superiority and air defence, close air support, in-depth strikes, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear deterrence.
• The Dassault Rafale (literally meaning "gust of wind",and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The Rafale is referred to as an "omnirole" aircraft by Dassault.
• In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs and boost prospective sales, France entered into an arrangement with UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to produce an agile multi-purpose fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon. Subsequent disagreements over workshare and differing requirements led to France's pursuit of its own development programme. Dassault built a technology demonstrator which first flew in July 1986 as part of an eight-year flight-test programme, paving the way for the go-ahead of the project. The Rafale is distinct from other European fighters of its era in that it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of France's major defence contractors, such as Dassault, Thales and Safran.
• Many of the aircraft's avionics and features, such as direct voice input, the RBE2 AA active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the optronique secteur frontal infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor, were domestically developed and produced for the Rafale programme. Originally scheduled to enter service in 1996, the Rafale suffered significant delays due to post-Cold War budget cuts and changes in priorities. The aircraft is available in three main variants: Rafale C single-seat land-based version, Rafale B twin-seat land-based version, and Rafale M single-seat carrier-based version.
• Introduced in 2001, the Rafale is being produced for both the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations in the French Navy. The Rafale has been marketed for export to several countries, and was selected for purchase by the Indian Air Force, the Egyptian Air Force, and the Qatar Air Force. The Rafale has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria. Several upgrades to the weapons and avionics of the Rafale are planned to be introduced by 2018.

Taking a sortie in Rafale was a memorable and once in a lifetime experience. The induction of Rafale will go a long way in strengthening our national defence.

India will receive the first 18 Rafale jets by February 2021. By April-May 2022 we will receive all 36 jets. pic.twitter.com/we4UeSwdG5

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) October 8, 2019

 52.Modi – Xi Second Informal Summit in Mamallapuram(gs-1,2)

Context:India, China relations are of global signifcance:envoy

• The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jingping would be visiting Mamallpuram, Tamil Nadu for the second edition of informal summit between India and China. The shore temple at the town is to get world class illumination for the summit.

• Mamallapuram
• 

•  The place is also known as Seven Pagodas or Mahabalipuram. Marco Polo and other Europeans named it Seven Pagodas. It is believed that 6 more temples stood along with the lone standing shore temple. Hence the name Seven Pagodas. The 2004 Tsunami exposed an old collapsed temple built of granite and was a part of Seven Pagodas. It is a historic town and was a seaport in the 1st millennium. It was declared as UNESCO World Heritage site. 
• The famous monuments in the town include temples in the form of chariots, giant open rock sculpture, cave sanctuaries, Descent of the Ganges and a Shore temple Shore Temple The temple overlooks Bay of Bengal. It was built during the Pallava dynasty. 
• It is a cave temple. Lord Vishnu shrine is placed between two shrines of Lord Shiva. The structures have multi – storied pyramidal superstructures typical of the Dravidian style. 
• The leaders are to meet in the temple. 
• They will have a pradhakshan (a walk around the temple) and hold talks in a bench that is to be installed facing the temple. Descent of the Ganges It is a monument at Mamallapuram. It is an open – air relief carved on two monolithic rocks..
•  The monument depicts the story of descent of the sacred river Ganges to the earth from heavens. It also portrays Arjuna’s penance. The monument was sculpted in the period of Pallavas. 

• Wuhan summit 

• The first informal meet between the leaders was held at Wuhan, China in April 2018. The leaders exchanged views on issues of bilateral and global importance. The simultaneous emergence of India and China as two large economies has implications in regional and global significance. The summit was to address the imbalances created in the process. They agree that proper management of the bilateral relationship will be conducive for the development of the region. They also discussed about terrorism, disaster risk reduction, combating diseases, addressing climate change, etc.

53. C40 Cities Climate Summit in Copenhagen(gs-2,3)

• Context: Delhi CM’s Copenhagen trip stalled
• The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Centre's decision to withhold sanction for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to attend the C40 Cities Climate Summit in Copenhagen
• 

C40 Cities Climate Summit in Copenhagen:

• The C40 Mayors Summit, takes place every three years, bringing together the mayors and leaders of the 96 member cities of the C40 network from across the globe. The Copenhagen Summit will celebrate and share the most effective climate solutions being delivered in cities worldwide. Mayors, CEOs, philanthropists, investors, scientists and citizens will come together to shift global markets and create the sustainable, prosperous and healthy future for the world’s great cities.
• Previous C40 summits have been hosted by London, New York, Seoul, São Paulo, Johannesburg and Mexico City.

54.Nobel prize in physics awarded for discoveries in cosmology(gs-3)

• Nobel Prize 2019 for Physics has been announced. Three scientists, James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz have won the Prize for their contribution to the understanding of the evolution of the universe and earth's place in the cosmos.

• One half of the award was given to James Peebles for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.

• They will share a 9-million kronor cash award, a gold medal and a diploma. The laureates will receive them at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10. 

BREAKING NEWS:
The 2019 #NobelPrize in Physics has been awarded with one half to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.” pic.twitter.com/BwwMTwtRFv

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 8, 2019

 55.Sixth Schedule, Tribal Areas and Autonomous District / Regional Councils(gs-2)

• Context: Stop exclusion from SixthSchedule: Meghalaya tribes
• Organisations representing five minor tribes in Meghalaya have asked Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma to intervene in the move to exclude them from the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The five minor tribes – Bodo­Kachari, Hajong, Koch, Mann and Rabha – are clubbed as “unrepresented tribes” for nomination in Meghalaya’s autonomous tribal councils. These councils are in the names of Garo, Jaintia and Khasi, the State’s three major matrilineal communities.

Sixth Schedule, Tribal Areas and Autonomous District / Regional Councils:

• The Constitution of India makes special provisions for the administration of the tribal dominated areas in four states viz. Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. As per article 244 and 6th Schedule, these areas are called “Tribal Areas“, which are technically different from the Scheduled Areas under fifth schedule.

Difference Between 5th Schedule and 6th Schedule Areas 

• While both the areas under 5th schedule and 6th schedule have dominance of the tribal people, constitution calls them with different names viz. Scheduled Area under 5th schedule while Tribal areas under 6th schedule. While executive powers of the union extend in Scheduled areas with respect to their administration in 5th schedule; the 6th schedule areas remain within executive authority of the state. While 5th schedule envisages creation of Tribal Advisory Council , 6th schedule provides for District Councils and Regional Councils with certain legislative and judicial powers.

Autonomous Districts and Autonomous Regions 

• Governors of four states viz. Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are empowered to declare some tribal dominated districts / areas of these states as autonomous districts and autonomous regions by order. No separate legislation is needed for this. The Governor also has power to include any other area, exclude any area, increase, decrease, diminish these areas, unite two districts / regions, and alter the names and boundaries of these autonomous districts and regions.

Creation of autonomous district councils and regional councils 

• Article 244 and 275 make provision for creation of the District Councils and regional councils. Each district / regional council is a body corporate which is empowered for administration of the area under its jurisdiction. They are named as “District council of (name of district) and Regional Council of (name of region). These two bodies have perpetual succession and a common seal and shall by the said name sue and be sued.

Members of autonomous councils 

• The District Councils and Regional Councils are consisting of maximum 30 members, of whom maximum 4 members shall be nominated by the Governor and the rest shall be elected on the basis of adult suffrage. However, this rule has an exception. The current provision is that the Bodoland Territorial Council can have 46 members and out of these 46, 40 are elected on the basis of adult suffrage. These 40 seats are divided as follows: 30 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes 5 seats are reserved for non-tribal communities 5 seats are unreserved The remaining six seats are nominated by the Governor from amongst the un-represented communities of the Bodoland Territorial Areas District Out of these 6, at least 2 are women.

Current Councils 

• Currently, there are ten such Councils in the region as listed below: 
• Assam Bodoland Territorial Council Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council Dima Hasao Autonomous District Council 
• Meghalaya Garo Hills Autonomous District Council Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council 
• Tripura Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council Mizoram Chakma Autonomous District Council Lai Autonomous District Council Mara Autonomous District Council

56.Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS)(gs-2)

• Context:Rural children breastfed more: survey
• Breastfeeding inversely proportional to household wealth, says Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey

• Malnutrition among children in urban India is characterised by relatively poor levels of breastfeeding, higher prevalence of iron and Vitamin D deficiency as well as obesity due to long commute by working mothers, prosperity and lifestyle patterns, while rural parts of the country see higher percentage of children suffering from stunting, underweight and wasting and lower consumption of milk products — these are among the findings of the first­ever national nutrition survey conducted by the government.
•  The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey released by the government on Monday shows that 83% of children between 12 and 15 months continued to be breastfed, a higher proportion of children in this age group residing in rural areas are breastfed (85%) compared to children in urban areas (76%). Inversely proportional Breastfeeding is inversely proportional to household wealth and other factors in­ fluencing this trend may include working mothers who have to travel long distances to reach their workplace. 
• Because of these reasons, it also noted that rural children receive meals more frequently in a day at 44% as compared to 37% of urban children. However, a higher proportion of children residing in urban areas (26.9%) are fed an adequately diverse diet as compared to those in rural areas (19%). 
• Children and adolescents residing in urban areas also have a higher (40.6%) prevalence of iron deficiency compared to their rural counterparts (29%), Experts say this is due to a better performance of the government’s health programmes in rural areas. Children in urban areas are also overweight and obese as indicated by subscapular skinfold thickness (SSFT) for their age. 
• While 14.5% of children in the age group of 5 to 9 years in cities had higher SSFT than 5.3% in rural areas, 10.4% of adolescents surveyed in urban areas in the age group of 10­ 19 had higher SSFT than 4.3% in rural areas

Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS):

• Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS), a cross-sectional, household survey covering more than 1,20,000 children and adolescents (0-19 years) in both urban and rural areas across all 30 states of India, is being conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India in partnership with UNICEF. It aims to assess the national prevalence of biological indicators (micronutrient deficiencies, subclinical inflammation, and worm infestation) and prevalence of overweight/obesity, along with information on body composition, cardio-metabolic risk, muscular strength, and fitness.
• CDSA was selected as the national monitoring agency to conduct concurrent monitoring of CNNS biological samples (blood, urine and stool). This monitoring includes, but not limited to primary sample collection at PSUs, processing at collection centres, shipment, and analysis at a central laboratory. CDSA provides ongoing feedback to the central laboratory team and informs lead survey agency and UNICEF on the quality of biological data collection, processing, transportation, analysis, and report

57.Hind Kush Himalayas(gs-1,3)

• Context:India to work with China, Pakistan
• to gauge impact of climate change
• A regional centre will help to better forecast impact on Hindu 
• Kush mountains
• To better gauge the impact of climate change on the Hindu Kush mountains, which includes the Himalayas, and spruce up data­gathering, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will collaborate with meteorological agencies in China and Pakistan, among others, to provide climate forecast services to countries in the region. Earlier this month, the IMD organised a workshop to discuss ways to establish a regional climate centre that will provide forecasting services and climate analyses.

Hind Kush Himalayas

• Part of the great Himalayan range, and spread over 3,500 square kilometres, the HKH region is shared by eight countries, including India and China.
• It is also known as Third Pole due to its largest permanent snow cover after the North and South Poles — sustains the livelihoods of 240 million people living in the mountains and hills.
• It also houses the origin of 10 river basins that include the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Mekong.

HINDU KUSH HIMALAYAN ASSESSMENT REPORT:

Context

• 
  
• International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a regional intergovernmental body has released the first-ever assessment of climate change impacts on the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region.
• The ICIMOD is pursuing 8 countries, including India, to set up an inter-governmental body to protect the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, known as the water tower of Asia.

Main findings of the report

• HKH region is warming faster than the global average. It would continue to warm through this century even if the world is able to limit global warming at the agreed 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• The per capita fossil fuel carbon dioxide emission from the HKH countries is one-sixth of the global average though it is disproportionately impacted.
• In the last 60 years, extreme cold events have become lesser while extreme warm weather events have become more pronounced. Both minimum and maximum temperatures are also changing: they are moving north, indicating overall warming.
• Every decade HKH loses one cold night and half a cold day. While warm nights have increased by 1.7 per decade, the region gets 1.2 warm days every decade.
• Alarmingly, changes in surface temperature (relative to 1976-2005) in this Himalayan region are higher than the global average, and even the South Asian region.
• The projected changes in the surface mean temperature over the HKH region are larger compared to the global mean change by the end of the 21st century.
• Although the climate of the region has changed significantly in the past, it is projected to change more dramatically in the near future.
• The number of glaciers in the Himalayan area has increased in the last five decades and this is an indicator of how severe glacier melting has been due to global warming.
• The increase in the number of glaciers is primarily due to glacier fragmentation — that big ones are splitting into smaller ones. And this is happening due to consistent loss in areas the glaciers occupy.
• Smaller glaciers are shrinking faster than larger ones, although the smaller glaciers of Ladakh show a lower rate of retreat than other Himalayan glaciers. However, the assessment makes clear that despite the surety of glaciers in the Hindu Kush Mountains losing length since 1973, no studies have been done to examine area change in this region.
• In 1998-2014, when the global warming slowed down, this region continued to warm.
• In the 20th century, the HKH region oscillated between warming and cooling phases. In the first 40 years, it reported warming to be followed by a cooling phase in 1940-1970.
• However, since 1970 it has been warming, and as assessed it would continue to be through the current century.
• Warming may be good news for agriculture as the length of the growing season has increased by 4.25 days per decade — a positive change for agriculture.

Consequences of warming of Hind Kush

• It has ramifications for the global climate. This region is a heat source in summer and a heat sink in winter.
• Along with the Tibetan Plateau, this influences the Indian summer monsoon. So, any changes in this region would have a bearing on the monsoon itself that already shows signs of changes in spread and distribution.
• It could trigger a multitude of biophysical and socio-economic impacts, such as biodiversity loss, increased glacial melting, and less predictable water availability—all of which will impact livelihoods and well-being in the HKH.
• Faster snow and glacier melting due to warming is already manifesting in formation of glacial lakes. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) are becoming frequent and causing huge casualties and loss to local infrastructures.
• Glaciers in HKH have been retreating faster, and consistently causing greater water flows in rivers. In Tibetan Plateau, river run off has increased by 5.5 per cent.
• Most of the lakes in high altitudes have also reported water level rise by 0.2 m/year besides their surface areas expanding.

 International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

• 
  

  It is a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge sharing centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – and based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
• 
  

  It aims to assist mountain people to understand these changes, adapt to them, and make the most of new opportunities, while addressing upstream-downstream issues.

58.Foreign Portfolio Investment(FPI)(gs-3)

• Context:FPI flows stay muted post tax rate cuts 
• The corporate tax rate cuts announced by the government last month has had only a marginal effect on foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) who have been net sellers in most trading sessions since the reduction in the levy was announced

Foreign Portfolio Investment

Portfolio investments characteristically encompass transactions in securities that are highly liquid, i.e. they can be bought and sold very fast. A portfolio investment is an investment made by an investor who is not involved in the management of an organization. A foreign portfolio investment is an investment activity that involves the purchase of stocks, bonds, commodities, or money market instruments that are based in a different country. Fundamentally, foreign portfolio investment involves buying of securities, traded in another country, which are highly liquid in nature and, therefore, allow investors to make "quick money" through their frequent buying and selling. Such securities may include instruments like stocks and bonds, and unlike shares, they do not give managerial control to the investor in a company. In some cases, these types of investments are short-term in nature, allowing the investor to quickly take advantage of favourable exchange rates to buy and sell the assets. At other times, the foreign portfolio investment is acquired with plans of holding onto the asset for an extended period of time. The Foreign Exchange Management Act 2000 describes Foreign Portfolio Investment as buying and selling of shares, convertible debentures of Indian companies, and units of domestic mutual funds at any of the Indian stock exchanges. It is the reflexive holding of securities such as foreign stocks, bonds, or other financial assets, none of which entails active management or control of the securities issues by the investor.

Analysing historical records, in 1992, India opened up its economy and permitted foreign portfolio investment in its domestic stock market. India is more dependent upon FPI than FDI as a source of foreign investment. During 1992 -2005 more than 50 percent of foreign investment in India came from FPI. Foreign portfolio investment flows have been the most instable component of capital flows in India and has major role in determining the overall balance of payments. During the Asian crisis as well as during the recent sub-prime crisis, it was the huge reversal of FPI flows that led to deterioration in the overall balance of payments. This is because by their very nature FPI flows do not involve a long lasting interest in the economy. The ultimate aim of FPIs is to ensure profits and risk diversification.

After that foreign portfolio investment has developed as a major source of private capital inflow in this country India is more dependent upon FPI than FDI as a source of foreign investment. During 1992 -2005 more than 50 percent of foreign investment in India came from FPI.

FPI flow can help economy:

It can be said that a foreign portfolio investment is no different from purchasing investments that are domestic in nature. Financiers will consider the financial situation of the entity that is issuing the investment, assess the potential for that investment to generate returns over a specific period of time, and consider what type of events could occur that would have a negative impact on the growth potential of that holding. Consideration of the ease of trading the asset when and as desired will also be a factor that investors will assess before selecting to make the purchase.

There are several characteristics of a foreign portfolio investment. Normally, the investor does not desire to be vigorously involved within the management of the asset. Additionally, the investment will not provide the investor with a controlling interest in the issuing company. While the number of shares acquired may be significant, the shares will not position the investor so that he or she has a great deal of control over how the issuer conducts business. Along with the somewhat hands-off nature of a foreign portfolio investment, there may also be certain tax necessities that the investor has to both the nation in which the assets are based and his or her own home country.

Under suitable conditions, a foreign portfolio investment can be effective way to generate a good return in short time. This is managed by paying more attention to current conditions in the foreign exchange market. If the investor can use the right currency to make the purchase, then sell that same investment when exchange rates are in his or her favor, there is the chance to not only earn returns from the upward movement of the investment itself, but also from the current rate of exchange between the two currencies involved.

Factors affecting Portfolio: 

1. Tax rates on interest or dividends
2. Interest rates
3. Exchange rates

Benefits of Foreign Portfolio Investment

Foreign portfolio investment augments the liquidity of domestic capital markets, and can help develop market efficiency as well. As markets become more liquid, as they become deeper and array of investments can be financed. New enterprises, for example, have a greater opportunities of receiving start-up financing. Savers have more opportunity to invest with the assurance that they will be able to manage their portfolio, or sell their financial securities quickly if they need access to their savings. In this way, liquid markets can also make longer-term investment more attractive.

Foreign portfolio investment can also bring discipline and knowledge into the domestic capital markets. In broader market, investors will have greater incentives to expend resources in investigating new or emerging investment opportunities. As enterprises compete for financing, they will face demands for better information, both in terms of quantity and quality. This press for fuller disclosure will promote transparency, which can have positive spill-over into other economic sectors.

Foreign portfolio investors, without the advantage of an insider's knowledge of the investment opportunities, are especially likely to demand a higher level of information disclosure and accounting standards, and bring with them experience utilizing these standards and a knowledge of how they function.

Foreign portfolio investment assist to promote development of equity markets and the shareholders' voice in corporate governance. As companies compete for finance the market will reward better performance, better prospects for future performance, and better corporate governance. As the market's liquidity and functionality progresses, equity prices will increasingly reflect the fundamental values of the firms, enhancing the more efficient allocation of capital flows. Well-functioning equity markets will also enable takeovers, a point where portfolio and direct investment overlap. Takeovers can turn a poorly functioning firm into an efficient and more profitable firm, strengthening the firm, the financial return to its investors, and the domestic economy.

Foreign portfolio investors also support the domestic capital markets by introducing more sophisticated instruments and technology for managing portfolios. For instance, they may bring with them a facility in using futures, options, swaps and other hedging instruments to manage portfolio risk.

Increased demand for these instruments would be conducive to developing this function in domestic markets, improving risk management opportunities for both foreign and domestic investors. Foreign portfolio investment can help to support domestic capital markets and improve their functioning. This will lead to a better allocation of capital and resources in the domestic economy, and thus a healthier economy. Open capital markets also contribute to international economic development by improving the worldwide allocation of savings and resources. Open markets give foreign investors the opportunity to diversify their portfolios, improving risk management and possibly fostering a higher level of savings and investment.

58.Modi­Xi ‘informal summit’ (gs-1,2)

• Context: Modi­Xi ‘informal summit’ to be
• held in Chennai from tomorrow
• India will focus on building on the Wuhan ‘consensus’ for better ties
• Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Chennai on Friday for the second “informal summit” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 11­12, New Delhi and Beijing announced on Wednesday. The meeting between the two leaders, which follows the Wuhan summit last April that reset ties, is expected to enhance bilateral cooperation

• Lets understand the aspects of Modi­Xi ‘informal summit’ from the following editorial which was published in the hindu recently….
• EDITORIAL: IN SEARCH OF THE WUHAN SPIRIT

• The coastal town of Mamallapuram (aka Mahabalipuram) has pipped the sacred city of Varanasi to host the historic informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
• The historical Buddhism connection is being capitalised well with statutes of Buddha seen at various vantage points in Mamallapuram, which is getting a major facelift with hundreds of workers toiling round-the-clock to ensure that the town is ready for the historic meeting between October 11 and 13.

Why Mamallapuram is chosen for second Informal Summit between India and China:

• If Wuhan was picked by President Xi Jinping as the venue last year to demonstrate China’s economic resilience and might, Mamallapuram is symbolic of India’s ‘soft power’.
• Mamallapuram, an important town of the erstwhile Pallava dynasty that ruled this part of south India from 275 CE to 897 CE, is renowned for its architecture, widely admired across the world

Historical connect between Mamallapuram with China:

• Historians said that the ancient port town of Mamallapuram was used effectively by the Pallavas to trade with China
• More importantly, Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, who was an icon in China, was the third prince of a Pallava king who travelled to China from Kancheepuram via Mamallapuram in 527AD.
• He went on to become the 28th patriarch of Buddhism succeeding Prajnatara.
• Mamallapuram and the Pallava dynasty are also historically relevant, for the earliest recorded security pact between China and India (in the early 8th century) involved a Pallava king (Rajasimhan, or Narasimha Varma II), from whom the Chinese sought help to counter Tibet, which had by then emerged as a strong power posing a threat to China.

Significance of these informal summits:

• Informal meet at Wuhan resulted in invoking of Wuhan Spirit, which sought to reset ties between India and China.
• Wuhan Spirit is in line with the five principles of peaceful coexistence (Panchsheel) jointly advocated by China and India in the 1950s. Under Wuhan Spirt
• Both countries agreed that they form the “backbone” of economic globalisation, and they should jointly make positive contributions to global peace and development.
• The two nations have agreed to cooperate, for the first time ever, on a joint project in Afghanistan.
• China has indicated that India’s refusal to join the Belt and Road Initiative will not come in the way of economic cooperation.

Changing relations: Treading with caution:

• India also has other reasons to be more optimistic than a year ago because India’s relations with the U.S. have attained a new high.
• The Quad (the U.S., India, Japan and Australia) has gained a new lease of life.
• China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has also come under increasing attack, due to debt trap diplomacy (China taking the lease of Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port for 99 years).
• India’s relations with Russia have acquired a fresh dimension, incorporating economics alongside a longstanding military relationship.
• India’s line of credit to develop Russia’s Far East has fundamentally changed the nature of India-Russia relations.
• Due to Trade war, relations between China and the U.S. have sharply deteriorated.
• Also, a new triangular relationship of Russia, India and Japan, appears to be altering equations in the East Asian region.

China-Pakistan Axis:

• China’s willingness to block any concrete action against Pakistan, its “all-weather friend”, for supporting terrorism has constituted one of the most pressing obstacles in having smooth relations between New Delhi and Beijing.
• China believes that India poses one of the few potential challenges to its ambitions of Asian dominance.
• Therefore, the primary motivation behind China’s strategic cultivation of Pakistan has been a long-held strategy of entangling India in the subcontinental rivalry.
• Beijing has been quite successful in that India-Pakistan hostility has prevented New Delhi’s power and influence spreading beyond its immediate neighbourhood.
• Pakistan has fully embraced China as the most important strategic balancer against India.
• Pakistan’s historically close relationship with China has deepened in recent years, particularly after the inauguration of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is an important component of China’s geo-economic and geopolitical Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

Conclusion:

• The meeting is also likely to help Mamallapuram become a must visit place for Chinese tourists, who mostly visit Bodhgaya.
• Informal summits have their use as trust-building exercises.
• Doklam and the disputed border between the two countries remains an issue of concern.
• The geo-political dynamics have changed in the recent past.
• It has been said that this century is Asia’s century, so in the light of this perception, both countries need to focus their energies more on domestic socio-economic development rather than frittering it away militarily.
• Hopes raised at the Wuhan Summit that the two countries would jointly work together on an economic project in Afghanistan have proved to be evanescent.
• With preparations and proper handling, the forthcoming meet could, on the other hand, provide India’s leaders with a realistic estimate as to where India-China relations are headed

59.IMF,WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK(GS-3)

CONTEXT:Slowdown effects more pronounced in India: IMF

It warns of slower growth for 90% of the world this year

The largest emerging market economies like India are experiencing an even “more pronounced” effect of the global downturn, new International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday, warning that the global economy is witnessing “synchronised slowdown” which will result in slower growth for 90% of the world this year. The IMF managing director pointed out that the widespread deceleration meant that growth this year would fall to its lowest rate since the beginning of the decade. She said the World Economic Outlook to be released next week would show downward revisions for 2019 and 2020

IMF:
International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 189 member countries, each of which has representation on the IMF's executive board in proportion to its financial importance, so that the most powerful countries in the global economy have the most voting power.

Objective

1. Foster global monetary cooperation
2. Secure financial stability
3. Facilitate international trade
4. Promote high employment and sustainable economic growth
5. And reduce poverty around the world

Functions

• Provides Financial Assistance: To provide financial assistance to member countries with balance of payments problems, the IMF lends money to replenish international reserves, stabilize currencies and strengthen conditions for economic growth. Countries must embark on structural adjustment policies monitored by the IMF.
• IMF Surveillance: It oversees the international monetary system and monitors the economic and financial policies of its 189 member countries. As part of this process, which takes place both at the global level and in individual countries, the IMF highlights possible risks to stability and advises on needed policy adjustments.
• Capacity Development: It provides technical assistance and training to central banks, finance ministries, tax authorities, and other economic institutions. This helps countries raise public revenues, modernize banking systems, develop strong legal frameworks, improve governance, and enhance the reporting of macroeconomic and financial data. It also helps countries to make progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Governance

• Board of Governors: It consists of one governor and one alternate governor for each member country. Each member country appoints its two governors.
• It is responsible for electing or appointing executive directors to the Executive Board.
• Approving quota increases, Special Drawing Right allocations,
• Admittance of new members, compulsory withdrawal of member,
• Amendments to the Articles of Agreement and By-Laws.
• Board of Governors is advised by two ministerial committees, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) and the Development Committee.
• Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank Group normally meet once a year, during the IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings, to discuss the work of their respective institutions.
• Ministerial Committees: The Board of Governors is advised by two ministerial committees,
• International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC): IMFC has 24 members, drawn from the pool of 189 governors, and represents all member countries.
• It discusses the management of the international monetary and financial system.
• It also discusses proposals by the Executive Board to amend the Articles of Agreement.
• And any other matters of common concern affecting the global economy.
• Development Committee: is a joint committee(25 members from Board of Governors of IMF & World Bank), tasked with advising the Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank on issues related to economic development in emerging market and developing countries.
• It serves as a forum for building intergovernmental consensus on critical development issues.
• Executive Board: It is 24-member Executive Board elected by the Board of Governors.
• It conducts the daily business of the IMF and exercises the powers delegated to it by the Board of Governors & powers conferred on it by the Articles of Agreement.
• It discusses all aspects of the Fund’s work, from the IMF staff's annual health checks of member countries' economies to policy issues relevant to the global economy.
• The Board normally makes decisions based on consensus, but sometimes formal votes are taken.
• Votes of each member equal the sum of its basic votes (equally distributed among all members) and quota-based votes. A member’s quota determines its voting power.
• IMF Management: IMF’s Managing Director is both chairman of the IMF’s Executive Board and head of IMF staff. The Managing Director is appointed by the Executive Board by voting or consensus.

IMF Members: Any other state, whether or not a member of the UN, may become a member of the IMF in accordance with IMF Articles of Agreement and terms prescribed by the Board of Governors.

• Membership in the IMF is a prerequisite to membership in the IBRD.
• Pay a quota subscription: On joining the IMF, each member country contributes a certain sum of money, called a quota subscription, which is based on the country’s wealth and economic performance (Quota Formula).
• It is a weighted average of GDP (weight of 50 percent)
• Openness (30 percent),
• Economic variability (15 percent),
• International reserves (5 percent).
• GDP of member country is measured through a blend of GDP—based on market exchange rates (weight of 60 percent) and on PPP exchange rates (40 percent).
• Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) is the IMF’s unit of account and not a currency.
• The currency value of the SDR is determined by summing the values in U.S. dollars, based on market exchange rates, of a SDR basket of currencies
• SDR basket of currencies includes the U.S. dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling and the Chinese renminbi (included in 2016).
• The SDR currency value is calculated daily (except on IMF holidays or whenever the IMF is closed for business) and the valuation basket is reviewed and adjusted every five years.
• Quotas are denominated (expressed) in SDRs.
• SDRs represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged.
• Members’ voting power is related directly to their quotas (the amount of money they contribute to the institution).
• IMF allows each member country to choose its own method of determining the exchange value of its money. The only requirements are that the member no longer base the value of its currency on gold (which has proved to be too inflexible) and inform other members about precisely how it is determining the currency’s value.

IMF and India

• International regulation by IMF in the field of money has certainly contributed towards expansion of international trade. India has, to that extent, benefitted from these fruitful results.
• Post-partition period, India had serious balance of payments deficits, particularly with the dollar and other hard currency countries. It was the IMF that came to her rescue.
• The Fund granted India loans to meet the financial difficulties arising out of the Indo–Pak conflict of 1965 and 1971.
• From the inception of IMF up to March 31, 1971, India purchased foreign currencies of the value of Rs. 817.5 crores from the IMF, and the same have been fully repaid.
• Since 1970, the assistance that India, as other member countries of the IMF, can obtain from it has been increased through the setting up of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs created in 1969).
• India had to borrow from the Fund in the wake of the steep rise in the prices of its imports, food, fuel and fertilizers.
• In 1981, India was given a massive loan of about Rs. 5,000 crores to overcome foreign exchange crisis resulting from persistent deficit in balance of payments on current account.
• India wanted large foreign capital for her various river projects, land reclamation schemes and for the development of communications. Since private foreign capital was not forthcoming, the only practicable method of obtaining the necessary capital was to borrow from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (i.e. World Bank).
• India has availed of the services of specialists of the IMF for the purpose of assessing the state of the Indian economy. In this way India has had the benefit of independent scrutiny and advice.
• The balance of payments position of India having gone utterly out of gear on account of the oil price escalation since October 1973, the IMF has started making available oil facility by setting up a special fund for the purpose.
• Early 1990s when foreign exchange reserves – for two weeks’ imports as against the generally accepted 'safe minimum reserves' of three month equivalent — position were terribly unsatisfactory. Government of India's immediate response was to secure an emergency loan of $2.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund by pledging 67 tons of India's gold reserves as collateral security. India promised IMF to launch several structural reforms (like devaluation of Indian currency, reduction in budgetary and fiscal deficit, cut in government expenditure and subsidy, import liberalisation, industrial policy reforms, trade policy reforms, banking reforms, financial sector reforms, privatization of public sector enterprises, etc.) in the coming years.
• The foreign reserves started picking up with the onset of the liberalisation policies.
• India has occupied a special place in the Board of Directors of the Fund. Thus, India had played a creditable role in determining the policies of the Fund. This has increased the India’s prestige in the international circles.

World Economic Outlook Reports:

• A Survey by the IMF staff usually published twice a year. It presents IMF staff economists' analyses of global economic developments during the near and medium term. Chapters give an overview as well as more detailed analysis of the world economy; consider issues affecting industrial countries, developing countries, and economies in transition to market; and address topics of pressing current interest. Annexes, boxes, charts, and an extensive statistical appendix augment the text

60.Chemistry Nobel awarded for development of Li-ion batteries(GS-3)

• CONTEXT:The 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been announced. Three scientists, John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino, have been jointly awarded the coveted prize for their development of lithium-ion batteries.
• In a tweet, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm today said the laureates laid the foundation of a wireless and fossil-fuel-free society. Goran Hansson, Secretary-General of the Academy, said, the prize was about a rechargeable world.
• John Goodenough of the University of Texas is the oldest laureate ever awarded a Nobel prize. M Stanley Whittingham is from the State University of New York at Binghamton and Akira Yoshino of Asahi Kasei Corporation and Meijo University in Japan
  

The 2019 #NobelPrize in Chemistry has been awarded to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” pic.twitter.com/LUKTeFhUbg

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2019

61. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP),Data localisation(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT: Data localisation plans hang in the balance 
• India’s data localisation plans hang in the balance as it will join the other Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries on Thursday in discussing the e­commerce chapter of the RCEP agreement. The meeting will take place in Bangkok from October 10­13. If India agrees to the provisions of Chapter 10 on ecommerce, as specifi??ed by most of the other countries, it will mean it won’t be allowed to impose data localisation rules on companies looking to do business in India

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP):

• RCEP is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
• Aim: RCEP aims to boost goods trade by eliminating most tariff and non-tariff barriers — a move that is expected to provide the region’s consumers greater choice of quality products at affordable rates. It also seeks to liberalise investment norms and do away with services trade restrictions.

Why is India concerned?

• Greater access to Chinese goods may have impact on the Indian manufacturing sector. India has got massive trade deficit with China. Under these circumstances, India proposed differential market access strategy for China.
• There are demands by other RCEP countries for lowering customs duties on a number of products and greater access to the market than India has been willing to provide.

 Why India should not miss RCEP?

• If India is out of the RCEP, it would make its exports price uncompetitive with other RCEP members’ exports in each RCEP market, and the ensuing export-losses contributing to foreign exchange shortages and the subsequent extent of depreciation of the rupee can only be left to imagination. Some of the sectors that have been identified as potential sources of India’s export growth impulses under RCEP to the tune of approximately $200 billion.

• There are more compelling trade and economic reasons for RCEP to become India-led in future, than otherwise. India would get greater market access in other countries not only in terms of goods, but in services and investments also.

Data localisation:

What does Data Localization mean?

• Data localization is the act of storing data on any device that is physically present within the borders of a specific country where the data was generated.

Why data localization is necessary for India?

• For securing citizen’s data, data privacy, data sovereignty, national security, and economic development of the country.
• Recommendations by the RBI, the committee of experts led by Justice BN Srikrishna, the draft ecommerce policy and the draft report of the cloud policy panel show signs of data localisation.
• The extensive data collection by technology companies, has allowed them to process and monetize Indian users’ data outside the country. Therefore, to curtail the perils of unregulated and arbitrary use of personal data, data localization is necessary.
• Digital technologies like machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) can generate tremendous value out of various data. It can turn disastrous if not contained within certain boundaries.
• With the advent of cloud computing, Indian users’ data is outside the country’s boundaries, leading to a conflict of jurisdiction in case of any dispute.
• Data localization is an opportunity for Indian technology companies to evolve an outlook from services to products. International companies will also be looking at the Indian market, and this will benefit the growth of the local ecosystem.
• More data centres in India could mean new, power-hungry customers for India’s renewable energy market. That means Data localisation could boost India’s renewable energy.

Policies that imply data localization:

• The Srikrishna Committee wants to localise data for law enforcement to have easy access to data, to prevent foreign surveillance, to build an artificial intelligence ecosystem in India, and because undersea cables through which data transfers take place are vulnerable to attacks.
• In April, the Reserve Bank of India imposed a hard data localisation mandate on payment systems providers to store payment systems data only in India.
• Barring limited exceptions, telecom service providers are not allowed to transfer user information and accounting information outside India.
• Goals set in the Draft National Digital Communications Policy 2018, and the Guidelines for Government Departments for Contractual Terms related to Cloud Storage 2017, draft e-commerce policy and the draft report of the cloud policy panel show signs of data localization.

Concerns / Challenges:

• Several of the recommendations in including the draft e-commerce policy, falter on a key ground like they gloss over the negative economic impact of data localization. This approach exhibits lack of evidence-based policy making.
• Having data in India does not mean that domestic companies will be able to access this data. Localization might aid the growth of the data centre and the cloud computing industry in India, but as matter of wider public policy, such an approach is extremely myopic.
• Mandating localization is less of a solution for data protection and might be less relevant to promote e-commerce.
• Given the comparative trade advantages enjoyed by one section of Indian industry in this context, mandating a strict data localization regime could be perceived as a restrictive trade barrier and spur retaliatory measures.
• There is a possible rise in prices of foreign cloud computing services in case of a data localisation, and its impact on MSMEs as well as start-ups relying on these services.
• The possibility of triggering a vicious cycle of data localisation requirements by other countries as a response to India’s possible data localisation will be detrimental for the global data economy.
• Growth will be restricted if data cannot be aggregated internationally. Infrastructure in India for efficient data collection and management is lacking.

62.GEMINI system(GS-3)

• CONTEXT:GEMINI system to warn Fishermen of danger 
• It also shows fish catch probability
• To avoid communication blackouts that led to 20 fishermen going missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi in 2017, a slew of government departments, research agencies and private companies have developed GEMINI, a portable receiver linked to ISRO satellites, that is “fail­proof” and warn fishermen of danger
• The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a Hyderabad institute collaborated with Accord, a private company, to develop a boxshaped receiver that has an antenna and in­built battery that can last three to four days, according to a brochure describing the device. GEMINI works on GAGAN, developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India, and is an Indiamade global positioning system. It relies on the positioning system of ISRO’s GSAT satellites. Storm alerts When GEMINI is connected to an app, it also lets fishermen know the probability of fish catch in the surrounding seas. “Even now we provide services such as storm alerts and advisories of potential fish catch. However, it’s dependent on the mobile services provided by your phone company,” said Satish Shenoi, director, INCOIS. At RUPEES 9,000 a device, it’s relatively expensive, say offi??­ cials, but attempts are on to subsidise it by as much as 90%.

63.Safran(gs-2,3)

• Context:Rajnath invites French defence firms to India 
• Provide attractive business environment, says engine maker Safran

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday made a pitch for the French industry to invest and explore collaborative opportunities in India while French engine manufacturer Safran said that India should provide an attractive business environment and not “terrorise us” with its tax and customs rules. “We want collaboration to modernise our shipyards and defence platforms by infusion of technology. French firms can make India their base for production of defence equipment not only for India’s large market but also for export to other countries,” Mr. Singh said, addressing the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the French defence industry. He is on a two­day visit to France

Safran 

• Safran S.A. is a French multinational aircraft engine, rocket engine, aerospace-component and defense company. It was formed by a merger between the aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer and aerospace component manufacturer group SNECMA and the security company SAGEM in 2005. In 2018 Safran took control of Zodiac Aerospace, significantly expanding its aircraft equipment activities. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Employing over 91,000 people and generating 21.05 billion euros in sales in 2018, Safran operates in the aircraft propulsion and equipment, space and defense markets. The company is listed on the Euronext stock exchange and is part of the CAC 40 and Euro Stoxx 50 indices

64.Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI)(gs-2)Context: Jio to charge 6p per minutefor calls to other networksPossible extension of deadline to remove IUC charges cited

• More than 350 million customers of Reliance Jio will have to pay interconnect usage charge (IUC) of 6 paise per minute for mobile calls made to other networks, as India’s largest telecom company by number of subscribers plans to recover such charges from its customers. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani had originally promised free, unlimited voice calls on the Jio network. IUC is paid by one operator to another, when its customers make outgoing mobile calls to the other operator’s customers. These calls are known as mobile off­net calls. IUC charges are fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and currently stand at 6 paise per minute

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI)

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) (set up under TRAI Act of 1997) has come into being as a consequence of opening up of the telecommunication sector to the private operators.

Organisation

TRAI shall have, in addition to its chairman, at least two and at the most six members, all appointed by the Central Government.

• The chairman will be a person who has been a judge of the Supreme Court or Chief Justice of a High Court.

• The members should have special knowledge of, or professional experience in telecom, industry, finance, accountancy, law management and consumer affairs.

• Only those senior or retired Government officers can be appointed as members who have served for at least three years as secretary/additional secretary to Union or State Governments.

• The Chairman holds the post for five years, but members’ term is for five years or sixty-five years of age, whichever comes earlier. The serving government employees have to take retirement before joining as members.

The powers of the TRAI have been considerably diluted by the T (Amendment) Ordinance. 2000. Now Regulation of telecom services is to be done by TRAI and newly set up Telecom Disputes Settlement Apell Tribunal (TDSAT). They will also adjudicate disputes dispose of appeals. protect interests of service providers and consumers to promote and ensure orderly growth of the telecom sector.

The composition of TRAI is also changed to chairman and not more two whole time members and not more than two part-time members to appoint by the Government. The TDSAT has been given the mandate adjudicate disputes

(i) between a licensor and a licensee;

(ii) between two or more service providers;

(iii) between a service provider and a group of consumers.

Any person may approach TDSAT in addition to Central or some or local authority. The chairperson and members of this tribunal are to appointed by the Government of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

Initially the TRAI had to bear with interference and nagging Department of Telecommunication of Government of India which also ha to be an interested party being administrative department for government owned telecom service provides. Now with the Amendment 2000 its and jurisdiction has been considerably diluted. One wonders how efficiently the regulator remains in future.

The TRAI is always at logger-heads with the bosses of Union Telcom Ministry which always is busy working out a strategy to by-pass regulator. The year 2009 has been abuzz with the biggest fraud mi. exchequer-the 2-G spectrum allotment scam. As per latest reports from Comptroller and Auditor General of India. This scam seems to have cost the exchequer of Rs. 1,77,000 crores.

Powers and Functions of TRAI

The Powers and functions of TRAI are mainly on:

• to recommend need and timing of introduction of new service providers and terms and conditions of license to a service provider

• to ensure technical compatibility and inter-connect between different service providers and regulate their revenue sharing arrangements

• to ensure compliance with terms of license and revaluation of the same for non-compliance

• to lay down and ensure time period for providing long-distance and local distance circuits

• to facilitate competition and promote efficiency in operations to promote growth of telecom services;

• to protect consumers’ interest monitor quality of senrices inspect equipment used in networks and make
recommendation about such equipment;

• to maintain register of interconnect agreements and keep it open for inspection and to settle disputes among the
service providers in this respect;

• to give advice to the Government on any matter related to the telecom industry. levy fees and charges for services and, ensure that universal service obligations are complied with; and

• to perform any such other administration and financial function may be entrusted to it by the Central Government.

65.Global Competitiveness Index(gs-3)

Context:India slips 10 places in 

global competitiveness index

India is among the worst­performing BRICS nations: WEF

• India has moved down 10 places to rank 68th on an annual global competitiveness index, largely due to improvements witnessed by several other economies, while Singapore has replaced the U.S. as the world’s most competitive economy. India, which was ranked 58th in the annual Global Competitiveness Index compiled by Geneva­based World Economic Forum (WEF), is among the worstperforming BRICS nations along with Brazil (ranked even lower than India at 71st this year). Announcing its latest index, the WEF said on Wednesday India ranks high in terms of macroeconomic stability and market size, while its financial sector is relatively deep and stable despite the high delinquency rate, which contributes to weakening the soundness of its banking system.

Context: GCI 2019 has been released.

The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which was launched in 1979, maps the competitiveness landscape of 141 economies through 103 indicators organised into 12 pillars.

The pillars, which cover broad socio-economic elements are: institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, product market, labour market, the financial system, market size, business dynamism and innovation capability.

Performance of India:

Compared to last year, India has moved down 10 places to rank 68th. India was ranked 58th last year.

It is among the worst-performing BRICS nations along with Brazil (ranked even lower than India at 71st this year). 

India ranks high in terms of macroeconomic stability and market size, while its financial sector is relatively deep and stable despite the high delinquency rate, which contributes to weakening the soundness of its banking system. 

In innovation, India is well ahead of most emerging economies and on par with several advanced economies.

Concerns and way ahead for India:

Major shortcomings: limited ICT (information, communications and technology) adoption, poor health conditions and low healthy life expectancy. 

The healthy life expectancy, where India has been ranked 109th out of total the 141 countries surveyed for the index, is one of the shortest outside Africa and significantly below the South Asian average.

With a ratio of female workers to male workers of 0.26, India has been ranked very low at 128th place.

Way ahead for India:

Now, India needs to grow its skills base, while its product market efficiency is undermined by a lack of trade openness and the labour market is characterised by a lack of worker rights’ protections, insufficiently developed active labour market policies and critically low participation of women.

Performance of other countries:

Asia-Pacific is the most competitive region in the world, followed closely by Europe and North America.

The United States may have lost out to Singapore overall, but it remains an innovation powerhouse.

Nordic countries are among the world’s most technologically advanced, innovative and dynamic while also providing better living conditions and social protection.

Global concerns- key observations made by the report:

The world is at a social, environmental and economic tipping point.

Subdued growth, rising inequalities and accelerating climate change provide the context for a backlash against capitalism, globalization, technology, and elites.

There is gridlock in the international governance system and escalating trade and geopolitical tensions are fuelling uncertainty.

This holds back investment and increases the risk of supply shocks: disruptions to global supply chains, sudden price spikes or interruptions in the availability of key resources.

Ten years on from the global financial crisis, the world economy remains locked in a cycle of low or flat productivity growth despite the injection of more than $10 trillion by central banks.