CIVIL SERVICES MONTHLY · CIVIL SERVICES MONTHLY INTERNATIONAL India to remain fastest growing major economy till 2019-20 1 4th Asian Electoral Stakeholders Forum Held in Colombo,

CIVIL SERVICES MONTHLY

CONTENTS

TA

BL

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F

Each topic has been covered in

depth so as to make you feel

confident to clear the prelims,

mains and interview of the civil

services exam. The coverage is

lucid with easy-to-understand

questions & answers that help the

reader remember the topic longer

and enables the mind to form

linkages, an important attribute in

Main answer writing.

INTERNATIONAL

POLITY & GOVERNANCE

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

ENVIRONMENT ECOLOGY & BIODIVERSITY

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ART & CULTURE

SOCIAL ISSUES

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

MAPPING

HOW TO USE THIS COMPILATION

This is an attempt to demystify the preparation of UPSC Civil

Services Examination. With numerous courses and study materials

available already, there seems to be missing a genuine, to-the-point

and strictly exam oriented source that covers current affairs in a

holistic manner.

With this magazine, the aim is to take the most important topics

thematically, that appeared in newspapers, PIB, AIR, Yojana,

Kurukshetra and provide a crisp, simple and point wise explanation

so as to make it easy to remember.

Further, each topic has been covered in-depth. This means all

relevant information pertaining to the topic is provided then and

there to ensure linkages that immensely help in Main answer

writing.

At the end of the magazine comes the Test Yourself section

wherein MCQs are provided from the news covered in the

compilation. The questions are strictly based on the UPSC Civil

Services Prelims Examination.

What you hold in your hand is a one stop solution to your current

affairs needs.


INTERNATIONAL India to remain fastest growing major economy till 2019-20 1 4th Asian Electoral Stakeholders Forum Held in Colombo, Sri Lanka 2 India Elected President of AIBD 3 India ranks 57th in the Global Innovation Index 5 A Year After Doklam: India-China Relations 6 India Nepal Relations 9 3rd Indian Ocean Conference held in Hanoi, Vietnam 11 Michelle Bachelet: Former Chilean President appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

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SCO Peace Mission 2018 13 POLITY & GOVERNANCE 123rd Constitution Amendment Bill 16 Election of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha 18 The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017 20 NOTA in Rajya Sabha elections 22 Governor of seven states appointed 23 Wrongful Prosecution 27 Proposal for Legislative Council in Odisha 29 Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) 31

ECONOMIC & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT RBI's annual report and Demonetisation 34 Rupee hit historic low of 70 against US Dollar 37 Global Liveability Index 2018 40 ILO report on India's Wages 41 Safeguard Duty on solar panel imports 43 NABARD survey on farm households 46 RBI gets new non official directors 48 State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index(SEEPI) 51 Ease of Living Index 52

ENVIRONMENT ECOLOGY & BIODIVERSITY Kerala floods 54 Coral Bleaching 54 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 56

INDEX


Algal blooms 58 World Bio-fuel Day 60 India's first bio-fuel flight 61 Afforestation 61 National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank 63 National REDD+ strategy 64 The World Elephant Day 65

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Gaganyan 67 GM Mosquitoes 69

ART & CULTURE Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) 71 Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman 73 Swadesh Darshan Scheme 73 11th World Hindi Conference 74 Panini Language Lab in Mauritius 75 International Council on Monument and Sites (ICOMOS) 76 SOCIAL ISSUES Anganwadi 78 National Nutrition Month 80 ODOP - One District One Product - Uttar Pradesh 82 Sexual Harassment at Workplace 84 Child Care Institutions (CCIs) and Shelter Homes 86

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES Scheme for Adolescent Girls 89 National Child Labour Project Scheme 89 Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance(Drugs) Abuse 90 Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART)

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E-Pashudhan Haat Scheme 91 MAPPING South China sea 92


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India to remain fastest growing major economy till 2019-20 The Asian development bank (ADB) has stated that India will continue to be fastest growing major economy, ahead of china, in 2019-20. What is ADB? • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was established in 1966 as a financial institution to foster

economic growth in the poorest regions in the world. It promotes social and economic development in Asia pacific.

• It is headquartered in Manila, Philippines • It was established by 31 members which have now grown to 67 members with 48 from Asia and the

pacific and 19 from the outside. • The ADB closely follows the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are

distributed in proportion with members' capital contributions. • ADB is an official United Nations Observer. • ADB achieves its goals through investments in the form of loans, grants and information sharing, in

infrastructure, health care services, financial and public administration systems, helping nations prepare for the impact of climate change or better manage their natural resources, as well as other areas.

• The two largest shareholders in ADB are USA and Japan.

What is the work? • The Asian Development Bank envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and

the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region. • ADB in partnership with member governments, independent specialists and other financial

institutions is focused on delivering projects in developing member countries that create economic and development impact.

• As a multilateral development finance institution, ADB provides: o loans o technical assistance o grants

What is Asian Development Outlook? • The Asian Development Outlook is an annual publication produced by the Asian Development

Bank (ADB). • It offers economic analysis and forecasts, as well as an examination of social development issues, for

most countries in Asia. What does ADO predict? • India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy, ahead of China, with a growth rate of

7.3 per cent in 2018-19 and 7.6 per cent in 2019-20

INTERNATIONAL


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• The growth in India will be driven by increased public spending; higher capacity utilisation rate and increase in private investment

• South Asia continues to be the fastest growing sub-region. • The upgrade in the 2018-19 inflation forecast for India from 4.6 per cent to 5 per cent responds to

higher oil prices, significant depreciation of the Indian rupee in the past few months, and increases announced on 4 July in minimum support prices for summer crops

• Domestic factors, including RBI intervention to avoid sharp currency depreciations, and the reintroduction of food and fuel subsidies to contain the effects of rising commodity prices in some economies has led to inflationary pressures.

What is the relation between India and ADB? • Over the past 3 decades, millions of people in India have benefited from improvements to basic

infrastructure and services brought by ADB-supported development initiatives. • Since commencing operations in India in 1986, ADB has committed 209 sovereign loans totalling

$35.9 billion. • The new ADB country partnership strategy, 2018–2022 for India, approved in 2017, aims to support

the country’s efforts to accelerate inclusive economic growth. It will focus on boosting economic competitiveness and creating good jobs, building inclusive infrastructure and services in low-income states, and addressing challenges related to climate change and the environment.

• ADB also fosters regional cooperation and integration, private sector development, institutional capacity development, and knowledge sharing as part of its operations in India.

• The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), 2018–2022 for India aims to support the government’s goal of faster, inclusive, and sustainable growth accompanied by rapid economic transformation and job creation.

• India is also a member of the South Asia Sub regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program. • India’s shareholdings are 6.3%, while china is 6.4% and USA and Japan have 15.6% shareholdings

each. 4th Asian Electoral Stakeholders Forum Held in Colombo, Sri Lanka The fourth edition of Asian electoral stakeholder’s forum (AESF-IV) was held in Columbo, Sri Lanka to discuss the state of elections and democracy in the region. What is AESF? • AESF is the largest gathering of election management bodies (EMBs)

and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Asia. • It is being held in order to secure the broad establishment of democracy

and security when holding elections within the region. • It provides opportunity for Asian election commissions, election

observers, non-government organizations (NGOs) and interstate bodies to gather and discuss state of elections and democracy in the region.

• It also provides platform for institutionalizing capacity building efforts to pave the way for more meaningful and credible election through cooperation among stakeholders.

• Previous AESF gatherings were instrumental in setting benchmarks and guidelines on conducting truly democratic elections which respect internationally recognised human rights and election principles and norms.


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• The first AESF was held in Thailand in 2012 and had endorsed Bangkok Declaration on Free and Fair Elections.

• The second AESF was held in Dili, Timor Leste in 2015 and had established Dili Indicators of Democratic Elections.

• The third AESF was held in 2016 in Bali, Indonesia which had framed Bali Commitment: Eight Keys to Electoral Integrity

What is AESF-IV? • The theme of AESF-IV was ‘Advancing Election Transparency and Integrity: Promoting and

defending Democracy Together’. • This was for first time AESF was held in South Asia. • It was jointly organised by Election Commission of Sri Lanka and Asian network for free elections

(ANFREL) • It was attended by more than 250 delegates from 45 countries. • India was represented by Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra Ashwini Kumar and NGO. • It covered wide array of crucial election issues like current state of democracy in Asia, common

electoral challenges in the region, and various good practices employed to make elections better. • It culminated with endorsement of landmark document, urging election stakeholders from within

Asia and beyond to promote and defend democracy in the region. India Elected President of AIBD India was elected as president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development for period of two years. What is AIBD? • The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) was established in 1977 under

UNESCO. • It is a unique regional inter-governmental organisation servicing country of the United Nations

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in the field of electronic media development.

• It is hosted by the Government of Malaysia and the secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur. • The Institute aims to fulfil this mandate by mobilizing the intellectual and technological resources

available within the national broadcasting organizations of its member countries as well as regional and international bodies through a well-established infrastructure and networking mechanism which includes government agencies, non-governmental organizations, institutions of higher learning, private sector and individual professionals.

• Full membership of the AIBD is confined to sovereign states and they are invited to designate the broadcasting authority of the country to be the beneficiary.

• The AIBD currently has 26 Full Members (countries), represented by 34 organisations, and 67 Affiliate Members (organisations) with a total membership of 101 representing 48 countries and regions and over 50 partners in Asia, Pacific, Europe, Africa, Arab States and North America.

What are the details with respect to India’s Election as the president?


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• India was elected as the new President of the AIBD General Conference during the 44th Annual Gathering in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 3 August 2018.

• Sri Lanka was re-elected as the Vice President of the General Conference. • India replaced Iran whose term ended this year following its election for a two-year term from August

2016. • The challenges discussed in the meet include seeking more transparency in AIBD finances, revising

training modules amid the changing media landscape, overhauling the Strategic Plan Team as a think tank, and refining procedures and rules critical to the Institute’s operations.

What is the vision and Mission of AIBD? • The aim of the Institute is to achieve a vibrant and cohesive electronic media environment in the

Asia Pacific region through policy and resource development. • To encourage regional dialogue and cooperation in electronic media policy of the Asia Pacific region. • To provide an Asia-Pacific regional platform for international cooperation in the electronic media

development. • To Assist member countries in human resource development in the electronic media, consistent with

their development needs. • To Assist member countries with electronic media consultancy.

Who are the new elected members of the AIBD Executive board? • Iran, Maldives and Nepal were elected as new members of the AIBD Executive Board (EXBO). • Cambodia and Pakistan were re-elected to the Board. • They complete the entire nine-member EXBO that also includes Bhutan, China, Korea, and the

Philippines. What are the objectives of AIBD? • The strategic plan of the AIBD calls upon the Institute to play a more assertive role for the benefit

of its present and future members by serving as the regional platform to encourage dialogue and cooperation in the electronic media policy of the Asia-Pacific region, taking full account of emerging current and global, regional and national issues.

• The window for regional policy makers to access information to worldwide mass media policy formulation and regulations and vice versa.

• A vehicle to establish inter-regional links and cooperation for media and communications development.

• A think-tank for the development of regional programming that reflects the traditional values of the Asia-Pacific region.

• An agent of change in the regional IT environment. • A catalyst for national media development, taking account of new partnerships between

manufacturers, service providers and the governments. • A media consultancy resource house to assist member countries. • A reference centre and provider for human resource development

India ranks 57th in the Global Innovation Index In Global innovation index 2018, India was ranked 57th among 130 countries.


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What is Global Innovation Index? • The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual

ranking of countries by their capacity for and success in innovation.

• It is published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization and other institutions.

• The Index is based on both subjective and objective data derived from sources like the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

• GII is an evolving project that builds on its existing editions while adding new data and that’s inspired by the latest research on the measurement of innovation

• The GII relies on – Innovation Input Sub-Index and Innovation Output Sub-Index • Five Input Pillars capture elements of the national economy that enable innovative activities:

o Institutions o Human capital and research o Infrastructure o Market sophistication o Business sophistication

• Two output pillars get the actual evidence of innovation outputs o Knowledge and technology outputs o Creative outputs

• It ranks nations on the basis of a total of 80 indicators like intellectual property filing rates to ease of starting business.

• GII is published annually since 2007 and used to evaluate progress. • India’s Confederation of Indian Industry is one of the knowledge partners which assists GII team in

bringing out the annual ranking. • Switzerland retained its number-one spot in the GII ranking, followed by Netherlands, Sweden, UK,

Singapore, USA, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Ireland in the top 10 rankings. • It was the 11th edition of GII and India moved up 3 places as compared to 60th rank in GII 2017. What is WIPO? • WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation. • It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations with 191-member states • Its mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property

system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. • The mandate, governing bodies and procedures are set out in the WIPO Convention, which

established WIPO in 1967. • The Headquarters of WIPO is in Geneva Switzerland • India is a member of WIPO

What are the reasons regarding India’s rank in GII? • India moved up three paces from the 60th rank in 2017 to 57th among 130 countries in 2018.


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• India has emerged as top-ranked economy in central and south Asia. • India is also the top performer in the lower middle-income group and most innovative country in its

region. • India has ranked 2nd, after china, in the quality of innovation inputs and outputs in the lower and

upper middle-income group combined. • On a number of important indicators including productivity growth and exports of ICT and services,

India ranks well. • India has also outperformed on innovation relative to its GDP per capita for eight years in a row. • The other areas of strength for India include the number of its science and engineering graduates,

an area in which it ranked sixth overall. It ranked fourth on ease of protecting minority investors, 16th on trade, competition and market scale and within this section, third on domestic market scale measured in purchasing power parity, 18th on the global R&D companies’ indicator, 20th on gross capital formation and 35th overall in investment.

• India has fared badly on indicators such as ease of starting business, political stability and safety, overall education and environmental performance.

A Year After Doklam: India-China Relations A 73-day face-off in Doklam ended on August 28, 2017 and a year has passed. Let’s look what has happened since. What is the history of Indo-China? • Ancient texts of India referring to China go back to 2nd century BCE. • Exchanges of scholars, monks and travellers have been happening since the 1st century. • Indian sepoys in the British Indian Army fought in the Opium Wars and Boxer Rebellion. • After Independence of both the countries, India was the first non-communist nation to establish

diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. • In 1954, India and the PRC signed an eight year agreement on Tibet called the Panchsheel and

created by Jawaharlal Nehru. • Border disputes on the indo-china border have continued since 1960s which exists even today.

What is the Doklam Face-off? • The faceoff occurred on Dolam Plateau in

Doklam area of Bhutan between India and China • The Chinese army entered the area with road

construction equipment and tries to build a road in the southern Doklam region to Jampheri ridge.

• When the Bhutanese patrol couldn’t control them, Indian soldiers from Doka La( an Army post) tried to dissuade the Chinese personnel from attempting to change the status quo.

• Road construction would have brought the Chinese military close to India’s border in West Bengal and exposed the Jampheri ridge to the possibility of Chinese presence, creating serious security vulnerability for the Silguri corridor.

• The Chinese did not agree, leading to a faceoff between soldiers of the two sides deployed in the close vicinity, as Indians physically stopped any Chinese construction attempt.


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What has happened in one year since? • The diplomatic relations between India and China seems to be on the mend following the informal

summit between the respective PMs in Wuhan in April. • India and China have also been interacting at the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore and Shanghai

Cooperation Organisation Summit in Qingdao. • The armies are working actively to avoid confrontations by providing “strategic guidance”. What are the issues surrounding Indo-China?

Border Disputes • India and china share a long border of about 3488kms which is not yet clearly demarcated and therefore, has led to many contentious regions like Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh.

Tibet • Tibet has been a bone of contention between India and China. • China occupied Tibet in 1951 and eliminated the buffer between two countries. • Recently, china has also started infrastructure development and military build-up in

Tibet along with planning to divert or dam rivers which increased India’s anxieties • Conversely, India has failed to assure China with respect to its possible use of the

presence of Dalai Lama and its large Tibetan refugee population to create trouble. Terrorism • Though Pakistan is still identified as the biggest source of terrorism by India, China

has blocked India’s attempt at the UN for sanctions against Masood Azhar, chief of Jash-e-Mohammad.

Connectivity Initiatives

• Connectivity Initiatives of China with Various other countries like String of Pearls, Belt and Road Initiative and China Pakistan Economic Corridor increases India’s suspicions as these initiatives violates India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity directly and indirectly.

• India, on the other hand, has been trying to develop closer arrangements with the countries surrounding China such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam and also with central Asian neighbours of china

Quadrilateral Dialogue

• India decided to join the revived Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, India, and Australia with a naval component which has been opposed by China as a potential anti-Chinese alliance of democracies aimed at containing it and checking its maritime rise in the indo-pacific.

Nuclear Suppliers Group

• China has been blocking India's attempt to entry to NSG to build a case for Pakistan

Bhutan and India

• China has been critical of India's role in and its relationship with Bhutan and Nepal while India has a long tradition of cultural and trade exchanges with both Nepal and Bhutan and has a security arrangement with Bhutan for protection of its borders. India’s role in Doklam (2016) escalated the situation towards armed conflict between the two countries.

Trade imbalance • Trade imbalance between the two countries is skewed in China’s favour. While the bilateral trade reached $84.44 billion in 2017 trade deficit still remained at a high of $51.75 billion and registering a growth of 8.55 per cent year-on-year in 2017.

What were the consequences of Wuhan informal summit? • Border dispute: On the bilateral front, they decided to issue strategic guidance to their militaries to

strengthen communication and enhance predictability and effectiveness in the management of border affairs.


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• Trade deficit: Both sides addressed measures to better balance the ballooning trade deficit of about $52 billion by encouraging agricultural and pharmaceutical exports to China.

• Terrorism: Both the countries recognized the common threat posed by terrorism and reiterated their strong condemnation of and resolute opposition to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

• Afghanistan- Both leaders discussed a joint economic project in Afghanistan. The proposed joint economic project in Afghanistan could be instrumental in mitigating the trust deficit between the two sides.

• On Global Challenges- They agreed to jointly contribute towards sustainable solutions for global challenges including climate change, sustainable development, food security etc. and underline the importance of reform of multilateral financial and political institutions to make them representative and responsive to the needs of developing countries.

• Unresolved Issues- Finally, they attempted to reduce the heat over unresolved issues and so-called “irritants” in the relationship, such as China’s block on India’s NSG membership bid or the UN’s terror designation for Pakistan-based groups, and India’s opposition to the Belt and Road Initiative or its use of the Tibet issue. For this, existing mechanisms of dialogue will be strengthened, not allowing broader bilateral movement to be hit.

• India also offered to host the next informal summit with Mr. Xi in India next year. What is the significance and way ahead with Indo-China? • The change in the phrase “all areas of the India-China border region”, instead of the “on the India-

China border” means china’s agreement that Doklam is very much part of India’s concerns. • The opposition of terrorism in all forms assumes significance as China had earlier prevented

designation of JeM Chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at UN. • India and China collaborating on saving globalization, defending the WTO, promoting a multipolar

world, emphasizing ‘strategic autonomy’ and Chinese resetting of ties towards Asian neighbours is also due to changing USA’s policies on trade and security.

• The informal summits may help agreement on reducing trade deficit between two countries, India’s entry to Chinese markets in pharmaceuticals and agricultural products with simultaneous reduction of major non-tariff barriers.

• Further for the first time India and China agreed to work on a “joint economic project” in Afghanistan which assumes all the more significance considering: Pakistan is already wary of India’s projects in Afghanistan and considers China as an “all weather ally” but China is unwilling to get cramped up by Pakistani reservations for India.

• India has been advocating a regional approach and the continued international assistance in Afghanistan to prevent taking over by Taliban which may have found resonance in China as well.

Why is INDIA-CHINA-NEPAL TRIANGLE in news? • China has proposed a new dialogue mechanism with Nepal that would also involve India during the

visit of Nepal’s Prime Minister to China called the 2+1 dialogue mechanism. • Two Plus One format for dialogue as proposed is different from a trilateral mechanism. • Under the Chinese proposal, China and India can jointly conduct a dialogue with a third regional

country i.e. it is not Nepal specific and can be applied to any other country in South Asia. • Chinese economic, military, and strategic engagement in Nepal is sharply increasing with new areas

of cooperation, making India uncomfortable. • India views Nepal as its traditional sphere of influence.


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o Nepal has extended support to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which India has opposed staunchly.

o Nepal-China Cross Border Railway line stretching from Keyrong to Kathmandu and from Kathmandu to Pokhara and Lumbini, close to the Nepal-India border, would affect India’s security interests.

o Nepal’s developmental needs are immense and needed meaningful and mutually beneficial economic partnership with both its neighbours India and China which are rising in global and regional stature.

• This kind of platform will help mitigate the impact of such policies on countries like India and China. • Nepal can move from the state of a land-locked to a land-linked country through the development

of adequate cross-border connectivity and can serve as a bridge between two arch rivals. • China and Nepal have proposed developing a multidimensional trans-Himalayan connectivity

network. • Bringing India on board is essential for success of such projects related to regional connectivity. India Nepal Relations Recently, India has released an additional sum of Rs. 470 million(Nepali) for Postal Highway Project being constructed in southern plains of Nepal. Let’s consider it. What is the Background History of India and Nepal? • The History of Relations between India and Nepal begin with the Treaty of Peace and Friendship

of 1950 along with security relations, and an agreement regarding bilateral trade and trade transit in Indian Territory.

• The treaty cemented a “special relationship” which included special clauses like: • Non-toleration of threat to breach of security of both countries by a foreign aggressor • It granted Nepalese same economic and educational opportunities as Indian citizens while Indian

citizens and businesses would get preferential treatment. • Open Indo-Nepal border; move freely without passports or visas and live and work in either country • Indians aren’t allowed to own properties or work in govt institutions of Nepal whereas Nepalese

nationals in India can work in govt. institutions and some civil services.

What is the basis of the current relations between India and Nepal? • India and Nepal have interacted on various levels across platforms. PM of Nepal paid an official visit

to India after parliamentary elections in Nepal in 2017. • Both countries cooperate through forums like SAARC, BIMSTEC etc. and various bilateral dialogue

mechanisms. • Since 1996, the bilateral trade more than seven times and Nepal exports to India have also grown

more than 11 times • Also, Indian ventures in sectors like manufacturing, banking, education, insurance, dry port, telecon,

power sector and tourism are operating in Nepal • In 2014, An agreement on “Electric Power Trade, cross-border Transmission interconnection and

grid connectivity” was signed to facilitate and strengthen cross border trade. • GoI provides around 3000 scholarships annually to Nepal nationals • Goi also promotes cultural influences in terms of conferences, seminars and programmes.


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• India-Nepal have signed three sister city agreements for twinning Kathmandu-Varanasi, Lumbini-Bodhgaya, Janakpur-Ayodhya.

• India dispatched NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) teams, rescue and relief materials and extended New Line of Credit agreement for USD 750 MN for post-earthquake reconstruction projects in Nepal.

• A three-tier bilateral mechanism is working since 2008 to cooperate in water resources and hydropower which covers around 250 small and large rivers flowing from Nepal to India forming the Ganga basin.

• India has assisted the Nepalese army in modernization through equipment, training and cooperation in disaster management. There is a huge presence of Gurkha soldiers in Indian Army and both armies have been awarding honorary ranks of General to Army chiefs of each other.

• India is providing substantial financial and technical development assistance to Nepal such as: • Development of border infrastructure in Nepal through upgradation of roads in terai region • Development of cross border rail links • Establishment of four integrated check posts • Lines of credit for undertaking infrastructure development projects

Why is Indo-Nepal relations in the news? • PM Modi is visiting Nepal for the fourth time in his tenure to attend the BIMSTEC Summit in

Kathmandu. • India is releasing additional 470 MN Nepalese rupees for phase 1 of the postal highway project which

will help maintain fund liquidity for the ongoing 14 road packages under the project

What is the postal highway project? • The postal Highway (also known as Hulaki Rajmarg) runs across the Terai region of Nepal cutting

across the entire width of the country. • It is the oldest highway in Nepal constructed by the heads of the Rana Dynasty of Nepal to aid

transportation and facilitate postal services throughout the nation • The project aims to construct 24 roads under this project and NHIDCL is providing consultation. • This project is part of the multi-sectoral India-Nepal Economic Cooperation programme which is

for infrastructure development in Nepal. And India is providing financial assistance to Nepal since 1950 under this programme.

• India has committed 8 bn to implement 14 packages of phase 1 of postal highway project • Package 1 of the project comprising of 2 road sections Dhangadhi-Bhajaniya-Satti road and Lamki-

Tikapur-Khakraula have already been completed with help of India’s grant assistance and opened for service in January 2017

What are the challenges faced between India and Nepal? • The new Nepalese constitution did not address the concerns of the people of the Terai and India

backed an obstruction by Madhesis to cripple supplies to generate pressure on Nepal. • Nepal wants to amend 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship which enjoins it to consult India before

buying weapons or enter any security relationship with a third country. Though India has agreed to revise and amend the treaty to reflect the current reality, the procedure hasn’t been made clear by either side.


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• India’s delay in implementation of various projects in Nepal has led to downfall of trust in the Nepal Government more so with China implementing the agreed-upon projects.

• India holds that it won’t buy power from dams built by China and Indian companies must be involved for this to happen.

What are the areas of cooperation from Indo-Nepal to work upon? • India continues to remain Nepal’s largest trading and business partner, and India is also the only

transit country for Nepal’s third country trade • Nepal needs massive help to develop infrastructure and to create necessary administrative

infrastructure to implement federal provisions of new constitution. • Nepal’s installed hydel capacity of 700 MW is much lesser than potential of over 80,000 MW. Further

considering 60% of the Ganga waters come from Nepal’s rivers and 80% of these flows take place in monsoon months, effective water management for both irrigation and power generation cannot be underemphasised.

• India also needs effective delivery on the pending projects, the remaining ICPs, the five railway connections, postal road network in the Terai and the petroleum pipeline so that connectivity is enhanced and ‘inclusive development and prosperity’ assumes reality.

3rd Indian Ocean Conference held in Hanoi, Vietnam The third edition of Indian Ocean Conference was held in Hanoi, Vietnam and was inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Min, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam. What is Indian Ocean Conference? • The Indian Ocean Conference is an annual effort to bring together Heads of States/ Governments,

Ministers, Thought Leaders, scholars, diplomats, bureaucrats and practitioners from across the region.

• It was initiated by a Delhi based think tank, India Foundation, along with its partners from Singapore, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

• Two successful editions of the conference have been hosted in 2016 and 2017 in Singapore and Sri Lanka respectively.

• The conferences were supported by the MEA of India and over 35 countries participated along with a global media coverage.

What is the current conference about? • The third edition of the conference was hosted by India foundation in association with the

Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, S Rajaratnam School of International studies and Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies in Hanoi, Vietnam.

• The theme for the year is “Building Regional Architectures” with regards to trade and commerce, security and governance.

• The year’s conference was attended by 43 countries as participants while 28 ministries and officials addressed the event.

• This year, the conference emphasised on better cooperation, strategic collaboration and governance architectures.


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• The conference is meant to serve a platform to the countries to come closer and exchange better views on the economic and strategic importance of the region and neighbourhood.

What is the India Foundation? • India Foundation is an independent research centre focussed on the issues, challenges and

opportunities of the Indian polity. The Foundation believes in understanding contemporary India and its global context through a civilizational lens of a society on the forward move.

• Based on the principles of independence, objectivity and academic rigour, the Foundation aims at increasing awareness and advocating its views on issues of both national and international importance. It seeks to articulate Indian nationalistic perspective on issues.

• India Foundation’s vision is to be a premier think tank that can help understand the Indian civilizational influence on our contemporary society.

• With a team of dedicated professionals based at its office in New Delhi, the Foundation works with partners and associates both in India and overseas to further its stated objectives.

Michelle Bachelet: Former Chilean President appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet was appointed the nest UN High commissioner for Human Rights. What is the nature of the designation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights? • The commissioner is mandated to promote and protect the universal exercise

and full realisation of Human Rights, across the world, as established in UN Charter

• She will have a four-year term and shall replace Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein from Jordan

• She is also principal official who speaks out for human rights across whole UN system, strengthening human rights mechanisms, enhancing equality, fighting discrimination in all its forms, strengthening accountability and rule of law, widening democratic space and protecting most vulnerable from all forms of human rights abuse.

• Bachelet is overall 7th High Commissioner.

What do we mean by The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights? • The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) is the leading UN

entity on human rights. • The General Assembly entrusted both the High Commissioner and her Office with a unique

mandate to promote and protect all human rights for all people. • The United Nations human rights programme aims to ensure that the protection and enjoyment of

human rights is a reality in the lives of all people. • UN Human Rights also plays a crucial role in safeguarding the integrity of the three interconnected

pillars of the United Nations – peace and security, human rights and development. • UN Human Rights aids in the form of technical expertise and capacity-development in order to

support the implementation of international human rights standards on the ground. • It assists governments, which bear the primary responsibility for the protection of human rights, to

fulfil their obligations and supports individuals to claim their rights.


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• Moreover, it speaks out objectively on human rights violations.

What is UNHRC? • The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a UN inter-governmental body which came

into existence in 2006 to replace United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Their headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.

• UNHRC Mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. • UNHRC investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in UN member states. • It also addresses important thematic human rights issues such as freedom of association and

assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of belief and religion, women's rights, LGBT rights, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.

• UNHRC works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and engages the UN’s special procedures.

• UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) is different from UN Human Rights Committee, UN Commission on Human Rights and UN High Commissioner for refugees.

SCO Peace Mission 2018 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Peace Mission 2018 was held in Chebarkul, Russia. What is SCO? • This is Eurasian political, economic, and

security organization formed in 2001 and headquartered in Beijing.

• It owes its origin to its predecessor Shanghai Five.

• It was a multilateral forum founded by 5 countries China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in Shanghai in 1996.

• It emerged from a series of border demarcation and demilitarization talks between the four former Soviet republics and China.

• Culture has become an important element of the SCO, attuned to the group’s search for an inclusive Eurasian identity.

• SCO comprises eight-member states, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russian, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

• India, along with Pakistan, became full-time members during the Astana summit in Kazakhstan in June 2017.

What are the main Goals of SCO? • Strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states. • Promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and

culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas.


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• Making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

What is SCO Peace Mission 2018? • The exercise provided opportunity to armed forces of SCO nations to armed forces of SCO nations

to trains to train in counter terrorism operations in urban scenario in multinational and joint environment.

• The scope of exercise included professional interaction, mutual understanding of drills and procedures, establishment of joint command and control structures and elimination of terrorist threat in urban counter terrorist scenario.

• It also helped to strengthen mutual confidence, interoperability and enable sharing of best practices among armed forces of the SCO nations.

• Soldiers from eight SCO member countries took part in the exercise- Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan.

• This was considered a landmark event in the history of SCO defence cooperation. What is India’s part? • India joined SCO in June 2017. • Therefore, India participated in the drill for the first time since becoming a full member • For the first time, the militaries of India and Pakistan are taking part in a mega anti-terror drill of

SCO. • There was a total of 200 personnel from India (3rd highest) joined this military exercise • The 200-member contingent has 167 Indian army personnel including 4 women officer and 33

personnel from Indian air force.

What is the significance of SCO? • The SCO’s main objective of working cooperatively against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism,

and extremism is in consonance with India’s interests. • With almost half of world population the group has potential to boost tourism sector of the country. • Presently tourists from SCO countries constituted only 6% of India’s total tourists, which can be

doubled to 12%. • Regular participation in the meetings of Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) and joint military

exercises will help enhance combat capabilities and intelligence sharing. • It will help revive India China relation especially after Doklam issue. • On the side-lines, China agreed to again provide India hydrological data of the Brahmaputra River

in flood season and to import non-Basmati rice from India which is likely to bridge the ballooning trade deficit to a certain extent.

• It can be seen as an opportunity for the India and Pakistan to cooperate on issues of mutual interest without bringing in their bilateral disputes.

• It will give India fresh leads to engage with Central Asia. Apart from Trade with Landlocked countries like Uzbekistan through the Iranian port of Chabahar, the cultural connect and people to people engagement will be enhanced

Who does SCO membership mean to India?


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• India’s Cooperation on counter-terrorism is expected to emerge as a major point of India’s exchange

with SCO. • India is expected to have a greater say in pushing for effective action in combating terrorism and on

issues relating to security when it becomes a full member of the SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO.

• India, one of the largest energy consuming countries in the world, is also likely to get greater access to major gas and oil exploration projects in Central Asia once it becomes part of the SCO.

• India’s entry into the China-dominated grouping is seen as a major milestone as it is expected to increase the group’s heft in regional geo-politics and trade negotiations besides giving it a pan-Asian hue.

• India’s inclusion may even bring down Beijing’s overarching influence over the SCO.


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123rd Constitution Amendment Bill The Lok Sabha unanimously passed the 123rd Constitution Amendment Bill providing for a National Commission for Backward Classes as Constitutional Body. What is in the bill? • It seeks to grant the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) constitutional status, at

par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

• It seeks to insert a new article 338B in the constitution which provides for NCBC, its composition, mandate, functions and various officers.

• It states that the President (under a new article 342-A) may specify the socially and educationally backward classes in the various states and union territories. He may do this in consultation with the Governor of the concerned state.

• However, a law of Parliament will be required if the list of backward classes is to be amended. • The Bill seeks to provide NCBC with the authority to examine complaints and welfare measures

regarding socially and educationally backward classes. What will be the composition of NCBC? • The NCBC will comprise of five members with a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three other

members, all of whom shall be appointed by the President. • Under the bill, the duties of the NCBC will include:

o Investigating and monitoring how safeguards provided to the backward classes under the Constitution and other laws are being implemented

o Inquiring into specific complaints regarding violation of rights o Advising and making recommendations on socio-economic development of such classes.

• The central and state governments will be required to consult with the NCBC on all major policy matters affecting the socially and educationally backward classes.

What will be the powers of NCBC? • The NCBC will be required to present annual reports to the President on working of the safeguards

for backward classes. • The NCBC will have the powers of a civil court while investigating or inquiring into any complaints. • These powers include:

o summoning people and examining them on oath, o requiring production of any document or public record o receiving evidence.

POLITY & GOVERNANCE C


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What is the present status of NCBC? • The Supreme Court in 1992, in Indira Sawhney case had directed the government to create a

permanent body to entertain, examine and recommend the inclusion and exclusion of various Backward classes for the purpose of benefits and protection.

• In 1993, the Parliament then passed the National Commission for Backward Classes Act and constituted National Commission for Backward Classes as a statutory body.

• Currently, this body is responsible to look into the inclusion and exclusion of backward classes only.

Who looked into the grievances of the backward classes before? • In 1987, through a resolution, the government had created a Commission for the Scheduled Castes

and Scheduled Tribes. • It was given constitutional status by passing Constitution by the 65th Amendment Act, 1990, which

led to the creation of National Commission of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (NCSCST) in 1992.

• Through the Constitution by the 89th Amendment Act, 2003, the NCSCST was split into two different commissions viz. NCSC and NCST by inserting Article 338-A.

• NCSC was mandated to look into the grievances and complaints of backward classes also.

How is the bill passed? • The bill is passed under Article 368 which mentions the procedure to amend the constitution. • It needs to be passed by both the houses separately with a special majority.

What does Article 368 state? • It deals with the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution and its procedure. • It states that Parliament may, in exercise of its constituent power, amend by way of addition,

variation, or repeal any provision of the Constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down for the purpose.

• However, the Parliament cannot amend those provisions which form the basic structure of the constitution.

How can the Constitution be amended? • The Constitution can be amended in three ways:

o Amendment by simple majority of the Parliament. o Amendment by special majority of the Parliament. o Amendment by special majority of the Parliament and ratification of half of the state

legislatures. What is the special majority? • The majority (i.e. more than 50%) of the total membership of each house and a majority of two-

thirds of the members of each house present and voting. • The majority of the provisions in the Constitution need to be amended by the special majority.


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• The provisions that can be amended by the special majority includes: o Fundamental Rights o Directive Principles of State Policy o All other provisions not covered under the first and third ways.

What are some of the concerns surrounding the bill? • Some parties have raised the concern that the bill, if enacted, would amount to usurping the power

of State governments to prepare their own backward classes lists. • Whereas , the Centre has tried to ease these fears by assuring that the powers of the state

governments would remain unaffected. In any case the list would be prepared only in consultation with the State Government.

What’s the way ahead? • By granting constitutional status, the Backward Classes in India may have better representation and

grievance redressal. • The commission has been granted with similar power given to NCST and NCSC making it capable

to ensure equitable distribution of welfare measures like reservations. Election of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh has been elected as the new deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. The former deputy chairman was PJ Kurien whose tenure ended on July 1. What is Rajya Sabha? • Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house the Indian Parliament. • Its membership is limited to the maximum of 250 by the Constitution. At present, Rajya Sabha has

245 members. • Most of the members to the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by the legislatures of States and Union

Territories by the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. • Twelve of the members are nominated by the President from people who have special knowledge

or practical experience in art, literature, science and social service. • The term of office of the members of Rajya Sabha is six years as provided by the Representation of

People Act 1951 with one third of the members retiring every two years. • Thus, unlike the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha is a continuing chamber i.e. it is a permanent body and not

subject to dissolution. • The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha. During his/her absence

or vacancy in the office the Deputy Chairman performs his duties. Who is the Chairman of Rajya Sabha? • The presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha is called the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. • The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha as provided under Article

89 of the Constitution. • During any period when the Vice-President acts as President or discharges the functions of the

President, he does not perform the duties of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.


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• He can be removed from the office of Chairman only if he is removed from the office of the Vice-President.

What are the powers and functions of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha? • As the Presiding Officer of the house, the Chairman is unchallenged guardian of the prestige and

dignity of the house. • He ensures that the proceedings of the House are conducted in accordance with the relevant

constitutional provisions, rules, practices and conventions and that decorum is maintained in the House.

• He is also the principal spokesman of the House and represents the collective voice to the outside world.

• He is the custodian and guardian of the rights and privileges of the House and its members. • Under the Constitution, the Chairman exercises only a casting vote in the case of equality of votes.

However, if at any sitting a resolution for his removal is under consideration, he is not to preside at that sitting and cannot vote at all on such resolution or any other matter during such proceedings.

• He is empowered by the constitution to adjourn the House or to suspend its sitting in the event of absence of quorum.

• The Chairman may also, if he thinks fit, call a sitting of the House before the date or hour to which it has been adjourned, or at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die, but not prorogued by the President.

• It is the right of the Chairman to interpret the Constitution and rules so far as matters in or relating to the House are concerned, and no one can enter into any argument or controversy with the Chairman over such interpretation.

• He has been vested with all the necessary disciplinary powers to keep Maintenance of Order in the House in check.

Who is the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha? • The Deputy Chairman is a constitutional position created under Article 89 of the Constitution. • He/she is elected by the Rajya Sabha itself from among its members, whenever the office falls vacant. • The office can fall vacant in any of the following cases:

o If he ceases to be the member of the house. o If he resigns by writing to the Chairman. o If he is removed from the office.

• The Deputy Chairman acts and performs the duties of the Chairman when: o The office of the Chairman is vacant o The Vice-President acts as the President or discharges the functions of the President. o The Chairman is absent from the sitting of the House.

• When the Chairman presides over the House, the Deputy Chairman is like any other ordinary member of the House.

• The Deputy Chairman, like the Chairman, is entitled to a regular salary and allowance, which is fixed by the Parliament and charged upon Consolidated Fund of India.

• He is not subordinate to the Chairman and directly responsible to the Rajya Sabha.

How is the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha elected?


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• The election of a Deputy Chairman is held on such date as the Chairman may fix and the Secretary-General shall send to every member notice of this date.

• At any time before noon on the day-preceding the fixed date, any member may give notice in writing addressed to the Secretary-General of a motion that another member be chosen as the Deputy Chairman, and the notice shall be seconded by a third member.

• The motions which have been moved and duly seconded shall be put one by one in the order in which they have been moved and decided if necessary by division. If any motion is carried, the person presiding shall, without putting later motions, declare that the member proposed in the motion which has been carried, has been chosen as the Deputy Chairman of the Council.

What is the importance of the position of Deputy Chairman?

• It is the one position that is elected solely by the members of the Rajya Sabha. • It is critical position because he/she steps in the case when there is vacancy in the office of the

Chairman. • That is, he/she plays critical role in ensuring the smooth running of the House.

How is the business of the house conducted in absence of both Chairman and Deputy Chairman?

• A panel of Vice-Chairmen is nominated for such purpose • The Chairman from time to time nominate from amongst the members of the Council a panel of

not more than six Vice-Chairmen, any one of whom may preside over the Council in the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman when so requested by the Chairman, or in his absence, by the Deputy Chairman.

The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017 The Lok Sabha has passed the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote to extend the facility of ‘proxy voting’ to overseas Indians on the lines of service voters. What does the bill seek to do? • The bill seeks to amend Representation of People Act

(RPA), 1950 and Representation of People Act (RPA), 1951 to allow for proxy voting and make certain provisions of these Acts gender-neutral.

What are the regulations under the present Acts? • The 1950 Act permits the registration of persons in electoral rolls that are ordinarily resident in a

constituency. o Persons holding a service qualification such as member of armed forces, member of armed

police force of a state, serving outside the state, or central government employees posted outside India

o Persons holding certain offices in India declared by the President in consultation with Election Commission.

o Under the Act, the wives of such persons are also deemed to be ordinarily residing in India. The Bill replaces the term ‘wife’ with ‘spouse’.

• The 1951 Act permits an overseas voter to vote only in person.


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o An overseas voter is a citizen of India who is absent from his place of ordinary residence in India.

o The Bill seeks to amend the 1951 Act to permit an overseas voter to cast their vote in person or by proxy in the constituency where the elections are being conducted.

What does proxy voting means? • In India voting can be done in three ways: in person, by post and through proxy. • Proxy voting was introduced in 2003 for elections to the Lok Sabha and assemblies but on limited

scale. • Under proxy voting, a registered elector can delegate his voting power to a representative. • Only a “classified service voter” that includes members of the armed forces, BSF, CRPF, CISF,

General Engineering Reserve Force and Border Road Organisation were allowed to nominate a proxy to cast vote on his behalf in his absence. Moreover, the citizen can also vote by postal ballot.

• If the bill is enacted, this facility will now be extended to the overseas Indians too.

How is the proxy nominated? • A “classified service voter” can appoint a proxy as long as the proxy, too, is a registered voter in the

same constituency. • The proxy is appointed through Form 13F, signed by the “classified service voter” and the appointed

proxy before a first class magistrate or notary or the commanding officer of the service voter. • The form has to be submitted to the returning officer of the seat before the nomination of candidates

closes. • The proxy will continue to represent the service voter for all polls until the service or the

appointment is revoked. • It is not clear yet that how NRIs will nominate their proxies. The Election Commission will lay down

the procedure by amending the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, after the Bill is passed by both Houses of Parliament.

What led to the passing of the bill? • The Election Commission decided to look for options to enable NRIs to vote from overseas after

it received several requests, while three writ petitions were filed by NRIs in the Supreme Court in 2013 and 2014.

• A 12-member committee was set up in 2014 to study mainly three options voting by post, voting at an Indian mission abroad and online voting.

• After ruling out online polling (because “secrecy of voting” could be compromised”) and proposal to vote at Indian missions abroad (because of lack of resources with them to organize polling), the committee finally recommended that NRIs be given the “additional alternative options of e-postal ballot and proxy voting”, apart from casting their vote in person.

• The Law Ministry accepted the recommendation on proxy voting and the Cabinet passed the proposal to amend the law.

What could be the draw backs of the proxy voting? • There can be mismatch in the choice of the candidate that the overseas Indian wants to vote and the

proxy voter actually voted.


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• There is no guarantee that the votes would not be sold to the so called proxy.

• There is also no fixed number of votes a proxy could cast in an election.

• It also threatens the very core of democracy by giving special treatment to NRIs as compared to domestic migrants who also seek to have voting rights at their home.

• There can be no guarantee that overseas voter is exercising his/her vote in free and fair manner. • And also the “secrecy of vote” might be compromised.

What is the significance of passing the bill? • According to rough estimates, there are about 1 crore Indians settled abroad, of which 60 lakh may

be within eligible voting age. • By granting them proxy voting rights, overseas Indians will be able to exercise franchise during

elections and also need not to spend foreign currency. NOTA in Rajya Sabha elections The Supreme Court has overruled an Election Commission notification, saying that NOTA option cannot be allowed in Rajya Sabha elections. What is NOTA? • The Supreme Court upheld the right of voters to reject all candidates contesting the elections. • The apex court directed the Election Commission to have an option of ‘None of the Above’

(NOTA) on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and ballot papers in a major electoral reform. • So, through NOTA, a citizen has the ‘right to not vote’ for any candidate contesting elections.

How is the NOTA vote cast? • The EVMs have the NOTA option at the end of the candidates list. • Earlier, in order to cast a negative ballot, a voter had to inform the presiding officer at the pooling

booth. • A NOTA vote doesn’t require the involvement of the presiding officer.

What was the similar provision before NOTA? • There was Section 49 (O) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, before the NOTA came into

existence. • Under it, a voter could enter his electoral serial number in Form 17A and cast a negative vote. • The presiding officer would then put a remark in the form and get it signed by the voter. This was

done to prevent fraud or misuse of votes. • This provision was deemed unconstitutional by the SC as it did not protect the identity of the voter. • Under it, the poll officials got a chance to find out the reason behind the rejection of a candidate

through the voter's remarks in Form 17A. • Whereas, under NOTA, the officials cannot find out the reason and the identity of the voter is also

protected.


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When was NOTA first used in India? • The NOTA option was first used in the 2013 assembly elections held in four states Chhattisgarh,

Mizoram, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the Union Territory, Delhi. • More than 15 lakh people exercised the option in the state polls. • In 2015, the Bihar Assembly polls saw 2.49% of NOTA votes, the highest NOTA votes polled so

far.

What difference does the NOTA make? • It does not affect the results of the elections. It has no electoral value. • Even if the maximum number of votes cast is for NOTA, the candidate getting the maximum

number of votes would be declared winner.

So, why have NOTA if there is ‘no electoral value’? • The SC said negative voting would encourage people dissatisfied with contesting candidates to turn

up and express their disapproval and reject all contestants. • This in turn will increase the chances of more people turning up to cast their votes and decrease the

count of bogus votes. • It will lead to a systemic change in polls and political parties will be forced to project a clean candidate

for elections. • If the right to vote is a statutory right, then right to reject a candidate is a fundamental right of speech

and expression under the constitution, as said by the Supreme Court.

What is the use of NOTA in Rajya Sabha? • In Rajya Sabha polls, MLAs have to show their ballot paper to an authorized agent before inserting

it in the ballot box. • If an MLA uses the NOTA option, the vote is rendered invalid. The party is free to take any action

against him but he cannot be disqualified as a legislator. • The party can also expel him but he'll continue to be an MLA and as per the EC rules, his vote

cannot become invalidated for defying party purposes.

Why did the Supreme Court scrap the use of NOTA in Rajya Sabha elections? • As per the court, the NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections

and not polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.

• It held that choice of NOTA will have negative impact in voting process of Rajya Sabha where open ballot is permissible and secrecy of voting has no room and discipline of political parties matter.

• NOTA in indirect elections, such as in the Rajya Sabha, would lead to horse-trading, corruption and use of extra constitutional methods to defeat a party candidate.

• It can also make the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote nugatory and otiose.

Governor of seven states appointed


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President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed governors for seven states- Bihar, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Meghalaya, and Tripura. Who is the Governor of States in India? • Just like the President who is the head of the executive power in the Union, Governor is the head

of the Executive power of any state in India • The Governor is the nominal executive of a state, whereas the council of ministers headed by the

chief minister of state constitutes the real executive of a state in India. • The Governor exercises his power and functions with the aid and advise of the council of ministers

headed by the chief minister, except in matters in which he is required to act in his discretion. • The Governor also acts as an agent of the central government. • There is a Governor for each state but the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956 allowed the

appointment of the same person as the Governor of two or more states. How is the Governor appointed? • The Governor is not elected but appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal i.e.

he is a nominee of the Central government. • Under Article 157 of the Constitution, to be qualified to be appointed as Governor, a person:

o should be a citizen of India. o should have completed the age of 35 years.

What is the term of office of Governor? • A Governor holds the office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his

office. • This term of five year is subjected to the pleasure of the President. • He/she can be dismissed by the President on the advice of Prime Minister. • He/she can resign at any time by addressing resignation letter to the President. • Unlike President, there is no provision for his impeachment. What are the conditions of the office of the Governor? • He/she should not be a member of either House of Parliament or a House of the state legislature. • He/she should not hold any other office of profit. • He/she is entitled without payment of rent to the use of his/her official residence. • He/she is entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by

Parliament. • When the same person is appointed as the governor of two or more states, the emoluments and

allowances payable to him/her are shared by the states in such proportion as determined by the president.

• His/her emoluments and allowances cannot be diminished during his/her term of office.

What are some of the privileges enjoyed by the Governor? • The Governor enjoys personal immunity from legal liability for his official acts.


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• During his/her term of office, the Governor is immune from any criminal proceedings, even in respect of his/her personal acts.

• He/she cannot be arrested or imprisoned. • However, after giving two months’ notice, civil proceedings can be instituted against the Governor

during his/her term of office in respect of his/her personal acts. Who administers the oath or affirmation to the Governor? • Before entering upon his office, the governor has to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation.

In his oath, the governor swears: o to faithfully execute the office o to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law o to devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of the state.

• The oath of office to the governor is administered by the chief justice of the concerned state high

court and in his absence, the senior-most judge of that court available.

What are the powers and functions of the Governor? • The governor enjoys executive, legislative, financial and judicial powers more or less similar to the

President of India. • However, he has no diplomatic, military or emergency powers like the President. • Under Executive power:

o The Governor can make rules for the more convenient transaction of business of a state government.

o Under Article 164(1), he/she appoints the chief minister and other ministers, who hold office during his pleasure.

o All executive actions of the state government are formally taken under his/her name. o He/she can seek any information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and

proposals for legislation from the chief minister. o He/she can recommend the imposition of constitutional emergency in a state to the President. o He/she enjoys extensive executive power during the period of President’s rule in a state.

• Under Legislative powers: o The governor summons the sessions of both houses of the state legislature and prorogues them

and dissolves the state legislative assembly. o He/she addresses the state legislature at the commencement of the first session after the

assembly elections and also at the beginning of the first session every year. o He/she decides on the question of disqualification of members of the state legislature in

consultation with the Election Commission. o He/she can promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in session. o When a bill passed by state legislature is sent to the Governor, he/she can give or withhold his

assent, return the bill (not money bill) for reconsideration of state legislature or reserve the bill for consideration of the President.

• Under Financial powers: o He/she causes to be laid before the State Legislature the annual financial statement which is

the State Budget. o Money bills can be introduced only with his/her prior recommendation. o No demand for grant shall be made except on his/her recommendation.


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o He/she can also make advances out of the Contingency Fund of the State to meet any unforeseen expenditure.

o He/she constitutes the State Finance Commission to review the financial position of the Panchayats and the Municipalities.

• Under Judicial powers: o He/she can grant pardons, reprive, respites and remissions of punishment or suspend, remit

and commute the sentence of any person. o He/she is consulted by the president while appointing the judges of the concerned state high

court. o He/she makes appointments, postings and promotions of the district judges in consultation

with the state high court. o He/she also appoints persons to the judicial service of the state (other than district judges) in

consultation with the state high court and the State Public Service Commission.

What is the importance of the post of Governor? • The Governor’s role is important in looking into government formation, reporting on the

breakdown of constitutional machinery in a State, maintaining the effective communication between the Centre and the State.

• He/she plays a great role in promoting co-operative federalism. • He/she ensures the continuance of governance in the State, even in times of constitutional crises. • He/she also acts as a neutral arbiter in disputes settled informally within the various strata of

government. What are the issues involved with the role and post of the Governor? • It is seen or sometimes alleged by the states that discretionary power of the Governor is being

misused. For eg. The power to recommend the imposition of constitutional emergency in a state under Article 356 has been abused by central governments more than 120 times till date.

• States allege that the power of the Governor to withhold the assent to a bill along with reserving the bill for the consideration of the president under Article 200 and 201 has often been misused by the governor who acts on behalf of the Central government.

• The Governors are arbitrary removed before the expiration of their tenure, whereas in B.P.Singhal vs Union of India, 2010 the Supreme Court called for a fixed tenure for Governors. This is still not implemented.

Why is the Governor not elected but appointed, unlike President? • The Draft constitution provided for the direct election but the constituent assembly opted for the

appointed for the Governor by the President. • The mode of direct election is more likely to create conflicts between the governor and the chief

minister. • The governor being only a nominal head, there is no point in making elaborate arrangements for his

election and spending huge amount of money. • The election of governor would create separatist tendencies and thus affect the political stability and

unity of the country. • The system of presidential nomination enables the Centre to maintain its control over the states


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• The direct election of the governor creates a serious problem of leadership at the time of a general election in the state.

• The chief minister would like his nominee to run for the post of Governor. Hence, a second rate man of the ruling party is elected as governor.

Wrongful Prosecution The Law Commission of India has submitted its 277th report titled ‘Wrongful Prosecution (miscarriage of Justice): Legal Remedies’ to the Government of India. What is Wrongful Prosecution? • Internationally, the issue of wrongful prosecution,

incarceration, and conviction of innocent persons is identified as ‘miscarriage of justice’ that takes place after a person has been wrongfully convicted but is later found to be factually innocent basis a new fact / proof coming to light.

• As per the law commission, ‘Wrongful prosecution’ would include cases where the accused and not guilty of the offence, and the police and / or the prosecution engaged in some form of misconduct in investigating and / or prosecuting the person.

• It would include both the cases where the person spent time in prison as well as where he did not; • It also includes cases where the accused was found not guilty by the trial court or where the accused

was convicted by one or more courts but was ultimately found to be not guilty by the Higher Court. What are the repercussions of wrongful prosecution? • The under trials who are wrongfully accused and incarcerated spend a substantial amount of time

awaiting trials of their case, which becomes a graver miscarriage of justice. • This situation results in violation of Fundamental Rights of the victim under Article 21 and Article

22 of the constitution. • They are subjected to gross human rights violation and have to face social stigma. • In a way they lose precious years of their life. • They undergo through lot of mental, physical and emotional harassment. • During the process they are incurred with huge expenses and this proves to be fatal for economically

weaker people. • Over the period of time this has also resulted in the overcrowding of the prisons. Is there any remedy available in current provisions? • Remedies available under the present system remain complex and uncertain, creating obligations

without any statutory and legal backing for the rights of the victims. • However, courts have provided for three categories of remedy with respect to miscarriage of justice:

o Public law remedy: it is treated as a violation of fundamental rights under Article 21 and Article 22 of the constitution that invokes the Writ jurisdiction of Supreme Court and High Court under Article 32 and Article 226 respectively.

What is the current scenario of under trials in India? According to the Prison Statistics India (PSI) report 2015 of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there were more than 4.19 lakh prisoners across India out of which 67.2% were under trials. During 2015, more than 82,500 prisoners were released by acquittal and more than 23,400 were released in appeal.


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o Private law remedy: it exists in the form of civil suits against the state for monetary damages on account of tortuous acts by public servants.

o Criminal law remedy: it holds the wrong doer accountable i.e. the concerned officers of the state are charged with criminal action against them for their misconduct.

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was ratified by India and creates an obligation on the State parties to enact a law to compensate the victims of such miscarriage of justice.

What do Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution say? • Article 21 provides that the state shall not deprive an individual of his life or personal liberty except

according to the procedure established by law. It includes within its purview the Right to fair and speedy trial.

• Article 22 provides for certain protection in the form of fundamental rights to all individuals in case of arrest and detention. However, it does not confer a fundamental right against arrest and detention.

How does International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 deal with miscarriage of justice?

• It is one of the important documents dealing with the miscarriage of Justice. • The Article 14(6) of the document creates an obligation on the party states to enact a legislation

ensuring that the victims are compensated and provided with reasonable period of time. • It commits its party states to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including right to

life, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and right to fair trial.

• It prohibits the use of imprisonment as a punishment for breach of contract and also imposes procedural safeguards around arrest.

• The ICCPR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and is monitored by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (a separate body to the United Nations Human Rights Council), which reviews regular reports of States parties on how the rights are being implemented.

What led Law Commission to look into the matter?

• In Babloo Chauhan vs. State of NCT of Delhi case, the High Court of Delhi expressed grave concern about the state of innocent persons being wrongfully prosecuted and imprisoned for crimes that they did not commit.

• The Court highlighted the urgent need for a legislative framework for providing relief and rehabilitation to victims of wrongful prosecution, incarceration in India.

• The court, therefore, asked the Law Commission to undertake a comprehensive examination of the issue and make recommendations thereon to the Government of India.

What is in the report?

• The report looks at the issue from the context of Indian Criminal Justice system and recommends ‘wrongful prosecution’ to be the standards of miscarriage of justice, as against ‘wrongful conviction’ and ‘wrongful incarceration’.


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• It defined ‘wrongful prosecution’ as cases where the accused and not guilty of the offence, and the police and / or the prosecution engaged in some form of misconduct in investigating and / or prosecuting the person.

• It would include both the cases where the person spent time in prison as well as where he did not; and cases where the accused was found not guilty by the trial court or where the accused was convicted by one or more courts but was ultimately found to be not guilty by the Higher Court.

• The Report gives an overview of the remedies available under the existing laws and discusses their inadequacies.

What did the Law Commission recommend?

• The Law Commission recommended for the establishment of transparent, uniform, affordable and efficacious legislative process.

• The victim should be provided with timely remedy for loss and harm inflicted upon him/her.

• Each district should be provided with a special court for adjudication upon claims of compensation for wrongful prosecution.

• The victim should be provided relief in terms of monetary and non-monetary compensation within a statutory framework.

• Monetary compensation would be decided by the special court whereas non-monetary compensation would be provided in the form of counselling, mental health services, vocational and employment skills development, admission into educational institutes etc.

• The report also enlists the factors that would determine the compensation in such cases, which includes the seriousness of the offence, severity of punishment, the length of incarceration, loss or damage to health, psychological and emotional harm and the status of the victim in the society.

• A draft Bill was included with the Report as the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

Proposal for Legislative Council in Odisha The government of Odisha has approved a proposal for setting up of a legislative council in the state. What is the news? • A proposal for setting up of legislative council was approved at the Cabinet meeting presided over

by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. • A resolution in this regard will be brought in the monsoon session of the Odisha legislative

Assembly. • The proposed legislative assembly will have 49 members, which is one-third of the 147-member

State Assembly. • A committee in 2015 was setup to study the Legislative Councils in other states and recommend for

the establishment of one in the State. What is the Legislative Council of a State? • The legislative council or Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the state legislature. • It consists of the members who are indirectly elected.


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• The states with both legislative assembly and legislative council are called states with bicameral legislature.

• In the states having bicameral system, the state legislature consists of the governor, the legislative council and the legislative assembly.

• As of 2017, seven out of twenty nine states have legislative council.

How is the legislative council of state formed? • Article 169 of the Constitution provides for the creation and abolition of legislative councils in states. • A Legislative Council can be formed if the Legislative Assembly of the State passes a resolution to

that effect by a special majority i.e. majority of the total membership of the Assembly and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Assembly present and voting.

• Parliament can then pass a law to this effect. What is the composition of legislative council? • Under Article 171 of the Constitution, the legislative council of a state shall not have more than one-

third of the total number of MLAs of the state, and not less than 40 members. • That is, the size of the council is dependent on the size of the Assembly of the State. • But in Jammu & Kashmir, as per Section 50 of the state’s Constitution, the Assembly has 87

members and the Legislative Council has 36 members (less than 40). How are the members of legislative council elected? • Unlike the assembly, the members of the legislative council are indirectly elected in accordance with

the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. • Article 171(3) provides for the manner of election of the members of legislative council. • Of the total number of members of legislative council:

o One-third of the members are elected by the members of the legislative assembly. o 1/3 are elected by the members of local bodies in the state like municipalities, district boards

etc. o 1/12 are elected by teachers of three years standing in the state, not lower in standard than

secondary school. o 1/12 are elected by graduates of three years standing and residing within the state. o The remaining members are nominated by the Governor of state from amongst the persons

who have a special knowledge or practical experience of literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.

• The Parliament may, by law, change the scheme of composition of the legislative council as laid down in the Constitution.

What is the duration of the legislative Council? • Just like the Rajya Sabha, the legislative council is a continuing chamber i.e. it is a permanent body

and is not subjected to dissolution. • The member of the council has term of six years. • One-third of its members retire on the expiration of every second year. • The vacant seats are filled up by fresh elections and nominations at the starting of every third year.


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Why there is a need for second house in state? • India has a bicameral system of legislature. Just as Parliament has two Houses, the states can, if they

choose, have a Legislative Council in addition to the Legislative Assembly. • A second House can help check hasty actions by the directly elected lower house. • It can also enable non-elected individuals to contribute to the legislative process. • It will also allow for more debates and sharing of work between the houses. • However, there is certain opposition to the idea of legislative councils. • It is concerned that legislative councils could be used to park leaders who have not been able to win

elections, could delay legislative process and will put unnecessary strain on state finances. What are the powers of legislative council vis-à-vis Rajya Sabha? • As compared to Rajya Sabha, the legislative powers of the councils are limited. • Unlike Rajya Sabha which has substantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, the legislative

councils lack a constitutional mandate in this regard. • Assemblies can override suggestions/amendments made to legislation by the council. • Thus, the position of the council vis-à-vis the assembly is much weaker as compared to the position

of Rajya Sabha vis-à-vis Lok Sabha. • And, unlike members of the Rajya Sabha, members of the legislative council cannot vote in elections

for the President and Vice President. Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) The 21st All India Review Meeting on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) was held under the Chairmanship of Union Minister of Statistics and Program Implementation. What was the purpose of the meeting? • The focus of the meeting was on issues related to the implementation of MPLADS with the

States/UTs so that the Ministry can take steps to address these for further improvements in its implementation.

• Nodal Secretaries from States/UTs overseeing the implementation of MPLADS scheme took part in the deliberations.

• Some of the major items discussed during the meeting includes: status of pending instalments, progress on utilization of MPLADS fund, status of works recommended and progress of work in areas of Natural Calamities etc.

What are the major issues being faced in the implementation of the scheme? • The major problems being faced in the implementation of the Scheme at the District level include

non-submission of requisite documents in time to the Ministry such as Audit Certificate, Utilization Certificate, Provisional Utilization Certificate, Monthly Progress Report, Bank Statement and Online Monthly Progress Report.

How have the states performed?


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• Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat,

Odisha are best performing States/UTs in terms of uploading the information (Monthly Progress Report and Work-wise details) on the MPLADS web Portal.

• UTs like Lakshadweep, A& N Islands and States of Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are amongst the higher side of the performance having maximum percentage utilization of funds over release.

How is the work going on under the scheme? • Since April, 2014 out of 4,67,144 works recommended by the MPs (Both Lok Sabha and Rajya

Sabha), 4,11,612 works have been sanctioned and 3,84,260 works have been completed up to 31st July, 2018.

• Since inception, till 31.07.2018, Rs 47,922.75 Crores have been released under the Scheme and works of Rs 49,065.58. Crores have been sanctioned by the District Authorities.

• Of the total release since inception, Rs 45604.94 Crores have been utilized. This is more than ninety-five percent of the release.

What is MPLADS? • Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a central sector scheme

formulated by the Government on 23rd December 1993. • It enables Members of Parliament (both elected and nominated) to recommend works for creation

of durable community assets based on locally felt needs to be taken up in their constituencies in area of national priorities like drinking water, education, public health, sanitation, roads etc.

• It provides that each Member of Parliament has the choice to suggest to the Head of the District works to the tune of ₹ 5 crore per year, to be taken up in his/her constituency.

• MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADS entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by S.T. population.

• Earlier, this scheme was administered by Ministry of Rural Development. Later, from October 1994, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has been responsible for the policy formulation, release of funds and prescribing monitoring mechanism for implementation of the Scheme.

How is the work recommended under the scheme?

• Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their Constituencies. • Elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State of Election (with select

exceptions). • Nominated Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the

country. How is the work under the scheme executed?

• Role of MPs for the projects is only recommendatory i.e. they can only recommend their choice of works to concerned district authorities who implement these works by following the established procedures of the concerned state government.


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• The district authority is empowered to examine the eligibility of works sanction funds and select the implementing agencies, prioritise works, supervise overall execution, and monitor the scheme at the ground level.

How are the funds under the scheme allocated? • The funds are released in the form of grants in-aid directly to the district authorities on receipt of

requisite documents and as per the set guidelines. • The funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable i.e. if the fund for particular work is not spent

in that year, it will be carried forward to the subsequent years subject to the eligibility. What are the issues revolving the MPLAD scheme? • It is said that the scheme largely failed to achieve its objective and met the fate of other similar

schemes which benefitted only to certain strata precisely the Politian-bureaucrats-contractors. • The majority of the funds allocated for the scheme were either unspent or spent frivolously. • According to a CAG audit report in 2011, the large amount of unspent balance due to non-lapsable

nature of the funds of the scheme is rising over the years. • Also, the constitutionality of the scheme has been questioned by various scholars and experts. • In 2002, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution recommended

immediate discontinuation of the MPLAD scheme on the ground that it was inconsistent with the spirit of federalism and distribution of powers between the centre and the state.

• Even the 2ndAdministrative Reforms Commission’s report on “Ethics in Governance” has taken a firm stand against the scheme arguing that it seriously erodes the notion of separation of powers, as the legislator directly becomes the executive.

• However, in May 2010, a five judge bench of Supreme Court ruled that the scheme did not violate the concept of separation of power because the role of MP in this case is recommendatory and actual work is carried out by district authority.

• While the question of constitutionality of the scheme has been put to rest by the SC ruling but other issues like poor utilisation of funds, irregular sanction of works, delay in completion of work and efficacy of the scheme still remain.


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RBI’s annual report and Demonetisation The RBI’s annual report for 2017-18, shows that almost all the banned banknotes, or 99.3% of the notes withdrawn, were returned to the central bank. What is Demonetisation?

• Demonetisation is an act of cancelling the legal tender status of a currency unit in circulation. • Anticipating positive changes on the liquidity structure as a whole, nations often adopt

Demonetisation policy as a measure to counterbalance the current economic condition. • Countries across the globe have used Demonetisation at some or the other point to control situations

such as inflation and to boost economy.

Has demonetisation been conducted earlier in India? • In 1936, Rs 10,000, which was the highest denomination note, was introduced but was demonetised

in 1946. • In 1978, the then government in its intensive move to counter the black money, introduced The

High Denomination Banks Act (Demonetisation) and declared Rs 500 , Rs 1000 and Rs 10,000 notes illegal.

• Finally, on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister in a surprise announcement said the existing higher denomination currency (Rs 500 and Rs 1000) will cease to be legal tenders.

What were the objectives of this latest demonetisation? • Demonetisation was to help detect fake currency, which apparently funded terror and distorted the

economy. • The government claimed that at any point of time, there was Rs 400 crore in fake currency notes

floating in the economy. • To transform Indian economy into cashless economy. • To bring tax evasion to halt. • It was supposed to flush out black money and end corruption. • The government predicted that Rs 3 lakh crore in currency would not return to the banks. • To curb illegal and unethical business activities such as, the black marketing, food adulteration,

marketing of spurious goods, human trafficking, smuggling of gold and drugs.

What are the effects of Demonetisation? • Effect on Money Supply

o With the older notes being scrapped, until the new notes get widely circulated in the market, money supply is expected to reduce in the short run.

o However gradually as the new notes get circulated in the market and the mismatch gets corrected, money supply will pick up.

ECONOMIC & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT


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• Effect on Demand - The demand in following areas is to be impacted particularly; the nature, frequency and amounts of the commercial transactions involved with these sections of the economy necessitate cash transactions on more frequent basis: o Consumer goods o Real Estate and Property o Gold and luxury goods o Automobiles (only to a certain limit)

• Effect on Prices - Price level is expected to be lowered due to moderation from demand side. • Effect on various economic entities - With cash transaction lowering in the short run, until the new

notes are spread widely into circulation, certain sections of the society face short term disruptions in facilitation of their transactions. These sections are: o Agriculture and related sector o Small traders o SME o Services Sector o Households o Political Parties o Professionals like doctor, carpenter, utility service providers, etc. o Retail outlets

• Effect on GDP - The GDP formation could be impacted by this measure, with reduction in the consumption demand.

• Effect on Online Transactions and alternative modes of payment o With cash transactions facing a reduction, alternative forms of payment sees a surge in

demand. o Digital transaction systems, E wallets and apps, online transactions using E banking, usage of

Plastic money (Debit and Credit Cards), etc. definitely see a substantial increase in demand.

What are the facts? • Around Rs 15.31-lakh crore (99.3%) of the total Rs 15.41-lakh crore of demonetised currency notes

have been returned, which means only Rs 10,720 crore of banned notes did not return to the system. • The assumption was that a significant share of the old notes were held by tax evaders and criminals

who, in the interest of avoiding legal scrutiny, would eat their losses and not exchange their currency for the new notes in circulation.

• This puts question mark over the government's claim on black money and the entire purpose behind demonetisation.

• At the same time, RBI data indicates that the desired effect of a substantial reduction in frequency of cash transactions remains largely unfulfilled.

• The value of bank notes in circulation has increased by 37.7% over the year, reaching Rs 18,037 lakh crore by the end of March 2018.

What are the reasons for this high amount (99.3%) of currency returning to the system:? • First, While there really was 10-40% black money in the economy, tax evaders and criminals never

held this wealth in cash holdings; they were adept at laundering before demonetization through shell companies, tax havens abroad, and Swiss bank accounts


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• A second possibility is that Indians did hold large amount of black money in cash, but they are so adept at reacting to draconian state policies that in a mere 60 days, they displayed extraordinary entrepreneurship and managed to launder their money and deposit it in banks.

• This could have been done through shell companies, foreign accounts, deposits in Jan Dhan accounts, sending the money to Nepal to launder and return to India, or paying temple trusts/cooperative banks/political parties/middlemen a small premium to launder the money.

• A third, highly unlikely, scenario is that there really isn’t much black money in India, in cash or even otherwise.

• It is probably a combination of the first two possibilities that has led to this outcome. What was the analysis and impacts of demonetisation on Indian economy? • Agriculture and Allied Sector

o This sector is highly dependent on cash transactions only and hence was the worst hit sector by the demonetisation.

o The workers in this sector live in rural areas where access to banks and internet is minimal. o The workers and farmers had to stand in big queues for days to get their old currency exchanged

with the new one. o In spite of good monsoon, the unavailability of cash for a considerable time owing to the poor

execution of this move resulted in shortage of seeds, fertilizers and man power. o This sector could register a growth of 2.3 % only in the first quarter of 2017-18 compared to

an expectation of nearly 4% growth.

• Industry sector o The cash crunch had its negative impact on the manufacturing activities of small scale and

medium scale manufacturing units. o The owners had to reduce the production owing to shrunk consumer demand and unavailability

of cash to make payment to the worker and the allied manufacturers. o Demonetisation lowered the sale of companies in the consumer goods manufacturing sector. o It created almost a halt in the domestic appliances segment in which the consumer electronics

was the worst affected. o Demonetisation has hit the pace of announcement of new investment proposals . o Demonetisation slowed the growth of this important sector from 10.7% in the first quadrant

of 2016-17 to only 1.2% in the first quadrant of 2017-18.

• Services sector o Since the service sector is linked to the manufacturing activities in particular and general growth

related activities of the economy in general, cash shortage contracted the services sector too at sharpest rate for the first time since June 2015.

o Annual growth in trade, hotels and transport services slowed to 6.5 percent in the January-March period of 2017 from 8.3 percent a quarter ago.

• Fall in GDP

o GDP grew 5.7% in the April-June 2017 quarter compared to 6.1% in January-March 2017 period.

o The drop was even steep compared to the same quarter a year ago when GDP grew at 7.9%.

• Loss in jobs


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o According to CMIE, approximately 1.5 million jobs were lost during the final quarter of the financial year 2016-17.

o According to Labour Bureau, around 1.52 lakh casual workers engaged across eight sectors, including manufacturing and IT/BPO, lost their jobs during the three-month period of October-December, 2016.

o Casual workers in the manufacturing sector were the worst hit with 1.13 lakh people losing their jobs during the period.

• Some positive impacts

o The number of income tax returns filed has surged a little over the trend growth rate. o Cashless modes of payment have become more common.

What is the conclusion and way forward? • Not all policy choices work out and accepting mistakes or planning flaws helps strengthen

governance processes. • The government must not disown its biggest reform attempt or try to sidestep parliamentary scrutiny

of the outcomes of demonetisation. • Instead, it could focus on fixing the problems that people still face — transactions with ₹ 2,000 notes

in the absence of ₹ 1,000 notes are difficult as it is a departure from the currency denomination principle (every note should be twice or two and a half times its preceding denomination).

• Even as these issues are sorted out, the larger lesson must be heeded: sudden shocks to the economy don’t always yield intended policy objectives.

Rupee hit historic low of 70 against US Dollar Indian rupee for the first time in history plunged to record low of Rs. 70.07 against US dollar on 14 August 2018 as the Turkey currency crisis continues to impact emerging markets. What is an Exchange Rate?

• Exchange rate is the price of one currency in terms of another currency. • Thus, an exchange rate has two components, the domestic currency and a foreign currency. • For example, an exchange rate of Rs. 60/$ means 60 rupees are equivalent to 1 dollar or we need to

give 60 rupees to get back 1 dollar of amount and vice verca. What are the types of Exchange Rate Systems? • Fixed Exchange Rate - Fixed exchange rates are decided by central banks of a country. • Floating Exhange Rate

o Floating exchange rates are decided by the mechanism of market demand and supply. o The central bank of a country has no role to play here. o It is also termed as Flexible or market exchange rate. o It is calculated by the demand and supply of foreign currency in the domestic country. o The supply curve is obtained from the Exporters as they supply the foreign currency to the

country and demand curve is obtained from Importers as they demand the foreign currency to pay for their imports.

• Managed floating Exchange Rate o Here in normal circumstances the country follows the floating exchange rate system.


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o However, in extraordinary situations the central bank can interfere and decides the exchange rate.

• Till 1991, India used to follow fixed exchange rate system. • Since 1991, India follows the managed floating exchange rate system.

What is currency devaluation and revaluation? • Both devaluation and revaluation are done by the Central Bank of the country. • A devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency with respect to other

currency within a fixed exchange rate system. • Whereas a revaluation is an official increase of the value of a country's currency with respect to other

currency within a fixed exchange rate system. • Devaluation is done by purchasing the foreign currency by the central bank from foreign exchange

markets thereby decreasing the foreign currency supply in the economy. Vice verca is to revalue the currency.

What are the effects of devaluation and revaluation?

• After a devaluation, the new lower value of the domestic currency will make it less expensive for

foreign consumers to obtain local currency with which to buy locally produced export goods. • So it encourages exports, helping domestic businesses. • A revaluation of the local currency to a higher value vis-a-vis other currencies will make it less

expensive for local consumers to acquire the foreign funds with which to import foreign goods. • So it encourages imports of a country. • A high value for Indian currency means, the exchanged rate of the Indian rupee against US dollar

will be less. • For example Rs.60 against 1 US dollar means high value for Indian rupee when compared with Rs.70

against 1 US dollar.

What are currency depreciation and currency appreciation? • Depreciation is same as devaluation of currency, the only difference being that it is done by market

forces and not by the central bank. • Similarly currency appreciation is done by market forces and not by the central bank. • The effects of depreciation and appreciation are same as the effects of devaluation and revaluation

respectively. What are the reasons for the continuous fall of Rupee against Dollar? • International developments

o The situation in Turkey is taking a toll on currencies of the emerging markets. o The lira has reduced 40% against the U.S. dollar this year, but the major decline took place over

just 2 days. o The crash of the lira has had a ripple effect on most emerging market currencies. o There is also the bigger US-China trade war brewing. o The two countries have also been increasing duties on each other’s goods.

• Crude prices


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o In the past many weeks, international crude oil price, which had stabilised in the April-June quarter, has been on the rise again.

o Considering that India imports nearly 80% of its fuel needs, rising oil prices leads to a higher dollar bill which, in turn, weakens the rupee.

• Current Account Deficit o Rising oil prices and a weakening rupee mean that India’s current account deficit may widen to

2.8% of the GDP this financial year, up from 1.9% last year. o This year, the deficit has already jumped to a nearly five-year high of $18 billion. o This only adds further pressure on the rupee.

• Passive RBI o Typically, when the rupee weakens, the central bank sells dollars from its reserves to rescue it. o So far, though, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not intervened aggressively to shore up the

domestic currency. • US Economy

o The dollar is having a good run this year due to an uptick in the US’s GDP numbers. o US economy grew 4.1% in the second quarter of this year. o It has also been adding more jobs, while average wages have picked up, too.

What are the effects of falling rupee on Indian economy? • On imports and exports

o Imports from other countries will become expensive & exporters will get more rupees for the goods they export.

o With this situation, we expect that imports will decrease and exports will increase which boosts our economy.

o But in reality, continuous depreciation of rupee is worrying importers, and thereby they are buying more stock in advance to avoid paying higher price in the coming days. This is causing more demand for dollar.

o Many exporters are postponing exports to get more profit as the value of rupee is continuously falling. This is increasing Trade deficit, which inturn increases Current Account Deficit (CAD).

• On inflation o Traders will prefer to export goods rather than selling them in domestic markets. o This will increase the prices in domestic markets. o Along with that as imports are costlier, imported goods will become expensive. o As a result of this entire process, inflationary condition is likely to occur.

• On foreign investments o Weak and fluctuating currency will discourage foreign investors from investing in the country. o Thereby Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to India will slow down.

• On GDP o On the one hand, costlier inputs and the subsequent increase in the prices of finished goods

should have a positive impact on GDP. o But the consequent decrease in demand due to higher prices could nullify this.

• Domestic tourism could grow as more tourists visit India since their currency now buys more here. In the medium term, export-oriented industries may also create more jobs.

• Falling rupee increases pressure on Foreign exchange reserves.


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What’s the conclusion and way forward? • There is no need to panic on account of the rupee. • Barring the gradual decline in its value this year, the Indian currency has been fairly stable over 2016

and 2017. • With inflation being higher than in developed countries, its purchasing power at home has been

falling. • With foreign exchange reserves currently around $400 billion, India is comfortably placed than most

other emerging economies. • The decline must be seen as an opportunity instead of a calamity as it is an opportunity to boost

exports. Global Liveability Index 2018 What is the index all about? • Global Liveability Index 2018 ranked 140 global cities and assessed which locations around the world

have the best or worst living conditions. • It uses New York as a baseline to measure each city against. • The index assigns cities scores on following five broad parameters using 30 indicators:

o stability, o healthcare, o culture/environment, o education, and o infrastructure.

Who releases the index? • The index is released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). • The EIU is part of UK magazine The Economist and provides forecasting and advisory services

through research and analysis. What are the rankings? • Austria’s capital Vienna has been ranked as the best city to live in, displacing Australian city of

Melbourne, which had held the record for seven consecutive years. • Security has improved in several western European cities and Vienna’s top place reflects a relative

return to stability across much of Europe • South Asian countries including India have fared poorly in the ranking of the world’s most liveable

cities.. • Syrian capital of Damascus continues to be ranked at the bottom of 140 cities. • Dhaka in Bangladesh is the second worst with Pakistan’s capital Karachi ranked as the fourth worst. What’s the position of Indian cities? • Both political and financial capitals of India have fared poorly on the index with Delhi ranking 112

and Mumbai five places behind at 117.


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• The rankings of both Delhi and Mumbai have slipped by two places this year even as their liveability score remained unchanged due to improvements made by other cities.

• Delhi and Mumbai are only two Indian cities that are included in the EIU’s annual index. • Delhi has outperformed Mumbai on education, healthcare and infrastructure, while faring marginally

better on culture/environment. • The only parameter in which Mumbai fares better than Delhi is stability.

What are the reasons for low ranking of Indian cities? • The weakest area for Delhi is its instability due to the high prevalence of petty and violent crimes,

and a high risk of terrorism and civil unrest. • It also achieves the lowest possible ranking for public transport (an indicator within infrastructure). • Mumbai fares low in the infrastructure category, where it is let down by poor roads and public

transport and lack of water provision and quality housing. • Even newly-developed areas (in Indian cities) are poorly served by public transport, suffer from

congestion and pollution, and have inadequate water. • While private health and education are acceptable in both Mumbai and Delhi, the level and quality

of public provision is well below the global average • High levels of corruption and social and religious restrictions also reduce liveability markedly in both

cities.

ILO report on India’s Wages International Labour Organisation recently published its “India Wage Report” which used government wage and employment data from the national Employment and Unemployment Survey (EUS) and National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

What were the highlights of the report?

• Real average daily wages in India almost doubled in the first two decades after economic reforms. • In 2011-12, the average wage in India was about ₹ 247 rupees a day, almost double the 1993-94

figure of ₹ 128. • But low pay and wage inequality remains a serious challenge to inclusive growth. • Overall, in 2009-10, a third of all of wage workers were paid less than the national minimum wage,

which is merely indicative and not legally binding. • That includes 41% of all casual workers and 15% of salaried workers. • Average labour productivity (as measured by GDP per worker) increased more rapidly than real

average wages. • Thus, India’s labour share — or the proportion of national income which goes into labour

compensation, as opposed to capital or landowners — has declined. What were changes in Gender based wages? • The gender wage gap decreased from 48% in 1993-94 to 34% in 2011-12, but still remains high by

international standards(estimated to be 23% percent in 2015). • The report attributed the narrowing in the wage gap to the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). • While women’s daily wages may have increased more rapidly than men’s between 1993-94 and 2011-

12, female workers are still paid lower wages than men in each employment category.


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What were the changes in location based wages? • Regular workers in urban areas earn an average of Rs 449 per day, 49 percent more than their peers

in rural areas who take home Rs 300. • The rise in average wages was more rapid in rural areas, and for casual workers. • However, these groups started at such a low base that a yawning wage gap still remains. • Thus, the average wage of casual workers — who make 62% of the earning population — was only

₹ 143 a day. • Women earned less than men in every category with regular urban male workers earning the highest

daily wage (Rs 470) and casual rural female workers the lowest (Rs 104). What were the Regional disparities? • Regional disparities in average wages have actually increased over time, with wages rising more

rapidly in high-wage States than in low-wage ones. • Casual workers in the highest earning states earned 238 percent more than those in the lowest earning

state in 2011-12, compared to 168 percent more in 1993-94, faring worse than regular workers over the same period (106 percent vs 54 percent, respectively).

What are the reasons for wage inequality in India? • Though India was among the first developing countries to establish a Minimum Wages Act (1948),

multiple issues restrict its ability to address poverty and inequality. • There are an estimated 1,709 different minimum wage rates across the country. • Moreover, their legal application is limited to workers in ‘scheduled’ occupations–jobs classified by

the government as most vulnerable to low wages and exploitation such as mill workers and miners–mean that its impact is “ineffective”.

• Minimum wage rates are set by state governments, and do not always reflect the cost of living. • In 2013, agricultural labourers in Arunachal Pradesh were paid Rs 80 per day, Rs 126 in Orissa and

Rs 269 in Karnataka. • Furthermore, only 66 percent of workers are covered by the Minimum Wage Act. The remaining 34

percent not in “scheduled occupations” remain outside the scope of the minimum-wage law. • A national minimum wage was introduced in 1991, but its application is not legally binding. • In 2009, 15 percent of regular workers and 41 percent of casual workers earned less than this

minimum daily wage.


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How to address this wage inequality problem? • The ILO has called for stronger implementation of minimum wage laws and strengthening of the

frameworks for collective bargaining by workers. • Simplifying minimum wage structures, extending the legal scope to all wage workers and adding

statutory backing are the key steps. • Governments should facilitate a transformation from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors

by focussing on skill accumulation and growing a supply of more educated workers. • Increasing the proportion of higher-skilled workers may force an increase in the wages of lower

skilled workers and thus reduce inequality. • Awareness-raising campaigns and labour inspections have both been shown, among others, to be

effective ways of galvanising community action and using compliance to hold stakeholders to account.

• ILO also called for collection of statistical data on a timely and regular basis. • State-specific, comparative studies on wages and collaborative work between government agencies,

academic institutions and expert organisations are also needed.

Safeguard Duty on solar panel imports The ministry of finance has notified the Directorate General of Trade Remedies’ decision to impose safeguard duty on solar panels imported from China and Malaysia, which is certain to raise tariffs of future solar projects. What is a custom duty? • A tax levied on imports (and, sometimes, on exports) by the customs authorities of a country to raise

state revenue, and/or to protect domestic industries from more efficient or predatory competitors from abroad.

• Customs duty is based generally on the value of goods or upon the weight, dimensions, or some other criteria of the item (such as the size of the engine, in case of automobiles).

• Custom duty in India is defined under the Customs Act, 1962. • All matters related to custom duty fall under the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC). The

CBEC, in turn, is a division of the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance.

What are the types of custom duties? • Basic Customs Duty

o All goods imported into India are chargeable to a duty under Customs Act, 1962 . o The rates of this duty, popularly known as basic customs duty. o The duty may be fixed on ad -valorem basis or specific rate basis. o The Central Government has the power to reduce or exempt any good from these duties.

• Counter Vailing Duty(CVD) o This duty is imposed by the Central Government when a country is paying the subsidy to the

exporters who are exporting goods to India. o This amount of duty is equivalent to the subsidy paid by them.

• Additional Customs Duty or special CVD


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o In order to equalize imports with local taxes like service tax, VAT and other domestic taxes which are imposed from time to time, a special countervailing duty is imposed on imported goods.

o Hence, is imposed to bring imports on an equal track with the goods produced or manufactured in India.

o This is to promote fair trade & competition practices in our country. • Safeguard Duty

o In order to make sure that no harm is caused to the domestic industries of India, a safeguard duty is imposed to safeguard the interest of our local domestic industries.

o It is calculated on the basis of loss suffered by our local industries. • Anti Dumping Duty

o Often, large manufacturer from abroad may export goods at very low prices compared to prices in the domestic market.

o Such “dumping” may be with intention to cripple domestic industry or to dispose of their excess stock.

o In order to avoid such dumping, Central Government can impose anti-dumping duty up to margin of dumping on such articles, if the goods are being sold at less than its normal value.

o Levy of such anti dumping duty is permissible as per WTO agreement.

What are facts in the news? • India imposed safeguard duty on solar cells imports from China and Malaysia for two years to protect

domestic players from steep rise in the inbound shipments of the product. • This comes following recommendations by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR),

under the commerce ministry. • 25 per cent safeguard duty have been imposed from July 30 to July 29, 2019, which will gradually

come down to 20 per cent during July 30, 2019 to January 29, 2020 and 15 per cent during January 30, 2020 to July 29, 2020.

• DGTR in its investigations has concluded that the increased imports of solar cells in India have caused "serious injury" and "threaten to cause serious injury" to the domestic producers.

• India’s domestic industry has around half-a-dozen makers of solar cells and modules, with total capacity of around 3,000 MW. This is hardly enough to meet country’s burgeoning demand.

What were the concerns raised due to imposition of duty? • Solar developers

o Solar developers had been opposing strongly on the grounds that it would raise tariffs, as they would have no option but to pass on the extra charge to discoms and ultimately consumers.

o Solar tariffs are currently around Rs 2.75 per unit, on par with that of thermal power, but safeguard duty is expected to raise it by at least 50 paise, as per developers.

o This in turn might slow down India's ambitious solar programme which aims to have 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022.

• SEZs o Products from units located in SEZs directed for consumption within India will not be exempt

from the proposed safeguard duty on solar cells. o Solar cells produced in SEZ units would have to bear the safeguard duty, as if these were

imported into India from outside.


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o The cost of supplies from SEZ units, which are a substantial source of solar cells and modules would increase and may render their products unviable.

• International concerns o Previous measures such as the domestic content requirement (DCR) to appease the concerns

of the domestic solar manufacturers were challenged and overturned at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

o Other countries opposed the scheme as they felt that it was discriminatory in nature against foreign solar cell suppliers.

o Prioritising domestic goals without complying with international trade rules may affect the much-needed stakeholder confidence required to achieve India’s clean energy target.

What is the way forward? • Developers and manufacturers need to voice their needs clearly and respond to policy implications

clearly. • India’s domestic sector is not being fully exploited because of obsolete technology. • India need a comprehensive strategy on issues such as effective sourcing of critical minerals and

investment in R&D. • Innovative Financing measures such as clean energy fund, generation based incentive linked loan

repayment and green bonds could be one solution to overcome the financial needs of this sector.

What is Directorate General of Trade Remedies(DGTR)? • DGTR is the apex National Authority for administering all trade remedial measures including anti-

dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures. • It is a newly formed body created by merging two separate bodies handling anti-dumping and import

safeguards in line with US International Trade Commission (USITC). • The DGTR brings Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied duties (DGAD), Directorate

General of Safeguards (DGS) and Safeguards (QR) functions of DGFT into its fold by merging them into one single national entity

• The DGTR functions as an attached office of Department of Commerce. • The recommendation of DGTR for imposition of Anti-dumping, countervailing & Safeguard duties

are considered by the Department of Revenue. What are the functions of DGTR • DGTR deals with Anti-dumping, CVD and Safeguard measures. • It also provides trade defence support to our domestic industry and exporters in dealing with

increasing instances of trade remedy investigations instituted against them by other countries. What was the need to create such a office? • In the last three years, India initiated more than 130 anti-dumping/countervailing duty/safeguard

cases to deal with the rising incidences of unfair trade practices and to provide a level playing field to the domestic industry.

• The trade defence mechanism in India lacks optimality and takes more than a year to complete proceedings in cases pertaining to unfair trade practices.


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• The Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) deals with anti-dumping and CVD cases, Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) deals with safeguard measures and DGFT deals with quantitative restriction (QR) safeguards.

• Hence to bring in substantial reduction of the time taken to provide relief to the domestic industry, DGTR was formed after merging all above entities.

• The newly constituted body is in consonance with the goal of Minimum Government Maximum Governance of the Prime Minister of India.

NABARD survey on farm households NABARD released the results of its All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) 2016-17.

What is NAFIS?

• NAFIS was launched in 2016-17 as a national level survey that offers a comprehensive overview of

the status of rural population in terms of sources of livelihoods, economic status of households including income, consumption expenditure, and household assets.

• Besides covering economic indicators like savings, debt, income, expenditure and investment, the composition and pattern of consumptions; parameters such as borrowing behavior, financial literacy/knowledge, Kisan Credit Card (KCC), usage of FI technology, distress events (such as crop failure, death of earning member), insurance coverage for crop insurance, life and accident insurance, pension, etc. have been included in the survey.

• NAFIS is planned as a survey that will be repeated every three years to generate estimates related to financial inclusion.

• This report is based on the first in the series of NAFIS surveys, which aims at establishing base estimates against which the changes can be measured in subsequent surveys.

What is the need for NAFIS? • In recent past, the interventions under Financial Inclusion have been intensified by the Government

of India, Reserve Bank of India & NABARD. • Though financial inclusion has become an issue of national priority, there is still a lack of nationally

representative data and studies that capture the rural financial landscape adequately and as frequently as required.

• The existing large sample surveys in this space, conducted by NSSO such as Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) and All India Debt Investment survey (AIDIS), are done once in a decade and cover limited aspects - either livelihood related or financial, and not both.

• A need emerged to assess the impact of these interventions on the institutional credit/insurance accessibility and livelihoods of the rural populace.

• Against this backdrop “NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey” (NAFIS) was initiated in 2016-17.

• The Survey assumes significance as it forays into financial inclusion in its entirety by covering all dimensions and livelihood aspects of the households.

What are the objectives of the survey? • The overarching goal of NAFIS was to get a holistic view of the rural financial landscape by

generating reliable state and country level estimates for various pertinent indicators.


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• Through NAFIS, NABARD wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the status of rural households with respect to the following: o Financial inclusion aspects like borrowings, savings, investments, pension, insurance, etc. o Aspects related to knowledge, attitude and behaviour of rural populace towards financial

products & services available in the market. o Livelihood status in terms of occupational profile, sources of income, consumption

expenditure, asset ownership, exposure to risks & uncertainties and coping strategies adopted.

How was the Survey Administrated? • NABARD conducted the survey through Academy of Management Studies (AMS). • The agency undertook all tasks related to the conduct of the said survey including preparation of

survey instruments; carrying out the sampling exercise; data collection, cleaning and analysis; and final preparation of the analytical report.

• NABARD was guided by an Advisory Committee constituted with the representatives of RBI, NSSO, ISI, Kolkata, academia and senior officers of NABARD.

What is covered in the survey? • The survey covered all 29 states of the country. • NAFIS adopts a broader definition of ‘rural’ covering Tier III to Tier VI centres, that is, those having

population up to 50,000, using the RBI classification. • It also covers beyond agricultural households, thus profiling the entire rural population including

non-agricultural households. • An ‘Agricultural Household(AH)’ is defined as a household that received some value of produce

more than ₹ 5000 from agricultural activities and having at least one member self employed in agriculture either in the principal status or in subsidiary status during last 365 days.

• The condition of land possession was dispensed with. • ‘Non-Agricultural Households (NAH)’ on the other hand included all other households excluding

the ones classified as agricultural households. • The survey was conducted between January, 2017 to June, 2017.

What were the findings of the survey? • Income

o Agricultural households, which accounted for 48% of rural households, earned Rs 107,172 during 2015-16 from cultivation, livestock, non-farm sector activities and wages/salaries.

o Thus, farmers’ income grew at a compounded growth rate of 12% per annum compared to Rs 77,112 per annum as per NSSO assessment in 2012-13.

o Non-agricultural households reported average annual income of Rs 87,228. o Thus, Agricultural households earned 23 per cent more than that of non-agricultural

households. • Distribution of income for agricultural households:

o Cultivation – 34% o Wage labour – 34% o Salaries - 16% o Livestock – 8% o Non-farm sector – 6%


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• Distribution of income for Non-agricultural households: o Wages – 54% o Salaries – 32% o Non- farm sector activities – 12%

• Debt o NABARD found that 52.5% of the agricultural households had an outstanding loan. o Their average outstanding debt is almost as high as the average annual income of all agricultural

households. o For non-agricultural households in rural India, that figure was 10 percentage points lower, at

only 42.8%. o The average debt of an indebted agricultural household stood at ₹ 1,04,602 in comparison to

₹ 76,731 for indebted non-agricultural households. • Reasons for loans

o The biggest reason for taking loans among agricultural households was capital expenditure for agricultural purposes, with a quarter of all loans taken for this purpose.

o While 19% of loans were taken for meeting running expenses for agricultural purposes, another 19% were taken for sundry domestic needs.

o Loans for housing and medical expenses stood at 11% and 12%, respectively. • State figures

o The southern States of Telangana (79%), Andhra Pradesh (77%), and Karnataka (74%) showed the highest levels of indebtedness among agricultural households.

o They are followed by Arunachal Pradesh (69%), Manipur (61%), Tamil Nadu (60%), Kerala (56%), and Odisha (54%).

• Sources of loans o The survey found that farm households took less than half their loans from commercial banks. o While 46% of the loans were taken from commercial banks, and another 10% from self-help

groups, almost 40% were taken from non-institutional sources such as relatives, friends, moneylenders and landlords.

• It showed that 88 per cent of households participated in the survey reported having a bank account. • About 26 per cent of agricultural households and 25 per cent of non-agricultural households reported

at least one type of insurance cover. • The survey found that only 10.5% of agricultural households were found to have a valid Kisan Credit

Card at the time of the survey.

RBI gets new non official directors The government appointed S Gurumurthy and S.K. Marathe as part-time non-official directors on the RBI board. The Cabinet's Appointments Committee approved their appointment following a proposal from the Department of Financial Services. When and how was RBI established? • The origins of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) can be traced to 1926. • The Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance – also known as the Hilton-Young

Commission – recommended the creation of a central bank for India to separate the control of currency and credit from the Government and to augment banking facilities throughout the country.


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• The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

• The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Calcutta but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937.

• The Central Office is where the Governor sits and where policies are formulated. • Though originally privately owned, since nationalisation in 1949, the Reserve Bank is fully owned by

the Government of India.

What is the Central Board? • The Reserve Bank's affairs are governed by a central board of directors. The board is appointed by

the Government of India in keeping with the Reserve Bank of India Act. • The members are appointed/nominated for a period of four years.

Type of Directors Description Official Directors • Full-time: Governor and not more than four Deputy Governors. Non-Official Directors • Nominated by Government: ten Directors from various fields and two

government Official. • Others: four Directors - one each from four local boards.

What are the functions of RBI? • Monetary Authority

o Formulates, implements and monitors the monetary policy. o Objective: maintaining price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.

• Financial Supervision

o The primary objective of RBI is to undertake consolidated supervision of the financial sector comprising commercial banks, financial institutions and non-banking finance companies.

o The Reserve Bank of India performs this function under the guidance of the Board for Financial Supervision (BFS).

o The Board is constituted by co-opting four Directors from the Central Board as members for a term of two years and is chaired by the Governor.

o The Deputy Governors of the Reserve Bank are ex-officio members. • Regulator and Supervisor of the financial system

o The institution is also the regulator and supervisor of the financial system and prescribes broad parameters of banking operations within which the country's banking and financial system functions.

o Its objectives are to maintain public confidence in the system, protect depositors' interest and provide cost-effective banking services to the public.

o The RBI controls the money supply, monitors economic indicators like the gross domestic product and has to decide the design of the rupee banknotes as well as coins.

• Regulator and supervisor of the Payment and Settlement Systems

o The Payment and Settlement Systems Act of 2007 (PSS Act) gives the Reserve Bank oversight authority, including regulation and supervision, for the payment and settlement systems in the country.


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o In this role, the RBI focuses on the development and functioning of safe, secure and efficient payment and settlement mechanisms.

o Two payment systems National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) allow individuals, companies and firms to transfer funds from one bank to another.

• Banker and Debt Manager to Government

o Performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments; also acts as their banker.

o As a banker to the GoI, RBI maintains its accounts, receive payments into & make payments out of these accounts.

o RBI also helps GoI to raise money from public via issuing bonds and government approved securities.

• Managing Foreign Exchange

o The central bank manages to reach different goals of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

o Their objective is to facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.

• Issue of Currency

o Issues and exchanges or destroys currency and coins not fit for circulation. o While coins and one rupee notes are minted by Government of India (GoI), the RBI works as

an agent of GoI for distributing and handling of coins. o Rest of the currencies are minted by RBI. o The RBI is authorized to issue notes up to value of Rupees ten thousands and coin up to one

thousands. • Banker’s Bank

o Reserve Bank of India also works as a central bank where commercial banks are account holders and can deposit money.

o RBI maintains banking accounts of all scheduled banks. o As banker's bank, the RBI facilitates the clearing of cheques between the commercial banks and

helps the inter-bank transfer of funds. • Regulator of the Banking system

o As a regulator and supervisor of the Indian banking system it ensures financial stability & public confidence in the banking system.

o RBI is currently focused on implementing Basel III norms. • Developmental role

o The central bank has to perform a wide range of promotional functions to support national objectives and industries.

o Key tools in this effort include Priority Sector Lending such as agriculture, micro and small enterprises (MSE), housing and education.

o RBI work towards strengthening and supporting small local banks and encourage banks to open branches in rural areas to include large section of society in banking net.

• Custodian of Foreign Exchange


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o The Reserve Bank has the custody of the country’s reserves of international currency, and this enables the Reserve Bank to deal with crisis connected with adverse balance of payments position.

o The Foreign exchange reserves of India consists of below four categories: 1. Foreign currency assets. 2. Gold. 3. Special Drawing Rights (SDR). 4. Reserve Tranche Position.

State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index(SEEPI) The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Ministry of Power (MOP) on Wednesday launched the State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index (SEEPI) wherein five states came in the top most category of ‘front runner’ states: Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan. What is the index all about? • The State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index has 63 indicators across Building, Industry,

Municipality, Transport, Agriculture and DISCOM with 4 cross-cutting indicators. • States are categorised based on their efforts and achievements towards energy efficiency

implementation, as ‘Front Runner’, ‘Achiever’, ‘Contender’ and ‘Aspirant’. • The index examines the following on the energy front:

o states’ policies and regulations, o financing mechanisms, o institutional capacity, o adoption of energy efficiency measures, and o energy savings achieved.

Who releases the index? • It is a joint effort of the NITI Aayog and Bureau of Energy Efficiency(BEE), under ministry of

power. • It is released by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy

(AEEE). • The required data is collected from the concerned state departments such as DISCOMs, Urban

Development Departments, etc., with the help of State Designated Agencies (SDAs) nominated by the BEE.

• Apart from the data furnished by SDAs, the AEEE also collected information from various central government sources such as: Central Electricity Authority (CEA) General Review; Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) annual report on the performance of State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTU); BEE programme implementation reports; Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE); and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).

What where the rankings? • The ‘Front Runner’ states in the inaugural edition of the Index are: Andhra Pradesh, Kerala,

Maharashtra, Punjab, and Rajasthan. • Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Haryana have been categorised in the second best category of

‘achiever’ states.


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• While most states have implemented national programmes designed by BEE and EESL, the ‘Front Runner’ and ‘Achiever’ states have several individual initiatives as well.

What is the importance of the index? • It will create awareness about energy efficiency as a resource and also to develop an action plan for

energy conservation initiatives. • It will help in implementing national energy efficiency initiatives in states and meet both State as well

as national goals on energy security, energy access and climate change.

What are the other initiatives related to energy? • In the building sector, most states have implemented UJALA for energy efficient lighting. • There is also a Energy Conservation Building Code(ECBC) developed by Bureau of Energy

Efficiency. • In the industry sector, BEE's PAT (Perform Achieve and Trade) programme is fairly well

implemented. • In the municipal sector, most sates have utilised EESL’s Street Lightning National

Programme(SLNP) and a fair number have signed up for EESL’s Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme (MEEP) for public water works and sewerage system retrofits.

Ease of Living Index Pune has emerged as the easiest city to live in India according to the Ease of Living Index 2018 released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

What were the other ranks?

• Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai are ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively. • The other cities in the top ten include Tirupati, Chandigarh, Thane, Raipur, Indore, Vijayawada and

Bhopal. • The three cities at the bottom of the rankings are Rampur, Kohima and Patna. • Kolkata did not participate in the survey. • The national capital, New Delhi, is ranked 65 among 111 cities, while Chennai is in 14th place. • Who calculated the Ease of living index, 2018? • The Ease of Living Index, 2018, was implemented by a consortium consisting of market researcher

Ipsos, policy research and development analytics firm, Athena Infonomics, and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

What were the parameters? • The ministry studied quality of life in each city based on several parameters. • Each parameter carried a weightage totalling 100 marks

o Institutional (governance) ---carrying (25) points, o Social(identity, education, health, security) ---carrying (25) points, o Physical(waste water and solid waste management, pollution, housing/ inclusiveness, mixed

land use, power and water supply, transport, public open spaces) ---carrying (45) points, and


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o Economic ( economy, employment) ---carrying (5) points.

How was the Ease of living Index calculated? • The liveability index, the first compiled by the government, ranked the cities with a total population

of 134 million. • Each city was given a score between 0 and 100. • The Urban local bodies of various cities had been required to respond to 553 questions in 15 different

categories under the above four parameters. • The index captures the quality of life based on the data collected from the urban local bodies on four

parameters, which were further broken down into 15 categories. • A city’s ranking reflects its ability to provide data, as well as its actual performance on the above

four.

What is the significance of the initiative? • The index has been developed to allow city managers to get a grip on the city’s baseline and compare

its performance across key indicators. • The ease of living assessment covers several metrics critical to track progress towards the Sustainable

Development Goals in an urban environment. • The analysis of data will also in turn encourage authorities concerned to know where to focus in the

coming months. • The aim is to encourage cities to move towards an outcome-based approach in urban planning and

management. What are the shortcomings of the Ease of living Index? • Data deficiency

o It was a challenge to collect some of this information from data-starved urban local bodies. o The zero in any category probably means that no data was given for any indicator under that

category o Cities which were unable or unwilling to provide data received low scores.

• Complex administration

o Particular complications were seen in indicators such as health, where local governments did not have access to data from private hospitals.

What’s the conclusion and way forward? • These kind of indices are dependent on quality of data, the methodology used and how and who

verified the data. Unless the process to measure a city’s performance is robust, the result will not have credibility.

• Thus, while measuring ease of urban liveability, efforts should be made towards building urban data culture. Without a robust data culture, measuring ease of liveability will have limited meaning.


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Kerala floods Kerala recently faced one of the most serious flood like situation in the month of August. Experts are suggesting that this maybe due to excessive monsoon rainfall. What were the reasons for such huge devastation? • Kerala is narrow piece of land between Arabian sea and western Ghats and 10% of its area lies below

the sea level. • Any increase in water supply in the state immediately results in rising water level. • Siltation of dams from a very long time led to the reduction in their water holding capacity. • Constructions in river flood plain leads to magnification of the disaster. • There seems to be a lack of proper prediction and warning system:

o Kerala dam controlling authorities had no idea about the extent of rainfall. o Kerala dam authorities did not warn the downstream villages and towns about water release.

• Most of the regions affected by this monsoon were classified as ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, the Gadgil Committee. Most of the recommendations and directions by the committee was either neglected or rejected.

• Recent research indicates that rising temperatures have led to huge fluctuations in the monsoon winds carrying the moisture from the Arabian Sea, resulting in heavy-to-extreme rains over the Western Ghats and central India, lasting for two to three days.

What is the way forward for resuming normalcy and preventing future disasters? • Immediate desiltation of all the dams should be the first priority. • Recommendation of the Madhav Gadgil committee report should be earnestly implemented. • This will mean complete prohibition of any industrial or commercial activity inside the 1500 km

Western Ghats area. • IMD needs to improve its technological skills in order to issue better advisories to the states. • Dam controlling authorities should constantly keep vigil and ensure that downstream areas have

been notified in advance before releasing water.

Coral Bleaching A group of scientists have claimed that coral reefs could survive global warming and the bleaching events are temporary in nature. In the June edition, we learnt about what coral reefs are and their distribution across the globe and India. Let’s discuss an often-heard term bleaching. What is coral reef? • Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems held together by calcium carbonate structures secreted

by corals. • Coral reefs are built by colonies of tiny animals found in marine water that contain few nutrients. • Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups.

ENVIRONMENT ECOLOGY & BIODIVERSITY


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• The polyps belong to a group of animals known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish.

• Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which support and protect the coral polyps.

• Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water.

What is coral Bleaching? • Coral bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel algae that live inside their tissues.

What is the mechanism behind the Bleaching? • The corals that form the great reef

ecosystems of tropical seas depend upon a symbiotic relationship with algae-like single-celled flagellate protozoa called zooxanthellae that live within their tissues and give the coral its coloration.

• The zooxanthellae provide the coral with nutrients through photosynthesis, a crucial factor in the clear and nutrient-poor tropical waters.

• In exchange, the coral provides the zooxanthellae with the carbon dioxide and ammonium needed for photosynthesis.

• Negative environmental conditions thwart the coral's ability to provide for the zooxanthellae's needs. • To ensure short-term survival, the coral-polyp then expels the zooxanthellae. • This leads to a lighter or completely white appearance, hence the term "bleached". • As the zooxanthellae provide up to 90% of the coral's energy needs through products of

photosynthesis, after expelling, the coral may begin to starve. • Coral can survive short-term disturbances, but if the conditions that lead to the expulsion of the

zooxanthellae persist, the coral's chances of survival diminish. • In order to recover from bleaching, the zooxanthellae have to re-enter the tissues of the coral polyps

and restart photosynthesis to sustain the coral as a whole and the ecosystem that depends on it. • If the coral polyps die of starvation after bleaching, they will decay. • The hard coral species will then leave behind their calcium carbonate skeletons, which will be taken

over by algae, effectively blocking coral re-growth. Eventually, the coral skeletons will erode, causing the reef structure to collapse.

What are the causes behind Bleaching? • Bleached coral - partially overgrown with algae • Increased water temperature (most commonly due to global warming), or reduced water

temperatures • Oxygen starvation caused by an increase in zooplankton levels as a result of overfishing


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• Increased solar irradiance (photosynthetically active radiation and ultraviolet light) • Increased sedimentation (due to silt runoff) • Bacterial infections • Changes in salinity • Herbicides • Extreme low tide and exposure • Cyanide fishing • Elevated sea levels due to global warming • Mineral dust from African dust storms caused by drought • Pollutants such as oxybenzone, butylparaben, octyl methoxycinnamate, or enzacamene: four

common sunscreen ingredients that are nonbiodegradable and can wash off of skin • Ocean acidification due to elevated levels of co2 caused by air pollution • Being exposed to oil or other chemical spills

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Environment Impact Assessment reports of Delhi region have come out and there are glaring errors in the report. Let’s see what is an EIA. What is an EIA? • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences

(positive and negative) of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action.

Why do we need an EIA? • The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider the environmental impacts

when deciding whether or not to proceed with a project. • The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines an environmental impact

assessment as "the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made".

• EIAs are unique in that they do not require adherence to a predetermined environmental outcome, but rather they require decision makers to account for environmental values in their decisions and to justify those decisions in light of detailed environmental studies and public comments on the potential environmental impacts.

What is the Structure of an EIA?

The structure of a generic Environmental Assessment is as follows: • Summary • Introduction • Background

o Purpose and Need for Action o Proposed Action o Decision Framework


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o Public Involvement o Issues

• Alternatives, including the Proposed Action o Alternatives o Mitigation Common to All Alternatives o Comparison of Alternatives

• Environmental Consequences • Consultation and Coordination

What’s the relevance of Environment Impact Assessment to India? • EIA reports are a critical component of India’s environmental decision-making process in that they

are supposed to be a detailed study of the potential impacts of proposed projects. • Based on these reports, the Environment Ministry or other relevant regulatory bodies may or may

not grant approval to a project. • The EIA reports are also important to define measures that the project could take in order to contain

or offset project impacts. • To ensure that they are an accurate account of scientific facts and observations, the law mandates

the engagement of an accredited independent EIA consultant to undertake the study. • EIA has now been made mandatory under the Environmental (Protection Act, 1986 for 29

categories of developmental activities involving investments of Rs. 50 crores and above.

What are Environmental Appraisal Committees? • With a view to ensure multi-disciplinary input required for environmental appraisal of development

projects, Expert Committees have been constituted for the following sectors: o Mining Projects o Industrial Projects o Thermal Power Projects o River Valley, Multipurpose, Irrigation and H.E. Projects o Infrastructure Development and Miscellaneous Projects o Nuclear Power Projects

What are the current issues facing environmental assessments in India? • The EIA reports of the redevelopment projects are an exercise in the worst possible research

practices and ethics. o The consultant for the Nauroji Nagar project has used material from copyrighted papers,

webpages and other EIA reports. o Such research practices in EIAs continue unabated because of the Environment Ministry’s

failure to come down heavily on this. In the end, it is citizens who have to bear the brunt. • EIAs have been criticized for excessively limiting their scope in space and time. • No accepted procedure exists for determining such boundaries. • This boundary is determined by the applicant and the lead assessor, but in practice, almost all EIAs

address only direct and immediate on-site effects. • There are many instances of missing or misleading information which understate the potential impact

of these projects.


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• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies need a significant amount of primary and secondary environmental data.

• Primary data are those collected in the field to define the status of the environment (like air quality data, water quality data etc.).

• Secondary data are those collected over the years that can be used to understand the existing environmental scenario of the study area.

• The environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies are conducted over a short period of time and therefore the understanding of the environmental trends, based on a few months of primary data, has limitations.

• The environment being a multi-disciplinary subject, a multitude of agencies are involved in collection of environmental data.

• However, no single organization in India tracks available data from these agencies and makes it available in one place in a form required by environmental impact assessment practitioners.

• No public hearings o EIA-based approvals for most projects also involve the process of conducting public hearings

in order that the views and opinions of people who are likely to be affected can be taken on board before a decision to approve the project is made.

o In a world that is challenged by environmental degradation and social conflicts, scholars have upheld public participation to be a “threshold condition” for development.

What is way forward then? • Ministry of environment forest and climate change should stringently enforce the rules of EIA. • EIA should not be seen as exercises to approve projects. • Government should ensure the availability of better- and high-quality data. Algal blooms Toxic algal bloom plagues Florida's Gulf Coast this year. What is an Algae? • It is an informal term for a large, diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms that are not

necessarily closely related, and is thus polyphyletic.

What is an algal bloom? • It is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water

systems, and is recognized by the discoloration in the water from their pigments. • Since 'algae' is a broad term including organisms of widely varying sizes, growth rates and nutrient

requirements, there is no officially recognized threshold level as to what is defined as a bloom. • For some species, algae can be considered to be blooming at concentrations reaching millions of

cells per millilitre, while others form blooms of tens of thousands of cells per litre. • The photosynthetic pigments in the algal cells determine the colour of the algal bloom, and are thus

often a greenish colour, but they can also be a wide variety of other colors such as yellow, brown or red, depending on the species of algae and the type of pigments contained therein.

• Of particular note are the rare harmful algal blooms (HABs), which are algal bloom events involving toxic or otherwise harmful phytoplankton such as dinoflagellates of the genus Alexandrium and


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Karenia, or diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia. Such blooms often take on a red or brown hue and are known colloquially as red tides.

• Blooms which can injure animals or the ecology are called "harmful algal blooms" (HAB), and can lead to fish die-offs, cities cutting off water to residents, or states having to close fisheries.

Are algal blooms same as cyano-bacteria? • No, they are different. • Cyanobacteria were mistaken for algae in the past, so cyanobacterial blooms are sometimes also

called algal blooms. • Bright green blooms in freshwater systems are frequently a result of cyanobacteria (colloquially

known as "blue-green algae" as a result of their confusing taxonomical history) such as Microcystis.

What are harmful algal blooms? • A harmful algal bloom (HAB) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms via

production of natural toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. • HABs are often associated with large-scale marine mortality events and have been associated with

various types of shellfish poisonings. • In the marine environment, single-celled, microscopic, plant-like organisms naturally occur in the

well-lit surface layer of any body of water. • These organisms, referred to as phytoplankton or microalgae, form the base of the food web upon

which nearly all other marine organisms depend. • Of the 5000+ species of marine phytoplankton that exist worldwide, about 2% are known to be

harmful or toxic. • Blooms of harmful algae can have large and varied impacts on marine ecosystems, depending on the

species involved, the environment where they are found, and the mechanism by which they exert negative effects.

• Harmful algal blooms have been observed to cause adverse effects to a wide variety of aquatic organisms, most notably marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and finfish.

• The impacts of HAB toxins on these groups can include harmful changes to their developmental, immunological, neurological, or reproductive capacities.

• The most conspicuous effects of HABs on marine wildlife are large-scale mortality events associated with toxin-producing blooms. For example, a mass mortality event of 107 bottlenose dolphins occurred along the Florida panhandle in the spring of 2004 due to ingestion of contaminated menhaden with high levels of brevetoxin.

• Manatee mortalities have also been attributed to brevetoxin but unlike dolphins, the main toxin vector was endemic seagrass species (Thalassia testudinum) in which high concentrations of brevetoxins were detected and subsequently found as a main component of the stomach contents of manatees

What are the harmful effects of these algal blooms? • Changes in levels of chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer, in the water. • Algal blooms can deplete the oxygen and block the sunlight that other organisms need to live. • And some can produce toxins that are harmful to the health of the environment- plants, animals,

and people etc.


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• Aquaculture industries are specially affected and sustain financial losses.

World Bio-fuel Day The International Bio-fuel Day is observed every year on August 10. What is the purpose behind the World bio-fuel day? • To create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels. • World Biofuel Day is observed every year on August 10 to create awareness about the importance

of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels. • The World Biofuel Day is being observed by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for the last

three years. Why is the World Bio-Fuel Day observed on August 10? • On 10 August 1893, Sir Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine, for the first time successfully

ran mechanical engine with Peanut Oil. • His research experiment had predicted that vegetable oil is going to replace the fossil fuels in the

next century to fuel different mechanical engines. • Thus, to mark this extraordinary achievement, World Bio-fuel Day is observed every year on 10

August. What have been the steps of government of India regarding Bio-fuels? • Ethanol blending in petrol has increased from 38 crore litres in the ethanol supply year 2013-2014

to an estimated 141 crore litres in the ethanol supply year 2017-2018. • This is on the back of the Government increasing the prices of C-heavy molasses-based ethanol to

give a boost to ethanol blending programme. • Prices of B-heavy molasses-based ethanol and sugarcane juice-based ethanol has been fixed for the

first time. • The Government has reduced the GST on ethanol for blending in fuel from 18 per cent to 5 per

cent. • Biodiesel blending in the country had started in 2015 • And in 2018-2019, oil marketing companies have allocated 7.6 crore litres of biodiesel. • Oil PSUs are also planning to set up 12 second generation (2G) biorefineries to augment ethanol

supply and address environmental issues arising out of burning of agricultural biomass. • The Government has also approved the National Policy on Biofuels-2018 in June 2018. • The policy has the objective of reaching 20 per cent ethanol blending and 5 per cent biodiesel

blending by 2030. • Among other things, the policy expands the scope of feedstock for ethanol production and has

provided for incentives for the production of advanced biofuels.


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India’s first bio-fuel flight A blend of oil from jatropha seeds and aviation turbine fuel propelled the country’s first ever bio jet fuel-powered flight between Dehradun and Delhi. What was Bio-fuel made up of? • A blend of oil from jatropha seeds and aviation turbine fuel. • A blend of 25% of bio jet fuel and 75% of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) was carried in one of the two

engines of the plane, while the other engine carried only ATF. • International standards permit a blend rate of up to 50% biofuel with ATF. What will be the benefit of this demonstration? • It showed that bio fuel derived ATF can be safe and secure for aviation industry. • Bio fuels are cleaner hence it will help fighting pollution and carbon emissions. • ATF is the most expensive oil category so costs of the flight were reduced by around 20% just by

25% mixing. • It will help reduce the import bill as ATF is imported.

What is Jatropha Plant? • Jatropha is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. • Jatropha curcas, one of the species of the gnus is used as oil crop for biodiesel production. • Members of the genus Jatropha contain several toxic compounds.

Afforestation Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified rules for utilisation of more than Rs 66,000 crore afforestation funds by states/UTs and for setting up authorities to monitor its use for afforestation and conservation. What is afforestation? • Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there

was no previous tree cover. • Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in programs of afforestation

to create forests, increase carbon capture and carbon sequestration, and help to anthropogenically improve biodiversity.

Why do we need to intervene the forest growing process? • In some places, forests need help to re-establish themselves because of environmental factors. • In arid zones, once forest cover is destroyed, the land may become dry and inhospitable for the

growth of new trees. • Other factors include overgrazing by livestock, especially animals such as goats, cows, and over-

harvesting of forest resources.


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• Together these may lead to desertification and the loss of topsoil; without soil, forests cannot grow until the long process of soil creation has been completed - if erosion allows this.

• In some tropical areas, forest cover removal may result in a duricrust or duripan that effectively seal off the soil to water penetration and root growth.

• In many areas, reforestation is impossible because people are using the land. • In other areas, mechanical breaking up of duripans or duricrusts is necessary, careful and continued

watering may be essential, and special protection, such as fencing, may be needed.

What is the difference between Afforestation and reforestation? • Reforestation is means that forests regenerates themselves naturally. • The use of afforestation as strategy of conservation of forest biomes is seen as a menace to the

conservation of natural grassland and savanna biomes, as the ideal would be the reforestation of areas where forest occurs naturally.

What is Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016? • The Act establishes the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of

India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state. • These Funds will receive payments for:

o Compensatory afforestation o Net present value of forest (NPV) o Other project specific payments.

• The National Fund will receive 10% of these funds, and the State Funds will receive the remaining 90%.

• These Funds will be primarily spent on afforestation to compensate for loss of forest cover, regeneration of forest ecosystem, wildlife protection and infrastructure development.

• The Act also establishes the National and State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authorities to manage the National and State Funds.

What are the issues which remain unaddressed? • The Act establishes the Funds for compensatory afforestation and forest conservation. • However, there are several factors (other than administration of funds) which affect compensatory

afforestation and forest conservation. • A 2013 CAG report noted that state forest departments lack the planning and implementation

capacity to carry out compensatory afforestation and forest conservation. • With the share of funds transferred to states increasing from 10% to 90%, effective utilisation of

these funds will depend on the capacity of state forest departments. • Procuring land for compensatory afforestation is difficult as land is a limited resource, and is required

for multiple purposes, such as agriculture, industry, etc. • This is compounded by unclear land titles, and difficulties in complying with procedures for land

use. • A High-Level Committee on Environment Laws observed that quality of forest cover has declined

between 1951 and 2014, with poor quality of compensatory afforestation plantations being one of the reasons behind the decline.


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• The Act delegates the determination of NPV (value of loss of forest ecosystem) to an expert committee constituted by the central government.

• As NPV constitutes about half of the total funds collected, its computation methodology would be important.

National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank was inaugurated at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s Laboratory of Conservation of Endangered facility in Hyderabad, Telanagana. What is National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank? • It is India’s first genetic resource bank where genetic material will be stored for posterity which will. • So far, genetic resources from 23 species of Indian wild animals have been collected and preserved. • Laboratory of Conservation of Endangered Facility(LaCONES) is a dedicated laboratory of the

CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and the only institute in the country working towards conservation of endangered wildlife using modern biotechnologies to save endangered wildlife species of India.

• CCMB-LaCONES is the only laboratory in India that has developed methods for collection and cryopreservation of semen and oocytes from wildlife and successfully reproducing endangered blackbuck, spotted deer and Nicobar pigeons.

What’s the significance of this Bank? • This facility would increase the collection of genetic resources from wildlife through collaboration

with zoos in India. • This facility would also facilitate exchange of genetic material between Indian zoos for maintaining

genetic diversity and conservation management made accessible to scientists and wildlife managers for implementing conservation programmes.

• The biorepository can be used for regeneration of wild animals [using techniques like] cloning and for genetic studies.

• Assisted Reproductive Techniques ( such as artificial insemination and in-vitro fertilisation are being deployed to produce offsprings from germplasms such as eggs and semen.

How does this Bank works? • This bank uses extremely cold temperatures to cryopreserve tissues, primary cells (precursor cells for

cloning), semen and eggs and freeze DNA/RNA and blood samples in special tubes. • ‘Cryopreservation’ is the use of very low temperatures to preserve structurally intact living cells and

tissues. • Liquid nitrogen – an extremely cold liquid that can burn your mouth – is used to cryopreserve semen

and eggs at temperatures of -196 degree Celsius. Freezers at -30 degree Celsius and -80 degree Celsius have been put in place to safeguard blood and DNA samples.


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National REDD+ strategy The national ‘REDD+ strategy’ that aims to achieve climate change mitigation by incentivizing forest conservation was released. What is REDD+? • REDD+ stands for countries' efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation,

and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Why is deforestation in so much focus? • Deforestation and forest degradation are the second leading cause of global warming, responsible

for about 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which makes the loss and depletion of forests a major issue for climate change.

• In some countries, such as Brazil and Indonesia, deforestation and forest degradation together are by far the main source of national greenhouse gas emissions.

• Eighty percent of the Earth’s above-ground terrestrial carbon and forty percent of below-ground terrestrial carbon is in forests.

• In addition to the large contribution of deforestation and forest degradation to global emissions, combating both has been identified as one of the most cost-effective ways to lower emissions.

• Currently, there appears to be a consensus that the issue of deforestation and forest degradation must be effectively tackled as it would otherwise limit the options available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas concentrations and increases in temperature to acceptable levels.

• Any reduction in the rate of deforestation and forest degradation has the benefit of avoiding a significant source of carbon emissions and reducing other environmental and social problems associated with deforestation.

But we can also do afforestation and that is as effective as reducing deforestation? • No because unlike afforestation and reforestation activities, which generally cause small annual

changes in carbon stocks over long periods of time, stemming deforestation causes large changes in carbon stocks over a short period of time.

• Most emissions from deforestation take place rapidly, whereas carbon removal from the atmosphere through afforestation and reforestation activities is a slow process.

• In addition to mitigating climate change, stopping deforestation and forest degradation and supporting sustainable forest management conserves water resources and prevents flooding, reduces run-off, controls soil erosion, reduces river siltation, protects fisheries and investments in hydropower facilities, preserves biodiversity and preserves cultures and traditions.

• With all the services that forests provide both to humanity and the natural world, there is now widespread understanding of a simple yet profound fact—that forests are more important left standing, than cut.

• Out of that understanding has come the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. What is a national strategy?


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• A national strategy or action plan is one of the elements to be developed by developing country Parties implementing REDD+ activities (according to paragraph 71 of decision 1/CP.16).

• This national strategy or action plan is highly dependent upon national circumstances. • During the development and implementation of national strategies or action plans, developing

countries should address o The drivers of deforestation and forest degradation o Land tenure issues o Forest governance issues o Gender considerations

• The REDD+ safeguards including the full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, inter alia indigenous peoples and local communities.

What are the key features of India’s REDD+ strategy? • Involving Tribal Cooperation

o MoEFCC has emphasized that the cooperation and involvement of the tribals, other forest dwelling people and the society as a whole, is crucial for the implementation of the REDD+ strategy.

o India’s National REDD+ strategy is one of the tools to achieve India’s commitment to Paris Agreement.

o The REDD+ strategy will help the country to fulfill its NDC commitments and will also contribute to the livelihood of the forest dependent population.

• Governing under REDD+ o A National Governing Council of REDD+ chaired by the Union Environment Minister at the

national level and two technical committees are being established for supporting the REDD+ implementation in the country.

o The REDD+ actions at the State level will be coordinated by the committee headed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) & Head of Forest Force (HOFF) of the States.

o Paris agreement on climate change also recognizes role of forests in climate change mitigation and calls upon country Parties to take action to implement and support REDD+.

• India’s NDC o India has communicated in its Nationally Determined Contribution under Paris Agreement,

that it will capture 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

o India’s first biennial update report to UNFCCC has revealed that forests in India capture about 12% of India’s total GHG emissions.

o Thus, forestry sector in India is making a positive cost effective contribution for climate change mitigation.

o Complying with the UNFCCC decisions on REDD+, India has prepared its National REDD+ Strategy.

o The strategy includes India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, Green India Mission and India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to UNFCCC.

The World Elephant Day It is observed every year on August 12 to create awareness of urgent plight of African and Asian elephants. Since when has it been celebrated?


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• On August 12, 2012.

What are the main threats to Elephants across the world? • The escalation of poaching • Habitat loss • Human-elephant conflict • Mistreatment in captivity

How can we reverse the tide? • Working towards better protection for wild elephants • Improving enforcement policies to prevent the illegal poaching and trade of ivory • Conserving elephant habitats • Better treatment for captive elephants • Reintroducing captive elephants into natural • Protected sanctuaries


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Gaganyan Prime Minister recently announced that an Indian astronaut will go into space by 2022. What is this announcement about? • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO has

been working on the project of sending an Indian in space for the last 15 years.

• It was in 2004 when the manned space mission was first planned by the ISRO Policy Planning Committee with an initial target of 2015.

• However in 2016, the government announced that there was no plan for a manned mission to be launched in the “near future”.

What is a manned mission?

• A manned space mission is very different from all other missions.

• A manned mission is much more complex and ambition than the Moon (Chandrayaan) and Mars (Mangalyaan) mission.

• For a manned mission, ISRO needs to develop the ability to bring the spacecraft back to Earth after flight, and to build a spacecraft in which astronauts can live in Earth-like conditions in space.

The role of GSLV Mk-III?

• In the quest for manned mission, the development of a launch vehicle that can carry heavy payloads into space is the most important.

• The spacecraft carrying human beings, called a crew module, may weigh up to 5 to 6 tonnes.

• ISRO’s PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), which carried the Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions can carry payloads up to 2 tonnes to orbits at about 600 km altitude from the Earth’s surface.

• So the development of GSLV Mk-III, a launch vehicle with capabilities to deliver heavier payloads much deeper into space is necessary.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY


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• After 30 years of efforts concentrated at developing an indigenous cryogenic engine to power the rocket, ISRO successfully tested GSLV Mk-III.

• It is called the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) and undertook an experimental flight in December 2014.

• In June 2017, ISRO successfully launched the first “developmental” flight of LVM-3 carrying the GSAT-19 satellite into space.

• The government has approved the funding for the next 10 flights of GSLV Mk-III.

What does a manned mission involve?

• The satellites like those for communication or remote sensing are meant to remain in space, even when their life is over.

• Any manned spacecraft, however, needs to come back. • This involves learning of the highly complicated and dangerous re-entry and recovery ability. • While re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft needs to withstand very high temperatures

which is created due to friction. • The spacecraft also needs to re-enter the atmosphere at a very precise speed and angle, and even the

slightest deviation could end in disaster.

How ahead in ISRO?

• The first successful experimental flight of GSLV Mk-III involved the successful testing of an experimental crew module that came back to Earth after being taken to an altitude of 126 km into space.

• It was called the Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE). • • It re-entered the atmosphere at about 80 km altitude and landed in the sea near the Andaman and

Nicobar Islands, from where it was recovered by the Coast Guard. • Many more tests would be done over the next few years.

What features of a manned mission?

1. Crew Escape System • This is a crucial safety technology which involves an emergency escape mechanism for the astronauts

in case of a faulty launch. • The mechanism ensures that the crew module gets an advance warning of anything going wrong

with the rocket, and pulls it away to a safe distance, after which it can be landed either on sea or on land with the help of attached parachutes.

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

inside the crew module are suitable for humans to live comfortably. • The inside of the crew module is a twin-walled sealed structure to recreate Earth-like conditions for

the astronauts.


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• The ECLSS maintains a steady cabin pressure and air composition, removes carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, controls temperature and humidity, and manages parameters like fire detection and suppression, food and water management, and emergency support.

3. Astronaut training • Though ISRO plans to set up a permanent facility, the selected candidates for the 1st manned

mission will train at a foreign facility. • Candidates will need to train for at least two years in living in zero gravity and dealing with a variety

of unexpected experiences of living in space. GM Mosquitoes The government has recently raised doubts regarding the field trials of GM Mosquitoes. Let us understand the significance. What is the initiative all about?

• The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the known to be the carrier of diseases such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya.

• A new project aims at reducing the population of Aedes aegypti mosquito by the use of GM Mosquitoes.

What is the aim?

• Diseases such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya are transmitted when an infected female mosquito bites somebody.

• While, male mosquitoes do not bite and so are harmless. • The new initiative wants to introduce a new Genetically Modified(GM) male Aedes aegypti

mosquito. • Many firms have bio-engineered a transgenic

male Aedes aegypti mosquito which carries a new gene fatal only to female mosquitoes.

What is the advantage of the new gene?

• There are plans to release a large number of such GM male mosquitoes into a trial zone. These will then breed with normal females in the wild.

• In the next generation, only the males would survive and these would breed again, with normal females.

• After a few generations, the female population will be drastically reduced. • Eventually this would result in a reduction of the entire mosquito population.

What are the challenges in the project?

• The life cycle of a mosquito is only around two-three weeks. So the effects of the trial should be apparent in a few months.


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• Transgenic males do not bite and the modified genes are said to be harmless to humans. • Trials have been launched in Malaysia, Brazil, and Florida. • So, a permission has now been asked for open field trials in India.

Why is DBT hesitant to approve? • Indian policy makers has been very apprehensive in allowing the genetically modified technologies. • The Department of Biotechnology fears that there may be unknown hazards associated with such

trials. • It is feared that it could result in harmful consequences to the environment or ecology as the Aedes

aegypti is part of the food chain. • During its life cycle, it is consumed by fishes so a drastic reduction in the mosquito population could

thus impact prey species. • This could also potentially result in ecological collapse. • There is also a possibility that the engineered genes could directly harm the species that consume

mosquitoes.


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Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) INTACH has called for transforming heritage buildings in Rajasthan into “economic assets” for the society. What is INTACH? • It is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the

Societies Registration Act, 1860. • It was founded in 1984 in New Delhi with a vision to

spearhead heritage awareness and conservation in India. • Since its formation it has pioneered the conservation and

preservation of India’s natural and cultural heritage. • It has taken up restoration and protection of hundreds of monuments that fall outside the coverage

of Archaeological Survey of India and other government agencies. • It even uses fund raised by its international chapters in Belgium and UK to take up restoration

projects in India.

What is its mission? • Its mission to conserve heritage is based on the belief that living in harmony with heritage enhances

the quality of life. • Its stated missions are:

o Sensitise the public about pluralistic cultural legacy of India. o Instil a sense of social responsibility towards preserving India’s common heritage. o Protect and preserve India’s living, built, and natural heritage by undertaking necessary actions

and measures. o Document unprotected buildings of archaeological, architectural, historic and aesthetic

significance, as well as cultural resources, as this is the first step towards formulating conservation plans.

o Develop heritage policies and regulations, and make legal interventions to protect India’s heritage when necessary.

o Provide expertise in the field of conservation, restoration and preservation of specific works of art; and encourage capacity building by developing skills through training programmes.

o Undertake emergency response measures during natural or man-made disasters and support the local administration whenever heritage is threatened.

o Foster collaborations, MoUs and partnerships with government and other national and international agencies.

o Generate sponsorships for conservation and educational projects. What is the significance of the move? • Economic benefits could be derived from the buildings. • It can be an alternative to paying for their upkeep and maintenance on regular basis.

What is the significance and need for preservation?

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• These buildings connect us with our past, our ancestors and help us gather information about life, culture and society as whole of that particular place and help us understand how it evolved over time.

• It helps us to learn about architecture and architectural techniques used during those times of low technological development.

• Today, these buildings help to generate jobs and employment opportunities through tourism and help sustain local economy as well as economy of the nation as whole.

Swadesh Darshan Scheme First project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme the ‘North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom’ in Manipur inaugurated. What is North East Circuit all about? • It is the first project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme being

inaugurated in the country. • It was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in Sep 2015 for Rs.72.30

Crores. • The project covers two sites: Kangla Fort and Khongjom. • Kangla Fort, served as the seat of Manipur’s power till 1891, is one of

the most important historic and archaeological sites of Manipur located in the heart of Imphal city. • The old Govindajee temple, outer and inner moat and other relics are perfect reflections of the rich

art and architectural heritage of Manipur. • Khongjom is the place where the last war of resistance of Anglo Manipur War of 1891 was fought. • Under the project rejuvenation of Kombirei Lake has been carried out. How important is the development of tourism in the North East region? • Development of tourism in North East Region is prime area of focus for the Ministry of Tourism. • The Ministry is carrying out an array of activities for development and promotion of tourism in the

region. • Together under Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD schemes Ministry has sanctioned 15 projects

covering all North Eastern states for Rs.1301.47 Crores. • The efforts have shown positive results as the foreign as well as domestic tourist arrivals has

increased over the years. • The increase in the number of tourists has created better employment opportunities for the local

population in the region. • A number of facilities like Tourist Facilitation Centres, better last mile connectivity, heliports, golf

course etc. are being developed under above schemes for the better tourist experience. • Ministry is also promoting the region by showcasing its varied attractions, uniqueness in culture and

natural beauty in international and domestic markets. • International Travel Mart (ITM) is being organised by the Ministry every year in one of the N-E

states with objective of providing platform to showcase its tourism potential. What is Swadesh Darshan Scheme? • It was launched by Ministry of Tourism in 2014-15 for integrated development of theme based

tourist circuits in the country. • It is 100% centrally funded scheme.


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• It also has provision for voluntary funding under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). • The funding of projects under this scheme varies from state to state. • It is finalised on the basis of detailed project reports prepared by Programme Management

Consultant (PMC). • PMC is a national level consultant for implementing the scheme. • This scheme is envisioned to work in synergy with other government flagship schemes like Swachh

Bharat Mission, Skill India, Make in India etc. • It has been launched with an objective to promote tourism sector as major engine of economic

growth and job creation and to enable tourism to realise its full potential. • Under the scheme 15 thematic circuits have been identified for development namely:

North East India Buddhist Circuit Himalayan Circuit Coastal Circuit Krishna Circuit Desert Circuit Tribal Circuit Wildlife Circuit Ramayana Circuit Eco Circuit Rural Circuit Spiritual Circuit Heritage Circuit Tirthankar Circuit Sufi Circuit

How is a tourist circuit defined? • According to Ministry of Tourism, a ‘tourist circuit’ is defined as follows:

o A route having at least 3 major tourist destinations which are distinct and apart. o Circuits should have well defined entry and exit points. o A tourist who enters should get motivated to visit most of the places identified in the circuit. o A circuit could be confined to a State or could be a regional circuit covering more than one

State/Union Territory. o These circuits may have one dominant theme and other sub- themes. o Projects under the scheme shall be under the following identified themes; Eco-tourism, Wildlife,

Buddhist, Desert, Spiritual, Ramayana, Krishna, Coastal, Northeast, Rural, Himalayan, Tribal and Heritage.

What is the Institutional Mechanism in place for the scheme? • National Steering Committee (NSC): It will be chaired by Ministry of Tourism and Secretary, M/O

Tourism as its vice chairman. • Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC): It is responsible for sanctioning of the

projects submitted to it by Mission Directorate and regular monitoring of the progress. It is chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.

• Mission Directorate (MD): It is headed by Member Secretary, NSC as Nodal Officer. It looks into identification of projects and appointment of PMC.

• Program Management Consultant (PMC): It is a National Level Consultant appointed by the Mission Directorate to provide technical support for the implementation.

What is the duration of the scheme? • At present duration of the scheme is till the 14th Finance Commission period, March 2020. Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman President awards the Certificate of Honour and Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman for the year 2018. What is this award?


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• It was introduced in the year 2002. • It is conferred on persons once a year on the Independence Day in recognition of their substantial

contribution in the field of Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Pali, Prakrit, Classical Oriya, Classical Kannada, Classical Telugu and Classical Malayalam.

• It is given to selected young scholars in the age group of 30 to 45 years. • It carries a certificate of honour and one-time cash prize of Rs.1 lakh. Who are the recipients of the award?

Language Recipients Sanskrit • Dr. RaghuvirVedalankar

• Dr. Vasantkumar M Bhatt • Dr. Baldevanand Sagar and others.

Pali • Dr. KaramTej Singh Sarao Prakrit • Prof. Phool Chand Jain

• Dr. Anand Kumar Jain. Arabic • Dr. Ghulam YahyaAnjum

• Prof. (Dr.) N.A. Moh amed Abdul Kader • Mohammad Badiur Rahman • Dr. K. Ali Noufal.

Persian • Dr. Akhtar Mehdi • Mrs. Syeda Khursheed Fatima Husaini • Dr. (Smt.) Shaista Akhter Khan • Prof. Akhlaque Ahmad Ansari (‘ahan’).

Classical Kannada

• Dr. M Chidanana Murthy

Classical Telegu • Dr. Bethavolu Ramabrahmam • No awards were given in Classical Malayalam and Classical Odia

11th World Hindi Conference The eleventh edition of World Hindi Conference was held in Mauritius from August 18-20, 2018. What is the World Hindi Conference? • It is a common platform for several Hindi scholars, writers, laureates from different parts of the

world to contribute to the language. • It is held once in three years. • The first World Hindi Conference was held in 1975 in Nagpur, India. • Since then, ten such conferences have been held in different parts of the world. • The World Hindi Secretariat has also been set up in Mauritius by Ministry of External Affairs. • The objective of the Secretariat is to promote Hindi as an international language and further its cause

for recognition at the United Nations as an Official Language. What is the World Hindi Secretariat? • It is an international organization representing countries and regions where Hindi is the first or

customary language. • Its main objective is to promote Hindi as an international language.


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• It is headquartered in Mauritius. • India, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname and Nepal are its five-member countries. • Vinod Bala Arun was its first Secretary-General. What about 11th World Hindi Conference? • It was held in the capital city of Port Lois, Mauritius. • It was organized by Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India in association with Govt. of

Mauritius. • The decision to organize the 11th edition of the Conference in Mauritius was taken at the 10th

edition held in Bhopal, India. • It was held at “Swami Vivekanand International Convention Centre”, Pailles, Mauritius. • In keeping with the past practice, Hindi scholars from India and other countries were honoured with

“Vishwa Hindi Samman” for their distinguished services in the field of Hindi. What was the theme of 11th edition of the conference? • The main theme of the Conference was “Hindi Vishwa aur Bhartiya Sanskriti”. What is the significance of such conferences? • With growing economic, political and cultural dominance

of India at international stage it is high time to promote its language too.

• There are more than 50 crore Hindi-speaking people in the entire world, so it is pertinent to promote Hindi at the UN as one of the important and recognised languages of the world.

• It is linked to tradition, values and ethos of the Indian sub-continent and is akin to many cultures and similar to many languages.

• So the Hindi-language should be promoted as it is a treasure of our golden past as well as our golden future.

When and where the next conference is going to be held?

• The 12th World Hindi Conference is going to be held in 2021 at Dewas, India. Panini Language Lab in Mauritius Panini language laboratory was recently inaugurated at Mahatma Gandhi institute in Mauritius to promote and develop Hindi among youngsters. What is Panini language laboratory? • It aims to promote reading and writing Hindi amongst young generation and its further development. • It will serve as medium to generate more interest in learning Hindi amongst youngsters and thereby

strengthening the language. • It has been established with support of Indian External Affairs Ministry.


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• The lab has 35 computers and equipment along with along with advanced software of various Indian languages.

• The lab aids students of junior, middle and high schools to imbibe new techniques of language learning.

• It is going to help them get acquainted with four language mantras- hearing, pronunciation, reading and writing through easy and scientific ways

Who was Panini? • Panini was a Sanskrit grammarian who gave a comprehensive and scientific theory of phonetics,

phonology and morphology. • He is considered as the father of Indian linguistics. • He is known for his work Ashtadhyayi, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. • In his work Panini gives formal production rules and definitions to describe Sanskrit grammar. What is Ashtadhyayi? • Ashtadhyayi or Astaka is major work of Panini. • It consists of 3,959 sutras in eight chapters, subdivided into four sections or padas. • In his work Panini distinguishes between the language of sacred texts and the usual language of

communication. • Starting with about 1700 basic elements like nouns, verbs, vowels, consonants he put them into

classes. • The construction of sentences, compound nouns etc. is explained as ordered rules operating on

underlying structures in a manner similar to modern theory. • In many ways his constructions are similar to the way that a mathematical function is defined today. • Patanjali’s Mahabhasya is one the famous commentary on Ashtadhyayi. International Council on Monument and Sites (ICOMOS) The ICOMOS, a global conservation body, has launched an initiative to save cultural heritage damaged in flood-hit Kerala. Kerala is home to a number of iconic forts, palaces and other heritage buildings. What does the ICOMOS plan to do? • The initiative aims at setting up a platform for emergency response to

the cultural heritage damaged by the floods in Kerala. • Through social media they aim to collect information on the damage to

buildings, museum collections, cultural artefacts, libraries, archives, and even intangible heritage.

• One of the works includes creation of a rapid response team for heritage consisting of architects, engineers, conservators, historians.

• ICOMOS has also approached the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) to partner in the post-disaster work.

What is ICOMOS?


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• The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places all over the world.

• ICOMOS was founded in 1965 in Warsaw as a result of the Venice Charter of 1964. • It is headquartered in Paris. • It is an advisory body to the UNESCO on cultural heritage, particularly the implementation of the

World Heritage Convention. • ICOMOS is a partner in the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS), which works to

protect the world's cultural heritage threatened by wars and natural disasters. How does the ICOMOS works along with UNESCO? • In 1972, ICOMOS was named by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention as one of the three

formal advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee, along with IUCN and ICCROM. • As the professional and scientific adviser to the committee on all aspects of the cultural heritage,

ICOMOS is responsible for the evaluation of all nominations of cultural properties made to the World Heritage List with the criteria laid down by the World Heritage Committee.

• In addition to the basic criterion of “outstanding universal value,” ICOMOS evaluates nominations for aspects related to authenticity, management, and conservation as specified in the World Heritage Convention.

• ICOMOS is also involved, through its International Secretariat and its national and scientific committees, in the preparation of reports on the state of conservation of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List.

• It advises the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on requests for technical assistance received from states that are party to (i.e. have ratified) the World Heritage Convention.

What is ICCROM? • The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

(ICCROM) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide through training, information, research, cooperation and advocacy programmes.

• It aims to enhance the field of conservation-restoration and raise awareness to the importance and fragility of cultural heritage.

• As an Advisory Body to the World Heritage Committee, it provides expert advice on how to conserve and manage listed properties.

• It is headquartered in Rome, Italy.


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Anganwadi It aims at holistic development of children under age of 6 years and its beneficiaries are children of this age group and Pregnant Women and Lactating mothers. What do you mean by Anganwadi?

• Anganwadi is a type of rural mother and child care centre in India. • They were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development

Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition • A typical Anganwadi centre provides basic health care in Indian villages. • It is a part of the Indian public health care system. • Basic health care activities include contraceptive counselling and supply, nutrition education and

supplementation, as well as pre-school activities. • The centres may be used as depots for oral rehydration salts, basic medicines and contraceptives. • These centres provide supplementary nutrition, non-formal pre-school education, nutrition and

health education, immunization, health check-up and referral services of which later three services are provided in convergence with public health systems

What are the responsibilities of the workers? • The Ministry of Women and Child Development has laid down guidelines for the responsibilities of

Anganwadi workers (AWW). • These include:

o Showing community support and active participation in executing this programme. o To conduct regular quick surveys of all families. o Organize pre-school activities. o Provide health and nutrition education to families especially pregnant women on how to

breastfeed, etc. o Motivating families to adopt family planning. o Educating parents about child growth and development. o Assist in the implementation and execution of Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY) to educate teenage

girls and parents by organizing social awareness programmes etc. o Identify disabilities in children, and so on.

Who are the Supervisors? • Every 40 to 65 Anganwadi workers are supervised by one Mukhya Sevika. They provide on-the-job

training. • In addition to performing the responsibilities with the Anganwadi workers, they have other duties

such as: o Keeping track of who are benefiting from the programme from low economic status —

specifically those who belong to the malnourished category. o Guide the Anganwadi workers in assessing the age and weight of children and how to plot their

weights.

SOCIAL ISSUES


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o Demonstrate effective methods, for example, in providing health and nutrition education to mothers.

o Maintain statistics of Anganwadis and the workers to determine what can be improved. o The Mukhya Sevika then reports to the Child development Projects Officer (CDPO).

What are the benefits of this scheme? • India is a country suffering from overpopulation, malnourishment, poverty and high infant mortality

rates. To counter the health and mortality issues there is a great need for medical and health care experts.

• Through the Anganwadi system, the country is trying to meet its goal of enhanced health facilities that are affordable and accessible for local populations.

• Though Anganwadi workers are not as skilled or qualified as professionals they have better social skills thus making it easier to interact with the people.

• Anganwadi workers are well aware of the ways of the people, are comfortable with the language, know the rural folk personally etc.

• This makes it very easy for them to figure out the problems being faced by the people and ensure that they are solved.

What are the challenges? • The workers do not have permanent jobs with comprehensive retirement benefits like other

government staff. • There are periodic reports of corruption and crimes against women in some Anganwadi centers. • There are legal and societal issues when Anganwadi-serviced children fall sick or die. • About a third of total 13.6 lakh Anganwadi centres have neither toilets nor drinking water facilities.

What is the Anganwadi Services Training Programme? • The programme, which comes under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

Scheme, is a centrally sponsored scheme. • The overall administration, management and monitoring of the implementation of the scheme is

being done by the respective state governments and UT administrations. • The training provided to the Anganwadi Workers (AWWs), Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) and the

Supervisors at AWTCs and MLTCs is a part of the Anganwadi Services. • The AWTCs and MLTCs are run either by the respective state governments or UT administrations

or by NGOs under the supervision of the states and UTs. • The Union Government releases the funds required for the implementation of the scheme to the

state and UT administrations. What is Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)? • It is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by states/UTs. • It was launched on 2nd October 1975. • The following services are sponsored under ICDS to help achieve its objectives:

o Immunization o Supplementary nutrition o Health checkup


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o Referral services o Pre-school education(Non-Formal)

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved four sub-schemes under

Umbrella Scheme Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) o Anganwadi services. o Sabla (programme for adolescent girls). o Child Protection Services. o National Creche Scheme.

National Nutrition Month The Union government has decided to observe September as Nutrition month to spread the message of Nutrition. The campaign is aimed at spreading the message- ‘Har ghar poshan tyohar’ What is Nutrition?

• Nutrition is the science or practice of consuming and utilising foods. Food provides our body with

energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals to live, grow and function properly • Therefore, a balanced diet is important for good health and well being. It is said that an unhealthy

diet increases the risk of many diet-related diseases. What is the importance of Nutrition? • With a poor diet well-being is reduced. • It helps to manage healthy weight. • It maintains the immune system. • It provides energy. • It delays the effect of Ageing. • It reduces the risk of chronic diseases. • Healthy eating also affects your mood positively. • Healthy diet increases life span. • Healthy diet increases focus.

What is malnutrition? • Malnutrition is a physical state of unbalanced nutrition. • It can be due to undernutrition or overnutrition • Malnutrition especially in young children, can lead to stunted growth, developmental delays and more

sickness due to poor immune function. • Indicators of malnutrition:

o Wasting: Children whose weight is below the average for their height are considered wasted. Wasting is an indicator of acute malnutrition.

o Stunting: Children whose height is below the average for their age are considered to be stunted. Stunting is an indicator of chronic malnutrition.

o Underweight: Children whose weight is below the average for their age are considered under-weight. Under-weight is an indicator of acute or chronic malnutrition or both.


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What is the status of Malnutrition in India? • As per recent data, approximately 40% of children under five are stunted and 21% of children under

five are severely wasted or undernourished. • The statistics reveal that India is bearing the double burden of under-nutrition and over-nutrition at

the same time. • The body mass index of 22.9% women aged 15-49 indicates chronic energy deficiency. • In the report, Nourishing India, the NITI Aayog refers to acute malnutrition levels of about 25% in

some States. • The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India had recently organized an

orientation workshop for various stakeholders participating in the Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month) being celebrated in the month of September.

What was the theme of National Nutrition Week 2018? • The theme for National Nutrition Week 2018 is 'Go Further with Food' and in 2017 was 'Optimal

Infant & Young Child Feeding Practices: Better Child Health'. o This time theme focuses on the main source of nutrition which should be chosen wisely and

requires you to explore the nutritious food options which are provided with by mother nature. • National Nutrition Week: History

o In the year 1982 National Nutrition week celebration was started by the Central Government in India.

o The campaign was started to spread awareness and encourage the people as a society to understand the importance of nutrition and adopt a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

• The campaign aims to promote o Antenatal care o Breastfeeding o Anaemia o Age of marriage for women o Growth monitoring and nutrition of adolescent women o Hygiene and sanitation

What are the activities within the National Nutrition Week? • Promotion through various channels like social media including hashtag #PoshanMaah, radio

programmes including PM’s Mann Ki Baat. • A dedicated programme against anaemia. • Engaging civil society including teachers, self help groups, NSS student volunteers, National Cadet

Corps, Swacchagrahis among others to spread the message • Prabhat Pheris, poshan melas, poshan walks, recipe demonstrations and school level events. What is National Nutrition Mission? • National Nutrition Mission was launched in March 2018 with a budgetary support of Rs.9000 Cr

over the next three years. • The International Bank of Reconstruction and Development of World Bank has contributed 50%

of the budgetary support.


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• The Mission seeks to reduce the levels of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and low-birth weight of babies.

• Target is to reduce incidence of anemia by 3% every year & reduce mal-nutrition by 2% every year by reducing stunting, wasting and under-nutrition by 2% each every year.

• Mission 25 by 2022: Reduction in Stunting among children up to the age of six years from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022.

What are the key features of the mission? • Synergy: Synergy among various schemes including National food security act, mid-day meals, ICDS,

Swachh Bharat, National rural drinking water programme, Mission Indradhanush, Deworming initiative, MAA National breastfeeding programme, Beti Bachao Beti Padao etc.

• Continuous Real-time Monitoring through the use of ICT. • Iron Folic Acid supplements through life-cycle approach covering all life-cycles including children,

women of reproductive age, expectant mothers, adolescent girls etc. • Complimentary Feeding practices to stop breast feeding after 6 months from birth. • Coverage: To ensure a holistic approach, all 36 States/UTs and 718 districts will be covered in a

phased manner by the year 2022. ODOP - One District One Product - Uttar Pradesh President Ram Nath Kovind on August 10, 2018 inaugurated the ‘One District One Product’ Summit in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. What are the highlights of the One District one Product Summit?

• The summit, which aims to give boost to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), is a

consequence of the UP Investors Summit held in UP in February 2018. • During the summit, with a tagline of 'Nayi Udaan, Nayi Pehchan', the President distributed loan

sanction papers to some artisans. • Loan papers amounting to Rs 1006.94 crore are to be distributed to 4085 artisans from 75 districts

in the summit.

What are the details of the ODOP? • The objective of the ODOP is to optimise production, productivity and income, preservation and

development of local crafts, promotion of art, improvement in product quality and skill development.

• One District One Product scheme will notify every district about one product that they should manufacture

• This will enable the people to gain expertise in one such product and the quality of the product will eventually be raised to the international standards

• As per the government analysis, the scheme can provide the employment to over 25 lakh people and in addition to this, the people who want to be part of this scheme will also receive a benefit of Rs. 25,000 from the government

• The scheme is followed by many countries and the benefits are quite visible as the scheme does consider the geographical, cultural, economic and social situation of the state before assigning a product to the state.


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• ODOP is basically a Japanese business development concept, which gained prominence in 1979. • It is aimed at promoting a competitive and staple product from a specific area to push sales and

improve the standard of living of the local population. Over time, it has been replicated in other Asian countries as well.

What are the benefits of the scheme? • The scheme will enable a lot of people to get employment and this is considered to be the greatest

benefit of the scheme. • With scheme considering only on one product per district these districts will be able to specialize in

the manufacturing process of the product which will eventually increase the quality of the products and they will be able to compete on the global scale.

• The scheme will also ensure that the GDP of the state increases and this will also impact the GDP of the country.

• The government will also provide financial benefits to the people which will help people in starting new ventures.

• Uttar Pradesh is uniquely famous for product-specific traditional industrial hubs across 75 districts, including o Varanasi (Banarasi silk sari), o Bhadohi (carpet), o Lucknow (chikan), o Kanpur (leather goods), o Agra (leather footwear), o Aligarh (locks), o Moradabad (brassware), o Meerut (sports goods) and o Saharanpur (wooden products) o Ferozabad(Glass bangles)

What is the definition of MSME? • The Government of India has enacted the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development

(MSMED) Act, 2006 in terms of which the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises is as under:

• Enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production, processing or preservation of goods as specified below: o A micro enterprise is an enterprise where investment in plant and machinery does not exceed

Rs. 25 lakh; o A small enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in plant and machinery is more than

Rs. 25 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 5 crore; o A medium enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in plant and machinery is more than

Rs.5 crore but does not exceed Rs.10 crore. • Enterprises engaged in providing or rendering of services and whose investment in equipment

(original cost excluding land and building and furniture, fittings and other items not directly related to the service rendered or as may be notified under the MSMED Act, 2006 are specified below. o A micro enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment does not exceed Rs. 10

lakh;


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o A small enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment is more than Rs.10 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 2 crore;

o A medium enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment is more than Rs. 2 crore but does not exceed Rs. 5 crore.

Sexual Harassment at Workplace With women constituting about half of the global population, it’s important to ensure they have safeguards for protecting their rights and status at workplaces. In this direction, the Government of India has implemented the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

What is Sexual Harassment at Workplace? • Regarding harassment faced by women, the following unwelcome behavior or sexual gesture comes

under the definition of sexual harassment as defined by the Supreme Court of India: o Physical contact and advances o Sexually coloured remarks o Showing pornography o Demand or request for sexual favours in lieu of office promotion

• Any other verbal or non-verbal conduct that is sexual in nature • Any rumours at workplace with sexually coloured remarks about a working woman • Spreading rumours about a woman’s sexual relationship with anybody.

What is the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013? • This is a legislative act in India that seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of

work. • This statute superseded the Vishakha Guidelines for prevention of sexual harassment introduced by

the Supreme Court of India. • This act makes it illegal to sexually harass women in the workplace • It talks about the different ways in which someone can be sexually harassed and how they can

complain against this kind of behaviour. • This Act is only for women who are sexually harassed in workplaces • This Act is for any woman who is harassed in any workplace. It is not necessary for the woman to

be working at the workplace in which she is harassed. A workplace can be any office, whether government or private.

• Under this act, all employers are required to constitute an Internal Compliant Committee at a workplace by an order in writing.

• In case the employer has multiple branches or factories or offices, an Internal Committee must be constituted at all administrative units or offices.

• The Internal Committee must consist of the following members, nominated by the employer: o A Presiding Officer who shall be a woman employed at a senior level at workplace from

amongst the employees. o Not less than two Members from amongst employees preferably committed to the cause of

women or who have had experience in social work or have legal knowledge. o One member from amongst non-governmental organisations or associations committed to the

cause of women or a person familiar with the issues relating to sexual harassment.


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o The Internal Complaint Committee must have atleast one-half of the total Members as women at all times. The Presiding Officer and every Member of the Internal Committee can hold office for a period not exceeding three years, from the date of their nomination.

What are the powers of Internal Complaint Committee • The Complaints Committees have the powers of civil courts for gathering evidence. • The Complaints Committees are required to provide for conciliation before initiating an inquiry, if

requested by the complainant. • The Internal Compliant Committee could recommend to the employer, the following actions

o Grant such other relief to the aggrieved woman as may be prescribed. o Transfer the aggrieved woman or the respondent to any other workplace. o Grant leave to the aggrieved woman upto a period of three months.

What is the Procedure for Filing Compliant? • A complaint on sexual harassment at the workplace must be made by the aggrieved woman within a

period of three months from the date of occurrence of an incident • The complaint must be made in writing and submitted to the Internal Complaint Committee and be

sent either by post or given in person • If an aggrieved woman is unable to file a complaint by herself because of a physical issue, a complaint

can be filed for her by: o A relative or friend o A co-worker o Someone who knows about the sexual harassment that took place, and has her written

permission o An officer of the National Commission for Women or State Women's Commission

• If an aggrieved woman is unable to make a complaint by herself because of a mental issue, a complaint can be filed for her by: o A relative or friend o A special educator o A qualified psychiatrist or a psychologist o The guardian/authority who gives her treatment or care o Any person who knows about the sexual harassment that took place, along with a relative or

friend, a special educator, a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist, or the guardian/authority who gives her treatment or care.

• Finally, if an aggrieved woman is unable to make a written complaint by herself on account of her mental incapacity or physical incapacity or death, a complaint can be filed by her legal heir.

• The definition of "aggrieved woman", who will get protection under the Act is extremely wide to cover all women, irrespective of her age or employment status, whether in the organised or unorganised sectors, public or private and covers clients, customers and domestic workers as well.

• While the "workplace" in the Vishaka Guidelines is confined to the traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee relationship, the Act goes much further to include organisations, department, office, branch unit etc. in the public and private sector, organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the employee during the course of employment including the transportation.

• The Committee is required to complete the inquiry within a time period of 90 days. • On completion of the inquiry, the report will be sent to the employer or the District Officer, as the

case may be, they are mandated to take action on the report within 60 days.


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• Every employer is required to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.

• The District Officer is required to constitute a Local Complaints Committee at each district, and if required at the block level.

• Penalties have been prescribed for employers. • Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act shall be punishable with a fine of up to 50,000. • Repeated violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of licence or registration to conduct

business. • As per the latest amendment to the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014, it is now mandatory to

disclose compliance under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act in the Annual Reports of Private companies.

• Significance of the move: o This is a major step towards making the workplace safe for the women in the private sector.

This will cast as ever higher responsibility on the Directors of the Companies for implementation of the Act.

What is the criticism regarding the Act? • It is based on the premise that only female employees needed to be safeguarded • The provision that employers are obligated to address grievances in a timely manner at the workplace

as problematic because of potentially uncooperative employees. • Furthermore, the law requires a third-party non-governmental organisation to be involved, which

could make employers less comfortable in reporting grievances, due to confidentiality concerns.

Child Care Institutions (CCIs) and Shelter Homes The Minister of Women & Child Development (MoWCD) chaired a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament attached to WCD Ministry regarding the status of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) and Shelter Homes in the country. What is Child Care Institution? • With growing urbanization and migration to big cities, the criminal gangs operating in these cities

use children as objects for committing crimes and sometime the children themselves are involved in the crimes.

• Therefore, the problem of repeat offenders is increasing in cities which require special attention of the State Governments and the care givers in the CCIs.

• The objective of dealing with such children under Juvenile Justice System should not be punishment as criminals, but to rehabilitate them by means of education or therapy to live a healthy and decent life.

• A child care institution as defined under the JJ Act,2015, means o Children Home, o Open Shelter, o Observation Home, o Special Home, o Place of Safety, o Specialised Adoption Agency and


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o A Fit Facility recognized under the Act for providing care and protection to children, who are in need of such services

• The Ministry of WCD has been relentlessly pursuing with the States/UT governments to ensure that CCIs adhere to standards of care as per the JJ Act, 2015.

• The Ministry also undertook a study of child care institutes (CCIs) in 2016 in partnership with Childline India and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

What was the result of the study? • They were able to map more than 9000 CCIs/Homes out of which only 32% (3071) were registered

under JJ Act. • In the light of the recent episodes pertaining to the CCIs, the WCD Ministry in collaboration with

NCPCR has also taken up a social audit of CCIs. • The Minister has proposed the setting up of a single large facility for women and children in each

State. • The move is in sync with objectives of the 3rd priority area under the National Plan of Action for

Children (NPAC), 2016 and will help to achieve many SDG goals.

What are the benefits of single large facility? • Ministry suggested that instead of spreading resources across various shelters, each State can set up

a single institution, which will serve as a shelter for women in difficult situations and as an observation home for juveniles.

• For long run solution to the problem of providing adequate care and protection to the children, it is important to have a large central facility for women and children in every State.

• The government will be able to run well designed programmes of skilling, trade, education etc in these homes.

What is the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights? • This is an Indian governmental commission, established by an Act of Parliament, the Commission

for Protection of Child Rights Act in December 2005. • A statutory body. • The commission works under the aegis of Min. of Women and Child development. • Its Mandate is "to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are

in consonance with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child."

• Child includes those up to the age of 18 years. What’s the National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC), 2016? • The National Plan of Action for Children, 2016 is based on the principles embedded in the National

Policy for Children 2013. • It addresses four key priority areas of child rights;

o Survival, health and nutrition; o Education and development; o Protection and


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o Participation • It takes a sustainable, multi-sectoral, integrated and inclusive approach and focuses on strengthening

the initiatives so that they are able to protect the rights of the children. • The plan also highlights new and emerging concerns for children such as online child abuse, children

affected by natural and man-made disasters and climate change, etc. What is a social audit? • Social audit is a way of measuring, understanding, reporting and ultimately improving an

organization's social and ethical performance • It is based on the principle that democratic governance should be carried out, as far as possible, with

the consent and understanding of all concerned. • It is thus a process and not an event.


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In this section, we will take the major schemes launched during the previous month. Schemes are arguably the most important attribute in

civil service preparations. They are useful in all three stages of the exam and hence it is important to know the aim, features and implementation agency of the scheme.

Scheme for Adolescent Girls Aim � SAG aims at empowering out of school adolescent girls of 11 to 14 years by

improving their nutritional and health status, upgrading their skills. How � The scheme is being implemented using the platform of Integrated child

Development Services Scheme. � Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) are the focal point for the delivery of the services.

Features � In addition to the nutritional support under the scheme, the girls are equipped with information on health, hygiene and guidance on existing public services.

� The Scheme aims to mainstream out of school girls into formal education or non-formal education.

� Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) is implemented in selected 508 districts across the country

� Scheme for Adolescent Girls is a centrally sponsored scheme, implemented through Centre and State share in the ratio of 50:50, for nutrition component 60:40 for the rest of the activities for State and UTs with legislation, 90:10 for NE and three Himalayan States and 100% for UTs without legislation.

� Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched the Phase -1 the beneficiary module of the Rapid Reporting System for the Scheme for Adolescent Girls which is a web based on line monitoring for the Scheme for Adolescent Girls.

� This Portal has been developed in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Implementation � By Ministry of Women and Child Development Bottom-line � The scheme aims at providing girls nutritional support, motivating out of

school girls to go back to formal schooling or skill training under its non-nutrition component.

National Child Labour Project Scheme

Aim

� NCLP aims to eliminate all forms of child labour with focus on All child workers below the age of 14 years in the identified target area, Adolescent workers below the age of 18 years in the target area engaged in hazardous occupations / processes and Families of Child workers in the identified target area

How

� NCLPS will be implemented in close coordination with State, District administration and Civil society

� Other stakeholders such as District Administrations, local communities, civil society groups, NGO‟s, academicians and enforcement agencies have an important role to play

Features � To eliminate all forms of child labour through � Identification and withdrawal of all children in the Project Area from child

labour,

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES


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� Preparing children withdrawn from work for mainstream education along with vocational training;

� Facilitating vocational training opportunities for such adolescents through existing scheme of skill developments1;

� Raising awareness amongst stakeholders and target communities, and orientation of NCLP and other functionaries on the issues of 'child labour' and 'employment of adolescent workers in hazardous occupations/processes'; and

� Creation of a Child Labour Monitoring, Tracking and Reporting System. � Elimination of Child Labour is joint responsibility of the Ministry of Labour

and Employment and the State Governments � The scheme seeks to not only set up the implementation structure but also

institutionalize monitoring and supervision for effective functioning of the scheme.

� To ensure effective enforcement of the provisions of the Child Labour Act and smooth implementation of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme a separate online portal PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) has been developed

� NCLPS is a central sector scheme where 100% of the funding is provided by the Government of India through the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

� Funds under the existing NCLP scheme are released by the Central Government directly to the registered NCLP District Project Society under the chairpersonship of the administrative head of the district namely District Magistrate/District Collector (DM/DC)/Deputy Commissioner of the district who is under administrative control of the State Govt.

Implementation � By Ministry of Labour & Employment Bottom-line � The overall approach of the project is to create an enabling environment in

the target area, where children are motivated and empowered through various measures to enrol in schools and refrain from working, and households are provided with alternatives to improve their income levels.

Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance(Drugs) Abuse

Aim � Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse aims for identification, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts through voluntary and other eligible organizations

How � Under this Scheme, financial assistance is provided to NGOs/Voluntary organizations and other eligible agencies for setting-up/running Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts (IRCAs).

Implementation � By Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Bottom-line � The scheme aim at helping drug addicts, including youths by providing

rehabilitation centres financial aid to provide addicts composite services. Thus, help them rehabilitate.

Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART) Aim � The scheme aim to cover a total of 16 sub-projects, which address ocean

development activities such as services, technology, resources, observations and science.


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How � The implementation of the scheme will help address issues related to Sustainable Development Goal-14, which emphasizes on the conservation of the oceans and marine resources.

� The scheme will also provide the required scientific and technological background for implementation of various aspects of the blue economy.

� The state-of-art early warning systems established under the scheme will help in effectively dealing with ocean disasters such as storm surges and tsunami.

� Besides, the technologies developed under the scheme will help in harnessing the vast ocean resources of both living and non-living resources from seas across India.

Features � It is an umbrella scheme � It is implemented during the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20. � The services provided under the O-SMART scheme will provide a number

of economic benefits to the user communities in the coastal areas including the coastal states and ocean sectors such as shipping, fisheries and offshore industry.

� Currently, five lakh fishermen community are receiving daily information through mobile phones about things like allocation of fish potential and local weather conditions in the coastal waters. The move will help in reducing the search time for fishermen, resulting in saving of fuel cost.

Implementation � By Ministry of Earth Sciences Bottom-line � India is aiming to create a blue economy for effective and efficient use of the

vast ocean resources in a sustainable way, which would require a great deal of information on ocean science, development of technology and providing services.

E-Pashudhan Haat Scheme

Aim � e-pashuhaat portal aims to connect breeders and farmers regarding availability of bovine germplasm.

How � Through the portal farmers can obtain information on location of quality indigenous germplasm in the form live animals, semen doses and embryos.

Features � The portal has been launched under the scheme "National Mission on Bovine Productivity."

� This portal is playing crucial role in development and conservation of indigenous breeds.

� No involvement of middlemen in sale and purchase of animals Implementation � By Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Bottom-line � This is a one-stop portal for bovine breeders for propagation of quality controlled germplasm and indigenous bovine breeds in the country. This will help in milk production and productivity.


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In this section, we shall present to you high resolution Maps of the places in news that are often asked in the Examination.

Moreover, Maps help in making sense of International Relations and Geographical aspects of the world.

MAPPING

South China Sea and

Disputed Areas

Founder Sumesh Chahal

Directors

Pratyush kumar Ratna, Abhinaw Singh, Pawan Dwivedi, Sharvam Dave

Concept and Design

Endow Digital Solutions

Contributors Vijay Singh, Vaibhav Mishra, Madhvi Shridhar,

Aakanksha Singh, Ayush Misra, Shwetanshu Mishra, Sapna Meena

Documents

CIVIL SERVICES MONTHLY · CIVIL SERVICES MONTHLY INTERNATIONAL India to remain fastest growing major economy till 2019-20 1 4th Asian Electoral Stakeholders Forum Held in Colombo,