Table of Contents · Mains Paper II) ..... 1 2. Simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Assembly: How idea came, what implementation will mean (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

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Table of Contents

Polity & Governance ......................................................................................................... 1

1. Allahabad High Court judge Narayan Shukla to be removed (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II) ...................................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Assembly: How idea came, what

implementation will mean (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains paper II) ................................... 2

3. Need for credible and institutionalized practices to resolve inter-State river disputes

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) .......................................................................................... 3

4. For a clean judiciary: the importance of in-house mechanisms (Relevant for GS Prelims) . 6

5. Need for to implement Ayushman Bharat scheme (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains

Paper II) .................................................................................................................................................................... 7

6. New Consumer Protection Bill (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) ........................... 8

7. Cabinet approves proposal for Amendment to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Development Act, 2006 to change the criteria of classification and to withdraw the

MSMED (Amendment) Bill, 2015 – pending in Lok Sabha (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS

mains Paper II) ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

8. Why Supreme Court action in Goa mining is nudge to honor rights to commons (Relevant

for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) ............................................................................................................. 10

9. Rafale deal controversy (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II and GS Prelims) .............................. 12

10. 701 Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) Established in the country (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II) ................................................................................................................................................... 14

11. States of health: On NITI Aayog s first Health Index (GS Mains Paper I, GS Mains Paper II)

................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

12. All about Shopian firing case (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II) ................................................... 17

13. I&B Ministry, Prasar Bharati in tussle over appointment of director (Relevant for GS

Mains Paper II) .................................................................................................................................................. 19

14. Directing reforms: on candidates disclosing sources of income (Relevant for GS Mains

Paper II) ............................................................................................................................................................... 20

15. Cabinet approves creation of Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) .......................................................................................................................... 21

16. AAP's relationship with the bureaucracy in Delhi (Relevant for GS mains Paper II) ......... 24

17. Broken promise , funds crunch: Why Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu is angry

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS mains Paper II) ....................................................................................... 25

18. In 3 cases on land acquisition before SC, vital questions of law and process (Relevant for

GS Prelims, GS mains Paper II) ................................................................................................................... 27

19. Opening up the coal sector to private players is a timely reform (Relevant for GS Prelims,

GS Mains Paper III) ........................................................................................................................................... 29

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20. Cauvery verdict may impact other disputes (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

................................................................................................................................................................................... 30

21. Centre may enact law against fugitives (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS mains Paper II) ...... 31

22. New bill seeks to give protection online and offline (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains

Paper II) ................................................................................................................................................................. 32

23. Why witness protection in required in India (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

................................................................................................................................................................................... 34

24. The Cauvery verdict: key questions answered (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II) .................. 36

International Organizations and Relations ......................................................... 40

1. Fishing in Sri Lankan waters is now costly for Indian fishermen (Relevant for GS prelims,

GS Mains paper II) ........................................................................................................................................................... 40

2. Present situation in Maldives (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) ........................... 41

3. Cabinet approves placing the new Instrument adopted by International Labour

Organization (ILO) Recommendation concerning The Employment and Decent Work

for Peace and Resilience (No.-205) before the Parliament (Relevant for GS Prelims and

GS Mains Paper II) ........................................................................................................................................... 43

4. India rejects Maldives offer (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II) ........................................................... 44

5. Modi in Ramallah today, to discuss peace process (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper II) ................................................................................................................................................................................ 45

6. Modi reiterates support for Palestine (GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) ................................... 46

7. Why are several T.N. fishermen in trouble with the Sri Lankan Navy? (Relevant for GS

Prelims and GS mains Paper II) ............................................................................................................................. 47

8. India gets access to strategic Oman port Duqm for military use, Chabahar-Gwadar in

sight (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) ................................................................................... 49

9. Rouhani visit signals balance in ties (Relevant for GS Prelims and mains Paper II) .......... 50

10. On Jacob Zuma resignation from South Africa Presidentship (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II) ................................................................................................................................................................. 51

11. World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2018) (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II) ................................................................................................................................................................. 53

12. Analysis of Iranian President visit to India (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 53

13. Saving lives: on mortality rate (GS Prelims & GS Mains Paper I) ..................................................... 55

14. U.S. tightens H-1B approval process, IT firms worried (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper II) ................................................................................................................................................................................. 57

15. Virtue of reticence: on Bipin Rawat s comment about illegal immigration in Northeast

(Relevant for GS Mains Paper III) .......................................................................................................................... 58

16. International Conference on Sustainable Biofuels, ICSB 2018 (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper III) ................................................................................................................................................................ 59







17. Third term for Xi (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II) ........................................................ 60

18. Mohamed Nasheed, a fight for democracy (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II) ....................... 61

19. Ramallah recall: On India s Palestine policy (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

................................................................................................................................................................................. 63

20. Why new Poland law reopens wounds of WWII (Relevant for GS mains Paper II) ............ 64

21. Jaspal Atwal, a Khalistan activist in Canadian PM delegation (Relevant for GS Mains

Paper II) .............................................................................................................................................................. 66

22. India s ranking in corruption perception index falls to 81(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II) ................................................................................................................................................................. 67

23. What s the mystery bug stalking the Winter Olympics in Korea? (Relevant for GS Prelims,

GS mains Paper III) ........................................................................................................................................ 68

24. India and Iran signed of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) ................................ 69

25. Alliance divided: on Sri Lankan politics (Read only for understanding) .................................... 70

26. Syrian regime offensive in Eastern Ghouta (Relevant for GS Prelims) .......................................... 71

27. Bank of Baroda s role in South Africa s Gupta scandal (Read only for understanding) .... 72

28. Understanding India s blacklist : What it is, who are included in it (GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper II) ............................................................................................................................................................... 73

Economics ......................................................................................................................... 75

1. GeM 3.0 launched (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ............................................... 75

2. Return of long term capital gains tax spooks Sensex (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains

Paper III) ............................................................................................................................................................. 75

3. Deciphering LTCG tax on equity (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains Paper III) .................... 76

4. Launch of Startupindia Ranking Framework (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper

III) ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 77

5. National Steel Policy (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains Paper III) ..................................... 78

6. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to enable Digital Payments in Post Offices by April

2018 (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ................................................................................. 79

7. The lowdown on the MSP roadmap (Relevant for GS Prelims and Mains Paper III) .......... 80

8. Why the fuss about fiscal deficit? (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ................. 82

9. Government of India makes Amendments in Small Savings Act (Relevant for GS Prelims,

GS Mains Paper II, GS Mains Paper III) .............................................................................................................. 83

10. Governance reforms and recognition of losses are a must to solve the bad loans crisis

(Relevant for GS Mains Paper III) ......................................................................................................................... 85

11. Inside the Punjab National Bank fraud: What an LoU is, how case may impact the bank

(Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains Paper III) ..................................................................................... 86

12. Gem of a scam: On PNB fraud (Relevant for GS Mains Paper III) .................................................... 88

13. Why is the price control of stents essential? (Relevant for GS Prelims II, GS Mains Paper

III) .......................................................................................................................................................................... 89

14. Revival of Industrial activity (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) .......................... 91







15. Punjab National Bank fraud: How the system was gamed (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper III)................................................................................................................................................ 93

16. Bank bureau stares at uncertain future (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) .. 96

17. Cloth, idea, brand: What is khadi, to whom does it belong? (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper III) ............................................................................................................................................................... 97

18. WhatsApp Payments: Who will pay and who will gain? (Relevant for GS Mains Paper III)

...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 99

19. Cabinet approves New Bill to ban Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Chit Funds

(Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) .................................. 100

20. Commercial coal mining opened for private sector (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper III) ........................................................................................................................................................................... 104

21. SWIFT and bank fraud (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains paper III) ............................ 107

Environment ................................................................................................................... 109

1. World Wetlands Day (Relevant for GS Prelims) .................................................................................... 109

2. All-India Tiger Estimation 2018 to be Hi-Tech, More Accurate and Precise (Relevant for

GS Mains Paper III) .................................................................................................................................... 110

3. India State of Forest Report 2017 Released (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper I

and III) ............................................................................................................................................................. 112

4. India records marginal increase in forest cover (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains

Paper III) ........................................................................................................................................................ 114

5. Why India doesn t lose forest cover (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ........ 116

6. India is Global Host for World Environment Day 2018 (Relevant for GS Prelims) ........ 120

7. Cabinet approves Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ................................................................................................................... 120

Science & Technology .................................................................................................. 123

1. Story of an extraordinary death: How MRI machines work, and can kill (in rare cases)

(Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ......................................................................................... 123

2. SpaceX Falcon Heavy: Everything you need to know (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper III) ......................................................................................................................................................................... 124

3. Construction of new PHWR (Relevant for GS Prelims) ...................................................................... 128

4. ISRO planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 mission around April this year (Relevant for

GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ........................................................................................................................ 128

5. All you need to know about Hyperloop (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) 130

6. Sophia, World's First Robot Citizen (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains paper III) ....... 131

7. Testing global broadband: Tintins in sky, scoping out a Net for all (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS mains Paper III) ............................................................................................................................... 132

8. What is pulse polio? (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III) ......................................... 133

9. Rustom-2 UAV (Relevant for GS prelims) .................................................................................................... 134







Social Issues ................................................................................................................... 136

1. When two people get into wedlock, no one should interfere, says Supreme Court

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper I) ............................................................................................ 136

2. WCD Ministry considering setting up National Women Entrepreneurship Council

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper I) ............................................................................................ 137

Miscellaneous ................................................................................................................ 138

1. Dinesh Srivastava is new NFC chief executive (Relevant for GS Prelims) ............................ 138

2. INS Karanj boosts Navy s firepower (Relevant for GS Prelims) ............................................... 138

3. Exam Warriors – book authored by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched

(Relevant for GS Prelims) ..................................................................................................................................... 139

4. India dominate in record fourth U-19 World Cup title (Relevant for GS prelims) .......... 140

5. CRISIL, SIDBI Launch India s First MSE Sentiment Index (Relevant for GS Prelims) ..... 140

6. SWAYAM PRABHA (Relevant for GS Prelims) ................................................................................. 140

7. National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (Relevant for GS Prelims) ........................... 141

8. Mission Indradhanush (Relevant for GS Prelims) .......................................................................... 141

9. Eliminating AIDS By 2030 (Relevant for GS Prelims) ......................................................................... 142

10. Border fencing status with Bangladesh (Relevant for GS Prelims) .......................................... 142

11. BARC technology to convert sewage into bio-fertilizer (Relevant for GS Prelims) ........ 143

12. States to use 5-10% of biomass pellets with coal for power generation in thermal power

plants (Relevant for GS Prelims) ....................................................................................................................... 143

13. Swachh Bharat Sanitation Park inaugurated in Delhi (Relevant for GS Prelims) ...... 143

14. More than 1700 SPECIAL JUVENILE POLICE UNITS (Relevant for GS Prelims) ............... 144

15. NITI Aayog s Health Index report (Relevant for GS Prelims).................................................... 144

16. Shri Nitin Gadkari releases India s first ever Highway Capacity Manual (Relevant for GS

Prelims) ............................................................................................................................................................................. 145

17. Asma Jehangir passed away (Relevant for GS Prelims) .................................................................... 145

18. National Productivity Council (Relevant for GS Prelims) ................................................................ 146

19. Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) outlets (Relevant

for GS Prelims) .............................................................................................................................................................. 147

20. Jammu Sunjwan Army camp attack (Read to understand) ............................................................ 148

21. Ministry of Railways Announces one of the World s Largest Recruitment Drive (Relevant

for GS Prelims) ............................................................................................................................................................. 148

22. Deadline to install GPS extended in Delhi (Relevant for GS Prelims) ........................................ 148

23. Cyril Ramaphosa- New President of South Africa (Relevant for GS prelims) ...................... 150

24. Rotomac owner defaulted repayment of over Rs 800 crore (Read only for

understanding) ............................................................................................................................................................ 151







25. Cabinet approves creation of National Urban Housing Fund (Relevant for GS Prelims) ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 152

26. SC against disclosure of IAS prelims marks (Read only for understanding) ........................ 152

27. PM Modi launches Amma two-wheeler scheme (Relevant for GS prelims) ........................... 153

28. Milan 2018 (Relevant for GS prelims) ........................................................................................................... 154

29. Former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian passed away (Relevant for GS prelims) ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 155

Culture ............................................................................................................................. 156

1. Indus script was written from right to left (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper I)

................................................................................................................................................................................................. 156

2. Mahamastakabhisheka Mahotsav 2018 of Bahubali Bhagwan (Relevant for GS Mains

Paper I and GS Prelims) ......................................................................................................................................... 157

Geography ...................................................................................................................... 158

1. Coming today: A super blue blood moon (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS mains Paper I) 158





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Polity and Governance

1. Allahabad High Court judge Narayan Shukla to be removed (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra recommended the removal of Justice Shri Narayan

Shukla, the eighth senior-most judge of the Allahabad High Court, following an adverse

report about him by an in-house panel. The panel had been set up by the CJI.

The CJI has set the process in motion with a letter to the Prime Minister for the

impeachment of the judge.

What is the procedure of removal of High Court judge?

When the removal motion is moved in Parliament, an investigation is conducted by a panel

constituted by CJI. If the findings of guilt are confirmed, the removal motion will be put to

vote for the removal of the judge by a special majority of both the houses of Parliament.

Suspension of judge

The move for a possible removal of Justice Shukla began with Allahabad High Chief Justice

D.B. Bhosale withdrawing judicial duties from him from January 23, 2018.

What are the charges against the judge?

His orders in the cases of blacklisted private medical colleges in Lucknow had come under

the scanner of the CJI Bench last year.

SC direction defied

Chief Justice Misra had expressed shock at an order passed by a Division Bench led by

Justice Shukla on September 1, 2017. allowing G.C.R.G. Memorial Trust, based in Lucknow,

in defiance of a graphically clear restraining direction from the Supreme Court on August

28 to stop admissions for the academic session 2017-18.

Corrections to order

The Supreme Court noted how Justice Shukla, on September 4, even made some

corrections to the September 1 order.

Justice Shukla was also heading the High Court Division Bench which passed an order on

August 25, 2017 in the case of another banned medical college of Lucknow-based Prasad

Education Trust, which led to a scandal that sent shock waves across the judiciary and

compelled the CJI to re-affirm his authority as the master of the roster.






2



Justice Shukla s Bench had, in an interim order, restrained the Medical Council of India

from de-listing Prasad Education Trust s medical college. This order is part of an FIR filed

by the CBI which alleges that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by officials of the Prasad

Education Trust along with several persons, including I.M. Quddusi, retired judge of the

Orissa High Court, to lift the ban on the college from admitting students for the couple of

years.

(Aadpted from the Hindu)

2. Simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Assembly: How idea came, what

implementation will mean (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains paper II)

When and how did the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body

polls come up?

The Election Commission had suggested as early as in 1983 that a system should be

evolved so that elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies could be held

simultaneously. The Justice B P Jeevan Reddy-headed Law Commission said in its 170th

Report in May 1999 that we must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok

Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once .

Official discussions among lawmakers began much later. In its December 2015 report on

Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to the House of People and State Legislative

Assemblies , the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law

and Justice recommended an alternative and practicable method of holding simultaneous

elections which involves holding of elections in two phases — halfway into the term of the

current Lok Sabha, i.e., in November 2016, for some Assemblies, and at the end, i.e., in June

2019, for the rest. The Committee suggested that elections to all state Assemblies whose

terms end prior to or after a time period of six months to one year from the appointed

election date can be clubbed together . It proposed that terms of current Assemblies be

curtailed or extended to align with the new simultaneous elections cycle, and presented the

proposal as a representative table in its report.

In his address to the joint session of Parliament last year, then President Pranab

Mukherjee, too, expressed concern over frequent elections. They put on hold development

programmes, disrupt normal public life, and impact essential services and burden human

resource with prolonged periods of election duty , Mukherjee said, and called for a

constructive debate on the issue.

How exactly will holding Lok Sabha and Assembly polls together help?

In a discussion paper titled Analysis of Simultaneous Elections: The What , Why , and

How , Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai of the NITI Aayog defined simultaneous elections as






3



structuring the Indian election cycle in a manner that elections to Lok Sabha and State

Assemblies are synchronised together .

Simultaneous elections were held in 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967. The cycle was

disrupted due to premature dissolution of Assemblies and, in 1970, Lok Sabha, too, was

dissolved early. The Standing Committee made the point that not having to hold frequent

elections was important for India… to compete with other nations in developmental agenda .

Those who are for the idea, say it will cut costs. The NITI Aayog paper said the Lok Sabha

elections of 2009 had cost the exchequer about Rs 1,115 crore, and the 2014 elections,

about Rs 3,870 crore. The total money spent on the elections, including spends by parties

and candidates, was several times more; the Centre for Media Studies estimated that an

undeclared Rs 30,000 crore was spent on the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The Election

Commission of India, on its part, has estimated the cost of holding simultaneous elections

to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies at Rs 4,500 crore.

There are other kinds of costs that elections impose. Prime Minister Narendra Modi

recently spoke about how frequent elections and campaigns hurt the federal structure as

leaders were forced to talk politically . Many have argued that election campaigns end up

sharpening faultlines of caste, religion and community across the country.

Also, the Model Code of Conduct puts on hold all development programmes.

Elections are huge disruptors of normal life — simultaneous elections would reduce

disturbance from political rallies, etc., the parliamentary panel argued. It would free up

large numbers of security personnel and other staff. The NITI Aayog discussion paper listed

the issues: Suspension of development programmes, welfare activities due to frequent

imposition of Model Code of Conduct, massive expenditures by government and various

stakeholders on frequent elections, black money, engagement of government personnel

and security forces for a prolonged period of time, perpetuation of caste, religion and

communal issues etc.

(Aadpted from the Hindu)

3. Need for credible and institutionalised practices to resolve inter-State river

disputes (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

SC : need of tribunal on Mahanadi river water dispute

Recently, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to constitute a tribunal within a month to

adjudicate the Mahanadi river water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh.






4



View of Centre

The Centre had resisted constituting a tribunal, instead advocating a political resolution

through talks. During the recent winter session of Parliament, the Union Road Transport

Minister Nitin Gadkari had even asked Odisha to engage with Chhattisgarh through his or

the Prime Minister s office.

View of Odisha

Odisha, however, insisted on a legal route. Why was the Centre unsuccessful in getting

Odisha to the table?

It is time we invest in right, credible and institutionalised practices for enabling inter-State

mediation, coordination and cooperation.

Political Reasons behind rising inter state water disputes

The parties in power in both States — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chhattisgarh and

the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha — will be fighting tough elections in 2018 and 2019.

As both have been in power for long, they will have to survive anti-incumbency. Both need

fresh grounds for political mobilisation, and the Mahanadi dispute is an enticing

opportunity. The governments cannot afford to be seen as compromising their respective

States interests in resolving the dispute. On the other hand, parties in opposition find it

rewarding to accuse the governments of compromising the States interests.

Can centre mediate?

The second is the political subjectivity of the contemporary Indian state. The mechanism of

the Centre s mediation before constituting a tribunal for adjudication — prescribed by the

current Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 — is outdated. This was conceived

when a single party dominated Indian politics, and the Centre could exercise power and

influence over States. The times are different now (though with a different kind of single-

party dominance). The Centre-States engagement has turned politically subjective with

polarised and assertive regional powers. The BJD is unlikely to trust a BJP-led Central

government s initiatives – irrespective of how sincere those efforts might be – with the

BJP s own government in Chhattisgarh. The challenge thus is securing credibility of

mediation practices — of institutionalising neutrality and objectivity.

Constitutional provisions and their evaluation

CONSTITUTIONAL MECHANISM TO RESOLVE INTERSTATE WATER DISPUTES

(ARTICLE 262)

Art. 262 of constitution provides for adjudication of interstate water disputes.

It makes two provisions:

1.Parliament by law provide for mechanism to adjudicate interstate water disputes.






5



2.Parliament may also provide that neither Supreme Court nor any other court exercises

jurisdiction over interstate water disputes.

First provision has been incorporated so that Parliament by law can provide for effective

mechanism for resolution of interstate water disputes. Such mechanism is expected to

resolve the disputes within a limited time frame.

Second provision bars interference of Judiciary because in case interstate water dispute are

taken up by regular courts, it may take long time to be resolved. The regular courts are

already overburdened. Thus, there is a need for dedicated mechanism to resolve the

interstate water disputes.

Under provision of Art. 262, Parliament has passed two laws:

1.River Boards Act, 1956: Provides for the establishment of river boards for the regulation

and development of interstate rivers and river valleys. A river board is established by the

Central Govern¬ment on the request of concerned states to advice the states.

2.Interstate water disputes act, 1956: Empowers the Central Government to set up an ad-

hoc tribunal for the adjudication of a dispute between two or more states in relation to the

waters of an interstate river. The decision of the tribunal would be binding and final.

Neither Supreme Court nor any other court has jurisdiction over water disputes referred to

such tribunals.

So far Central Government has constituted 8 interstate water dispute tribunals. However,

the mechanism of tribunal has largely failed to fulfill expected duties on the following

grounds:

1.Delay in providing decisions

-State Governments on account of political interests do not let tribunal members complete

their work.

-These tribunals are headed by retired Supreme Court judge. Sometimes these judges avoid

delivering unpopular judgements.

-State Governments often do not agree to decisions given by tribunal and on one pretext or

the other, approach the Supreme Court to resolve interstate water disputes.

2.Inadequacy related to structure

-Lack of infrastructure such as office space and staff with the tribunal.

-Lack of mechanism to enforce their decisions






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What needs to be done?

For better outcomes, it is imperative that we look for more credible forms of inter-State

engagement. This, however, has not been an explicit strategy in our policy-making.

Instead, inter-State cooperation has always been approached from the other direction —

by resolving disputes. Here is a telling contrast. The Act of 1956 for resolving disputes has

been amended at least a dozen times since its inception. But the River Boards Act, 1956,

drafted simultaneously for inter-State collaboration, has not been amended even once since

then

The drive for political resolution suggests a welcome realisation to push the envelope

beyond legal routes. But the practices need to be structured within the constitutional

realm. For example, the mediation practices may be structured under the Inter-State

Council, provided by the Constitution for the exclusive purpose of inter-State coordination.

This has to be, however, part of a larger ecosystem for enabling and nurturing inter-State

cooperation, which will involve policy reforms (such as revisiting River Boards Act). The

ecosystem has to enable not just inter-State dialogue for collaboration, but also other goals

of executing agreements and projects for river development, conservation and restoration.

(Adapted from the Hindu and background from PrepMate-Cengage Indian Polity

Book; Chapter 16, Page 231)

4. For a clean judiciary: the importance of in-house mechanisms (Relevant for GS

Prelims)

What has happened?

With an in-house committee concluding that a judge of the Allahabad High Court had

committed judicial impropriety serious enough to warrant his removal, the subject of

corruption in the higher judiciary is in the news. Justice Shri Narayan Shukla had come

under adverse notice before a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak

Misra last year.

The Bench had found he had violated a restraining order from the apex court by allowing

the GCRG Memorial Trust, Lucknow, to admit students. The Supreme Court observed that

the Bench headed by Justice Shukla had violated judicial propriety.

What was the in-house committee?

The CJI formed a three-member committee, comprising Chief Justices Indira Banerjee of the

Madras High Court and S.K. Agnihotri of the Sikkim High Court and Justice P.K. Jaiswal of

the Madhya Pradesh High Court, to examine his conduct. The committee has now found

substance in the allegations and that the judge had deviated from the values of judicial

life . It is unfortunate that Justice Shukla has not tendered his resignation or sought






7



retirement, the options available to him to avoid the ignominy of impeachment in

Parliament. His position has paved the way for the CJI to recommend his removal.

The allegations against him appear to correspond to the claims in a first information report

registered by the CBI against another medical college trust and alleged middlemen,

including a retired judge of the Orissa High Court, that there was a plot to influence public

servants to obtain favourable orders. The allegation had set off a storm in the judiciary, as

some orders related to medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh were also passed by Supreme

Court Benches headed by Chief Justice Misra himself.

Need for internal mechanism

The process of removing a judge is too elaborate and somewhat cumbersome. However, an

in-house finding may help hasten it in flagrant cases. The possibility of getting a motion

passed in Parliament is brighter, and the charge of the process being misused for partisan

ends is reduced. The removal of a serving judge is undoubtedly a sad development, but one

that the institution should not fight shy of in appropriate cases. That internal mechanisms

work with due regard for institutional integrity is something that should be welcomed.

Constitutional Provisions for removing a High Court judge

A judge of the High Court can be removed by the order of President, only on address by

both the houses of the Parliament supported by majority of two-third of the members

present and voting and not less than the majority of the total strength of the house on the

grounds of proven misbehavior or incapacity.

The motion on removal can only be undertaken once the judicial inquiry constituted by

Supreme Court holds the judge guilty.

Further the whole procedure of removal shall be completed in a single session. The

condition of single session is laid down because during pendency of removal proceedings,

the judge under question cannot function. As a result, the delay in removal proceedings

hampers functioning of Judiciary. Further, the pendency of proceedings may be used to

influence judges.

(Adapted from the Hindu & background from PrepMate- Cengage Polity Book;

Chapter 9, Page 181)

5. Need for to implement Ayushman Bharat scheme Sensex (Relevant for GS prelims,

GS Mains Paper II)

Past failure of government

The NDA government lost precious time in its first three years in initiating a health scheme

that serves the twin purposes of achieving universal coverage and saving people from high






8



health care costs. It announced two years ago in the Budget a health protection scheme

offering a cover of Rs. 1 lakh per family, but ultimately that did not extend beyond Rs.

30,000.

Ayushman Bharat schemeFresh hopes have been raised with the announcement of

Ayushman Bharat in Budget 2018. The plan has the components of opening health centres

for diagnostics, care and distribution of essential drugs as envisaged in the National Health

Policy, and a National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) to provide a cover of up to Rs. 5

lakh each for 10 crore poor and vulnerable families for hospitalisation.

Challenges

These are challenging goals, given the fragmented nature of India s health system. Some

States already purchase health cover for the poor, but do not regulate private secondary

and tertiary care services or treatment costs. The task before the Centre, which has

provided Rs. 3,200 crore for the programme areas, is to now draw up an implementation

roadmap.

(Adapted from the Hindu)

6. New Consumer Protection Bill (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

The Government introduced new Consumer Protection Bill, 2018 in the Lok Sabha. The

salient features of the bill include

1.establishment of an executive agency to be known as the Central Consumer Protection

Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of the consumers and will be

empowered to investigate, recall, refund and impose penalties;

2.provision for product liability action in cases of personal injury, death, or property

damage caused by or resulting from any product;

3.provision for mediation as an Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) making the process of

dispute adjudication simpler and quicker and simplification of the process of adjudication

by the Consumer Fora.

4.Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) will also deal with unfair trade practices

and misleading advertisements. The provisions of the Bill will cover the whole country.

(Adapted from pib)

7. Cabinet approves proposal for Amendment to the Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprises Development Act, 2006 to change the criteria of classification and to






9



withdraw the MSMED (Amendment) Bill, 2015 – pending in Lok Sabha (Relevant for

GS Prelims and GS mains Paper II)

The Union Cabinet has approved change in the basis of classifying Micro, Small and Medium

enterprises from investment in plant & machinery/equipment to annual turnover .

This will encourage ease of doing business, make the norms of classification growth

oriented and align them to the new tax regime revolving around GST (Goods & Services

Tax).

Change in law required

Section 7 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006

will accordingly be amended to define units producing goods and rendering services in

terms of annual turnover as follows:

-A micro enterprise will be defined as a unit where the annual turnover does not exceed

five crore rupees;

-A small enterprise will be defined as a unit where the annual turnover is more than five

crore rupees but does not exceed Rs. 75 crore;

-A medium enterprise will be defined as a unit where the annual turnover is more than

seventy-five crore rupees but does not exceed Rs. 250 crore.

-Additionally, the Central Government may, by notification, vary turnover limits, which

shall not exceed thrice the limits specified in Section 7 of the MSMED Act.

Present criteria

At present the MSMED Act (Section 7) classifies the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSMEs) on the basis of investment in plant and machinery for manufacturing units, and

investment in equipment for service enterprises. The criterion of investment in plant and

machinery stipulates self-declaration which in turn entails verification if deemed necessary

and leads to transaction costs.

Why turnover is a better criterion?

Taking turnover as a criterion can be pegged with reliable figures available e.g. in GST

Network and other methods of ascertaining which will help in having a non-discretionary,

transparent and objective criteria and will eliminate the need for inspections, make the

classification system progressive and evolutionary, help in overcoming the uncertainties

associated with the classification based on investment in plant & machinery/equipment

and employment, and improve the ease of doing business.






10



In addition, the amendment will provide flexibility to the Government to fine-tune the

classification of MSMEs in response to changing economic scenario without resorting to the

amendment of MSMED (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development) Act.

The change in the norms of classification will enhance the ease of doing business. The

consequent growth and will pave the way for increased direct and indirect employment in

the MSME sector of the country.

(Adapted from PIB)

8. Why Supreme Court action in Goa mining is nudge to honor rights to commons

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

Decision of SC

The Supreme Court quashed all iron ore mining leases in Goa, two days before the deadline

for public feedback to the draft National Mineral Policy (NMP) 2018. The court had

mandated the NMP last September, saying the older, 2008 policy was not being enforced

perhaps due to the involvement of very powerful vested interests or a failure of nerve .

Earlier order of SC

Back in October 2012, the top court had suspended iron ore mining and transportation in

Goa, following the report of the Justice M B Shah Commission on illegal mining. In April that

year, the court had ordered a 10% levy on the sale value of ore to set up a Goa Permanent

Fund (GPF) for protection of intergenerational equity — the idea that human beings hold

the natural and cultural environment of the Earth in common both with other members of

the present generation and with other generations, past and future .

So, when the SC directed the Centre to revise NMP 2008, it was looking for a fresh, more

effective, meaningful and implementable policy to fight corruption, protect the

environment, and safeguard intergenerational equity.

What draft says?

The draft NMP 2018, made public on January 10, calls for a long term export policy for the

mineral sector to bring stability and incentivise investments in largescale commercial

mining , and proposes to offer mineral exploration companies the right of first refusal

when mines explored by them are auctioned.

What draft doesn t say?

But there is not much in line with global best practices such as the Extractive Industries

Transparency Initiative (EITI), whistleblower protection, Wealth Accounting and the






11



Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES), etc., to ensure transparency and counter the

very powerful vested interests flagged by the SC.

The draft also does not spell out the strategy to protect Inter-generational Equity, a

doctrine that the Economic Survey 2016-17 has acknowledged while referring to the apex

court s orders.

This, despite an initial draft of the new NMP prepared in October 2017 for internal

discussion having noted that the full value of the minerals must be received… [and] a portion of the proceeds… should be deposited in new, non-depleting assets and any

income generated must only be shared equally with all as a right ownership, a commons

dividend .

The miners objections

Mining companies including Vedanta and Fomento have challenged the creation of the GPF,

arguing that with the District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) aimed at intergenerational

equity and livelihood support for families affected by mining already in place, the GPF

amounted to a double levy.

The Centre had ordered the setting up of DMFs in mining-affected districts in September

2015 to fund the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana. Contributions were fixed at

10% of royalty for leases granted on or after January 12, 2015, and 30% for older leases. By

December 2017, over Rs 14,600 crore had been collected under 337 DMFs in 12 mineral-

rich states, and were being used to supply drinking water, control pollution, healthcare,

education, sanitation, welfare of vulnerable sections, and skill development, etc.

The SC is yet to decide on the miners plea.

The global benchmarks

The global experience underlines the benefit of inheritance ; the Economic Survey 2016-

17 noted that Norway and 50 other countries/sub-nations have created permanent funds

based on extracting economic rent from oil and other natural resources. Set up in 1990,

Norway s Oil Fund is now the world s largest sovereign wealth fund, worth more than $ 1

trillion — over 1.5 times the country s GDP. In September 2017, it guaranteed $ 192,307

(over Rs 1.2 crore) to every Norwegian citizen.

In North America, Alberta and Alaska set up Oil Funds in the mid-1970s. But unlike Norway

that put its entire oil and gas revenue in the permanent fund, Alberta and Alaska used the

bulk of revenues to cut or abolish taxes, and allocated only a fraction to their Funds.

Chile set up its Copper Stabilisation Fund in 1985. During the 1997-98 financial crisis, it

channelled $ 200 million from the Fund to the national economy.






12



Botswana established the Pula Fund in 1994 to save part of the income from diamond

exports for future generations. In 2008, Mongolia created a Human Development Fund,

making every citizen eligible to own an equal share of the national mineral wealth.

The fundamentals of intergenerational equity demand some nonnegotiable principles:

zero-waste and zero-loss mining, judicious capping, conserving reserves, minimum

environmental damage under the polluter-pays principle, free informed consent of the

mining-affected, funds for future and, most importantly, transparency.

(Adapted from the Indian express)

9. Rafale deal controversy (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II and GS Prelims)

What is the Rafale controversy about?

The Opposition parties have alleged that the NDA government bought 36 Rafale fighter

aircraft, built by Dassault Aviation of France, under a direct government-to-government

agreement at a much higher price than the one that was being negotiated for 126 aircraft

by the previous UPA government under an open tender.

India s intention to buy the 36 aircraft in fly-away condition was announced by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France in April 2015 and, a few days later, then

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had announced that the earlier 126-fighter deal —

stalled over price since 2012 — was dead. The deal for the 36 aircraft — a new acquisition — was signed by Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on September 23,

2016.

The IAF had issued a tender for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in 2007,

and at the end of a stringent selection process in 2012, Rafale fighters were chosen.

The Opposition has also alleged that the deal for the 36 aircraft does not include transfer of

technology, whereas, in the older proposal, 108 of the 126 fighters were to be assembled by

the Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The current deal, however, has a

50% offset component — Dassault has agreed to manufacture items worth 50% of the deal

in India. But the Opposition alleges that the discharge of offsets has been done to favour a

particular private Indian defence company.

What has recently happened?

The controversy sharpened after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declined to share

the cost of the Rafale fighters under the new deal with Rajya Sabha. In her answer, she said

that As per Article 10 of the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between the

Government of India and the Government of France on purchase of Rafale aircraft, the






13



protection of the classified information and material exchanged under IGA is governed by

the provisions of the Security Agreement signed between the two nations in 2008.

But hasn t the government shared the price earlier with Parliament?

Yes, it has. On November 18, 2016, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told Lok

Sabha in a written reply that the cost of each Rafale aircraft is around Rs 670 crore .

This is the basic price of each of the 36 fighters, without any add-ons or weapons systems.

At the time of its signing two months earlier, the 36-aircraft deal was said to be worth

around Rs 59,000 crore. The Defence Ministry said in a statement that in not revealing the

item-wise details of the contract, the Government is merely following in letter and spirit the

confidentiality provisions of a bilateral India-France Agreement of 2008 signed by the

previous Government .

PM Modi Didn t Say A Word On Rafale Deal In His One-Hour Speech In LS : Rahul Gandhi

And what exactly does the 2008 Agreement say?

Article 11(3) of the Agreement between The Government of the Republic of India and The

Government of the French Republic concerning the Protection of Classified Information and

Material in the field of Defence , signed in New Delhi on January 25, 2008, states: For any

contract or sub-contracting contract that includes classified information and material, a

security annex shall be drawn up. In this annex, the competent security authority from the

Party forwarding the information or the material, shall specify what has to be protected by

the Receiving Party, as well as the corresponding classification level, applicable to it.

Article 18(3) of the Agreement, however, stipulates that This Agreement shall remain in

force for a period of 10 years. It shall be renewed by tacit consent for new 5-year period

unless one of the Parties notifies the other Party of its intention not to renew it in writing 6

months prior to the end of its current period of validity.

The initial 10-year life of the Agreement ended on January 24 this year. It is not clear if it

has been renewed by tacit consent by the government.

So, are no item-wise details of the contract available at all?

Immediately after the signing in September 2016, top Defence Ministry officials had given a

break-up of the € . billion approximately Rs , cr deal: the basic cost of the aircraft was € . billion approximately Rs crore per aircraft , the weaponry was for € million, spare parts for € , million, weather and terrain compatibility fits for € , million, and performance based logistics support for € million.






14



OK, what was the price that the previous government had negotiated of each Rafale

aircraft?

No official figure was ever given. The price for 126 aircraft that was quoted nearly a decade

ago, was never finalised, and no contract was signed or executed. No details of what was

included in the per-aircraft price quoted in the aborted deal are known.

Is it possible to make a comparison of the prices, then?

Not with any accuracy. Some sort of assessment of whether the current price is reasonable,

can be made if the benchmark price decided upon by the Defence Ministry s Contract

Negotiation Committees (CNC) for the two cases are made public. Before a company s

commercial offer is opened, a benchmark price is fixed to assess the reasonableness of the

price quoted by the company. On its part, the Ministry has declared that the deal secured

by the (current) Government is better in terms of capability, price, equipment, delivery,

maintenance, training, etc . This was also the line that Defence Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman took in her press briefing last November, during which she said the Ministry

would provide comparative prices.

And has it been the practice generally to share the cost of defence deals with

Parliament?

In several cases, costs have been shared; in others, those details have been kept secret for

reasons of national security. But the government is duty-bound to share the full pricing

details with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Public Accounts

Committee (PAC) of Parliament.


10. 701 Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) Established in the country (Relevant for GS


There are 701 Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in the country which are supported under the

Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of the Ministry of Women and Child

Development.

The primary responsibility of setting up the JJBs vests with the State Governments/UT

Administrations concerned. Section 4 (1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of

Children) Act, 2015, provides that the State Government shall constitute for every district

one or more JJBs for exercising the powers and discharging its functions relating to

children in conflict with law and this is an ongoing process.

What are Juvenile Justice Board?






15



The JJ Act 2015 creates different authorities from regular courts that control how children

interact with the law. The Juvenile Justice Board or JJB is the authority that deals with

Children in Conflict with Law (a child offender).

Typically, each district would have a juvenile justice board that would deal with affairs

pertaining to that area.

1.Who comprises of a JJB?

The JJB must have three members:

1. A Principle Magistrate – this must be a Metropolitan Magistrate / Judicial Magistrate

First Class with at least three years experience;

2. A female social worker having qualifications specified under the Rules;

3.A social worker (whether male or female) having qualifications specified under the

Rules;

Social workers must have a track-record of experience in health, education or welfare

activities pertaining to children for at least seven years, or be practising professionals with

degrees in child psychology, psychiatry, sociology or law. Those having clear black-marks

in their record (dismissal from service / offence against children) cannot considered for

positions on the JJB.

If there is any difference of opinion between them, the majority view prevails. But, if there

is no majority, then the views of the Principal Magistrate take precedence.

2.Can the JJB function without all members present?

Yes, and orders passed by the JJB are not invalid only because one member was absent.

In fact, a child in conflict with law can even be produced before an individual member when

the JJB is not sitting (for instance, on a Sunday).

There are some areas when a minimum number of members must be present. For finally

deciding a case, or deciding that a child should be tried by regular courts, at least 2

members must be present.

3.What are the powers of a JJB?

The JJB has all powers of a normal magistrate court. In addition to this, there are several

functions and responsibilities that the JJB is conferred with.

These are aimed towards making the proceedings least intimidating and as child-friendly

as possible. So, the JJB works to ensure informed consent and participation of the child and






16



family at each stage. It has an interpreter or translator, and assured legal aid for children in

need.

The other set of functions are aimed to ensure the protection of children. The JJB can

conduct jail visits to check if children are accidentally lodged there. It must inspect the

facilities for children at least once a month to check on their upkeep. Similarly to the

magistrate, the JJB can also order the lodging of an FIR for offences committed against

children.

(Adapted from PIB and http://nyaaya.in)

11. States of health: On NITI Aayog s first Health Index (GS Mains Paper I, GS Mains

Paper II)

Factors responsible for health care

Unsurprisingly, States with a record of investment in literacy, nutrition and primary health

care have achieved high scores in NITI Aayog s first Health Index. Kerala, Punjab, and Tamil

Nadu are the best-performing large States, while Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Odisha

and Madhya Pradesh bring up the rear.

Administrative mechanism for health care

Health-care delivery is the responsibility of States; the Centre provides financial and policy

support. Being able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals over the coming decade

depends crucially on the States performance. Yet, health care is not a mainstream political

issue in India, and hardly influences electoral results.

What is the purpose of launching index?

The Index, with all its limitations given uneven data availability, hopes to make a difference

here by encouraging a competitive approach for potentially better outcomes.

For instance, with political will, it should be possible for Odisha to bring down its neonatal

mortality rate, estimated to be the highest at 35 per thousand live births — worse than

Uttar Pradesh. A dozen States with shameful under-five mortality rates of over 35 per

1,000 live births may feel the need for remedial programmes.

What the Index shows for the better-performing States such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu is

that their continuous improvements have, overall, left little room to notch up high

incremental scores, but intra-State inequalities need to be addressed.

Factors considered by Index

Coming soon after the announcement of a National Health Protection Scheme in the Union

Budget, the Index uses metrics such as institutional deliveries, systematic reporting of






17



tuberculosis, access to drugs for people with HIV/AIDS, immunisation levels and out-of-

pocket expenditure. The twin imperatives are to improve access to facilities and treatments

on these and other parameters, and raise the quality of data, including from the private

sector, to enable rigorous assessments.


Both the Centre and the States have the responsibility to scale up their investment on

health as a percentage of their budgets, to be more ambitious in interventions. While the

NHPS may be able to address some of the financial risk associated with ill-health, it will

take systematic improvements to preventive and primary care to achieve higher scores in

the Index. As the experience from countries in the West and now even other developing

economies shows, socialisation of medicine with a reliance on taxation to fund basic

programmes is the bedrock of a good health system. If the NITI Aayog Health Index leads to

a mainstreaming of health on these lines, that would be a positive outcome.

(Adapted from The Hindu)

12. All about Shopian firing case (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II)

The Supreme Court directed that no coercive steps shall be taken against Maj Aditya

Kumar, named by Jammu & Kashmir Police in an FIR registered in connection with the

deaths of three civilians after troops of 10 Garhwal Rifles fired on protesters in Shopian on

January 27. The court gave the J&K government two weeks to reply to a petition filed by

Maj Kumar s father, Lt Col Karamveer Singh, a serving Army officer, seeking quashing of the

FIR. Lt Col Singh has alleged that …the manner in which the lodging of the FIR has been portrayed… by the political leadership… of the state, reflects the extremely hostile atmosphere in the state , and underlined that police had targeted a serving Army officer

(who) was performing his bona fide duties… .

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has defended the FIR, while the BJP, a coalition partner of

the PDP, has demanded that it be withdrawn. However, their public disagreement is

possibly intended primarily for their respective constituencies.

For, even if a police investigation indicts Maj Kumar and his men, the case cannot move

forward in a civilian court unless the Ministry of Defence gives sanction for prosecution.

And in nearly three decades of the militancy in J&K, this has never happened.

Immunity under AFSPA

The filing of an FIR by J&K Police against the Army, paramilitary forces, or even its own

men for alleged abuse of power is not unusual. But the Army and paramilitary forces, while

operating in disturbed areas, are protected by provisions of the Armed Forces Special

Powers Act (AFSPA), under which bona fide mistakes committed while acting in good






18



faith do not attract prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding… except with the previous sanction of the Central Government (which means the Defence Ministry in the case of the

Army, and Home Ministry in case of paramilitary forces).

The Army has invoked AFSPA even where police investigations have established that the

alleged violations were not committed in the line of duty — for example, in cases of rape,

custodial killings, and fake or staged encounters (Machil, 2010; Ganderbal, 2007; Pathribal,

2000). Last month, the government told Rajya Sabha that between 2001 and 2016, the

Defence Ministry received 50 requests for sanction for prosecution from the J&K

government — sanction was denied in 47, while three cases were pending. Seventeen of

the 50 cases were related to alleged killings of civilians, 16 to custodial deaths, eight to

custodial disappearances, four to rapes and molestation.

Allegations of rape

Rape does not fall in the category of bona fide mistake during an operation; however, the

Defence Ministry hasn t allowed prosecution in civilian courts in these cases.

On January 3, 1997, soldiers allegedly led by Maj Arora of 5 Rashtriya Rifles entered a home

in Manzgam, Kokernag, where a 60-year-old man, his two daughters and a grandson were

present. The soldiers allegedly picked up the man, who remains untraced.

The police registered a case of rape, and the government sought the Defence Ministry s

sanction to prosecute the officer. On June 5, 2009, the Ministry told the High Court that the

request was under consideration in Army Headquarters/Ministry of Defence . On January

10, 2012, in response to an RTI query, the Ministry said permission was denied on April 21,

2007. There were a number of inconsistencies in the statements of witnesses… The lady was forced to lodge a false allegation by anti-national elements, it said.

On December 5, 1999, soldiers led by Maj Aman Yadav of 28 Rashtriya Rifles, and counter-

insurgents raided a house in Rafiabad. On January 4, 2000, an FIR was lodged, accusing the

officer of rape. On September 23, 2010, the Ministry refused sanction for prosecution,

saying the allegations were baseless and framed with mala fide intentions to put Army on

the defensive .

Former JK CM Demands SIT Over Shopian Firing Incident

Cases of Court Martial

In some cases, the Ministry denied permission for prosecution in a civilian court, but the

Army conducted Court Martial proceedings.On May 15, 1994, Rashtriya Rifles men

allegedly gangraped a housewife in Qazigund. Responding to an RTI application, the J&K

Home Department said it had sought sanction for prosecution on January 23, 2006. In a

2009 affidavit in the High Court, the Defence Ministry said the state government had been






19



informed that both accused, Nk Harbhajan Singh and Rfn Gurtej Singh, had been tried by a

summary General Court Martial for rape, and sentenced to 10 years rigorous

imprisonment and sacked from service. A retrial for the same offence will be in

contravention to Article 20 (2) of the Constitution, it said.

On November 6, 2004, troops of 30 RR raided the home of a horsecart driver in Handwara.

Police registered a case of rape, but the Army invoked AFSPA and ordered its own probe. A

General Court Martial absolved the accused officer, Maj Rehman Hussain, of the charge of

rape, but found him guilty of using criminal force with the intent of outraging the

modesty of a 10-year-old girl. The officer was dismissed; he challenged the dismissal in

court and returned to service.

On February 14, 2000, Capt Ravinder Singh Tewatia and an SPO allegedly raped a mother

and daughter in Nowgam. The Court Martial found him guilty of rape, sentenced him to

seven years in jail, and dismissed him from service. On December 31, 2002, the High Court

set aside the Court Martial ruling. The state government did not challenge the order.

Policemen convicted

In several cases, courts have convicted police officers involved in fake encounters carried

out jointly by the police and Army, while the soldiers couldn t even be questioned due to

AFSPA.

In 2007, legal proceedings were initiated in a series of alleged fake encounters carried out

by joint parties of the Army and police — four cases were registered in Srinagar district,

one at Sumbal in North Kashmir. In each case, an alleged foreign terrorist — whom

investigations later showed to be an innocent villager — was killed in a remote area in

Ganderbal or Kangan. Police arrested an SSP, a DSP, an ASI, four constables, and a driver for

the fake encounters. However, no action could be taken against a Colonel, two Majors, a JCO

and several other soldiers whom the police investigation indicted.

In the Pathribal fake encounter case, where five villagers were killed and shown as

Pakistani militants in March 2000, the CBI charged five Army officials with abduction,

murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence. The Army invoked AFSPA and

questioned the CBI s authority to investigate them. After a long legal battle, the Supreme

Court asked the Army to choose between prosecution in a criminal court or Court Martial.

The Army chose the latter, which found no evidence to prosecute the officers.

On April 29, 2010, the Army claimed to have killed three infiltrating militants on the LoC in

Machil, Kupwara. A J&K Police investigation showed civilians had been killed in a fake

encounter for cash awards. The Army invoked AFSPA, and a Court Martial in 2014






20



sentenced six accused, including a Colonel and a Captain, to life imprisonment. In July 2017,

the Armed Forces Tribunal suspended the sentence.


13. I&B Ministry, Prasar Bharati in tussle over appointment of director (Relevant for

GS Mains Paper II)

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) and the board of Prasar Bharati are at

loggerheads over the appointment of a director in the governing board.

View of Prasar Bharati

Sources aware of the development said that discontent is brewing at the top level of Prasar

Bharati over a ministry instruction to appoint a serving IAS officer as Member (Personnel)

of Prasar Bharati. Member (personnel) is responsible for all human resources and

administrative decisions of the body and has a representation on the board. The

controversy stems from the fact that Prasar Bharati Act 1990 doesn t allow a serving

bureaucrat to be appointed permanently in core management positions which are CEO,

Member (finance) and Member (personnel) and are full-time positions.

View of I & B Ministry

The I&B Ministry wants to make an exception to it. According to agenda of the meeting, the

Ministry wants an IAS to take charge in order to solve issues like pay fixation, seniority,

promotions, disciplinary proceedings and legal cases. Based on suggestion of manpower

audit, some tough decisions may have to be taken in Prasar Bharati. An IAS officer could be

an asset in such circumstances. It is proposed that for at least one term the post of Member

(Personnel) be filled up by an IAS officer keeping the relevant recruitment provision in

abeyance, says the agenda of board meeting, which will be held on Thursday.

About Prasar Bharati

Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body established under the Prasar Bharati Act

and came into existence on 23.11.1997. It is the Public Service Broadcaster of the country.

The objectives of public service broadcasting are achieved in terms of Prasar Bharati Act

through All India Radio and Doordarshan, which earlier were working as media units

under the Ministry of I&B and since the above said date became constituents of Prasar

Bharati.

Composition of Prasar Bharati

The Prasar Bharati board comprises a chairman, an executive member (CEO), a member

(finance), a member (personnel), and six part-time members, a representative of the






21



Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the director generals of All India Radio and

Doordarshan as ex-officio members.

(Adapted from Business Standard)

14. Directing reforms: on candidates disclosing sources of income (Relevant for GS

Mains Paper II)

Addition disclosure norm on contesting candidates

Adding to the growing body of judicially inspired electoral reforms, the Supreme Court has

imposed an additional disclosure norm for candidates contesting elections.

1. It has asked the Centre to amend the rules as well as the disclosure form filed by

candidates along with their nomination papers, to include the sources of their income, and

those of their spouses and dependants.

2.The court has also asked for the establishment of a permanent mechanism to investigate

any unexplained or disproportionate increase in the assets of legislators during their

tenure.

Other Supreme Court verdicts to improve transparency in elections

The verdict of the two-judge Bench on a petition from the NGO, Lok Prahari, is one more in

a long line of significant verdicts aimed at preserving the purity of the electoral process.

These include the direction to provide the NOTA option in voting machines, and another

striking down a clause that saved sitting legislators from immediate disqualification upon

conviction.

It has ruled that the act of voting is an expression of free speech, and that it is part of this

fundamental right that voters are required to be informed of all relevant details about a

contestant.

This led to the rule that candidates should furnish details of any criminal antecedents,

educational qualifications and assets.

Sources of income is based on declaration of assets

If disclosure of assets is mandatory, it is only logical that the sources of income are also

revealed.

And as it is often seen that there is a dramatic increase in the assets of candidates at every

election over what was disclosed in previous affidavits, it stands to reason that any rise

should be explained or probed.






22



Consequences on non-disclosure

To give teeth to its order, the court has made it clear that non-disclosure of assets and their

sources would amount to a corrupt practice under Section 123 of the Representation of

the People Act, 1951.

Not clear, which authority will implement?

The idea of a permanent mechanism to collect data about the assets of legislators and

periodically examine them is laudable, but it is not clear which authority will run it. The

court envisions a body that would make recommendations for prosecution or

disqualification based on its own findings. The Centre and the Election Commission will

have to jointly address the issue. The larger message from the verdict is that a fully

informed electorate and transparent candidature will be key components of future

elections in India.


15. Cabinet approves creation of Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal (Relevant for GS


Constitution of Tribunal

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for adjudication of dispute on Mahanadi

River Waters. The Tribunal shall determine water sharing among basin States on the basis

of the overall availability of water in the complete Mahanadi basin, contribution of each

State, the present utilization of water resources in each State and the potential for future

development.

Created under Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956

As per provisions of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956, the Tribunal

shall consist of a Chairman and two other Members nominated by the Chief Justice of India

from amongst the Judges of the Supreme Court or High Court. Further, services of two

Assessors who are water resources experts having experience in handling sensitive water-

related issues will be provided to advise the Tribunal in its proceedings.

As per provisions of the ISRWD Act, 1956 the Tribunal is required to submit its report and

decision within a period of 3 years which can be extended to a further period not exceeding

2 years due to unavoidable reasons.

It is expected that with adjudication of dispute by the Tribunal, the long-pending dispute

between States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi river will come to a final

settlement.






23



Background

SC : need of tribunal on Mahanadi river water dispute

Recently, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to constitute a tribunal within a month to

adjudicate the Mahanadi river water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

View of Centre

The Centre had resisted constituting a tribunal, instead advocating a political resolution

through talks. During the recent winter session of Parliament, the Union Road Transport

Minister Nitin Gadkari had even asked Odisha to engage with Chhattisgarh through his or

the Prime Minister s office.

View of Odisha

Odisha, however, insisted on a legal route. Why was the Centre unsuccessful in getting

Odisha to the table?

It is time we invest in right, credible and institutionalised practices for enabling inter-State

mediation, coordination and cooperation.

CONSTITUTIONAL MECHANISM TO RESOLVE INTERSTATE WATER DISPUTES

(ARTICLE 262)

Art. 262 of constitution provides for adjudication of interstate water disputes.

It makes two provisions:

1.Parliament by law provide for mechanism to adjudicate interstate water disputes.

2.Parliament may also provide that neither Supreme Court nor any other court exercises

jurisdiction over interstate water disputes.

First provision has been incorporated so that Parliament by law can provide for effective

mechanism for resolution of interstate water disputes. Such mechanism is expected to

resolve the disputes within a limited time frame.

Second provision bars interference of Judiciary because in case interstate water dispute are

taken up by regular courts, it may take long time to be resolved. The regular courts are

already overburdened. Thus, there is a need for dedicated mechanism to resolve the

interstate water disputes.

Under provision of Art. 262, Parliament has passed two laws:






24



1.River Boards Act, 1956: Provides for the establishment of river boards for the regulation

and development of interstate rivers and river valleys. A river board is established by the

Central Govern¬ment on the request of concerned states to advice the states.

2.Interstate water disputes act, 1956: Empowers the Central Government to set up an ad-

hoc tribunal for the adjudication of a dispute between two or more states in relation to the

waters of an interstate river. The decision of the tribunal would be binding and final.

Neither Supreme Court nor any other court has jurisdiction over water disputes referred to

such tribunals.

So far Central Government has constituted 9 interstate water dispute tribunals. However,

the mechanism of tribunal has largely failed to fulfill expected duties on the following

grounds:

1.Delay in providing decisions

-State Governments on account of political interests do not let tribunal members complete

their work.

-These tribunals are headed by retired Supreme Court judge. Sometimes these judges avoid

delivering unpopular judgements.

-State Governments often do not agree to decisions given by tribunal and on one pretext or

the other, approach the Supreme Court to resolve interstate water disputes.

2.Inadequacy related to structure

-Lack of infrastructure such as office space and staff with the tribunal.

-Lack of mechanism to enforce their decisions

(Adapted from pib and constitutional provisions from PrepMate-Cengage Indian

Polity Book; Chapter 16, Page 231)

16. AAP's relationship with the bureaucracy in Delhi (Relevant for GS mains Paper II)

The Delhi government under Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has had a history of conflict

and confrontation with the police and the bureaucracy.

AAP MLAs thrashed Chief Secretary

But even Mr. Kejriwal s worst detractors would have found it hard to imagine that his Aam

Aadmi Party MLAs would be accused of assaulting the Chief Secretary in his presence. The

shocking incident, which is said to have occurred when Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was

summoned to Mr. Kejriwal s residence at midnight, has led to the arrest of one AAP MLA





https://prepmate.in/product/indian-polity/

https://prepmate.in/product/indian-polity/


25



and a display of solidarity within the bureaucracy, which has refused to attend any meeting

called by the CM until he apologises and takes action against the MLAs.

Different versions

Versions of what transpired radically differ, including the reason why Mr. Prakash was

called late in the night. While the AAP has described Mr. Prakash s charge as ludicrous, the

implication that it was a product of his fevered imagination and part of a larger political

conspiracy has convinced few in the bureaucracy. The timing of the meeting and the

presence of a large number of MLAs at the residence give rise to the suspicion that it may

have been called to intimidate the Chief Secretary.

Reason for AAPs unhealth relationship with bureaucracy

It is well known that Mr. Kejriwal s discomfiture with the bureaucracy is a result of having

to deal with officers who report directly to the Lt. Governor, who is not bound to act on the

aid and advice of his council of ministers.

To feel that this is a restrictive administrative environment and seek greater powers for

Delhi under the Constitution is one thing. But until Delhi is a full State, Mr. Kejriwal and his

party would do well to understand that they have to work within the existing institutional

arrangement.

Way forward

Mr. Kejriwal may have good reason to believe that the BJP, the AAP s main rival, is

attempting to stymie its attempts to govern Delhi effectively. The AAP has for long

complained that the Centre is paralysing its executive functions through the Lt. Governor

and that the bureaucracy is refusing to obey government orders. But the proper response

to this is to keep pushing for the constitutional changes that will give Delhi full statehood

rather than targeting police officers and civil servants. In the three years it has been in

power in Delhi, the AAP government has positives to show in terms of governance,

including ushering in greater accountability and transparency in its welfare programmes.


17. Broken promise , funds crunch: Why Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu is angry

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS mains Paper II)

Leaders of the TDP and BJP have been trading accusations over central assistance since the

Union Budget was presented, with the former alleging that Andhra Pradesh had been

ignored. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu this week threatened to bring a no-

confidence motion against the Centre in Parliament to demand justice , albeit as a last

resort . Naidu repeated his grievance that the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act,

2014, and the promises made by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh… have not been






26



implemented . He referred to Special Category Status as Andhra s right , and said that the

BJP was not budging only because it has a total majority in Parliament.

What has put the TDP s ties with the BJP under strain?

State s revenue deficit

According to officials, AP faced a revenue deficit of Rs 16,000 crore in 2014-15, Rs 4,598

crore in 2016-17, and almost a similar amount in 2017-18. In 2018-19, the deficit is

estimated to be Rs 416 crore. The deficit arose after the state s bifurcation in 2014, and AP

wants the Centre to compensate for its losses.

The TDP recalls that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured Rajya Sabha on

February 20, 2014, that any resource gap that the successor state of AP might face would

be made good in the Union Budget for 2014-15. However, the Finance Ministry said AP had

included Rs 10,000 crore it gave as farm loan waivers in its revenue deficit calculation. The

Centre finally agreed to give Rs 7,500 crore as compensation but has so far paid only about

Rs 4,000 crore. Also, even as negotiations on the rest of the amount are under way, the

Centre has now said it owes only Rs 138.39 crore, officials in the state said.

The Polavaram project

The TDP argues that since Polavaram has been declared a national project, the Centre

should bear its entire cost, including the cost of land acquisition and rehabilitation, which

comes to around Rs 33,000 crore. According to TDP MP K Rammohan Naidu, about Rs

7,500 crore have been spent on the project, of which the Centre gave Rs 4,500 crore. He

said the state had borrowed Rs 3,000 crore, and was paying an interest of Rs 300 crore

every year. The Centre had lost interest in the project, alleged Rammohan Naidu, who was

part of a delegation that met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. BJP MP K Hari Babu said the

Centre has so far released Rs 4,662.28 crore for Polavaram.

Construction of Amaravati

Andhra says it needs hand-holding for a few years as it builds a capital from scratch. The

Centre has so far given Rs 2,500 crore, including Rs 500 crore to the Guntur and

Vijayawada Municipal Corporations to lay out drainage systems. The remaining amount is

meant for building the secretariat, Assembly, Raj Bhavan and High Court. AP has built a

temporary secretariat at Velagapudi, and has approved designs for permanent buildings in

Amaravati. Naidu wants the Centre to allocate funds for the entire capital region, which is

estimated to cost Rs 33,000 crore.

Visakhapatnam railway zone






27



TDP leaders say establishing a new railway zone would bring a lot of investment and jobs

to the region. They say this had been promised in the AP Reorganisation Act, but the Centre

is dragging its feet because of Odisha s opposition. Bhubaneswar fears its importance as

the East Coast Railway headquarters may be diminished if a new zone is created,

Rammohan Naidu said.

Building central institutions

The AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 assured that 19 institutions and projects like IIT, IIM, etc.,

would be established in AP. While work on more than a dozen institutions is ongoing, AP

says progress is slow and funds are coming in a trickle. For instance, the estimated cost of

setting up an IIT in Tirupati is Rs 3,150 crore, but the Centre has so far released only Rs

56.49 crore.

Special Category/Package

The Centre says the assurance of special status clashes with the recommendations of the

Fourteenth Finance Commission, which came subsequently. Following the acceptance of

the recommendations, the class of Special Category States has ceased to exist.

However, the Centre has agreed to give special assistance to AP for five years, which

would make up for the additional central share the state might have received during these

years — 2015-16 to 2019-20, as envisaged by Singh s 2014 statement. This will be in the

form of Union funding for externally aided projects that have been signed and disbursed

during these years. AP is demanding that special assistance funding should be in the 90:10

ratio (Centre: state) for both EAPs and centrally-sponsored schemes — which adds up to

about Rs 20,010 crore of central assistance. Because the state government may not be able

to spend this amount on EAPs in the stipulated five years, AP is demanding that the Centre

allow it to use the money to clear outstanding loans. It is seeking permission to borrow

from internal lenders like NABARD, HUDCO and other commercial banks, and to use the

gap to pay interest commitments to the Government of India, NABARD and EAPs.


18. In 3 cases on land acquisition before SC, vital questions of law and process

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS mains Paper II)

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court raised questions on the propriety of another

three-judge Bench holding the judgment of a third three-judge Bench per incuriam — i.e.,

made without reference to a statutory provision or an earlier judgment that is relevant to






28



the matter. What are the issues involved in these three cases, and what is the tinkering

with the system that Justice Kurian Joseph frowned upon on Wednesday?

What was the case in which Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice Kurian Joseph, and Justice

Deepak Gupta made their observations on Wednesday? How did this case reach the

Supreme Court?

The court was hearing an appeal filed by Haryana against the June 29, 2016 judgment of

the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of M/s G D Goenka Tourism Corporation

Limited & Anr v State of Haryana and Others. The state had acquired land belonging to G D

Goenka Tourism Corporation Ltd and Another in 2003. The HC found that compensation

was never paid to the parties and held that the land acquisition proceedings were deemed

to have lapsed.

And what was the case in which the Supreme Court had passed an order on February

8, 2018?

This was on an appeal filed by Indore Development Authority (IDA), over land acquisition

proceedings pertaining to land acquired for the purpose of constructing a link road on the

outskirts of Indore city. The IDA had deposited the compensation with the Land Acquisition

Collector. The landowners were asked to collect it, but they had refused — and did not,

therefore, receive the compensation. On November 3, 2014, the Madhya Pradesh High

Court had held that the proceedings had lapsed in view of the judgment passed by the

Supreme Court in the Pune Municipal Corporation & Anr v Harakchand Misirimal Solanki &

Anr on January 24 that year.

The 2014 verdict in the Pune Municipal Corporation case was passed by a Bench of the

then Chief Justice R M Lodha and Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

The February 8, 2018 order in the IDA case (Indore Development Authority v Shailendra

(Dead) through Lrs & Ors) was passed by a Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Adarsh Kumar

Goel and Mohan M Shantanagoudar.

So, what was the Pune Municipal Corporation case that was decided in January 2014?

This matter related to proceedings for acquisition of 43.94 acres for the development of a

Forest Garden . The landowners challenged the acquisition proceedings before the

Bombay High Court, which ruled in their favour. The Supreme Court upheld the HC order,

referring to Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land

Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, under which land acquisition

proceedings initiated under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are deemed to have lapsed






29



where the award has been made five years or more prior to the commencement of 2013

Act, and possession of the land is not taken, or compensation has not been paid.

What did the February 8, 2018 order of the court say?

The Bench by a 2:1 majority held that the decision in Pune Municipal Corporation & Anrv

Harakchand Misirimal Solanki & Ors, January 24, 2014 is per incuriam, and that decisions

rendered on the basis of the judgment in that case are open to be reviewed in appropriate

cases.

The Bench also held unanimously that once the amount of compensation had been

unconditionally tendered, and had been refused, it would amount to payment having been

made — and the obligation under Section 31(1) of the Land Acquisition Act would stand

discharged, which amounted to the discharge of obligation of payment under Section 24(2)

of the Act. It was also not open to the person who had refused to accept compensation, to

urge that since it had not been deposited in court, the acquisition had lapsed.

Claimants/landowners after refusal, could not take advantage of their own wrong, the

court held.

What is per incuriam?

The concept of per incuriam refers to decisions rendered in ignorance or forgetfulness of

some inconsistent statutory provisions, or of some authority binding on the court

concerned. In order words, decisions given in disregard of previous decisions of the court,

or in ignorance of the terms of an applicable statute or a Rule having the force of law, would

not be binding.

And how did this matter come up on February 21?

During the hearing on Haryana s appeal, the Bench of Justices Lokur, Joseph and Gupta

were informed about the February 8 order. The court wondered how a three-judge Bench

could overturn the 2014 decision, which too, had been delivered by a three-judge Bench.

What implication does the court s observations on Wednesday have for the land

acquisition cases that were impacted by the February 8 decision?

The Bench of Justices Lokur, Joseph and Gupta have virtually stayed the operation of the

February 8 order. It has requested High Courts and other Benches of the Supreme Court

hearing matters that were likely to be impacted by the February 8 verdict to defer the

hearings till it had decided whether to refer the matter to a larger Bench.







30



19. Opening up the coal sector to private players is a timely reform (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

Past of coal mining industry

Forty-five years after India nationalised its coal-mining industry, the Central government

has allowed the re-entry of commercial mining firms into the sector, turning the clock back.

India s coal industry was predominantly driven by the private sector after Independence

until the Indira Gandhi government decided to transfer all coal holdings to Coal India

through the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973. The key reason cited for taking coal out

of the private sector s hands was that it was essential to meet power needs.

Present state of coal industry

Now, India s coal market is a virtual monopoly for the public-sector behemoth. Coal India

accounts for over 80% of the country s coal supply. Another public-sector firm, Singareni

Collieries Company, and some captive coal mines allotted to private players for specific

end-uses such as in the steel and power industries, account for the rest.

Need for entry of private sector

Opening up commercial mining and sale of coal for private players is an overdue reform.

India has a high dependence on coal for power generation. Despite an aggressive push for

renewable and nuclear sources, 70% of electricity generation is through coal-fired thermal

plants. In recent years there has been a significant surge in imports as Coal India, despite

its rich coal-bearing belts and increased output, is unable to keep pace with demand from

new power plants.

Reallocation of coal blocks

To be sure, the NDA government has moved swiftly to fix the mess it inherited from the

UPA, especially irregularities in allocation. In September 2014, the Supreme Court

cancelled the allocation of 204 coal mines to public and private players, after the

Comptroller and Auditor General of India found fault with the allocation mechanism. An

ordinance was brought in quickly and a transparent auction process was evolved for the

affected mines, benefiting from lessons learnt from the telecom spectrum allocation mess.

The intention was to ensure that there are no supply shocks for power producers on

account of abrupt disruptions in mining operations. Enabling provisions for commercial

mining and sale of coal were already included in the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act of

2015; the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has now allowed their operationalisation

by clearing the methodology to be followed for auctioning rights. The government says the

move will boost energy security, making coal affordable and creating jobs.


To ascertain the quality of outcomes, it will be important to see which blocks are actually

offered to private players; they should not just be the mines Coal India isn t keen on. Norms






31



to ensure miners safety must be upgraded. Lastly, the integrity of the process is key, so

that auctions don t translate into a winners curse as has happened in sectors like telecom.

The import-dependent energy sector cannot afford it.

(News from The Hindu)

20. Cauvery verdict may impact other disputes (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper II)

What is the issue?

On February 16, the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict on the long-standing dispute

among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Puducherry on how they ought to be sharing

water from the Cauvery.

While the headline-grabber was that Karnataka would have to share 14 tmc ft (thousand

million cubic feet) less with Tamil Nadu, the text of the judgment reveals several new

strands for interpretation that may complicate disputes over water-sharing arrangements

in other tribunals, for instance, the Ravi and Beas Water Tribunal or the Krishna Water

Tribunal. However, the court also reiterated that the Central government must form a

Cauvery Management Board to implement a mechanism to ensure that water is shared

fairly among all States.

What do these arguments mean?

One is that water cannot belong to a particular State. States have frequently cited the

historical patterns of water-flow within their borders to bolster claims for a greater portion

of water. In this case, the court has stressed that water-sharing between regions should be

based on fairness and equity. The second strand is that it invokes the right to drinking

water. Historically, water-sharing has been about catering to the needs of farmers.

In its verdict, the court said Bengaluru, being a large urbanised agglomeration, had the

right to be able to reliably access water to meet residents drinking requirements. Finally,

the court reasoned that Tamil Nadu had 20 tmc ft of groundwater that had not been

accounted for in water-sharing pacts, and this too needed to be included in calculations.

Modern water-management principles put a premium on ensuring that groundwater

resources are not over-exploited, particularly because experts have warned that India s

water wars may stem from inadequate recharge of a large number of aquifers.

How would these affect other disputes?

It could also well be the last tribunal constituted under the existing structure of the Inter-

State Water Disputes Act. Take the case of the disagreement between Punjab, Haryana and

Rajasthan over the sharing of the Ravi-Beas river system. In 2004, Punjab unilaterally






32



terminated a historic agreement. Haryana demanded water from Punjab on the grounds

that it needed water for the arid regions in the south. However, several parts of Haryana

are far more urbanised and therefore have greater water needs and Punjab, merely by its

geographical location, could not have a natural right to the Ravi-Beas. While the States are

still locked in disputes in courts, this lack of historical rights — bolstered by the Cauvery

ruling — could mount more pressure on Punjab to keep its side of the bargain. On the other

hand, several parts of Punjab are among the most over-exploited groundwater blocks.

Prompted by the Cauvery judgment, Punjab could ask that Haryana too utilise greater

quantities of its groundwater reserves. The Mahanadi tribunal, intended to devise a water-

sharing arrangement between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, could imbibe principles touched

upon in the Cauvery judgment.

What s next for the tribunals?

The Centre has presented a Bill in the Lok Sabha to subsume all tribunals under one. This is

because, it says, tribunals are tardy and composed entirely of members of the judiciary. A

new set-up that will have non-judicial experts can mean that conflicts over equitable water-

sharing will no longer be solely looked at from a legal view-point, but it will give more

weight to ecological concepts such as the water basin s capacity, environmental flows and

groundwater management.


21. Centre may enact law against fugitives (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS mains Paper

II)

Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill

The Union government may consider enacting the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill to

confiscate assets of those who flee the country and refuse to return after committing frauds

in excess of Rs. 100 crore.

The draft Bill defines a fugitive economic offender as any individual against whom an arrest

warrant has been issued and who has either left the country or refuses to come back to face

prosecution.

it will be applicable to various financial and allied offences as defined under the Indian

Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Securities and Exchange Board of India

Act, Customs Act and so on.

Administrative body under proposed bill

As proposed, the Enforcement Directorate will be empowered under the Prevention of

Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to initiate the proceedings. It has a provision enabling






33



repayment of dues to creditors by disposing of confiscated assets, in case the accused

offender continues to evade prosecution.

Need for such a law

Such a law assumes significance as major bank frauds have come to light in quick

succession of late. Nirav Modi, a diamond merchant accused in the Rs. 11,400-crore Punjab

National Bank case, and his family members are currently abroad. The passports of Mr.

Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi have been revoked.

In another case involving Rs. 389 crore of the Oriental Bank of Commerce, a Delhi-based

jewellery exporter and his business partners fled the country in 2014. Under the existing

laws, the bank has failed to recover the dues in the past three years.

The move came after Vijay Mallya, who owed more than Rs. 9,000 crore to the public sector

banks, flew out of the country and refused to come back. It set off prolonged and multi-

pronged legal proceedings, with the government still fighting a legal battle for his

extradition from the U.K.


22. New bill seeks to give protection online and offline (Relevant for GS Prelims and

GS Mains Paper II)

Purpose of the bill

Thye bill is a step towards providing ordinary consumers some protection of their interests

and establishing points for quick and effective administration and settlement of disputes.

Provisions of the bill

1. The pending Bill, which will replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, defines the

consumer as a person who buys any good or avails a service for a consideration. The Bill

covers transactions, both online and offline, and includes tele-shopping and multi-level

marketing.

2. The definition of consumer rights in the Bill exhaustively covers the right to be

protected against the marketing of goods, products or services that are hazardous to life

and property.

It also focusses on the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity,

standard and price of goods, products or services, as the case may be, so as to protect a

consumer against unfair trade practices.

It also includes the right to be assured, wherever possible, of access to a variety of goods,

products or services at competitive prices. More importantly, it involves the right to seek






34



redress against unfair or restrictive trade practices, or unscrupulous exploitation of

consumers.

3. The Bill s salient features include establishment of an executive agency to be known as

the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the

rights of the consumers.

The Bill proposes to empower the CCPA to investigate, recall, refund and impose penalties.

The Bill provides for product liability action in cases of personal injury, death or property

damage caused by or resulting from any product, and mediation as an alternate dispute

resolution, making the process of dispute adjudication simpler and quicker.

The CCPA is also empowered to deal with unfair trade practices and misleading

advertisements. The CCPA is to be headed by a Chief Commissioner.

4. The Bill seeks to set up a monitoring cell, to be constituted by the president of the

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission to oversee the functioning of the State

consumer commissions from the administrative point of view.

5. The Bill provides for a State government to establish a consumer mediation cell to be

attached to each of the district commissions and the State commissions.

6. Further, the Bill proposes that the Centre establishes a consumer mediation cell to be

attached to the National Commission.


23. Why witness protection in required in India (Relevant for GS prelims, Gs Mains

Paper III)

What has happened recently?

Bombay High Court last week asked the CBI what protection it was giving to witnesses in

the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter trial, and whether it intended to charge hostile

witnesses with perjury. Thirty-three of the 49 witnesses examined by the prosecution since

November 2017 have turned hostile in the special CBI court in Mumbai.

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872, does not define a hostile , adverse or unfavourable

witness. A hostile witness is understood to be one who does not tell the truth at the

instance of the party calling him. Parties expect witnesses to testify in their favour; some

witnesses, however, do not oblige. In several sensational cases, prosecution has failed after

witnesses turned hostile.






35



Why are witnesses important in a trial?

The witnesses are the eyes and ears of justice . In Swaran Singh vs State of Punjab (2000),

the Supreme Court observed that a criminal case is built upon the edifice of evidence that is

admissible in law, and for that witnesses are of paramount importance.

What are the common problems faced by witness in India?

Witnesses in India are treated shabbily, given no facilities. Their allowances are delayed,

and the lengthy trials and courtroom intimidation often frustrate them. They face the

danger of bodily harm, even death.

How commonly do witnesses turn hostile?

In 2016, the Supreme Court said, We find that it is becoming a common phenomenon… that in criminal cases witnesses turn hostile (Ramesh And Ors vs State of Haryana, 2016).

Over the last few years especially, an unusually large number of witnesses have turned

hostile, including in high-profile cases relating to alleged Hindu rightwing extremism.

What can a party do if their witness turns hostile?

If what the witness was expected to prove is crucial to the case, the party may call other

witnesses to counter the adverse effect of the hostile witness s testimony. Second, the party

may impeach the credit of the witness with the permission of the court by proving

inconsistencies in his testimony. Third, the witness may be cross-examined, and confronted

with leading questions.

What is the evidentiary value of the testimony of a hostile witness?

The permission to cross-examine provides the party with a means to test the veracity of the

statements made by a hostile witness. The value of the testimony will be judged by the

outcome of such cross-examination. In criminal trials, the testimony of a hostile witness is

not altogether rejected; the judge decides after cross-examination whether he can still be

believed on some facts .

If a witness chooses to withdraw support, that would not result in the prosecution case

being thrown out. Courts see the real effect of the testimony of the hostile witness: if it

drastically alters the prosecution story, it may go in favour of the accused. But if the rest of

the prosecution evidence is reliable, withdrawal of support by one or two witnesses may

not affect the case.

Section 155 of the Evidence Act provides for impeaching the credit of the witness if he has

been bribed, or has accepted the offer of a bribe, or has received any other inducement to

give his evidence, or by proof of former statements inconsistent with any part of his

evidence which is liable to be contradicted . Such a witness is known as a pocket witness .

What efforts have been made in the direction of witness protection in India?






36



Various aspects of witness protection were taken up in the Fourteenth Report of the Law

Commission (1958), the Fourth Report of the National Police Commission (1980) and the

154th Report of the Law Commission (1996). Based on the recommendations of the 178th

Report of the Law Commission (2001), The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2003 was

proposed.

That year, the report of the Justice V S Malimath Committee said, a law should be enacted

for giving protection to the witnesses and their family members on the lines of the laws in

USA and other countries . In the Best Bakery case, the Supreme Court had directed the

government to inform it of the steps taken for witness protection. The draft Bill was

approved on June 28, 2003, the day after all 21 accused in the case were acquitted. The Bill

did not address the issue of lack of powers with the trial court to protect witnesses but

made it mandatory for police to record statements of witnesses before a judicial

magistrate. But not much happened in regard to the Bill subsequently as the Vajpayee s

government went out of power in 2004.

The Delhi government notified a witness protection scheme on July 31, 2015. On February

7, 2017, MoS (Home) Hansraj Ahir told Rajya Sabha there was no consensus on witness

protection, and law and order is a state subject. In November last year, the Supreme Court

asked the Centre why witness protection rules along lines of the NIA Act, 2008, hadn t been

framed.

How does witness protection work in other countries?

Witnesses in the US are protected under The Organized Crime Control Act, 1970 and the

federal Witness Security Programme. Till 2013, 8,500 witnesses and about 10,000

members of their families were protected under this scheme. In 2014-15, the Canadian

government allocated $ 9.6 million for 23 protectees. Australia and England also have

witness protection programmes.


24. The Cauvery verdict: key questions answered (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II)

The Supreme court in its verdict on Friday tweaked the award of the Cauvery Water

Disputes Tribunal made in 2007 and also made some key observations on the path ahead

for the riparian States.

How will the water be distributed among the states?

Kerala Karnataka Tamil

Nadu Puducherry Total

Area 1.93 18.85 24.71 0.43 45.92

Irrigation requirement 27.90 250.62 390.85 6.35 675.72






37



Domestic & industrial water

requirement projected for 2011 0.35 1.85 2.73 0.27 5.20

Water requirement for environmental

protection 10.00

Inevitable escapades into sea 4.00

Share in balance water 1.51 17.64 25.71 0.22 45.08

Total 30.00 270.00 419.00 7.00 740.00

How will the reduction in allocation of water affect Tamil Nadu?

This reduction will have a marginal impact on Tamil Nadu because the quantum of

reduction is small. It is less than 10% of the 192 tmcft that it ought to receive from

Karnataka at Billigundlu every year, as per the Tribunal's award.

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal did not take into account groundwater availability,

while apportioning Cauvery water for basin States in its final order. But, the Supreme Court

has considered it, saying The State will have to now bank on 10 tmcft of groundwater

available with it.

This places increased responsibility on Tamil Nadu to protect its groundwater reserves by

taking adequate measures.

Another important point to be noted is that Tamil Nadu requires more water (nearly 130

tmcft) during June-September than in other months. That period marks the south-west

monsoon, when rainfall is less in Tamil Nadu compared to the rest of the country.

This is where the role of the CMB comes in.

What is the CMB and why is it important?

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal had prescribed setting up of a Cauvery Management

Board (CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to monitor the

implementation of its order.

The CMB would monitor the storage position in the Cauvery basin and the trend of rainfall,

and assess the likely inflows for distribution among the States. The CWRC will ensure the

Tribunal's order is carried out in due spirit.

The CMB will have three full-time members including a chairman. It will also consist of six

part-time members, four of whom will be from the riparian States of Karnataka, Kerala,

Tamil Nadu, and Union Territory of Puducherry.






38



Once the Board and the Committee are set-up, Karnataka will lose its supervisory control

over the four Cauvery basin reservoirs — the Krishnarajasagar , Hemavathi, Kabini and the

Harangi reservoirs.

In other words, Karnataka cannot exercise the option to release water to Tamil Nadu only

after it had a sufficient storage in the reservoirs, particularly in the years of distress.

How does the verdict benefit Bengaluru?

The verdict should come as much-needed relief for the people of Bengaluru, with the city

now entitled to an additional 4.75 tmcft of Cauvery water.

The need for this increase in water share arose as the Tribunal in 2007 miscalculated

Bengaluru's water needs. The Tribunal had accounted for Cauvery water use only by the

third of the city that falls within the Cauvery basin, while two-thirds is outside the basin.

Also, it had assumed that 50 per cent of the drinking water requirements would be met by

ground water.

The allocation of 8.75 tmcft to the city proved to be not enough. The majority of its

residents had to make do with groundwater, which due to increasing urbanisation has been

depleting and getting more contaminated.

The SC has now said that assuming 50 % of demand will be met by ground water is

unacceptable. It also debunked the idea of taking into consideration only 1/3rd of the city

that falls within the Cauvery basin, saying principles of apportionment and the conception

of reasonable and equitable share perceived for such uses comprehend a basin State

addressing the social and economic needs of its community as a whole.

What was the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's recommendation?

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal gave its verdict on Feb 5, 2007, 17 years after it was

set up.

The Tribunal, comprising chairman Justice N.P. Singh and members N.S. Rao and Sudhir

Narain, in a unanimous award determined the total availability of water in the Cauvery

basin at 740 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) at the Lower Coleroon Anicut site on the

basis of 50 per cent dependability.

It allocated 419 tmcft of water for Tamil Nadu, 270 tmcft for Karnataka, 30 tmcft for Kerala

and 7 tmcft for Puducherry. It reserved 10 tmcft for environment protection and 4 tmcft for

inevitable "escapages" into the sea.






39



The Tribunal said the use of underground waters by any of the riparian States should not

be reckoned as use of Cauvery water. The Supreme Court, however, took into account the

available groundwater while calculating the final determination of its share.

(Adapted from The Indian Express)






40



International Organization & Relations

1. Fishing in Sri Lankan waters is now costly for Indian fishermen (Relevant for GS

prelims, GS Mains paper II)

Heavy fine imposed by Sri Lanka

Amending its exiting Fisheries Act, Colombo has decided to impose anything between LKR

6 million (approximately Rs. 25 lakh) and LKR 175 million, as fine on foreign vessels fishing

in its seas.

Fisherman Issue

Indian fishermen repeatedly drift towards Sri Lankan waters while fishing. Sri Lankan navy

capture their boats and fishing equipment, arrest fishermen and sometimes even kill them.

Why do Indian fishermen drift towards Sri Lankan waters?

Sri Lankan waters have more fishes and the competition for fish catch is low. Indian

fishermen are desperate for a reasonable catch which they do not find in Indian waters

anymore on account of relentless bottom trawling. Moreover, in the middle of sea,

sometimes the marine boundary is not clear to fishermen and by mistake, they drift into Sri

Lankan waters.

What are the implications for Sri Lanka?

Indian fishermen practice bottom trawling, which entails scraping the seabed. This not only

adversely impacts marine ecosystem but also has a direct implication for the lives of

fishermen in Sri Lanka.

Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind

one or more boats. The net that is used for trawling is called a trawl.

Sri Lankan fishermen are often forced to stay ashore for fear that these trawlers will

damage their nets, their primary asset for livelihood. There have even been incidents of

fishermen suffering physical injuries while attempting to save their nets from being

damaged by Indian trawlers.

Fishermen being amongst the poorest communities in both Sri Lanka and India, it is an

issue of national concern to both countries.

Proposal by Indian Government to seek protection of fishermen

Indian government suggests a hotline at various levels to prevent fishermen from being

arrested or any other action against the fishermen.

What is a hotline?






41



A direct telephone line between concerned officials of different regions for a specific

purpose, especially for use in emergencies such as to resolve crisis situations.

(Adapted from the Hindu and Background from PrepMate-Cengage International

Organisations and Bilateral Relations; Chapter 11, Page 209)

2. Present situation in Maldives (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

What has happened recently?

President Abdulla Yameen declared a 15-day state of Emergency in the country,

suspending many citizen s rights, and giving the security forces sweeping powers to arrest

and detain protesters and dissidents.

The announcement capped a dramatic standoff between the government of Yameen and

the Maldivian Supreme Court, which last week ordered the release of political prisoners —

a directive that the President has refused to follow.

Yameen wrote to the judges, asking them to reverse their decision — the court had carried

out an infringement of national security and public interest , and must review the

concerns of the government, he said. The President is required to inform Parliament about

a declaration of Emergency within two days, but the legislature currently stands suspended

indefinitely.

How did the current crisis begin?

The Maldives Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of high-profile prisoners

including former President Mohamed Nasheed and former Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb.

It also reinstated 12 Members of Parliament who had earlier been stripped of their seats —

in effect giving the opposition coalition a majority and making President Abdulla Yameen

vulnerable to impeachment. The court said it believed in free and fair trials that were

conducted without undue influence. The court annulled all proceedings against the jailed

political prisoners and ordered their release until a fair retrial was held. But it did not

order the dismissal of the charges against them.

What is the history of the development of the Maldives judiciary?

Up until 2008, Maldives was ruled by autocratic governments in which the President was

the supreme executive and judicial authority. Following mounting pressure from civil

society and the population, democratic reforms were initiated, which culminated in the

adoption of a new Constitution on August 7, 2008, in which were enshrined the principles

of separation of powers and independence of the judiciary. In October 2008, Mohamed

Nasheed won the first democratic presidential elections in the Maldives, and the first

democratic, multi-party parliamentary elections were held in May 2009.





https://prepmate.in/product/international-organisations-bilateral-relations-civil-services/



42



What are the constitutional provisions related to the judiciary?

Chapter VI of the Constitution contains provisions to ensure the independence of national

courts and regulate their jurisdictions, functions and administration. It lays down the

qualifications of judges and magistrates, the modes of their appointment, their salaries and

allowances, security of tenure, and process of removal. These provisions were

complemented by the Judicature Act of 2010.

The Constitution established the Judicial Service Commission as an independent and

impartial institution to appoint, promote and transfer magistrates and judges other than

the Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court, investigate complaints, and take

disciplinary action against them, including recommendations for dismissal. It also

established separate posts of Prosecutor General and Attorney General.

The Supreme Court has the final authority on the interpretation of the Constitution, the

law, or any other legal matter dealt with by the courts. It has the power to assess the

constitutionality of any statute enacted by the Majlis and may deliver advisory opinions

upon request from Parliament. It also has appellate jurisdiction regarding decisions of the

High Court.

Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President, after consultation with the Judicial

Service Commission. The appointee is confirmed by a majority of members of the Majlis

present and voting.

How did the relationship between the judiciary and the government develop?

Before the coming of democracy to the Maldives, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (who

had been in power since 1978) had filled the judiciary with his loyalists. When the first

democratically elected government was formed, the newly adopted Constitution had

scheduled periodic reappointments of judges based on merit. But the Judicial Service

Commission, among whose members were several Gayoom s loyalists, dismissed the

provision as symbolic and, in 2010, allowed the judges to be sworn in for life.

Three years later, when presidential elections were held in the Maldives, the Supreme

Court stalled the process thrice, on ambiguous grounds. It cancelled the results of the first

round of voting, in which Nasheed, who had resigned the previous year, led, but fell short of

the required 50% of the vote. When the re-run of the first round yielded similar results, the

court postponed the second round.

This was a subversion of democratic processes , the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights said. Gayoom s half-brother Abdulla Yameen was elected President.

Under Yameen, the Supreme Court, through a series of rulings, granted itself several

extraconstitutional powers. By appointing itself the head of the Department of Judicial






43



Administration in 2014, and seizing the regulatory authority of the Attorney General s

office last year, it granted itself powers to transfer, appoint, certify and dismiss judges and

lawyers. In May, it declared itself the final authority to determine the validity of no-

confidence votes passed in Parliament.

What is the dynamic playing out now?

It seems that judges loyal to former President Gayoom — who fell out with Yameen and has

now joined hands with Nasheed — have turned their back on Yameen. If the President has

lost majority, he can be impeached. The opposition has said that it is committed to

protesting until the government enforces the court ruling.

What can India do in this situation?

India has issued a strong statement, asking the Yameen government to implement the

court s order. Immediately after the Maldives declared an Emergency, India issued an

advisory against all non-essential travel to the country.


3. Cabinet approves placing the new Instrument adopted by International Labour

Organization (ILO) Recommendation concerning The Employment and Decent Work

for Peace and Resilience (No.-205) before the Parliament (Relevant for GS Prelims

and GS Mains Paper II)

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its

approval for placing the new Instrument adopted by International Labour Organization

(ILO) Recommendation concerning The Employment and Decent Work for Peace and

Resilience (No.-205) before the Parliament. The International Labour Conference of ILO at

its 106th Session held in Geneva in June, 2015 adopted the Recommendation. India

supported the adoption of Recommendation.

What are ILO recommendations?

ILO Recommendations is a non-binding instrument which seeks to serve as a guiding

principle for national policy process. Each member state of ILO is required to submit the

instruments so adopted before the competent authority (the Parliament in case of India).

Are ILO recommendations binding?

The adoption and placing of the Instrument for the information of the Parliament does not

create any immediate obligation.

What is the role of recommendations?

The Recommendation provides guidance to member States on the measures to be taken to

generate employment and decent work for the purposes of prevention, recovery, peace and

resilience with respect to crisis situations arising from conflicts and disasters.






44



It also emphasizes the need to ensure respect for all human rights and the rule of law,

including respect for fundamental principles and rights at work and for international

labour standards, in particular those rights and principles relevant to employment and

decent work.

The Recommendation affirms the need to develop and strengthen measures of social

protection, as a means of preventing crises, enabling recovery and building resilience. It

states that Members should adopt a phased multi-track approach implementing coherent

and comprehensive strategies for promoting peace, preventing crises, enabling recovery

and building resilience. The approach should include promoting local economic recovery

for employment and decent work opportunities and socio-economic reintegration, social

protection and social inclusion, sustainable development, the creation of sustainable

enterprises (in particular small and medium-sized enterprises); ensuring consultation and

encouraging active participation of employers and workers organizations in planning,

implementing and monitoring measures for recovery and resilience.

About recommendation no. 205

The Recommendation No. 205 is applicable to all workers and jobseekers, and to all

employers, in all sectors of the economy affected by crisis situations arising from conflicts

and disasters and to workers engaged in crisis response, including in the immediate

response.

(Adapted from PIB)

4. India rejects Maldives offer (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II)

As concerns not met , New Delhi refuses to meet special envoy

India rejected an offer by Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen to send a special envoy to

discuss the ongoing emergency in the country, calling instead on the embattled President to

first address its concerns over the suspension of constitutional rights in the Maldives.

The response indicates a growing strain in ties between New Delhi and Male.

President Yameen has sent special envoys to what he called friendly countries — China,

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Sources confirmed that New Delhi had rejected the offer of an envoy because the

government was unhappy with Mr. Yameen s declaration of emergency and the military

crackdown that followed.







45



5. Modi in Ramallah today, to discuss peace process (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II)

Details of Travel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his three-nation West Asia tour on Friday with a

stopover in the Jordanian capital, Amman, where he met King Abdullah II.

Ramallah visit

Mr. Modi will travel to Ramallah in the West Bank, the headquarters of the Palestinian

Authority, where he will hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Modi is

the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Ramallah.

Abbas s view

Earlier in an interview, Mr. Abbas said they would discuss the possible role India could play

in the peace process.

A Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader said India s growing ties with Israel could

benefit the Palestinians. The growing ties between them could be positive, because now

India has more leverage with Israel and can pressure it in our favour.

Significance of visit

The visit comes weeks after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s visit to New Delhi.

In July last year, Mr. Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. Indian

diplomats say the visit to Ramallah through Jordan without crossing through any of the

Israeli checkpoints is consistent with India s de-hyphenation policy .

What is hyphenation and de-hyphenation policy?

Hyphenation means you correlate one item with another. For example we always say

adam-Eve, because we can t talk about one without mentioning about other.

Now, talking about global politics. International relations are maintained on a very delicate

balance where a country ensures that a closeness with one country does not hamper

relations with another country. For example , India s relation with Israel was hyphenated

with Palestine in past. India ensured to never hurt the interest of Israel vis a vis Palestine

and vice versa.

But recently, India Dehyphenated its relation with Israel from Palestine as PM visited Israel

without visiting Palestine.

Similarly, USA had a hyphenated policy with regard to India-Pakistan since 1980 s. But now

,they have dehyphenated it and different policies are made for them.






46



Slowly, world is recognising that Foreign relation is not zero sum game. Thus, the policy of

dehyphenated is taking a centre stage

(Adapted from The Hindu and Quora)

6. Modi reiterates support for Palestine (GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

India s backing for a sovereign, independent state is unbroken and unwavering, PM says

in Ramallah. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said support for the Palestinian cause is a

continuing thread in India s foreign policy and hoped for an early realisation of a

sovereign, independent Palestine living in a peaceful environment .

India s support for Palestine is unbroken and unwavering. That s why I am here, in

Ramallah, Mr. Modi said at the administrative headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.

The first Indian Prime Minister to visit Palestine, Mr Modi was speaking after holding

bilateral talks with President Mahmoud Abbas.

Six agreements

After bilateral talks, the two sides signed six agreements worth around $50 million,

including one for setting up a $30 million super speciality hospital in Beit Sahur.

Agreements were also signed to build schools, a diplomatic training institute and a

woman s empowerment and training centre.

ISRAEL PALESTINE ISSUE

The Israel–Palestine conflict is the ongoing struggle between Zionist (now Israelis) and

Arab Palestinians for homeland from the end of the 19th century. Although the two groups

have different religions (Palestinians are mainly Muslims and Israelis are Jews), religious

differences are not the cause of the strife. The conflict began as a struggle over land. From

the end of World War I until 1948, the area that both groups claimed was known

internationally as Palestine. Following the war of 1948–1949, this land was divided into

three parts: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip.Since

then the Palestinian settlements have shrunk massively and Israelis have taken control

over major chunk of the nation.

Currently the two parties engaged in direct negotiation are the Israeli government,

currently led by Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),

currently headed by Mahmoud Abbas. Apart from PLO, a militant organization, Hamas, also

enjoys support amongst large section of Palestinians. The conflict has rendered many

Palestinians homeless. The Palestinians demand a nation with continuous borders and

demand resettlement at the same place from where they had been rendered homeless.






47



There are also conflicting claims over East Jerusalem. It is believed that three religions

namely Islam, Christianity and Zionism emerged from East Jerusalem. Presently, the

territory is under control of Israelis.

(Adapted from The Hindu and Background from PrepMate-Cengage International

Organisations and Bilateral Relations Book; Chapter 13, Page 264)

7. Why are several T.N. fishermen in trouble with the Sri Lankan Navy? (Relevant for

GS Prelims and GS mains Paper II)

Indian fishermen have been habitually transgressing the International Maritime Boundary

Line (IMBL), the imaginary line in the waters between India and Sri Lanka, in their struggle

for survival. On February 8, seven fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri

Lankan Navy for allegedly straying into their waters. In January, 37 fishermen were

arrested.

Crossing the IMBL poses a greater threat as the government in the island nation has

amended its Foreign Fisheries Boats Regulation Act to increase the fine on Indian vessels found fishing in Sri Lankan waters to a minimum of LKR million about ₹ lakh and a maximum of LKR 175 million.

What is the problem?

Indian boats have been fishing in the troubled waters for centuries and had a free run of

the Bay of Bengal, the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar until 1974 and 1976 when treaties

were signed between the two countries to demarcate the maritime boundary — the IMBL.

However, the treaties failed to factor in the hardship of thousands of traditional fishermen

who were forced to restrict themselves to a meagre area in their fishing forays.

The small islet of Katchatheevu, hitherto used by them for sorting their catch and drying

their nets, fell on the other side of the IMBL. Fishermen often risk their lives and cross the








48



IMBL rather than return empty-handed, but the Sri Lankan Navy is on alert, and have either

arrested or destroyed fishing nets and vessels of those who have crossed the line.

How many have been hit?

The 4,000-odd fishermen in Rameswaram have borne the brunt as they hit the IMBL at the

12th nautical mile from the jetty. They set out for fishing in 800-odd mechanised boats

thrice a week, but every voyage is a nightmare. The distance between the shore and the

IMBL in the Palk Bay is 15 nautical miles from Point Calimere in Nagapattinam district, 29

nautical miles from Adirampatinam and 27 nautical miles from Mallipattinam in Thanjavur

district, it is only 12 nautical miles from Rameswaram and just 9 nautical miles from

Danushkodi in Ramanathapuram district. The Nagapattinam fishermen could well set out

to the Bay of Bengal and sail down south to enter into Sri Lankan waters and get arrested.

At present, 120 fishermen from these districts are detained in Sri Lankan prisons with their

boats — 177 in all — confiscated after they were arrested on the charge of trespassing into

that country s waters. On any fishing day, 3,343 mechanised boats, including 1,581 from

Ramanathapuram and 953 from Nagapattinam, get into the Palk Bay with an eye on Sri

Lankan waters for the high-value giant prawns.

The IMBL is imaginary, but it was geo-tagged and is visible to the fishermen, thanks to

Global Positioning System (GPS) sets. The latest Garmin 585 GPS sets can flash the

boundary line on the screens and fishermen have the option to view the line in the colour

of their choice. Close to 200 boat owners in Rameswaram have already switched to modern

GPS sets for precision fishing.

Initially, the Sri Lankan Navy used to release the arrested fishermen along with their vessels but has now started detaining the trawlers, each worth about ₹ lakh. With Sri

Lankan naval patrol vessels keeping strict vigil along the IMBL, the fishermen take turns to

get into their waters. If they get caught, the Navy usually targets a couple of boats and

others hurry back to the Indian waters, sometimes leaving their expensive fishing nets

behind. Thanks to the buoys, they retrieve the nets later but not all fishermen are lucky.

Of late, the Sri Lankan Navy have begun destroying the nets also. But the fishermen take the

risk as the returns are high.

What does the future hold?

The deep sea fishing scheme has been launched to end bottom trawling but not all have

been able to join the scheme. As the Joint Working Group set up to address the fishermen s

issue is inactive, the fishermen face a bleak future.







49



8. India gets access to strategic Oman port Duqm for military use, Chabahar-Gwadar

in sight (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

Importance of Port of Duqm

In a strategic move to expand its footprint in the Indian Ocean region, India has secured

access to the key Port of Duqm in Oman for military use and logistical support. This is part

of India s maritime strategy to counter Chinese influence and activities in the region.

When did India accessed the port?

This was one of the key takeaways of Prime Minister Narendra Modi s visit to Oman over

the last two days. He met Sultan of Oman Sayyid Qaboos bin Said Al Said and an annexure

to the Memorandum of Understanding on Military Cooperation was signed between the

two countries. Sources said following this pact, the services of Duqm port and dry dock will

be available for maintenance of Indian military vessels.

Location of Port of Duqm

The Port of Duqm is situated on the southeastern seaboard of Oman, overlooking the

Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is strategically located, in close proximity to the

Chabahar port in Iran. With the Assumption Island being developed in Seychelles and

Agalega in Mauritius, Duqm fits into India s proactive maritime security roadmap.

Recent use of the port by India

Recently, Duqm has seen a rise in Indian activities. In September last year, India deployed

an attack submarine to this port in the western Arabian Sea. A Shishumar-class submarine

entered Duqm along with naval ship INS Mumbai and two P-8I long-range maritime patrol






50



aircraft. India gets access to strategic Oman port for military use, reconnaissance aircraft.

The naval units were on a month-long deployment with the aim of enhancing surveillance

and cooperation

Economic potential of the port

The Port of Duqm also has a special economic zone, where about $1.8 billion investments

are being made by some Indian companies. The Adani group had signed an MoU with Duqm

port authorities last year, but no investments have been made so far.


9. Rouhani visit signals balance in ties (Relevant for GS Prelims and mains Paper II)

Iranian President coming exactly a month after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is on visit to India from February 15 to 17, exactly a

month after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran s biggest rival, made a historic

visit.

Officials say Mr. Rouhani s visit will send out a message that India aims for balance in its

ties in the neighbourhood.

Port project with Iran

Among the subjects expected to be discussed are the progress of the $500-million Beheshti

port project in Chabahar, where India is expected to complete development of berths later

this year. India is already routing a consignment of 1.1 million tonnes of wheat to

Afghanistan through the existing facilities at Chabahar.

Stumbling block in banking channels

On bilateral trade, the biggest stumbling block is banking channels, say diplomats in Tehran

and Delhi. The two sides are now discussing the possibility of a rupee-rial mechanism , in

addition to the current channel through UCO Bank for rupee payments. However, European

banks have refused to support the trade, given the uncertainty over fresh sanctions from

the U.S.

Farzad-B gas and oil fields

Another issue is the pending negotiations over the Farzad-B gas and oil fields that India has

expressed its interest in. During Mr. Modi s visit in 2016, the two sides had hoped to see an

agreement signed quickly, but according to officials dealing with the negotiations,

the discussions had not made much progress because of what they called Iran s shifting

goalposts on the bid for Farzad-B.






51



Sources said even negotiations for India s bid for Russian and UAE oilfields that started

much later had been concluded by now.

Russia s Gazprom has concluded deals for several oilfields and plans joint ventures with

Iran s National Iranian Oil Company, much to India s chagrin.

FATF meeting

Iran is likely to seek India s support at the upcoming meeting of the UN s Financial Action

Task Force, where Tehran is hoping to exit a blacklist on money laundering and terror

finance, even as India hopes to see Pakistan put on a grey-list at the meeting.

Visit to Hyderabad and delhi

Mr. Rouhani will arrive in Delhi on February 17 after visiting Hyderabad, where he will

address students and religious scholars at a series of functions and the Friday congregation

at the Makkah Masjid. He will be the first Iranian head of state to do so.

On Saturday, he will be given an official welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before he and

Mr. Modi sit down for bilateral talks. Mr. Rouhani is expected to return to Tehran the same

evening, after delivering a special address at a foreign policy think-tank.


10. On Jacob Zuma resignation from South Africa Presidentship (Relevant for GS


During his long political career, Zuma has been roiled by corruption scandals, including: • In 2014, Zuma was accused of benefiting from $24 million in taxpayer money spent on

security upgrades made to his rural residence, including a swimming pool and cattle pen.

• He was found liable for 800 counts of corruption related to accusations that he accepted

bribes for arms deals in the 1990s.

• An allegedly corrupt relationship with a wealthy family of Gupta brothers of Indian origin

turned into a rolling multiyear scandal dubbed Guptagate.

The allegations went much further than corruption. In 2006, he was put on trial in the

alleged rape of a 31-year-old HIV-positive daughter of a friend. Though he was acquitted,

many still have their doubts.

Who is the successor?

South Africa's new president is Cyril Ramaphosa.






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Poor governance under Zuma

More broadly, Zuma had presided over an era of increasing economic inequality, with high

unemployment and extreme poverty in the country and international rating agencies

downgrading South

How South Africa's political system kept Zuma in office

South Africa's current constitution was drawn up in 1994 as the country emerged from

years of white dominance for its first nonracial elections. After it was implemented in 1997,

the constitution changed the way South Africans voted for their politicians in a significant

way.

Election system of South Africa

In the apartheid era, the country's National Assembly used a first-past-the-post system, as

used in the British Parliament: Voters in different geographical constituencies would vote

for different candidates, and whichever candidate had the most votes would represent that

constituency. Such systems tend to lead to two dominant parties, and it often results in

parties gaining a majority of seats in a parliament without a majority of votes. Some critics

have noted that in South Africa, it may have helped the pro-apartheid National Party.

In 1994, politicians opted to change to a closed-party-list proportional system. Under this

system, South Africans would vote for a party rather than a candidate; then seats in

Parliament would be apportioned, using a private list drawn up by each party, to reflect the

proportion of popular vote the parties won. In a quirk, the head of state, the president,

would not be voted for directly but instead would be a member selected by parliament. As

such, he or she would be head of state and head of government.

It's an unusual system, but it has its strengths. The Parliament is a good representation of

the politics of the country. The president has significant powers of appointment and can

veto bills, but the National Assembly can act as a check on his power. Unlike in the United

States, for example, South Africa's legislature can remove the president from office for any

reason it sees fit.

What you might expect from such a system is political instability: Proportional

representation systems can often result in a fractured political landscape, with smaller

parties forming coalition governments for legislative majorities.

But in South Africa, things didn't work out that way. The African National Congress, the

famous liberation movement and party of Nelson Mandela, has proved remarkably popular

in the post-apartheid era. Since 1994, the party has consistently won more than 60 percent

of the popular vote and been rewarded with overwhelming majorities in the legislature.

(Adapted from Washington Post)






53



11. World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2018) (Relevant for GS Prelims,

GS Mains Paper II)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated the World Sustainable Development

Summit 2018 in New Delhi s Vigyan Bhawan.

Organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the three-day summit will see

participation from over 41 countries, bringing together different stakeholders in the fields

of sustainable development, energy and environment sectors.

The event was also attended by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate

Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minster for Industries and Commerce, Suresh Prabhu, Minister

of State (Independent Charge) Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri HardeepPuri, Minister of

State for Civil Aviation, Shri Jayant Sinha and other key leaders.

About TERI

The Energy and Resources Institute (formerly, Tata Energy Research Institute—TERI) is a

research institute based in New Delhi, established in the year 1974. It conducts research

work in the field of energy, environment and sustainable development with focus on

developing solutions to important environmental issues.

(Adapted from pib and Background from PrepMate-Cengage International

Organisations and Bilateral Relations; Chapter 20, Page 272)

12. Analysis of Iranian President visit to India (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper II)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently visited India. After his meeting with Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, India and Iran signed agreements and memorandums of

understanding on a wide variety of issues.

Major outcomes of the meet

1. Chabahar Port: Among the announcements was the decision to award India the contract

to operate the Chabahar Shahid Beheshti port terminal after the project is completed.

2. Farzad-B gas field: While no announcement was made on the Farzad-B gas field that

India has expressed an interest in, the joint statement indicates that positive deliberations

may follow.








54



3. There were discussions on enhancing trade and investment and ease of doing business

between India and Iran, including a double taxation avoidance agreement and an expert

group to recommend trade remedy measures .

4. Foreign investment in Indian Rupee: Just before Mr. Rouhani s visit, India announced it

would allow Indian investment in Iran to be done in rupee terms. The concession, which

has so far been extended only to Bhutan and Nepal, allows money lying in Indian banks as

payment for imports from Iran, mostly oil, to be repatriated.

Till now these funds have been blocked because international banks and insurance

companies refuse to facilitate trade to Iran fearing further U.S. sanctions on Iranian entities.

In turn, Iran is understood to have reversed last year s decision to slash the credit period

for oil payments from India, and issue more generous guidelines.

5. Bid to UNSC: Mr. Rouhani endorsed India s bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security

Council with the veto, and praised India as a living museum of religious diversity .

6. Terrorism: The joint statement issued contained tough language on the sanctuaries for

terrorism , an issue important to both countries.

Pressure from US to reduce relations with Iran

But there is a broader global context to Mr. Rouhani s visit and the red carpet rolled out by

the Modi government. The visit came amid uncertainty over the U.S. s next move on Iran,

given the Trump administration s line on the Iran nuclear deal. On the very day Mr. Modi

and Mr. Rouhani met, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster asked countries to track

their investments in Iran as these might be supporting terrorism and murder across the

Middle East .

Way ahead

It will be important to see what, if any, implications the Indian overtures would have on

India s ties with the U.S. and its recently upgraded relations with Israel. However, it is

crucial that India maintain a steady course on its strategic interests with Iran, a key source

of energy, and as Mr. Modi put it, a golden gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Background

Chabahar port is relevant for India on account of following reasons

1. Chabahar port is connected by road network in Iran to Afghanistan by Zaranj-Delaram

road.






55



Development of Chabahar port will reduce dependence of Afghanistan, which is a land-

locked country, on Pakistan. As a result, Pakistan s say in internal matters of Afghanistan

will reduce.

2. Indian presence at Chabahar port will help in countering Chinese presence at Gwadar

port of Pakistan. Chabahar port is located near Strait of Hormuz through which nearly 50%

of global oil supplies pass.

Thus, the position has strategic advantage to confront China and Pakistan during times of

war.

(Adapted from the Hindu and Background from PrepMate-Cengage Book

International Organisations and Bilateral Relations for Civil Services ,Chapter 12,

Page 258) 13. Saving lives: on mortality rate (GS Prelims & GS Mains Paper I)

UNICEF report on neonatal mortality rates and India

A new country-wise ranking of neonatal mortality rates — the number of babies dying in

their first month for every thousand live births — gives India cause for both hope and

shame. Shame, because the report, produced by the United Nations Children s Fund

(Unicef), ranks India behind poorer countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Rwanda.









56



Hope, because the ranking shows that financial resources are not the biggest constraint in

improving this health indicator; political will is.

Findings of the report

According to the report, titled Every Child Alive , while average newborn mortality in low-

income nations is nine times that of high-income ones, several countries buck the trend,

showing a way forward for India. For example, Sri Lanka and Ukraine, which like India are

categorised as lower-middle income economies, had a neonatal mortality of around 5/1000

in 2016. In comparison, the U.S., a high-income economy, did only slightly better with a rate

of 3.7/1000. Meanwhile, Rwanda, which falls in the lowest income group of less than

$1,005 per capita, has brought down its mortality rates from 41/1000 in the 1990s to 16.5

through programmes targeted at poor and vulnerable mothers. Money matters, but intent

matters more.

India s ranking

India saw the 31st highest newborn-mortality rate, at 25.4 deaths per 1000 in 2016, while

Pakistan had the highest. Coming in after 30 countries is no comfort, however, because a

small mortality rate can translate to numerous deaths when the birth-rate is high. This

means India lost 640,000 babies in 2016, more than any other country.

How can we chip away at this staggering number?

The report points out that the most powerful solutions are not necessarily the most

expensive. The 10 critical products that hospitals must stock to save newborns include a

piece of cloth to keep a baby warm and close to the mother to encourage breastfeeding. The

list also includes antibiotics and disinfectants, the use of which can stave off killers like

sepsis and meningitis.

But other solutions will need greater investment. The biggest cause of death is premature

birth, while the second is complications like asphyxia during delivery. Preventing these

would mean paying attention to the mother s health during pregnancy and ensuring she

delivers in a hospital attended by trained doctors or midwives. India has programmes such

as the Janani Suraksha Yojana for this but must expand its reach in laggard States like Uttar

Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Then there are factors outside the healthcare system, like

female literacy rates, that make a big difference to healthcare-seeking behaviour. But

changes in education levels will come slowly. Despite these challenges, progress is within

reach. States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu show that by focussing on these factors, newborn

deaths can be brought to fewer than 15 per 1000 in Indian settings. It s time for the rest of

India to follow suit.






57




14. U.S. tightens H-1B approval process, IT firms worried (Relevant for GS Prelims,

GS Mains Paper II)

Fresh documentary requirements specified for workers at third-party worksites

The U.S announced fresh measures to tighten the scrutiny of H-1B visa petitions, mandating

fresh documentary requirements for workers at third-party worksites.

The move will impact Indian IT services providers that place employees with H-1B visas at

American companies that contract them, by imposing more paper work and processing

hurdles.

The company s filing H-1B petitions for their employees will have to associate a particular

project to the individual visa, which could be approved only for the duration of the project.






58



Close scrutiny

The measures are intended to bring the client-vendor -employee relations in business

models based on bringing high skilled H-1B workers to America under closer scrutiny.

Industry insiders said the scrutiny of this model had been increasingly stringent in recent

years, and that the requirements included in recent announcement represent a further

tightening of the screws.

H-1Bvisas

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States. It allows U.S. employers to

temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. If a foreign worker in H-1B

status quits or is dismissed from the sponsoring employer, the worker must either apply

for and be granted a change of status to another non-immigrant status, find another

employer (subject to application for adjustment of status and/or change of visa), or leave

the U.S. H-1B visa are widely used by Indian IT companies to place skilled workers in the

U.S.

(News Adapted from The Hindu)

15. Virtue of reticence: on Bipin Rawat s comment about illegal immigration in

Northeast (Relevant for GS Mains Paper III)

Comment by Army Chief

Army chief General Bipin Rawat s comments about an inversion in demographics and a

planned migration from Bangladesh into the Northeast are unusual by any standards.

India s service chiefs have a long and healthy tradition of keeping away from political

subjects in their public comments.

Where were the comments made?

At a seminar in Delhi this week, General Rawat strayed into political commentary when he

talked about issues of religious identity, demographics, and India s relations with its

neighbours. He said that migration from Bangladesh into India is driven by two factors. The

first is the acute pressure on land in Bangladesh. The other issue, he said, is planned immigration which is taking place because of our western neighbour… It is the proxy dimension of warfare. This strategy, he went on, is supported by our northern

neighbour . The references were clearly to Pakistan and China. Such departures from a

tradition of being reticent, if not totally silent, are rare.

Departure from democracy

It is the self-restraint that has served both Indian democracy and the military well. India s

success in keeping the Army out of politics, compared to most other countries that gained






59



independence from colonial rule in the mid-20th century, has in fact been the subject of

scholarly research.

In turn, the neat separation has allowed the Army to maintain its professionalism and

retain public trust even as it is frequently called upon to assist the administration in times

of communal strife and subregional insurgencies. This arrangement has also inhibited

governments from bidding the Army to do their politically expedient tasks.

It is a balance that must hold, and this is why General Rawat s possibly off-the-cuff

observations on foreign policy and domestic politics were unfortunate. This is not the first

time that General Rawat s comments have evoked a response from political quarters. Last

month, the Jammu and Kashmir education minister reacted when General Rawat criticised

government schools in the State for mounting two maps, one of India and the other of

J&K . Even if such remarks were made in good faith, the point is that they can result in

needless controversies that do nothing to promote the Army s strong and fully deserving

image of an institution that is above politics.


16. International Conference on Sustainable Biofuels, ICSB 2018 (Relevant for GS


About Mission Innovation (MI)

Mission Innovation (MI) is a global initiative of 22 countries and the European Union to

dramatically accelerate global clean energy innovation. As part of the initiative,

participating countries have committed to double Clean Energy Research and Development

investments over five years.

Sustainable Biofuel

The Sustainable Biofuel is one of the Seven Mission Innovation Challenges and India Co-

leads this along with other countries Brazil, Canada and China.

Conference

A two- day International Conference on Sustainable Biofuels is jointly being organized by

Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India on behalf of Mission Innovation and Biofuture

Platform at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The conference will seek to a clear understanding of the development in bio-economy

made by participating countries, increase awareness of policy makers about the challenges

faced by the industry-investor for commercial scale up of advanced biofuels. A New Delhi

Declaration on Sustainable Biofuels will be endorsed during this International Conference

which has been prepared in consultation with the Mission Innovation Member countries,

and Biofuture Platform group.






60



(Adapted from PIB)

ndship Across the Seas'. The inaugural address will be delivered by Admiral Sunil Lanba.

(Adapted from PIB)

17. Third term for Xi (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper II)

Communist party for lifting two-term limit on Presidency

China cleared the decks for President Xi Jinping s third consecutive term in office.

Communist Party of China (CPC) proposed on Sunday that the President and the Vice-

President will not be constitutionally restricted to two consecutive terms in office. This, in

effect, means that Mr. Xi, who is serving his second consecutive five-year term, can continue

beyond 2023.

Significance of removing restriction on Vice President

Analysts point out that the removal of a two-term restriction on the Vice-President is also

significant. There is speculation that Wang Qishan, the country s anti-corruption czar and

Mr. Xi s trusted ally, who officially retired in November, could be reappointed as Vice-

President.

Political system of China

The Chinese Communist Party has ruled the country since 1949, tolerating no opposition

and often dealing brutally with dissent.






61



The country's most senior decision-making body is the standing committee of the

politburo, heading a pyramid of power which tops every village and workplace.

Politburo members have never faced competitive election, making it to the top thanks to

their patrons, abilities and survival instincts in a political culture where saying the wrong

thing can lead to a life under house-arrest, or worse.

Formally, their power stems from their positions in the politburo. But in China, personal

relations count much more than job titles. A leader's influence rests on the loyalties he or

she builds with superiors and proteges, often over decades.

The politburo controls three other important bodies and ensures the party line is

upheld.These are the Military Affairs Commission, which controls the armed forces; the

National People's Congress, or parliament; and the State Council, the government's

administrative arm.

(Adapted from The Hindu and BBC.com)

18. Mohamed Nasheed, a fight for democracy (Relevant for GS Mains Paper II)

Even before he became the first democratically elected President of the Maldives,

Mohamed Nasheed had drawn global attention as a climate change hero and a pro-

democracy, human rights activist. The former President and one of the founders of the

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mr. Nasheed, 50, has been living in exile, mostly in

London, since 2016 following a criminal conviction.

What did he campaign for?

As a dissident campaigner, Mr. Nasheed was arrested several times during the term of his

predecessor Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. His frequent detention prompted his colleagues and

supporters to refer to him as the Mandela of the Maldives. He was also an Amnesty

International prisoner of conscience. Educated in the U.K. and articulate, Mr. Nasheed has

been widely perceived as an advocate of democracy in the Indian Ocean archipelago that

was gripped for 30 years by what many Maldivians regard a dictatorship.

Why did his presidency end?

Mr. Nasheed served as President from 2008 to 2012. He was the first to be elected in a

multi-party election. He defeated Mr. Gayoom, who had ruled the Maldives for three

decades at a stretch. Credited with restoring democracy in the Maldives, Mr. Nasheed

gained many fans internationally. In an interview to The Guardian in 2011, the then British

Prime Minister, David Cameron, famously called Mr. Nasheed my new best friend.

However, in February 2012, following three weeks of protests by Opposition supporters,

Mr. Nasheed resigned from office. The protests came as a response to the military arresting






62



a top judge, seen as an ally of Mr. Gayoom. Mr. Nasheed claimed that he was forced to

resign, at gun point. There were guns all around me and they told me they would not

hesitate to use them if I did not resign, he told the media then. The Vice-President,

Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, replaced him. He seemed a favourite while contesting in

the 2013 elections. However, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Abdulla

Yameen, currently the President and the estranged half-brother of Mr. Gayoom, won by a

narrow margin.

Why did he leave the country?

In March 2015, a criminal court convicted the former President on a terrorism charge and

sentenced him to 13 years in prison. The ruling was perceived as politically motivated.

Countries, including the United States and India, voiced concern over the charges and the

ruling, seen as an attempt to keep him out of politics. Mr. Nasheed claimed he was innocent,

while Mr. Yameen rejected allegations of a political motive for his arrest and conviction.

In May 2016, the U.K. granted Mr. Nasheed political asylum, amid growing international

criticism of the Yameen administration s apparent slide to authoritarianism. He has since

been living in London, making frequent trips to Colombo, where some of his party

colleagues and other self-exiled political dissidents live, fearing a political witch-hunt back

home.

What are his prospects?

Following a dramatic Supreme Court ruling on February 1, which ordered the release of

nine Opposition leaders including Mr. Nasheed, the former President vowed to run for

presidential elections scheduled for this year.

However, Mr. Yameen declared a state of emergency within days, and troops arrested the

Supreme Court Chief Justice and another judge after storming the court premises. Soon

after, the remaining three judges annulled a portion of the order, effectively revoking the

release of the nine dissidents.

While some question the legality of the amended order, issued while the Chief Justice is in

prison, the Yameen administration s move has made Mr. Nasheed s imminent return to

Male unlikely, besides drawing sharp international criticism.

Mr. Nasheed has been holding an unlikely coalition of Opposition forces together since last

year, after Mr. Gayoom, who leads a break-away faction of the PPM, and leaders from the

Jumhooree Party and the Adalath Party agreed to work with him.







63



19. Ramallah recall: On India s Palestine policy (Relevant for GS Prelims,GS Mains

Paper II)

India s strategy to grow ties with Israel and Palestine separately

Prime Minister Narendra Modi s visit to Palestine underlines the delicate balance New

Delhi has adopted in this long-standing and seemingly intractable conflict. India, which has

been a champion of the Palestinian people s national aspirations, has built strong ties with

Israel in recent years.

Last year Mr. Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel; the Ramallah visit

has come just weeks after his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, visited India.

On the other hand, late last year India voted along with a vast majority of member-states at

the UN General Assembly against U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to recognise

Jerusalem as Israel s capital.

Last week in Ramallah, the Palestinian National Authority s administrative headquarters,

Mr. Modi reiterated India s support for the Palestinian cause, saying it hopes that Palestine

soon becomes a sovereign and independent country in a peaceful atmosphere . Both sides

also signed a number of agreements for India-funded projects in the West Bank.

Conclusion

India s policy objective is clear and rooted in political realism. It wants to maintain the

balance in its relationship with both Palestine and Israel and strengthen bilateral ties with

each separately.

Why is this balance important for India?

This balance is vital for India, for which Israel is a source of defence equipment and

agricultural technology. But Israel also faces political isolation internationally over its

occupation of the Palestinian territories and does not have diplomatic ties with most

countries in West Asia. As reflected in the UNGA vote, international public opinion is

overwhelmingly against the occupation.

India, which has vital interests in the Gulf and enjoys good ties with the region s Muslim

countries, cannot afford to be seen to be politically closer to Israel at the expense of ties

with Palestinians.

So it is not a coincidence that the Prime Minister s visit to Palestine took place against the

backdrop of India s deepening ties with Israel. With the Ramallah visit, the message Mr.

Modi is sending out is that India s partnership with Israel is not at the expense of its

principled support for the Palestinian cause.






64



Change in India s policy in recent years

Still, changing nuances in India s position were on display during the visit. Traditionally,

India has supported the creation of an independent Palestine within the 1967 borders, with

East Jerusalem as its capital. According to this line, Israel would have to withdraw from the

West Bank and East Jerusalem and either pull out the Jewish settlements or do a land-swap

with the Palestinians as part of a final agreement. Mr. Modi carefully avoided any reference

to the borders or to the capital. In effect, India s support for the two-state solution remains,

but it has now stopped short of the specifics.


20. Why new Poland law reopens wounds of WWII (Relevant for GS mains Paper II)

What is the controversy over the Polish death camps ?

On February 6, Poland adopted a law to prosecute, and send to jail for three years, anyone

who holds the nation responsible for Nazi war crimes. Several academics and countries

such as the United States and Israel criticized the law, saying it was vague and could be

abused.

The government of the rightwing nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) has, however, said

the law will protect the truth .

What s the background of the law?

World War II began with the annexation of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939. An estimated

six million Poles were killed. Only a few thousand among the country s nearly three million

Jews survived. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum database lists six killing centres in

Poland— Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Majdanek. Around

3.5 million Jews were killed in these camps.

Many commentators, including some Holocaust survivors, have alleged that sections of the

Polish population at the time collaborated in the killings. However, proponents of the new

law argue that the camps only happened to have been built on Polish soil — the Polish

people could not be blamed.

It is true that many Poles saved numerous lives during the War, often without regard to

their own safety. Among the nationalities of occupied Europe, the largest numbers of those

honoured by Israel for resisting the Nazis are Poles. And as late as in 2012, nearly seven

decades after the end of the War, President Barack Obamahad to apologise after making a

reference to Polish death camps in a speech.

What does the new law say?






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The new law forbids discussion on Polish involvement in Nazi war crimes. Whoever

claims, publicly and contrary to the facts, that the Polish Nation or the Republic of Poland is

responsible or co-responsible for Nazi crimes committed by the Third Reich…, or for other felonies that constitute crimes against peace, crimes against humanity or war crimes, or

whoever otherwise grossly diminishes the responsibility of the true perpetrators of said

crimes — shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 years, the law reads. Under

the new law, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, which documents and

prosecutes crimes committed during the War, can move the court to protect the nation s

reputation. The law does speak of giving concessions to academics and to artistic

expressions but is vague on what these activities may be.

Why was the law introduced?

It is for me also essential to make sure that we as Poles, as the Polish state and the Polish nation should not be defamed and charged with complicity in the Holocaust… The historic truth is that there was no systematic institutionalised participation among Poles… Back then there was no Poland, the institutions of the Polish state were non-existent, Polish

President Andrzej Duda has said. Whoever aided people of Jewish nationality in Poland,

was under death threat, and his or her family likewise.

This bill protects polish interests… our dignity, the historical truth… so that we are not slandered as a state and as a nation, he has said. But it also takes into account the

sensitivity of those for whom the issue of historical truth, the memory of the Holocaust is

incredibly important .

But why is Israel upset?

Israel says the law will curb free speech, criminalise basic historical facts, and stop any

discussion regarding the role some Poles played in Nazi crimes. Activists say the new law

has encouraged a rise in anti-Semitism.

How old is this debate?

Over the years, Poland has attempted to address the complex issue, including leading a

massive campaign to address misconceptions . In 2001, a book titled Neighbours: The

Destruction of the Jewish Community at Jedwabne, authored by Princeton professor Jan

Gross, described a brutal massacre in the village of Jedwabne, 85 miles northeast of

Warsaw, during which some 1,600 Jews were killed with the active involvement of Polish

officials and the town council. On the 60th anniversary of the incident, Polish President

Aleksander Kwasniewski apologised: This was a particularly cruel crime. It was justified

by nothing.

The victims were helpless and defenceless, he said. For this crime, we should beg the

souls of the dead and their families for forgiveness….






66




21. Jaspal Atwal, a Khalistan activist in Canadian PM delegation (Relevant for GS

Mains Paper II)

Jaspal Atwal, involved in shooting Punjab Minister, was in Canadian delegation

Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau s office and the Modi government faced a

major embarrassment after it emerged that a convicted terrorist and Khalistan activist

from Canada had been part of the delegation s events in Mumbai and was personally

invited to a reception by the Canadian High Commission in Delhi.

Role of Atwal

The Canadian High Commission said it had rescinded the invitation to Jaspal Atwal, an

Indian-origin businessman, and former member of the banned International Sikh Youth

Federation (ISYF), thought to be responsible, along with the Babbar Khalsa, for the 1985

mid-air bombing of Air India flight 182, killing 329 persons.

Mr. Atwal was one of four men convicted for shooting Punjab Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu

in 1986 during a private visit to Canada. Though the verdict was overturned, Mr. Atwal

admitted to the parole board that he was the shooter that day, Canadian media reported.

Khalistan movement

The Khalistan movement is a Sikh nationalist movement that wants to create an

independent state for Sikh people, via armed struggle or political, inside the current North-

Western Republic of India Such a state existed in Punjab from 1709 to 1849. This Sikh

Empire had its capital in Lahore, Pakistan. Most of historical Sikh empire is now part of






67



Pakistan. Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Pakistan administrated Kashmir were part of the

Sikh empire. Pakistani Punjab, FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were major part of the Sikh

empire. The new state created would be called Khalistan in the modern territories

of Eastern Pakistan and Western India. Its stated capital would be Lahore, a city where Sikh

empire was commenced by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and ruled for centuries by his

descendants. Khalistan has many separatist groups such as Khalistan Liberation Force and

other groups such as Babbar Khalsa.


22. India s ranking in corruption perception index falls to 81(Relevant for GS


The Corruption Perception Index Report 2017

India s ranking in the annual corruption index, released by Berlin-based non-government

organisation Transparency International (TI), slid to 81 among a group of 180 countries.

The Corruption Perception Index 2017 also singled out India as one of the worst

offenders in the Asia-Pacific region.

2016 Report

In 2016, India was in the 79th place among 176 countries. India s ranking in the index had

plummeted in 2013 and 2014 in the wake of the spectrum and coal scams. The ranking has

improved since then but seems to be showing signs of weakening.

Performance of other countries

New Zealand and Singapore scored the highest scores with 89 and 84 out of 100,

respectively. Somalia was found to be the most corrupt country in the world. A majority of

the world s countries scored below 50 on the index with the global average score coming at

around 43. India s score of 40 in 2017 puts it below the global average.

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL (TI)

TI is an international non-governmental organization which is based in Berlin, Germany,

and was found in the year 1993. The objective of TI is to combat corruption by making

public corruption levels in various nations. TI releases publications such as Corruption

Perceptions Index and Global Corruption Barometer.

About Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

Transparency International has published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) since

1995, annually ranking countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by

expert assessments and opinion surveys . The CPI generally defines corruption as the

misuse of public power for private benefit . The index has been complied by using data






68



from multiple forums such as World Bank, World Economic Forum (WEF) and other

institutions. It ranks countries on the score, in the scale ranging from 0 (highly corrupt) to

100 (very clean).

About Global Corruption Barometer

The Global Corruption Barometer published by TI is the largest survey in the world

tracking public opinion on corruption.It surveys more than 100,000 people in more than

100 countries on their view of corruption.The survey has the question whether they have

paid a bribe to a public body during the last year .For a small number of countries,

including Brazil and Russia, data on particular questions has been excluded because of

concerns about validity and reliability.The margin of error for each country is 3%. The

typical sample size is 1,000 people. Four countries that have a sample size of 500 people

have a margin of 4% error.

Comparison with Corruption Perception Index

Unlike the other similar Corruption Perception Index published by TI, this is a survey

directly asking the population instead of using perceived expert opinions , which is liable

to substantial bias and has been under criticism as such.

(Adapted from website of Transparency International and Background from

PrepMate-Cengage International organisations and Bilateral Relations; Chapter 6,

Page 137)

23. What s the mystery bug stalking the Winter Olympics in Korea? (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS mains Paper III)

PyeongChang 2018, the ongoing XXIII Olympic Winter Games at the South Korean city of

Pyeongchang, has been hit by an extraordinary outbreak of disease. A Norovirus infection

is sweeping through the Games Village. The number of cases since the lead-up to the Games

opening on February 9 has reached 232. 92 countries are taking part in PyeongChang 2018,

which will continue until February 25; no athletes have, however, taken ill so far.

So, what is Norovirus?

It is a bug similar to the diarrhoea-inducing rotavirus for which India has recently included

a vaccine in its universal immunisation programme. While rotavirus primarily affects

children, Norovirus infects people across age groups. Disease outbreaks typically occur

aboard cruise ships, in nursing homes, dormitories, and other closed spaces (such as the

Games quarters).

Symptoms — a sudden onset of vomiting and/or diarrhoea — usually show up one or two

days after exposure to the virus. Infected persons also experience nausea and abdominal

pain, and may have fever, headaches and bodyaches. In extreme cases, loss of fluids could

lead to dehydration. The disease is self-limiting — the infection, even though it takes a lot






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out of the patient, normally lasts only two or three days, and most individuals who are not

very young, very old, or malnourished can ride it out with sufficient rest and hydration.

How do you get the infection?

Norovirus is highly contagious, and can be transmitted through contaminated food, water,

and surfaces. The primary route is oral-faecal. One may get infected multiple times as the

virus has different strains. Norovirus is resistant to many disinfectants and heat up to 60°C.

Therefore, merely steaming food or chlorinating water does not kill the virus. The virus can

also survive many common hand sanitisers.

How common is Norovirus infection?

It is the most common pathogen implicated in outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease

(inflammation of the stomach and intestines), according to the World Health Organisation.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one out of every

five cases of acute gastroenteritis worldwide is caused by Norovirus. There are 685 million

cases annually, of which 200 million are detected among children younger than five years.

Nearly 50,000 children die every year due to diarrhoea caused by the virus.

How can the infection be prevented and treated?

The basic precaution is also the most obvious — repeatedly washing hands with soap after

using the lavatory or changing diapers. It is important to wash hands scrupulously before

eating or preparing food. During outbreaks, surfaces must disinfected with a solution of

hypochlorite at 5,000 parts per million. Diagnosis is done by real-time reverse

transcription polymerase chain reaction. No vaccines are available for the disease. It is

important to maintain hydration in the acute phase. In extreme cases, patients have to be

administered rehydration fluids intravenously.

How did PyeongChang 2018 become the theatre for an outbreak?

Confined spaces with many individuals are generally vulnerable, but the specific reasons in

this case are unclear. According to a statement issued by the organising committee, the

Korean ministries of food and drug safety, and environment tested the water system used

for cooking food in the facility, but found no signs of the virus. While this outbreak seems to

be of a particularly large scale, there have been reports of similar attacks at sporting events

earlier, including a suspected Norovirus attack on one of the team hotels during the World

Athletics Championships in London last year.

(Adapted from the Indian Express )

24. India and Iran signed of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)

(Relevant for GS Prelims)






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India and Iran signed here in New Delhi today an Agreement for the Avoidance of Double

Taxation (DTAA) and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income.

The Agreement is on similar lines as entered into by India with other countries. The

Agreement will stimulate flow of investment, technology and personnel from India to Iran&

vice versa, and will prevent double taxation. The Agreement will provide for exchange of

information between the two Contracting Parties as per latest International Standards. It

will improve transparency in tax matters and will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.

What is DTAA?

A DTAA, also referred to as a tax treaty, is a bilateral economic agreement between two

nations that aims to avoid or eliminate double taxation of the same income in two

countries.

As on 31 March 2017, India has DTAA with 88 countries, but presently 85 has been in force.

(Adapted from pib)

25. Alliance divided: on Sri Lankan politics (Read only for understanding)

Chances of break in coalition

Fissures between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, and

the United National Party, led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, have deepened.

The fragile national unity government they run together is beset by instability and

uncertainty.

Popular disenchantment

The local council polls, won resoundingly by the Sri Lanka People s Front, which has the

backing of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, have brought to the fore popular

disenchantment with the ruling parties, particularly over unemployment and rural distress

caused by drought.

Details of differences

Even prior to the elections, Mr. Sirisena disagreed often with his Prime Minister over policy

measures. In his campaign, he highlighted an inquiry report that indicted some associates

of Mr. Wickremesinghe in a mammoth scandal in the sale of government bonds by Sri

Lanka s central bank. It was no surprise when the parties contested separately, but neither

of them foresaw the outcome, which could mark the return of Mr. Rajapaksa as a major

political force.

After the results were out the alliance came under stress as Mr. Sirisena wanted the Prime

Minister to resign, but the latter has made it clear he will stay on. Amidst efforts by each






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camp to form an alternative regime that would exclude the other, Mr. Wickremesinghe has

said the coalition stands. There is talk of a Cabinet reshuffle as a means of settling their

differences, but the durability of the alliance remains in doubt.

Why is the coalition still surviving?

The coalition rides on the moral strength of the twin mandate of 2015: Mr. Sirisena s

victory in the presidential election over Mr. Rajapaksa, and the alliance s decisive win in the

parliamentary elections held later. The alliance had obtained public support for its reform

agenda and for showing a path away from authoritarian trends and institutional decay. It

would be unfortunate if partisan interests are placed above the people s aspirations. The

two leaders should seek to sink their differences and win back popular confidence. The

coalition should continue to pursue the process of framing a new and inclusive

constitution. It should fulfil its promises on reconciliation to the war-affected Tamils,

whose backing proved crucial in their march to power. One electoral setback should not

result in the project of national reconciliation falling victim to narrow political interests.


26. Syrian regime offensive in Eastern Ghouta (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Airstrikes and bombardment by Syrian govt in Eastern Ghouta

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has demonstrated once again that his regime cares little

about the lives of its own people. The barbaric campaign of airstrikes and bombardments

launched by government forces in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus,

have killed at least 270 people in three days.

Why was attack undertaken?

Eastern Ghouta, with an estimated population of 400,000, is one of the last significant areas

held by militants fighting the regime. It fell into the hands of the rebels in the early stages of

the seven-year-long civil war, and repeated government attempts to overrun it were foiled.

It was here that chemical weapons were used in 2013, killing hundreds of people.

When most other rebel-held parts of Syria, including Aleppo, were recaptured by

government troops, militants have moved to Eastern Ghouta and Idlib. Now both areas are

under attack. In the use of heavy firepower, the assault resembles the government

campaign in Aleppo and elsewhere.

Similar strategy as followed in Aleppo

In Aleppo, one of Syria s largest cities, Syrian and Russian jets pounded rebel targets in late

2016; this was followed by a ground attack by government troops and Iran-trained

militants.






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Similarly, Eastern Ghouta, which was under a government blockade for years, appears to

have been surrounded by ground forces, which could advance to rebel positions inside the

city any time.

Arguments by government

There is a wide range of militant groups in Eastern Ghouta, including the Saudi-backed

Jaysh al-Islam, the Qatar-funded Faylaq al-Rahman, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the

Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. The government says the city is occupied by terrorists from

these groups and that the few civilians remaining there are used as human shields.

Nonetheless, the government narrative is problematic as it holds all residents of Eastern

Ghouta responsible for the occupation of the area by militants.

Brutal behaviour

The years-long blockade of the area that has deprived Eastern Ghouta of food and

medicines, and the indiscriminate bombing, killing of unarmed civilians including children,

expose the monstrosity of the Assad regime. From the very beginning of the civil war, the

regime and its Russian and Iranian backers have paid little attention to human suffering, be

it in Hama, Homs, Aleppo or Eastern Ghouta. Given the brutality it has unleashed now, the

government could capture Eastern Ghouta as well.


27. Bank of Baroda s role in South Africa s Gupta scandal (Read only for

understanding)

Senior Bank of Baroda (BoB) officials suppressed numerous alerts filed by junior officials at

the Johannesburg branch about transactions in accounts controlled by the Gupta brothers

of the Sahara group, whose financial dealings resulted in the resignation of South African

President Jacob Zuma. These alerts or suspicious activity reports (SARs) were voided by

BoB managers and thereby never reached the South African Financial Intelligence Centre.

What were the suspicious transactions?

Over 17,000 transactions were carried out since January 2012. This continued even after

other banks terminated their dealings with the brothers in 2016. Their accounts received

payments from state-run enterprises against bills that are under scrutiny, moved large

sums of money abroad and shifted equally large sums between accounts of a clutch of shell

companies.

President Zuma s fourth wife Bongi Ngema Zuma, who was gifted a house by the Guptas,

was on the payrolls of a Gupta firm for a staggering $12,300 monthly salary, making her

one of the higher paid private sector executives in the country.






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The South African government s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) told a local court on February

23 that much of the money that the Guptas received in the BoB accounts was illegal.


28. Understanding India s blacklist : What it is, who are included in it (GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II)

The grant of an Indian visa to Canadian national Jaspal Atwal, who was convicted on

charges of attempt to murder, triggered a controversy during the visit of Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau. While the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that Atwal s, name was

removed from the blacklist in July last year, Canadian authorities maintained that he is a

reformed man, and that the government was engaging with other individuals who had not

been involved with separatist or extremist activities in recent years. The blacklist

maintained by the Indian government is reviewed from time to time, and name of

individuals are added or deleted on the recommendations made by central agencies or

state police.

What exactly is the blacklist ?

It is a list containing the names of Indian citizens and foreigners against whom a look out

circular (LOC) has been issued. This consolidated list is maintained by the Foreigners

Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It is sent to all Indian diplomatic missions

across the world, as well as to immigration checkposts within the country. At present, there

are nearly 30,000 individuals, including foreign nationals, in the blacklist database of the

MHA. The list was pruned from 38,000 in 2016.

Why were many NRI Sikhs blacklisted?

The blacklist is not in the public domain. Its existence became known in the early 1990s

after Punjab leaders received complaints from Sikhs abroad that they were being denied

entry into India. Following Operation Blue Star in 1984, many Sikhs who protested the

Army action at the Golden Temple or were alleged to be involved in anti-national

activities, sought political asylum in foreign countries. Indian intelligence agencies gave a

list containing their names to all Indian embassies and high commissions. Consequently,

these individuals were denied Indian visas. Names of more than 100 Sikh individuals were

removed when the list was reviewed in 2017.

Who are the authorities on whose request an LOC can be issued?

The authorities include the Ministry of External Affairs, the Customs and Income-Tax

departments, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Central Bureau of Investigation

(CBI), regional passport officers, police authorities in various states and the International

Criminal Police Organisation, commonly known as Interpol. Unless specified, an LOC is






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valid for one year. However, agencies concerned are allowed to make a request to

immigration authorities for the extension of an LOC before its expiry.

What are the categories of cases in which agencies can seek an LOC?

Investigating agencies can approach immigration authorities for issuance of an LOC in

cases of offences recognised by the Indian Penal Code or other penal provisions, or when

the accused/suspect is deliberately evading arrest or not appearing for trial in court in

spite of a non-bailable warrant and similar coercive measures. It can also be issued when

there is a likelihood of the suspect leaving the country to evade trial or arrest. In cases

where the offence is not recognised by the IPC, LOC cannot be issued to prevent the

individual from leaving the country. In such cases, the agencies can only ask to be informed

about the arrival or departure of these individuals.

What is the process to be followed by an agency before requesting an LOC?

Investigators must submit a written request, providing details regarding the individual s

involvement in a crime, to an officer notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The officer

should not be below the rank of deputy secretary to the Government of India, joint

secretary in a state government, superintendent of police at the district level or in CBI/NIA,

zonal director in NCB, deputy commissioner in DRI, assistant director of Intelligence

Bureau or bureau of immigration, deputy secretary in R&AW, assistant director of

Enforcement Directorate, among others. LOCs can also be issued on the direction of any

criminal court in India.

What legal remedies are available to blacklisted individuals?

According to legal experts, their best bet is to cooperate with investigating agencies. They

can approach a court or the competent officer, who issued the LOC, for its withdrawal.

What is the role of a subordinate court in a LOC related case?

LOC is a coercive measure used by investigating agencies and courts to compel suspects

awaiting trial to surrender. If an LOC is issued on the basis of a non-bailable warrant by a

subordinate court, a cancellation of that warrant by the court will make it invalid.

Can an LOC be issued at the request of statutory bodies in cases of child abuse?

In a verdict delivered in July 2010, the Delhi High Court observed that a request for

issuance of LOC cannot emanate from statutory body like NCW . Following the court s

observation, the Centre framed guidelines according to which, requests [for LOC] along

with full necessary facts are first to be brought to the notice of law enforcement agencies like the police. The SP concerned will then make the request for issuance of an LOC… strictly in terms of procedure… .

(News from The Indian Express)






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Economics

1. GeM 3.0 launched (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

What is Government e Marketplace (GeM)?

Government e Marketplace (GeM), has been envisaged by Government of India as the

National Procurement Portal of India. GeM strives to keep pace with ever-evolving

technological challenges and stake holder aspirations and in line with this endeavour, GeM

is coming up with a scaled up third version.

The GeM 2.0 was launched as a pilot in August 2016 and its success led to this massive

transformation program – GeM 3.0 would offer standardised and enriched catalogue

management, powerful search engine, real time price comparison, template-based Bid and

RA creation, demand aggregation, e-EMD, e-PBG, user rating, advanced MIS and analytics

and more.

What is special about GeM 3.0?

Some of the notable enhancements in the 3.0 version:

-Market Based generic requirements across all government agencies

-Standardisation of specifications of both products and services enabling empirical price

comparability

-Completely transparent transactions across all ranges

-Generic standards established through universal service levels and cost comparison

enabled

-Open and dynamic market place with rating based on performance of user on website

(Adapted from Pib)

2. Return of long term capital gains tax spooks Sensex (Relevant for GS prelims, GS

Mains Paper III)

India s financial markets went into a tailspin with benchmark equity indices clocking the

sharpest single-day fall in nearly 15 months following the return of the long-term capital

gains (LTCG) tax on equities in this Budget.

What has budget proposed?

Budget has proposed an LTCG tax on equity instruments on all capital gains exceeding Rs.1

lakh at the rate of 10%, without offering any indexation benefit that allows gains to be set

off against inflation.






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The government introduced STT in October 2004 to replace the then existing LTCG. STT is

charged at 0.1% of the trade value in cash market trades. However, now STT will remain

and LTCG has been reintroduced.


3. Deciphering LTCG tax on equity (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

What is LTCG?

LTCG or long-term capital gains refer to the gains made on any class of asset held for a

particular period of time. In case of equity shares, it refers to the gains made on stocks held

for more than one year. In other words, if the shares are bought and held for more than a

year before selling, then the gains, if any, on the said sale are referred to as long term

capital gains or LTCG.

Why is LTCG tax in the news?

It is in the news as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley re-introduced LTCG tax on equity shares.

Investors have to pay 10% LTCG tax on gains exceeding Rs. one lakh on the sale of shares

or equity mutual funds held for more than one year. Previously, short-term capital gains

(STCG) tax of 15% was levied.

The Centre said if the gains exceeded Rs. one lakh in a year, then 10% LTCG tax had to be

paid without the benefit of indexation (adjusting the profit against inflation to compute the

real taxable gains).

Was the tax levied on stock market trades earlier?

Such a tax existed until October 2004 when it was replaced by the securities transaction tax

(STT) which was levied on all trades made on the stock exchanges. STT is charged at 0.1%

of the trade value in cash market trades.

The issue of tax evasion through stock exchanges by paying a small STT component instead

of LTCG had been raised regularly. Further, a study in 2016 stated that between 2005-06

and 2011-12, the Centre lost about Rs. 3.5 lakh crore by replacing LTCG tax with STT.

How will LTCG tax be computed?

Typically, when such a levy is introduced, it is structured in a manner so that prior

investments get some kind of relief. In technical parlance, it is called the grandfathering

benefit.

The government, while reintroducing the LTCG tax, said all gains made prior to January 31

would be grandfathered.






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Here is how it works: for example, assume an entity bought shares in January 2017 at

Rs.100, which touched a high of Rs. 200 on January 31, 2018. Now, if he or she sells the

shares at Rs. 300 in, say, May 2018, then his taxable gains would be Rs. 100. (Rs. 300- Rs.

200).

Will all investors be subject to LTCG tax?

All investors who trade on stock exchanges would be required to pay LTCG tax.

Incidentally, the Centre has brought in LTCG tax while retaining STT as well. So, investors

will have to pay both the taxes. However, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who invest in

India from places like Mauritius and Singapore, would not be subject to LTCG tax, courtesy

tax avoidance treaties.

This benefit, however, would be available only till the time the treaty benefit exists as the

Centre is reworking all such so-called double tax avoidance agreements (DTAA).

For instance, the Singapore and Mauritius treaties also have a grandfathering clause plus a

tax of only 5% on the computed gains. This, in effect, makes it more attractive for foreign

investors to trade through the Mauritius or Singapore route.

How did the stock markets react to the introduction of the tax?

A day after the Budget, benchmark equity indices — Sensex and Nifty — lost more than 2%

each. The Sensex lost more than 900 points during intraday trading as it ended with its

worst single-day fall in almost 15 months.

The introduction of LTCG tax can only increase the cost of trading stocks at a time when

various market participants have been highlighting the export of capital to other countries

due to lower transaction costs in those nations. Incidentally, there are already reports that

the government might look at the possibility of at least allowing the benefit of indexation

while computing LTCG that would be a partial relief to investors.


4. Launch of Startupindia Ranking Framework (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper III)

Three new tools for States and Union Territories for ranking of startups in the country was

launched by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry.

The tools are: The State and Union Territory Startup Ranking Framework, the Compendium

of Good Practices for Promoting Startups in India and the Startup India Kit. These will act

as catalysts to help the Startup India initiative to drive India s economic growth.






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Startup States and UTs Ranking Framework

The key objective of the Startup States and UTs Ranking Framework is to encourage States

and UTs to take proactive steps towards strengthening the Startup ecosystems at the local

level. The Ranking Framework will measure the impact of each step initiated at the local

level for building a strong Startup ecosystem. The Ranking Framework will also enable

contnuous learning through the dissemination of good practices.

The parameters of this feedback focus on all the actions and initiatives undertaken by

states on or before March 2018. These include having a startup cell or helpline and a

mobile or web portal for queries, the size of the startup mentor network created by the

state government and the number of key incubators for incubation support to startups.

The Startup India Hub portal will provide a platform for the launch of the Ranking

Framework.

Compendium of Good Practices for Promoting Startups

The official release of theStartup India Compendium of Good Practises for promoting

Startups in India focuses on enriching the Startup ecosystem through ethical behaviours

and is currently followed by 18 States and UTs. It covers 95 good practises across 7 areas of

intervention. These are distilled into 38 action points including Incubation Support, Seed

Funding, Angel & Venture Funding, Startup Policy & Implementation, Simplified

Regulations, Easing Public Procurement, Awareness & Outreach.

Startup India Kit

The Startup India Kit is primarily a one-stop guide on all Startup India offerings. It offers

vital information, advice and assistance through website links, statistics, tools, templates,

events, competitions and a glossary on startup terms. All the benefits available to startups

from the Startup India initiative can be found in the kit.

(Adapted from pib)

5. National Steel Policy (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains Paper III)

The National Steel Policy, 2017 envisages a crude steel capacity of 300 MT by 2030-31.

India s crude steel production crossed the 100 million tonnes(mt) in the year 2017.

The salient features of the National Steel Policy, 2017 are:-

-The National Steel Policy, 2017 aspires to achieve 300 MT of steelmaking capacity by

2030. This would translate into additional investment of Rs.10 lakh Crore and 1.1 million

additional workforces getting employed in the steel sector by 2030-31.

-The policy seeks to increase consumption of steel and major segments are infrastructure,

automobiles and housing.






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-National Steel Policy, 2017 seeks to increase per capita steel consumption to the level of

160 Kg by 2030-31 from the level of around 61 KG.

-Policy stipulates that adoption of energy efficient technologies by small steel producers

will be encouraged to improve the overall productivity & reduce energy intensity.

(Adapted from PIB)

6. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to enable Digital Payments in Post Offices by

April 2018 (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) Expansion Programme continues to make brisk progress

and a nation-wide roll-out is scheduled beginning April 2018. Once the proposed expansion

is completed, IPPB will be providing the largest financial inclusion network in the country,

covering both urban as well as rural hinterland with ability to provide digital payment

services at the doorstep with the help of Postmen and Gramin Dak Sewaks (GDS). IPPB will

also enable more than 17 crore active account-holders of Post Office Savings Bank to make

interoperable digital payments including the benefit of NEFT, RTGS, UPI and bill payment

services. Additionally, the IPPB will enable acceptance of digital payments across post

offices in the country in line with the digital payments initiative of the government.

Why rope in Indian Post?

The main challenge banks today face in financial inclusion is the lack of last mile

connectivity. With the government s focus on financial inclusion, it is quite logical to

convert India Post to a bank given its strong network pan-India (especially in the rural

areas).

Banks simply do not have the kind of presence required to target the vast unbanked

population in the rural areas and even urban poor. However, India Post with its vast

network of more than 1.5 lakh offices, 90 per cent of which are in rural areas, can aid in

financial inclusion. This should be compared with about 1.05 lakh branches of all the banks

in the country. Further India Post is a significant player in the domestic remittance

business with experience in managing small savings deposits.

What would be new entity known as?

The new entity would be known as India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), a public limited

company under the Department of Posts, with 100 per cent Government of India equity.

As per the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), payments banks can accept

deposits of up to Rs.1 lakh and sell insurance and mutual fund products.

About Payments Bank






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Payments banks can accept deposits up to `1 lakh per customer and are allowed to pay

customers interest on the money that is being deposited. Payments bank can open either

current accounts or saving accounts.

For companies that have operated as mobile wallets (which are a type of prepaid

instrument), this is a big step forward as it raises the funds limit and allows interest to be

paid on deposits, making it more attractive for users to store their money.

How Is a Payments Bank Different from a Bank?

Unlike a regular bank, a payments bank cannot loan money to people or issue credit cards.

Also, payments banks are only allowed to invest the money received from customers

deposit into government securities. While payments banks cannot issue credit cards, they

can issue ATM and debit cards.

How Payments Bank Will Ensure Financial Inclusion?

A payments bank account holder would be able to deposit and withdraw money through

any ATM or even through the small convenience shop in a village that sells mobile recharge

coupons. Thus, these small convenience shops will serve the purpose of bank branches.

Payments banks can be integrated with savings bank accounts. As already mentioned,

payments banks ATM or debit cards will also work on all banks machines. However,

payments banks cannot accept NRI deposits.

Which Companies Have Been Given Approval?

In 2015, RBI had granted in-principle approval to 11 entities, including Department of

Posts, to set up payments banks. The RBI guidelines say that payments bank licenses

would be granted to mobile firms, supermarket chains and others, to cater to individuals

and small businesses. These mobile firms, supermarket chains, mobile wallets would help

in extending reach of the payments banks across the country.

(Adapted from PIB and background from PrepMate-Cengage Economic Book;

Chapter 17, page 272)

7. The lowdown on the MSP roadmap (Relevant for GS Prelims and Mains Paper III)

What is it?

Amid the increasing agrarian distress across the country, the Union Budget 2018-19

proposed to give farmers a minimum support price (MSP) 1.5 times of the production cost.

The agriculture sector provides food security to 1.3 billion people, absorbs 54% of the

workforce and touches the lives of two-thirds of the rural population. Yet it is lagging,






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resulting in widening disparity between the farm-dependant population and those working

in the other sectors.

How did it come about?

The Union government introduced public procurement of paddy and wheat at the MSP in

1965-66 to address grain shortage. For calculating production cost, two broad concepts —

Cost A 2 and Cost C 2 — are used. Cost A 2 includes all expenses paid by the farmer in cash

or kind such as seed, fertilizer, farmyard manure, pesticides, hired labour, machine labour

and irrigation and maintenance costs. It also includes rent paid for leased-in land,

depreciation of assets, interest on the working capital and the imputed cost of owned seed,

farmyard manure and machine labour. Cost C 2 is calculated by adding to Cost A 2 the

imputed cost of family labour, the interest on fixed capital and the rental value of owned

land. The question being raised from several quarters is whether the proposed increase

will be based on the formula for MSP recommended by the National Commission on

Farmers, 2006.

Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, in his report submitted to the Central government in 2006,

recommended that MSP be based on production cost (C 2 cost) plus a 50% margin. The

government submitted a written reply in the Supreme Court against this formula. However,

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his budget speech, announced the MSP fixation on

the basis of production cost plus a 50% margin. The technical detail in this regard, though,

was missing in the speech. Production cost means all paid-out costs, including the rent paid

for leased-in land and the imputed value of family labour.

Why does it matter?

Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor of the Ludhiana-based Punjab Agricultural

University, a pioneer of the Green Revolution in India, points out that the Finance Minister

announced that the MSP for the Rabi crops for the crop year 2017-18 had been fixed on the

basis of production cost plus a 50% margin, which is not borne out by data. That indicates

that the Central government may be working on some other definition of production cost

rather than the C 2 cost. Although remunerative prices are required for a desirable level of

living for the farmers, MSP is no panacea for all problems as 85% of the farmers in the

country are small farmers (owing less than 5 acres) and have little marketable surplus.

Hence, the inputs subsidy policy should have been formulated to watch the interests of

these farmers. The staggered MSP is another option for reducing the glut in the market

during the harvesting season, easing the role of procurement agencies and minimising

storage losses and costs. But these issues are missing from the budget, he says.

What next?

The Ramesh Chand Committee, constituted to examine the methodological issues in fixing

MSP, suggested that for calculating production cost, family labour head should be

considered a skilled worker. Further, it said the interest on working capital should be given






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for the whole season against the existing half season, and the actual rental value prevailing

in the village should be considered without a ceiling on the rent. Moreover, post-harvest

costs, including cleaning, grading, drying, packaging, marketing and transportation, should

be included. The committee recommended that the cost C 2 should be raised by 10% to

account for the risk premium and managerial charges. Many experts believe that to address

the current agrarian crisis, MSP should be fixed on the basis of the Ramesh Chand

Committee s report.


8. Why the fuss about fiscal deficit? (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

The fiscal deficit turns out to be 3.5% for the year, instead of 3.2%.

What is fiscal deficit?

In FY18, the Centre s total income (as per the revised estimates) from taxes, non-tax

revenues and capital items is estimated at Rs.16.23 lakh crore.

But it expects to incur a total expenditure of Rs.22.17 lakh crore. Expenditure will thus

overshoot income by about 36.5%, leaving a shortfall of Rs.5.94 lakh crore.

This Rs.5.94 lakh crore shortfall is euphemistically termed as the fiscal deficit. When it is

expressed as a percentage of India s nominal GDP (Rs.167 lakh crore as per latest CSO

estimates), it appears modest at 3.5%. But this tells you why even a minor slippage in the

fiscal deficit is so keenly watched. A 30-basis point overshoot in the deficit means a Rs.

50,000 crore hole in the Budget.

Borrowings mount

When the Centre ends up spending more than it earns, it takes recourse to market

borrowings to bridge the gap. The borrowing target for the year is closely watched by the

bond market because the larger the government s loan-taking, the less room for other

borrowers — companies, small businesses, individuals — to raise funds from India s

relatively shallow bond market.

Many years of such profligacy had led to the Indian government sitting on a significant

stockpile of debt. By end-March 2018, the outstanding loans of the Central government are

estimated to hit Rs. 82.32 lakh crore. That s up from Rs. 57 lakh crore five years ago and

amounts to 49.3% of the nominal GDP. The saving grace is that the bulk of those loans are

from domestic sources, with just Rs. 2.4 lakh crore owed to foreign lenders.

Unproductive spends

If the government s expenditure routinely overshoots its receipts and budgeted estimates,

why is there so much angst about the under-allocation to welfare schemes?






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The answer lies in the extremely limited elbow room that the Centre enjoys in deciding on

its Budget allocations.

Expenditure on interest, pensions and subsidies

While allocations to pet schemes may take up a lot of time in the Budget speech, the reality

is that the bulk of the expenditure each year is absorbed by just three recurring items —

interest payments, pensions and subsidies. In the FY18 revised estimates, for instance,

interest payments (by far the largest item of expense) were expected to absorb Rs. 5.3 lakh

crore, pensions Rs. 1.5 lakh crore and subsidies Rs. 2.3 lakh crore.

In short, servicing interest payouts alone will take up 32% of the Centre s earnings this

year, while pensions and subsidies absorb another 23%.

With 23% allocated to State grants and 16% to defence expenditure, these repetitive

expenses will effectively mop up 95% of the total Budget receipts.

This makes it evident why there s so little room in the annual Budget for allocations to new

ideas or schemes.

Lack of asset creation

The other long-lamented problem with the expenditure pattern is that the bulk of the

Budget spending goes into consumption or maintenance expenses, with very little spent on

creating new assets.

In FY18, just 12% of the budget was defrayed in capital spending.


9. Government of India makes Amendments in Small Savings Act (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS Mains Paper II, GS Mains Paper III)

In order to remove existing ambiguities due to multiple Acts and rules for Small Saving

Schemes, Government of India has proposed merger of Government Savings Certificates

Act, 1959 and Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 with the Government Savings Banks Act,

1873. With a single act, relevant provisions of the Government Savings Certificates (NSC)

Act, 1959 and the Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 would stand subsumed in the new

amended Act without compromising on any of the functional provision of the existing Act.

Objective of common act

All existing protections have been retained while consolidating PPF Act under the

proposed Government Savings Promotion Act. No existing benefits to depositors are

proposed to be taken away through this process. The main objective in proposing a

common Act is to make implementation easier for the depositors as they need not go






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through different rules and Acts for understanding the provision of various small saving

schemes, and also to introduce certain flexibilities for the investors.

Concerns addressed

However, concerns have been raised from different corners and also by print and social

media that the Government aims to bring down the protection against the attachment of

Public Provident Fund Account under any decree or order of any court in respect of any

debt or liability incurred by the depositors. It is made clear that there is no proposal to

withdraw the said provision and the existing and future depositors will continue to enjoy

protection from the attachment under the amended umbrella Act as well.

Also, Apprehension that certain Small Savings Schemes would be closed is also without

basis.

New benefits

Apart from ensuring existing benefits, certain new benefits to the depositors have been

proposed under the bill. These are:

1.As per PPF Act, the PPF account can t be closed prematurely before completion of five

financial years. If depositor wants to close PPF account before five years in exigencies, he

can t close the account. To make provisions for premature closure easier in respect of all

schemes, provisions could now be made through specific scheme notification. The benefits

of premature closure of Small Savings Schemes may now be introduced to deal with

medical emergencies, higher education needs, etc.

2.Investment in Small Savings Schemes can be made by Guardian on behalf of minor(s)

under the provisions made in the proposed bill Guardian may also be given associated

rights and responsibilities.

3.There was no clear provision earlier regarding deposit by minors in the existing Acts. The

provision has been made now to promote culture of savings among children.

4.There were no clear provisions in all the three Acts for the operation of accounts in the

name of physically infirm and differently abled persons. Provisions in this regard have now

been made.

5.As per existing provisions of the Acts, if depositor dies and nomination exists, the

outstanding balances will be paid to nominee(s). Whereas, Hon ble Supreme Court in its

judgement stated that nominee(s) is merely empowered to collect the amounts as Trustee

for the benefit of legal heirs. It was creating disputes between the provisions of the Acts






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and verdict of Supreme Court. Hence, right of nominees have now been more clearly

defined.

6.In the existing Acts, there is no provision for nomination with regard to account opened

in the name of minor. Further, existing Acts say that if account holder dies and there is no

nomination and amount is more than prescribed limit, the amount shall be paid to legal

heirs. In this case, the guardian has to obtain succession certificate. To remove this

inconvenience, provisions for nomination with regard to account opened in the name of

minors have been incorporated. Further the provision has been made that if the minor dies

and there is no nomination, the balances shall be paid to guardian.

7.The existing Acts are silent about grievance redressal. The amended Act allows the

Government to put in place mechanism for redressal of grievances and for amicable and

expeditious settlement of disputes relating to Small Savings.

8.The above provisions which are proposed to be incorporated in the amended Act will add

to the flexibility in operation of the Account under Small Savings Schemes.

Apart from offering higher interest rates compared to bank deposits, some of the small

savings schemes also enjoy income tax benefits. No change in interest rate or tax policy on

small savings scheme is being made through this amendment.

(Adapted from Pib)

10. Governance reforms and recognition of losses are a must to solve the bad loans

crisis (Relevant for GS Mains Paper III)

If the financial performance of India s largest lender is anything to go by, an end to the

severe bad loans crisis may be much farther beyond the horizon than previously

anticipated.

Financial results of SBI

For the first time in almost 19 years, the State Bank of India reported a quarterly loss of Rs.

2,416 crore for the three months ended December, compared with a net profit of Rs. 2,610

crore in the year-earlier period.

Reasons for loss

While the figures are not strictly comparable after SBI completed merger with its

associates, the loss was the result of both a massive increase in provisions to account for

bad loans and a substantial amount of mark-to-market losses on its holding of government

bonds.

Provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) more than doubled to about Rs. 17,760 crore,

from about Rs. 7,200 crore in the third quarter of 2016-17. On treasury operations, SBI






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recorded a loss of about Rs. 3,255 crore, versus a profit of about Rs. 4,776 crore in the

comparable period. The bank revealed that an audit by the Reserve Bank of India showed a

divergence of Rs. 23,239 crore in the way it classified assets at the end of the last financial

year, which led to increase in provisions in the last quarter. Most of these reclassified

assets are linked to troubled projects in sectors including power and telecom. SBI, of

course, is not the only lender to have had its assets forcibly reclassified by the RBI. Private

sector lenders have also been found guilty of pushing troubled assets under the carpet until

the RBI called their bluff.

Level of NPAs

It may be tempting to believe that last year s bankruptcy law reforms will soon begin to

ease the pain at banks by encouraging the quick sale of assets of troubled borrowers. The

proceeds from such sales, however, would likely amount to very little in comparison with

the mammoth scale of troubled assets. According to a joint study by Assocham and Crisil,

gross NPAs in the banking system are estimated to increase to Rs. 9.5 lakh crore by March

2018, from Rs. 8 lakh crore a year earlier. In that case, write-offs recognising losses may be

the most honest and practical way to deal with the bad loans problem.


So, the RBI in the coming months should continue to push banks, both public and private, to

promptly recognise the stressed loans on their portfolios. While it is quite true that the

present bad loans crisis has been a long time in the making, the problem of lax corporate

governance, which has plagued public sector banks and contributed in no small measure to

the present crisis, still remains largely unaddressed by the government. Even the latest

plan to recapitalise public sector banks may achieve little more than giving some

temporary relief to lenders for the sake of reviving credit growth. The bad loans problem is

likely to remain a festering sore and risks undermining the health of the economy until

meaningful structural reforms to the banking system are undertaken.


11. Inside the Punjab National Bank fraud: What an LoU is, how case may impact the

bank (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains Paper III)

What has happened?

State-owned lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange

that it has detected fraudulent transactions worth $ 1,771.7 million (over Rs 11,000 crore)

in its mid-corporate branch at Brady House, South Mumbai. PNB has alleged that two

employees had fraudulently issued Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and transmitted SWIFT

instructions to the overseas branches of Indian Banks to raise buyers credit for companies

of billionaire diamond jeweller Nirav Modi without making entries in the bank system .






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PNB has already suspended at least 10 employees in connection with the alleged crime.

However, the bank has not specified if the alleged fraudulent LoUs were backed by

collateral/cash margins, or the quantum of liability that the bank faces against the LoUs.

So, what is an LoU, and how is it issued?

An LoU is an assurance given by one bank to another to meet a liability on behalf of a

customer. The LoU is akin to a letter of credit or a guarantee. LoUs are used in international

banking transactions. An LoU is issued for overseas import remittances and involves four

parties — an issuing bank, a receiving bank, an importer and a beneficiary entity overseas.

According to norms, the term of an LoU is 180 days, and can be rolled over once for six

months. Since LoUs are a form of lending, they are typically backed by security.

How are LOUs communicated?

LoUs are conveyed from bank to bank through Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial

Telecommunication (SWIFT) instructions, which pass through a triple layer of checks. A

SWIFT instruction, which represents a bank s consent, is cleared by a maker, a checker and

a verifier before it is sent across. There is no reported instance so far of a breach in SWIFT

instructions anywhere in the world.

What are the specific allegations by PNB in the present case?

PNB has alleged that two of its employees fraudulently issued LoUs and transmitted

SWIFT instructions to the overseas branches of Indian Banks to raise buyers credit for

Nirav Modi s firms, Diamond R US, Solar Exports, and Stellar Diamonds, without making

entries in the bank system.

The bank has alleged that one such fraudulent LoU issuance took place on January 16,

2018, for and on behalf of Modi s firms, which allegedly presented a set of import

documents to the branch, with a request to allow buyers credit for making payments to

suppliers overseas.

When bank officials requested the firms to furnish 100% cash margin for the LoU, the firms

argued that they had availed this facility in the past as well.

However, branch records did not have the details of any such facility having been granted

to the firms. An internal probe by the bank then found that a few of its employees had

fraudulently issued LoUs for Hong Kong branches of two Indian banks for and on behalf of

Modi s firms. PNB has alleged that the buyers credit based on the fake LOUs may also have

been paid through a Nostro account — which is an account that a bank holds in a foreign

currency in another bank.






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Will the alleged fraud impact the banks that have lent money against the PNB LoUs?

According to PNB s complaint to CBI, the LoUs were issued for the Hong Kong branches of

Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank which have given money to the beneficiary entity on behalf

of Modi s firms. As a result, PNB will have to settle the LoUs with these branches according

to the norms of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

And how will the fraud impact PNB?

While the quantum of PNB s liability in the case is not known, market sentiment has

already been impacted. The PNB stock fell 9.81% on 15.2.2018 to close at Rs 145.80 per

share, and investors lost over Rs 3,000 crore in a single day.

The bank may have to set aside higher provisioning in the next few quarters if it unable to

recover the money from the accused firms.

The fraud has been unearthed at a time when Indian banks are reeling under a pile of

stressed assets of about Rs 10 lakh crore. Most public sector banks, including the biggest

lender, State Bank of India, have posted significant losses for the quarter ended December

31, 2017, due to higher provisioning and a rise in bond yields.

(Adapted from the Indian express and image credit to The Hindu)

12. Gem of a scam: On PNB fraud (Relevant for GS Mains Paper III)

A regulatory filing to the stock exchanges by Punjab National Bank has blown the lid off a

Rs.11,500-crore fraud. Perhaps the largest such scam in India, it was perpetrated by a

maverick diamond merchant in collusion with bank officials at a single branch in South

Mumbai.






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What is worrisome?

For India s second largest bank to be defrauded in the manner suggested is astounding,

especially since there has been heightened scrutiny of public sector banks operations in

the last few years. The bank s audit committees and boards, as well as the central bank,

which conducts routine financial inspections of banks books, have been ostensibly keeping

a close watch on the loans that have turned substandard or are on the verge of default.

Low capital in PNB

The government, which has often blamed the pile of bad loans on crony capitalism during

the UPA regime, just last month unveiled a plan to infuse about Rs. 1 lakh crore into 21

capital-starved public sector banks this fiscal. Of this, Rs. 5,473 crore is to be injected into

PNB. So even if the actual loss the bank ends up incurring on account of this fraud is half

the stated amount, its capital adequacy ratio will be back to the same level before the

recapitalisation was announced. Its market capitalisation has tanked Rs. 8,077 crore over

the past two days, with the share price falling over 20% since the news broke.

Involvement of employees

The bank s top brass has said it has acted promptly, suspending around 10 officials. The

Central Bureau of Investigation has booked one retired and one serving PNB employee so

far. It is also difficult to believe that a handful of junior employees could orchestrate such a

massive fraud.

Collusion with Nirav Modi

The bank s managing director has claimed that supervisory lapses are being probed, and

the Enforcement Directorate has initiated a money laundering case against the main

accused, billionaire-jeweller Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi and close associates and

relatives. The firms run by him had seen a meteoric rise and an IPO was in the offing after

buyouts of global players and a ramp-up of retail presence in India and abroad.


13. Why is the price control of stents essential? (Relevant for GS Prelims II , GS Mains

Paper III)

What did the regulator do?

The National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA), India s drug pricing regulator, has

further brought down the cost of drug-eluting stents DES from ₹ , to ₹ , , while marginally increasing the cost of bare-metal stents from ₹ , to ₹ , .

The move comes a year after the NPPA slashed stent rates by nearly 85%. Price control, it

said, is necessary under the failed and exploitive market system characterised by

exorbitant, irrational and restrictive trade margin.






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The NPPA said it was immediately necessary to fix the ceiling prices of coronary stents in

order to protect public interest. Coronary stents are used to open narrowed arteries,

reduce symptoms like chest pain and treat a heart attack.

How will it help?

Doctors say the move will help more people opt for DES that are technologically better and

more advanced. In just one year after price regulation, the use of bare-metal stents has

been reduced by 30% and replaced by DES.

Bare-metal stents have a significantly higher rate of restenosis (the recurrence of abnormal

narrowing of an artery or valve after corrective surgery) and the need for target vessel

revascularisation or restoration of perfusion to a body part or organ that has suffered

ischemia compared with all DES. Affordability matters, NPPA Chairman Bhupendra Singh

said.

The new order also allows transparency and better government control and audit ease.

With this order, patients will have the option to get a stent and accessories from outside

the establishment, and manufacturers are allowed only 8% trade margin. Also stents

selling lower than the ceiling rates cannot go up in price now after the new order.

The Indian Medical Association has noted that this is a bold move by the NPPA.

Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, immediate past president of the IMA, said: Cardiac-related diseases are

rising in India. Poor accessibility to quality health care and high pricing is a major deterrent

for people seeking medical care. Price capping will minimise the expenditure in the health

sector and allow more people to benefit from it.

Doctors also say the move sends a strong message to private players that profiteering at

the cost of life is unacceptable. This has also brought back attention to the needs of the

patients and is now encouraging people to opt for better treatment plans and most

importantly break the nexus of unethical pricing, Dr. Aggarwal noted.

The NPPA also decided against the request of multinational stent makers for a new

category for advanced stents.

Was there a need?

A core committee, which examined the issues relating to the essentiality of coronary stents,

observed in its report to the government in April 2016 that there is a very high incidence of

coronary artery disease (CAD) in India associated with high morbidity and mortality; and

CAD has become a major public health problem.






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The NPPA held meetings with eminent cardiologists, who said the price cap had resulted in

more angioplasties and fewer bypass surgeries. The NPPA also met stakeholders on

February 5 and 8.

At a meeting held on February 13, the NPPA said it examined all available information/data

of coronary stents supply chain and all relevant options for price fixation of coronary stents

before announcing the new rates, which will be valid till March 13, 2019.

This is being done to prevent the cardiac stents market from falling back to its old archaic

state... and an extraordinary failed market system, the NPPA noted.

What lies in store?

Based on available data from official sources and manufacturers/importers, the NPPA is

now analysing the trade margins in the cardiac guidewire/balloon catheter and guiding.

The analysis by the authority notes that profit margins are as high as 400% in this area and

thus may need government intervention for cost optimisation. The NPPA has sought

comments and views of stakeholders in this matter.


14. Revival of Industrial activity (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

What is it?

Industrial activity, as measured by the government s Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

and the private sector Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), has improved significantly over

the last two months. Growth in the IIP soared to 8.8% in November, the highest since

October 2015, and stood at a slightly slower but still robust 7.07% in December. These two

instances mark a return to above 5% growth after a year. These two sets of data are

interesting because not only do they show the picture from both the government and

private sector sides but also highlight different elements of the sectors they measure.

While the IIP is an output measure, the PMI is an indication of the activity at the input, or

purchasing, level.


Given that the average growth in the IIP in financial year 2017-18 prior to November was

only 2.5%, the months of November and December certainly stand out as outliers. To

understand what happened in these two months, it is important to understand what

happened before.






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The November 2016 demonetisation had a major impact on industrial activity. For

example, growth in the IIP was a relatively robust 5% in November 2016, but slowed to

1.2% by February 2017. Activity resumed thereafter, but was hit again by the prospect of

the Goods and Services Tax and then its fallout.

Industrial activity contracted in June because firms halted production to get rid of their

stock in preparation for the GST, which rolled out on July 1. Similarly, July saw only 1%

growth as companies came to terms with the new tax regime. A combination of the

impending festive season and the re-stocking of inventory led companies to increase their

activity thereafter, with a recovering global economy boosting exports, which further

propelled industrial growth in November and December. There were other factors at play,

such as companies getting increasingly comfortable with the GST regime, the government

taking steps to ease the woes of exporters who saw a large chunk of their working capital

tied up because of the input tax credit system, domestic demand recovering somewhat, and

the government investing heavily in roads.

Why does it matter?

The recovery in manufacturing and in the overall industrial sector should come as some

relief to the government, which has come under criticism for the impact demonetisation

and the hurried roll-out of GST had on economic growth. Economic growth itself is

expected to increase, with private sector analysts and economists saying there are signs of

a recovery.

With economic growth should come job creation that is needed. However, it is worth

keeping in mind that the IIP and the PMI measure only the formal sector.

What about informal sector?

Several accounts say the informal sector, a very large segment of the economy that

accounts for significant employment, is still recovering from the effects of demonetisation.

That effect has not been effectively measured, and any talk of a recovery leaves the

informal sector out.

What next?

A significant part of the recovery is based on how the global economy does. Any dip there

will have a detrimental effect on India s exports which, in turn, will dampen industrial

growth. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke against India for imposing a

tremendous tax on the import of Harley Davidson motorcycles, pitching for a reciprocal

tax in the U.S. Whether this happens or not, such statements add to the uncertainty over

Indian exports. That said, most commentators do say there are signs of recovery in the

economy and in the manufacturing sector in particular.







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15. Punjab National Bank fraud: How the system was gamed (Relevant for GS


The alleged fraud was carried out through misuse of Letters of Undertaking or LoUs issued

by Punjab National Bank. What are LoUs, and how do they work?

In trade finance, which is the business of imports and exports, companies need funds to pay

overseas suppliers in foreign currency. When an Indian company approaches its banker for

such funding, designated officials will approve a credit limit for which an LoU can be issued.

Once the LoU — essentially an undertaking by a bank to the overseas branches of other

Indian banks to meet a liability on behalf of a customer — is issued, a message regarding

the funding is sent from India to the bank abroad using the Society for World Interbank

Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) platform. SWIFT is a secure global financial

messaging service used by over 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries.

On receiving the SWIFT message, the branch (which is mostly of an Indian bank in the case

of Indian companies) abroad provides credit against import documents, normally for 90

days. (It could be that the LoU-issuing bank does not have operations in a particular foreign

country.) Margins on the borrowing depend on the risk profile of the borrower and the

company s credit rating, and the terms of the credit limits set by the issuing bank. This is

essentially a short-term foreign currency loan, on which banks charge 60 to 90 basis points

over the London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor, the international benchmark for pricing

loans or lending.

This facility is used regularly by companies in the business of gold, gems and jewellery.

Companies prefer this form of funding also because the costs of raising money overseas are

relatively less compared to rupee funding. And for banks, this is good business — if all goes

well.

What is the process that is normally followed to issue LoUs and transmit messages by

SWIFT?

Requests for loans or LoUs for large amounts have to be approved by the senior

management. The other part of the story is the transmission of the messages. This is

usually a three-layer process that takes place either at the branch or its offices. One bank

official is designated as a maker, another a verifier, and a third is the authoriser. All have

different logins and passwords, and work independently of each other.

What went wrong in the PNB case?

SWIFT transactions are linked to the Core Banking Solution (CBS) of banks, which contains

transaction histories and other data of all customers, and can be accessed by all branches

where a customer has an account. SWIFT transactions, therefore, are automatically






94



recorded, and are seen by officials from regional managers to general managers and, when

the amount is big, by the top management. In the PNB case, the scamsters allegedly

delinked SWIFT from CBS in the case of companies that were linked to Nirav Modi and

Mehul Choksi.

However, LoUs of other companies were routed through the SWIFT-CBS system. This

meant that funds were provided to the Modi-Choksi companies without being recorded in

the bank s CBS.

Also, according to the CBI s FIR, two officials at the foreign exchange department at PNB s

Brady House branch in Mumbai allegedly issued eight LoUs worth Rs 280 crore in February

2017 to Hong Kong branches of Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank without authorisation.

The alleged fraud continued for seven long years without being detected. How?

How — and how a handful of staffers could game the system — is baffling. The

investigation should reveal details, but it seems reasonable to assume that the fraud could

have gone on for so long only with the active collusion of a ring of officials. One of the

bankers now under arrest reportedly handled transactions to provide credit to Nirav

Modi s firms for seven years — in violation of the normal practice of transfers every two or

three years. SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said, We don t keep a person for more than

three years at one position. There are certain positions which are very sensitive and we

monitor those positions very closely. Banking is a risky business.

Again, in PNB s case, one out of the three persons that banks typically task to transmit

SWIFT messages carried out two roles, according to investigators. Also, several bankers

wonder how the delinking of SWIFT from CBS could have been achieved without it being

detected by the bank s information technology department.

These suggest a possible compromising of the sanctity of passwords or authentication, and

the breaching of information technology systems. And the fact that at the very beginning,

the approval for issuance of LoUs — whether forged or otherwise — for such huge

amounts without it being captured in the system or red-flagged, indicates a major failure of

internal control systems.

OK, in the normal course, how do the banks that lend to a company on the basis of LoUs, get

their money back?

Banks approach the lender that has issued the LoU — because these are commitments

made by the issuing bank on behalf of a customer. Many banks receive their funds at the

end of the 90-day period, after which fresh LoUs may be generated, often to keep payments






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to banks going. The investigation will look at allegedly forged LoUs that seem to have

helped the firms secure funding for long.

The liability for these LoUs is being contested by PNB — but other banks are unanimous

that it must honour the undertaking it gave.

So, do the banks that provide this facility on the basis of an LoU have no

responsibility?

Bankers say the bank receiving an LoU sends a letter of confirmation to the issuing branch

and its controlling offices. It is not clear whether receiving banks such as Axis Bank,

Allahabad Bank and Union Bank sent such letters. And if they did, the question is why no

alarm was raised in PNB. It could be that the receiving banks didn t send the confirmation

letter. Or it could be that the letters were buried at PNB.






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The RBI said that the fraud in PNB was the result of delinquent behaviour by some

employees, and the failure of internal controls. What are these internal controls?

Some have been listed in the answer to the question above on how the fraud went on for so

long. Ideally, SWIFT messages should have been checked by senior officials in charge of the

credit, investment or treasury departments that handle the foreign exchange business.

Whenever such huge amounts are sent through SWIFT, daily reports are generated.

All banks, including PNB, have vigilance departments and fraud management committees.

Banks also have internal branch audits and concurrent audits involving external auditors.

They also have risk management and audit committees at the Board level to ensure

compliance. The failure of all these controls is a serious concern, also because PNB had

been hurt badly because of lending in the past to Winsome Diamonds, which is now listed

as one of India s top defaulters.

What is the responsibility of the RBI itself?

Bankers say all LoUs have to be reported to RBI on a quarterly basis. It is not clear if the

regulator s inspection of the bank s books revealed anything earlier. Till a few years ago,

RBI used to inspect branches of banks, but it has now switched more to offsite monitoring.

Successive RBI Governors have written to the government about the conflict involved in

having a central banker sitting on the Board of a bank that RBI regulates. But the

government insists that having a regulatory representative helps with checks and balances.

This has led to debates on the accountability of the government, which owns many banks.

On Friday, the RBI said it had already undertaken a supervisory assessment of control

systems in PNB, and would take appropriate supervisory action.


16. Bank bureau stares at uncertain future (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper

III)

Members terms end on March 31 this year and no indication yet on extension

The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) is facing an uncertain future with the tenure of its members

coming to an end on March 31, 2018.

About BBB

The BBB was set up under the government s Indradanush programme to reform public

sector banks. It started operations in April 2016.






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The BBB was conceived by the PJ Nayak committee and was seen as a step taken towards

reforming the boards of public sector banks. The committee, in its report, had

recommended that the government should distance itself from the appointment process of

top management and board members of PSBs — a function that could be performed by the

BBB.

However, in practise it never happened. While the BBB was involved in shortlisting and

interviewing candidates — the final appointment was always made by the government.

There were instances of delays in appointment by the government despite the BBB

recommending it.

Other functions discharged by BBB

As part of its mandate, and guided by a spirit of collaboration, the bureau is engaging with

various stakeholders. The objective of such engagement being to help prepare the banks in the public sector universe to take on the competition…The bureau is also engaging with the public sector banks (PSBs) to help build capacity to attract, retain and nurture both talent

and technology — the two key differentiators of business competencies in the days to

come, the BBB said on its website, referring to its task.

Headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, BBB has representatives

from government and RBI apart from independent banking professionals.


17. Cloth, idea, brand: What is khadi, to whom does it belong? (Relevant for GS


The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the statutory body in charge of the

development of khadi and other village industries, has threatened to sue Fabindia, the

country s largest private platform for products that are made from traditional techniques,

skills and hand-based processes , for Rs 525 crore for illegally using its trademark

charkha , and for calling its products khadi . KVIC has argued that khadi is a specific type

of product created by a specific process, which is different from factory-made cotton

garments.

KVIC had sent a similar notice to Fabindia in 2015. A spokesperson for Fabindia told The

Indian Express that the company has been in talks with KVIC ever since. Fabindia had

applied to KVIC for Khadi Mark certification (that is, the right to call their products

khadi ) in 2016, but its application was rejected. We are evaluating the situation, the

spokesperson said.






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So, what exactly is khadi?

Mahatma Gandhi popularised the charkha and indigenously produced cloth as a symbol of

the Swadeshi boycott of foreign-made goods, including cloth. Khadi, fabric that was

handwoven from handspun yarn, was meant to make every home self-sufficient, and

provide employment for rural India.

After Independence, KVIC was established by an Act of Parliament in 1956. The KVIC Act

defined khadi as any cloth woven on handlooms in India from cotton, silk or woollen yarn

handspun in India or from a mixture of any two or all of such yarns . KVIC has been using

the khadi trademark on its products and media displays ever since. With time, however,

many Indians, including users of khadi, came to be no longer conscious that the cloth must,

by definition, be both handwoven and handspun.

On July 22, 2013, the government notified The Khadi Mark Regulations, 2013 for the

purpose of authentication of genuine khadi . These Regulations specified that for

institutions or people to sell, trade, or produce khadi and khadi products, the cloth would

have to bear the Khadi Mark Tags and Labels issued by the KVIC. Persons or institutions

applying for Khadi Mark registration would be subject to specified sample tests.

Which institutions were found using the khadi tag without authorisation?

KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena told The Indian Express, As many as 176 institutions

have been given notices by us over the past three years for violating the khadi trademark in

some way or the other. These are mostly single-outlet stores and retailers, including six in

Chennai, 30 in Madurai, 34 in Hyderabad, 7 in Ambala and five in the Mumbai region. But

while others have stopped any such practices after receiving the said notices, Fabindia is

the only repeat offender.

Saxena said that Fabindia was warned in 2015 and they apologised, again in 2016 they

apologised and assured (us) they will not do it again when we sent them a notice. But they

continue to do it even till 2017 despite admitting to the mistake. The legal notice (served in

2018) is part of a process, and it will take its course.

But why is the government so possessive about the trademark khadi?

Both charkha and khadi have been associated inalienably with Mahatma Gandhi, and are

powerful symbols of India s struggle for Independence. While successive governments have

been keen to ensure that the khadi brand be not used for private profit, the current

dispensation has been especially enthusiastic to protect and promote the brand. The KVIC,

which functions under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, was

reconstituted in October 2015, after which it got more teeth, and Saxena was made

Chairman.






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Soon after taking over, Saxena wrote to BJP president Amit Shah, underlining that khadi

provides employment to more than 130 lakh people, and asking that khadi be

recommended for use in government departments. Shah subsequently wrote to Ministers,

urging them ensure that the use of khadi… is maximised… in a systematic manner . In May

2016, a khadi uniform was proposed for Air India s 4,000-strong cabin crew. Culture

Minister Mahesh Sharma, who was also Tourism Minister then, proposed khadi bedsheets

and upholstery in ITDC hotels, and the setting up of stalls selling khadi products at all

Ministry festivals and fairs. Earlier in January 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had

given the slogan, Azaadi Se Pehle, Khadi for Nation; Azaadi Ke Baad, Khadi For Fashion ,

and KVIC has a section on its website on the PM s mentions or tweets about khadi. The

government is working on promoting khadi overseas, and KVIC is in talks with industry

associations abroad to open franchises, according to a senior Ministry official.

To whom does khadi ultimately belong?

The government has enacted a law and framed Regulations around it, and its disagreement

with entities such as Fabindia will ultimately be resolved either through talks within that

regulatory framework, or in the courts. At another level though, irrespective of the

government s claim to proprietorship, the brand really belongs to the people who give it

their patronage. It is on their continued support that the future of khadi depends. Also, the

term khadi has been around from long before KVIC came into existence, and in that sense,

it is as generic as ayurveda or yoga .

Attached to the argument over khadi also are a few other questions. Besides the cloth, are

the symbols of khadi, the charkha, and the artisans, too fall exclusively in KVIC s domain?

What about smaller artisans who work on handlooms, but are not registered with KVIC?

And what other words can be used in popular parlance to describe handmade products if

khadi is to be out of bounds?

(Adapted from the Indian Express)

18. WhatsApp Payments: Who will pay and who will gain? (Relevant for GS Mains

Paper III)

What is the Payments feature on WhatsApp? Who can get it?

It s a feature that allows users to send money to their contacts on the app directly from

their bank accounts. WhatsApp has based its Payments feature on the Unified Payments

Interface (UPI), which allows instant direct bank-to-bank transfers via a virtual payee

address.

Since Payments is still in the live beta-testing stage, not all users are seeing it reflected in

their app. Users have reported that the feature appears in their WhatsApp settings after






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they relaunch the app upon getting a WhatsApp message from someone who already has

Payments. The beta is limited to 1 million users now, the National Payments Authority of

India (NPCI), the UPI regulator and umbrella body for all retail payments in India, has said

in a statement. WhatsApp s terms and conditions for using the feature say the user must be

18 years or older, but it is not clear how this will be verified.

So, is WhatsApp now processing monetary transactions?

No. WhatsApp is not a bank, and it cannot process financial transactions. The terms and

conditions of using the feature say that WhatsApp is partnering with ICICI Bank. Once

Payments is activated on a user s WhatsApp, they can link their bank account to the app.

A payment instruction can then be attached to a message, in the same way as users attach a

file, a video or a photo. A UPI PIN and a bank account where UPI is supported, are needed

for the transaction. Also, the receiver of the payment, too, must have the Payments feature

enabled in their app. WhatsApp has said all payment transactions are final, and there is no

option for refunds or chargebacks.

And can WhatsApp Payments be used to pay a business?

It looks like businesses and merchant accounts are excluded as of now. However, given that

WhatsApp now has a Business version of the app in India, it can be expected that these

accounts will be allowed to accept payments in the future. But there is no announcement as

yet.

Why are players like Paytm upset with WhatsApp Payments?

WhatsApp s 200 million active user base in India could make Payments a gamechanger —

and can potentially wreck other mobile wallets. People may switch entirely to the app for

smaller, daily transactions. Once businesses are allowed to accept payments via WhatsApp,

the feature s use could be boosted further. Paytm co-founder Vijay Shekhar vented on

Twitter that After failing to win (the) war against India s open internet with cheap tricks of

free basics, Facebook is again in play. Killing beautiful open UPI system with its custom

close garden implementation. What he was targeting is the fact that WhatsApp currently

does not allow UPI payments to those who are not on WhatsApp — whereas the NPCI s

rules for UPI state that interoperability is key to the system, i.e., a user with a UPI account

should be able to transfer to another UPI address irrespective of platform (say, from Google

Tez to BHIM).

NPCI has, however, clarified that WhatsApp Payments is only in a beta test, and full launch

will not be allowed unless all principles of the interface are fulfilled.


19. Cabinet approves New Bill to ban Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Chit Funds

(Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)






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In a major policy initiative to protect the savings of the investors, the Union Cabinet has

given its approval to introduce the following bills in the Parliament:-

(a) Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 in parliament &

(b) Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018

The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018

The bill is aimed at tackling the menace of illicit deposit taking activities in the country.

Companies/ institutions running such schemes exploit existing regulatory gaps and lack of

strict administrative measures to dupe poor and gullible people of their hard-earned

savings.

The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 will provide a comprehensive

legislation to deal with the menace of illicit deposit schemes in the country through,

a. complete prohibition of unregulated deposit taking activity;

b. deterrent punishment for promoting or operating an unregulated deposit taking scheme;

c. stringent punishment for fraudulent default in repayment to depositors;

d. designation of a Competent Authority by the State Government to ensure repayment of

deposits in the event of default by a deposit taking establishment;

e. powers and functions of the competent authority including the power to attach assets of

a defaulting establishment;

f. designation of Courts to oversee repayment of depositors and to try offences under the

Act; and

g. listing of Regulated Deposit Schemes in the Bill, with a clause enabling the Central

Government to expand or prune the list.

Salient Features:

The salient features of the Bill are as follows:

•The Bill contains a substantive banning clause which bans Deposit Takers from

promoting, operating, issuing advertisements or accepting deposits in any Unregulated

Deposit Scheme.






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The principle is that the Bill would ban unregulated deposit taking activities altogether, by

making them an offence ex-ante, rather than the existing legislative-cum-regulatory

framework which only comes into effect ex-post with considerable time lags.

• The Bill creates three different types of offences, namely, running of Unregulated Deposit

Schemes, fraudulent default in Regulated Deposit Schemes, and wrongful inducement in

relation to Unregulated Deposit Schemes.

• The Bill provides for severe punishment and heavy pecuniary fines to act as deterrent.

• The Bill has adequate provisions for disgorgement or repayment of deposits in cases

where such schemes nonetheless manage to raise deposits illegally.

• The Bill provides for attachment of properties/ assets by the Competent Authority, and

subsequent realization of assets for repayment to depositors. Clear-cut time lines have

been provided for attachment of property and restitution to depositors.

• The Bill enables creation of an online central database, for collection and sharing of

information on deposit taking activities in the country.

• The Bill defines "Deposit Taker" and "Deposit" comprehensively.

"Deposit Takers" include all possible entities (including individuals) receiving or soliciting

deposits, except specific entities such as those incorporated by legislation.

"Deposit" is defined in such a manner that deposit takers are restricted from camouflaging

public deposits as receipts, and at the same time not to curb or hinder acceptance of money

by an establishment in the ordinary course of its business.

• Being a comprehensive Union law, the Bill adopts best practices from State laws, while

entrusting the primary responsibility of implementing the provisions of the legislation to

the State Governments.

Background:

The Finance Minister in the Budget Speech 2016-17 had announced that a comprehensive

central legislation would be brought in to deal with the menace of illicit deposit taking

schemes, as in the recent past, there have been rising instances of people in various parts of

the country being defrauded by illicit deposit taking schemes. The worst victims of these

schemes are the poor and the financially illiterate, and the operations of such schemes are

often spread over many States. Subsequently, Finance Minister in the Budget Speech 2017-

18 had announced that the draft bill to curtail the menace of illicit deposit schemes had

been placed in the public domain and would be introduced shortly after its finalization.






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The Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to introduce the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill,

2018 in Parliament. In order to facilitate orderly growth of the Chit Funds sector and

remove bottlenecks being faced by the Chit Funds industry, thereby enabling greater

financial access of people to other financial products, the following amendments to the Chit

Funds Act, 1982 have been proposed:

• Use of the words "Fraternity Fund" for chit business under Sections 2(b) and 11(1) of the

Chit Funds Act, 1982, to signify its inherent nature.

• While retaining the requirement of a minimum of two subscribers for the conduct of the

draw of the Chit and for the preparation of the minutes of the proceedings, the Chit Funds

(Amendment) Bill, 2018 proposes to allow the two minimum required subscribers to join

through video conferencing duly recorded by the foreman, as physical presence of the

subscribers towards the final stages of a Chit may not be forthcoming easily. The foreman

shall have the minutes of the proceedings signed by such subscribers within a period of

two days following the proceedings;

• Increasing the ceiling of foreman's commission from a maximum of 5% to 7%, as the rate

has remained static since the commencement of the Act while overheads and other costs

have increased manifold;

• Allowing the foreman a right to lien for the dues from subscribers, so that set-off is

allowed by the Chit company for subscribers who have already drawn funds, so as to

discourage default by them; and

• Amending Section 85 (b) of the Chit Funds Act, 1982 to remove the ceiling of one hundred

rupees set in 1982 at the time of framing the Chit Funds Act, which has lost its relevance.

The State Governments are proposed to be allowed to prescribe the ceiling and to increase

it from time to time.

About Chit fund

A Chit fund is a kind of savings scheme practiced in India. According to the Chit Fund Act,

1982:

Chit means a transaction whether called chit fund, chit, kuree or by any other name by or

under which a person enters into an agreement with a specified number of persons such

that every one of them shall subscribe a certain sum of money by way of periodical

instalments over a definite period and that each such subscriber shall, in his turn, as

determined by lot or by auction or by tender or in such other manner as may be specified

in the chit agreement, be entitled to the prize amount .






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How it works?

Chit funds operate in different ways. The basic necessity for conducting a chitty is a group

of needy people called subscribers. The foreman—the company or person conducting the

chitty—brings these people together and conducts the chitty. The foreman is also

responsible for collecting the money from subscribers, presiding over the auctions, and

keeping subscriber records. He is compensated by a fixed amount (generally 5% of the

gross chitty amount) for his efforts. Other than that, the foreman has no specific privileges;

he is just a chitty subscriber.

A simple formula depicts the pattern of the chitty:

Monthly premium × Duration (in months) = Gross amount

For example, 1000 × 50 = 50,000, where 1000 is the maximum monthly contribution

needed from a subscriber, 50 is the duration of the chitty in months, and 50,000 is the

maximum sum assured. The duration also equals the number of subscribers, as there must

be (not more or less) one subscriber to receive the prize money every month.

The chitty starts on an announced date, and all subscribers come together for the

auction/lot.

Usually, the minimum prize money of an auction is limited to 70% of the gross sum

assured; that is 35,000 in the above example. When more than one person is willing to take

this minimum sum, lots are conducted and the lucky subscriber gets the prize money for

the month. If there is no person willing to take the minimum sum, then a reverse auction is

conducted where subscribers open-bid for lower amounts; that is from 50,000 >> 49,000

>> 48,000, and so on. The person bidding the lowest sum will get the bid amount.

The auction discount, that is the difference between the gross sum and auction amount, is

equally distributed among subscribers or is deducted from their monthly instalment. For

example, if the auction is settled on a sum of `40,000, then the auction discount of `10,000 , − , is divided among members the total number of subscribers , and thus, each subscriber gets a discount of `200. The same practice is repeated every month

and every subscriber gets a chance of receiving the money.

(Adapted from pib)

20. Commercial coal mining opened for private sector (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper III)

Coal India to lose monopoly






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Opening up commercial coal mining for Indian and foreign companies in the private sector,

the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the methodology for auction of coal

mines/blocks for sale of the commodity.

Basis of auction

The auction — on an online transparent platform — will be an ascending forward auction

whereby the bid parameter will be the price offer in rupees per tonne, which will be paid to

the State government on the actual production of coal. There shall be no restriction on the

sale and/or utilisation of coal from the mine.

Need for bring private players

This reform is expected to bring efficiency into the coal sector by moving from an era of

monopoly to competition. It will increase competitiveness and allow the use of best

possible technology into the sector.

The official statement said the higher investment that the sector will now attract will create

direct and indirect employment in coal bearing areas especially in mining sector and will

have an impact on economic development of these regions.

Present position of Coal India Limited

Public sector undertaking Coal India was so far the lone commercial miner in the country

for over four decades. The company accounts for 84% of India s coal output.

Revenue to be given to States

As the entire revenue from the auction of coal mines for sale of coal would accrue to the

coal bearing States, this methodology shall incentivise them with increased revenues which

can be utilised for the growth and development of backward areas and their inhabitants

including tribals, it said. States in Eastern part of the country will be especially benefited.






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Legislative backing

According to the government, it had promulgated the Coal Mines (Special Provisions)

Ordinance, 2014 in October 2014 for management and reallocation of cancelled coal blocks.

It was aimed at ensuring smooth transfer of rights, title and interests in the mines/blocks

along with its land and other associated mining infrastructure to the new allottees to be

selected through an auction or allotment to government company, as the case may be, it

had said.

That move followed the Supreme Court order in September 2014 cancelling 204 coal

mines/blocks allocated to the various Government and Private Companies since 1993

under the provisions of Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973. In a bid to bring

transparency and accountability, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill 2015 was passed

by the Parliament which was notified as an Act in March 2015. Enabling provisions have

been made in the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 for allocation of coal mines by

way of auction and allotment for the sale of coal, the government said.

(Adapted from the Hindu and PIB)






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21. SWIFT and bank fraud (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS Mains paper III)

What is it?

The Rs.11,500 crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank where fund transfer through an

inter-bank messaging system was not reported to the core banking solution, followed by

the cyberattack on the City Union Bank, has put the spotlight once again on SWIFT or the

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. In February 2016, in the

Bangladesh Bank heist, $81 million was fraudulently withdrawn from the central bank of

the country, at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through the SWIFT network. The

SWIFT is a secure financial message carrier — in other words, it transports messages from

one bank to its intended bank recipient. Its core role is to provide a secure transmission

channel so that Bank A knows that its message to Bank B goes to Bank B and no one else.

Bank B, in turn, knows that Bank A, and no one other than Bank A, sent, read or altered the

message en route. Banks, of course, need to have checks in place before actually sending

messages.


The SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative that is headquartered in Brussels,

Belgium. It was founded in 1973 by a group of 239 banks from 15 countries which formed a

co-operative utility to develop a secure electronic messaging service and common

standards to facilitate cross-border payments. It carries an average of approximately 26

million financial messages each day. In order to use its messaging services, customers need

to connect to the SWIFT environment. There are several ways of connecting to it: directly

through permanent leased lines, the Internet, or SWIFT s cloud service (Lite2); or indirectly

through appointed partners. Messages sent by SWIFT s customers are authenticated using

its specialised security and identification technology. Encryption is added as the messages

leave the customer environment and enter the SWIFT Environment. Messages remain in

the protected SWIFT environment, subject to all its confidentiality and integrity

commitments, throughout the transmission process while they are transmitted to the

operating centres (OPCs) where they are processed — until they are safely delivered to the

receiver.

Why does it matter?

While all customers are responsible for protecting their own environments, SWIFT

established the customer security programme (CSP) in early 2016 to support customers in

the fight against a growing cyberthreat.

It is critical that customers prioritise the security network. Last April, SWIFT published a

detailed description of the mandatory and advisory customer security controls. This

framework describes a set of controls for its customers to implement on their local

infrastructure.






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So, have Indian banks adopted the best practices to keep the network safe? The best

practices should be applied not only to the SWIFT infrastructure within banks, but the full

end-to-end transaction ecosystem within their firms, including payments, securities trade

and treasury. In the PNB case, one of its biggest failures was the missing link between

SWIFT and the bank s backend software. This allowed fraudulent use of a key credit

instrument — letters of understanding or a loan request to another bank through the

SWIFT network — to transfer funds.

What lies ahead?

After the fraud, PNB adopted strict SWIFT controls. It has created a separate unit to

reauthorise most messages sent over SWIFT by branches. Many other banks are expected

to fast-track the integration between SWIFT and their backend systems. To strengthen

internal controls, the RBI has set April 30 as an outer limit for all public sector banks to

integrate SWIFT with core banking solutions. As for SWIFT, a spokesperson said: First,

there is no indication that SWIFT s own network or core messaging services have ever been

compromised. SWIFT cannot comment on particular incidents. However, it continues to

share insights into modus operandi and indicators of compromise with its customers.







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Environment

1. World Wetlands Day (Relevant for GS Prelims)

World Wetlands Day

Every year, February 2 is celebrated as World Wetlands Day, to mark the date of adoption

of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar

Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action

and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their

resources. The Convention was adopted in 1971 at the Iranian City of Ramsar. India is a

party to the Convention since 1982, and committed to the Ramsar approach of wise use of

wetlands.

Nodal ministry for Wetlands in India

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, as the nodal Ministry for

wetlands conservation has been supporting the State Governments/ Union Territories, in

design and implementation of Management Action Plans for conservation and

management of wetlands including Ramsar sites. Financial and technical assistance has

been provided to State Governments for implementation of Management Action Plans for

over 140 wetlands. Wetlands in India account for 4.7% of the total geographical area.

What are the Wetlands?

Wetlands are areas, intermediate or transitional, between water bodies and terrestrial

habitats. Wetlands include lake littoral (marginal areas between the highest and lowest

level of lakes), floodplains and other marshy or swampy areas, where water gets stagnated.

Stagnation of water may be due to poor drainage, impervious soil or due to man-made

factors such as accumulation of water in rice fields.

Importance of Wetlands

-Wetlands have ecological, scientific, economic and aesthetic significance.

-Wetlands have ecological importance, because wetlands are habitat to various species of

flora and fauna.

-Wetlands have scientific importance, because research on biodiversity can be undertaken

in these regions.

-Wetlands have economic importance, because tourism and other revenue-generating

recreational activities can be undertaken in these regions.

-Wetlands have aesthetic importance, because rich flora and fauna add beauty to these

regions.






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Functions of wetlands are as follows:

-Wetlands trap nutrients and sediments from running water.

-As wetlands trap nutrients and sediments, they help in water purification.

-Wetlands are transitional areas between terrestrial and water bodies. Thus, these bodies

reduce impact of flood on terrestrial areas.

-Wetlands even facilitate maintenance of stream flow in some areas by contributing water

to dry streams.

-As wetlands are marshy regions, they assist in recharge of underground water.

-Wetlands minimise the impact of river on land and thus reduce soil erosion.

-Wetlands act as an obstruction to running water and thus reduce the flow of running

water.

(Adapted from the pib and Background from PrepMate-Cengage Environment &

Biodiversity book; Chapter 4, Page 50)

2. All-India Tiger Estimation 2018 to be Hi-Tech, More Accurate and Precise

(Relevant for GS Mains Paper III)

M-STrIPES

The All-India Tiger Estimation, 2018 exercise promises not just to be hi-tech, but will also

be far more accurate and precise than ever before.

Officers from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and scientists from Wildlife

Institute of India explained how the current assessment uses Android phone-based

application and desktop version of M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers-Intensive

Protection and Ecological Status) for collecting, archiving and analyzing data.

How does it work?

The phone application automatically records the track log of surveys and line transects, as

well as authenticates the recorded data on signs and animal sightings with geo-tagged

photographs. With increased camera trap density and the use of android technology,

estimates arrived at are likely to be more robust – both in terms of accuracy and precision.

What is special about tiger census

This becomes evident from the fact that compared to the exercise conducted in the year

2006, when 9, 700 cameras were put up, the 2018 Estimation will use nearly 15, 000






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cameras. It was also pointed out that it is not possible to count the photograph of every

tiger in the camera trap.

The Tiger Estimation exercise is the world s largest wildlife survey effort in terms of

coverage, intensity of sampling and quantum of camera trapping.

About Tiger census

India conducts the All India Tiger Estimation every four years. Three cycles of the

estimation have already been completed in 2006, 2010 and 2014. These estimates showed

estimates of 1, 411, 1, 706 and 2, 226 tigers respectively. The methodology has remained

the same in the three cycles in terms of concept, but latest scientific developments in the

field of animal abundance estimation have been incorporated and the best available science

to evaluate tiger status has been used.

Spatially Explicit Capture Recapture (SECR)

For the national status assessment 2014, Spatially Explicit Capture Recapture (SECR) in a

joint distribution approach, with ecologically relevant covariates was used. This approach

makes use of two samples – the first sample is collected by the forest staff of 18 tiger states

and is constituted by structured protocols that are easy and economical to generate

information on the presence of tigers and relative abundance, along with information on

prey, co-predators, habitat and human impact. The second sample is carried out by trained

wildlife biologists who collect information using camera traps on tiger, leopard and prey

abundance. Individual tigers and leopards are identified using a customized software that

uses the stripe and spot patterns (similar to human fingerprints) to identify individuals.

In 2014, over 70% of the estimated tiger population was through camera trapping, where

1686 photographs of individual tigers had been obtained. The remaining 30% of tigers

were from areas that had tigers, but had not been camera trapped and were estimated by

using robust statistical models, where ecological covariates of prey, habitat and human

impact were used.

Tiger conservation efforts

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 was amended in the year 2006. Since then, the

Government has taken several initiatives in the field of tiger conservation. Tiger

conservation was given statutory backing. The newly-created NTCA was mandated to

carry out estimation of population of tiger and its natural prey species and assess status of

their habitat.

The Tiger Task Force realized that a major lacuna in tiger conservation was the absence of

a credible, scientific national monitoring protocol that will inform policy-makers and

wildlife managers on –

a.Spatial extent and the size of tiger population in India;






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b.Welfare factors in these and neighbouring habitat (prey status, human pressure, other

wildlife species, status and habitat conditions);

c.Trends in the population and area occupied over time.

Following discussions and consultations with international experts, it was decided that the

Wildlife Institute of India will be mandated with the task of developing and implementing

the status assessment every four years under the direction of NTCA and in collaboration

with State Forest Departments, civil society and NGOs.

(Adapted from pib and background from PrepMate- Cengage Environment and

Biodiversity book; Chapter 13, Page 199)

3. India State of Forest Report 2017 Released (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper I and III)

Increase in trend of forest and tree cover

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said

that India has shown an increasing trend in the forest and tree cover, in comparison to the

global trend of decreasing forest cover during the last decade.

Salient features of the report

1.India ranks among the top ten countries of the world in terms of forest area, despite the

fact that none of the other 9 countries has a population density of more than 150 persons

per sq km, compared to India, which has a population density of 382 persons per sq km.

2. India is ranked 10th in the world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover,

even though it accounts for 2.4 % of the world surface area and sustains the needs of 17 %

of human and 18 % livestock population , the Minister said. He averred that despite such

tremendous population and pressures of livestock on our forests, India has been able to

preserve and expand its forest wealth.

3.Dr. Harsh Vardhan added that as per the latest FAO report, India is placed 8th in the list of

Top Ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area.

4.Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that the latest assessment shows that there is an increase of 8,

021 sq km (about 80.20 million hectare) in the total forest and tree cover of the country,

compared to the previous assessment in 2015. He added that the increase in the forest

cover has been observed as 6,778 sq km and that of tree cover as 1, 243 sq km.

5. The total forest and tree cover is 24.39 per cent of the geographical area of the country ,

the Minister pointed out. He also underlined the encouraging sign that much of the increase






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in the forest cover has been observed in Very Dense Forest (VDF), as VDF absorbs

maximum carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The increase in forest cover in VDF is

followed by increase in open forest , the Minister said.

6. As per the ISFR 2017, the total mangrove cover stands at 4,921 sq km and has shown an

increase of 181 sq km. All the 12 mangrove states have shown a positive change in the

mangrove cover, as compared to the last assessment.

7.The extent of bamboo-bearing area in the country has been estimated at 15.69 million ha.

In comparison to the last assessment done in 2011, there has been an increase of 1.73

million ha in bamboo area. The Government has recently enacted a Bill in the Parliament

for taking out bamboo from the tree category, where it is grown outside forest areas.

This will encourage people to grow bamboo on private lands, which will be helpful in

increasing the livelihood opportunities for farmers and also enhance the green cover and

carbon stock of the country.

State wise break up

1. Giving the State-wise break-up, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that three states – Andhra

Pradesh (2141 sq km), followed by Karnataka (1101 sq km) and Kerala (1043 sq km) have

shown the maximum increase in forest cover.

2. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover of 77,414 sq km in the country in terms of

area, followed by Arunachal Pradesh with 66,964 sq km and Chhattisgarh (55,547 sq km).

3.In terms of percentage of forest cover with respect to the total geographical area,

Lakshadweep with (90.33 per cent) has the highest forest cover, followed by Mizoram

(86.27 per cent) and Andaman & Nicobar Island (81.73 per cent) , the Minister stated.

4.The present assessment also reveals that 15 states/UT s have above 33 per cent of the

geographical area under forest cover. Out of these States and Union Territories, seven

States/UTs namely Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal

Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur have more than 75 per cent forest cover, while

8 states – Tripura, Goa, Sikkim, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh

and Assam have forest cover between 33 per cent to 75 per cent. About 40% per cent of the

country s forest cover is present in 9 large contiguous patches of the size of 10, 000 sq.km,

or more.

About the report

The India State of Forest Report 2017 is 15th such report in the series. The report contains

information on forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock inside and outside






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the forest areas, carbon stock in India s forests and forest cover in different patch size

classes.

Special thematic information on forest cover such as hill, tribal districts, and north eastern

region has also been given separately in the report. The report for the first time contains

information on decadal change in water bodies in forest during 2005-2015, forest fire,

production of timber from outside forest, state wise carbon stock in different forest types

and density classes.

The spatial information given in the report is based on interpretation of LISS-III data from

Indian Remote Sensing satellite data (Resourcesat-II) with a spatial resolution of 23.5

meters. In addition extensive ground data collected by field parties at more than 18000

points all over the country and information from other collateral sources are also used to

improve the accuracy of the interpreted image.

Forest Survey of India (FSI) has been assessing the forest and tree resources of our country

on a biennial basis since 1987. The results of the assessment are published in its biennial

report titled India State of Forest Report (ISFR) .

(Adapted from PIB)

4. India records marginal increase in forest cover (Relevant for GS Prelims and GS

Mains Paper III)

Marginal rise in forest area

India posted a marginal 0.21% rise in the area under forest between 2015 and 2017,

according to the biennial India State of Forest Report (SFR) 2017. The document says that

India has about 7,08,273 square kilometres of forest, which is 21.53% of the geographic

area of the country (32,87,569 sq. km).

Getting India to have at least 33% of its area under forest has been a long standing goal of

the government since 1988.

The 21% mark

However various editions of the SFR over the years, have reported the area under forests

as hovering around 21%. So the government also includes substantial patches of trees

outside areas designated as forests — such as plantations or greenlands — in its

assessment.

The total tree cover, according to this assessment, was 93,815 square kilometres or a 2%

rise from the approximately 92,500 square kilometres estimated in 2015.






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States with highest forest cover

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala topped the States that posted an increase in forest

cover.

15 States and UTs fulfil 33% target

Currently, 15 States and union territories have 33% of their geographical area under

forests.

Decline of forest cover in North East

In India s north-east however, forest cover showed a decrease; 1,71,306 square kilometres,

or 65.34%, of the geographical area was under forest and this was a 630 square kilometre

decline from the 2015 assessment.

Rise in very dense forests

The category of very dense forest — defined as a canopy cover over 70% — and an

indicator of the quality of a forest, saw a dramatic rise from 85,904 square kilometres to

98,158 square kilometres this year but the category of moderately dense forest (40%-

70%) saw a 7,056 square kilometre-decline from 2015.

India s ranking in the world

India is ranked 10th in the world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover,

even though it accounts for 2.4% of the world surface area and sustains the needs of 17%

of human and 18% livestock population, he said at a press conference to release the

survey results.

The forest survey for the first time mapped 633 districts and relied on satellite-mapping.

Earlier this year, the government ceased to define bamboo as a tree to promote economic

activity among tribals. The survey found that India s bamboo bearing area rose by 1.73

million hectares (2011) to 15.69 million hectares (2017).

Difference Between Forest Cover and Forest Area

Forest Area: The area recorded as forest in the government records is called Forest Area

or Recorded Forest Area. The Recorded Forest Area denotes the legal status of the land.

Forest Cover: Any land which is more than one hectare in area and with a canopy density of

more than 10%, irrespective of the ownership and legal status, is called Forest Cover.

Types of Forests on the Basis of Protection

Reserved Forests - A reserved forest (also called reserve forest) or a protected forest in

India is the term used to accord a certain degree of protection to forest. The term was first

introduced in Indian Forest Act, 1927. These forests are looked after by the government

and no public entry is allowed for the collection of timber or grazing of cattle. These forests

occupy about 53% of the total forest area of the country.






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Protected Forests - These forests are also looked after by the government, but the local

people are allowed to collect fuel—wood or timber—and graze their cattle, provided they

do not cause serious damage to the forests. These forests occupy about 29% of the total

forest area of the country.

Unclassified Forests - The unclassified forests are those in which there is no restriction on

the cutting of trees and grazing of cattle. About 18% of the total forest area of the country

falls under this category. These forests can be on the private land as well.

(Adapted from The Hindu and Background from PrepMate-Cengage Environment

and Biodiversity book; Chapter 3, Page 37)

5. Why India doesn t lose forest cover (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

Forest cover continue to hover around 20%

Since Independence, a fifth of India s land has consistently been under forests. The

population has increased more than three times since 1947, and from 1951-80, a total

42,380 sq km of forestland was diverted — some 62% of it for agriculture.

And yet, the country s forest cover continues to hover just over 20%.

Findings of recent State of Forest Report 2017

The India State of Forest Report 2017, released by the Forest Survey of India earlier this

week, recorded that the forest cover had increased by 6,600 sq km — 0.21% — since 2015.

For the first time since 2007, the biennial report recorded an increase of 5,198 sq km in

dense forest (including Very Dense Forest, with a tree canopy density of 70% and above;

and Moderately Dense Forest, with a tree canopy density of 40% and more, but less than

70%).

These are happy numbers, considering India s forest cover increased by only 67,454 sq km

since the FSI s first survey in 1987. Significantly, the latest biennial increase (2015-17) in

dense forest is over 10% of the overall gains — 49,105 sq km — in dense forest made over

four decades





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Source: India State of Forest Reports..

Given the relentless pressure on forestland, what makes such stability, even growth,

in forest cover possible?

One, the FSI uses satellite images to identify green cover as forest, and does not

discriminate between natural forests, plantations, thickets of weeds such as juliflora and

lantana, and longstanding commercial crops such as palm, coconut, coffee, or even

sugarcane.

Two, in the 1980s, satellite imagery mapped forests on a scale of 1:1 million, and thus

missed details of land units smaller than 4 sq km. The significantly refined 1:50,000 scale

now scans patches as small as 1 hectare (100 m x 100 m), and any unit that shows a 10%

canopy density is considered forest . So, millions of tiny plots that earlier went unnoticed,

now contribute to India s official forest cover






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The results are interesting. For example, the first FSI report recorded only 15 sq km of

forests in Delhi, while the latest report found 192 sq km — a 13-fold increase in 30 years.

Nearly a third of the current cover is recorded as dense . Similarly, highly agricultural

Punjab and Haryana have managed to add more than 1,000 sq km each of forests since the

1980s.

More losses than gains

A dense forest (40% or more canopy density) can deteriorate into open forest (10%-40%

canopy density) or can be wiped out all together, becoming non-forest . And open forests

can improve in density, non-forests can grow into open forests and, over time, into dense

forests.

Over the last one and a half decades (2003 onwards, see chart), 15,920 sq km of dense

forests have become non-forest areas. What partially offsets this loss on paper is the

conversion of non-forest areas to dense forest every two years. Since 2003, a total of 8,369

sq km of non-forest have become dense forest






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Source: India State of Forest Reports

In the last two years alone, this has added 3,600 sq km under the dense forest

category. But how could these areas with no forest become dense forests in just two

years?

The answer: these are all fast-growing plantations — not detected by satellites in the

sapling stage, but considered dense forests once they ve grown.

Since 2003, India has lost over 1,000 sq km of dense forest every year, and compensated

roughly half of that with plantations. The trend, if anything, is getting worse (see chart).

Between 2005 and 2007, 2,206 sq km of dense forest were destroyed. A decade later, while

the FSI claimed an impressive biennial overall jump in dense forest cover, we actually

wiped out nearly thrice as much — 6,407 sq km — of dense forest between 2015 and 2017.

Source :India State of Forest Reports

Forestland without forests

The extent of the loss can be estimated from the fact that much of what is forestland on

paper has little or no forest on it. Combining digitised data available from 16 states with the






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Survey of India s topographic maps of greenwash areas (forestland) from the rest, the FSI

identified 7,06,899 sq km as recorded forest area in India. Of this, the 2017 report says,

1,95,983 sq km — nearly 28% — has no forest cover at all, and only 3,26,325 sq km —

about 46% — is densely forested.

In other words, forestland roughly the size of Gujarat has been wiped clean of forests. Also,

less than half of India s forestland is dense forest. If almost 600 sq km of this forest-land-

without-forests became forested between 2015 and 2017, the bad news is that over 1,000

sq km of forestland lost dense cover during the same period.

Indeed, the forest data is less than the sum of its parts. After four decades of surveys, it is

probably time for the FSI to consider reporting India s green cover under more explicit

categories, including plantations, orchards etc. It could also help to make the GPS data for

each forest unit available for public audits.


6. India is Global Host for World Environment Day 2018 (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Plastic Pollution is central theme this year

Terming plastic a serious menace, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate

Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has emphasised that the Ministry itself must take the lead in

discouraging the use of plastic.

India is a Global Host of World Environment Day 2018.

About World Environment day

World Environment Day

The World Environment Day (WED) that falls on June 5 every year, is the United Nation s

principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our

environment. First held in 1974, the WED has grown to become a global platform.

The WED was designated by the UN General Assembly in 1972 on the first day of United

Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Two years later, in 1974 the first WED

was held with the theme Only One Earth . Each year, WED has a new theme.

(Adapted from pib and Background from PrepMate-Cengage Environment and

Biodiversity Book; Chapter 21, Page 292)

7. Cabinet approves Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (Relevant

for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)








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India and Minamata convention

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for ratification of Minamata Convention on

Mercury and depositing the instrument of ratification enabling India to become a Party of

the Convention.

The approval entails Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury along with

flexibility for continued use of mercury-based products and processes involving mercury

compound up to 2025.

Details of convention

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human

health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and

mercury compounds. This Convention was a result of three years of meeting and

negotiating, after which the text of the Convention was approved by delegates representing

close to 140 countries on 19 January 2013 in Geneva and adopted and signed later that

year on 10 October 2013 at a Diplomatic Conference held in Kumamoto, Japan. The

Convention is named after the Japanese city Minamata. This naming is of symbolic

importance as the city went through a devastating incident of mercury poisoning. It is

expected that over the next few decades, this international agreement will enhance the

reduction of mercury pollution from the targeted activities responsible for the major

release of mercury to the immediate environment.

The objective of the Minamata Convention is to protect the human health and the

environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury

compounds. It contains, in support of this objective, provisions that relate to the entire life

cycle of mercury, including controls and reductions across a range of products, processes

and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted. The treaty also addresses the

direct mining of mercury, its export and import, its safe storage and its disposal once as

waste. Pinpointing populations at risk, boosting medical care and better training of health-

care professionals in identifying and treating mercury-related effects will also result from

implementing the Convention.

The Minamata Convention provides controls over a myriad of products containing

mercury, the manufacture, import and export of which will be altogether prohibited by

2020, except where countries have requested an exemption for an initial 5-year period.

These products include certain types of batteries, of lamps such as compact fluorescent

lamps, of and relays, soaps and cosmetics, thermometers, and blood pressure devices.

Dental fillings which use mercury amalgam are also regulated under the Convention, and

their use must be phased down through a number of measures.

Minamata disease






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Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city, Japan in 1956. It is caused due to

the release of industrial waste containing mercury into the water body. Mercury gets

converted into methylmercury and bioaccumulate in fishes. These fishes are consumed by

the local population.

Minamata is a neurological disease with the following symptoms:

1.Numbness in hands and feet.

2.General muscle weakness.

3.Problem in hearing, speech and vision.

4.The congenital form affects the foetus in the womb.

5.In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma and death follow within weeks of acquiring the

disease.

(Adapted from PIB and background from PrepMate-Cengage book series; Chapter 5,

Page 83)






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Science & Technology

1. Story of an extraordinary death: How MRI machines work, and can kill (in rare

cases) (Relevant for GS prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

Two doctors, two staffers at Mumbai s BYL Nair Hospital have been charged with causing

by negligence the death of a man in the hospital s Radiology unit.

WHAT HAPPENED

Laxmi Solanki, 65, was taken to the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) unit. She was on

oxygen support. Her son Rajesh Maru (the deceased, 32) went along with the oxygen

cylinder.

Maru, still holding the cylinder, flew off his feet like a missile and slammed into the gantry

of the machine. The cylinder s nob snapped, and with his upper body lodged halfway inside

the machine s circular hollow, Maru inhaled a rush of oxygen.

Pneumothorax followed, a condition in which air (or other gas) fills the space between the

lungs and chest wall, and the lungs collapse. Maru s body bloated like a balloon and he died.

How do MRI work?

MRI scanners have giant electromagnets with field strengths of between 0.5 tesla and 1.5

tesla (a fridge magnet is about 0.001T; Earth s magnetic field is 0.00005T). MRI machine at

Nair Hospital had a strength of 1.5T — 1,500 times more powerful than a fridge magnet

and 30,000X the geomagnetic field.

The body is mostly water (hydrogen and oxygen), and when in the massive, stable

magnetic field of the scanner, the hydrogen protons get aligned in the same direction. A

radiofrequency source is then switched on and off, repeatedly knocking the protons out of






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line and back into alignment. Receivers pick up radio signals that the protons send out, and

by combining these signals, the machine creates a detailed image of the body s inside.

OK, but why wasn t the magnet switched off immediately afterward?

An emergency button can be used to demagnetize the machine. But this can be dangerous.

The liquid helium that maintains the magnet s temperature may vaporize.

CAN THIS HAPPEN AGAIN?

MRI scans have been widely used since the early 80s, and tens of millions of scans are done

every year across the world. Deaths like Maru s are extremely rare. Only one earlier event — a six-year-old boy was killed in the US after an oxygen cannister drawn by the magnet

smashed into his skull in 2001 — is well known.

MUMBAI saw a serious accident in November 2014: At the Advanced Centre for Treatment,

Research, and Education in Cancer, Navi Mumbai, ward boy Sunil Jadhav had mistakenly

brought in an oxygen cylinder. He and the cylinder were pulled in, and they took technician

Swami Ramaiah, who was in the way, along. Ramaiah, who was stuck in the machine for 4

hours, temporarily lost sensation waist downward, suffered kidney damage and urinary

bladder puncture.

THE COMMONEST INJURIES are burns, which can be severe. Loud noises in some older

machines can result in hearing loss.

WHAT IS THE SAFETY PROTOCOL?

IN INDIA, diagnostic centres doing radiation tests such as X-ray or CT scan must have

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) approval, and follow AERB guidelines. But MRI

scans involve no radiation, and the guidelines do not apply. Precautions are taken as

advised by the machines manufacturers.


MRI machines are checked by engineers every three months. Pictorial warnings should be

made bigger; staff should be sensitized to the risks.


2. SpaceX Falcon Heavy: Everything you need to know (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper III)






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World s biggest rocket launches Elon Musk s Tesla Roadster and a mannequin named

Starman in maiden test flight

Falcon Heavy is the name of a SpaceX rocket that is launched for the first time. It is the most

powerful rocket in the world. It s built by the industry disrupting rocket company started

by billionaire Elon Musk.

Why does it matter?

This rocket will have thrust equal to 18 Boeing 747 jetliners. SpaceX has said the rocket

will be capable of sending humans to Mars, even though SpaceX is planning to build an

entirely different system for Mars travel, called the BFR.

It ll also be the most powerful rocket currently in operation — and one of the most

powerful ever built. The most powerful rocket in history was NASA s Saturn V rocket,

which was used for the Apollo moon landings and was retired in the 1970s.

The more thrust a rocket has, the farther it can travel and the bigger the satellite, spacecraft

or other payload it can send into orbit.

That opens up a whole range of business opportunities for SpaceX, which has been leading

a new era of spaceflight in which companies — not just governments — drive the industry

forward.

What is it sending to space?

For this test mission, the Falcon Heavy will launch a dummy payload. Specifically, it ll send

a cherry red Tesla (TSLA) roadster from Musk s personal collection into deep space.






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There s no scientific reason to send the car to space. But it does serve as self-promotion for

Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla.

When asked on Twitter why he wanted to throw away a $100,000 car, he replied, I love

the thought of a car drifting apparently endlessly through space and perhaps being

discovered by an alien race millions of years in the future.

Once the Falcon Heavy has proven it can fly, the rocket can start doing its real job of hauling

satellites and other payloads into orbit. The rocket is already signed up to carry three hefty

telecommunications satellites into orbit.

The U.S. Air Force also plans to use a Falcon Heavy to launch a payload dubbed STP-2 that

includes some weather forecasting satellites.

SpaceX also said in early 2017 that two space tourists put down a deposit to ride on a

Falcon Heavy for a trip around the moon. At the time, SpaceX said that trip could occur in

2018, though the company hasn t offered any updates.

How much does it cost?

The Falcon Heavy has a $90 million sticker price. That s 45% more expensive than the

Falcon 9 rocket SpaceX has used for every mission going back to 2012.

But the Falcon Heavy is essentially three Falcon 9s strapped together, and it ll boast about

three times the thrust of the Falcon 9.

And, compared to rockets that better rival the Falcon Heavy s power, it s a bargain. The

Delta IV Heavy, which is built by legacy aerospace firm United Launch Alliance and is

currently the world s most powerful rocket, can reportedly cost as much as $400 million

per launch.

It should also be noted that the Falcon Heavy will out-power the Delta IV Heavy by a factor

of two.

Why is it so cheap?

SpaceX says it s been able to undercut the competition on price because of its reusable

rocket parts. The company is the only rocket builder in the world that safely returns first-

stage rocket boosters back to Earth.

The first Falcon Heavy flight will even use two refurbished boosters from previous Falcon 9

missions. And, in what promises to be a stunning spectacle, SpaceX says it will attempt to

guide all three of the Falcon Heavy s first-stage boosters back to Earth after launch.






127



Two of them will make a synchronized landing back at Kennedy Space Center. The third

booster will land on a droneship, which is a remote-controlled platform that catches

rockets out at sea.

Will it work?

The company said back in 2011 that the rocket would be ready in 2013. That target

eventually moved to November 2017, then December. Now, SpaceX is finally launched.

But even with all that careful preparation, things could still go haywire.

Falcon Heavy requires the simultaneous ignition of 27 orbital-class engines. There s a lot

that could go wrong there, Musk said at a conference last year. This is one of those things

that s very difficult to test on the ground … real good chance that vehicle does not make it to orbit.

What happens if it explodes?

An explosion, apart from an eruption of flames and smoke, would destroy Musk s Tesla —

and, potentially, the launch pad.

A SpaceX rocket explosion has destroyed a launch pad before. In September 2016, a Falcon

9 rocket spontaneously erupted in flames and caused significant damage to a launch site at

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It took more than a year to refurbish the pad.

The Falcon Heavy is ready to fly from Kennedy Space Center s historic Launch Complex

39A. It s the same pad that hosted Apollo and Space Shuttle missions going back to the

heyday of human spaceflight.






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(Adapted from the Hindu and CNN)

3. Construction of new PHWR (Relevant for GS Prelims)

The Government has in June, 2017 accorded administrative approval and financial sanction

for setting up ten indigenous 700 MW Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) in Fleet

Mode, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,05,000 crore . The details of these PHWRs is given

below:

State /UT Location Project

Madhya Pradesh Chutka Chutka-1&2

Karnataka Kaiga Kaiga-5&6

Rajasthan Mahi Banswara Mahi Banswara- 1 & 2

Haryana Gorakhpur GHAVP– 3 & 4

Rajasthan Mahi Banswara Mahi Banswara- 3&4 These ten Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) are being built based on indigenous

technology and supply of equipment and services by Indian industry.

The total capacity to be added by these ten reactors would be 7000 MW. This capacity is

expected to be progressively added by the year 2031.

Uses of Heavy water

The process of chain reaction depends on the presence of a moderator such as heavy water.

A moderator is a material used in a nuclear reactor to slow down the neutrons produced

from fission. By slowing the neutrons, it loses the energy to break the uranium atom,

thereby keeping the chain reaction under control.

What is Heavy water?

Heavy water is made from oxygen bonded to one or more deuterium atoms. If both

hydrogen atoms are deuterium atoms, then the formula for heavy water is D2O. If one

hydrogen atom is deuterium and the other is protium, then the formula for heavy water is

DHO. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen which has one proton and one neutron. Protium,

the most common isotope of hydrogen, consists of a proton and has no neutron.

Heavy water is like ordinary water. In fact, one molecule per twenty-million water

molecules is a heavy water molecule. Heavy water is used especially as a moderator in

nuclear reactors.

(Adapted from PIB and Science and Technology Chapter 2, Page 32)

4. ISRO planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 mission around April this year (Relevant

for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)





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The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North

Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic

Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is

planning to launch Chandrayan-2 Mission around April this year. Chandrayaan-2 is the

country's second mission to the moon, he added. Chandraayan-2 is a challenging mission as

for the first time we will carry an orbiter, a lander and a rover to the moon. He said that it is

a matter of pride that ISRO is launching Chandrayaan-2, which will place India at a new

height in space technology.

Chandrayaan-2 Chandrayaan-2 is India s second lunar exploration mission after

Chandrayaan-1. The mission is planned to be launched to Moon by a Geosynchronous

Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MK II. It includes a lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all

developed by India. India is planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 by 2018.

The wheeled rover will move on the lunar surface and will pick up soil or rock samples for

on-site chemical analysis. The data will be relayed to Earth through Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.

1. Design of the Launch Vehicle: The mission is planned to fly on a Geosynchronous Satellite

Launch Vehicle, GSLV Mk II with an approximate lift-off mass of 3,250 kg (7,170 lb), from

Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota Island.

2. Orbiter: The orbiter will orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km. The Lander will come

out of orbiter.

3. Lander: Unlike Chandrayaan-1 s Moon Impact Probe, which impacted the Moon s surface,

the lander will make a soft landing to deploy the rover. The lander will not perform any

scientific activities. The approximate mass of the lander and rover together is about 1,250

kg.

4. Rover: The rover s mass is about 20 kg and it will operate on solar power. The rover will

move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, perform on-site

chemical analysis and send the data to the orbiter above, which will relay it to the Earth

station.

The initial plan for the rover was to be designed in Russia and fabricated in India. However,

Russia gave up its plan on designing the rover in May 2010. Subsequently, ISRO decided on

designing and fabricating the rover. IIT Kanpur is developing the subsystems of rover.

Comparison with Chandrayaan-1: Chandrayaan-1 was India s first lunar probe. It was

launched by ISRO in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included a

lunar orbiter and not a rover. India launched the spacecraft using a PSLV-XL rocket.






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(Adapted from pib and Science & Technology; Chapter 3, Page 63)

5. All you need to know about Hyperloop (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper

III)

Richard Branson s Virgin Hyperloop One has signed an agreement with the Maharashtra

government to build a Hyperloop that will cut the travel time between Mumbai and Pune to

25 minutes from the 3 hours it now takes by road. A 10-km pilot path will be built from

Pune s Hinjewadi, but no more details are immediately available. Branson says the

Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop will connect 26 million people, support 150 million passenger

trips per year, and could cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 86,000 tonnes over 30

years. However, Hyperloop is currently only a concept — and experts warn that the global

hype around it must be taken with a healthy dose of cynicism.

The Company

Hyperloop concept was proposed by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, in 2012. The idea

was open-sourced, and Hyperloop One was founded in 2014 as one of the firms building

the high-speed transportation system. In 2017, Hyperloop One received a big investment

from Richard Branson, and was rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop One.

The Vehicle

Hyperloop envisages pods or capsules travelling at high speeds through low-pressure

tubes erected on columns or tunneled underground. The system is fully autonomous and

sealed, so no driver-related error is anticipated. In a sealed environment with almost no air

resistance, the pods are expected to reach very high speeds.

The Science

The vehicle uses magnetic levitation, and is propelled by a proprietary electric propulsion

system. First open-air propulsion test was conducted in May 2016, first systems test in May

2017. Motion will not involve contact, so the vehicle will be virtually noiseless.

The Advantage

Besides being fast, Hyperloop is energy-agnostic , drawing from whichever source is

available. If that s solar or wind, the system will be carbon-free.

The Experience

Ride will be comparable to one in an elevator or plane, and acceleration and deceleration

will be gradual, the company says. Mumbai-Pune is 150 km; 25-minute journey implies a

pod will take about 6 minutes to accelerate to 1,000 km/h, and the same time to come to a

halt. G forces will be as tolerable as in a Boeing 747 takeoff.

What will it cost?





https://prepmate.in/product/science-and-technology/


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Always the biggest question for infra in India, apart from the availability of land (which,

given the Hyperloop concept, doesn t seem to be as big an issue in this case). Hyperloop is

currently offering no cost calculations beyond saying that third parties have concluded

that the capital and operational costs is two-thirds that of high-speed rail , and that the

goal (of ticket pricing) is to make it affordable for everyone . The projected cost of the Los

Angeles-San Francisco loop is about $ 6 billion, or approximately $ 11.5 million — about Rs

75 crore — per mile.

Is there a real need?

The bullet train project found financial justification by projecting expected social and

economic benefits of bridging the distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. It is also seen

as a quantum leap and upgrade for Indian Railways. The practical benefits of a Mumbai-

Pune Hyperloop that would justify resource requirements aren t clear yet.

What about clearances?

Hyperloop is so far only a concept with no resemblance to any public transport system

known to man. After the technology is demonstrated will come the question of a neutral,

third-party safety regulator. The company has called for a fresh approach to regulation .

Environment clearances will also be needed in India.

How fast?

Top speed for passenger/light cargo vehicle: 670 m/h or 1,080 km/h, 2-3 times faster than

the fastest train, 200 km/hr faster than cruising speed of a 747 jumbo.

How noisy?

Outside the tube as the pod goes by at more than 500 m/h: just a big whoosh .

How efficient?

Can draw power from multiple energy sources; can be even 100% carbon free if the source

is wind or solar.

By when?

Goal is to have operational systems in service by 2021, says the company. But that is only a

claim at the moment.


6. Sophia, World's First Robot Citizen (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains paper III)

Citizen of Saudi Arabia






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Sophia had become a full citizen of Saudi Arabia -- the first robot in the world to achieve

such a status.

Who made Sophia?

The Sophia-bot was dreamed up by the brains at Hanson Robotics, lead by AI developer

David Hanson.

Features of Sophia

1. She has a sense of humor.

2. She can express feelings

3. She was designed to look like Audrey Hepburn


7. Testing global broadband: Tintins in sky, scoping out a Net for all (Relevant for GS

Prelims, GS mains Paper III)

Recently, SpaceX launched its Paz mission, using its workhorse Falcon-9 rocket. CEO Elon

Musk had spoken of Starlink, a constellation of satellites that would provide a cheap, high

speed, global Internet connection.

Falcon launch carried SpaceX test satellites for global broadband. If successful, (the)

Starlink constellation will serve (the) least served. The UN Broadband Commission for

Sustainable Development estimated in 2016 that 57% of the world s population was offline.

So, what is the Starlink constellation?

Starlink will likely have 12,000 small satellites in two layers — low earth orbit (LEO) and

very low earth orbit (VLEO).

The LEO constellation will have 4,425 satellites at altitude between 1,110 km and 1,325

km. The VLEO constellation will have 7,518 satellites at altitude between 335 km and 346

km.

The LEO constellation will provide high-speed broadband services around the world; the

VLEO constellation will enhance capacity.

Who else is trying something like this?

Facebook had plans to launch a satellite, the Amos-6, to cover parts of Africa in 2016, but it

was destroyed after its ride, SpaceX s Falcon-9 rocket, exploded before launch. Since then,

the company has been developing light-based wireless communication. US-based OneWeb






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is reportedly planning to send 900 satellites next year. Telesat Canada is expected to have

two constellations of 117 satellites each.


8. What is pulse polio? (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III)

What is it?

On January 28, India carried out the first of its two national rounds of the Pulse Polio

Campaign for 2018. The second is on March 11. These two campaigns will see a huge

mobilisation of resources to give the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to around 17 crore under-five

children.

Why do Indian policy-makers continue to focus on polio, though the Southeast Asian

region, including India, became polio-free in 2014?

This is because the threat of resurgence is real and can happen in two ways. As on today,

two countries — Pakistan and Afghanistan — still have circulating polio. And the polio

virus can cross borders easily through adults who show no symptoms. In 2011, 10 years

after becoming polio-free, China s Xinjiang province saw 21 cases of paralytic polio and two

deaths. When the virus from the outbreak was sequenced, it turned out to be from

Pakistan. In 2009, India exported polio to Tajikistan, where it caused an outbreak of 587

cases. Today, India s only defence against the import of polio is watertight immunisation. A

small gap in immunisation among newborns can be enough for imported virus to seep in.

The second risk of resurgence comes, ironically, from OPV itself. In rare cases, this vaccine,

which contains weakened but live polio virus, can cause paralytic polio. Also, because the

vaccine-virus is excreted by immunised children, it can move from one person to another.

This makes OPV a double-edged sword. On the one hand, a vaccinated person protects

unvaccinated people she comes in contact with by spreading immunity through faeces. But

on the other, such circulation allows the virus to stick around and mutate to a more

virulent form, raising the spectre of vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV). VDPV, like

imported wild polio, can cause outbreaks in under-immunised population. It is for this

reason that the eradication of polio worldwide requires OPV to be stopped and replaced

with the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV). IPV does not cause VDPV but protects children

equally well against polio.


Indian researchers started experimenting with the strategy of pulse immunisation in the

1980s. By then, OPV was a part of India s Expanded Programme on Immunisation, but polio

burden remained high, with 1,000 children becoming paralysed each day. The success of

the programme was being thwarted by low coverage of the vaccine, problems with potency






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and blunted immune response among Indian children. Against this background, a group of

researchers, led by Vellore-based virologist T. Jacob John, championed the idea of pulse

campaigns. While routine immunisation waits for parents to bring their children to the

clinic, something that many parents do not do, pulse campaigns try to give a pulse of

vaccine to an entire population in one go. Dr. John suggested that routine immunisation

worked in developed countries, because parents were motivated to vaccinate their

children. But India needed a different strategy.

Why does it matter?

An early experiment in Vellore in 1978 showed that pulses delivered to a large cohort of

children gave them strong immunity even when the vaccine was not so potent. This was

because vaccine pulses rapidly replaced the wild-polio virus circulating in the community

with the vaccine-virus. Vellore was the first Indian town to become polio-free through the

pulse strategy, and the rest of India adopted the strategy in 1995.

What next?

Out of the three wild-types of poliovirus that cause the disease, the transmission of one,

Wild Poliovirus 2 (WPV-2), was interrupted successfully more than a decade ago.

The two remaining viruses that are circulating in Pakistan and Afghanistan are WPV-1 and

WPV-3. Once we stop these two viruses in their tracks, OPV will be phased out and replaced

globally with IPV.


9. Rustom-2 UAV (Relevant for GS prelims)

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) carried out a test-flight of

the unmanned aerial vehicle Rustom-2.

This flight assumes significance because of the fact that this is the first flight in user

configuration with a higher power engine. The flight was conducted at its Aeronautical Test

Range in Chitradurga of Karnataka.

About Rustom-2

Rustom-2 belongs to a family of UAVs under development, besides Rustom-1 and Rustom-

H. It is a medium-altitude long-endurance drone (MALE) and will fill a critical capability

gap in the inventory of the armed forces.

It can fly up to an altitude of 22,000 feet and has an endurance of over 20 hours. It is

capable of carrying payloads for electronic and signal intelligence missions. Currently, the

three services employ hundreds of Israeli drones and have projected a requirement of

hundreds of more UAVs, including armed variants, in the near future. The DRDO is also

developing other drones in different categories.






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(Adapted from The HIndu)






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Social issues

1. When two people get into wedlock, no one should interfere, says Supreme Court

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper I)

View of SC judge

Two adults are free to marry and no third party has a right to harass or cause harm to

them, said Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, speaking against honour killings.

What are Honour killing ?

Honour killinks are broad category of crimes. An honor killing or a shame killing] is the

homicide of a member of a family, due to the perpetrators belief that the victim has

brought shame or dishonor upon the family, or has violated the principles of a community

or a religion, usually for reasons such as refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a

relationship that is disapproved by their family, having sex outside marriage, becoming the

victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, engaging in non-

heterosexual relations or renouncing a faith.

Honor killings happen every day, all over the world. In some countries, the Islamic faith has

a hold on the laws allowing parents to kill children for bringing shame upon the family. The

shame does not have to be brought by committing a crime. It can be for something as

simple as eloping with a male partner.

What are Khap panchayats?

A Khap is a community organisation representing a clan or a group of related clans. They

are found mostly in northern India, particularly among the Jat people of Western Uttar

Pradesh and Haryana, although historically the term has also been used among other

communities. A Khap Panchayat is an assembly of Khap elders, and a Sarv Khap is an

assembly of many Khap Panchayats.

Khaps are not affiliated with the formally elected government bodies and is instead

concerned with the affairs of the Khap it represents. It is not affiliated with the

democratically elected local assemblies that are also termed Panchayat. A Khap Panchayat

has no official government recognition or authority, but can exert significant social

influence within the community it represents.

Role of Khap Panchayats

The Khap Panchayats frequently make pronouncements on social issues, such as abortion,

alcohol abuse, dowry, and to promote education, specially among girls.

The largest Khap in Haryana is the Satrol Khap, which allowed inter-caste marriage in

2014, providing the marriage is not within the same gotra, village, or neighbouring villages.






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A 2015 Sarv Khap meeting launched a Save daughters, educate daughter movement.

Criticism of Khap Panchayats

The decisions of the patriarchal Khap Panchayats have often been associated with the

practice of honour killing.

In recent times, the Khap system has attracted criticism from groups, citing the stark

prejudice that such groups allegedly hold against others. The All India Democratic

Women s Association has reported cases where the Khaps are alleged to have initiated

threats of murder and violence to couples who marry outside of the circle.

(Adapted from pib)

2. WCD Ministry considering setting up National Women Entrepreneurship Council

(Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper I)

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is considering to establish National Women

Entrepreneurship Council (NWEC). NWEC will promote entrepreneurship as it would be

the umbrella organization for socio-economic gender parity, financial inclusion and

economic empowerment of women in India.

(Adapted from PIB)






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Miscellaneous

1. Dinesh Srivastava is new NFC chief executive (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Distinguished Scientist Dinesh Srivastava has taken over as Chief Executive of the Nuclear

Fuel Complex (NFC). In this capacity Mr. Srivastava will also be Chairman of the NFC Board.

About Nuclear Fuel Complex

The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) was established in 1971 as a major industrial unit of

India s Department of Atomic Energy, for the supply of nuclear fuel bundles and reactor

core components. It is a unique facility where natural and enriched uranium fuel, zirconium

alloy cladding and reactor core components are manufactured under one roof.

The headquarters of NFC are at Hyderabad.

Natural uranium, mined at Jaduguda Uranium Mine in the Singhbhum area of Jharkhand

state, is converted into nuclear fuel assemblies. A 220 MW PHWR fuel bundle contains 15.2

kg of natural uranium dioxide (UO2). Uranium dioxide pellets generate heat while

undergoing fission. The fission products, which are radioactive, should be contained and

not allowed to mix with coolant water. Hence the UO2 pellets are contained in zirconium

alloy tubes with both ends hermetically sealed.


2. INS Karanj boosts Navy s firepower (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Third Scorpene class submarine joins Naval fleet






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The Navy s third state-of-the-art Scorpene class submarine, INS Karanj, was launched. The

new submarine is named after the earlier Kalvari class INS Karanj, which was

decommissioned in 2003.

Delay in launch

However, the programme has been delayed by four years due to construction delays. The

Prime Minister s Office conveyed its annoyance to the Defence Ministry for not taking

stringent action against the Naval Group and MDSL for the delay.

Details of the project

Six Scorpene class submarines are being built under Project 75 by the Mazagon Dock

Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), Mumbai, under a $3.75 billion technology transfer signed in

October 2005 with the Naval Group of France.

Submarines launched

The launch follows the launch of the first two Scorpene submarines — INS Kalavari and INS

Khanderi.

INS Kalvari, the first to be launched, was commissioned in December 2017. INS Khanderi,

which was launched in January 2017, is currently undergoing deep dive trails and is

expected to be commissioned later this year, according to Navy officials .

Remaining submarines

The remaining three submarines are Vela, Vagir and Vagsheer. The three submarines are

in various stages of outfitting. The entire project is expected to be completed by 2020


3. Exam Warriors – book authored by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched


Students now will be able to refer to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi s advice on

how to tackle exam challenges in his book, Exam Warriors .

About the book

The book seeks to add to the debate and discourse around the importance of stress-free

examinations by encouraging a focus on knowledge rather than purely on marks. In the

spirit of continuing dialogue, this book contains activities that are fun and thought-

provoking. A series of asanas and breathing exercises are also included in this book for

students to overcome stress.

(Adapted from PIB)






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4. India dominate in record fourth U-19 World Cup title (Relevant for GS prelims)

The 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket

tournament that was held in New Zealand.It was the twelfth edition of the Under-19

Cricket World Cup, and the third to be held in New Zealand (after the 2002 and 2010

events).

New Zealand was the first country to host the event three times. In the final, India beat

Australia by 8 wickets to win their fourth Under-19 World Cup, the most by any side


5. CRISIL, SIDBI Launch India s First MSE Sentiment Index (Relevant for GS Prelims)

CriSidEx

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx,

India s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) developed jointly by

CRISIL & SIDBI here today.

What is CriSidEx?

CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters and measures

MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative) to 200 (extremely positive).

The parametric feedback was captured through a survey of 1100 MSEs in November –December.

CriSidEx will have 2 indices, one for the survey quarter and another for the next quarter

once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey, providing independent time series

data.

Benefit of CriSidEx

The crucial benefit of CriSidEx is that its readings will flag potential headwinds and changes

in production cycles and thus help improve market efficiencies. And by capturing the

sentiment of exporters and importers, it will also offer actionable indicators on foreign

trade.

(Adapted from PIB)

6. SWAYAM PRABHA (Relevant for GS Prelims)

It is an initiative to provide 32 high quality educational channels through DTH (Direct to

Home) across the length and breadth of the country on 24X7 basis. This would enable to

deliver e-education in a most cost-effective manner.






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The Department of Space has allotted two Transponders of GSAT-15 for the same. The

subscribers of free DTH service of Doordarshan (Free dish) would be able to view these

Educational channels using the same set Top Box and TV. No additional investment would

be required.

These educational programmes delivered over DTH shall also be made available at

YouTube as archival data. The information related to channel schedules; subject, archival

link etc are available on SWAYAM Prabha portal (https://swayamprabha.gov.in/) which is

developed by INFLIBNET Gandhinagar.

(Adapted from PIB)

7. National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (Relevant for GS Prelims)

What is NAFCC ?

The National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) is a Central Sector Scheme

which was set up in the year 2015-16. The overall aim of NAFCC is to support concrete

adaptation activities which mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. The activities

under this scheme are implemented in a project mode.

What are the projects eligible under NAFCC?

The projects related to adaptation in sectors such as agriculture, animal husbandry, water,

forestry, tourism etc. are eligible for funding under NAFCC. National Bank for Agriculture

and Rural Development (NABARD) is the National Implementing Entity (NIE).

What is the procedure for approval?

The States/UTs are required to prepare the project proposal in consultation with NIE i.e.

NABARD. The project proposals are required to be approved by the State Steering

Committee on Climate Change to be eligible for consideration under NAFCC. It is the

discretion of the State Government to engage any organization to assist in project

preparation, as per their requirement

(Adapted from PIB)

8. Mission Indradhanush (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Intensified Mission Indradhanush has been launched on 8th October 2017 to increase the

full immunization coverage to 90% by December 2018. Inter-sectoral convergence along

with intensive planning and monitoring are the salient features of this mission. Funds

allocated for Routine Immunization under part C of PIP are being utilized by the state to

carryout Intensified Mission Indradhanush. Further, flexible additional funds to the tune of

Rs.6411.11 lakh have been provided only in the financial year 2017-18 based on states






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proposals to carry out Intensified Mission Indradhanush. The state wise details are given

below:

Through Intensified Mission Indradhanush, the Government plans to reach the target of

90% Full Immunization Coverage of children by December 2018. As per the report of

Integrated Child Health and Immunization Survey (INCHIS), the first two phases of Mission

Indradhanush led to an increase of 6.7% in full immunization coverage.

Mission Indradhanush

Mission Indradhanush depicts 7 colours of the rainbow which aims to cover all those

children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against 7 vaccine

preventable diseases. These 7 diseases are Diphtheria, Whooping cough, Tetanus, Polio,

Tuberculosis, Measles and Hepatitis B.

The mission was launched in December 2014 on the occasion of National Good Governance

Day. The first phase was carried out in April 2015.

(Adapted from pib)

9. Eliminating AIDS By 2030 (Relevant for GS Prelims)

There has been a 66% decline in the estimated number of annual new HIV infections in the

country from 2000 to 2015, against the global average of 35%. AIDS related deaths

declined by 54% from 2007 to 2015 against the global average of 41% decline during 2005 – 2015.

Government of India has launched the seven year National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS and

Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) 017-24, which aims to attain universal coverage of

HIV prevention, treatment to care continuum of services that are effective, inclusive,

equitable and adapted to needs of the people living with HIV. The National Strategic Plan

aims to working towards reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

(Adapted from pib)

10. Border fencing status with Bangladesh (Relevant for GS Prelims)

All feasible stretches along International borders with Bangladesh have been approved for

erection of barbed wire fence.

India shares 4096km border with Bangladesh. The total sanctioned length of fence along

Indo-Bangladesh border is 3326 Km out of which 2746.44 Km has been completed and the

balance ongoing work on encumbrance free stretches of land is targeted for completion by

March, 2019.






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(Adapted from pib)

11. BARC technology to convert sewage into bio-fertilizer (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Conventionally sewage treatment plant treats the sewage and the same is dried. The

technology developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) subjects the dried sludge

to crushing and exposure to 10 kGy radiation dose. This kills the pathogens in the sludge

and makes it safer for use.

In the next step, BIO-NPK (Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium) microorganisms are sprayed

on to it to make it bio- fertilizer. The use of such bio-fertilizer provides organic carbon and

other nutrients to the soil. The process also helps in recycling of the waste material to

useful Bio-fertilizer.

(Adapted from PIB)

12. States to use 5-10% of biomass pellets with coal for power generation in thermal

power plants (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Raj Kumar Singh,

in a written reply to a question on progress on mixing crop residue pellets with coal for

power generation informed that the Ministry of Power has issued a policy to use 5-10% of

biomass pellets along with coal for power generation in thermal power plants.

Further, Shri Singh said that in order to promote use of the Biomass pellets, the Central

Electricity Authority (CEA) has written to all Central/State Utilities, State Governments,

Power Equipment Manufacturers/Integrated Power Producers/Generating Companies that

all fluidized bed and pulverized coal units of power generating utilities (coal based thermal

power plants), public or private located in India shall endeavour to use 5-10% blend of

Biomass pellets made, primarily, of agro residue along with coal after assessing the

technical feasibility, viz., the safety aspects etc.

(Adapted from PIB)

13. Swachh Bharat Sanitation Park inaugurated in Delhi (Relevant for GS Prelims)

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in collaboration with the Environmental

Sanitation Institute and Tata Trusts, has developed a Sanitation Park in Delhi.

Objective of setting Sanitation Park

The Sanitation Park was developed at CGO Complex in New Delhi with an objective to

create awareness on various safe technological options. The Park demonstrates various

options pertaining to toilet technologies and solid and liquid waste management

technologies, with a brief description of these technologies.






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The Park also displays information regarding various interventions undertaken under the

Swachh Bharat Mission, capturing the success stories and impact created under the Mission

across the country. The park presents the opportunity for the visitors to understand the

various components and initiatives of SBM and familiarize themselves with different

technologies.

(Adapted from PIB)

14. More than 1700 SPECIAL JUVENILE POLICE UNITS (Relevant for GS Prelims)

More than 1700 Special Juvenile Police Units(SJPUs) have been established in the country.

Each district and city in the country has atleast one SJPU. The Police officers of the Special

Juvenile Police Unit are trained by their respective State Governments and State Police

Academies.

(Adapted from PIB )

15. NITI Aayog s Health Index report (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Findings of the report- Healthy States, Progressive India: Report on Rank of States and

UTs .

Kerala has topped among large states on overall health performance in NITI Aayog s Health

Index, while Uttar Pradesh appears at the bottom though it has shown big improvement in

the recent past.

Kerala was followed by Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha are

among those which have performed poorly on the index.

Improvement over last year

In terms of annual incremental performance, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar

Pradesh are the top three states.

These three states showed the maximum gains in indicators such as Neonatal Mortality

Rate (NMR), Under-five Mortality Rate (U5MR), full immunisation coverage, institutional

deliveries.

Among the smaller states, Mizoram ranked first followed by Manipur and Goa.

Among Union Territories or UTs, Lakshadweep showed both the best overall performance

as well as the highest annual incremental performance.

Methodology

According to a NITI Aayog statement, the ranking was done under three categories —

larger states, smaller States and UTs to ensure comparison among similar entities.






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The three indicators which were factored while ranking the states are Health Outcomes (70

per cent), Governance and Information (12 per cent) and Key Inputs and Processes (18 per

cent), with each domain assigned a weight based on its importance.

The statement said that there was a large gap in overall performance between the best and

the least performing states and UTs.

In the reference year (2015-16) among the larger states, the index scope for overall

performances ranged widely between 33.69 in Uttar Pradesh to 76.55 in Kerala.

The Index is expected to nudge states towards further achieving a rapid transformation of

their health systems and population health outcomes.


16. Shri Nitin Gadkari releases India s first ever Highway Capacity Manual (Relevant

for GS Prelims)

The Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River

Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari released India s first ever

Highway Capacity Manual in New Delhi.

Indo-HCM

The manual, known as Indo-HCM, has been developed by CSIR – CRRI on the basis of an

extensive, country-wide study of the traffic characteristics on different categories of roads

like single lane, two-lane, multi-lane urban roads, inter-urban highways and expressways

and the associated intersections on these roads. The manual lays down guidelines for

when and how to expand or manage different types of roads and their intersections and the

level of services to be put in place.

First manual by India

While countries like USA, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan developed their own Highway

Capacity Manuals long time back, this is the first time that the manual has been developed

in India.

(Adapted from pib)

17. Asma Jehangir passed away (Relevant for GS Prelims)

Contribution






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She was the country s symbol of human rights and resistance and a fierce opponent of

military dictators for over five decades. She was also a vocal advocate of India-Pakistan

peace and was part of several Track 2 delegations to India.

Life history

Born in Lahore on January 27, 1952, Ms. Jehangir had a prominent career both as a lawyer

and a rights activist. After obtaining a law degree from the Punjab University in 1978, she

started her career as an advocate at the judiciary. Noted Pakistani lawyer Asma Jehangir

passed away.

She soon became a champion democracy activist and was subsequently imprisoned in 1983

for participating in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy against the military

rule of Zia-ul-Haq. She also served as chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of

Pakistan, and was widely respected for her outspoken criticism of the country s militant

and extremist Islamist groups.

Ms. Jehangir also served as president of the Supreme Court s Bar Association and was a UN

rapporteur on human right and extrajudicial killings. She was once on Time magazine s list

of 100 most influential women.


18. National Productivity Council (Relevant for GS Prelims)

The National Productivity Council is observing National Productivity Day today, and

National Productivity Week till 18th February. It is the 60th Anniversary of the National

Productivity Council and is being celebrated as Diamond Jubilee Year. Industry 4.0

Leapfrog Opportunity for India has been selected as the theme for the National

Productivity Week -2018.

What is Industry 4.0?

Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution as it is called, is emerging globally as a

powerful force and is being called as the next industrial revolution. It is characterized by






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the increasing digitization and interconnection of products, value chains and business

models.

Industry 4.0 would mean the convergence of real and virtual worlds-the next phase in

bringing together conventional and modern technologies in manufacturing. This will result

in the Smart Factory , which is characterized by versatility, resource efficiency, ergonomic

design and direct integration with business partners.

Industrial revolutions in the past?

The first industrial revolution was triggered by water and steam power to move from

human labour to mechanical manufacturing. The second industrial revolution built on

electric power to create mass production. The third used electronic and information

technology to automate manufacturing. The fourth is the current trend of automation and

data exchange in manufacturing technologies.

Government targets for manufacturing

The Manufacturing Sector especially MSMEs play a pivotal role in the Indian economy and

provide the largest share of employment after agriculture. In order to converge the aims of

growth with employment it is important to increase the share of manufacturing in the

country s Gross Domestic Product from 16% to 25% by 2022 and to create 100 million

additional jobs by 2022.

Contribution of NPC

Over its 59 years of existence, NPC has built extensive experience in problem solving right

from the shop floor level to strategic and policy issues at the macro level. With nearly 140

full time consultants on its roll possessing a wide repertoire of skill/ expertise and a

network of 13 regional offices at all major State capitals/industrial centres, NPC has the

requisite professional strength as well as country wide presence.


19. Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) outlets


The AMRIT retail outlets sell drugs at highly discounted rates. These outlets have a very

comprehensive list of medicines that are available across range of products.

More than 195 drugs for treatment of Cancer and 186 drugs for treatment of

Cardiovascular Diseases are being sold through AMRIT with a discount of more than 90%

are available to patients.

Government is planning to open 300 outlets in the country.






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The project has been floated in a tie-up with government-owned HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL)

which is mandated to establish and run the AMRIT chain of pharmacies across the country.

(Adapted from PIB)

20. Jammu Sunjwan Army camp attack (Read to understand)

Atleast five Indian Army soldiers have been martyred, and three militants gunned down,

since the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attacked Jammu's Sunjwan Army camp on 11th

feb,2018 early morning.

As many as 10 people have suffered grievous injuries including six women- out of which a

pregnant woman, who was shot in the back has delivered a baby girl and both are stable.

JeM ATTACKS

A number of Jaish-e-Mohammed militants clad in army fatigues breached the army cordon

around the camp during early hours of Saturday and launched a major offensive against

security personnel.

Lodged near the officers' residential quarters, Jaish terrorists engaged in an intense

gunfight with Army personnel for over 30 hours.

IAF para commandos from the Army's Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command were

airlifted to tackle the militants later in the day.

Intelligence report

The attack came days after intelligence had sounded an alert across the state over hanging

anniversaries of terrorists Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat. 2001 Parliament terror attack

convict Afzal Guru was hanged in New Delhi's Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013 and Bhat was

hanged on February 11, 1984.

(Adapted from the indiatoday.in)

21. Ministry of Railways Announces one of the World s Largest Recruitment Drive


Ministry of Railways has announced one of the world s largest recruitment processes for

89409 posts in Group C Level I (Erstwhile Group D) & Level II Categories.

(Adapted from pib)

22. Deadline to install GPS extended in Delhi (Relevant for GS Prelims)






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Deadline of 28th February

The deadline to install fully-functional Global Positioning System (GPS) devices aboard

passenger-carrying vehicles has been extended to February 28 by the Delhi government s

Transport Department. The previous deadline was February 15.

This, even as the constant monitoring of such devices by the Department at its central

control room in north Delhi has brought to the fore glaring discrepancies related to the lack

of functionality of such devices installed aboard vehicles such as auto rickshaws, taxis,

school cabs and even buses.

Activity status

For instance, of the 90,863 such devices installed on auto rickshaws only 49,330 were

found active while those aboard 41,533 were not; only 1,360 devices aboard school cabs

were active while 1,778 were not; 527 of the 4,260 devices aboard cabs were found

functional while 3,742 were non-functional.

Violators to pay fine

In September last, the Department had decided to undertake on-the-spot cancellation of

permits of passenger-carrying vehicles such as taxis and auto-rickshaws if these are found

plying with no or non-functional GPS devices.

The decision came a day after the Delhi High Court came down heavily on the Centre and

State government in addition to their respective Transport units over the issue.






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23. Cyril Ramaphosa- New President of South Africa (Relevant for GS prelims)

The pragmatist President of South Africa

A veteran anti-apartheid campaigner, trade union leader and business tycoon — few world

figures would rival the ambition, breadth of experience and steely resolve of South Africa s

new President. The 65-year old Cyril Ramaphosa s elevation to the nation s top job became

imminent ever since the African National Congress (ANC) voted him as party leader in

December. The swift political transition witnessed since was propelled by judicial sanction

to reopen innumerable cases against his predecessor Jacob Zuma, culminating in his

resignation on Wednesday.

The nation s Deputy President since 2014, Mr. Ramaphosa has seemed far more decisive as

ANC leader, as evident from the recent reconstituted state power utility board and the raids

on the residence of the controversial India-born Gupta brothers.

What role did he play?

Even as freedom dawned in South Africa in 1990, Mr. Ramaphosa was a force to reckon

with, negotiating strategic bargains for workers in industrial conflicts. The National Union

of Mineworkers he founded earlier and the Congress of South African Trade Unions

(COSATU) he helped to forge subsequently marked out his qualities of organisation and

consensus-building.

Then, as ANC secretary-general, he served as chief negotiator to map the nation s

democratic transition. As chairman of the Constitution Assembly in 1994, the nation saw at

work the architect of arguably among the world s more liberal constitutions.

In the formulation of the Black Economic Empowerment programme around the turn of the

century lay the beginnings of Mr. Ramaphosa s own entrepreneurship. The sprawling

business empire he established, stretching from mining, communications and investment

earned him recognition as an icon of black power.

Equally, as one of the country s wealthiest businessmen, given to a lavish life-style,

questions began to surface about his true loyalties. As his name was cleared by the courts

in the infamous 2012 murder of 34 workers in the Marikana platinum mine, he returned to

full-time politics within months, as the ANC deputy president.

What are the challenges?

The biggest challenge before the new President is to salvage the ANC s reputation, rebuild a

broken economy and win the 2019 general election. Opposition parties which have already






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made inroads into the ANC s traditional support base would be anxious to further

consolidate those gains in the coming months. At the minimum, Mr. Ramaphosa would be

expected to dispel any doubt that the new government will not grant amnesty to Mr. Zuma,

or rescue ANC apparatchiks implicated in the distribution of official patronage.

Equally vital would be the protection of prosecutorial independence that was severely

undermined during the previous regime. These are essential steps to demonstrate a

determination to combat corruption and regain public trust in the party s commitment to

nation-building.

How will he tackle them?

The new budget, to be unveiled next week, will be a pointer to the government s economic

priorities in a country that is just recovering from a deep recession and is still grappling

with high unemployment. With strong moorings in the trade union movement and an

instinct to make common cause with business, Mr. Ramaphosa has signalled a preference

for pragmatism to populism.

Accordingly, attracting investment for the expansion of education and skill development

could well form his immediate priorities, rather than the more contentious question of land

redistribution without compensation. But then, the latter forms an important item on the

ANC agenda, finalised at its recent congress. Deferring action, without necessarily

jettisoning the issue, would once again test Mr. Ramaphosa s capacity for building

consensus within the party. A nation exasperated by unbridled corruption and nepotism in

high places looks up to its new President with huge expectations. South Africa and the

world will learn within a year whether Mr. Ramaphosa has begun to deliver.


24. Rotomac owner defaulted repayment of over Rs 800 crore (Read only for

understanding)

Vikram Kothari from Kanpur -has been accused of defaulting on repayment of more than

Rs 800 crore loans from five government banks.

Inability to repay loan

Kothari, who is the chairman & MD at Rotomac Global Private Limited, had taken loans of

Rs 800 crore from Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank

and Union Bank of India. However, as per the Union Bank of India and Allahabad Bank

sources, Kothari has not paid back either the interest or the loaned amount.

Rules compromised to give loan

Insiders in the banks said rules were "compromised" to give loans to Kothari. The banks

officials and many other business clients, who did not wish to come on record, revealed






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that they have been making rounds of Rotomac office on Mall road for the past few days,

but it was locked. They also alleged that they tried to get in touch with Kothari on phone,

but in vain.

Statement by Kothari

Kothari, however, in a statement said: "First of all, don't call it a scam. Also, I am not leaving

the country and I am very much in Kanpur. Banks have declared my company non-

performing asset (NPA), but not defaulter. The matter is still sub judice with National

Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). I have taken loans and will repay it all soon."

(Adapted from Times of india)

25. Cabinet approves creation of National Urban Housing Fund (Relevant for GS

Prelims)

The Union Cabinet has given approval for creation of National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF)

for Rs.60,000 crores. This fund will be situated in Building Materials and Technology

Promotion Council (BMTPC), an autonomous body registered under the Societies

Registration Act, 1860 under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The Ministry has so far sanctioned 39.4 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

(Urban). The target is to cater to the demand of housing shortage of nearly 1.2 crore and

make available housing to all by 2022, when the Country celebrates its 75thAnniversary of

Independence.

Purpose of NHUF

NUHF will facilitate raising requisite funds in next four years so that flow of Central

Assistance for housing progresses smoothly.

(Adapted from Pib)

26. SC against disclosure of IAS prelims marks (Read only for understanding)

Decision on UPSC s appeal against HC

The Supreme Court has held that details of marks — raw and scaled — scored in the Civil Services Exam cannot be mechanically disclosed under Right to Information. Rationale behind SC judgement

A SC Bench observed that the need for transparency and accountability championed by the Right to Information Act should be balanced by the requirement of confidentiality of sensitive information





https://prepmate.in/daily-news-paper/sc-disclosure-ias-prelims-marks-read-understanding/


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Background

The decision came on an appeal filed by the Union Public Service Commission against a Delhi High Court order to divulge the marks on the basis of a petition filed by unsuccessful candidates of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2010 (CSP). The petitioners had sought the disclosure of marks (raw and scaled) awarded to them in the CSP 2010. They wanted information on cut-off marks for each subject, scaling methodology, model answers and the results of all candidates. What is scaling in UPSC mains?

UPSC does scaling only to ensure some level of uniformity in the evaluation. Since there are a lot of subjects involved in the UPSC exam, there tends to be a lot of subjectivity in scores received by candidates. The exact process of scaling (normalization) done by the UPSC is not clear. To make the inter -subject scores comparable, UPSC does scaling. The UPSC normalizes the marks obtained by a candidate in this subject to bring parity with students who take history or other less scoring subjects. But students should not worry unnecessarily, because it is only meant to cancel out undue advantage received by candidates of a particular subject. Method of evaluation

Evaluation by examiners tends to be non-uniform because some examiners are strict whereas others are liberal . The process of evaluation is such that uniform standards are applied to the assessment. There is a head examiner who sets the standards of assessment in the initial stage itself. This is imparted to all the additional examiners. The head examiner periodically assesses the evaluation by the additional examiners to make revisions if necessary. Apart from this, UPSC also tries to bring about uniformity in the difficulty levels of the 48 subjects offered as optional subjects in the IAS mains exam. According to the UPSC, it indulges in statistical moderation by linear transformation wherever considered necessary. (Adapted from the Hindu)

27. PM Modi launches Amma two-wheeler scheme (Relevant for GS prelims)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kickstarted the subsidised Amma two-wheeler scheme

meant for working women, on the occasion of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa s 70th

birth anniversary.

As part of the scheme, every beneficiary will be given 50% of the cost of a two- wheeler or a

grant of Rs. 25,000. Each year, one lakh working women would be covered.






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As a mark of the commencement of the scheme, five women were handed over keys to

vehicles and registration certificates by the Prime Minister.


28. Milan 2018 (Relevant for GS prelims)

The second week of March will witness Andaman & Nicobar Command hosting a

multinational mega event MILAN 2018.

What is MILAN?

MILAN is a congregation of littoral navies conducted biennially by Indian Navy at the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command.

Purpose of holding MILAN

Besides fostering co-operation through naval exercises and professional interactions,

MILAN also provides an excellent opportunity to the participating navies to come together

in a spirit of collaboration and mutual understanding to nurture stronger ties.

History of MILAN

MILAN made modest beginnings more than two decades ago when it was first held in 1995.

The first edition saw participation of four littoral navies. From an event of subregional

context, MILAN has now grown into a prestigious international event and encompasses

participation by maritime forces from not just the Bay of Bengal and South East Asia but

the larger Indian Ocean Region (lOR).

About MILAN 2018






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MILAN 2018 is being held at Port Blair from 06 March to 13 March 2018. The underlying

theme is 'Friendship Across the Seas'. The inaugural address will be delivered by Admiral

Sunil Lanba.

(Adapted from PIB)

29. Former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian passed away (Relevant for GS

prelims)

Former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian died

Mr. Subramanian was a 1961 batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He served as Cabinet

Secretary from August 1996 to March 1998.







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Culture

1. Indus script was written from right to left (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains

Paper I)

Findings of scientists

Two scientists working at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, (IMSc) have

figured out a way to computationally estimate whether a language is written from left to

right or otherwise. Most interestingly, they have studied the Indus script and calculated

that it must flow from right to left.

Other evidences of right to left

Professor Iravatham Mahadevan [the well-known Indus scholar] was one of the experts

who had figured out that the Indus script ran from right to left by observing how the

writing got a little cramped as it ran towards the left — suggesting that the writer started

writing at the right end and ended up running out of space as he or she reached the left

end.

How Stats has been applied?

We know intuitively that in a language, some words are used more often than others.

Similarly, some letters of the alphabet occur more at the start of words and others are more

common at the end of words. The variation faced by different letters may be measured

using two independent statistical indices — the Gini index and Shannon s entropy. Mr.

Sinha and Mr. Ashraf have established that there is a difference between these measures

when calculated for the first letter and the last letter. This difference between start and end

of a word makes it possible for them to identify whether the word is written from left to

right or the other way around.






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In most of 24 languages studied, including Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Sumerian, the duo

was able to match their results and predict using their computation alone whether the

words in that language were written left to right or otherwise. In the hitherto undeciphered

Indus script also, they predict that the words are written from right to left.


2. Mahamastakabhisheka Mahotsav 2018 of Bahubali Bhagwan (Relevant for GS

Mains Paper I and GS Prelims)

The President of India has inaugurated the Mahamastakabhisheka Mahotsav 2018 of

Gommateshwara Bhagwan Sri Bahubali Swami at Shravanabelagola. The

Mahamastakabhisheka Mahotsav is celebrated once every 12 years. It has been celebrated

for about a 1,000 years.

About Bahubali

Bahubali is regarded as son of 1st Jain TirthankarRishabhadev/Adinath/Adishvar.

Gomateshwara, also known as Bahubali, was challenged by his brother Bharata over the

succession to the throne. Though Bahubali finally emerged victorious, he realized the

futility of materialistic things, renounced the world, and its comforts and went in search of

nirvana. Driven by his quest, he stood in deep meditation and came to be known as Gomata.

Mahamastakabhisheka

It was Chavundaraya, commander of the Ganga kingdom, who consecrated the statue of

Bahubali in AD 981. A 57 feet high monolith statue of the Bahubali is situated above a hill in

Sravanabelagola, Karnataka. Mahamastakabhisheka (the anointing ceremony) of this

Bahubali idol is an important Jain festival held once every 12 years.

(Adapted from pib and Background from Ancient and Medieval History & Culture;

Chapter 5, Page 50)






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Geography

1. Coming today: A super blue blood moon (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS mains Paper

I)

Much of the world, including India, will get to see not only a blue moon and a super moon,

but also a total lunar eclipse, all rolled into one. There hasn t been a lunar trifecta like this

in many years, and the next won t occur in a hurry either. The eclipse will be visible best in

the western half of the US and Canada before the moon sets early Wednesday, and across

the Pacific into Asia as the moon rises Wednesday night.

The coincidence of Wednesday s blood moon with other astronomical events is what makes

this event special. A blue moon means it is the second full moon to occur in a month; and a

supermoon means it will be closer to the Earth than usual.

Blue and Blood

As is well known, blue moon is just a name — the moon won t turn blue tomorrow (or at

any other time). Rather, during the peak total phase of the lunar eclipse, it will have a

reddish or coppery tinge. This is because even though the moon is in the shadow of the

Earth, some light does reach it. Fine particles in the atmosphere scatter the blue component

of the solar spectrum, and what reaches us is the longer wavelength red light.

What Is Super Blue Blood Moon?

Supermoon

Supermoon was coined by an astrologer in the 1970s, not by a scientist. The term has

come to mean a full moon that is at perigee, or when the moon is at its closest position to

Earth along its orbit. As a result, the moon appears somewhat bigger — even though the

enlargement is clear only in comparison with the full moon at apogee, or its farthest

position from Earth. The supermoon is 14% larger than the apogee full moon and 30%

brighter.






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Stages of the Jan. 31, 2018 super blue blood moon (weather permitting) are depicted in

Pacific Time with moonset times for major cities across the US, which affect how much of

the event viewers will see. While viewers along the East Coast will see only the initial

stages of the eclipse before moonset, those in the West and Hawaii will see most or all of

the lunar eclipse phases before dawn. (Photo Credits: NASA)

Another eclipse

Of the five eclipses this year, three will be partial solar eclipses — February 15, July 13 and

August 11 — that will not be visible from India. Of the two total lunar eclipses, the one on

Wednesday will be partially visible from India; the next one, on July 28, will be entirely

visible. On Wednesday, the total eclipse will start at 6.21 pm, and totality will end at 7.38

pm.

Global map showing areas of the world that will experience (weather permitting) the Jan.

31, 2018 super blue blood moon. The eclipse will be visible before sunrise on Jan. 31 for

those in North America, Alaska and Hawaii. For those in the Middle East, Asia, eastern

Russia, Australia and New Zealand, the super blue blood moon can be seen during

moonrise the evening of the 31st. (Photo Credits: NASA) A view of the partial lunar eclipse

which took place on August 7, 2017 and was visible from across the country. (Source:

Reuters photo)






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The partial lunar eclipse which occurred last year was visible from the whole of Asia and

Australia and most parts of Europe and Africa (Source: AP Photo)

(Adapted from the Indian Express)





Documents

Table of Contents · Mains Paper II) ..... 1 2. Simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Assembly: How idea came, what implementation will mean (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains