Apr 14, 2017 IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 14th April, 2017

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 14th April 2017 Archives ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3 Government Budgeting Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it. N K Singh Panel on FRBM review Introduction The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 (FRBMA) is an Act of the Parliament of India to institutionalize financial discipline, reduce India's fiscal deficit, improve macroeconomic management and the overall management of the public funds by moving towards a balanced budget and strengthen fiscal prudence. In recent year there have been persistent calls for review of the same. Economic Survey 2016-17: The Economic Survey has called for modifying the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 (FRBM Act) to provide fiscal policy direction for "the India of tomorrow", but cautioned against fiscal activism adopted by the western world to prop their economies.  The country's economic experience shows that the fiscal activism embraced by advanced economies — giving a greater role to counter-cyclical policies and attaching less weight to curbing debt — is not relevant for India. It said the country's fiscal experience has underscored the fundamental validity of the fiscal policy principles enshrined in the 13-year old FRBM Act.  However, even as the basic tenets of the Act remain valid, the operational framework needs to be modified "for the fiscal policy direction of India of today, and even more importantly the India of tomorrow", the survey said.  Issue: The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Review Committee chaired by former Revenue Secretary N.K. Singh has recommended - The Centre can take a pause on the fiscal consolidation front over the next three years by maintaining a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 3% till 2019-20, On the FRBM roadmap for future, the panel has advocated reaching a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 2.8% in 2020-21, 2.6% the subsequent year and 2.5% in 2022-23. The Panel has recommended an Escape Clause. In case of contingencies: The panel has introduced an escape clause that allows the government to skip the fiscal deficit target for a particular year, in situations that include National security concerns; acts of war; national calamities; a collapse of the agriculture sector; and far-reaching structural reforms with unanticipated fiscal implications. It recommended that deviations from the stipulated fiscal targets should not be more than 0.5%. The Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel was not in favour of such a large deviation. Mr. Patel, who was also a member of the panel along with Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, was inclined to only permit a 0.3% deviation. The escape clause can also be triggered if the economy’s real output growth slips by three percentage points from the average of the previous four quarters. A similar buoyancy clause has been proposed, so that fiscal deficit must fall at least 0.5% below the target if real output grows 3% faster than that average. FRBM to make way for DFRA The panel has recommended that the existing FRBM Act and rules be scrapped and a new Debt and Fiscal Responsibility Act be adopted and proposed the creation of a Fiscal Council that the government must consult before invoking escape clauses. Conclusion: FRBM Act is a European model of fiscal responsibility. There were concerns of India adopting it as it is. The review panel has suggested relevant reforms with required contingency clauses embedded. As the Economic Survey of the year referenced it is important to remain on the path of fiscal discipline but adopt an Indianised model of the same. Connecting the dots: Critically analyse the relevance of FRBM kind of legislation in the current era. Elaborate on the recommendations of the N K Singh panel.   ECONOMY/NATIONAL TOPIC:  General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it. Role of institutions RBI tightening norms on banks Introduction Under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (as amended from time to time), the RBI enjoys extensive powers of supervision, regulation, and control over commercial and co-operative banks. In light of growing NPAs and nearing compliance of BASEL norms RBI has taken a host of measures for ensuring banks are regulated. The new prompt corrective action (PCA) is apt step in this direction. RBI’s function as Banker’s bank: The Bank’s regulatory functions relating to banks cover their establishment (i.e. licensing), branch expansion, liquidity of their assets, management and methods of working, amalgamation, reconstruction and liquidation. The control by the Bank is exercised through periodic inspec­tion of banks and follow-up action and by calling for returns and other information from them. The objective of such supervision and control is to ensure the development of a sound banking system in the country. Issue: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with a revised Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework for banks, spelling out certain thresholds, the breach of which could invite resolutions such as a merger with another bank or even shutting down of the bank. The revised norms have set out three thresholds. The provisions of the revised PCA framework will be effective from April 1, 2017 based on the financials of the banks for the year ended March 31, 2017. The framework would be reviewed after three years, the RBI said. The thresholds are based on capital, net non-performing assets, profitability and leverage ratio. The breach of the first threshold will invite restriction on dividend distribution or require parents of foreign banks to bring in more capital. This will get triggered if capital adequacy ratio (including capital conservation buffer) falls below 10.25% or common equity tier-I (CET1) capital ratio falls below 6.75%. The trigger for net NPA is 6% and 4% for leverage ratio. Two consecutive years of negative return on assets (RoA) will also be classified in threshold one. The breach of the second threshold will occur when the capital adequacy ratio falls below 7.75% or CET1 goes below 5.125%. The net NPA threshold is breach of 12% and leverage ratio below 3.5%. Three consecutive years of negative ROA will also trigger threshold two. Breach of threshold two will result in restrictions on expansion of branches and higher provisions. The breach of the third one on capital “would identify a bank as a likely candidate for resolution through tools like amalgamation, reconstruction, winding up etc.,” Corrective action that can be imposed on banks includes special audit, restructuring operations and activation of recovery plan. The RBI has said that promoters of banks can be asked to bring in new management, or even can supersede the bank’s board, as a part of corrective action. Conclusion: Increasing NPAs have strained the balance sheets of banks and hurt the stability of the economy. The asset quality review forces banks to declare true picture. Hence the new norms are necessary to set right the macroeconomic fundamentals of the country. Connecting the dots: Critically analyse the need for a well regulated banking system and the role of RBI in the same. MUST READ Banking on Teesta Hindu Do we need a film censor? Hindu Crisis of Hinduism Indian Express Lessons From Ambedkar Indian Express Executive decisions are not for judges Livemint Hack that EVM, the republic demands it Livemint Towards a stronger seafood sector Business Line Finally, a progressive mental healthcare Bill Business Line A case for paper Business Line

Apr 14, 2017 PIB

IASbaba Press Information Bureau (PIB)- 25th Feb to 3rd March, 2017

IASbaba Press Information Bureau (PIB) – 25th Feb to 3rd March 2017 ARCHIVES GS-2 National Transit Oriented Development (TOD) (Topic: Infrastructure development) About: To effectively address the emerging urbanization challenges, the Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a multi-pronged policy framework to promote living close to mass urban transit corridors. This new initiatives seeks to promote ‘Transit Oriented Development (TOD)’ which enables people to live within walking or cycling distance from transit corridors like the Metros, Monorail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors, currently being taken up on a large scale. Importance of TOD A viable solution to many of the challenges like haphazard urban growth and sprawl, mobility, rapidly rising private vehicles on roads, pollution, housing choices etc. This new urban design and planning in the form of TOD, is being incentivesed by the Ministry under two more initiatives viz., Metro Policy and Green Urban Mobility Scheme. Under TOD, city densification will be promoted along mass transit corridors through vertical construction by substantially enhancing FARs (Floor Area Ratio) backed by  promotion of Non-motorised Transport Infrastructure for walking and cycling to transport stations, development of street networks in the influence zone of transit corridors, multi-modal integration, effective first and last mile connectivity through feeder services to enable people access public transit in 5 to 10 minutes  from home and work places. 4th India – CLMV Business Conclave (Topic: International Relations) About—4th India – CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave held in Jaipur. Trade with the CLMV countries grew from USD 1.5 bn to more than USD 10 bn in the last 10 years and expressed hope that India will be able to partner in more trade initiatives with these countries to develop a strong India-CLMV vertical within the ASEAN market. The CLMV conclave is an annual feature which provides an opportunity for Indian business leaders to interact with government and business stakeholders representing the four countries. There are clear verticals for India to facilitate trade with these countries like Organic agriculture produce from Myanmar Value added products from coffee & pepper produce of Vietnam Two & three wheeler exports to Lao PDR etc India and CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Countries CLMV countries namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam have a unique position in the regional value chains in Southeast Asia region. These countries are gateway for market access to China, European Union. The key advantage of positioning India on the regional value chains is securing on a long term basis, a dedicated market for Indian raw materials and intermediate goods besides a dedicated source for inputs and raw materials for Indian industry. While opportunities are a plenty in CLMV region, Indian entrepreneurs' endeavors in these countries have, thus far, been limited due to limited information, infrastructure and other contingent risks. The Union Cabinet has given its approval to create a Project Development Fund (PDF) for catalysing Indian economic presence in the CLMV countries viz. Cambodia, Laos Myanmar and Vietnam. The PDF will have corpus of Rs 500 Crore and shall be housed in Department of Commerce. It will be operated through the EXIM Bank. The PDF shall benefit India's industrial community for business expansion, and to maintain cost competitive supply chains, besides integrating with global production networks. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=158712 http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=149378 Country’s first Antyodaya Express running between Ernakulam - Howrah (Topic: Infrastructure Development) About— Antyodaya Express are long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes. New Catering Policy (Some features) IRCTC shall manage catering service on all mobile units including catering services on all new trains/ trains Pantry car contracts awarded by zonal railways shall also be reassigned to IRCTC. IRCTC may involve/empanel Self Help groups for providing catering related services. Zonal Railways will manage static units (catering/milk stalls, trolleys etc.) except base kitchens and kitchen units to be handed over to IRCTC. IRCTC shall be responsible for catering services in static unit viz., Food Plazas, Food Courts and Fast Food Units. 33% sub quota for women in allotment of each category of minor catering units at all category of stations has been provided. Business Parcel policy To provide end to end parcel services to the customers by effective partnership between Indian Railways and Department of Post. Trains chosen for allotment of parcel space by DOP. Howrah-Guwahati Hyderabad-Howrah Mumbai-Howrah Hyderabad-Delhi Hyderabad-Cochin Humsafar Express: Humsafar Express are completely 3-tier AC sleeper trains designed by Indian Railways. These are going to be overnight trains. Fourth Humsafar Express to be launched and it will cross the entire country from North to South. Facilities and new Features of Humsafar Express These trains will feature side curtains on the corridors like 2ac which were removed from 3-tier AC sleepers. LED screen display to show information about stations, train speed etc. and will have announcement system as well. Vending machines for tea, coffee and milk. Charging ports for charging electronic devices such as mobiles, laptops etc. The berths will more comfortable than the previous 3-tier AC sleeper rakes. Bio toilets in compartments. The exterior of coaches will have a futuristic look with the use of Vinyl sheets. Safety measures in compartments such as introduction of smoke alarms and CCTV cameras. If you bring your own food, you can keep it warm or cold as the train has a heating chamber as well as a refrigerating box. Each and every coupa and side birth having curtains to maintain privacy. Providing with new khadi bed rolls. India and ADB sign $375 million in loans and grants for first phase of ECEC (Topic: Infrastructure Development) About: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed here $375 million in loans and grants to develop 800-kilometer Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the First Phase of a planned 2,500–kilometer long East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC). The Corridor is expected to spur development on India’s eastern coast in line with the Government of India’s Make in India policy to stimulate manufacturing, and Act East policy to integrate the Indian economy with Asia’s dynamic global production networks. Importance of ECEC The project is an important milestone in the process of developing the corridor and realizing the objectives of Make in India. Enhance industrial growth and create high-quality jobs Along with the ADB loans, agreement was also signed for a $5 million grant from the multi-donor Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund that is managed by ADB to build climate change resilient infrastructure. The Government of India will provide extra funding of $215 million to the $846 million project. First Integrated Heliport (Topic: Infrastructure Development) About: The First Integrated Heliport was dedicated to the Nation by Ministry of Civil Aviation in association with Pawan Hans at Rohini Heliport, Delhi. Aviation sector Helicopter services could become economically viable if the prevailing 25% tax on ATF was reduced. It is part of National Aviation Policy to have four heliports, one in each region and Rohini’s heliport is the first step. Helicopter operations could be shifted from Indira Gandhi International Airport to Rohini. It promote Regional Air connectivity through helicopters in the northern part of the country for regular passenger services, heli services, landing & parking of helicopters, Helicopters Maintenance Services (MRO), disaster management, helicopter emergency medical services (HeMS), law & order surveillance, providing medical emergency, public safety and enhancing tourism. Pawan Hans Ltd working to develop four “heli-hubs” in line with the concept lines of the “Airport-Hubs” and Rohini is the First step into this series. These heli-hubs will be a one-point solution for the helicopter business and will act as a heliport for public passenger services. GS-3 Three Forest Research Institutes Develop High-Yielding Varieties of Plant Species (Topic: Environment) About: Three institutes of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun, have developed 20 high-yielding varieties of plant species. The Variety Releasing Committee (VRC) of ICFRE, granted approval for the release of these varieties of plant species. Melia, popularly known as Dreake, or Malabar Neem, has a high productivity per unit area and an excellent bole form, which is a desirable characteristic for plywood industry. There have been three clones of Eucalyptus tereticornis, the timber of which is in high demand in the industry. These clones have also been found to be resistant to pink disease and wall gasp. One research institute has developed five inter-specific hybrids of Casuarina equisetifolia X Casuarina junghuhniana for use as timber while another research institute has developed two varieties of medicinal plant Rauvolfia serpentina. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun It is an autonomous organisation under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It carries out the holistic research on forestry species. The nine Institutes under ICFRE are actively engaged in improvement of plantation tree species to improve yield, quality and productivity to meet the demand for domestic consumption by industries. In 2010, 2011 and 2014, ICFRE released 27 high-yielding clones of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus Hybrid, Casuarina equisetifolia, Casuarina junghuhniana and Dalbergia sissoo. They are in commercial production now. NDDB’s Cattle Feed Knowledge Portal (Topic: Agriculture) About: National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed a Cattle Feed Knowledge Portal, an interactive knowledge platform on various aspects of compound cattle feed production. The portal will also have information on least cost formula for feeds, suppliers of feed ingredients, raw material specifications as well as a discussion forum to share information. Improving feed production efficiency & quality control aspects of cattle feed plants Even though India is the largest milk producer in the world, there is ample scope to improve per animal productivity. With the increase in demand for milk, productivity of dairy animals should increase. It is time to refocus our efforts in providing good quality feed and mineral mixture and put up concerted efforts in promoting different variants of compound cattle feed for different categories of animals. For ensuring quality in feed production, we need to have qualified trained manpower, efficient plants and machinery and technical expertise to produce right type of feeds. India’s model of milk production is based on feeding crop residues and agricultural by-products and using family labour to add value to resources which otherwise have limited alternative economic value. It is in this context that the role of compound cattle feed in animal nutrition to help support the increase in milk production becomes significant. Benefits of cattle feed plants Feeding balanced ration can help the milch animals produce milk commensurate with their genetic potential with the attendant benefits of lower cost, Increased SNF(Solid Not Fat): Total solids content is the entire residue left after complete evaporation of water from milk. This includes fat protein, lactose and mineral matter. These solid constituents exist in milk in a mechanical mixture. Higher immunity to disease Improved reproductive efficiency and reduced methane emissions. In the absence of adequate quantity of quality green fodder, concentrate feeds provide bulk of essential nutrients in the diet of dairy animals. OECD Economic Survey of India 2017 (Topic: Economic Development) About: The latest OECD Economic Survey of India 2017 finds that the acceleration of structural reforms and the move toward a rule-based macroeconomic policy framework are sustaining the country’s longstanding rapid economic expansion. The Indian economy is expanding at a fast pace, boosting living standards and reducing poverty nationwide. Further reforms are now necessary to maintain strong growth and ensure that all Indians benefit from it, according to a new report from the OECD. Findings of the survey It finds that the acceleration of structural reforms and the move toward a rule-based macroeconomic policy framework are sustaining the country’s longstanding rapid economic expansion. The survey hails India’s recent growth rate of more than 7 percent annually as the strongest among G-20 countries. The implementation of the landmark GST reform will contribute to making India a more integrated market. There is a need to make income and property taxes more growth-friendly and redistributive. A comprehensive tax reform could help raise revenue to finance much-needed social and physical infrastructure, promote corporate investment, enable more effective redistribution and strengthen the ability of states and municipalities to better respond to local needs. Achieving strong and balanced regional development will also be key to promoting inclusive growth. Recent changes in India’s federalism model have given states more freedom and incentives to modernize regulations and tailor public policies to local circumstances. Raising living standard in poorer states will require increasing productivity in the agricultural sector. With employment expected to gradually shift away from the agricultural sector, urbanization will gather pace. Thus, better urban infrastructure will be needed to fully exploit cities’ potential for job creation, productivity gains and improving the quality of life. A Government Panel recommends legal framework for protection of interests of migrants in the country (Topic: Growth and Development) About: The ‘Working Group on Migration’ set by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviationin 2015 who submitted their Report to the Government has recommended necessary legal and policy framework to protect the interests of the migrants in the country, stating that the migrant population makes substantial contribution to economic growth and their Constitutional rights need to be secured. Recommendations Protocols of the Registrar General of India needs to be amended to enable caste based enumeration of migrants so that they can avail the attendant benefits in the States to which migration takes place. Migrants should be enabled to avail benefits of Public Distribution System (PDS) in the destination State by providing for inter-State operability of PDS. Referring to Constitutional Right of Freedom of Movement and residence in any part of the territory of the country, the Group suggested that States should be encouraged to proactively eliminate the requirement of domicile status to prevent any discrimination in work and employment. States are also to be asked to include migrant children in the Annual Work Plans under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) to uphold their Right to Education. Vast network of post offices need to be made effective use of by reducing the cost of transfer of money to avoid informal remittences. Migrants should be enabled to open bank accounts by asking banks to adhere to RBI guidelines regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and not insist on documents that were not required. The Group suggested that the hugely underutilized Construction Workers Welfare Cess Fund should be used to promote rental housing, working Women Hostels etc., for the benefit of migrants. Quoting data of Census 2011 and National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the Group stated that migrants constitute about 30% of the country’s population and also of the total working force. The recent Economic Survey noted that annual migration in the country increased from 3.30 million in 2011 to 9.00 million in 2016. A Government Panel recommends legal framework for protection of interests of migrants in the country (Topic: Science and Technology) About: Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), Hyderabad, a premier research laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited (JSHL) signed the Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology of High Nitrogen Steel (HNS) for armour applications. HNS technology is a step forward towards Army’s quest for lighter and high performance armouring material compared to the currently used materials. HNS is not only tough but also has good strength In addition to being nonmagnetic as well as corrosion resistant, the HNS cost is about 40% less compared to Rolled Homogenous Armour Steel (RHA). This material has potential for a number of defence and civil applications like armouring, mine trawls, oil industries etc. DRDO developed a breakthrough technology for armour applications. Successful Test Firing of AAD Endo-Atmospheric Interceptor Missile (Topic: Science and Technology) About: DRDO conducted the successful launch of the interceptor missile Advanced Area Defence (AAD) from Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. The endo-atmospheric missile, capable of intercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25 kms successfully destroyed the incoming missile. All the mission objectives were successfully met. This the second time that the missile has been test-fired in less than a month and is part of an effort to put in place a multi-layer missile defence system. The launch has proved the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) prowess of the country. Endo-atmospheric missile The missile defense battle space is divided between intercepts in the atmosphere, what is called endo-atmospheric, and out of the atmosphere, what is called exo-atmospheric. An endo-atmospheric missile is one that remains within the earth's atmosphere, i.e., at an altitude below 100 kilometers. For endo-atmospheric missions, three desirable sensor characteristics are a wide field of regard that includes radiation detection when the missile is at a low angle of attack (i.e., forward-looking detection).

Apr 14, 2017

IASbaba's 60 Day Plan- Prelims Test 2017 Science & Technology and Current Affairs [Day 17]

Hello Friends So, here we are with the 17th Day of 60 Days Plan. It is the third edition of 60 Days program but seems like the first one because of the excitement involved everywhere, including us :) We are equally excited and pumped. Our Team is working hard to make you realize your dream. Do not take it insincerely and let us down. Your faith and participation has to be in sync with the amount of hard work and effort we do. Let us pledge to make it a big game changer (better than last year) in the next 60 days! Importance of Self - Tracking: Learning from Last Year Last year, aspirants used to comment their answers in the comment box on daily basis. There were huge participation in discussion. Putting answers in comment box has been very effective to self track yourself after updating the score. In the end you can cross check your performance through disqus profile. It was highly effective in the last edition of 60 Days that propelled aspirants to monitor their performance and learn through discussion. Let you solve these questions with full honesty and write your result in the comment box. Interact with peers to know your mistakes. The importance of this initiative stands time bound and aggressive reverse engineering to learn the concepts. Many of you must be busy with your own strategy but let us tell you honestly that in the last two months, it is very important to revise and consolidate your learning. Just reading won’t suffice. So, take out few hours from your schedule and make it a revision exercise. How you can make the best use of it? Be honest to your effort and do not start competing with XYZ aspirants here just for the sake of marks. It is more important for you to introspect and check your learning than focusing on others. Try to answer the questions in 20 minutes only.  Do not get into negative feeling that I don’t have enough knowledge to answer these questions. Feel like you are taking the real exam. What would be your response then? The same will be replicated in UPSC exam. Here, you get marks only and nothing else matters. So make effort to know the answers of all questions. Do not cheat :P Baba's Gyan for REVISION Many of you, almost all, asks about effective revision strategy! Can there be any? Let us tell you something Baba does :D  You guys study a lot and there is no issue with the hard work that has been put in. But when it comes to input-output comparison, your performance is questionable. What to do? Just do this for a Week: Go to bed before stipulated time of your sleep, at least 1 hour before. Close your eyes and try to relax your mind. You should attain full comfort and calmness. Do this on the First Day: Imagine the full story of a recent movie that you have watched. Try to recollect from starting to end. See, whether you are able to depict the clear picture or not! Now, do the same for everything you learnt from morning specially the ones you struggled with. Since it is fresh, most of the things should flow into your mind smoothly. Check what is your recollecting capacity. For example, if you prepared Polity Day 2: Topics- Try to collect all important concepts and learning of the day. Trust us, this exercise if done with sincerity will give you immense confidence as well as boost your performance. There is no ideal time for revision and there cannot be any specific date put for it, as commonly done. This will always expose your weaknesses the very same day and if you tend to forget something, can always get back to consolidate and cement it. REPEAT IT FOR A WEEK & SEE THE MAGIC :D  Must to Do: Read the detailed article regarding Micro Analysis Matrix and follow the guidelines- Click Here Try to hold your nerves and learn to control the temptation. This is very important art to learn and implement! Are you ready? Let's start [Day 17]: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY & CURRENT AFFAIRS  ARCHIVES Q.1) Department of Science and Technology has recently launched Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) Program. Which of the following statements are correct about it? CPS is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the deployment of computer-based systems that do things in the physical world. For Cyber Physical Systems Example, self-driven cars produced by Google and Tesla. The program will be initially started in some of the IITs and it will encourage greater synergy between Scientists and Industry. Select the code from following: 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Japan has recognized Bitcoins as a legal currency like any other Fiat money. Which of the following statements regarding Bitcoins are correct? Bitcoin is a digital currency held electronically. It is regulated by the World bank. They are also called ‘Cryptocurrency’. Select the code from below: 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.3) Consider the following statements regarding Single Actuator Wave Like Robot (SAW): It is a tiny ingestible snake like robot and can navigate through stomach and intestines. It has been made by 3D printing of individual blocks and interlocking them. It is made for mars research and it can move on the difficult terrain. The robot generates Sound waves to detect objects through SONAR. Which of the above statements are correct? 2,3 and 4 2 and 3 1 and 2 3 and 4 Q.4) Current Sunway TaihuLight is the fastest Super computer of the world with a top speed of 124.5 PetaFLOPS. Which of the following countries have developed it? China USA Russia Germany Q.5) National Green Tribunal has recently suspended the Environment clearance of Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO). Consider the following statements about INO: It is being constructed in Theni District of Tamil Nadu. It is being built on top of Bodi hills because of which large scale deforestation is required. The main target of this establishment is to generate sustainable fusion energy. Which of the above statements are correct? 1 only 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.6) Government of India has launched Bharat QR code to enable digital payments. Which of the following statements are correct about QR codes? QR in QR code stands for Quick Response Code. QR code is a two-dimensional (matrix) machine-readable bar code made up of black and white square. This code can be read by the camera of a smartphone. It encodes same amount of data in one-tenth the space of a traditional bar code. Select the code from following: 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.7) The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra. The objective of this is: To remove pornographic stuff To create awareness for Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan To remove controversial content from Facebook and other Social Media To prevent botnet infections and malware analysis Q.8) Which of the following statements are correct about the GraphAir technology? It is the process of making Graphene from Soya bean oil. It is a new process developed to clear heavy metal impurities from air using Graphene filters. It is the process of making graphene by collecting CO2 from ambient air. None of the above Q.9) The Maharashtra government has approved a cloud seeding program for 2017 monsoon to produce sufficient rain. Which of the following compounds are used for Cloud seeding? Sulfuric acid Mercury oxide Nitric Acid Silver Iodide Q.10) Which of the following radiations can be used for wireless communication? Radio waves Microwaves Infrared radiations Visible light Select the code from below: 1 and 2 1,2 and 3 2,3 and 4 All of the above Q.11) NASA is building a robotic spacecraft to refuel and repair satellites in the orbit. Which of the following statements are correct about this spacecraft? The spacecraft will be used to perform in orbit satellite servicing in low earth orbits. The spacecraft has been named ‘Restore L spacecraft’. Select the code from below: 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.12) Software giant Microsoft India has launched its first full-scale Cybersecurity Engagement Centre (CSEC) in India. In which of the following cities is it located? Bengaluru New Delhi Hyderabad Chennai Q.13) A relatively small piece of orbital debris can inflict a great deal of damage on satellites or spacecrafts orbiting in the space. This phenomenon is known as Kessler Syndrome Kepler Syndrome Newton Syndrome Laplace Syndrome Q.14) Which of the following statements are correct about Superconductors? Superconductors are the materials with no electrical resistance i.e. theoretically there are no loses in electricity transmission. To achieve this state, a conductor is superheated upto its critical temperature and before its melting point the electrons become free to move. Which of the above statements are correct?  1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.15) India has been ranked 138th in the 2016 ICT Development Index out of a total of 175 countries. Which of the following statements are correct about ICT Development Index? The index is released by International Telecommunication Unit (ITU). The IDI is based on 11 ICT indicators, grouped in three sub-indices: access, use and skills. Select the code from below: 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.16) Milk of which of the following mammal contains antimicrobial compounds that is resistant to the powerful antibiotic vancomycin Tasmanian devil Bandicoot Wombat Wallaby Q.17) Kigali agreement amends Cartagena Protocol Paris Agreement Kyoto Protocol Montreal Protocol Q.18) Recently a new species of Pika was discovered in Sikkim. Consider the following statements about Pika They are members of rat family They are a keystone species Which of the following statements is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Nether 1 nor 2 Q.19) Contingent Reserve Arrangement and Fortaleza Declaration is concerned with SAARC and BRICS BRICS and BRICS LEMOA and BRICS BRICS and MERCOSUR Q.20) Himansh is a Tributary of river Cauvery A newly found glacier in the Himalayas Glaciological research facility of India located in Spiti Valley A joint military exercise between Nepal and Bhutan Q.21) Consider the following statements about Enforcement Directorate (ED) It is under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) It is the law enforcement agency of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) Select the correct statements: Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Download The Solution : Click here We have noticed that more answers are posted once the Solutions are published. This does not serve the purpose of tracking and improving  upon your performance. More participation will also help us in coming up with accurate cut off. Henceforth, we will be publishing the Solutions once 200 answers (minimum) are posted. There will be no fixed time as such. It all depends on your participation. All the Best :)

Apr 13, 2017 IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 13th April, 2017

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 13th April 2017 Archives ECONOMY, INFRASTRUCTURE & ENVIRONMENT TOPIC: General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Conservation, Environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment. Eco-friendly road building Introduction Roads are the arteries of any economy it is said. Our road network is essential to the free flow of goods and people across the country and connects rural villages to the rest of the nation. India’s roads, together with the railways, make us one. Issue: There is an upper limit to the area that any nation can allocate to its road network many relevant questions need be raised. Aside from the fact that building roads is expensive, the opportunity cost must also be considered; the land given over to building a road can now no longer be used for other purposes. Building a road requires contiguous stretches of land, and in a country like India where there is a mixture of public and private property, land acquisition has its own financial and political costs. Long-term effects: Road building also has long-term ramifications, especially on the environment and ecology. Road construction necessitates the altering of ecosystems; Mining of construction materials The clearing of the road’s planned alignment result in the cutting of trees The disposal of excavated rock and debris. While ecosystem alteration itself can have persistent impacts – The mere presence of a road also has long-term effects, modifying environmental variables such as the groundwater recharge rate, the local biodiversity, and even the local temperature. They also make previously wild areas more accessible, increasing incidences of poaching and illegal timber felling. And once we factor in traffic movement, the number and severity of impacts only increases. Wild animals using roads are often hit by vehicles, commonly being injured or killed. Over time, entire animal populations may start avoiding roads, restricting their access to food, water, and shelter, and setting them on the path to local extinction. For all the pros of building roads, there are also clear cons. This is true across the world, but is felt especially hard in India, where we face the unique circumstance of having both a highly dense human population, as well as high densities of biodiversity in specific regions. While people need roads, they are also dependent on ecosystem services such as clean air and clean water, which originate from the same wild areas being damaged by roads. Twin needs: This should not be an either-or situation. Indians require both roads and intact ecosystems, and hampering the development or function of one for the sake of the other will not benefit the nation. To maximise the benefits of roads and minimise their impacts, far more time and effort should be spent on determining exactly where roads should be built. Geo spatial studies inspired by global researches, taking into account the requirements of the nation, would be extremely valuable, as they enable planners to clearly assess the pros and cons of road construction before any action is taken. In those cases where it is deemed necessary to construct new roads that may have adverse impacts on the environment, decision-makers must follow the mitigation hierarchy. Identifying those impacts that can be avoided or minimized, and then mitigating or compensating for those that cannot, would go a long way toward preserving ecosystem services, while also allowing for road development. Consultation and transparency: The task thus falls to India’s civil society, India’s judiciary, and to the development banks that fund road projects, to ensure that the costs and benefits of proposed roads are well thought through before implementation. Those government agencies and private agencies responsible for road construction can help by making proposed road alignments available for public debate and discussion. Eliciting constructive feedback from the public — including wildlife and environmental experts — at the planning stage will help prevent delays and the resulting escalations in costs due to legal challenges or protests during the actual construction phase. Conclusion: Development has to be have environmental concerns imbibed within. It is only by wisely planning for the future that we will be able to ensure that India has a world-class road network that takes into account the needs of all its citizens. Connecting the dots: India is on path of huge infrastructure expansion. In this light critically discuss the importance of development framework which has ecological concerns imbibed within.   National  TOPIC: General Studies 2 Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein. Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions. Legislations without scrutiny Introduction Parliament is the temple of democracy and legislations have to be passed with due deliberation and scrutiny. But due to political scores settling and populism in recent days important legislations have missed scrutiny of the parliament. We must move to a system where every Bill goes through the committee stage in each House of Parliament Issue: In the recently concluded budget session Lok Sabha clocked in 108% of the originally scheduled hours, while Rajya Sabha did 86%. The Budget dates were advanced to enable the discussion and passing before the beginning of the financial year. Several important Bills were passed. However, there were several instances when Parliament failed to perform its role in scrutinizing Bills before passing them. The Session, had 20 Bills introduced, and to date none of these have been referred to standing committees of Parliament; one Bill — the constitutional amendment to create a national commission for backward classes — was passed by Lok Sabha and then referred by Rajya Sabha to a select committee. Concern: In the last three years, just 29% of Bills have been referred to parliamentary committees. This is in contrast to the 60% and 71% of bills examined by committees in the 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas, respectively. The important contribution of committees is evident in the progress of the Bills referred to them. The Mental Healthcare Bill passed this session and the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill passed by Lok Sabha this week incorporated most of the changes recommended by the committees. Some problematic Bills Three Bills passed by Parliament may face constitutional challenges. The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill follows up on the demonetisation exercise. It provides a limited time period for citizens who were abroad between November 9 and December 30 to exchange their notes. Indian residents could do that until the end of March 2017, and NRIs till June. The Bill also made it an offence to hold more than 10 pieces of the old notes (25 for research or numismatic purposes). This Bill raises significant constitutional issues. The second Bill is the Finance Bill. Other than amending tax rates, it allowed the process of appointment, removal and service conditions of members of appellate tribunals to be determined by rules. That is, the terms of engagement of quasi-judicial bodies will be determined by the Central government by notification instead of being specified in the Act. This provision may contravene several judgments that lay out the independence of the judiciary as a basic feature of the Constitution. Another provision of the Finance Bill permits income tax officers to refuse to disclose to any court or tribunal the information that formed the basis for a raid; this may contravene the principle of judicial review of executive action. The third Bill is the Enemy Property Bill which vests the rights over enemy property with the Central government. This amendment has been made with retrospective effect (going back four decades), and will affect all property that may have been sold (and resold) since then. The Bill also bars any court from hearing cases related to enemy property. These provisions may not adhere to principles of due process and judicial review. Conclusion: In a parliamentary democracy where the emphasis is on representativeness than stability it is important to stress on detailed scrutiny by Parliament. Perhaps, it may be advisable to move to a system like that of the British Parliament where every Bill goes through the committee stage in each House. That may take more time to pass a Bill but will ensure that there is adequate deliberation by parliamentarians before they pass a Bill. Connecting the dots: Critically analyse the importance of the due deliberation and scrutiny of legislation in a parliamentary democracy. 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Apr 13, 2017 IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 12th April, 2017

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 12th April 2017 Archives ECONOMY & SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY TOPIC: General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it. Science and Technology‐ developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano‐technology, bio‐technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights. Robotics and Job growth Introduction Technology development has been an ongoing phenomenon since human civilization begun. Man has continuously pursued to use better methods to do work and in turn has developed machines and processes. This has increased ease and scale of operations. But with recent large scale automation and use of robotics effect on job growth has been a concern. History: Throughout history, we have always feared that machines will cause mass unemployment. “In every kind of endeavour, in office work as well as industry, in skilled labour as well as common tasks, machines are replacing men, and men are looking for work,” John F. Kennedy had said in 1960. However, this never happened as once old jobs became obsolete, new ones evolved. Machines decreased costs and prices, boosted demand, and created more employment opportunities. In India, for instance, as jobs started dwindling in farms, more productive sectors like manufacturing and services emerged. Issue: Rising population and acute unemployment especially in developing economies is a concern. The youth is clearly struggling for jobs, despite being in the world’s fastest growing economy i.e. India. More than 30% of Indians aged 15-29 are neither in employment nor in any training or education, according to a recent survey by the OECD. In March the All India Council for Technical Education had said that more than 60% of the eight lakh engineers graduating from technical institutions across the country every year remain unemployed. Hence there is a gloomy state of employment. Challenge: Bridging this employment gap could become an insurmountable challenge thanks to the growing integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies and robotics in all our core industrial sectors. Currently, various automation technologies are in the process of overhauling the mass employment-generating but low-skilled blue-collar labour markets. They could also threaten skilled white-collar workers. Recent instances For instance, JP Morgan Chase and Co. recently developed a programme called COIN, a learning machine that interprets legal agreements in just a few seconds, a task that consumed 3,60,000 work hours for lawyers and loan officers annually. Similarly, an American medical school tested IBM’s AI technology Watson to analyse 1,000 cancer diagnoses. In 99% of the cases, Watson was able to recommend treatment plans that matched the suggestions of well-renowned oncologists. Suddenly, the World Economic Forum’s estimate that automation threatens almost 69% of the existing jobs in India seems like a conservative number. Creating employment opportunities Most critical it is to address the challenge of jobless growth. We have been inept in creating new employment-generating sectors while machines are systematically cutting down the workforce requirements in the principal labour-generating triumvirate of agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors. Even if we rise to the challenge, a majority of the jobs absorbing our labour requirements will be ones that do not currently exist. If most of our future jobs are expected to come from the services sector, it is also imperative to impart social and communication skills along with the requisite domain expertise to ensure the creation of a market-ready workforce. The success of the Modi government’s Skill India mission will turn out to be vital in the prevention of social inequalities that are bound to arise because of our current unemployment trajectory. Conclusion: Jobless growth is a daunting challenge of the economy. It is important for us to counter the same in light of increasing automation and growth in technology that cuts on manpower requirement. Skilling India and the huge workforce is an urgent need of the hour. Connecting the dots: Analyse the significance of Skill India mission in light of decreasing employment with technology development and jobless growth.   INTERNATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 2 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests Diversifying India’s trade destinations The global outlook suggests that sustaining India’s growth will depend on new sources, over and above the ones that have prevailed in the past. The weakening of trading partners’ external demand and the rising risks to globalisation will pose challenges for India. This calls for greater regional integration, especially in South Asia. Although exports have not been a major driver of Indian growth, compared to China, India’s exports of goods and services did jump after 2000. In the case of merchandise exports, however, some momentum has recently been lost, partly reflecting external factors. The below article examines the record and the lessons for making external trade a more consistent engine of inclusive growth and building the case for greater trade within South Asia. Recent trade momentum During the first decade of the 2000s, India’s goods and services exports grew at about 20% a year, with its share of exports to GDP almost doubling in this period to about 25%. The boom was most evident in India’s growing and technologically advanced service sector, the total exports significantly outstripping the performance of other emerging markets and even that of many advanced countries. Services now account for about a third of India’s total exports. Within India’s service exports, the momentum has been in the export of digital products (mainly computer services, within the “modern services” category), again much above the performance of other emerging markets. In contrast, India’s manufactured goods exports have clearly lagged that of other emerging markets, especially China, and this is reflected in comparators related to share and product quality. Thus, India’s manufacturing exports as a share of total goods exports barely increased over this period, and the share of high-tech and medium-tech manufacturing exports in total goods exports remains substantially lower when compared to China or other emerging markets. Geographic dispersion of trade The destination of Indian exports has shifted significantly from advanced countries to emerging and developing economies. This helps contain the risks from rising protectionism. The share of exports to emerging and developing countries from India is now more than half India’s merchandise exports. Thus, Indian exports are now less dependent on advanced economies than other emerging economies. Emerging Asia’s share of India’s merchandise trade, particularly, has risen close to 20% (refer fig/chart below). At the same time, India’s growing demand and purchasing power have led to substantial increases in its imports from West Asia, Africa, and Latin America, especially of natural resource commodities and agricultural goods (refer chart below). Source: Based on Direction of Trade statistics, IMF Need of the hour: Linkages with South Asia There is still considerable potential to diversify the destinations of India’s trade, and build the trade engine of India’s growth. This is well demonstrated by India’s significantly weak trade linkages with its immediate neighbours in South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). The share of trade with South Asia in India’s total trade has remained under 3%. With intra-regional trade at less than 5% of total trade, South Asia is the least integrated region in the world, dwarfed by East Asia’s 35%. As a result, the India-South Asia trade linkages are much weaker than other comparators, such as South Africa-Southern Africa (including Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland) and China-ASEAN. For the South Asian economies, although India represents about 80% of the region’s GDP, the share of trade with India in their total trade volume only started to increase since the mid-1990s, and is currently less than 10% of the total. In contrast, South Africa and China have much stronger trade linkages with their neighbours with implications for their investment, productivity, and growth engines. Thus, the potential to expand trade with South Asian countries is very large. The Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) has estimated that the potential of intra-South Asia trade is about $40 billion, four times the existing formal trade. Concerns: Policy commitments to build India’s trade linkages with South Asia have periodically met with little success. In 2010, the 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit called for greater regional integration to make the period 2010-2020 the ‘decade of intra-regional connectivity.’ In a similar vein, the South Asia Economic Conclave in 2015 highlighted that intra-regional trade could potentially reach 25% of the total trade conducted by South Asian countries. But this number has stagnated at a low 5%, reflecting many factors, such as lack of trade complementarity across the countries, as well as high trade costs, as manifested in tariffs, and the lack of infrastructure networks. Prime Minister Modi’s “neighborhood first” approach marks a renewed interest in building regional linkages. Nevertheless, there have been growth spillovers to South Asia despite limited regional trade, transmitted through different channels, such as investment in energy, education, remittances, and financial linkages. Also, as India is moving up the value chain—towards higher-tech and higher-value goods and services—this is creating opportunities for its neighbours to integrate themselves with India’s supply chain, also making it a destination for higher education in the region. Conclusion: Implications for policies and growth The scope for trade integration in South Asia is, therefore, quite large, and both India and its South Asian neighbours can benefit from strengthening such intra-regional ties. To exploit this potential, key policies include, reducing trade restrictiveness and improving the infrastructure and business environment across the region, with much more flexible labour laws. India’s Overall Trade Restrictiveness Index, which measures the weighted average tariff, is still high relative to other G20 economies, including South Africa and China. Greater challenges exist, however, from non-tariff measures/barriers, excessive bureaucracy, weak trade facilitation, and customs inefficiencies. To enable larger gains, cooperation should go beyond goods trade and include investment, finance, services trade, trade facilitation, and technology transfer, and be placed within the context of regional cooperation. In particular, there needs to be much greater policy coordination between trade and foreign direct investment initiatives.  Taking the experience of other regions, regional trade integration usually goes hand in hand with regional investment to build supply chains. Besides, trade in education and health care services offers valuable prospects. South Asia’s potential is unquestionable: education levels are on the rise, more than one million young workers enter the labour market each month, and the population of the region’s mega cities is expanding significantly. By 2030, more than a quarter of the world’s working adults will live in South Asia. In contrast, the work force is aging and labour costs are rising in China and many other East Asian countries, opening room for new supply chains in other regions. To meet the challenges from these demographics, maintain social stability, and realise the region’s potential, it will be imperative to increase regional and global integration, and deepen supporting reforms, especially in education and infrastructure. These reforms will also improve the capabilities of regional firms to participate in regional and global value chains. There is also evidence that greater trade integration will lead to reductions of poverty and inequality, and build more inclusive growth. Connecting the dots: Economic integration with South Asia should be top priority for India. Do you agree? Analyse the significance of South Asia in building the trade engine of India’s growth. MUST READ Bypolls in Kashmir: A prolonged protest Hindu   No place for scholarship Hindu   Misreading caste Indian Express   Dear Digital Indian Indian Express   Cow vigilantism — or minority hunting? Indian Express   The role of states in foreign policy Livemint   Is the ban on BS-III vehicles really bad? Livemint   India is losing faith in free-trade agreements Livemint   The fallout from Trump’s new trade policy Business Line   How to build eco-friendly roads Business Line

Apr 13, 2017 PIB

IASbaba Press Information Bureau (PIB)- 18th Feb to 24th Feb, 2017

IASbaba Press Information Bureau (PIB) – 18th Feb to 24th Feb 2017 ARCHIVES GS-2 To protect each and every child in the country from vaccine preventable diseases and reduce child mortality (Topic: Issues related to health) About: Government is committed to reducing morbidity and mortality in children. Strengthening routine immunization is an essential investment in India’s children and will ensure a healthy future of the country. Importance of immunization in India Diarrhoea is one of the biggest killers in children and Rotavirus is one of the most common causes of severe diarrhoea in children less than 2 years of age. Rotavirus vaccine along with proper sanitation, hand washing practices, ORS and zinc supplementation will go a long way in reducing the mortality and morbidity due to diarrhoea in children. Government is committed to increasing the full immunization coverage and ensuring that the benefit of the life-saving vaccines is provided to every child. The fourth phase of Mission Indradhanush has already begun in North-eastern states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and will be rolled out in rest of the country in April 2017. Rotavirus vaccine has been developed indigenously, under a public-private partnership by the Ministry of Science and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under ‘Make in India’ Telecom Exports from India to be the focus of ASEAN-India Digital Partnership (Topic: International Relations) About— To commemorate the 25th year of the ASEAN India relations, TEPC (Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council) is organised an inter-ministerial meeting between telecom ministers of ASEAN countries and India. Outcomes India has expressed keen interest to partner with ASEAN countries in enabling Digital Connectivity between India and ASEAN region and also for enabling broadband within ASEAN countries. These digital connectivity projects are of strategic importance and can have a transformative impact on the economy and cooperation between ASEAN and India. India has committed to provide financial as well as technological support for projects that could include-high-speed fiber optic networks, digital villages, rural broadband, national knowledge network, secured communication networks and telecom training and skill development. Indian companies who have created world-class products and solutions, which are not only of the highest quality and are also very cost-competitive, are keen to export to customers in ASEAN region, who have similar requirements like India. (Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council) TEPC is organizing its flagship event “India Telecom 2017: An Exclusive International Business Expo” This event will witness more than100 foreign high profile ICT industry delegates from 30+ countries. The main objective of the event is to provide opportunities to Indian telecom exporters including SMEs and Startups to meet qualified overseas buyers. This event provides one to one meeting opportunities between buyers from different countries and Indian exporters who can enlighten them about their products and technology solutions. ‘SAATHIYA’ Resource Kit and ‘SAATHIYA SALAH’ Mobile App for Adolescents (Topic: Issued related to health) About— SAATHIYA Resource Kit including ‘Saathiya Salah’ Mobile App for adolescents, as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program. One of the key interventions under the programme is introduction of the Peer Educators (Saathiyas) who act as a catalyst for generating demand for the adolescent health services and imparting age appropriate knowledge on key adolescent health issues to their peer groups. Adolescents Our country is home to 253 million adolescents which is largest in the world in terms of absolute numbers and when RMNCH programs were launched globally, India was the first country to add the ‘+A’ i.e. adolescent component to the RMNCH, making it RMNCH+A program. Adolescents are the critical mass of asset which in future would be the biggest dividends to the country’s economy; thereby their health and wellness are of utmost priority. To address and cater to the health and development needs of the country’s adolescents. Kit is being launched to enable the 1.6 lakhs Peer Educators towards taking their job forward and answering all the queries in the minds of an adolescent. Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH) RMNCH+A approach has been launches in 2013 and it essentially looks to address the major causes of mortality among women and children as well as the delays in accessing and utilizing health care and services. The RMNCH+A strategic approach has been developed to provide an understanding of ‘continuum of care’ to ensure equal focus on various life stages. The RMNCH+A appropriately directs the States to focus their efforts on the most vulnerable population and disadvantaged groups in the country. It also emphasizes on the need to reinforce efforts in those poor performing districts that have already been identified as the high focus districts. Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration (Topic: Role of civil services in a democracy) Following priority programmes have been identified for awards under the scheme. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) e – National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Standup India/ Startup India MoU signed for welfare of Handicraft Artisans belonging to Scheduled Castes (Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections) About: Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have come together to step up interventions for the economic development of an estimated 12 lakh scheduled caste artisans. Aim Need assessment and gap identification through popularising various schemes by holding awareness camps Extensive need-based skill up gradation in the identified clusters having dominant presence of Scheduled Caste artisans, in the field of innovative and market-friendly designs, and adoption of modern tools and techniques Enhanced participation of Scheduled Caste artisans and their producer groups in domestic and international marketing events Working capital credit for Scheduled Caste artisans at concessional rates, by combining the benefits provided by Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Successful assessment of National Regulatory Authority (Topic: Issued related to health) About— WHO congratulates India on successful assessment of India’s National Regulatory Authority. WHO has termed the 100% compliance in the WHO assessment (benchmarking) of the Indian vaccine regulatory system as another ‘landmark achievement’. introduction of newer vaccines in the country’s full immunisation basket through the nationwide introduction of pentavalent vaccine, and the phased roll-out of Rotavirus vaccine and Measles Rubella vaccine, India shall meet all its global commitments in the healthcare sector as a result of these focussed endeavours. In addition, Mission Indradhanush has strengthened the full immunisation drive of the Government. WHO accords high importance to equitable access to quality, safe, efficacious, and affordable medical and health products. In view of India being one of the main global suppliers of drug and biological medicinal products including vaccines, medical devices, and traditional medicines, and as it is supplying several vaccines to UN agencies, the ‘successful assessment will go a long way in strengthening global confidence in medical products from India’. A fully functional NRA is a pre-requisite for WHO prequalification of vaccines. One of the requirements to become eligible and retain prequalification status is to have the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) assessed as functional against the WHO published NRA indicators. Recently, WHO has completed the assessment of the status of the Indian vaccine regulatory system against WHO NRA Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) for benchmarking and measured the maturity of the system. Ministry of Road Transport’s New Format for Reporting Accidents (Topic: Government Policies and Schemes) About— An expert committee was constituted by Ministry of Road  Transport and Highways to review the format for reporting of road  accidents.  The committee headed by Senior Adviser of the   Transport Research Wing and consisting of experts from IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, WHO, senior officers from the Police and Transport Departments of States, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, submitted its recommendations, which have also been accepted by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Salient features of the new format At present reports are collected from police stations and State Governments send their report to the Centre. New format would fill in gaps in reporting of accidents by minimizing subjectivity. GPS detail will enable to understand the road design at site, vehicle analysis and also person related details would help in analysing the accidents. The recording of accident data is done in FIRs at police stations. These records are liable to be subjective as the police personnel fill it up according to their understanding and assign reasons for accidents as per their interpretation. A uniform accident Recording Format to be adopted by the police in all states and UTs. The accident Recording Form has five sections designed to capture all relevant information like accident identification/location, road condition, vehicles involved and victim details. Standard Operating Procedure for protection and care of children in street situations launched (Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections) About— A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Care and Protection of Children in Street Situations for their rehabilitation and safeguarding was released by Minister for Women & Child Development Purpose of SOP SOP at streamlining the interventions within the current legal and policy framework. The purpose is to identify processes that should be set in motion once a child on the street has been identified as a child in need. Children living in the streets are among the most vulnerable groups. Most of these children have little or no adult supervision and protection. They also do not have access to education and basic health care living a life of struggle for survival. The lack of basic care and protection exposes them to abuse, exploitation and neglect depriving them of the most basic human rights. By 2030, 40% of India’s population is expected to be living in urban areas which mean that child population in streets will continue to grow. Therefore, it is important to integrate the needs of children in street situations into urban policies and planning. A 2016 survey by Save the Children in Lucknow, Mughalsarai, Kolkata- Howrah, Patna and Hyderabad found 84,563 children living on the streets. An older study by the same organization in Delhi put their number at 50,000. National Health Mission (Topic: Issued related to health) About— It is India’s flagship health sector programme to revitalize rural and urban health sectors by providing flexible finances to State Governments. It has 4 components National Rural Health Mission National Urban Health Mission Tertiary Care Programmes Human Resources for Health and Medical Education New changes NHM brought together the two Departments of Health and Family Welfare at National and State level. Integration of the disease control programmes into the NHM framework. Innovations such as flexible financing, monitoring of Institutions against Indian Public Health Standards, Capacity Building at the State, District and Panchayat Samiti levels into the implementation of Health Sector Programmes in India. Programme Implementation Plans of the State Health Societies on an annual basis with specific resource allocations under the major heads of RCH Flexi Pool, the NRHM Flexi Pool, the Flexi Pool for Communicable Diseases and the Flexi Pool for Non Communicable Diseases RCHS Priority focus of NHM is Reproductive and Child Health services. The successful implementation of Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) programmes had a significant impact in behavioural changes. The ASHA workers act as mobilizers for institutional deliveries focus on integrated management of neonatal and childhood illness and advice on home based neo-natal care. NRHM flexi pool resources were utilized to create adequate infrastructure at public health institutions to cope with the heavy rush of maternity cases. At the Primary Health Centre (PHC) and Community Health Centre (CHC) level Rogi Kalyan Samitis have been activated to establish systems of oversight over the public health facilities for creating a patient friendly institution. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare added two new programmes to NHM Mission Indradhanush– it has demonstrated good progress in improving immunization coverage by over 5% in the just one year. Kayakalp– launched in 2016 to inculcate the practice of hygiene, sanitation, effective waste management and infection control in public health facilities. Government reduces 56 labour registers to only 5 for 5.85 crore establishments (Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections) About: The Government has simplified the maintenance of Labour registers of about 5.85 crore establishments in agriculture and non- agriculture sectors. These registers are related to details of employees, their salaries, loans/recoveries, attendance etc. This exercise will drastically reduce the number of registers being maintained by these establishments from 56 to only 5 by doing away with overlapping/redundant fields. This will help these establishments to save cost and efforts and ensure better compliance of Labour Laws. Labour laws Under various Central Labour Acts, there is a requirement of maintenance of registers depending upon the threshold of the number of employees by the establishments in agriculture and non-agriculture sectors. As per the Sixth Economic Census of Central Statistical Office conducted during 2013-2014, India has about 5.85 Crore establishments in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors combined. Out of this, 4.54 Crore establishments are in non-agricultural sector. While reviewing the requirement of filing various returns / registers/forms provided under 9 Central Acts, there were several overlapping/ redundant fields that could be rationalized. An intention notification was for reducing the number of registers/data fields and the same was widely circulated to concerned Ministries / Departments, State Govts., other stakeholders besides placing the same in public domain. In effect, all previous registers envisaged under various Acts / Rules have been omitted and replaced with only 5 common Registers. Such an exercise has reduced number of data fields in 5 registers to only 144 from the then existing 933 fields in 56 registers. The Labour Laws under which these registers are maintained include: The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 The Mines Act, 1952 The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976 The Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1955 GS-3 India’s Western Regional Agriculture Fair – 2017 (Topic: Agriculture) About: India’s Western Regional Agriculture Fair – 2017 inaugurated in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Schemes for promotion of agricultural sector. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana to channelise maximum potential for irrigation and to get rid of the problems related to drought. The scheme aims at water for every farm. Soil Health Card Scheme- farmers will be capable to get the knowhow of nutritious elements existed in their soil resulting in better production on their farms. Targeted for making the farmers income double in the next five years. Establishment of National Agriculture Mandi E-NAM portal is a revolutionary initiative for the farmers with which farmers can sale their agricultural products on better prices in any of the mandis. A separate fund has been set up amounting to Rs. 20,000 crores meant for irrigation with the assistance of NABARD. Till 2013-14 under National Food Security Mission, only 3 crops – rice, wheat and pulses were covered. Now, seven crops viz. rice, wheat, pulses, jute, sugarcane, cotton and cereals have been covered under the mission. Rashtriya Gokul Mission has been initiated with the allocation of Rs. 500 crore for preserving and promoting the domestic species of bovines under National Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development Programme. National Bovine Productivity Mission has been started in November 2016 with the amount of Rs. 825 crores. This scheme is comprised of four components – Pashudhan Sanjivini Nakul Swasthya Patra, Unnat Prajanan Taknik, Rashtriya Desi Nasal Genomic Kendra, e-Pashudhan Haat. Government of India has taken a decision to celebrate 3rd December as Agriculture Education Day to commemorate the anniversary of 1st President and Agriculture Minister of India, Bharat Ratna, Rajendra Prasad, for inspiration of youth. It has been decided to celebrate 15th October as Women Agriculture Day. Government to Come up With its own Study to Assess Impact of Pollution on Human Health (Topic: Environmental pollution and degradation) About: The Government is to come up with its own study with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to assess the trends and impact of pollution on human health. Various sources of pollution and actions taken by the Government for their management Notification on Graded Response Action Plan to address different levels of air pollution in National Capital Region. The Government is closely monitoring the trend of various air pollutants across the country under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme. The Monitoring network comprises manual stations spread over 300 cities in 29 States and 6 Union territories. Apart from manual stations, there are 54 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations that cover 33 cities in 12 states. The monitoring network is being expanded to cover all metro cities and capital towns. The result of the monitoring shows that, while the levels of Particulate Matters have a fluctuating trend, the value of SO2 is generally within permissible limits, while the value of NO2 is fluctuating and slightly above the permissible limits. The value of Particulate Matter is the main concern and the Government has been taking all necessary measures to mitigate this problem in a systematic manner. NDMA’s ‘Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan – Prevention and Management of Heat-Wave’ (Topic: Disaster Management) About: NDMA prepares States to deal with Heat Wave 2017 Heat wave Heat-wave is defined as the condition where maximum temperature at a grid point is 3˚C or more than the normal temperature, consecutively for 3 days or more. If the maximum temperature of any place continues to be more than 45° C consecutively for two days, it is called a heat wave condition. Heat Wave and Disaster Management Heat-wave has not been notified as a disaster by Government of India yet. Heat wave is not notified in the list of twelve disasters eligible for relief under National/ State Disaster Response Fund norms. However, a State Government may use up to 10 per cent of the funds available under the SDRF for providing immediate relief to the victims of natural disasters that they consider to be “disasters‟ within the local context in the State. NDMA’s Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan – Prevention and Management of Heat-Wave, 2016 Extreme heat waves will become more common worldwide because of rising average global temperature. Heat wave killed about 3000 people in 1998 and more than 2000 in 2002. Heat wave caused over 2000 deaths in 1998 in Odisha and more than 1200 deaths in 2002 in southern India. More than 2400 people died in the heat wave of 2015. The increased occurrences and severity of heat-wave is a wake-up call for all agencies to take necessary action for prevention, preparedness and community outreach to save the lives of the general public, livestock and wild life. Key Strategies are Establish Early Warning System and Inter-Agency Coordination to alert residents on predicted high and extreme temperatures Capacity building / training programme for health care professionals at local level Public Awareness and community outreach to protect against the extreme heat-wave through print, electronic and social media and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials. Collaboration with non-government and civil society  

Apr 13, 2017

IASbaba's 60 Day Plan- Prelims Test 2017 Geography and Current Affairs [Day 16]

Hello Friends So, here we are with the 16th Day of 60 Days Plan. It is the third edition of 60 Days program but seems like the first one because of the excitement involved everywhere, including us :) We are equally excited and pumped. Our Team is working hard to make you realize your dream. Do not take it insincerely and let us down. Your faith and participation has to be in sync with the amount of hard work and effort we do. Let us pledge to make it a big game changer (better than last year) in the next 60 days! Importance of Self - Tracking: Learning from Last Year Last year, aspirants used to comment their answers in the comment box on daily basis. There were huge participation in discussion. Putting answers in comment box has been very effective to self track yourself after updating the score. In the end you can cross check your performance through disqus profile. It was highly effective in the last edition of 60 Days that propelled aspirants to monitor their performance and learn through discussion. Let you solve these questions with full honesty and write your result in the comment box. Interact with peers to know your mistakes. The importance of this initiative stands time bound and aggressive reverse engineering to learn the concepts. Many of you must be busy with your own strategy but let us tell you honestly that in the last two months, it is very important to revise and consolidate your learning. Just reading won’t suffice. So, take out few hours from your schedule and make it a revision exercise. How you can make the best use of it? Be honest to your effort and do not start competing with XYZ aspirants here just for the sake of marks. It is more important for you to introspect and check your learning than focusing on others. Try to answer the questions in 20 minutes only.  Do not get into negative feeling that I don’t have enough knowledge to answer these questions. Feel like you are taking the real exam. What would be your response then? The same will be replicated in UPSC exam. Here, you get marks only and nothing else matters. So make effort to know the answers of all questions. Do not cheat :P Baba's Gyan for REVISION Many of you, almost all, asks about effective revision strategy! Can there be any? Let us tell you something Baba does :D  You guys study a lot and there is no issue with the hard work that has been put in. But when it comes to input-output comparison, your performance is questionable. What to do? Just do this for a Week: Go to bed before stipulated time of your sleep, at least 1 hour before. Close your eyes and try to relax your mind. You should attain full comfort and calmness. Do this on the First Day: Imagine the full story of a recent movie that you have watched. Try to recollect from starting to end. See, whether you are able to depict the clear picture or not! Now, do the same for everything you learnt from morning specially the ones you struggled with. Since it is fresh, most of the things should flow into your mind smoothly. Check what is your recollecting capacity. For example, if you prepared Polity Day 2: Topics- Try to collect all important concepts and learning of the day. Trust us, this exercise if done with sincerity will give you immense confidence as well as boost your performance. There is no ideal time for revision and there cannot be any specific date put for it, as commonly done. This will always expose your weaknesses the very same day and if you tend to forget something, can always get back to consolidate and cement it. REPEAT IT FOR A WEEK & SEE THE MAGIC :D  Must to Do: Read the detailed article regarding Micro Analysis Matrix and follow the guidelines- Click Here Try to hold your nerves and learn to control the temptation. This is very important art to learn and implement! Are you ready? Let's start [Day 16]: GEOGRAPHY & CURRENT AFFAIRS  ARCHIVES TOPICS: Indian Geography– Soil Soils in India –Alluvial, Black, Red, Laterite – Its location (availability); Characteristics; Crops grown. Example: Laterite soil contains iron oxide which imparts red colour to the soil. Its poor in humus and nitrogen due to heavy leaching. It’s found in Western Coastal plain Factors which control the formation of soil Soil Erosion – Sheet erosion, gully erosion etc.- causes Impact of salinization, alkalinity , acidification of soil Soil Conservation methods – crop rotation, Contour farming, Terracing, cover crops, conservation tillage and planted windbreaks PRELIMS MCQ’s: Q.1) Which of the below phenomenon help in soil formation? Parent Material Time Climate Biological activity Select the correct code: 1, 2 and 3 only 2, 3 and 4 only 1, 3 and 4 only 1, 2, 3 and 4 Q.2) Consider the following about different stages of soil: The soils of the young stage are poorly developed and do not have the characteristic horizons. The soils of the mature stage have a well-developed profile of horizons which remains constant through time. Which of the statements given above is/are not correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 None Q.3) Which of the statements given below are correct about desert soils? Desert soils are suitable for cultivation along the flood plains and on the terraces where their texture is fine. They are usually poor in organic matter. The phosphate and nitrate content of these soils are very poor. Choose the appropriate answer: 1 and 2 only 1 and 3 only 2 and 3 only 1, 2 and 3 only Q.4) Consider the following statements: The soils are covered with a thick brown mantle which inhibits soil growth. They are coarse and alkaline, rich in soluble salts. They are poor in organic matter and have a varying percentage of lime. These soils are derived from the adjoining rocks and the coastal regions. Which of the soil possess the above characteristics? Laterite soil Peaty soil Desert soil Loamy soils Q.5) Which among the following are statements is/are true? Pedocals are soils that are found in humid climates extending from high-latitude coniferous forests, mid latitude deciduous forest lands to low-climate tropical forests and grasslands Pedalfers are soils that are found in arid, semi-arid and the sub-humid zones in the world Pedocals are very rich in calcium and mineral salts Choose the appropriate code: 1 and 2 only 2 and 3 only 3 only 1, 2 and 3 Q.6) Which of the statements given below are true about Chernozems? These soils are called black earths. They are rich in humus, rich in calcium, unleached and have a crumby or nut-like structure. These are fertile soils requiring little fertilizing even when used year after year. Choose the appropriate code: 1 and 2 only 2 and 3 only 3 only 1, 2 and 3 Q.7) Consider the following: Subsistence agriculture is one where the farming areas consume all or nearly so of the products locally grown. Intensive Subsistence agriculture is dominated by wet paddy cultivation involves limited use of machinery and low labour productivity and farm yard manure used for fertility retention. Mixed farming – found in highly developed parts of the world and farms are moderate in size. Select the correct answer from the codes given below: 1 and 2 only 2 and 3 only 1 and 3 only 1, 2 and 3 Q.8) Consider the following statements: Cropping intensity refers to raising of a number of crops during one agriculture year by expanding the net area under cultivation. Crop combination refers to the quantum or diversity of crops entering a region in a given period. Which of the above statement(s) is/are incorrect? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 None Q.9) Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists: List I                                                    List II (Weathering type)                              (Landform/Process) Chemical weathering                         1. Till Mechanical weathering                      2. Oxidation Glacial deposits                                   3. Plant roots Deposition by ground water               4. Stalactite Code: A-B-C-D 4-3-2-1 2-3-1-4 1-3-2-4 2-1-3-4 Q.10) Which of the statements given below are true about Black soil? Black Soils are highly argillaceous. Black soil is highly retentive of moisture. It is a soil group typical to the dry and hot regions of the Peninsula. These soils are best suited for cotton crop, tobacco, castor, sunflower and millets. Choose the appropriate answer: 1 and 2 only 1, 2 and 3 only 2, 3 and 4 only 1, 2, 3 and 4 Q.11) Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists: List I                            List II (Farming area)                                    (State) Doab                                        1. Assam Char                                        2. Karnataka Maidan                                    3. Punjab Terai                                        4. Uttar Pradesh Code: A-B-C-D 4-3-2-1 2-3-1-4 3-1-2-4 2-1-3-4 Q.12) We know that all rocks whether igneous or sedimentary may become metamorphic or changed rocks under great heat and pressure. Consider the below lists and match List I with List II based upon the alteration they undergo: List I                List II Clay                 1. Slate Sandstone        2. Schist Limestone       3. Marble Granite            4. Gneiss Shale               5. Quartzite Code: A-B-C-D-E 1-5-3-4-2 1-2-5-3-4 2-1-5-3-4 2-1-5-4-3 Q.13) Consider the following statement about soil forming processes: Cheluviation is the downward movement of material, under the influence of organic complex compounds. Illuviation is the accumulation of the washed down material in the lower horizons. Leaching is the removal and downward movement of material from a horizon in solution. Which of the above statements are correct? 2 and 3 only 1 and 2 only 1 and 3 only 1, 2 and 3 Q.14) Choose the incorrect pair from the below:              (Zone)                                     (Soil) Boreal : : Tundra (dark brown) soils Subtropical and tropical : : Laterite or red soil Steppe : : Light grey podzolized soils Desert-steppe : : Chestnut and brown soils Q.15) Consider the below statements: Peaty – Marshy Soils are soils with large amount of organic matter and considerable amount of soluble salts. The most humid regions have this type of soil. Since they are not acidic, this type of soil is good for paddy cultivation. Which of the statements given above are correct? 1 and 2 only 1 and 3 only 2 and 3 only 1, 2 and 3 only Q.16) Consider the following statements about Hangul It is listed as ‘critically endangered’ under IUCN Red List It is the state animal of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir It is listed under Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and J&K; Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978 Select the correct statements 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.17) Consider the following statements about ‘Neerdhur’ It is developed by National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) It is a multi-fuel domestic cooking stove It has been approved and certified by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Select the correct statements 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.18) Consider the following statements about Green train corridors (GTC) They are sections of the railways which will be free of human waste on the tracks Okha-Kanalus stretch of Western Railway is India’s first GTC Which of the following statements is/are true? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.19) Global Conference on Voter Education titled “Voter Education for Inclusive, Informed and Ethical Participation” is being organized by Election Commission of India and Amnesty International Election Commission of India and International Foundation for Electoral Systems Election Commission of India and United Nations Development Programme Election Commission of India and The Association of World Election Bodies Q.20) Consider the following statements about Biotech-KISAN It is a Farmer centric scheme launched by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare The scheme includes the Mahila Biotech- KISAN fellowships, for training and education in farm practices, for women farmers Which of the following statements is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.21) Consider the following statements with respect to ‘Snow Leopards’ It categorised as an endangered species in the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list India is a signatory to Bishkek Declaration - global agreement signed for the protection of the snow leopard Which of the following statements is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.22) The “Sajha Abhiyan” of the Rajasthan Government is concerned with Complete elimination of child marriages Open jails 24/7 electrified villages None of the above Download The Solution : Click here

Apr 12, 2017 PIB

IASbaba Press Information Bureau (PIB)- 11th Feb to 17th Feb, 2017

IASbaba Press Information Bureau (PIB) – 10th Feb to 11th Feb 2017 ARCHIVES GS-2 Kayakalp awards (Topic: Issued related to health) About— Kayakalp awards felicitate Public Health Facilities for maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene. Objectives To promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices in public health care facilities To incentivize and recognize such public healthcare facilities that show exemplary performance in adhering to standard protocols of cleanliness and infection control To inculcate a culture of on-going assessment and peer review of performance related to hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation To create and share sustainable practices related to improved cleanliness in public health facilities linked to positive health outcomes. It will encourage every public health facility in the country to work towards standards of excellence to help the facilities stay clean and hygienic. This does not apply only to physical cleanliness, but to develop and put in place systems and procedures for activities such as bio-waste disposal or protocols etc. India and Japan (Topic: International Relations) About— Seminar on ‘Indo-Pacific Region: Converging India-Japan interests’, organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF). About ORF ORF began its journey in 1990 and brought together leading Indian economists and policymakers to present the agenda for India’s economic reforms. It provides non-partisan, independent, well-researched analyses and inputs to diverse decision-makers in Governments, business communities, and academia and to civil society around the world. ORF seeks to lead and aid policy thinking towards building a strong and prosperous India in a fair and equitable world. Strategic ties India and Japan have signed a Declaration on security cooperation and taken several steps to strengthen the cooperation in defence production and civil nuclear energy. Japan’s participation in the Malabar joint exercises for maritime security. Economic ties India has been the biggest recipient of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans since 2003. Japanese aid has flowed into several critical sectors such as power, transport, communication, irrigation, connectivity projects in Northeast India, modernization of railways and ports. Both countries have also entered into a comprehensive economic partnership agreement to boost trade and investment. Japanese private investment has made a great impact particularly on the automobile sector in India. Japan is supporting several mega-infrastructure projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and Mumbai-Ahmadabad high speed railway Coronary Stent Prices capped, to bring down cost, currently hiked by about 380% (Topic: Issued related to health) About— Government of India has issued the notification for fixing the ceiling prices of coronary stents. The step would bring down the cost of coronary stents, currently hiked by about 380%. Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are major cause of death in India, about 25% of total deaths. Out of these, 90-95% CVD deaths happen due to coronary artery diseases. As per the report of National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, prevalence of CAD in India is about 61.5 million as per 2015 report. As per Health Ministry report, more than 3.5 lakh procedures were done in 2015 which used 4.73 lakh stents. In 2016, the figure of cardiac stent must have been above 5 lakhs. Presently market size of India made stents is roughly 30%. New ceiling prices will promote ‘Make in India’ in a big way and seeing the huge number of patients and future requirement, foreign companies will also try to make in India for cutting costs and remain competitive. WHO has completed the assessment of the status of the Indian vaccine regulatory system (Topic: Issued related to health) About— WHO has completed the assessment of the status of the Indian vaccine regulatory system against WHO NRA (National Regulatory Authority) Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) for benchmarking and measured the maturity of the system. Assessment The assessment has been carried out by a WHO team comprising lead experts in different areas from WHO Headquarters Geneva, WHO India Country Office, experts drawn from the regulators of USA, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia, Thailand and Egypt. India is one of the main players in the pharmaceutical industry worldwide. The pharmaceutical industry covers conventional as well as biological medicinal products including vaccines, medical devices, and traditional medicines. India, as a large vaccine producing country, is currently supplying several vaccines to the UN agencies (UNICEF, WHO and PAHO). The vaccine manufacturers can only apply for WHO vaccine prequalification if the NRA meets the standards of the WHO NRA published indicators i.e. WHO Global benchmarking Tool on functional regulatory system for vaccines. GS-3 Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Unnat Krishi Shiksha Scheme (Topic: Agriculture) About: It was launched in 2016 to promote agricultural education under which 100 centres are being opened with a fund of Rs.5.35 crore. READY and ARYA Scheme ICAR has launched “Student READY” it is a skill development initiative to strengthen students with skills to take up global challenges and also to improve both their employability as well as ability to set up a venture. READY refers to “Rural and Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana” Besides this, there is ARYA scheme — Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture — which aims to empower youth in rural areas to take up agriculture, allied and service sector enterprises for sustainable income and gainful employment in selected districts. It enables youth to establish network groups to take up resource and capital intensive activities like processing, value addition and marketing. ARYA project is implemented in 25 States through KVKs, one district from each State. PSLV-C37 Successfully Launches 104 Satellites in a Single Flight (Topic: Science and Technology) About: In its thirty ninth flight (PSLV-C37), ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 103 co-passenger satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty eighth consecutively successful mission of PSLV.  The total weight of all the 104 satellites carried on-board PSLV-C37 was 1378 kg. Of the 103 co-passenger satellites carried by PSLV-C37, two – ISRO Nano Satellite-1 (INS-1) weighing 8.4 kg and INS-2 weighing 9.7 kg – are technology demonstration satellites from India. The remaining 101 co-passenger satellites carried were international customer satellites from USA (96), The Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1) and UAE (1). Technical challenges during the mission Realising the launch of a large number of satellites during a single mission within the time frame sought by the customers from abroad. Ensuring adequate separation between all the 104 satellites during their orbital injection as well as during their subsequent orbital life was yet another challenge associated with this complex mission. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide remote sensing services using its panchromatic (black and white) and multispectral (colour) cameras. Tarini to be Inducted into Indian Navy (Topic: Science and Technology) About: The sail boat Tarini is being inducted into the Navy and is slated to be the platform for First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe expedition of the Indian Navy. INSV Tarini is almost identical to her illustrious predecessor, the iconic Mhadei which has sailed over 115000 nautical miles in the past eight years. About Tarani and Mhadei The boat draws her origin from the famous Tara-Tarini temple of Orissa’s Ganjam district. The word Tarini means a Boat and is also a Sanskrit word for Saviour. Tara-Tarini is a patron deity for sailors and merchants and is worshipped for safety and success at sea. Tara-Tarini of Orissa is known to have historical linkages with the river Goddess Mhadei- the exclusive boat deity of the Mhadei river of Goa. Both the deities Tarini and Mhadei have sculptural similarities. Indian Seed Congress – 2017 in Kolkata (Topic: Agriculture) Theme:  “Seed of Joy” Objectives To accelerate agricultural output. Develop infrastructural facilities in the villages. Promote value addition. Expedite the growth of agro-business. Create employment in the rural areas . Ensuring better livelihood status of the farmers and agriculture workers and their families. Discourage migration to urban areas and face the challenges emerging out of economic liberalization and globalization. Purpose: Improving the Seed replacement rate along with Variety replacement rate so that sustainable agricultural production and productivity could be ensured. Recent schemes for the welfare of farmers Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana Pradhan Mantri Krishi Vikas Yojana Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana Soil Health Scheme Neem Coated Urea E-National Agriculture Mandi Scheme’s aim at to bring improvement in crop productivity as well as income of the farmers. Seven points programmes to make the income of the farmers double. Big focus on irrigation with large budgets, with the aim of “per drop-more crop” Provision of quality seeds and nutrients based on soil health of each field Large investments in warehousing and cold chains to prevent post-harvest crop losses Promotion of value addition through food processing Creation of a national farm market, removing distortions and e-platform across 585 stations Introduction of a new crop insurance scheme to mitigate risks at affordable cost Promotion of ancillary activities like poultry, beekeeping and fisheries.

Apr 12, 2017 MindMaps

IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - UGC Guidelines 2016

IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - UGC Guidelines 2016 Archives P.S- Right Click on the image and open it in new tab. From there you can save it in your system.   Reference - Link

Apr 12, 2017 IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 11th April, 2017

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 11th April 2017 Archives INTERNATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 2 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests India – France Introduction India’s relations with France has been traditionally guided. France has been a colonial power which has connection even to this day in many states. Relations range from diplomatic, science and technology and security related. History and moving forward: The India-France strategic relationship has generated a sense of comfort between the relevant government agencies. The focus has been on initiatives that can strengthen business-to-business linkages and people-to-people contacts In recent years, India has entered into more than three dozen “strategic partnerships”, but France remains the original one. President Jacques Chirac had a long-standing interest in India and undertook three visits to India, in 1976, 1998 and 2006, the only leader to have been chief guest at the Republic Day twice, first as Prime Minister in 1976 and then as President in 1998. The second visit saw the establishment of the “strategic partnership” which was tested months later in May when India conducted a series of nuclear weapon tests. France was the first major power to open a dialogue with India. Issue: Mission Jeanne d’Arc, made up of the amphibious assault ship/landing platform dock (LPD), Mistral, and the frigate, Courbet, called at the Mumbai port between March 29 and April 3, having set sail from the French military base in Djibouti before heading for Vietnam. It is for the third consecutive year that France has deployed this important mission in the Indian Ocean, the China Seas and the Pacific region. On each occasion, France has chosen to call at an Indian port: Visakhapatnam in 2015 and Kochi in 2016. Growing cooperation Along with combating terrorism, maritime security has become a priority of our defence and security cooperation. Several concrete examples illustrate this unprecedented dynamic pace: In 2015, our carrier strike group (CSG) with the aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, at its core, docked at Goa as part of our bilateral exercise, “Varuna”. In the meantime, India and France have held two high-level bilateral dialogues on maritime security in the Indian Ocean and signed their first White Shipping Agreement on January 18, 2017; the latter’s operationalisation will be a significant step towards more ambitious exchanges and complex cooperation. France has significant interests in the Indian Ocean due to its overseas territory, Reunion Island, which is home to over a million French citizens; its 2.8 million square kilometres of exclusive economic zone (i.e. more than 10% of the Indian Ocean’s surface), and the volume of sea traffic in this zone. Due to this, we have significant means in the Indian Ocean, whether deployed permanently or depending on requirement. India is France’s top strategic partner in Asia and our intention is to work towards making this relation fructify further alongside our other partners in the region such as Australia, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam. We share, in particular, the same values of preserving the freedom of navigation and respecting the international law of the sea. Conclusion: Hence it is both natural and necessary that France and India do more together in the Indian Ocean to serve our shared interests of security. Over the next few years, this cooperation will become one of the pillars of the strategic partnership between our two countries. We should be ready to take up this challenge. Connecting the dots: In the emerging geopolitical scenario analyse the importance of Indo-french relations.   INTERNATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 2 India and its neighborhood – relations Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests Growing importance of Bay of Bengal Littoral and Indo-Pacific At a time when India finds itself consumed once again by its obsession with Pakistan in light of the death sentence pronounced on Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court and Pakistan’s reluctance to embark on even minimal mutually beneficial economic cooperation, which has made the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) dysfunctional, two recent visits of Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Australia to India – exemplify not only the country’s rising global profile but also the gradually evolving foreign policy priorities of Indian diplomacy. Two transitions are easily visible – one, from South Asia to the Bay of Bengal littoral and the other, from the Indian Ocean to the Indo-Pacific Together, these two transitions promise to change the way India imagines the physical spaces around it. South Asia to the Bay of Bengal littoral (India and Bangladesh recent engagements) Bay of Bengal has begun to replace South Asia as the primary vehicle for pursuing regional cooperation. Integrating the waters and hinterland has emerged as a key new element of the bilateral agenda between India and Bangladesh. India’s role as a security provider is visible in the Delhi-Dhaka joint statement which has stressed the need for greater military-to-military training and exchanges, and complimented the armed forces for their professional conduct during joint search and rescue operations in the Bay of Bengal leading to the rescue of a large number of fishermen from both sides. The defence relationship was the highlight of Ms. Hasina’s visit to Delhi this time as it included a memorandum of understanding on a defence framework, and a $500 million line of credit (LoC) for defence procurement by the Bangladesh military forces, the largest such LoC India has extended to any country so far. India is also ready to demonstrate it keenness to share its economic growth with its regional partners. It is also extending a $4.5 billion line of credit to Bangladesh, over and above the existing $2.8 billion line, to fund around 17 infrastructure projects which includes port upgradation work at the Mongla, Chittagong and Payra ports. Given the critical need for enhancing connectivity in South Asia, India is pushing for early implementation of the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement, aimed at facilitating seamless transport of goods over land customs stations. Bus and train services between Kolkata and Khulna have been started, and there are plans to revive inland waterway channels. Indian Ocean to the Indo-Pacific (India and Australia recent engagements) The Bay of Bengal may not have figured as directly in the talks between Modi and the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but it is bound to demand their attention sooner than later. Promoting regionalism in the Indian Ocean and strengthening regional maritime security have been prominent themes in Delhi’s deepening partnership with Australia in recent years. As India’s economic footprint and with it, the scope of its maritime interests widen, the idea of the Indo-Pacific has begun to transcend that of the Indian Ocean. Governments of India have repeatedly embraced the importance of India’s engagements in the larger Indo-Pacific, thereby getting out of the straitjacket of being a “mere” South Asian power. India’s success in engaging countries such as Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in recent years is testament to the growing demand in the region for a larger Indian role and presence. Mr. Turnbull’s visit to Delhi this week once again showed that India is now widely perceived to be a strong and credible regional force. The two countries pledged to enhance maritime cooperation as they underlined “the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, as well as resolving maritime disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)”. Defence cooperation once again is at the centre of this relationship with the decision to hold a bilateral maritime exercise named AUSINDEX in 2018. A bilateral exercise of the Special Forces will be held later this year, while the first bilateral army-to-army exercise will also take place in 2018. The two countries should prioritise the conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) at the earliest to give economic heft to their growing security interactions. The way ahead: Despite the hype about the possibility of India emerging as the guarantor of the liberal economic and security order in Asia, there are now new possibilities for reimagining New Delhi’s regional and global role. Greater cooperation with like-minded countries in the region and beyond will give it greater space to emerge as a credible regional interlocutor at a time when Washington’s policies remain far from clear and Beijing is challenging the foundations of the extant order. Connecting the dots: Discuss the strategic significance of Indo-Pacific region to India. What significance does it hold for India economically and geo-strategically? Bay of Bengal has begun to replace South Asia as the primary vehicle for pursuing regional cooperation. Do you agree? Also discuss the recent developments between India and Bay of Bengal littoral countries. 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