Dec 5, 2016 AIR

All India Radio - Mental Health Day

ARCHIVES   Mental Health Day   Search 10th October http://www.newsonair.com/Main_Audio_Bulletins_Search.aspx   TOPIC: General Studies 2 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.   World Mental Health day is observed every 10th October to raise awareness about mental health. People have now begun to understand that suicide is not crime but a kind of mental disorder. Similarly, depression and other mental health issues need to be understood. The mental health day is being observed for few decades. Stigma of mental illness around world still remains though it is less in developed countries due to awareness programmes and presence of science. But in Africa and Asia, stigma continues to be present and mental disorder is still misunderstood. Hence, there is a need to reduce the stigma of meatal illness. Mental health problem as mental disease or lunacy like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. 150 years ago people were not much concerned about people with mental awareness and they were put in mental asylum. But now various methods are available for diagnosing mental health disorders in 21st century. Treatment has become available just in past 20 years. So, the problem that mental illness can’t be treated has gone. Here, the most important need is to reduce stigma, respect human rights and identify and accept depression. Frequency of schizophrenia is not large as such diseases are generally genetically and biologically caused with frequency of 2-3%. Depression, anxiety, obsessive disorder, phobia are more common mental disorders and it depends on culture, development stage of society, social values, family system. India has 6-8% prevalence of mental disorder and Europe has 20-25%. Though India has less common prevalence of mental illness, there is a need for treatment. Suicide Depression is a condition where person loses confidence and the common behaviour is attempted suicide and in unfortunate cases, successful suicide. Specific characteristics of suicide is that it doesn’t occur much in high income countries. As per WHO, more than 8 lakh people die every year due to suicide. Hence, as it is a state of mind, it is possible to bring it back to normal state and prevent such unfortunate deaths. Till date, suicide in India was a criminal offence under Section 309 of IPC. Now, the government is planning to delete the section which is largely hailed as a positive action in correct direction. In 1990s, one judgement almost annulled section 309of IPC but then it was said that decriminalisation of suicide should be not by judicial order but by Parliament. Unfortunately, even that took 20 years to shape up. This makes India one of the few societies to implement it last. When the person thinks of suicide, he/she is in a deceased state. Thus, instead of providing a cure, the person was either prosecuted or punished by the state to take life. This made him pursue it without any other positive alternate. The idea behind decriminalisation of suicide is that the person should be seen as person in need of help because of psychiatric disorder. But because 309 was applicable, family members, friends, doctors and hospitals rarely reported the case as attempted suicide. Instead, it was presented as accident. Thus, decriminalisation should happen and mental Health Care Bill 2016 is progressive step and accurate data will be available now. It may seem temporarily that the rates will increase because there will higher reporting but that should not be read in a misleading way. Depression Another common known word in society is depression. Depression is not day to day work related stress or low feeling or feeling of sadness. It is a clinical disease which has a significant impairment to one’s life in various aspect because of sustained more than two or four weeks of low mood, negative thoughts and decreased activity. Once there is visibility of classical symptom of these feelings, then only it be seen as clinical depression. Depression is a significant public health problem which is as common as road injuries or traffic accidents, cancer etc. It is easily treatable and preventable. If the depression is identified, it is very easy to treat effectively with low cost medicines. WHO has said that depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and it is a major contributor of overall burden of disease. At the same time, more women are affected than men due to depression. Course shift By end of 1990s, the entire public health structure across the globe shifted from old incorrect approach of calculating public health problems according to number of deaths. Earlier, the public health model was only based on mortality statistics. This is the reason that WHO and other health institutions are explaining that public health should not be calculated in terms of death statistics but by how much individual, family and society is suffering. Acknowledging the existence There are other diseases also which are rarely talked about- dementia, developmental disorder including autism, headache disorder etc. In old age beyond 60-65 years, a lot of problems of body and mind increase. With the longer life expectancy, people are living longer lives even in Asia and south Asian countries. Thus, the existence of such diseased was not seen much before or was not a major public health concern. The natural system of decay and degeneration does happen with body and mind. So, recent memory loss or decrease in physical abilities of vision and hearing are normal. It is called the ageing process. But when the brain decay happens because of certain diseases process, like Alzheimer’s, dementia or because of vascular reasons- BP being uncontrolled, at the age of 65 years, people may have intellectual and memory defect as if in age of 85 years. So the early onset of intellectual decay and memory deficit is what predominantly occurs in dementia. Dementia with increasing life expectancy is becoming a major problem. It requires care in this era as joint families are breaking up and there are no one to look after the elderly in family or in society. As a result, many people end up living a troubled life. The other end of spectrum is equally important to recognise. In childhood and adolescence leading to adulthood, there are major set of problems other than mental illness and mental retardation. Mental retardation is now called intellectual impairment. It is when a child, generally at birth, because of genetic reasons has limited intellectual capacity. So the intellectual compromises start with birth. Rarely may it happen because of some brain disease after birth in first few years. Thus, intellectual impairment means that someone has three-fourth or half the intellectual potential than the average person has. So, it may end up in understanding that the person is not able to look after oneself or may not be capable of self-care or holding a job. Although, a lot of people with intellectual impairment can be trained and rehabilitated! There is no treatment for intellectual impairment as of now. There is only rehabilitation, repetitive training and education to bring out the best potential. Symptoms of medical disorder The person might be in good physical health and may not have any problem in the family or social sphere but such person can also have symptoms of depression like sadness of mood, low mood, negative thoughts, lack of energy, problems in sleep and appetite. The depression may happen for biological reasons and may also happen because of external reasons in real world. With a lot of long term medical conditions like kidney, heart problems, bronchial asthma, there is associated depression. Because the physical health is not well, there may exist depression. So the overlap between mental and physical care is to be recognised. The positive part is that if depression is treated with physical illness well enough, then the physical illness performs much better to recover. The data has suggested that people with diabetes or heart attack will fare much better if the associated depression is identified and treated. The old adage of “healthy mind and healthy body” is actually very crucial and practically applicable. Conclusion Government of India is also running lot of mental health programme. India had one of the first programmes on mental health care. Unfortunately due to funding and social attitude and basic lack of human resource in mental health, it got delayed by 20-25 years. But it has picked up again in last few years. National mental health program is already available in most states although not in all districts. It is difficult to reach all corners in such huge geographical area. But the New Mental Healthcare Bill 2016 does provide mental health as a basic right. Thus, it will begin the obligation of every state to be able to provide minimum mental health care to people who require it which is going to be a huge task. Hence, for this state managed institutions, general hospital psychiatrists units, private practitioners, NGOs, and society together can possibly help achieve the dream of mental health care for all. Connecting the dots: What is depression? Why is it considered a stigma? What are the possible steps to address it? Critically analyse Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016.  

Dec 4, 2016 Motivational Articles

Creative Guidance – Art of Disappointment – Inspirational & Educative Articles

Art of Disappointment: If there is one skill we all possess in abundance, it is the ability to get disappointed. Getting disappointed with something or someone is almost a universal and unique ability of human beings. We know how to find ways of disappointing ourselves, in spite of all the beautiful and wonderful things happening around us. Our ability to get disappointed is rooted in the very mechanism of our thought process. First we get attracted to something, then we build expectations on it, and when the expectations are broken we get disappointed. This cycle of attraction, expectation and disappointment is the mechanism of creation and sustenance of misery. We all know that there is no such thing as a perfect person, perfect job or a perfect place. We participate in the process of beautification of things around us. A new place is exciting and enticing precisely because we are new to it. Our sense of adventure and curiosity is what makes it beautiful in the first place. This is true with everything else; be it people, relationships, habits, profession etc. The way we participate with our surroundings is how they eventually affect us. By themselves, people, places and processes of life have no power over human emotions. The human mind and its thought process is the ultimate decider of how we feel about certain things. In a way, the way we see is how things are. Disappointment is simply a habit. It has very little to do with external situations and circumstances. They say that it is almost impossible for a human being to put himself in a situation that he cannot come out of. It is very true; we always have a choice to end the cycle of disappointment. We have a choice to choose our situations and circumstances. We have a lot more freedom than we know. Observe people who get disappointed easily. Observe those who are constantly ravaged by their unreasonable expectations. Observe those who have become servants of their own emotions. You will see that all of them have a choice. They simply don’t exercise their choices for various reasons. The root of disappointment is complete attachment to expectations. Expectation by itself is not such a bad thing, but unreasonable expectation and attachment to it is a problem. Vivekananda said that the best way to live in this world is by having a detached attachment. Our ability to stay detached even to the most attractive of things is the only way to escape the misery of disappointment. Practice of detached attachment is the only way to experience life fully without being burdened by its disappointment. Learning the art of detachment is the only way out. “The articles are a copyright of The Ahamo Movement and IASBABA.” Read more such articles – Click Here  

Dec 4, 2016 IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 3rd December, 2016

Archives   IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 3rd December, 2016   ECONOMY   TOPIC: General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life   Regulating the digital economy By 2016, the digital economy is likely to reach US$ 4.2 trillion in the G20 economies, more than 5 % of GDP. This projection, however, is dependent on the availability of fast fixed and mobile connections, secure cloud services, affordable devices, innovative apps and available content. Similarly, investment and innovation in the digital sector has generated enormous opportunities for the Indian economy. It has raised the economic and global profile of entire cities, created jobs and produced innovative technologies used and sold around the world. Today, it has become more important as India is trying to speedily switch over to a country-wide system of digital payments across sectors in a cashless economy.   What is digital economy? Digital economy means an economy that is based on digital computing technologies. It is also called the Internet Economy, the New Economy, or Web Economy. The terms 'Digital Economy' was coined in Don Tapscott's 1995 book The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence. The Digital Economy was among the first books to consider how the Internet would change the way business was done. Three main components of digital economy can be identified as Supporting infrastructure (hardware, software, telecoms, networks, etc.), e-business (how business is conducted, any process that an organization conducts over computer-mediated networks), e-commerce (transfer of goods, for example when a book is sold online). But, new applications are currently blurring the lines between these- for example, social media. However, digital economy is looked forward with a promising future with digital networking and communication infrastructures providing a global platform over which people and organizations devise strategies, interact, communicate, collaborate etc.   Challenges of digital economy Internet services are growing at a massive rate, putting strain on existing infrastructure and business models. Two known challenges are: Spectrum The world is possibly facing a ‘spectrum crunch’. It has been forecasted that 19 billion wireless devices will be in service by 2017 and mobile data traffic is expected to grow by 66 % annually. The increasing network density, is costly, time-consuming and will result in disruptions for consumers. Government engagement and regulation The government has to set an overall strategy for digital infrastructure and manage key tradeoffs. One such key tradeoff for governments is the question of whether to provide high speeds for urban residents versus basic connectivity for rural residents. In fast-moving industries, regulators struggle to keep up with market and technological developments. Regulating the digital economy Though it brings number of benefits to economy, consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses, it has highlighted a number of new challenges for regulators. Recently, a conference co-hosted by the Competition Law Bar Association and the CCI revealed that the CCI recognises its critical role in encouraging innovation in this growing area of the economy. CCI recognises that in view of the low barriers to entry and high levels of innovation, companies at the top of an industry have to work harder to keep customers, who can easily switch their faithfulness to a better or cheaper competitor. This has been visible with Facebook overtaking MySpace and also rise of apps such as Whatsapp and Hike replacing SMS messages. In such a backdrop, it is necessary to examine how regulators outside of India have been examining the dynamic and fast-moving technology sector.   Understanding the changing dynamics The regulatory vacuum in which disruptive and ‘permissionless’ innovations are thriving on the internet is also creating concerns for the Indian government. Uber and Ola are two such examples where advances in smartphone technology have disrupted the entire taxi service industry, rendering their regulatory model perfunctory. How can regulators, faced with fast paced innovation, reimagine new rules for the future? The universal core principle is that regulators have to protect competition in their own jurisdiction, focus on domestic consumers rather than competitors and keep in view the economic development of the country. This may be the reason that tech progressive countries such as the US and Canada have taken a cautious approach to tech interventions. However, old and high-profile tech-related investigations continue in Europe. Others have documented Europe’s technology sector and concluded that it is far from thriving with many putting blame over-regulation. Hence, Indian regulators could be cautious about seeking European guidance on regulating the digital sector given Europe’s indifferent performance in tech. A recent analysis by The Economist showed that the US leads the world, followed by Asia and Europe is a distant third in market capitalisation of online platforms. At a time when Indian tech companies such as Flipkart, Zomato, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Snapdeal, Justdial, Paytm, and others are growing and the economy is assured of an accelerated growth trajectory mainly due to the country’s technology sector, Indian regulators must be cautious in following Europe’s example in the regulation of its digital economy. The Indian government is working hard to encourage investment and bring rapid expansion in the technology sector. It is now incumbent on regulators to weigh the pros and cons of their actions against this objective and not rush into decisions that could jeopardise this growth. IASbaba’s views India’s market regulator is highly respected for what it has achieved within its relatively short existence. It has the potential to show the path to various developing economies, many of which are looking to India. Hence, India has to set a high standard in determining its regulatory mechanism for digital economy. Also, the role of the private sector in regulation is significant as it is well positioned in the digital economy to increase awareness among consumers on the best practices required for the industry. Hence, government and private sector should create a co-regulatory framework to maintain the digital economy. Regulation must be narrowly tailored and based on empirical evidence rather than a peremptory judgment of newer business models. Drawing lessons from international examples about what works and what doesn’t is equally necessary. Connecting the dots: What is digital economy? Critically examine the importance of digital economy in contemporary world and the role of regulator.   INTERNATIONAL   TOPIC: General Studies 2 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources   OPEC oil output cut   The decision of cut in 1.2 million barrels per day in crude oil output by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, reflects the failure of the latter’s strategy of protecting market share at the cost of falling prices. The previous strategy was to make the shale oil industry in the US suffer which was fast emerging as a threat to the cartel. Yet, even after two years, shale oil producers have managed to survive falling prices. It was also able to bring down the break-even price steadily with aid from technology. This made the OPEC countries change their strategy. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Picture Credit: http://history105.libraries.wsu.edu/fall2015/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2015/08/List_of_OPEC_countries.jpg OPEC is an organization consisting of the world's major oil-exporting nations. Currently, there are 13 member countries (Gabon, Africa which recently joined in July 2016. Also, Indonesia terminated its membership on 30th November 2016.) It was founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members, and to provide member states with technical and economic aid. OPEC has been gaining steady power and influencing the global oil market since the 1970s when OPEC had ~50% of market share in global crude oil production. High market share has also given OPEC the bargaining power to price oil above what prices would be in a more competitive market. This means OPEC has the ability to sway crude oil prices by increasing or decreasing production. But with US Shale market rising with increased domestic production, it started importing less oil. Thus, Saudi Arabia lost ~50% of its US customer base.   OPEC- Losing relevance? Saudi Arabia, the lead oil producer in the OPEC, has been badly hurt in economic terms by low oil prices and has thus taken the lead by offering to cut its output by half-a-million barrels per day. This has been first production cut by OPEC in eight years. It is a significant development and the effect of the decision on oil prices — which shot up 10% immediately — clearly signals that the cartel is alive and continues to be a force to count on within the market. But the fact remains that even after this cut, its daily output of 10.06 million barrels will be higher than the 9.5 million barrels per day that it was producing in July 2014 when the fall in prices began. Iraq was very reluctant to cut its output but even it has been persuaded to cut output while Iran has been permitted to produce at its pre-sanction levels. The test of oil prices The first tests will be if OPEC members who are known for breaching their output caps will be able to stick to the production levels set for them. Countries like Venezuela and Algeria, whose small economies are in doldrums as they are smaller producers are highly likely to breach the output limit. The second test will be if non-OPEC members like Russia will support by cutting their own output. At present, Russia has agreed to cooperate with the OPEC decision and consider a freeze. However, just like smaller OPEC countries, Russia is known to break promises in the past and importantly, all its output is piped out, making it difficult for the cartel to monitor compliance. The third and final test for prices will be if and when the shale oil producers in the US get their rigs back in action. If that happens, there is low possibility of a rise in prices beyond the $60 a barrel mark. Currently, the US output is down by an estimated 100,000 barrels a day. The current bounce in oil prices is not sustainable and the best that OPEC’s cut will probably do is ensure that prices don’t plumb back to the depths of $30-35 a barrel.   Impact on India India is the fourth largest importer of crude in the world. It imports 85% of total oil and 95% of gas from OPEC nations. Hence, it has benefited highly from the low price regime. It was able to keep inflation under control and economy on growth path. But the recent OPEC output cut might raise prices and, therefore, subsidies, is the worry. However, experts say, a global crude oil price of $50-55 a barrel is comfortable for India as it is believed that prices are unlikely to climb above this. Also, an increase in price will be a boost for domestic exploration and production companies Oil and natural Gas Corporation, Cairn India and Oil India. The inventory drawdowns and the oil market are expected to come back into balance which will further push up prices. However, higher prices will also result in higher production from US shale, preventing prices from reaching levels last seen in 2014. The current subsidy burden on government is LPG and kerosene which is expected to remain below Rs. 30,000 crore in FY17. On the other hand, the sector is providing excise revenue in excess of Rs. 160,000 crore to the government, a net contributor to the fiscal situation. As petrol and diesel are out of the subsidy burden, under-recoveries on both domestic LPG and kerosene came down to Rs. 27,571 crore in 2015-16, from Rs. 76,285 crore in 2014-15. According to the government's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, under recovery on kerosene with effect from December 1 will be Rs. 10.51 a litre, as against Rs. 12.25 a litre in the first fortnight of October. Cash transfer to the customer under Direct Benefits Transfer of LPG (DBTL) will be Rs. 151.29 a cylinder, of which Rs. 123.17 will be cash compensation by government and Rs. 28.12 by the oil marketing companies (OMCs). Connecting the dots: Why OPEC oil production cut is a significant decision for world oil production? How will it affect India’s economy? Examine.   MUST READ A dampening of economic activity? Hindu   Wild silk protein helps in faster, scar-free healing of wounds Hindu   Order on national anthem shows what is wrong with the Court Indian Express   Section 377: A legal incarnation of travesty Livemint   Banks need better internal watchdogs Business Line   India skips plastic money, leapfrogs into mobile wallet payments Business Line  

Dec 3, 2016 RSTV Video

The Big Picture - Indo-Pak Tensions- Is it Affecting the Economy?

Archives     Indo-Pak Tensions- Is it Affecting the Economy?   TOPIC: General Studies 2 India and its neighbourhood- 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 Important International institutions, agencies and for a   The tensions between Indian and Pakistan which has led to cross border raids and attacks by India and also continued infiltration attacks on army bases in Kashmir has caused a lot of concern. While the tensions continue the question is how is it affecting the economy in short and long term. The finance minister has said that the impact is marginal but the stock markets have been reacting negatively, the business analysts feel that international outlook towards the tension is cautious and wait and watch approach is being adopted. Indian economy is large and it is able to absorb direct and indirect disruptions from bilateral trade in Pakistan which is anyway marginal. Major impact is happening on the investment climate in India because the tensions due are perceived as causing instability in south Asian region and investors are bound to take wait and watch approach. There is diversity between Indian and Pakistan economy. Pakistan’s economy is smaller and less diverse and agrarian compared to India. The water also flows down from India to support the agricultural activities in Pakistan. Thus impact on Pakistan’s economy is more adverse than in India if tensions continue to remain. The government expenditure in Pakistan and India would get impacted if there is a war. India is also currently passing through a stage where private investment is lagging behind. To keep India’s growth ratio and investment ratio up, India is dependent upon public investment right now. Similar tensions have been witnessed before. But there is difference between then and now. At this point of time there is not going to be substantive effect on economy. It is the sentiment which is going to get affected most probably, especially, for foreign investors as with heightened political risks, they would rather wait for the things to settle down before putting in more money in India. The same goes for new investors within domestic investment as well. No one wishes to invest in economies where political risk is heightened as political risk translates easily into commercial risks. The benefit from the government which is perceived to be strong and decisive is also a positive sentiment that goes into the economy. That sentiment was there, but with the ongoing political blame game and political discussions taking place, the government should provide a big spur to the economic activities because everybody wants a strong and decisive government. A greater economic relationship between India and Pakistan is an opportunity lost as it is a setback to the economy. The potential to both economies to have more bilateral trade which could give boost to economies on both sides, direct route to Afghanistan and flights curtailment which is now going to take place by taking longer detour are added costs on account of that. These are negative things which will happen to Indian economy. Though investment climate is going to be affected by the skirmishes going on, the larger impact will be on government finances. The government is interested in increasing public investment but now it is under pressure from defence ministry to increase its budget. Around 1.6% of GDP is for defence expenditure in this year and it is expected to increase. Thus the government which is trying to rein in its fiscal stability but now has to increase public investments, government will be in tight situation on finance side. The continued skirmishes can impact the inflationary environment in the country. There may not be immediate direct impact but higher defence expenditure add to fiscal deficit could lead to higher inflation if these conditions last forever. Second impact will be that India’s Bollywood will lose an indirect market in Pakistan. Though there is no direct market in there, but through Dubai and other regions, the Indian movie market flourishes in Pakistan. This soft power will be lost by India. India has 3 types of trade with Pakistan Direct- 2.5 billion dollars export Trade through Dubai- 2.5 billion dollars Barter trade at border- it is not accounted for but there are benign environment of people crossing border, exchanging goods, those could impact the economies of border states. This should not undermine the movement of people which is allowed to take place by border polices on both sides.   Ripple effects It will be affected because people will not take a bet on the Indian economy due to heightened tensions. Regional cooperation and regional trade is cancelled which led to cancel of SAARC summit. It’s a major cause of concern as India’s trade with central Asia will be impacted even more. There were hopes that at some stage Afghanistan and Uzbekistan will compel Pakistan to open its territories with import in India. This is now going to be a non-starter. However, the role that china can play in bringing down tension as it has huge stake in this matter. If the increased expenditure by defence minister is on increasing supplies produced within the country then that is added fillip to economy. There will be a demand for domestically produced products. But the problem is that 70% of India’s defence equipment is imported which is creating jobs and demand outside the country. Regional cooperation and regional trade is also affected. Heightened tension between India and Pakistan means all regional issues like regional grid, tackling environment or water issues or trafficking gets affected. That is the major cause of concern. There is an ongoing World Bank project with electricity trade and export electricity to Pakistan which will also go down. Over the years, Pakistan has tried to integrate its economy more and more with central Asian countries. Thus, it is getting benefits of regional integration in that area. And thus may not get so affected directly. But potential more trade with SAARC countries will be a setback. Their fiscal position is not that strong and robust, so crowding out for public investment in Pakistan will be difficult. CPEC is independent of this issue. China will help Pakistan so India will have to see how its diplomatic community deals with it. Just about year ago there were talks about SAARC currency and MFN. Now India will have the opportunity to look elsewhere, like RCEP, ASEAN, etc. However, many feel that if SAARC doesn’t happen, there is no big opportunity lost.  India can exploit larger trading arrangement to increase India’s economy. Fiscal impact- the pressure on government for defence expenditure will be on capital expenditure side. That capital expenditure, as past tells us, is a long drawn out process. That is not going to be an immediate impact. On revenue expenditures, after 7th pay and OROP, defence ministry will not be asking much. If there is increase in expenditure which uses capacity utilisation in our ordinance factories and domestic production, it will help the economy. It is going to be a good opportunity for more foreign investment on defence side. Government can move faster in that area and the political cobwebs around the FDI in defence may be less which is positive. Hence, while the impact on overall large economy is not going to be substantial, opportunities will be lost. Connecting the dots: How will the economies of India and Pakistan be affected with rising tensions across the border. Discuss.  

Dec 2, 2016 IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 2nd December, 2016

Archives   IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 2nd December, 2016   ECONOMY   TOPIC: General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. General Studies 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation   Demonetisation: Impact till now and what next? Demonetisation has come as a shock for all as it eliminated 86% of the value of the currency with the public. The government called it ‘short term pain for long term gain’. But now it needs to be seen as to what is gained and what pains had to be suffered. The long term objective is to cleanse the system of corruption, tax evasion and the generation of black income. Demonetisation only targets that part of existing black wealth which is held in cash. It does not affect the continuous flow of black income and the corruption/tax evasion which generates it, which in many ways is the core of the corruption problem. Demonetisation effect so far It has considerably caused inconvenience to people as people with legitimate quantities of old notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 have to queue up at banks to exchange them into new notes. Tragically, many reports have also surfaced of people standing in queues. Also, the shortage of cash has also disrupted business in the cash-based informal sector, which is where the majority of the population is employed. Farmers, fishermen, vegetable sellers, small shopkeepers without card readers or Paytm, taxi drivers, truckers, etc., have all been affected with loss of livelihood which may be irretrievable in some cases. For example: loss of daily wages for casual labour, or lower sales for vegetable vendors. Real estate sector is expected to be badly affected because it is heavily cash-dependent, having long been a favourite asset for holding black wealth. Other sectors like hotels, restaurants, catering, the fashion garments industry, etc. funded by cash from black income will also be affected. In short run, the downstream income flows in the form of wages to construction labour, purchases of cement and other construction materials will be disrupted.   Expected normalcy? It has been reported that given the capacity constraints at the two printing presses which can print the high-value notes, it will take until May 2017 to replace all notes. It will not be possible to replace all notes because: there will be some switching to digital payments, which is desirable some of the cash hoards will be cancelled in any case on 30 December GDP growth The negative impact on the various sectors of the economy is bound to produce lower growth GDP growth estimates for FY17 from financial analysts vary from a low of 3.5% to a range of 5.5-6.5%. More importantly, it will also remain subdued next year. Moreover, much depends on what happens to the investment climate. Since the slowdown will be concentrated in sectors which are more employment-intensive, the impact on low-end employment will be greater than on overall GDP. This raises the issue whether the slowdown should be offset by counter-cyclical additional expenditure on road construction and railways. Though such intervention will breach the fiscal-deficit target but a temporary deviation can be justified in the face of the negative-demand shock of the demonetisation.   Better management was needed If the plan was two months old, building up a larger stock of new notes in advance would certainly have avoided some of the inconvenience and the associated cash shortage. Considering the sowing and marriage season, the provisions for weddings and farmers, could have been anticipated. Also, ministry of agriculture’s request regarding an exemption for farmers purchasing seeds and other inputs during the sowing season to avoid disruption in sowing, should also have been addressed promptly, rather than after several days. There should have been flexibility in usage of demonetised notes. old notes are allowed to be used in public-sector hospitals but not private hospitals, and farmers are allowed to use them for purchase of seeds from public-sector agencies but not private agencies. The most important flexibility is to allow cooperative banks to accept old notes. Their presence in rural areas is much larger than that of commercial banks, and they are all regulated entities.   Does demonetisation affect black wealth held in cash? Much of enthusiasm with public is that those with hoards of cash will not be able to exchange it in the banks for new notes, and will therefore lose their ill-gotten money. This group includes businessmen, or politicians (either on their own behalf or on behalf of political parties), or bribe-taking bureaucrats. However, much of this may be laundered. Since the notes will be valueless after 30 December, holders of undeclarable cash will be willing to offer 30-40% commission, or even more. Intermediaries will organize large numbers of individuals who can take smaller “explainable” amounts of cash to the banks for deposit. Since farm income is free of tax, large numbers of people claiming to be farmers, could make deposits in banks, technically even exceeding Rs2.5 lakh with impunity. Black wealth held in cash can also be laundered by purchase of gold and hawala transactions. Some of this has already happened as evidenced by the sharp rise in gold prices and also the hawala rate for the dollar. Thus, black money is cash will still find ways to be secured and thus not affected much.   Will black money be controlled? Demonetisation is for this but it doesn’t yet address it. What is needed are steps that will discourage fresh black income from being generated in future through continued corruption. It can be as follows: Reducing discretion in both the Central and state governments and increasing transparency and accountability especially where the financial amounts involved are large. Example: areas related to land and land use. Tax administration reforms including reorganizing, strengthening and modernizing the Central Board of Excise and Customs/Central Board of Direct Taxes. The goods and services tax (GST) to be introduced shortly was an ideal opportunity, but the proposal finally approved by the GST council has far too many rates and exemptions. Thus, there is need to lower tax rates and simplify tax system to improve compliance. Lowering the corporate tax rate to 25% at one go with exemptions eliminated in the next budget. The present rate is much higher than in most other jurisdictions. Persuading states to drastically lower the stamp duty for real estate sales as high rates of stamp duty are a major reason to perpetuate real estate transactions in black money. Pursuing some high-profile corruption cases to a successful conclusion to send a message to both business and the bureaucracy that corruption will not be tolerated. To start making serious effort at reforming the system of electoral funding, including introducing transparency in party finances.   Conclusion Demonetisation can be a part of comprehensive strategy to tackle corruption and generation of black income. As it is likely to impose substantial pain because of the adverse effect on GDP and low-end employment, the more important next step is to attack from various directions on the source of corruption and black money. The PM has begun this by asking his partymen to submit their bank account details. Progress on these would make a real contribution to reducing the long- term gain of reducing the generation of black income over time. Connecting the dots: What do you understand by demonetisation? How does it affect the lives of people and economy? Examine. Critically analyse the effect of demonetisation on black money and corruption.   NATIONAL   TOPIC: General Studies 2 Separation of powers between various organs Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary   A case of forced patriotism and judicial over-reach In news: SC’s interim directions to play national anthem in cinemas prior to the exhibition of movies has evoked strong reactions. Background In August 1986, a Supreme Court bench granted protection to three children of the Jehovah’s Witness sect, who stood up respectfully but didn’t join in the singing of the national anthem at their school. The court held that forcing the children to sing the anthem violated their fundamental right to religion. Art 51 A (a) states that citizen of India should abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. There is no provision of law which obliges anyone to sing the national anthem. So, even if the person stands respectfully and doesn’t sing is not showing disrespect to national symbol. Also, Art 25 is an article of faith which incorporates that real test of democracy is the ability of even an insignificant minority to find its identity under the country’s Constitution. Hence, no one should be harassed in name of display of patriotism. Recently, a writ petition was filed under Art 32 of constitution of India which said that national anthem has to be given utmost respect when it is played, recited or sung. Playing the national anthem in theatres at the end of the film was given up some three decades ago in most parts of the country, largely as a result of the tendency of a section of the audience to walk out.   Judicial directives and its overreach In the recent interim directives by SC, it is a clear case of judicial over-reach where judiciary is claiming an extra-constitutional power. There shall be no commercial exploitation to give financial advantage or any kind of benefit This is an ambiguous sentence which is difficult to interpret as to how one would derive benefit from national anthem in an unfair manner inviting judiciary involvement. This is open to interpretation which will create more doubts. Does this mean that all copyrights of artists performing national anthem become automatically void? No place in films The next directive says that no film, drama or show of any sort can have national anthem as its part.   Publication prohibition The publication of copy of national anthem or even specific words is prohibited. This is followed by the directive which says that national anthem or any of its part should not be printed on an object or displayed in a manner which may be disgraceful to its status and amount to disrespect. It is associated with the concept of the protocol associated with it has its inherent roots in national identity, national integrity and constitutional patriotism’. Theatres as nationalist symbols The next directive is a clear cut one proclaiming that all theatres must play national anthem before the feature film starts. However it doesn’t say how it expects to enforce this direction. This directive gives an idea about how the court is intending to make its citizens ‘patriotic’ no matter how old, infirm, physically challenged or just tired citizens they are. It has also directed that entry and exit doors be closed while national anthem is being played. Here, it has ignored its own judgement in Uphaar cinema case where it held that under no circumstances doors to cinema shall be shut.   The executive role After playing the role of legislator, the judiciary plays the role of executive by ordering that national anthem be played only with the image of national flag on screen. Whether it is to be a static flag or waving flag has not been clarified. The original version The last directive says that abridged version of national anthem will not be played. There is no reason to justify as to why the judiciary had to frame such rules in a space which is for personal entertainment and choice. Don’t force patriotism Today, patriotism is largely becoming a visible value where it has to be frequently publicly demonstrated. Sometime, such is the demonstration and enforcement of patriotism that a dissenter feels threatened for his right to dissenting. There seems to be an emerging market of instilling and teaching patriotism in India. During the demonetisation effect, even if anyone complained about standing in long queues outside banks and ATMs, there were many who reminded them of soldiers protecting us standing at borders. Thus, standing in queue without complaining became a measure of loyalty to the nation. Recently, UGC also issued an order that all educational institutions must instil knowledge of Constitution generally and Fundamental Duties particularly. Instead, this can be made a voluntary exercise where students are encouraged to read about the Constitution of India rather than it forcing upon them. The politics of patriotism and nationalism is not new. It has unfolded in many countries at different points of time with very similar effects like harassment of minorities, blackmailing of dissenters and closure of intellectual freedoms.   Law to protect the anthem The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 addresses insults to the Constitution, the national flag and the national anthem. Its genesis lies in art 51A (a) of the constitution. The Act states that whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the national anthem or causes disturbances to any assembly engaged in such singing, shall be punished. Hence, no where it is stated about forcing a person to stand up or sing the National Anthem. There are clear rules on when the anthem should be played. Any misuse of the anthem or any wilful insult to it is legally prohibited, and those aggrieved by any such incident can take recourse to the law. The current National Anthem orders are not a judicial creation but in the form of guidelines compiled by the ministry of home affairs on when and how the national anthem should be played. Given they are guidelines, they are not part of legislation and hence should not result in any penalties.   Is it the step in right direction? The singing of the national anthem on special occasions, especially in schools and colleges, is sufficient to help citizens identify the anthem with something larger than their daily concerns. Playing a national anthem compulsorily through a judicial order does not define a mature democracy. Also, the cinema halls should not be singled out to play national anthem as a sizeable number of people congregate. If this is the reason, then such an order should be extended to dance and music recitals as well. And why to stop there? It should be further taken to every sitting of the legislature, or the court itself as the so called reason of ‘congregation of people’ well fits. Conclusion Patriotism is the value most cherished without being too demonstrative about it. The feeling of love and respect for the country should come to a citizen from within and something as sacred as national anthem should be played or sung only on special occasions. Connecting the dots: What is patriotism? Do recent SC orders on national anthem violate fundamental rights? Examine.   MUST READ Contours of a challenge Hindu   Democracy, direct to home Hindu   Broken promises Indian Express   The Amritsar opportunity Indian Express   Understanding Pakistan’s new terror strategy Livemint   Demonetisation without replacement Livemint   Where are the engineer’s engineers? Business Line   Flip-flops dent credibility Business Line  

Dec 2, 2016 Daily Prelims CA Quiz

IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 73]

Click here to get all the Tests– Archives Q.1) Consider the following statements about Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) The system uses vacuum pumps to create a low pressure and low-temperature environment LTTD technology indigenously developed and demonstrated by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) have been successfully commissioned at Kavaratti, Minicoy, and Agatti islands Select the correct statements Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Which of the following is are correctly matched? Jeevan Pramaan :: Aadhaar based Biometric Authentication System for Pensioners E-Taal :: Portal for dissemination of statistics related to electronic transactions under national and state level e-governance projects including MMPs MyGov :: Link between Government and Citizens towards meeting the goal of good governance Select the correct code 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.3) Which of the following sites is/are identified under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh Ajanta, Maharashtra Hazratbal, J&K; Patna, Bihar Select the correct code 1, 3 and 4 1, 2 and 4 2 and 4 1, 2 and 3 Q.4) Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project is located in Kerala Tamil Nadu Karnataka Andhra Pradesh  Q.5) OraQuick is A question and answer website HIV self-testing kit A German supercompute None Download the Solution- Click here All the best IASbaba

Dec 2, 2016 AIR

All India Radio - Contribution of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay in Indian Politics

ARCHIVES   Contribution of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay in Indian Politics   Search 9th October here http://www.newsonair.com/Main_Audio_Bulletins_Search.aspx 2016 is birth centenary year of Deendayal Upadhyay. On his birth anniversary, a rally was held in Calicut as in 1967, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay had assumed charge as President of Bhartiya Jan Sangh in Calicut. On his birthday, PM launched a series of works dedicated to him. He also launched a compendium of 15 volume dedicated to life of Deendayal Upadhyay ji. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay’s political ideologies The key element was humanism in political thought. His thoughts are relevant in today’s circumstances in national life of India. He was a political leader but more than it, he was a fundamental political thinker. India’s 1947 independence is political independence but Pandit Upadhyay is one of those thinkers in India who exercised on Swaraj of ideas. It means decolonisation of ideas, i.e. decolonisation of Indian minds. India was free politically but ideologically, colonial hangover was there. His relevance lies in the fact that in political, social and cultural discourse, he introduced basic concept of Indian philosophy. For example- he propounded in 1950 that there should not be artificial differences between left and right. This concept is irrelevant for India. In 2016, in latin America and EU, political thinkers are deliberating that left and right distinctions are artificial and damaging political discourse. He conceptualised that politics can’t free from ethics. Deendayal Upadhyay were known for his organisational skills as after death of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, he managed Bhartiya Jan Sangh for 15 years. Doctrine of integral humanism According to Upadhyay ji, Integral Humanism is different from western ideologies. Most of western ideologies is based on materialism. They emphasise on development in economic term and eventually every individual is treated as economic man. His social contacts, his cultural milieu and special bent of mind is ignored in this theory. Economic without ethics and political discourse without morality are creating crisis in society. Therefore he propounded that every economic theory and policy should be in context of specialism, local tradition and nature and temperament of people. In Indian thought he said- dharm kaam arth moksh- all four are important. If there is balance between them, there is social equilibrium. Dharma and religion are different in Indian context. Dharma is more related to morality of person in individual and collective life. It is less about religion. But religion in western countries is more concerned about sects. There is difference between sects and dharma. No society can live without dharma but can live without religion. Dharma is above religion. On this, he propounded Integral Humanism. It means that an individual’s development should be in all four areas- dharm, kaam, arth and moksh Alternative of Congress In 1960, Deendayal Updhyay started polarisation against congress. He actualised it by 1965 and by 1967, there was anti-congress regime. He is called architect of non-congress movement along with Ram Manohar lohiya. In 1967 election, for the first time after independence, in the hindi belt of India, a political non-congress government was formed. Thus, Deendayal Upadhyay paved a way for non-congress alternative in India. It was not opportunism. According to him, there should be diversity in democracy. There shouldn’t be one leader-one party-one policy. This is detrimental for democracy. He believed in India’s tradition and culture and was not against modern tech but he wanted policies which suited Indian requirements and conditions. His approach was also constructive but at the same time he was not soft when it came to principles. For example, In Rajasthan, he had expelled 6 MLAs of Jan Sangh out of 8MLAs because they were opposing Zamindari abolition act. For him, quality mattered than quantity. He was a Philosopher, journalist, sociologist, economist, thinker, and worked dedicatedly for organisation and with principles. For him, morality in public life was important. In 1950s, there was a proposal to merge Jan Sangh and Swatantra party, Hindu Mahasahba and Ram Rajya Karpatri maharaj as these parties constituted 16% vote. But Deendaayal Updhyay objected the merger. The reason was that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee had asked Hindu Mahasabha to open its door for all religions but it didn’t agree. So Deendayal Updhyay objected to it. According to him, Ram Rajya Karpatri maharaj’s cottage was run from palaces which was not acceptable to Deendayal Upadhyay in politics. He believed in purity in politics and principle. This is the difference between contemporary politics and Upadhyay ji. He sacrificed LS seat for values in politics. His message should be spread across the political parties for casteless politics, communalism les politics. He stood for politics which should be value based. This is why Jan Sangh got credibility due to his value based politics. The present government is following his ideal through Last mile delivery-Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas- Development for all. Deendayal Upadhyay also talked about cottage industries, village based industries where people could be self reliant. This is reflected in Gandhiji’s philosophy also. He gave three cardinal principles for Indian politics: Decentralisation- Basic for indian republic. So village central development is there. Thus, agri should be given prime importance. Diversity in social and cultural ideas. It should not be an environment of uniformity. Because he followed this principle, he appealed to most population. Planning should be decentralised. Bottom top approach was proposed so that real needs can be known. These things are to be adopted in new context because new political discourse is posing threat to culture, society and community life. This is why Deendayal Upadhyay is more relevant in neo-liberal era. He practiced what he preached and today’s contemporary politics needs to learn it too. Connecting the dots: Who was Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay? How did he contribute towards ethics in politics? Elucidate. What is the meaning of Integral Humanism? Explain.  

Dec 1, 2016 IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 1st December, 2016

Archives   IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 1st December, 2016   INTERNATIONAL   TOPIC: General Studies 2 India and its neighbourhood- relations. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.   India and Pakistan- Leave back the rhetoric The year 2016 has witnessed constant spiked up relationship between two neighbours in South Asia- India and Pakistan. From Pathankot terror attack in January to Uri attacks to recent Nagrota attack, the current phase can be called as one of the darkest periods in India-Pakistan relations. There has been surge in criticising each other at global platforms. Also, the diplomatic ties have been tweaked by expelling diplomats on both sides, thereby reminding the Cold War era in the West. Given the history of troubled relations between two countries, it is necessary that two neighbours converge towards a peaceful talk process. However, it seems so that every time an attempt is made by India to reduce tensions, matters only seem worsen. India- the initiator and giver In the beginning of new tenure of NDA government, PM Modi called his counterparts from neighbouring nations, including Pakistan to establish a stable relationship. However, nothing has gone right since then. In past too, Indian Prime Ministers had reached out to their Pakistani counterparts, in hope of finding solutions to the problems arisen post partition. In the hindsight, India has been over-generous with its negotiations, for example Simla Agreement in 1972, Indus Water Treaty in 1960. But, these initiatives have hardly seen any real progress. On the other hand, Pakistan has been more consistent, using such occasions to extract maximum benefits for itself, with little ‘give’ on their part. The failed agreements of Lahore Pact (1999), Agra Summit (2001), Simla Agreement (1972), Sharm-el-Sheikh (2009) and other recent initiatives did not deter India’s efforts for diplomatic negotiations at highest levels. India has continued to follow this path with Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Vajpayee being practitioners of this ‘art of possible’ and also PM Modi joining in. The PM energised this kind of ‘top-down’ diplomacy and himself took the lead where his example was followed at the level of the Foreign Minister, National Security Adviser and the Foreign Secretary. This shows that India followed a calibrated approach for many years where diplomatic moves were balanced with an occasional retaliatory step when the policy does not yield result.   Weak international support After the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India was under intense pressure to adopt a more robust and aggressive policy. However, India refrained from doing so. It believed that international support to India and statements such as ‘an action just short of war’ and identification of Pakistan as a ‘terror state’ would deter Pakistan from taking such steps and make it more responsible in handling terrorism. But, neither did Pakistan mend its ways, nor international forum were any more serious about the escalating tensions between neighbourhood ties due to cross border terrorism. It is apparent that despite all the diplomatic options that India has used to normalise relations between two nations, Pakistan has outrightly rejected all the overtures. Hence, this raises questions on India’s continuance of ‘more of the same’ policy. Though world recognises India as victim of Pakistan’s ‘state bred terrorism unleashing terrorists acts across border’, the same world, including UN refuse to formally declare Pakistan a ‘terror state’. The Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism is pending to be introduced since two decades in UN. In such circumstances, Pakistan continues to provoke India with incessant LOC infiltrations, terrorist attacks and civilian targets. More worse is that Pakistan has resorted to mutilation of the bodies of Indian soldiers killed in terror attacks. This has forced India to take retaliatory steps. Adding fuel to fire, some meddlesome third parties are interfering by stating that a war between the two neighbours is imminent, and that it could lead to a nuclear conflict. Such talks are unwarranted but nevertheless it is gaining some attention.   Internal unrests There is rising influence of radical extremist ideas and ideologies inside Pakistan which is evident from the fact that terrorist outfits such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and elements of the Islamic State have recently carried out attacks inside Pakistan. This is becoming the ‘new normal’ in Pakistan, further shrinking the space available for any India-Pakistan détente. Also, due to continuing turmoil and escalating unrest inside Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan is taking it as an opportunity to mobilise international opinion against India on the issue of violation of human rights. The separatist elements in J&K are also voicing their concerns on growing endangering peace and stability in the region and beyond. This has made Pakistan more bold in its approach to put India on backfoot. Way forward The road ahead is clearly ‘not clear’. Currently, the diplomatic options have been used and military options are being used as per requirements but the future action plan is not decided though is it agreed that there is need for change of strategy and approach. Hence, it should begin from somewhere and the first step should be to identify the nature and scope of conflicts with Pakistan. This will lay out the chart as to what areas to be focussed, where are the conflicts and what could be possible way out from them. The de-hyphenation of India and Pakistan has taken immense time and this has to be maintained. For this, a strategic strategy is required to tackle Pakistan. Negotiating a peace deal with Pakistan has the risk of running into unambiguous territories. At the same time, it is known that peace is not at hand and India should not have any compromises on its part. Pakistan is safely conducting its ‘state sponsored terrorist activities’ where it denies involvement and at the same time, there is evidence of terror emanating from Pakistan’s soil. The change in Pakistan’s military chief is not expected to bring any possible change as Pakistan’s military, identified by one and all as the most pervasive anti-India elemental force in Pakistan, remains opposed to any understanding with India. It is also visible that the U.S. and certain other nations have distanced themselves from Pakistan which has given Pakistan an open hand to freely terrorise India and Afghanistan. Also, China has befriended Pakistan as it is an important ally to achieve success for its One Belt One Road initiative. Along with it, Russia is also showing interest in increasing military relations with Pakistan. Thus, India’s attempt to isolate Pakistan diplomatically has not exactly materialised.   Conclusion The world is increasingly witnessing terrorist activities in last few years, irrespective of which part of world it belongs. This can evoke understanding among sufferers what India is going through and what it has been trying to convey since few decades. Today, most countries are facing problems in achieving coherence in foreign policy. For India, it has become more difficult. But, India can no more afford to be unclear in its policies or resort to knee-jerk reactions. Hence, India being a dominant power in South Asia and as one of world’s leading democracies, India has to find an answer to the existing crisis with Pakistan. Connecting the dots: India and Pakistan tensions are on the rise. How can both countries deescalate these flaming period to establish an environment for conducting peaceful talks?   Related articles: Solving the Pakistan puzzle The Big Picture – India-Pak Ties: Has The Dialogue Resumed?   ENVIRONMENT   TOPIC: General Studies 3 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment Disaster and disaster management. General Studies 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.   Outcomes of Marrakech climate conference The twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) on Climate Change was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016. The Conference successfully demonstrated to the world that the implementation of the Paris Agreement is underway and the constructive spirit of multilateral cooperation on climate change continues. The UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech was the crucial next step for governments looking to operationalize the Paris Climate Change Agreement adopted last year. While the Paris Agreement gave clear pathways and a final destination in respect to decisive action on climate change, many of the details regarding how to move forward as one global community in that common direction still needed to be resolved. Therefore, the dialogue and decisions in Marrakech and its outcome hold immense potential to accelerate and amplify the immediate response to the challenge recognized in the Paris Agreement. This meeting was therefore incredibly important. However, outcomes of the Marrakesh climate conference failed to make huge positive impact as there were no big friendly chats between political leaders of major powers, and no big decisions to generate global excitement. (We had covered this section in previous article: http://iasbaba.com/2016/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-24th-november-2016/)   Highlights: Marrakesh conference’s main agenda was to begin work on framing the rules and procedures that would guide the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Negotiators began work on the rulebook in Marrakesh, and gave themselves up to 2018 to finish. Besides the negotiations on the procedural details of the rulebook, several important partnerships were stitched up on the sidelines of the conference. Some of these partnerships could prove to be the gamechangers needed to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times. International Solar Alliance ISA, an initiative launched by India in Paris, seeks to bring together all countries in the sun-rich tropics to boost the global demand of solar energy deployment, and ensure standardisation in the use of equipment and processes. It also aims to promote research and development in solar technologies, all of which are likely to bring down costs of both technology and finance, and lead to further increases in deployment. India went to Marrakesh with a draft Framework Agreement on International Solar Alliance, which 26 countries signed. The Agreement will take the shape of an international treaty once 15 countries that have signed up, ratify it. About 120 countries lie, either fully or in part, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and are potential members of the treaty. Some 80 countries had supported the declaration of the alliance last year.   Adaptation of African Agriculture (AAA) The entire continent contributes just about 4% to global greenhouse gases, but is likely to be one of the worst affected by climate change. African countries are heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture, and the cycle of droughts and floods induced by climate change could devastate economies and lead to further poverty and hunger. The triple-A initiative seeks to climate-proof agriculture in Africa by promoting sustainable soil management, better water management, and risk mitigation strategies. 27 African countries are already on the platform. International agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organisation are supporting the alliance, which will also act as a platform for seeking and channeling financial flows meant for climate change adaptation purposes. Mission Innovation This too was announced in Paris, the brainchild of the US. It aims to promote research and development in clean energy technologies. In Marrakesh, Finland and the Netherlands formally joined the mission, taking the number of countries on the platform to 23. These countries together have pledged an investment of $ 30 billion over the next 5 years in clean energy research. There will be greater research collaborations between these countries, which together account for almost 80% of all investments into clean energy research. The mission has identified 7 innovation challenges, including smart grids, carbon capture and sequestration, building of storage cells for solar energy, clean energy materials and sustainable biofuels. Climate Vulnerable Forum This is a group of countries that are most vulnerable to climate impacts. It has been in existence since 2009, when 11 countries voiced their common concerns. It has operated mostly on the sidelines. But in Marrakesh, the number of countries on the platform reached 48, and the group got a lot of attention. Member countries stressed that the target should be to keep global temperature rise to within 1.5 (not 2) degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times. They vowed to update their climate action plans before 2020 to bring in greater ambition, and prepare a long-term low-carbon development strategy for 2050 with a 1.5-degree target in mind. They also said they would strive to reach 100% renewable energy production between 2030 and 2050.   2050 Pathway Platform This is an effort to get countries, cities and businesses to accept long-term targets for climate action. Countries have submitted 5-year or 10-year action plans as part of their commitments under the Paris deal. Fixing long-term targets, for say 2050, forecloses the possibility of countries doing too little in the beginning and then failing to scale up their ambition to required levels in later years. At least 20 countries, 17 states, 15 cities and 196 businesses joined the platform in Marrakesh. Each promised to come up with climate objectives for 2050 and strive to work towards achieving those targets. The US, Germany, Canada and Mexico unveiled decarbonisation plans for 2050. The US said it would cut emissions by 80% of 2005 levels by 2050; Germany said it would reduce emissions by up to 95% on 1990 levels.   Conclusion: These partnerships (like the India-led International Solar Alliance) are essentially outside of the UN process under which Paris was negotiated, but represent the growing desire on the part of countries and non-government agencies such as businesses and city administrations to do their bit in the fight against climate change. The adaptation of Marrakech Action Proclamation sends out a strong signal to the world on climate action and shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development. India has welcomed Marrakesh Action Proclamation as most of its demands including the issue of providing finance to developing nations to tackle climate change has been incorporated. Connecting the dots: Discuss some of the initiatives and partnerships of recently concluded Marrakech climate conference that could prove to be the gamechangers needed to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times. Analyse the outcomes of recently concluded Marrakech climate conference. To read complete summary of Outcomes of the UN Climate Change in Marrakech, click on this link: http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/cop-22-marrakech-summary.pdf   MUST READ India’s missing girl children Hindu   How to sow a reform Indian Express   Demonetisation a nightmare for advocates of civil liberties Livemint   What does the currency ban mean for banks? Livemint   India and China in a Trexit world Livemint   When the baton passes from Obama Business Line

Dec 1, 2016 Daily Prelims CA Quiz

IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 72]

Click here to get all the Tests– Archives Q.1) Which of the following causes coral bleaching? Change in ocean temperature Extreme low tides Overexposure to sunlight Select the correct code: 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.2) Consider the following statements about North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) It is a joint initiative of Department of Space and North Eastern Council to provide developmental support to the North Eastern region using space science and technology It is located in Guwahati, Assam It has taken the initiative for design and assembling of UAVs for various applications Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above  Q.3) Consider the following statements Track One Diplomacy is official government diplomacy whereby communication and interaction is between governments. Track Two Diplomacy is the unofficial interaction and intervention of non-state actors. Track Three Diplomacy is people to people diplomacy undertaken by individuals and private groups Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.4) Consider the following statements A navigational lock is a device used for raising and lowering ships/vessels between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The Farakka navigational lock is the third major work on National Waterway-1 to be awarded in record time. Which of the following statements is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2  Q.5) Which of the following services is/are provided under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana? Remittance Insurance Pension Credit Choose the appropriate code 2 and 4 only 1, 2 and 4 2, 3 and 4 All of the above Download the Solution- Click here All the best IASbaba

Dec 1, 2016 RSTV Video

The Big Picture - India Ratifies Climate Treaty- What does it mean for India and the World?

Archives     India Ratifies Climate Treaty- What does it mean for India and the world?   The 2015 Paris agreement has been now in force for a while. After China and USA, the world’s two largest emitters ratified the agreement during the G20 summit, the third largest emitter India ratified it on October 2, 2016. However, there was invisible pressure on GHG emitting countries. What is reflected behind the pressure is the blame game in the global system. Everybody was trying to present things in a manner that unless they do something, nothing can happen. This blame game lies behind pressure. Though there was no pressure on India as EU and Japan had not yet ratified the agreement, India was going to ratify it as its ratification procedure was simple with only cabinet approving it and not go to the Parliament. Also, there was a symbolic advantage of doing it on Gandhiji’s birthday. What next? There are two large and one minor action that India needs to accelerate: To achieve INDCs that India has pledged- the carbon intensity for the economy, i.e. carbon emission reduction 33-35% by 2030 as compared to 2005. At least 40% of India’s electricity generating capacity will be from non-fossil fuel. Two and half billion tons of C02 will be captured by trees and forest cover. To do these, there is need for an action plan. Right after Paris agreement, the PM formed a group to look at what could be done at energy efficiency and forming the targets for renewables so that process is moving ahead. Now it needs to know what kind of instruments are put into place and formulate action plans. The second issue is that the Paris mechanism is also called the transparency mechanism. It means that periodically, all the countries would put on the public domain what they are doing and what is their progress towards meeting their own commitment. This is important as countries need to be sure that they are on track to achieve them. Third issue is global stock taking. Periodically, the countries will assess what is needed to be done in order to keep the temperature much less than 2 degrees. This can happen when transparency mechanism is put in place. So, the key issue is to get policy instruments in order to reach targets and to start the process of measuring, consolidating and reporting progress on each goal. Voluntary participation Compared to previous unsuccessful agreements, this is one agreement that will force US and China to do something. The lacuna is that there is no compulsion and they can do as they wish. This liberty will not allow to reduce their land emission but other options of sharing their emissions with other countries which will reduce their emission in indirect way. The commitments are in terms of how much carbon is being produced by production in the country. If one really wants to focus on lifestyle, the emphasis should be on how much carbon the consumption is producing. It is estimated that may be a quarter of the Chinese emissions are from products which are consumed by it. The issue of lifestyle is based on consumptions. Yet, this point has not been made sharply that the global commitments in the terms of carbon emitted by production is only a partial story. But if there is a commitment to reduce the carbon footprints of domestic consumption, it will compel the country to look at lifestyle issues and not tectonic issues only on supply side. There is a carbon tracker which evaluates the contribution of countries in terms of how much they ought to be doing if there has to be 2 degree goal success. Only a handful of countries are in the adequate category. One of them is Morocco where the Marrakech conference was held recently. India is in middle category of adequate but not fully adequate. Most countries are below it. Russia is very below in adequate. These NDCs are voluntary agreements. The energy consumption of OECD countries is approx. 4500 kg of oil equivalent. India has 600 and china has 2000 kg of oil equivalent. Thus, they don’t want to make any compulsion as bringing down from 4500 to 500 will not go well. People are free to choose their lifestyle. Also, earlier the Kyoto protocol did not deliver on reduction targets. So all the countries decided for bottom up approach in which all countries give their own targets and it is then reviewed periodically. The effort is to globally reach the global target. It has worked in MDG in some respect. But whether it will work in new system has to be seen. Now the approach is that of ‘pledge – achieve - pledge more’ so that the global targets are achieved. In this scenario, there will be local organisations which will push the government to deliver on the targets. The central point is that at the end of day, the global commitments are less than what is needed to be achieved. Challenges The key challenge for the developed countries lies in how they substitute the power stations, and construct buildings with more efficient ones. For the developing countries, the challenge is to manage the growth so that next power plants and buildings are more efficient than before. The Paris agreement allows this to be figured out on their own so that national and together global goals can be achieved. India has to restructure its electricity system. If India has 160-165 GWs of solar and wind, there is no sense to back out on renewable energy. In that case, the coal plants production will go up and down in course of day to balance out. Currently also, many coal plants are backed down. For most countries, what they have promised is easy to do. India had Low Carbon Committee Report which had put down road map of 40-45% whereas India has committed 30-35%. Recently, there has been discussion about India being power surplus. The power plants running at the lowest power load factor has come down. This points that India is building on huge capacity in power plant whereas the growth in electricity demand is growing at 6.7% which if taken into account in 2022 along with 65GW of coal based power plants which are under construction at the moment, coupled with 175GW of power in pipeline of renewable energy. If this is achieved, India would no longer need investment in coal based infrastructure. There are three kinds of electricity demand that one has – Constant needs- 110 GW of demand which is all the time. Variations in need- in summer, more ACs are on, hence there is need of more electricity. In winters, it is less. More people use AC, more is demand for power. The base load which is increasing on year on year can certainly be met by coal. The problem comes during peak hours. On the other hand, even if there is solar and wind electricity, it has conditions of availability of sunlight and requisite wind speed to generate electricity. When it is not performing, electricity will be still needed and here comes the need of coal power plants. Challenge is to create an electricity system in which there is meeting of the volatile demand where the prices are affordable. On climate change agreement, India will face pressure to phase out coal based plants will increase. India initially was declared as villain when it was trying to protect its coal based power plant. When next stock taking is done, India has to have an action plan on phasing out reduction in coal. How to adopt a low carbon footprint economy is a challenge. How to improve lifestyle of people. How to show that people consume less energy. This is easy to do it as large number of people in India are not energy extensive user so India can contribute more than pledged. The worst bulk of emissions will be come from energy that will be used in future. Presently, there is very little energy and hence, quality of life is poor. If lifestyle has to improve, energy has to improve. Challenge is how to improve it without huge increase in carbon emissions. It is through using energy efficiently. Eg. LED produces light as a bulb but uses 1/10 of electricity. Efficient motor provides same power as inefficient motor at half of energy consumption. This should be the focus whether industry or agriculture or home. This combined with producing electricity form low carbon or zero carbon sources will solve the problems. Taking care of water needs The Paris agreement doesn’t talk about water but as seen in summer, there has been draught. Cauvery issue, Karnataka received less rainfall whereas rest of country had normal rainfall. So water scarcity will emerge in coming years. Water crisis will trigger continental migration. People will leave from one place to another place. In village, water table is down, there is no electricity, no agriculture, so they will leave from rural area to smaller cities and then to bigger cities. And then at same time in polar areas like Scandinavian region, there are global warming effect where ice is melting and more greenery is there. So again migration will be there. Thus, water crisis will trigger this. Economic development vs. climate change It’s a mix story. If there was severe cost penalty attached, moving away from fossil fuels, India would have its economy affected. But increasingly, it is found that there isn’t much of cost penalty. India is not necessarily paying a price. It is possible that alternative requires more policy effort more managerial effort. So funds are not an issue. Today, internationally, there is no money available for coal but it is for renewables. Hence, the shift is more necessary. Connecting the dots: Paris agreement is not only about mitigating climate change but also to avoid the disasters to be followed if proper precautions and measures are not taken. Examine the effects of climate change and solutions to mitigate it.