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Press Information Bureau (PIB) IAS UPSC – 21st February to 29th February – 2020

 Press Information Bureau (PIB) IAS UPSC – 21st to 29th February, 2020 ARCHIVES GS-2 CCEA approves Creation of National Technical Textiles Mission (Topic: Government Schemes) To position the country as a global leader in Technical Textiles Technical Textiles are futuristic and nice segment of textiles, which are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, health on one end to bullet proof jacket, fire proof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on other end of spectrum. Component -l (Research, Innovation and Development) with outlay of Rs. 1000 Crore. This component will promote both (i) fundamental research at fibre level aiming at path breaking technological products in Carbon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fibre, and Composites and (ii) application based research in geo-textiles, agro-textiles, medical textiles, mobile textiles and sports textiles and development of biodegradable technical textiles. Component -II (Promotion and Market Development): Indian Technical Textiles segment is estimated at USD 16 Billion which is approximately 6% of the 250 Billion USD global technical textiles market. The penetration level of technical textiles is low in India varying between 5-10% against the level of 30-70% in developed countries. The Mission will aim at average growth rate of 15-20% per annum taking the level of domestic market size to 40-50 Billion USD by the year 2024; through market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions and 'Make in India' initiatives. Component - III (Export Promotion): The component aims at export promotion of technical textiles enhancing from the current annual value of approximately Rs.14000 Crore to Rs.20000 Crore by 2021-22 and ensuring 10% average growth in exports per year upto 2023-24. An Export Promotion Council for Technical Textiles will be set up for effective coordination and promotion activities in the segment. Component- IV (Education, Training, Skill Development): Education, skill development and adequacy of human resources in the country is not adequate to meet the technologically challenging and fast growing technical textiles segment. The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas covering engineering, medical, agriculture, aquaculture and dairy segments. Skill development will be promoted and adequate pool of highly skilled manpower resources will be created for meeting the need of relatively sophisticated technical textiles manufacturing units. Amendments in Arms Act, 1959 and Arms Rules, 2016 (Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation) Amended the provisions of the Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules, 2016 to increase the number of firearms that can be kept by the shooters and enhanced the quantity of ammunition fixed for their practice for the year. These provisions shall greatly facilitate their shooting practice. As per the new rules, now International Medalists/Renowned Shooters are allowed to keep additional weapons up to a total of twelve under the exempted category, which earlier was seven.  If a shooter is renowned in one event, he can keep maximum eight (previously it was four), if a shooter is renowned in two events he can keep maximum ten (previously it was seven) and if a shooter is renowned in more than two events, he can keep maximum twelve (previously it was seven) firearms under  exempted category.  The junior target shooter/ aspiring shooter are now allowed to possess two weapons (previously one) of any category in which the person is junior target shooter/aspiring shooter.  This provision shall facilitate shooters in practicing with various types of firearms. Apart from the above exemptions, the shooters are entitled to possess two firearms as normal citizens under provisions of the Arms Act, 1959. Similarly, by amending the provision under Rule 40 of the Arms Rules, 2016 the quantity of ammunition that can be purchased by the shooters during the year for the practice has also been increased considerably. Cabinet approves Issuance of an Order for adaptation of Central laws in the Union territory of the Jammu and Kashmir under section 96 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 After coming into force of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir has been reorganized into Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh All the Central Laws which are applicable to whole of India except the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir before appointed date i.e. 31.10.2019 are now applicable to Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir w.e.f. 31.10.2019. Further, it is necessary to adapt the Central Laws made under the Concurrent List, with required modifications and amendments, for ensuring administrative effectiveness and smooth transition with respect to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir thereby removing any ambiguity in their application in line with the Constitution of India. As per section 96 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Central Government has powers to make adaptations and modifications of the laws, whether by way of repeal or amendment, as may be necessary or expedient for the purpose of facilitating the application of any law made before the appointed date till the expiration of one year from the appointed date in relation to the successor Union territories. 16th Session of the Joint Ministerial Commission between India and Australia (Topic: India and its neighbouring countries) India and Australia agree to enhancing bilateral trade and investment through revival of the bilateral CECA negotiations, and harmonise standards and regulations on important products;  Work on market access issues in both directions to increase trade;  Work on mutual recognition of educational qualifications of the two countries;  Continue collaboration to encourage increased direct flights between Australia and India. Acknowledged the considerable growth in the India-Australia economic relationship in strategic, trade and people-to-people links since the last Joint Ministerial Commission in June 2018. Both sides welcomed efforts to elevate the bilateral economic relationship. Agreed to consider reviving the negotiations on the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). Agreed to take forward the issue of harmonising standards and regulatory barriers for products of interest to both sides, in parallel. On two-way investment, both sides noted the visits by three delegations of Australian superannuation funds over the previous year. They agreed to continue to work together to foster awareness of the opportunities in India among Australian investors. Both sides reflected on the important role the private sector played in building the bilateral economic relationship.  India welcomed the Australia-India Business Exchange program, including the delegation of over 100 Australian businesses accompanying Minister Birmingham to India. The business delegation is exploring opportunities in education, food and health and beauty, resources, and infrastructure. India raised the issue of taxing of off-shore income of Indian firms through the use of India-Australia Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and sought early resolution of the issue. Both sides agreed to intensify discussions. Joint Statement: Vision and Principles for India-U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership (Topic: India and other countries) As the leaders of sovereign and vibrant democracies recognizing the importance of freedom, equal treatment of all citizens, human rights and a commitment to the rule of law, Prime Minister Modi and President Trump vowed to strengthen a India-U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, anchored in mutual trust, shared interests, goodwill and robust engagement of their citizens. Defence and security cooperation Pledged to deepen defence and security cooperation, especially through greater maritime and space domain awareness and information sharing; joint cooperation; exchange of military liaison personnel; advanced training and expanded exercises between all services and special forces; closer collaboration on co-development and co-production of advanced defence components, equipment and platforms; and partnership between their defence industries. Noting that a strong and capable Indian military supports peace, stability, and a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, and reaffirming his pledge to support the transfer to India of advanced U.S. military technology, President Trump welcomed India’s recent decision to procure MH-60R naval and AH-64E Apache helicopters. These capabilities will advance shared security interests, job growth and industrial cooperation between both countries.  As India works to acquire new defence capabilities, President Trump reaffirmed India’s status as a Major Defense Partner according it the highest consideration for procurement and technology transfer purposes. The leaders looked forward to early conclusion of defence cooperation enabling agreements including Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement. Resolved to enhance security of their homelands through cooperation and to jointly fight international crimes like human trafficking, terrorism and violent extremism, drug-trafficking and crimes in cyberspace.  Welcomed the decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and India’s Ministry of Home Affairs to reinvigorate the Homeland Security Dialogue. As a demonstration of their shared commitment to combatting the threat that illicit drugs pose to their citizens, they announced their intent to establish a new Counter-Narcotics Working Group between their respective law enforcement agencies. Trade and investment:  Recognized the increasing importance of the trade and investment dimension of the India-United States relationship, and the need for long-term trade stability that will benefit both the American and Indian economies. They agreed to promptly conclude the ongoing negotiations, which they hope can become phase one of a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement that reflects the true ambition and full potential of the bilateral commercial relations Energy:  Welcomed growing links between India and the United States in trade and investment in hydrocarbons Through their Strategic Energy Partnership, India and the United States are seeking to enhance energy security, expand energy and innovation linkages across respective energy sectors, bolster strategic alignment, and facilitate increased engagement between industry and other stakeholders Noted the potential for the U.S. to meet India’s goal to diversify its import base for coking/metallurgical coal and natural gas, welcoming recent commercial arrangements intended to accelerate access to LNG in the Indian market Encouraged the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and Westinghouse Electric Company to finalize the techno-commercial offer for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date Space tech:  Welcomed an endeavour by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for development and launch in 2022 of a joint mission with the world’s first dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, and applauded discussions that advance cooperation in Earth observation, Mars and planetary exploration, heliophysics, human spaceflight, and commercial space cooperation. Health:  Committed to continuing their successful efforts in the areas of prevention, early detection, and rapid outbreak response.  They hailed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that seeks to promote access to high quality, safe, effective, and affordable medications for Indian and U.S. consumers.  They welcomed the conclusion of an MoU which will help both countries address mental health challenges through innovative approaches. India-Myanmar Joint Statement during the State Visit of the President of Myanmar to India  (Topic: India and its neighbouring countries) Bilateral relations: Emphasized that regular high level interactions have added momentum to the bilateral relations Welcomed the synergies between Myanmar’s independent, active and non-aligned foreign policy and India’s ‘Act East’ and ‘Neighbourhood First’ policies Reaffirmed their commitments to further strengthen partnership, explore new avenues of cooperation in order to expand bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of the two countries and peoples. Boundary issues: Demarcation: Both sides reiterated their mutual respect for the already- demarcated portion of the boundary between the two countries and affirmed their commitments to settle pending issues through the existing bilateral mechanisms, such as the Joint Boundary Working Group Meeting. Projects: The two sides emphasized the centrality of connectivity in their relationship and reaffirmed their commitments to expedite the completion of the various India-funded projects presently underway in Myanmar, with Myanmar’s continued support and facilitation towards their execution. Welcoming the opening of the two land border crossing points at Tamu-Moreh and Rihkhawdar-Zowkhawthar as international border gates, they noted the need to further facilitate the easy movement of passenger and cargo traffic by streamlining procedures and expeditiously developing infrastructure.  Both sides agreed to work together for the earliest commencement of the project. The two sides committed to the early conclusion of discussions on the pending bilateral Motor Vehicles Agreement to facilitate cross border movement of vehicles. In this context, both sides welcomed the MoU between their respective private operators to launch a Coordinated Bus Service between Imphal and Mandalay by 7 April 2020. Well-being of people: Both sides agreed to commence the establishment of the border haats, with a priority to carry out a pilot project, which was previously agreed by both sides in accordance with the MoU signed in 2012.  Development Programmes: Both sides also expressed satisfaction at the success of the Myanmar-India Border Area Development Programmes in providing infrastructure and socio-economic development in Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Region through the Indian grant-in-aid projects. Under this, 43 schools, 18 health centres and 51 bridges and roads have been constructed in the above areas over the last three years. Both sides acknowledged with satisfaction that 29 additional projects under the 4th year’s tranche of assistance of US$ 5 million, will be implemented in 2020-21. Transportation Both leaders took note of the positive developments related to the Sittwe Port and the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project. Once operational, this port will contribute to the economic development of the region and benefit the local people.  Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to the early completion of the Paletwa-Zorinpui road – the final leg of the Kaladan project. Once completed, the road will connect Sittwe Port to North-East India, generating more traffic for the Port.  India appreciated Myanmar’s cooperation and efforts in facilitating the movement of project personnel, construction material and equipment for the construction of the road component of Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project across the Mizoram border through Zorinpui southwards towards Paletwa. The two leaders took positive note of the progress of work on Kalewa - Yargyi road section of the Trilateral Highway, the work on which is expected to be completed by 2021. India reiterated its commitment to the early upgradation of the 69 bridges on the trilateral highway, with Myanmar agreeing to facilitate this. Education & Capacity Building Myanmar appreciated India’s assistance in the area of capacity building and training. Both sides agreed to jointly make flagship projects, such as Myanmar Institute of Information and Technology (MIIT) and Advanced Centre for Agricultural Research and Education (ACARE), sustainable on a long-term basis.  Both leaders looked forward to the earliest upgradation of the Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin after finalization of modalities of the project.  Both sides acknowledged the role which the Myanmar-India Industrial Training Centres at Pakokku and Myingyan, established with Indian grant assistance, are playing in imparting skills to Myanmar youth to enhance their employability. They noted efforts to build two new Centres at Monywa and Thaton which are progressing well. Displacement India reiterated its commitment to support Myanmar’s efforts for promoting peace, stability and the socioeconomic development in Rakhine State through the Rakhine State Development Programme.  Myanmar appreciated India’s provision of 250 pre-fabricated houses and relief materials for displaced persons in northern Rakhine in 2019.  Both sides agreed to expedite the implementation of a set of 12 projects under the second phase of the Rakhine State Development Programme and to further strengthen their development cooperation within the framework of High Impact Community Development Projects and Quick Impact Projects under the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation mechanism. In this regard, they welcomed the signing of the Agreement on Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of Quick Impact Projects (QIP) during the State Visit. India reaffirmed its support for the recent steps taken by the Government of Myanmar to address the challenges in Northern Rakhine.  India also expressed its support for the bilateral agreements signed between Myanmar and Bangladesh for the repatriation of the displaced persons from Rakhine State and hoped that Myanmar and Bangladesh would continue to work together for voluntary, sustainable and speedy repatriation of displaced people currently in the Cox Bazar area of Bangladesh to Myanmar in accordance with their bilateral agreements Bilateral trade and economic engagement The two sides noted the need to make efforts to enhance bilateral trade and economic engagement to their full potential. They noted that steps such as improving connectivity, market access, easing financial transactions, facilitating business-to-business connect and enabling bilateral and regional trading agreements would contribute to socio-economic development of both sides. Both sides agreed to work together to enable the launch of India’s RuPay Card in Myanmar at the earliest, noting that National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) needs to adhere to Myanmar laws and regulations and that the launch of RuPay Card would stimulate the economy of Myanmar and facilitate tourism and business from India. Agreed to explore the creation of an India-Myanmar digital payment gateway which would help expand options for cross border remittance between the two countries. Expressed interest in exploring a bilateral mechanism for settlement in local currency with the aim to boost cross border trade. In this regard, the two sides agreed to expeditiously convene the existing mechanism of India-Myanmar Joint Trade Committee meetings. Energy Both sides recognized the mutual benefit of greater integration in the energy sector between the two countries. India and Myanmar agreed to cooperate in the field of petroleum products, inter alia, for cooperation in refining, stockpiling, blending and retail through a Government-to-Government Memorandum of Understanding.  Both sides agreed to encourage and facilitate cooperation among oil and gas companies of India and Myanmar for development of petroleum products, including enhancing trade and investments in this area.  Both sides welcomed investments by Indian oil and gas Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in Myanmar’s upstream sector and agreed that efforts would be made to explore opportunities to export to India a portion of the output from such projects where investments have been made by Indian oil and gas PSUs. Defence and security Both sides reiterated that defence and security cooperation remains one of the key pillars of Myanmar-India bilateral relations. They commended the positive momentum in exchanging visits of defence personnel.  MoU on Defence Cooperation, signed in July 2019, had set the path for closer cooperation. The Indian side reiterated its commitment to assist Myanmar in the capacity building of the Myanmar Defence Services and enhance cooperation to address mutual security concerns.  Both sides reiterated their commitment to peace and stability along the border areas in order to promote the prosperity of the local people, the two countries and the region. They reiterated their commitment of not allowing any negative elements to use their respective soil for hostile activities against the other side. Welcomed the enhanced maritime cooperation between the two countries. They also recognized the importance of addressing maritime challenges and strengthening maritime security. Both leaders acknowledged the signing of an MoU on Maritime Security Cooperation (MSC), conduct of a first meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) in September 2019 and commencement of exchange of white shipping data, as important steps in the area. Emphasizing the importance of building a comprehensive legal framework for addressing mutual concerns on matters related to security, the two sides agreed to continue negotiations on various pending treaties such as a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Civil and Commercial Matters and the Extradition Treaty. They reiterated their commitment for an early conclusion of these. India welcomed the decision by Myanmar to extend Tourist Visa on Arrival for Indian citizens in Myanmar till December 2020. Healthcare The Myanmar side appreciated India's offer of providing medical radiation equipment "Bhabhatron-2" for treatment of cancer patients. Both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in healthcare sector. Peace and stability India reaffirmed its support for Myanmar’s efforts towards national reconciliation, peace process and democratic transition to establish a democratic federal union.  The two sides expressed satisfaction over the various ongoing trainings , capacity building programmes, exposure visits and lecture series offered by India for Myanmar civil servants, sportsmen, parliamentarians, judicial and electoral officers and security personnel. India announced the extension of its National Knowledge Network (NKN) to Myanmar Universities.  The Indian side also reiterated its readiness to support Myanmar in the establishment of the Myanmar Diplomatic Academy. Myanmar also noted with thanks India’s offer of providing technical assistance to the national ID project of Myanmar, based on India’s "Aadhar” project. Political ideology India also reaffirmed its support for Myanmar’s efforts toward national reconciliation and democratic transition to establish a democratic federal union. The Prime Minister of India expressed full support for Myanmar’s peace process, which is being pursued through a dialogue between the Government, Military and Ethnic Armed Groups under the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement framework. Both leaders underlined the importance of stability and peace in pursuing the shared national goal of development in the region. Terrorism Recognizing the threat posed by terrorism, both sides agreed to cooperate in countering terrorist groups and their actions.  Condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasized the need for stronger international partnership in countering terrorism and violent extremism, including through increased sharing of information and intelligence. They agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in this regard. International Further, the two sides agreed to  Continue their close cooperation at international fora such as the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations Cooperate within other regional frameworks such as ASEAN, BIMSTEC, Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.  Myanmar supported India’s efforts for becoming a permanent member in an expanded and reformed UNSC.  The two sides reaffirmed their commitments to maintain a peaceful border and to promote the principles of openness, inclusiveness, transparency, respect for international law and ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific region, which embraces all in a common pursuit of progress and prosperity.  Myanmar committed to take necessary steps to ratify the amendment to the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) at an early date, as part of an effort to enable all UN Member States to join the ISA and advance cooperation in the field of solar energy.  Further, India reiterated the relevance of the Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) for disaster prone countries like India and Myanmar and encouraged Myanmar to consider joining the CDRI. India welcomed the inclusion of Bagan in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The two sides welcomed the commencement of a first phase of work by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to restore and conserve 12 pagodas under the first phase of a project to restore and conserve 92 earthquake-damaged pagodas in Bagan. Myanmar agreed to extend all necessary support to the ASI team, for undertaking this preservation work. GS-3 Biofuel from microorganisms (Topic: Energy) The biofuel sector could get a boost, with researchers at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) developing a method to improve the growth rate and sugar content of a marine microorganism called Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002.  Most biotechnological processes, including biofuel production, are dependent on the availability of low-cost and sustainable supply of sugars and a nitrogen source. The sugars typically come from plants. Plants utilize light energy through the process of photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into biological components such as sugars, proteins and lipids. However, some bacteria, such as the cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae), too can perform photosynthesis and produce sugar by fixing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The yield of sugars from cyanobacteria could potentially be much higher than that of land-based crops. Further, unlike plant-based sugars, cyanobacterial biomass provides a nitrogen source in the form of proteins. Cyanobacteria are found in both fresh and marine waters. Using marine cyanobacteria could be better as freshwater is increasingly getting scarce. However, there is a need to significantly improve their growth rates and sugar content in order to improve the economic feasibility of marine cyanobacteria-based sugar production. A team from International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology has achieved this.  They have successfully engineered a marine cyanobacterium called Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 which showed a higher growth rate and sugar (glycogen) content.  When grown on air, the growth was doubled and the glycogen content of the cells increased by about 50%.  Several follow-up studies related to this work including scaling up the cultures to larger volumes, growing cells on urea from human and animal urine, optimizing the extraction of sugars and proteins from the cyanobacterial biomass, and a proof-of-concept production of a biotechnological product such as bioethanol from the processed biomass are being conducted. Diagnostics for Asymptomatic Malaria (Topic: Technology in Health) The fight against Malaria could get easier with a joint team of scientists from Department of Biotechnology’s Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) and Bengaluru-based Jigsaw Bio Solutions, coming up with a method that promises to overcome the problem of inadequate identification of asymptomatic carriers of the disease. The need: Light microscopy and protein immunoassay-based rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are used in the diagnosis of Malaria, in mass screening and treatment programs for the diseases, and in surveillance of malaria control measures. They, however, miss out about 30-50% of low-density infections, which typically have less than two parasites/microlitre and are frequently observed in asymptomatic carriers who serve as “silent” reservoirs of the infection capable of transmitting the disease through mosquitoes. Identification of asymptomatic carriers in the endemic areas is recognized as a major hurdle in malaria eradication programmes. New diagnostic methods with higher sensitivity are needed. The new study Used a new concept of genome mining that identifies identical multi-repeat sequences (IMRS) distributed throughout the malaria parasite genome and successfully targeted them to develop what is called a “ultra-sensitive” qPCR assay for malaria diagnosis.  Validation with clinical samples collected from malaria endemic regions in India showed that that assays were highly sensitive - about 20-100 times more than the traditional methods. They could detect submicroscopic samples. They were four to eight times better than other high-sensitive methods.  Further, they were extremely specific for Plasmodium falciparum, which is the deadliest species of malaria parasite and did not cross-react with Plasmodium vivax species, which is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria, but far less virulent. India has developed a National Framework for eliminating malaria by 2030 and to achieve this goal, identifying the asymptomatic carriers in the endemic areas and clearing their infections are very much important. The new finding could help in this. Prelims oriented News ASKDISHA: The ASKDISHA Chatbot was initially launched in English language but in order to further enhance the customer services rendered and to further strengthen the services of the chatbot, IRCTC has now powered voice enabled ASKDISHA to converse with customers in Hindi language also in the e-ticketing site. SPICe+ web form: To offer 10 services by 3 Central Government Ministries/ Departments (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance) and One State Government (Maharashtra), thereby saving as many procedures, time and cost for Starting a Business in India and would be applicable for all new company incorporations. Launch of Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) Portal: For monitoring prices of TOP Crops (Tomato, Onion and Potato) and generating alerts; MIEWS portal would help in planning and timely intervention for price stabilisation 1 Year of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme To augment the income of the farmers by providing income support to all landholding farmers’ families across the country To enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs.  Under the Scheme an amount of Rs.6000/- per year is transferred in three 4-monthly installments of Rs.2000/- directly into the bank accounts of the farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher income status. Launch 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)  Nearly 86% of farmers are small and marginal with average land holdings in the country being less than 1.1 hectare. These small, marginal and landless farmers face tremendous challenges during agriculture production phase such as for access to technology, quality seed, fertilizers and pesticides including requisite finances. They also face tremendous challenges in marketing their produce due to lack of economic strength. FPOs help in collectivization of such small, marginal and landless farmers in order to give them the collective strength to deal with such issues. Members of the FPO will manage their activities together in the organization to get better access to technology, input, finance and market for faster enhancement of their income. 4th anniversary cof Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission Theme: ‘Aatma Gaon Ki, Suvidha Sheher Ki’ Launched with the vision to deliver catalytic interventions to rural areas on the threshold of growth The objective is to develop the clusters in a holistic manner by providing all the basic amenities, infrastructure as well as economic development opportunities in an integrated and time bound manner. India and Steel sector:  With a large market, policy reforms, abundance of raw material, India is one of the most attractive global investment destinations in steel sector.  The Japanese industry has been invited to invest in India and get into technology transfer partnerships in order to tap the opportunities arising out of growing steel demand and generate employment opportunities in the country. Steel is crucial to the development of any modern economy and is considered to be the backbone of industrial development Used in developing disaster resilient structures The Organic Food Festival for Women Entrepreneurs An outcome of the MoU (which aims at building capacities of women entrepreneurs) signed between the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and Ministry of Women and Child Development (M/o WCD) While other parts of world are making special efforts to turn towards organic production, India has natural advantages which must be leveraged. Training and capacity building of women entrepreneurs and SHGs is another key focus area and trainings on Post harvest management, product innovation, packaging and certification processes are being organized over the 3 days. The efforts are targeted towards helping producers understand importance of each step of the organic value chain and develop competence to cater to a broader consumer base. The overall effort is targeted towards strengthening ‘Organic’ Branding for India by enhancing direct linkage of local producers with Buyers, enhancing processing potential of organic output and contribute to India’s vision of enhancing export competitiveness and Create a direct impact to women farmer incomes and in turn empowerment. On the demand side, increasing disposable incomes, increasing awareness around health and wellness and increasing acceptability are driving the growth in the organic food segment which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% during the period 2016-21 as per WFI report. First ever Khelo India University Games Being launched by the Government of India in association with the Government of the State of Odisha The largest ever competition held at university level in India and will have about 3500 athletes from over 150 universities across the country taking part in it. There will be a total of 17 sports namely archery, athletics, boxing, fencing, judo, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, badminton, basketball, football, hockey, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, rugby and kabaddi. The attempt is to make the Khelo India University Games an aspirational competition for India’s youngsters with twin objectives of helping them find the balance between sport and education. Introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in the country and establish India as a great sporting nation. RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’ RAISE 2020 is India's first Artificial Intelligence summit to be organized by the Government in partnership with Industry & Academia. The summit will be a global meeting of minds to exchange ideas and charter a course to use AI for social empowerment, inclusion and transformation in key areas like Healthcare, Agriculture, Education and Smart Mobility amongst other sectors. The event will start with a Startup Challenge – Pitchfest followed by the two-day summit, organized by Government of India along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will witness robust participation from global industry leaders, key opinion makers, Government representatives and academia. EASE 3.0, the Public Sector Bank (PSB) Reforms Agenda 2020-21 for smart, tech-enabled banking Finance Minister Smt. Sitharaman exhorted Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to  Have one-to-one interface with their customers through branch based banking and not rely so much on credit ratings agencies Connect with their customers by leveraging technology but not exclusively only through the interface of technology Focus more at the grassroot level Be friendlier to its customers by using local language in bank branch A wide array of tech-enabled ease enhancements that PSBs would effect during FY2020-21:  Dial-a-loan for doorstep loan facilitation Credit@click for end-to-end digitalised lending On-the-spot EASE Banking Outlets at well-frequented places like malls and stations Palm banking Digitalised branch experience Analytics-based instant credit offers Cash-flow-based credit Tech-enabled agriculture lending Sagarmala port-led development  Vice President stressed upon the need to harness our vast coast for the sustainable growth and development of the country. Appreciating the contributions of India’s 7516 km long coast, its 12 major ports and 200 non-major ports to the nation’s growth story, he opined that India has an excellent opportunity for port-led development as ports were inevitable for exports and imports. Initiated by the Government of India, it is the best step towards  Creating green-field ports Modernizing the existing ports Empowering the coastal community by generating employment opportunities Advised the ports to adopt best practices to effectively utilize their financial resources to derive maximum benefits: reduce logistics cost, dredging expenditure and also improve turnaround time. We need to create more trans-shipment hubs on either side of the coasts. Describing community coastal community development as an essential component of port-led development, the Vice President asked all administrators and managers to concentrate more on CSR activities and take care of local communities by providing skills to local youth so that they grab employment opportunities. Personality in news Moraji Desai An astute politician wedded to Gandhian Principles, Freedom fighter and an administrator par excellence An Indian independence activist and served between 1977 and 1979 as the 4th Prime Minister of India and led the government formed by the Janata Party. During his long career in politics, he held many important posts in government such as Chief Minister of Bombay State, Home Minister, Finance Minister and 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of India. He is the oldest person to hold the office of prime minister, at the age of 84, in the history of Indian politics. Journey to PM Following the passing of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Desai was a strong contender for the position of Prime Minister, only to be defeated by Indira Gandhi in 1966.  He was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Indira Gandhi's cabinet, until 1969.  He resigned from the Congress during the split of 1969, and joined the INC (O).  After the controversial emergency was lifted in 1977, the political parties of the opposition fought together against the Congress, under the umbrella of the Janata Party, and won the 1977 election.  Desai was elected Prime Minister, and became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India. International Relations Holds international fame for his peace activism and created efforts to initiate peace between two rival South Asian states, Pakistan and India After India's first nuclear test in 1974, Desai helped restore friendly relations with China and Pakistan, and vowed to avoid armed conflict such as Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.  He was honoured with the highest civilian award of Pakistan, the Nishan-e-Pakistan on 19 May 1990. Internationally, he reaffirmed India's stand that it would not manufacture nuclear weapons and would refrain from conducting even peaceful nuclear explosions. In 1977, the Carter administration offered to sell heavy water and uranium to India for its nuclear reactors but required American on-site inspection of nuclear materials. Desai declined, seeing the American stance as contradictory, in light of its own nuclear arsenal. Improvement in Bilateral relations between India and Pakistan: Between 1978 and 1980, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then the Minister of External Affairs, travelled to Islamabad to improve people-to-people contact, and a direct train line from Delhi to Lahore was established. The bilateral relations did improve. Urine Therapy Desai, a longtime practitioner of 'urine therapy', spoke in 1978 to Dan Rather on 60 Minutes about the benefits of drinking urine. The prime minister stated that urine therapy was the perfect medical solution for the millions of Indians who cannot afford medical treatment. He also attributed his longevity to drinking urine - which he called "the water of life". The man who taught the world- "All good things are difficult to achieve; all bad things are very easy to get." Quotes The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind Judiciary and the Changing World In a way, change is the only constant, and the world has always been changing. In recent years, however, the world has been changing very fast, and in unforeseeable ways. The role of the judiciary is bound to be pivotal amid these dramatic transformations. Gender Justice, Contemporary Perspectives on Protection of Constitutional Values, Dynamic Interpretations of the Constitution in a Changing World, Harmonisation of Environment Protection vis-à-vis Sustainable Development and Protection of Right to Privacy in the Internet Age are issues that influence every member of the global community. These five distinctly defined topics cover the matrix of challenges faced by the judiciary across the world The Supreme Court of India deserves admiration for carrying out many radical reforms that made justice more accessible to common people. Landmark judgements passed by this Court have strengthened the legal and constitutional framework of our country. Its bench and bar are known for their legal scholarship and intellectual wisdom. What it has achieved is nothing less than a silent revolution in diagnosing and correcting the afflictions that adversely affected the justice delivery system. The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu Calls for cultural renaissance Stresses the need to pass on our age-old wisdom and knowledge to future generations Askes everyone to practice Yoga for health, inner peace and self-control Asks youth to fight against the evils of corruption, casteism, illiteracy and poverty Yoga is an art and science and should not be viewed from any political or religious prism. Link employment with local languages Urged the Union and State governments to mandatorily link employment upto a level with the local languages to promote the use of mother tongues in the country There is a need to promote the use of Indian languages in the administration. This will not only bring the administration closer to the people but also help in preservation of our rich linguistic heritage. Education should focus on overall development of the students by imparting morals, ethics and age old civilizational values of the country. A teacher has prominent role after parents in shaping the life of a student. Exhorted the youth to develop 4Cs – Character, Capacity, Conduct and Caliber, and asked them to be hardworking and disciplined to achieve success in life. Violence not acceptable in a democracy Calls for an education system based on India’s values, ethics and rich history CAA pertains to persecuted refugees from neighbouring countries; it has nothing to do with Indian citizens Dissent is essential in a democracy but not disintegration Asked the youth to shun negativism and adopt a constructive and positive approach towards life and strive to make India Vishwaguru once again. Unbiased Journalism Debate and discussion are internalised in India’s social psyche to arrive at truth since time immemorial. There is no doubt that perception of truth is conditioned by circumstances. The conditions that cloud the truth’s positions are effectively dispelled by a contestation of ideas through debate, discussion and scientific temper. Prejudices and violence vitiate the search for truth. Sometimes, dogmas and personal prejudices distort the truth. In the 150th year of Gandhiji’s birth, let us ponder upon this question: will it not be proper to pursue truth itself as the ideology? Gandhiji has shown us the path by walking ceaselessly in search of truth which would ultimately encompass every positive attribute that enriches the universe. The internet and social media have democratized journalism and revitalized democracy. This process is ongoing, but in its current stage, it has also led to many anxieties. The new media is fast and popular and people can choose what they want to watch, hear or read. But only the traditional media has, over years, developed skills to authenticate a news report, and that is a costly operation. He expressed hope that we would arrive at the ideal trade-off soon.  He said that in the meanwhile, the traditional media would have to introspect on its role in society and find ways to earn the reader’s full trust again. The project of democracy is incomplete without informed citizens – which means, without unbiased journalism. New innovations and ideas to find solutions to the challenges faced by the Indian farmers There has to be a meeting of minds between scientists, researchers, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and farmers, who are the main stakeholders, to adopt best practices and make agriculture remunerative. Miracles can be created if farmer’s knowledge relating to the field and the research of the scientist are brought together. He suggested to the students studying agriculture to spend half of their time in classrooms and the rest with farmers to gain first hand practical knowledge and acquaint themselves with the problems of the farmers. Called upon the agriculture universities to focus on developing new varieties including the pest resistant and climate smart variants, apart from enhancing the productivity levels. Calling for collective efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in food production, he said that a country like India should not depend on imported food security. Some long term solutions: quality power supply, development of rural infrastructure including godowns, cold storage facilities, refrigerator vans apart from ensuring quality inputs and timely and adequate credit to the farmers. Urged all entrepreneurs to evolve effective models in the food processing sector after consulting the scientific community, experts and farmers. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh On Balakot airstrikes The surgical strike of 2016 and Balakot airstrikes of 2019 were not just military strikes but a strong message to the adversary that terror infrastructure across the border cannot be used as safe haven to wage low-cost war against India. India’s out-of-the-box response reflected in the Balakot airstrikes forced the rewriting of many doctrines across the LoC and the responses displayed India’s defence capability and affirmed its right to defend itself against terrorism. Described Balakot airstrikes as a singular event of military precision and impact, saying that it teaches the leadership to think strategic rather than tactical. Our approach to terrorism was and will remain a judicious combination of clinical military action and mature and responsible diplomatic outreach Stressing the importance of collective diplomatic and financial pressure to thwart cross-border terrorism, he said, “We have recently seen the impact of collective diplomatic and financial pressure on Pakistan. Terrorists like Hafiz Saeed who were treated like VIPs and heroes, have been put behind bars. We realise that this is not enough and unless Pakistan is made accountable, it will continue with its previous policy of duplicity and deceit. All attempts are being made to work in this direction.” Termed hybrid warfare a reality, saying that a mix of kinetic and non-kinetic tools is a genuine threat. There is a need to reorient the training of soldiers to meet the challenges posed by hybrid warfare, assuring Government support in this regard. Referring to various aspects of hybrid warfare, namely expanding battle space, time compression and technology infusion, he said, “In such a scenario, artificial intelligence, high-speed weapons and space-based sensors & tools will have a significant impact.” He stressed on the need to imbibe new technologies and use existing capabilities in innovative ways. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat called for maintaining credible deterrence in land, air and at sea at all times, saying that the three Services must work together concurrently to deal with any potential threats. “Credible deterrence comes from the will of the military leadership and intent of the political class while taking tough decisions. This was amply shown after Kargil, Uri and Pulwama attacks,” he added. Essay Topic: Schooling and skilling must go together

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Creative Guidance – Mind Vs Body – Inspirational Educative Articles

Mind Vs Body: Language is obviously a creation of the mind. Every time you hear yourself talking, know that it is an experience of the mind. In fact, one of the easiest ways to identify experiences of the mind is by listening to the constant chatter that is happening in your mind. Language is not only of the mind, in some ways, it is the mind. The body on the other hand, does not need language to communicate, perceive and understand things. The body is so rooted in reality that it does not need an imaginary or artificial symbolic notation, such as language, to perceive and communicate its intentions. The body’s mode of communication is a sensation, which is much more direct than language. There is certainly no such thing as “body-language” in reality. The phrase “body-language” is simply our creation that shows our obsession with language. Language purely belongs to the realm of the mind. The letter “A” does not grow on trees. Language is non-existential and purely man-made. Language is the voice of the mind, without which the mind would be totally helpless and useless. Language is also the greatest trick of the mind. Without language it would be impossible for the mind to lie. It is language that makes all kinds of fabrications, exaggerations and misinterpretations of the mind possible. It is language that makes the hypnosis of the mind possible. Hypnotic experiments have shown that just by using language artfully, you can totally trick the mind. On a daily basis, we self-hypnotize ourselves using language. Our entire man-made world is a product of this self-hypnosis by language. When compared to the mind, you can always trust your body, because your body does not respond to language the way your mind does. You cannot simply tell your body to drive a motorcycle and expect it to do so. The body only responds to time, effort and practice. This is the single biggest reason why you should trust your body more than your mind. On the contrary, you are more willing to trust your whimsical mind, than your stable body. You should learn to listen to the sensations of the body, more than the conversations in your head. A simple habit of watching your breath can prove to be more beneficial for your mental peace than all the thought gymnastics you can do with your mind. “This article is a part of the creative endeavor of Meditation Farm and IASBABA.”

AIR

Mission Indradhanush Complete Immunization - All India Radio (AIR) IAS UPSC

Mission Indradhanush Complete Immunization ARCHIVES Search 18th Feb, 2020 Public Speak here: http://www.newsonair.com/Main_Audio_Bulletins_Search.aspx  TOPIC: General Studies 2 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population Government schemes and policies in health Mission Indradhanush (MI), one of the largest public health programmes in the world was championed and strategised by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in 2014. Since then, immunisation seems to have taken centrestage as a crucial pillar of public health. Mission Indradhanush is targeted to immunize children who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated i.e. those that have not been covered during the rounds of routine immunization for various reasons.  Provides protection against life threatening diseases like diptheria, whooping cough, tuberculosis, tetanus, measles, polio, HepatitisB, Japanese Encyphylatis and haemophalis Influenza in selected districts of country Vaccination against tetanus will be provided to pregnant women as well. It was not only aimed to rapidly increase immunization coverage through special drives during specified months, but was also focused on strengthening health systems for addressing equity issues in accessing immunization. To bring sharper focus onto the least vaccinated areas, MI has been transformed into “Intensified Mission Indradhanush” (IMI) that aims to reach those rural and urban slums that have under-performed during MI. One hundred and ninety high-focus districts and urban areas across 24 states have been selected for such intensified efforts. There is a sharper focus on surveillance activities and to create partnerships with states, community-level departments and ministries for grass roots implementation and monitoring. The importance of vaccines in India  With the second-largest population (1.3 billion approximately), around 27 million children are born every year here. India also has the largest burden of under-five mortality, more than what prevails in some of the poorest countries in the world. Nearly 39 children under the age of five years die for every 1,000 live births each year — pneumonia and diarrhoea are the leading killers. Approximately 0.1 million children die due to rotavirus-induced diarrhoea alone, which is around 50 per cent of all deaths attributed to diarrhoea. Evidence shows that unimmunised and partially-immunised children are most vulnerable to diseases and disability, and are at three to six times higher risk of death than fully immunised children. A large percentage of under-five mortality in India can be averted through vaccination. Evidence shows that unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children are most susceptible to childhood diseases and disability, and run a three-to-six-times higher risk of death as compared with fully immunized children. To achieve herd protection (commonly referred to as herd immunity) a high immunization coverage needs to be achieved and maintained in the community. This means that every cohort of children born needs to have a sufficiently high number of children immunized to offer protection to those who missed immunization, or to those who are still susceptible to the disease even after immunization (for e.g.: immunocompromised individuals). Any fall in coverage leads to disease outbreaks as seen periodically in case of measles or the recent outbreak of diphtheria in many states. India faces a threefold challenge when it comes to its vaccination programme:  Low full immunisation coverage (65 per cent) due to Lack of awareness of benefits of Immunization Apprehensions of Adverse Effect Following Immunization (AEFI) Travelling of children Refusal for vaccination Limited basket of vaccines Various studies have also shown gaps in predicting demand, logistics, quality and cold chain management Funding and scarce staff, especially in poor-performing states.  But challenges remain MI and IMI have resulted in a rapid increase in national full immunization coverage and the decreasing number of children and pregnant women who were not immunized or partially immunized. It has successfully implemented experience from the polio eradication initiative. A multi- and cross-sectoral collaboration was successfully established between different government departments. However, challenges remain.  Despite increasing its focus on vaccination coverage for children, the Union government continues to face challenges in curbing instances of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) in India. According to World Health Organization (WHO) figures for VPDs, such as diphtheria, Japanese encephalitis, measles, and tetanus, India has not shown a persistent decreasing trend. The indicative gaps being -  Absence of a robust public health surveillance system Immunization coverage is used as a proxy to measure the community’s immunity or resistance to VPDs Continued outbreaks  IMI is focusing on coverage, but not on the outcome (absence of vaccine-preventable diseases). The policies lack critical and comprehensive assessment of the impact of the programme. [caption id="attachment_57434" align="aligncenter" width="532"] Mission Indradhanush Complete Immunization - All India Radio (AIR) IAS UPSC[/caption] Source: Click here  The Way Ahead While going ahead, we should have an integrated model, which can deliver robust routine immunization programme, supported by public health surveillance wherein we measure the output by counting every case of VPD Campaigns to increase coverage should be used to strengthen the health system, and should be achieved in a time-bound manner Private sector should be involved actively to report all cases of VPDs and give a better understanding of true vaccine coverage.  Social determinants and behavioural insights behind vaccination acceptance should be studied from the grass root level and data used locally.  Better communication and counselling skills tailored to local beliefs are needed to deal with barriers to seek vaccinations.  Healthcare professionals should be well equipped with interpersonal communication skills. Engage NGOs to reach the last mile and give our population the protective shield of vaccination at least against VPDs India needs to develop a robust system to track VPDs. Also, common lists are to be maintained to assess various VPDs in India vis-a-vis the immunisation drive. An immunisation programme, anywhere in the world, is the most cost-effective public health intervention. It is the basic and foremost right of children across the globe, that they receive a safe and effective “shot in the arm” in a timely manner. Connecting the Dots: A. Write a note on the Government of India’s recently launched ‘Mission Indradhanush’ programme. Also, critically evaluate how successful have been similar programs in the past.  B. Consider the following statements about Mission Indhradhanush Its goal is to ensure full immunization with all available vaccines for children up to two years of age and pregnant women It is being implemented by Ministry of Women and Child development Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 28th February 2020

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 28th February 2020 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) National Science Day 2020 Part of: GS Prelims In news: National Science Day is celebrated every year on 28 February by the Government of India to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’. designated 28 February as in 1986. On this day, Sir C.V. Raman announced the discovery of the 'Raman Effect' for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930 The Raman Effect is a change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules. RAISE 2020 Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy In news: It is India's first Artificial Intelligence summit to be organized by the Government in partnership with Industry & Academia. The summit will be a global meeting of minds to exchange ideas to use AI for social empowerment, inclusion and transformation in key areas like Healthcare, Agriculture, Education and Smart Mobility amongst other sectors. It is being organised by Ministry of Electronics & IT 100 Springs Initiative Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Governance In news: It aims at improving access to safe and adequate water for the tribal communities living in difficult and inaccessible parts of rural areas in the country. The initiative will help in harnessing the potential of perennial springs’ water to address natural scarcity of water in tribal areas. It also includes provision of infrastructure for piped water supply for drinking; provision of water for irrigation; community-led total sanitation initiatives; and provision for water for backyard nutrition gardens, generating sustainable livelihood opportunities for the tribal people. Launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs Mahadayi Water Row Part of: GS Prelims- Geography and GS-II- Federalism In news: Centre issues notification on sharing the waters of inter-State Mahadayi among Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal in its 2018 order allocated 13.42 tmcft of water from the Mahadayi to Karnataka and 24tmcft to Goa while Maharashtra was allocated 1.3tmcft. Of the 13.42 tmcft of water allocated for Karnataka, 5.5 tmcft is meant for use within the river basin and for diversion to the Malaprabha reservoir, and around 8 tmcft for power generation. The notification also said the demand by Karnataka for diversion of 5.27 tmcft of water of Mahadayi river to the Supa reservoir of the Kali hydropower project for power generation has been rejected. Prelims Value addition Mahadayi or Mhadei or Mandovi, the west-flowing river, originates in Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (Western Ghats), Belagavi district of Karnataka The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was set up in 2010. Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra are parties to the tribunal. Kalasa Banduri project is undertaken by the Government of Karnataka that involves diversion of Mahadayi river water to the Malaprabha river, so as to improve the drinker water supply in Northern Karnataka (MAINS FOCUS) Environment Topic: General Studies 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.  Eastern Ghats: A browning east Context Climate Change impact warnings for Eastern Ghats underscore the need for their protection If the Western Ghats are the crown jewels of India’s natural heritage, the Eastern Ghats spread across some 75,000 sq. km. from Odisha to southern Tamil Nadu,  About Eastern Ghats Eastern Ghats run almost parallel to the east coast of India leaving broad plains between their base and the coast. It is a chain of highly broken and detached hills starting from the Mahanadi in Odisha to the Vagai in Tamil Nadu.  Eastern Ghats almost disappear between the Godavari and the Krishna. They lose their hilly character and are occupied by Gondwana formations (KG Basin is here). They are eroded and cut through by four major rivers viz. Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna and Kaveri Eastern Ghats are older than Western Ghats The eastern Ghats are lower in elevation than the western ghats The highest peak of Eastern ghats is the Mahendragiri (1500 m) It receives an annual rainfall of 1200mm to 1500 mm Western and the Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiri hills Significance of Eastern Ghats Fostering biodiversity and storing energy in trees.  In these mountains exist a reservoir of about 3,000 flowering plant species, nearly 100 of them endemic, occurring in the dry deciduous, moist deciduous and semi-evergreen landscapes.  Many animals, including tigers and elephants, and some 400 bird species are found in these discontinuous forests Provides ecosystem services to millions. Modulating Climate especially during the retreat of Monsoons (North Eastern Monsoon) Eastern Ghats faces a threat from Climate Change Disruption of the annual average temperature and diminished rainfall would decrease the productivity of these forests, in terms of their ability to store carbon, and provide subsistence material. It also leads to impoverishment of areas experiencing rainfall reduction in the driest quarter of the year and a rise in seasonal temperature reflected in reduced plant species diversity  By some estimates, the Ghats have shrunk by 16% over the past century, and just one region, Papikonda National Park (Andhra Pradesh), lost about 650 sq. km. in two decades from 1991. Measures to be taken Protecting the Eastern Ghats is an ecological imperative Schemes for restoration of forest peripheries through indigenous plant and tree species must be pursued Relieving the pressure on forests can be done through policies that reduce extraction of scarce resources and incentivise settled agriculture. India should fulfil its commitments under the Paris Agreement to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes through enhanced forest and tree cover. Conclusion Improving tree cover nationally is certain to confer multiple benefits, including modulation of the monsoon, improved air quality and wider spaces for biodiversity to persist. Given the multiple role Eastern Ghats play, it is necessary that government take necessary steps to preserve it. (TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE) Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section) Note:  Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.  Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”. Q 1. National Science day is celebrated on 28th February to commemorate which event?  Formation of Indian Science Congress Birthday of Homi Jehangir Bhabha Discovery of Raman Effect by C.V.Ramans  None of the above Q 2. Consider the following statements about 1000 Springs initiative It is an initiative by Ministry of Rural Development The It aims at improving access to safe and adequate water for the tribal communities living in difficult and inaccessible parts of rural areas in the country. Which of the above statements is/are correct? 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q 3. Consider the following statements about RAISE 2020 It is It is India's first Artificial Intelligence summit It is organised by Ministry of Human Resource & Development in partnership with Industry & Academia. Which of the above statements is/are correct? 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q 4. Mahadayi water dispute often seen in the news is related to which states?  Karnataka Tamil Nadu Goa Maharashtra Which of the above statements is/are correct? 1 and 2 Only 1 and 3 Only 3 and 4 Only  1,3 and 4 Only ANSWERS FOR 27 FEB 2020 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 C 2 B 3 B 4 D Must Read About Aadhar’s Performance : The Hindu About India’s proposed Joint Command Structure : The Hindu About South Sudan: The Hindu

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Census – Challenges & Importance – The Big Picture – RSTV IAS UPSC

Census – Challenges & Importance Archives TOPIC: General Studies 2: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e governance- applications In News: Amid the backdrop of protests and rallies on the new citizenship law, the National Sample Survey Office field officials have been attacked in some areas of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal for some of the ongoing NSS surveys. Gathering mistrust over CAA and NRC, the house-listing operation and the updation of the National Population Register, set to begin in April for Census 2021, could run into rough weather. The survey system is already in "deep trouble" and given the increasing instances of such attacks, conducting household surveys with the Census as the frame would be "very tough" going ahead. Census of India faces its stiffest challenge… Conducted since 1872, few measures introduced by the British Raj have left as deep a mark as the Census of India. Yet, nearly 150 years after it was introduced, the Census faces its stiffest challenge, with fears being expressed that its enumerators could face violence on the ground during data collection this year. Earlier this week, people in Jarcha village in Greater Noida, bordering Delhi, allegedly manhandled and held captive government employees conducting the Seventh Economic Census for the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Similar incidents have been reported from at least nine States. The 78th Round of the NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) Socio-Economic Survey on domestic tourism expenditure may reportedly be postponed, apparently because surveyors are facing hostility in the field. The Culprit: Widespread panic over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government has, on multiple occasions, promised to create an NRC for the entire country. The exercise, without any precedent globally, would require every Indian to prove that they are a bonafide citizen. The fear within: The NRC would initially be generated using data collected from the National Population Register. Those marked as “doubtful citizens” could be asked to furnish documents to prove their citizenship, failing which they would be declared “illegal migrants”. With millions of Indians lacking vital documents related to birth, the fear of losing citizenship have taken deep roots within poor and marginalised communities. Where does NPR meet Census?: NPR data would be collected door-to-door alongside the Census, even though the two databases do not overlap. The clubbing of NPR data collection with the Census, say experts, could undermine the Census.  Following the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), India’s Muslim citizens have rebelled in large numbers against the CAA-NPR-NRC combination, fearful of being trapped in a discriminatory bureaucratic nightmare.  The rallying cry of Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayenge (We will not provide documents) has also galvanized non-Muslims concerned about civil liberties. A number of state governments have expressed reservations about the NPR process. Opponents of the NPR say that the additional questions on parents make the NPR a lethal weapon that will authorise low level administrative officers to mark individuals as doubtful citizens. With many Indians threatening to boycott the NPR because of their opposition to the NRC, they might refuse to disclose information for the Census. NPR And Census of India: The Distinction The NPR and Census are not related in any way. The laws under which they are conducted are different and their uses are different. Census data informs government policy and is collated in anonymised form. The NPR, on the other hand, is the mother database for the NRC and is meant to single out “doubtful citizens”.  NPR NPR is a register of "usual residents" of the country which is prepared at several levels including local (village/sub-town), subdistrict, district, state, and national. It comes under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. A usual resident in this context is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months. The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country which comprises demographics as well as biometric particulars. No documents are required to be submitted for the NPR, however, provision of the Aadhaar number is mandatory for the registration. The database would contain demographic details of every usual resident which includes resident name, relationship to head of household, father's name, mother's name, spouse's name (if married), sex, date of birth, marital status, place of birth, nationality (as declared), present address of usual residence, duration of stay at present address, permanent residential address, occupation, and educational qualification. Historically, the data for the NPR was first collected by the then Congress-led UPA government in 2010. In 2015, the register was updated and the biometrics collected through Aadhaar was linked to the NPR. The NPR exercise which is to be carried out every 10 years, is scheduled to be conducted between April and September 2020 in all states and Union Territories(UTs), except Assam. Whereas Census of India Census of India, which is also a once-in-ten-years exercise, collects information about all residents of India. It is considered to be the single largest source of a number of statistical information on different characteristics of the people of the country conducted on the basis of the Census Act, 1948. The Census data aims to collect information to give an overall picture of the status of residents of India and the overall population trends. This data is not about individuals but rather would serve as the basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, analysing the ongoing government schemes and planning future government actions. The census provides detailed information on several aspects that includes demography, economic activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanization, fertility, mortality, language, religion, and migration, etc. Information is also collected on sources of potable water, energy, irrigation, method of farming, and houses by the enumerators. However, the Union government has decreed that data for both the Census and NPR will being collected simultaneously from each household by the same enumerator. And many would not be able to differentiate between them. This has the potential to put the exercise of conducting Census in danger. Connecting the Dots: Census in India doesn’t reveal the quality of its people – it only reveals the quantity. Critically comment. Prelims oriented: 1872: Census was first conducted – During Lord Mayo’s Tenure 1881: Creation of Census department 1941: Department re-named as Registrar General of India  1949: Census dept. went under Ministry of Home affairs administrative control 2011: Caste based census conducted for the first time on the recommendation of Mandal Commission 2021: Paperless Census will be conducted for the first time - In a first, Census India-2021 will move away from the traditional pen and paper and will be conducted through a mobile phone Section 15 of the Census Act prohibits any data collected by Census officials from being made public. Prohibition against the use of any data collected under the Census Act, for any civil or criminal proceedings The data collected under the Census Act is privileged and is meant to be used only for statistical compilation for the purposes of governanc

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Development of Smart Cities and Ease of Living Index - All India Radio (AIR) IAS UPSC

Development of Smart Cities and Ease of Living Index ARCHIVES Search 6th Feb 2020 Current Affair here: http://www.newsonair.com/Main_Audio_Bulletins_Search.aspx  Topic: General Studies 1: Urbanization, their problems and their remedies General Studies 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation Aim: To help assess the progress made in cities through various initiatives and empower them to use evidence to plan, implement & monitor their performance, two Assessment Frameworks, viz. Ease of Living Index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019 have been launched  By: The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs Both these indices are designed to assess quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other Million Plus Cities.   Municipal Performance Index 2019:  To assess the performance of municipalities based on five enablers namely Service, Finance, Planning, Technology and Governance which have been further divided into 20 sectors which will be evaluated across 100 indicators. This will help Municipalities in better planning and management, filling the gaps in city administration, and improving the liveability of cities for its citizens. Ease of Living Index  Ease of Living Index is aimed at providing a holistic view of Indian cities – beginning from the services provided by local bodies, the effectiveness of the administration, the outcomes generated through these services in terms of the liveability within cities and, finally, the citizen perception of these outcomes.  The key objectives of the Ease of Living Index are four-folds, viz.  Generate information to guide evidence-based policy making;  Catalyse action to achieve broader developmental outcomes including the SDG;  Assess and compare the outcomes achieved from various urban policies and schemes; and Obtain the perception of citizens about their view of the services provided by the city administration.  EoLI 2019 will facilitate the assessment of ease of living of citizens across three pillars: Quality of Life, Economic Ability and Sustainability which are further divided into 14 categories across 50 indicators. Quality of Life 1 Education: Household expenditure on education; literacy rate; pupil-teacher ratio; dropout rate; access to digital education; professionally trained teachers; national achievement survey score. Health: Household expenditure on health; availability of healthcare; professionals; accredited public health facilities; availability of hospital beds; prevalence of water borne diseases; prevalence of vector borne diseases; Mobility: Availability of public transport; transport related fatalities; road infrastructure (road density, footpath density). WASH and SWM: Water supply to household; households with piped water; supply Swachh Survekshan score; amount of waste water treated; connected to sewerage network. Housing and Shelter: Households with electrical; connections; average length of electrical; interruptions; beneficiaries under PMAY; slum population. Safety and security: Prevalence of violent crime; extent of crime recorded against women; extent of crime recorded against children; extent of crime recorded against elderly. Recreation: Availability of open space; availability of recreation facilities. Economic Ability Level of Economic Development: Traded clusters Economic Opportunities: Cluster strength; credit availability; number of incubation centres/skill development centres. Gini Coefficient: Inequality index based on consumption expenditure. Sustainability Environment: Water quality; total tree cover; households using clean fuel for cooking; hazardous waste generation; air quality index (SO2, NO2, PM10). Green Spaces and buildings: Availability of green spaces; does the city incentivise green buildings?; green buildings in the city. City Resilience: Has the city implemented local disaster reduction strategies?; number of deaths and directly affected persons attributed to disasters. Energy Consumption: Energy requirement vs energy supplied; energy generated from renewable sources; number of energy parks. Citizen Perception Survey For the first time, as part of the Ease of Living Index Assessment, a Citizen Perception Survey is being conducted on behalf of the Ministry (which carries 30% of the marks of the Ease of Living Index). This is a very important component of the assessment exercise as it will help in directly capturing perception of citizens with respect to quality of life in their cities.

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60 Day Programme, 2020: IAS UPSC PRELIMS EXAMINATION 2020 - IASbaba’s most trusted initiative for PRELIMS - FREE Initiative!

60 Day Programme, 2020: IAS UPSC PRELIMS EXAMINATION 2020 - IASbaba’s most trusted initiative for PRELIMS - FREE Initiative! IASbaba proudly announces its coveted 60 Days Programme for IAS UPSC PRELIMS 2020. IAS UPSC Prelims Examination 2020 is hardly 3 months away.  We would like to thank all of you for entrusting so much love and faith in our programmes like ILP, PEP and AIPTS-2020. Same is the case with 60 Days programme. We failed to reply to hundreds of emails and calls that are coming on a daily basis regarding 60 days. So here we are announcing 60 Days for all of you :) One small step at a time! Yes! One small step is what it takes to become successful! One small step is what it takes to realize your dream of becoming a civil servant! One small step is what it takes to become what you always wanted to become. However counterintuitive these statements may sound, the fact is- they are all true. We all live under the pressure of something. The pressure may be in terms of performance. The pressure may be in terms of the competition that one has to face. The pressure may be from the sheer enormity of an occasion that makes one’s palms sweaty and heartbeat really fast. Unfortunately, the only prescription to overcome all such pressures is always the same- work hard, work more and work to die ultimately. The whole idea revolves around the core but highly misplaced principle that you have to do more to achieve more. But then what is the truth? Haven’t we told that already? One small step at a time! That is what it is. If you see the career graph of a highly successful individual, you would realize that it is dotted with numerous smaller milestones and achievements. It is a rarity that people take a giant leap in terms of one’s measurable success parameters. If one is able to understand and appreciate this small reality, things will be perceived differently and for better. But why are we making this pitch to you? Most of you reading these lines right now would appear in this year’s Prelims examination. Imagine the pressures that you might have to overcome. You would be amazed to see the spectrum of pressure points trying to unsettle you. Be it the sheer competition or be it the expectations of your family or even the feeling of appearing in India’s toughest examination, there are aspects of your life, circumstances, and surroundings that create a lot of pressure. But then, do we have a solution? Of course, we do! The answer is the same- one small step at a time. But what is that one small step? What if we told you that following a simple step of solving 30 objective questions a day can make you clear this examination? What if you were told that by solving only 30 questions a day, you will be a part of a group that has a much higher probability of cracking the Prelims examination than the others? What if we told you that by religiously learning 30 questions a day would create such strong fundamentals for you that the journey to cracking Prelims would become highly enjoyable? What if 30 questions a day give you the ammunition to tackle any pressure? What if 30 questions a day makes you cross the very first hurdle of the examination cycle that you have entered? What if 30 questions a day gives a high dose booster to your confidence? What if we told you that 30 questions a day made hundreds of aspirants crack the Prelims stage without taking undue stress? Does it sound lucrative? Of course, it does. There is no doubt about it. But then, the bottom line is- one small step at a time. We are talking about the flag bearer of IASbaba’s popularity, reach and connect amongst the civil services aspirants- the 60 Day Plan. The idea of the 60 day Plan is simple- one small step at a time. Each day, we post 30 Questions. The schedule is provided in advance so that you can prepare yourself as per the detailed micro-plan. You study from the sources mentioned in the schedule or from any source of your liking and try to answer the 30 objective questions posted on a daily basis. What you actually do is that for a period of 60 days, you stimulate one-quarter of the real-time examination process. For 60 days, your brain stimulates the process of analytical thinking and logical reasoning. For 60 days, you get accustomed to the process of thinking through and coming out with well thought of responses. For 60 days, you are exposed to a variety of high-quality questions that challenge your intellect and critical thinking just like UPSC does. For 60 days, you live and breathe the process that we know as the Civil Services Preliminary Examination. We recommend 60 Days and IASbaba's Test Series/ILP, not because of the fact that it has a hit ratio of more than 70-80% continuously for the past 5 years. As a testimony to the success and impact of ‘60 Day’ & IASbaba's Test Series/ILP, we are providing an exhaustive year-wise analysis of HIT RATIO in Prelims: 2015– https://iasbaba.com/2015/08/upsc-prelims-2015-40-questions-from-iasbaba/ 2016 – https://iasbaba.com/2016/08/70-hits-from-iasbaba-in-upsc-prelims/ 2017 – https://iasbaba.com/2017/06/68in-upsc-civil-services-prelims-2017-how-iasbaba-helped-one-to-get-mains-call/ 2018 – https://iasbaba.com/2018/06/2018-upsc-prelims-how-iasbaba-helped-in-upsc-prelims-answer-key-explanation-toughest-prelims-history-upsc/ 2019- https://iasbaba.com/2019/06/70hits-from-iasbaba-in-upsc-civil-services-preliminary-exam-2019-hatrick-from-iasbaba/   What IMPACT can the ‘60 Day’ have on the final results? We will explain by taking a small example. Imagine you are sitting in the examination hall, appearing in Prelims Paper I. You have attempted 70 questions already but still unsure about a few. Then you stumble upon a question that was asked in 60 Day (and believe us, it has happened to hundreds of students countless times). You choose the right answer and submit your paper hoping for the best! Eventually, you go on to clear Mains as well as Personality Test and secure a good rank as well. When the cut off gets announced by UPSC, you realise that you have scored just one mark more than the cut off! Yes, that one mark can change your life (and it has done so to many of our students in the past). Now, imagine the kind of impact 60 to 80 marks can have! Isn’t that so fascinating to imagine?   One’s level of preparedness is in always different for different subjects. Even within a subject, one’s comfort level may vary with topics. For example, one might be more comfortable in solving questions of Polity than Economics and within Polity also, one might be at ease with questions on fundamental rights than Parliament. The level of comfort and ease that one has with a subject/ topic gets manifested in the examination. However, there is no conscious effort by aspirants to micro analyse these aspects. Now, coming to the second aspect i.e. the mistakes that one commits in answering MCQs, it can be said that there are mainly four reasons behind incorrect responses in the OMR sheet. They are: Lack of information Lack of analytical ability Silly mistakes Excessive risk-taking Let’s analyse them one by one: Lack of information: You simply don’t know the information. You are clueless and that’s why you don’t attempt the question. For example, you may have never come across a regime called the ‘Wassenaar Agreement’ during your preparation and you can’t do much about it. Lack of information is pardonable and rectifiable. You can read more and gather more information. That is within your reach. Lack of analytical ability: You know the concept but the question is a twisted one and you are not able to apply the concept. For example, in a question asking you to identify the climate type of a region based on certain given parameters like precipitation, temperature and air density, you might find it difficult to mark the correct option even if you are aware of all the options given in the question! That is clearly a lack of application and you can overcome it by developing a habit of framing questions in your mind while you study any topic. Silly mistakes: This habit is unpardonable. You know the concept, you become happy, you misread the question, you mark the incorrect answer and you are out of the race! Such mistakes reveal your hurriedness while answering the question. A simple mistake of reading ‘chose the incorrect option’ as ‘chose the correct option’ can destroy your chances. It means that you need to have patience and focus while attempting the paper. Excessive risk-taking: You are confused between the options and just in order to increase your attempts, you make wild guesses and try your luck only to repent eventually. Risk-taking is an art and one must be very careful while doing the guesswork in confusing questions. If you are not lucky enough, it can spoil your chances. You will realise that these problems will have different meanings for different people. For example, one might find a lack of information as the main culprit in answering wrong the questions on Culture while in Polity, lack of analytical ability is usually the culprit. The point here is that you must analyse your preparation on these yardsticks by applying them on different subjects/ topics. If one is having a headache, he/ she can’t have the same medicine for fever. Isn’t it. This is where our revamped ’60 Day’ comes into the picture. It will give you an opportunity to micro analyse your preparation and perform better in the examination. How to use it? You can download the entire day-wise plan at the end of the post. Now, we present you the following scales (with weightage of each scale given in the bracket) to micro analyse your preparation on a daily basis and that too subject/ topic wise: Micro Analysis Matrix Number of questions not attempted or attempted wrongly Due to lack of information Due to the inability to apply the concept Due to silly mistake Due to excessive risk-taking Total Number (N) Weightage of scale (s) 1 2 3 4 NA N x S Scale 1: Information meter (1) Scale 2: Analysis meter (2) Scale 3: Anxiety meter (3) Scale 4: Risk meter (4) Suppose on Day 1, questions have been framed from Polity on the topic of Constitutional History. There are 15 questions and you are able to answer 12 out of which 7 are correct and 5 are incorrect. It means you have scored roughly 11.33 out of 30. Now you have to fill on a daily basis, the following matrix to micro analyse your preparation: Example: Suppose, the filled up matrix gets reflected in the following fashion: Micro Analysis Matrix- Day 1/ Polity/ Constitutional History Number of questions not attempted or attempted wrongly Due to lack of information Due to the inability to apply the concept Due to silly mistake Due to excessive risk-taking Total Number (N) 3 1 2 2 8 Weightage of scale (s) 1 2 3 4 NA N x S 3 2 6 8 19 Based on the total value in this matrix, you have to aim for the following measures on the scale: Information meter < 4 Course Correction: If you are scoring above 4, it means that there are serious gaps in your information base in the particular subject/ topic. Please refer to a standard textbook before it’s too late. Analysis meter < 4 Course Correction: If you are scoring above 4, you need to explore all possible questions in your mind while reading the topic. You should frame questions for your friends and try to trick them by twisting the questions. Anxiety meter < 3 Course Correction: A score above 3 indicates that you are either too excited or too callous to even read the question. You need to calm down and read the question twice, particularly those questions in which you feel too confident. Risk meter < 8 Course Correction: You need to curb your risk-taking instincts. Make an only intelligent guess and don’t leave your chance on fate. Don’t let the previous year’s cut off impact your mind. Total N x S score < 20 Moreover, IASbaba will give a cut-off figure along with the solutions each day. If your total marks exceed that cut off along with your total N x S score lying below 20, you are on the right track and just need to keep the momentum going. This exercise will hardly take 5 minutes of your daily time but it might do wonders for you as you will be able to gauge your strengths and limitations better. Finally, it is up to you to take advantage of this framework. We are sure of only one thing- if you follow this programme, assess yourself on the basis of the given framework and keep improving your weaker areas, success will be yours. We are providing you with the right platform, the right guidance and the right competition. Do you have the right motivation to make full use of this initiative? We think you have. Come, be a part of this initiative and take the first step towards SUCCESS!   Importance of self - tracking: We could have provided all of you with login id and passwords to monitor your daily performance in the 60-day program. Instead, a simple and most beautiful way which Disqus provides is profile based commenting! Yes, we have seen the most successful candidates who have taken the maximum benefit from this program monitoring themselves by commenting on their answers in the box given (Disqus comment). And reviewing their performance themselves once in 10 days on the progress meter.   Neither do we recommend 60 Days & IASbaba's Test Series/ILP because it poses the best quality of objective questions possible.We recommend 60 Days & IASbaba's Test Series/ILP primarily because of its simplicity- in terms of its objective, approach, and outcomes.   IMPORTANT DETAILS: Start Date: 2nd March 2020 End Date: 9th May 2020 Duration: 60 Days Total Number of Questions: 1800 Fees: NIL/ Absolutely FREE Schedule: Click here to download the detailed schedule   Please Note: The questions will be posted 6 days a week between 10 am - 11 am on daily basis!    So are you ready for the journey? Are you ready to take that one small step today? Of course, you do! So let us start this journey today and become what we always wanted to become. How's the JOSH?? Comment down to tell us your JOSH!!!   You can also join our Prelims Exclusive Programme and All India Prelims Test Series if wish to solidify your place in the final list of selected candidates in Prelims 2020. PEP 2020 AIPTS 2020 [wpcdt-countdown id="57361"]   All the Best IASbaba Team

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 27th February 2020

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 27th February 2020 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) UKIERI-UGC Higher Education Leadership Development Programme for Administrators Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Governance In news: Objective: To train the senior and middle level academic administrators in Indian Universities to enable them to bring about systemic changes with renewed approaches, capacity, tools and skill in Universities in India. Implemented by:  Joint initiative of UGC and British Council in India under the auspices of UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) UKIERI was started in April, 2006 with the aim of enhancing educational linkages between India and the UK. UKIERI Phase 3 (2016-2021) aims to promote institutional and individual excellence in educational practices, research, and employability. UGC came into existence on 28th December, 1953 and became a statutory body by an Act of Parliament in 1956, for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education. Exercise Indradhanush Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- International Affairs In news: The 5th edition of India-UK joint Air Force Exercise ‘Indradhanush’ began at Air Force Station, Hindan (Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh) on 24th February, 2020. The theme of this edition of the exercise is 'Base Defence and Force Protection Other joint exercises between India and UK are Konkan (Navy) and Ajeya Warrior (Army) International Conference on Standardisation of AYUSH Terminologies Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Governance In news: Two day International Conference on Standardisation of AYUSH Terminologies (ICoSDiTAUS-2020) was held in New Delhi.  The conference was jointly organized by the Ministry of AYUSH and the WHO  It adopted the “New Delhi Declaration on Collection and Classification of Traditional Medicine (TM) Diagnostic Data”. The New Delhi declaration emphasised the commitment of the countries to Traditional Medicine (TM) as a significant area of health care. It further sought the opportunity for including traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)  ICD published by WHO is the standard diagnostic tool for health management across the world. The ICD provides a method of classifying diseases, injuries, and causes of death. More than 100 countries use the ICD system to report mortality data, a primary indicator of health status. National Technical Textiles Mission Part of: GS Prelims- Government Schemes and GS-II- Governance; GS-III-Economy In news: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved to set up a National Technical Textiles Mission with a total outlay of Rs 1480 Crore with a view to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles A Mission Directorate will be operational in the Ministry of Textiles.  The Mission aims at increasing the size of the technical textiles in the domestic market to $40 billion which would require an average growth of at least 10 % per annum. Technical textiles are textiles materials and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic characteristics. Technical Textiles products are divided into 12 broad categories (Agrotech, Buildtech, Clothtech, Geotech, Hometech, Indutech, Mobiltech, Meditech, Protech, Sportstech, Oekotech, Packtech) depending upon their application areas. It will be implemented for four years starting from 2020-2021 and will have four components namely Research, development and innovation with an outlay of ₹1,000 crores Promotion and development of the market for technical textiles. Export promotion Promoting technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles.  NASA’s InSight Mars Mission Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Science & technology In news: NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander touched down on Mars at the end of 2018. InSight is the first mission dedicated to looking deep beneath the Martian surface. Among its science tools are a seismometer for detecting quakes, sensors for gauging wind and air pressure, a magnetometer, and a heat flow probe designed to take the planet’s temperature. It is part of NASA’s Discovery Program.  InSight is a two year mission that will study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and the Moon, formed. Rakhigarhi  Part of: GS Prelims – Art & Culture and GS-I- Ancient History In news: Finance Minister had announced in Budget speech to fund five on-site museums, including the under-construction museum initiated by the Haryana government at Rakhigarhi Rakhigarhi is a 5,000-year-old and biggest Indus Valley Civilization site located in Haryana The site is located in the Sarasvati river plain, some 27 km from the seasonal Ghaggar river In May 2012, the Global Heritage Fund, declared Rakhigarhi one of the 10 most endangered heritage sites in Asia. Other four sites mentioned in Budget speech are Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh, Shivsagar in Assam, Dholavira in Gujarat and Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu. (MAINS FOCUS) Governance Topic: General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies. 
 Surrogacy Regulation Context The Union Cabinet has approved the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020. The Cabinet incorporated the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee before approving the Bill. Surrogacy means the process of carrying and delivering a child for another person. Thus, a surrogate mother is a woman who bears a child on behalf of another woman, either from her own egg or from the implantation in her womb of a fertilized egg from another woman. Commercial surrogacy involves an agreement, which includes monetary compensation to the surrogate mother along with medical expenses associated with the pregnancy.  Altruistic surrogacy focuses on providing no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother Advantages of Surrogacy Surrogacy allows infertile couples, single people and members of the LGBT community to become parents when they may not be able to have children otherwise. It allows one or both parents to be biologically related to their child Surrogacy gives hopeful parents the opportunity to raise a child from birth. Intended parents may face fewer restrictions with surrogacy than with adoption; those who cannot adopt due to agency restrictions on factors like age can still pursue surrogacy. Reasons for Increase of Surrogacy in India Low cost: Surrogacy cost in India is around 1/3rd of that in developed countries like the USA. This had made India a favourable destination for foreign couples who look for cost-effective treatment for infertility through Surrogacy in India Availability of women who could rent their womb at low cost, primarily due to their own poor income levels Grey Area: Surrogacy was not regulated by a specific legislation which allowed private sector to grow rapidly Availability of Technology at affordable cost also aided the growth of the sector Issues with Surrogacy in India There had been many cases of death related to surrogacy which neither commissioning parents nor the doctors were ready to take responsibility of. Sometimes, Indian adoption laws or citizenship laws of some other countries also create problems. For example, Germany gives citizenship by mother; this creates issues in determining the nationality of child. There were no strong laws for following issues such as rights of surrogate mother for fair compensation, maternal health care, right to abort etc. Surrogacy leads to commoditization of the child. Renting of the womb breaks the bond between a mother and the child, interferes with nature Recommendation of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee Definition of “infertility” as the inability to conceive after five years of unprotected intercourse should be deleted. It is too long a period for a couple to wait for a child. It was recommended that a surrogate mother need not be a “close relative Single women (widow or a divorcee) should be allowed to avail of surrogacy. The insurance cover for a surrogate mother should be increased to 36 months from 16 months. Key Features of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 It bans commercial surrogacy It seeks to allow ethical altruistic surrogacy to the intending infertile Indian married couple between the age of 23-50 years for females and 26-55 years for males. It provides for the constitution of surrogacy boards at the national as well as state levels to ensure effective regulation Only Indian couples can opt for surrogacy in the country. The Bill also seeks to regulate the functioning of surrogacy clinics. All surrogacy clinics in the country need to be registered by the appropriate authority in order to undertake surrogacy or its related procedures. It also provides that intending couples should not abandon the child born out of surrogacy under any condition. The newborn child shall be entitled to all rights and privileges that are available to a natural child. The Bill seeks to regulate functioning of surrogacy clinics. All surrogacy clinics in the country need to be registered by the appropriate authority in order to undertake surrogacy or its related procedures. It also specifies that no sex selection can be done when it comes to surrogacy. Concerns The bill states intending couples should be married Indian couples. There is no mention of Non-Resident Indians working or studying abroad who may want to come back home to have a baby. The Bill leaves out a lot of people who might want to have a baby through surrogacy, including unmarried couples, homosexual couples and single men and women. Banning of Commercial Surrogacy: The livelihood of poor women who are engaged in this sector will get compromised and will further push them into illegal underground activities Way forward Rather than penalising surrogacy, the person providing a womb for surrogacy must be secured with a contract, ensuring proper, insurance and medical checks. For surrogacy to happen, we need embryos, and embryos are cultured in various In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) laboratories. So regulation of surrogacy must be preceded by law on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). Surrogacy should be made inclusive for all class of people irrespective of their sexuality Connecting the dots! Cloning Genetic Engineering of Embryos – Designer babies (TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE) Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section) Note:  Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.  Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”. Q 1. Exercise Indradhanush is a joint military exercise between India and ______?  USA Sri Lanka UK  None of the above Q 2. Consider the following statements about International Conference on Standardisation of AYUSH Terminologies It was recently held in Nagpur, India The conference succeeded in taking forward the objective of expanding the International Classification of Diseases(ICD) into the realm of Traditional Medicine systems at a conceptual level with all the countries endorsing the same.  Which of the above statements is/are correct? 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q 3. Consider the following statements about InSights Mars Mission It is launched by NASA in collaboration with ISRO and JAXA It is the first mission dedicated to looking deep beneath the Martian surface. Which of the above statements is/are correct? 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q 4. Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley Civilizational Site is located which State of India ?  Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan Punjab  Haryana ANSWERS FOR 26 FEB 2020 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 A 2 D 3 B Must Read About India-US ties : The Hindu About Bodo Accord : The Hindu About Water quality debate: The Hindu About Judiciary: The Hindu

AIR

Economic Survey 2020 - All India Radio (AIR) IAS UPSC

Economic Survey 2020 ARCHIVES Search 31st Jan 2020 Current Affair here: http://www.newsonair.com/Main_Audio_Bulletins_Search.aspx  Topic: General Studies 3: Government Budgeting. Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on promoting “pro-business” policy – Economic Survey Theme: Enable Markets, Promote 'Pro-Business' Policies and Strengthen 'Trust' in the Economy The Economic Survey 2019-20 says India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on promoting “pro-business” policy that unleashes the power of competitive markets to generate wealth, on the one hand, and weaning away from “pro-crony” policy that may favour specific private interests, especially powerful incumbents, on the other hand. Creative destruction The Survey stated that creative destruction has increased significantly after reform.  The liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991 unleashed competitive markets and enabled the forces of creative destruction, generating benefits that we still witness today. Creative destruction brings new innovations in the market that serve people better than the old technologies they displace. It brings new firms into the markets, which compete with existing firms and lower prices for consumers.  Using the lens of Indian equity markets as captured in the S&P(Standard & Poor’s) BSE Sensex, we can clearly see an increase in market dynamism in the pro-business India of the post-liberalization period. After the market reforms of 1991, Sensex has grown at an accelerating pace. Whereas crossing the first incremental 5000 points took over 13 years and was achieved in 1999, the time taken to achieve each incremental milestone has substantially reduced over the years. Liberalisation caused a spike in the number of firms churned in the years that immediately followed it, but the churn rate did not decline to pre-liberalization level in later years. New sectors like banks and financials entered the index for the first time, eroding the predominance of the manufacturing sector on the index, placing the services sector on the map for the first time, and reflecting the far-reaching changes that the Indian economy was witnessing in the wake of liberalization. Pro-crony policies, in contrast to pro-business ones, erode wealth in the economy as cronyism fosters inefficiencies by inhibiting the process of creative destruction. The connected firms proxy firms that may benefit from pro-crony policies. Despite impressive progress in enabling competitive markets, pro-crony policies have destroyed value in the economy. Wilful default, if unchecked, would increase the cost of borrowing for everyone else, including genuine businesses with profitable investment opportunities before them. Adverse selection may force genuine borrowers to exist the market altogether, leaving only cronies in the market and resulting in a market failure that slows economic growth, employment and wealth creation capacity. Wealth Creation: The Invisible Hand Supported by the Hand of Trust India’s dominance as global economic power for three-fourths of economic history manifests by design. Kautilya’s Arthashastra postulates the role of prices in an economy (Spengler, 1971). Historically, Indian economy relied on the invisible hand of the market with the support of the hand of trust: Invisible hand of the market reflected in openness in economic transactions. Hand of trust appealed to ethical and philosophical dimensions. Post-liberalisation, Indian economy supports both pillars of the economic model advocated in our traditional thinking. Survey illustrates enormous benefits accruing from enabling the invisible hand of the market. Exponential rise in India’s GDP and GDP per capita post-liberalisation coincides with wealth generation. Survey shows that the liberalized sectors grew significantly faster than the closed ones. Need for the hand of trust to complement the invisible hand, illustrated by financial sector performance during 2011-13. Survey posits that India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on: Strengthening the invisible hand of the market Supporting it with the hand of trust Strengthening the invisible hand by promoting pro-business policies to: Provide equal opportunities for new entrants Enable fair competition and ease doing business Eliminate policies unnecessarily undermining markets through government intervention Enable trade for job creation Efficiently scale up the banking sector Introducing the idea of trust as a public good, which gets enhanced with greater use Survey suggests that policies must empower transparency and effective enforcement using data and technology Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation at the Grassroots Entrepreneurship as a strategy to fuel productivity growth and wealth creation India ranks third in number of new firms created, as per the World Bank New firm creation in India increased dramatically since 2014: 12.2 % cumulative annual growth rate of new firms in the formal sector during 2014-18, compared to 3.8 % during 2006-2014. About 1.24 lakh new firms created in 2018, an increase of about 80 % from about 70,000 in 2014. Survey examines the content and drivers of entrepreneurial activity at the bottom of the administrative pyramid – over 500 districts in India. New firm creation in services is significantly higher than that in manufacturing, infrastructure or agriculture Survey notes that grassroots entrepreneurship is not just driven by necessity A 10 percent increase in registration of new firms in a district yields a 1.8 % increase in Gross Domestic District Product (GDDP) Entrepreneurship at district level has a significant impact on wealth creation at the grassroots Birth of new firms in India is heterogeneous and dispersed across districts and sectors. Literacy and education in a district foster local entrepreneurship significantly: Impact is most pronounced when literacy is above 70 per cent. New firm formation is the lowest in eastern India with lowest literacy rate (59.6 % as per 2011 Census) Physical infrastructure quality in the district influences new firm creation significantly. Ease of Doing Business and flexible labour regulation enable new firm creation, especially in the manufacturing sector. Survey suggests enhancing ease of doing business and implementing flexible labour laws can create maximum jobs in districts and thereby in the states. Pro-business versus Pro-markets Survey says that India’s aspiration of becoming a $5 trillion economy depends critically on: Promoting ‘pro-business’ policy that unleashes the power of competitive markets to generate wealth. Weaning away from ‘pro-crony’ policy that may favour specific private interests, especially powerful incumbents. Viewed from the lens of the Stock market, creative destruction increased significantly post-liberalisation: Before liberalisation, a Sensex firm expected to stay in it for 60 years, which decreased to only 12 years after liberalisation. Every five years, one-third of Sensex firms are churned out, reflecting the continuous influx of new firms, products and technologies into the economy. Despite impressive progress in enabling competitive markets, pro-crony policies destroyed value in the economy: An equity index of connected firms significantly outperformed market by 7 % a year from 2007 to 2010, reflecting abnormal profits extracted at common citizens’ expense. In contrast, the index underperforms market by 7.5 % from 2011, reflecting inefficiency and value destruction inherent in such firms. Pro-crony policies such as discretionary allocation of natural resources till 2011 led to rent-seeking by beneficiaries while competitive allocation of the same post 2014 ended such rent extraction. Similarly crony lending that led to wilful default, wherein promoters collectively siphoned off wealth from banks, led to losses that dwarf subsidies for rural development. Undermining Markets: When Government Intervention Hurts More Than It Helps Government intervention, though well intended, often ends up undermining the ability of the markets to support wealth creation and leads to outcomes opposite to those intended. Four examples of anachronistic government interventions: Essential Commodities Act (ECA), 1955: Frequent and unpredictable imposition of blanket stock limits on commodities under ECA distorts: The incentives for the creation of storage infrastructure by the private sector. Movement up the agricultural value chain. Development of national market for agricultural commodities. Imposition of stock limits on dal in 2006-Q3, sugar in 2009-Q1 and onions in September, 2019 spiked up the volatility of the retail and wholesale prices of onions. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs must examine whether the ECA is relevant in today’s India. With raids having abysmally low conviction rate and no impact on prices, the ECA only seems to enable rent-seeking and harassment. Survey suggests there is clear evidence for jettisoning this anachronistic legislation. Drug Price Control under ECA: The regulation of prices of drugs, through the DPCO 2013, led to increase in the price of the regulated pharmaceutical drug vis-à-vis that of an unregulated but similar drug. The increase in prices is greater for more expensive formulations than for cheaper ones and for those sold in hospitals rather than retail shops. These findings reinforce that the outcome is opposite to what DPCO aims to do - making drugs affordable. Government, being a huge buyer of drugs, can intervene more effectively to provide affordable drugs by combining all its purchases and exercising its bargaining power. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare must evolve non-distortionary mechanisms that utilise Government’s bargaining power in a transparent manner. Government intervention in Grain markets: Policies in the food-grain markets led to: Emergence of Government as the largest procurer and hoarder of rice and wheat. Crowding out of private trade. Burgeoning food subsidy burden Inefficiencies in the markets, affecting the long run growth of agricultural sector. The food-grains policy needs to be dynamic and allow switching from physical handling and distribution of food-grains to cash transfers/food coupons/smart cards. Debt waivers: Analysis of debt waivers given by States/Centre: Full waiver beneficiaries consume less, save less, invest less and are less productive after the waiver, compared to the partial beneficiaries. Debt waivers disrupt the credit culture. They reduce formal credit flow to the very same farmers, thereby defeating the purpose. Survey suggests that: Government must systematically examine areas of needless intervention and undermining of markets; but it does not argue that there should be no Government intervention. Instead it suggests that the interventions that were apt in a different economic setting may have lost their relevance in a transformed economy. Eliminating such instances will enable competitive markets spurring investments and economic growth. Creating Jobs and Growth by Specializing in Network Products Survey says India has unprecedented opportunity to chart a China-like, labour-intensive, export trajectory. By integrating “Assemble in India for the world” into Make in India, India can: Raise its export market share to about 3.5 % by 2025 and 6 % by 2030. Create 4 crore well-paid jobs by 2025 and 8 crore by 2030. Exports of network products can provide one-quarter of the increase in value added required for making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025. Survey suggests a strategy similar to one used by China to grab this opportunity: Specialization at large scale in labour-intensive sectors, especially network products. Laser-like focus on enabling assembling operations at mammoth scale in network products. Export primarily to markets in rich countries. Trade policy must be an enabler. Survey analyses the impact of India’s trade agreements on overall trade balance: India’s exports increased by 13.4 % for manufactured products and 10.9 % for total merchandise Imports increased by 12.7 % for manufactured products and 8.6 per cent for total merchandise. India gained 0.7 % increase in trade surplus per year for manufactured products and 2.3 % per year for total merchandise.  Targeting Ease of Doing Business in India A jump of 79 positions to 63 in 2019 from 142 in 2014 in World Bank’s Doing Business rankings. India still trails in parameters such as Ease of Starting Business, Registering Property, Paying Taxes and Enforcing Contracts. Survey has numerous case studies: For merchandise exports, the logistics process flow for imports is more efficient than that for exports. Electronics exports and imports through Bengaluru airport illustrate how Indian logistical processes can be world class. The turnaround time of ships in India has almost halved to 2.48 days in 2018-19 from 4.67 days in 2010-11. Suggestions for further Ease of Doing Business: Close coordination between the Logistics division of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Ministry of Shipping and the different port authorities. Individual sectors such as tourism or manufacturing require a more targeted approach that maps out the regulatory and process bottlenecks for each segment. Golden jubilee of bank nationalisation: Taking stock Survey observes 2019 as the golden jubilee year of bank nationalization Accomplishments of lakhs of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) employees cherished and an objective assessment of PSBs suggested by the Survey. Since 1969, India’s Banking sector has not developed proportionately to the growth in the size of the economy. India has only one bank in the global top 100 – same as countries that are a fraction of its size: Finland (about 1/11th), Denmark (1/8th), etc. A large economy needs an efficient banking sector to support its growth. The onus of supporting the economy falls on the PSBs accounting for 70 % of the market share in Indian banking: PSBs are inefficient compared to their peer groups on every performance parameter. In 2019, investment for every rupee in PSBs, on average, led to the loss of 23 paise, while in NPBs it led to the gain of 9.6 paise. Credit growth in PSBs has been much lower than NPBs for the last several years. Solutions to make PSBs more efficient: Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for PSBs’ employees Representation on boards proportionate to the blocks held by employees to incentivize employees and align their interests with that of all shareholders of banks. Creation of a GSTN type entity that will aggregate data from all PSBs and use technologies like big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning in credit decisions for ensuring better screening and monitoring of borrowers, especially the large ones. Financial Fragility in the NBFC Sector Survey investigates the key drivers of Rollover Risk of the shadow banking system in India in light of the current liquidity crunch in the sector. Key drivers of Rollover Risk: Asset Liability Management (ALM) Risk. Interconnectedness Risk. Financial and Operating Resilience of an NBFC. Over-dependence on short-term wholesale funding. Survey computes a diagnostic (Health Score) by quantifying the Rollover risk for a sample of HFCs and Retail-NBFCs (which are representative of their respective sectors). The analysis of the Health Score has the following findings: The HFC sector exhibited a declining trend post 2014 and overall health of the sector worsened considerably by the end of FY2019. The Score of the Retail-NBFC sector was consistently below par for the period 2014 -19. Larger Retail-NBFCs had higher Health Scores but among medium and small Retail- NBFCs, the medium size ones had a lower score for the entire period of 2014-19. Survey suggests that the Health Score provides an early warning signal of impending liquidity problems. Equity markets react favourably to increase in Health Score of individual HFCs and Retail-NBFCs. The Survey prescribes this analysis to efficiently allocate liquidity enhancements across firms (with different Health Scores) in the NBFC sector, thereby arresting financial fragility in a capital-efficient manner. Privatization and Wealth Creation Survey examines the realized efficiency gains from privatization in the Indian context and bolsters the case for aggressive disinvestment of CPSEs. Strategic disinvestment of Government’s shareholding of 53.29 per cent in HPCL led to an increase of around Rs. 33,000 crore in national wealth. Survey presents an analysis of the before-after performance of 11 CPSEs which underwent strategic disinvestment from 1999-2000 to 2003-04: Financial indicators such as net worth, net profit, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) etc of the privatized CPSEs, on an average, have improved significantly. Privatized CPSEs have been able to generate more wealth from the same resources. Survey suggests aggressive disinvestment of CPSEs to: Bring in higher profitability. Promote efficiency. Increase competitiveness. Promote professionalism India’s Economic Performance in 2019-20 India’s GDP growth moderated to 4.8 % in H1 of 2019-20, amidst a weak environment for global manufacturing, trade and demand. Real consumption growth has recovered in Q2 of 2019-20, cushioned by a significant growth in government final consumption. Growth for ‘Agriculture and allied activities’ and ‘Public administration, defense, and other services’ in H1 of 2019-20 was higher than in H2 of 2018-19. India’s external sector gained further stability in H1 of 2019-20:  Current Account Deficit (CAD) narrowed to 1.5 % of GDP in H1 of 2019-20 from 2.1 % in 2018-19.  Impressive Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).  Rebounding of portfolio flows.  Accretion of foreign exchange reserves.  Sharper contraction of imports as compared to that of exports in H1 of 2019-20, with easing of crude prices. Headline inflation expected to decline by year end: Increased from 3.3 % in H1 of 2019-20 to 7.35 % in December 2019-20 due to temporary increase in food inflation. Rise in CPI-core and WPI in December 2019-20 suggests building of demand pressure. Deceleration in GDP growth can be understood within the framework of a slowing cycle of growth: Financial sector acted as a drag on the real sector (investment-growth-consumption). Reforms undertaken during 2019-20 to boost investment, consumption and exports: Speeding up the insolvency resolution process under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).  Easing of credit, particularly for the stressed real estate and NBFC sectors.  Announcing the National Infrastructure Pipeline 2019-2025. Survey expects an uptick in the GDP growth in H2 of 2019-20: 5 % GDP growth for 2019-20 based on CSO’s first Advance Estimates.  Expeditious delivery on reforms for enabling the economy to strongly rebound in 2020-21 Sustainable Development and Climate Change India moving forward on the path of SDG implementation through well-designed initiatives SDG India Index: Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh are front runners. Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh come under the category of Aspirants. India hosted COP-14 to UNCCD which adopted the Delhi Declaration: Investing in Land and Unlocking Opportunities. COP-25 of UNFCCC at Mandrid: India reiterated its commitment to implement Paris Agreement. COP-25 decisions include efforts for climate change mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation from developed country parties to developing country parties. Forest and tree cover Increasing and has reached 80.73 million hectare. 24.56 % of the geographical area of the country. Burning of agricultural residues, leading to rise in pollutant levels and deterioration of air quality, is still a major concern though the total number of burning events recorded reduced due to various efforts taken. International Solar Alliance (ISA) ‘Enabler’ by institutionalizing 30 Fellowships from the Member countries. ‘Facilitator’ by getting the lines of credit worth US$ 2 Billion from EXIM Bank of India and 1.5 Billion from AfD, France. ‘Incubator’ by nurturing initiatives like the Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative. ‘Accelerator’ by developing tools to aggregate demand for 1000 MW solar and 2.7 lakh solar water pumps. Agriculture and Food Management Largest Proportion of Indian population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture for employment opportunities as compared to any other sector. The share of agriculture and allied sectors in the total Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country has been continuously declining on account of relatively higher growth performance of non-agricultural sectors, a natural outcome of development process. GVA at Basic Prices for 2019-20 from ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’ sector is estimated to grow by 2.8 %. Agricultural productivity is also constrained by lower level of mechanization in agriculture which is about 40 % in India, much lower than China (59.5 %) and Brazil (75 %). Skewed pattern of regional distribution of agricultural credit in India: Low credit in Hilly, Eastern and North Eastern states (less than 1 % of total agricultural credit disbursement). Livestock income has become an important secondary source of income for millions of rural families: An important role in achieving the goal of doubling farmers’ income. Livestock sector has been growing at a CAGR of 7.9 % during last five years. During the last 6 years ending 2017-18, Food Processing Industries sector has been growing: Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of around 5.06 % Constitutes as much as 8.83 % and 10.66 % of GVA in Manufacturing and Agriculture sector respectively in 2017-18 at 2011-12 prices. While interests of the vulnerable sections of the population need to be safeguarded, Survey emphasizes on sustainability of food security operations by: Addressing the burgeoning food subsidy bill. Revisiting the rates and coverage under NFSA. Industry and Infrastructure The industrial sector as per Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered a growth of 0.6 per cent in 2019-20 (April-November) as compared to 5.0 % during 2018-19 (April-November). Fertilizer sector achieved a growth of 4.0 % during 2019-20 (April-November) as compared to (-) 1.3 per cent during 2018-19 (April-November). Steel sector achieved a growth of 5.2 % during 2019-20 (April-November) as compared to 3.6 % during 2018-19 (April-November). Total telephone connections in India touched 119.43 crore as on September 30, 2019. The installed capacity of power generation has increased to 3, 64,960 MW as on October 31, 2019 from 3, 56,100 MW as on March 31, 2019. Report of the Task Force on National Infrastructure Pipeline released on 31.12.2019 has projected total infrastructure investment of Rs. 102 lakh crore during the period FY 2020 to 2025 in India. Services Sector Increasing significance of services sector in the Indian economy: About 55 % of the total size of the economy and GVA growth.  Two-thirds of total FDI inflows into India. About 38 per cent of total exports. More than 50 % of GVA in 15 out of the 33 states and UTs. Gross Value Added growth of the services sector moderated in 2019-20 as suggested by various high-frequency indicators and sectoral data such as air passenger traffic, port and shipping freight traffic, bank credit etc. On the bright side, FDI into services sector has witnessed a recovery in early 2019-20. Social Infrastructure, Employment and Human Development The expenditure on social services (health, education and others) by the Centre and States as a proportion of GDP increased from 6.2 % in 2014-15 to 7.7 % in 2019-20 (BE). India’s ranking in Human Development Index improved to 129 in 2018 from 130 in 2017: With 1.34 % average annual HDI growth, India is among the fastest improving countries Gross Enrolment Ratio at secondary, higher secondary and higher education level needs to be improved. The share of regular wage/salaried employees has increased by 5 percentage points from 18 % in 2011-12 to 23 % in 2017-18.  A significant jump of around 2.62 crore new jobs with 1.21 crore in rural areas and 1.39 crore in urban areas in this category. Total formal employment in the economy increased from 8 % in 2011-12 to 9.98 % in 2017-18. Gender disparity in India’s labour market widened due to decline in female labour force participation especially in rural areas: Around 60 % of productive age (15-59) group engaged in full time domestic duties. Access to health services inter-alia through Ayushman Bharat and Mission Indradhanush across the country has improved. Mission Indradhanush has vaccinated 3.39 crore children and 87.18 lakh pregnant women of 680 districts across the country. About 76.7 % of the households in the rural and about 96 % in the urban areas had houses of pucca structure. A 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029) launched to focus on sustaining the sanitation behavior change and increasing access to solid and liquid waste management.