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Creative Guidance – Art of watching your breath – Inspirational Educative Articles

Art of watching your breath: Before watching something, you need to know what you are trying to watch. What exactly is the breath? If you have not precisely defined what a breath is, you will not be able to watch it. The problem is not of watching, but of defining what you want to watch. The moment you define something clearly, it’s very easy to watch it. If someone says, “Look over there,” you’ll have a hundred and one questions: “What do you mean over there? Should I look at that bottle, the cup, or the table?” When someone says, “Look at the bottle,” it narrows down your vision a little more. You can still have questions, “Where should I look? Should I look at the cap, the label, or the contents of the bottle?” When you are finally told, “Forget about everything and just focus on the cap of the bottle,” you can begin to focus without any confusion. This might sound very simple, but very few people inquire deeply into their object of observation, and hence are always confused about the process of watching. Apply the same process of inquiry to your breath. Your breath is not a single point; it is a continuum. A breath starts as air from outside, touches your nostrils, enters your body, pauses for a moment, and then leaves the body. Breath is not a single point, but a complete cycle. This is where you need to understand the difference between focus and awareness. If you are just trying to focus, you will always be in confusion because you don’t know what exactly to focus on in this long cycle of breathing. You might ask yourself, “Should I focus on the beginning, the middle, or the end of the breath?” All you have to do is narrow down your definition of breath and focus on either the air touching your nostrils, the pause between two breaths, or the contraction and expansion of your abdomen. You can focus anywhere on the breath, but your entire awareness should be on the process of breathing. The whole activity of breathing and the whole process of breathing should be a part of your awareness. Every time you are confused about what to watch, know that as long as you are fully aware of your breath, you are in meditation. “This article is a part of the creative endeavor of Meditation Farm and IASBABA.”

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Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 21st December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 21st December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) Operation Prahar: Started by Haryana Police to fight Organised Crime Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Internal Security In News Operation Prahar’ is a Haryana police drive to fight organised crime and growing drug menace in the State. Haryana government also announced that a separate “Haryana Narcotics Bureau” would be set up in an attempt to curb drug menace in the State. Do You Know? India's strategic location places it amid two largest sources of illicit drugs in South Asia- Golden Crescent (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran) on the northwest and the infamous Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos) on the northeast. Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 21st December 2019 Src: Click here Dolphin’s Nose: Joint Operation to crackdown on Espionage racket Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III – Security In News In a joint operation —‘Dolphin’s Nose’ — conducted by the Andhra Pradesh State, Naval and Central intelligence agencies, seven naval personnel and hawala operator were arrested for alleged espionage and suspected links with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Two of the personnel were from the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) and the rest from the Western Naval Command (WNC). The importance of the Eastern Naval Command (HQ at Vishakapatnam, AP) has grown with the presence of the Ship Building Centre, which builds the Arihant-class nuclear submarines. The ENC is also coming up withstrategic Naval Alternative Operations Base (NAOB)in Visakhapatnam district.  The NAOB and the Arihant Project are listed under the “top-secret” strategic weapons projects and are directly under the control of the Prime Minister’s Office. Apache attack helicopters: India to import more from USA Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II- International Affairs; GS-III- Security In News In early 2020, India will probablysign a deal with Boeing Company of USAfor additional six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, estimated to cost around $930 million. These are in addition to 22 Apaches already being inducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF). It will replace the ageing Russian Mi-35 attack helicopters in service. Feature of Apache helicopters are: It is capable of delivering variety of weapons which include fire and forget anti-tank guided missiles Air to ground Hellfire missiles 70 mm Hydra rockets  Air to air Stinger missiles They are day/night, all weather capable  They also have high agility and survivability against battle damage. Pinaka missile system successfully flight-tested Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Security In News India successfully conducted test firing of the indigenously developed Pinaka missile system from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off the Odisha coast About Pinaka It is developed by DRDO Pinaka is a Multi-Barrel Rocket System to supplement the existing artillery gun at ranges beyond 30 kilometres to make precision hits.  The guided weapon system is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance kit comprising of an advanced navigation and control system.  The system is mounted on a Tatra truck for mobility.  Digital Communications Commission (DCC): Approves auction of Spectrum Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Infrastructure In News The Digital Communications Commission (DCC) approved plans to auction over 8,300 MHz of spectrum, including airwaves to be used for offering 5G services, with a reserve price of ₹5.22 lakh crore. Challenges for the auction are: Spectrum reserve prices 4 to 6 times higher than that of similar spectrum sold recently in several countries  With high levels of debt and prevailing financial stress in the sector, telecom service providers will find it difficult to raise funds to participate in the auctions The quantum of spectrum in the 5G band being put up for auction will be only 175 MHz, ‘woefully inadequate’ for operators to roll out robust 5G networks and services About Digital Communications Commission The Government of India, vide executive resolution has re-designated the Telecom Commission (set up in 1989 by executive order) as the 'Digital Communications Commission'. The DCC consists of a Chairman, four full time members and four part time members. The Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications is the ex-officio Chairman of the DCC. The DCC is responsible for: Formulating the policy of Department of Telecommunications for approval of the Government; Preparing the budget for the Department of Telecommunications for each financial year and getting it approved by the Government; & Implementation of Government's policy in all matters concerning telecommunication.  Import Cover: Rises to 10 months Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy In News RBI has stated that the foreign exchange reserves has increased to $429.84 billion as at end June 2019 from $412.47 billion as at end March 2019.  As a result, the import cover rose to 10 months compared with 9.6 months Import Cover measures the number of months of imports that can be covered with foreign exchange reserves available with the central bank of the country.  Eight to ten months of import cover is essential for the stability of a currency. (MAINS FOCUS) ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3: Awareness in the fields of IT Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security Tech firms facing antitrust issues Context: Google and Amazon are under Scrutiny for their influence on consumer privacy, labor conditions, public discourse and violation of antitrust law Background Silicon Valley giants – Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple – are new age Tech companies which through their data business model have gained tremendous market power and now wield tremendous influence on socio-economic-political aspects of people. This has led regulators across the world to frame guidelines/policies so as to curb their market monopoly power. What are the primary sources of tension between these companies and Governments? There are two sources of tension relating to these four tech firms that have caused alarm across the United States, Europe and elsewhere:  First, that they may have engaged in anti-competitive behaviour over many years thus undercutting smaller potential rivals and holding onto an outsized market share;  Second, that as a result of this metastatic growth, they now have a vast influence on politics, policy and personal reputations across the spectrum, making cost of data privacy breaches by these firms catastrophic.  Concerns of each platform Amazon: It is an online sales platform has disrupted the traditional business of retail sellers and small business. Allegations that Amazon favours its own self-branded products over those of third-party sellers through manipulation of search results. Apple:  Its App Store policies, specifically regarding how Apple ranks search results on that platform, is questioned as it has lead exclusion of certain competing apps from the Store (Ex. Spotify). Questions have also been raised on how Apple determines the share of revenue it takes from in-app purchases Facebook: Regulators have focused their attention on Facebook’s acquisitive streak in capital markets, for example, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enquiry into whether Facebook defensively purchased certain companies to maintain its dominant market position in the social networking ecosystem. Google: This company handles more than 90% of online searches across the world. In recent years concern has grown over the fact that Google has increasingly been sending users to its own sites to answer their queries, including products such as Google Flights and Google Maps. Thus there are allegations of abuse of its dominance in internet search, advertising and its mobile system, to the detriment of rival content producers. The European Union has already fined Google $5.1 billion in 2018. What steps has US authorities taken against these tech giants? The House of Representative’s Antitrust Subcommittee announced a bipartisan investigation into competition and “abusive conduct” in the tech sector. It also made an enormous information demand to all four tech giants, requesting 10 years’ worth of detailed records relating to competition, acquisitions, and other matters relevant to the investigation. Attorneys-General across 50 U.S. states and territories announced a joint antitrust probe into Google and Facebook What is the Political Scenario in USA with regard to these investigations? U.S. President Donald Trump could hardly be considered a tech ally as he warned in August 2018 that tech companies could be in a “very antitrust situation.” In March 2019 U.S. Senator and Democrat Elizabeth Warren announced as part of her 2020 presidential campaign, a plan to break up Amazon, Facebook, and Google. What are anti-trust laws? Antitrust laws also referred to as competition laws developed to protect consumers from predatory business practices. They ensure that fair competition exists in an open-market economy.  These laws have evolved along with the market, vigilantly guarding against would-be monopolies and disruptions to the productive ebb and flow of competition. India’s Anti-Trust Regulation Framework The Competition Act, 2002 is India’s antitrust law. It replaced the Monopolistic and Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1969. The Act prohibits: anti-competitive agreements; abuse of dominant position by enterprises; and regulates combinations (Mergers and Acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India. From the provisions under the Competition Act, 2002, the central government has established Competition Commission of India in 2003 which acts as a watchdog of free market economy. In 2018, The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has also imposed Rs.136 crore fine on Google for unfair business practices and for infringing antitrust conduct in India. Way Forward: India should closely follow the proceedings of these cases in USA and learn the necessary jurisprudence and regulatory framework to be imbibed within Indian anti-trust governance structure Justice B.N.Srikrishna Committee report on data protection should be implemented in letter and spirit so as to deal effectively with new age data-centred tech giants. In the light of Supreme Court’s verdict on privacy in K.Puttaswamy case, India should come out comprehensive guidelines on data usage so as to balance the need of digital innovation and individual’s right to privacy. Connecting the dots: Should India also launch Joint Parliamentary committee to investigate whether these tech giants are indulging in anti-competitive trade practices in India? If these tech giants are broken up, would it impact the digital revolution which is witnessed around the globe and also in India? ENVIRONMENT  TOPIC: General Studies 2: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment CoP 25: Climate Emergency Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 21st December 2019 SRC:DTE Context: The 25th annual talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), referred to as the Conference of Parties (COP), was recently held in Madrid. It ended without any outcome. It was the 15th meeting of the parties for the Kyoto Protocol (CMP15), and also, it was the second meeting of the parties for the Paris Agreement. The prime objective of the conference is to complete the rule-book to the 2015 Paris Agreement that will become effective in 2020 to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (comes to an end in 2020). The Paris Agreement: The Paris Agreement was the first legal instrument to set an explicit temperature target. It pushes countries to keep the average global temperature rise to below 2°C over pre-industrial levels and encourages them to limit it to 1.5°C. It does this largely through voluntarily agreed Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs. Even if all NDC commitments are met, the global mean temperatures would still rise by 3.2°C by 2100, estimates the United Nations Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report To limit warming to 1.5°C, annual global emissions in 2030 need to be under 25 GtCO2 e while the less ambitious 2°C target requires limiting emissions to 41 GtCO2e.even if all NDCs are met, the annual emissions in 2030 will be 54 GtCO2e. Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 21st December 2019 SRC: DTE The question of meeting the Paris Agreement is usually reduced to whether countries are on track to meet the first round of NDCs, which were announced in 2015.  The Agreement requires countries to declare new, progressively ambitious targets every five years and the second round of NDCs are due in 2020. Under the Article 4 of the Paris Agreement — the requirement that each party shall communicate a NDC every five years, and that each successive NDC must be a “progression” beyond the party’s current NDC. Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 21st December 2019 SRC : DTE Mexico (1.49 per cent of annual global emissions) currently aims for its 2030 emissions to be 22-36 per cent below levels seen in 2000, and a 50 per cent reduction in 2000 levels by 2050. These targets were submitted as part of a mid-century strategy published in 2016, and Mexico contends they are consistent with the 2°C threshold. South Korea (1.29 per cent of global annual emissions), which published its 2050 strategy in 2009, much before the Paris Agreement legally established the 1.5°C and 2°C thresholds to assess NDCs.  Other significant emitters with a declared intent to update targets in 2020 include South Africa (1.08 per cent of global annual emissions), Nigeria (1.01 per cent), Argentina (0.91 per cent) and Ukraine (0.70 per cent). Conclusion:  Do you think India must follow NDCs? Do you think Paris agreement is a failure? (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) Consider the following statements about Pinaka Missile system It is developed by DRDO It is a Multi-Barrel Rocket System to supplement the existing artillery gun at ranges beyond 500 kilometres to make precision hits.  Select the correct answer from codes given below. 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Consider the following statements about Digital Communications Commission (DCC) It is a statutory body established under Indian Telegraph Act,1885 The Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications is the ex-officio Chairman of the DCC. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Which of the following best describes the term ‘import cover’, sometimes seen in the news? It is the ratio of value of imports to the Gross Domestic Product of a country It is the total value of imports of a country in a year It is the ratio between the value of exports and that of imports between two countries It is the number of months of imports that could be paid for by  a country’s international reserves Q.4) Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent often seen in news is related to which field of interest? Gravitational anomalies on earth’s surface USA’s counter-strategy to China’s string of Pearls strategy Illicit drug producing areas in the world None of the above ANSWERS FOR 20 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 B 2 B 3 A 4 C 5 C MUST READ Whither Amaravati?: on three capital cities for Andhra Pradesh The Hindu Net loss: on Citizenship Amendment Act protests The Hindu Sound decision to not raise GST rates ET An impeachment that partisans will Trump ET Gandhiji would have been at the barricades IE Somewhere up above temples touching sky IE

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 20th December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 20th December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) UNICEF: Ensure Child Rights Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II – International Bodies In News Children’s rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, including in peaceful protest, are enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) UNCRC is a human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. The Convention defines a child as any human being under the age of eighteen. The treaty came into force in 1990.Currently, 196 countries have signed and ratified it (including India) except the United States (signed but not ratified) UNICEF thus urged its member-states to ensure that children can exercise this right in a safe and peaceful manner. About United Nations International Children’s Education Fund(UNICEF) UNICEF was created in 1946 as International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF) by UN relief Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations in 1953 and is devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children. Concrete Maturity Meter: To measure the strength of concrete Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III – Science & Technology In News The Construction Engineering Research Foundation (PCERF)- a non-profit body- has developed the country’s first indigenous Concrete Maturity Meter that determines the strength of concrete used in construction. The device can help in significantly reducing the margin of error in estimating the strength of a structure  It also helps in cutting project costs (10-12%) as it will be available at 30% to 40% of the cost of the foreign maturity meter(₹3 - ₹5 Lakh) that is in use in the market The method to measure concrete strength is based on the principle that concrete strength is directly related to its hydration (temperature) and age (time) The device can also be directly connected to mobile phones so as to suit the techniques and skills of end users in India Exercise INDRA 19’: India-Russia Trilateral Exercise Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II- International Affairs; GS-III- Security In News The air force component of ‘Ex INDRA 19’, a joint exercise between India and Russia, successfully concluded at the Air Force Station in Lohegaon, Pune The exercise provided an opportunity to enhance the IAF’s operational capability, synergise joint operations and improve interoperability with Russian Federation Air Force The INDRA series of exercise began in 2003. It was conducted as a single service exercise alternately between the two countries. However, the first joint Tri Services Exercise was conducted in 2017. The 2019 exercise included joint training in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations under the United Nations mandate. Gandhi prize: Portugal sets up the prize Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I - Culture In News Portugal would launch the prize in order to promote Gandhi’s ideals. Every year, the prize would be inspired by Gandhi’s thoughts and quotes. The first edition of the prize would be dedicated to animal welfare. Gandhi said “the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated” About National Committee for the Commemoration Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary The National Committee was constituted for commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the national and international, presided by the President of India This Committee includes Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Ministers of all states, representatives from across the political spectrum, Gandhians, thinkers, and eminent persons from all walks of life.  The Committee also has nine international members, including two former Secretaries-General of the United Nations - Mr Kofi Annan and Mr Ban Ki-Moon. Portuguese Prime Minister is the only foreign Prime Minister to be a part of the committee. National Population Register (NPR): West Bengal Opts out of the exercise Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Governance, Federalism In News The objective of the NPR,is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.  Usual resident 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 or more The database will contain demographic as well as biometric particulars. It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR. Unlike the NRC, the NPR will also include foreigners living in India. The NPR is being developed under the principles of the Citizenship Act of 1955, and the Citizenship Rules set out in 2003 When was it recently conducted? The data for National Population Register was collected in 2010 alongwith the houselisting phase of Census of India 2011.  It has been decided to update the National Population Register along with the Houselisting phase of Census 2021 during April to September 2020 in all the States/UTs except Assam. Criticism: About the government’s capability to manage and protect this information.  Operation Twist: RBI’s Open market operations Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy In News RBI will simultaneously buy and sale government securities worth ₹10,000 crore under its open market operations — a move aimed at managing the yields. The RBI will purchase the longer-term maturities, that are trading at a spread of 150 bps (basis points) over the repo rate, and sell the shorter duration ones RBI will buy ₹10,000 crore of 6.45% government bondsmaturing in 2029 so that the yield of these long-term papers will soften It will simultaneously sell ₹10,000 crore of short-term bonds maturing in 2020. Operation Twist is a move taken by U.S. Federal Reserve in 2011-12 to make long-term borrowing cheaper. Industrial Security Annex (ISA): Signed between India and USA Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- International Affairs In News ISA signed between India and the U.S. at the second 2+2 dialogue in Washington, will open the door for U.S. defence companies to partner with the Indian private sector. ISA will enable smooth transfer of classified technology and information between private entities of the U.S. and India. The ISA is a part of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which India signed with the U.S. long back The ‘2+2’ dialogue is a meeting between the India Ministers for External Affairs and Defence, and the US Secretaries of State and Defence to focus on “strengthening strategic, security and defence cooperation” between the two countries. Other agreements signed during the 2+2 dialogue are Finalisation of Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which will harmonise the two side’s processes for identification, development and execution of projects under the DTTI. Tiger Triumph Exercise: It has been decided to hold the India-U.S. joint tri-services and amphibious exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’ on an annual basis. It was first held in November 2019 as a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise. Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI): USA announced its commitment to being the founding member of the CDRI whose headquarters will be located in India. (MAINS FOCUS) POLITY TOPIC: General Studies 2: Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries President Impeachment: US President Trump to be impeached Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 20th December 2019 Src: BBC Context: Donald Trump became the third US President to be impeached. The first was Andrew Johnson in 1868 and then Bill Clinton in 1998. The impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump  was initiated on September 2019 when a whistleblower alleged that Trump may have abused the power of the presidency The House Intelligence Committee released a 300-page impeachment report accusing President Donald Trump of trying to enlist Ukraine to help him in the 2020 presidential election and obstructing the congressional inquiry by trying to cover it up. Why?  A whistleblower alleged that Trump may have abused the power of the presidency by withholding military aid as a means of pressuring newly elected president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to perform two favors:  To pursue investigations of Joe Biden and his son Hunter, To investigate a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind interference in the 2016 presidential election. More than a week after Trump had put a hold on the previously approved military aid,400mn   He made the aforementioned requests in a July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president, which the whistleblower alleged was intended to help Trump's re-election bid. US impeachment process The US House of representative (435 members) needs to pass the impeachment motion by a simple majority, after investigation by judiciary committee  The motion of Impeachment then goes to the Senate (Upper House consisting of 100 members), where a trial presided by Chief Justice takes place with representative from House acting as prosecutors and the President & his attorneys presenting his defence A two-third majority in Senate is necessary to convict and remove the President. If the President is convicted, the Vice-President takes over the White House for remaining period of tenure.) Indian Impeachment process In India, President can be impeached for violation of the Constitution (Article 61) The motion for impeaching President can be introduced in any House of Parliament. After the investigation, the motion of impeachment must be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total membership of the House by both Houses of the Parliament. Connecting the dots: Do you think Donald trump has misused the power? What is the difference between Indian and US President Impeachment process? POLITY TOPIC: General Studies 2: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures. Role of civil services in a democracy. Section 144: Protests  against Citizenship Amendment Act & Section 144 Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 20th December 2019 SRC: ET Context: As protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act hit the streets in large numbers in several states , state governments sought to tamp down on the demonstrations by issuing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973. Section 144 CrPC: Section 144 CrPC, a law retained from the colonial era,. It empowers a district magistrate, a sub-divisional magistrate or any other executive magistrate specially empowered by the state government in this behalf to issue orders to prevent and address urgent cases of apprehended danger or nuisance. The magistrate has to pass a written directed against a particular individual, or to persons residing in a particular place or area, or to the public generally . In emergency cases, the magistrate can pass these orders without prior notice to the individual against whom the order is directed. Powers under Section 144 CrPC The magistrate can direct any person to abstain from a certain act or to take a certain order with respect to certain property in his possession or under his management.  This usually includes restrictions on movement, carrying arms and from assembling unlawfully. It is generally believed that assembly of three or more people is prohibited under Section 144.  It can be used to restrict even a single individual.  Order passed under Section 144 can remain in force for more than two months from the date of the order Criticisms: It is too broad and the words of the section are wide enough to give absolute power to a magistrate that may be exercised unjustifiably. An aggrieved individual can approach the High Court by filing a writ petition if his fundamental rights are at stake. However, fears exist that before the High Court intervenes, the rights could already have been infringed Imposition of Section 144 to an entire state has also drawn criticism since the security situation differs from area to area. SC Judgements: 1961 in Babulal Parate vs State of Maharashtra and Others The Supreme Court refused to strike down the law, saying it is “not correct to say that the remedy of a person aggrieved by an order under the section was illusory”. 1970 (Madhu Limaye vs Sub-Divisional Magistrate):  a seven-judge Bench the power of a magistrate under Section 144 “is not an ordinary power flowing from administration but a power used in a judicial manner and which can stand further judicial scrutiny”. It ruled that the restrictions imposed through Section 144 cannot be held to be violative of the right to freedom of speech and expression, which is a fundamental right because it falls under the “reasonable restrictions” under Article 19(2) of the Constitution. The fact that the “law may be abused” is no reason to strike it down Conclusion: Section 144 is a useful tool to help deal with emergencies. However, absence of any narrow tailoring of wide executive powers with specific objectives, coupled with very limited judicial oversight over the executive branch, makes it ripe for abuse and misuse. Connecting the dots: Do you think Section 144 is being misused? Do you think Section 144 curbs Fundamental rights? (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) Consider the following statements about Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize recently in news It has been instituted by United Nations so as to promote Gandhian Ideals The first edition of the prize would be dedicated to animal welfare. Select the correct answer from codes given below. 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Consider the following statements about National Population Register It is a register of all citizens of India who are above 18 years of age. It has been decided to update NPR along with the Houselisting phase of Census 2021 during April to September 2020 in all the States/UTs except Assam Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Consider the following statements about United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC) UNCRC is a human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children India is a signatory of the treaty but is yet to ratify it. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) Operation twist recently in news is related to which of the following areas? Indian Military’s strike across Myanmar border against Naga insurgents ISRO’s mission to target and destroy spy satellites RBI’s open market operations to manage bond yields None of the above Q.5) Exercise Indra is joint military exercise conducted by which countries? India and Sri Lanka India, USA and Japan India and Russia None of the above ANSWERS FOR 19 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 D 2 A 3 C 4 D MUST READ Protest and order: on anti-CAA protests The Hindu Not unimpeachable: on Donald Trump's impeachment The Hindu Should the government exit navratna companies? The Hindu Restiveness in Assam has come full circle with the Citizenship Amendment Act IE Implementation of nation-wide NRC will put India in a state of conflict. Govt must step back IE A solution: Two bad banks for the Four Balance Sheet problem IE The NCLAT ruling vexing beyond Tatas ET Against burning woods to protect the wood ET

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 19th December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 19th December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT): ReinstatesCyrus Mistry as Tata Sons Chairman Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II – Polity; GS –III - Corporate Governance In News NCLAT along with reinstating Cyrus Mistry (who was removed by the Board of Tata Sons) as Chairman of Tata Sons, also ordered to Tata Sons to go back from ‘private company’ to ‘public company’ Value Addition: About NCLAT NCLAT was constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013.  NCLAT is the Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by –  National Company Law Tribunal(s) NCLT(s) under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under Section 202 and Section 211 of IBC.  Competition Commission of India (CCI) – as per the amendment brought to Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013  GST Council: Votes for first time to tax all lotteries at 28% Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III – Economy; GS-II- Federalism In News GST Council broke its tradition of taking decision by consensus and for first time voted for a proposal to tax all lotteries at a uniform rate at 28% (21-7 in favour) Do You Know? In the first eight months of this financial year, only about 50% of GST collection targets (₹6,63,343 crore) and 60% of compensation cess collection targets have been achieved. The GST Council is a constitutional body established under Article 279A of Indian Constitution The GST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister. Its other members are the Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in-charge of Finance or Taxation of all the States. Voting Rights Centre: One third of total votes cast States: Two-thirds of the total votes cast (Each state, big or small, will have equal vote) For any proposal to be cleared by the council, it has to get 75 per cent of the vote. Mahadayi Project: Goa gets relief Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II- Federalism  In News Union Environment Ministry kept in suspension its letter issued to Karnataka which had stated no environmental clearance was required for Kalasa Banduri Project. About Kalasa Banduri project The project involves diverting water from Mahadayi river, the lifeline of Goa, into the Malaprabha river. The Kalasa Banduri project is aimed at providing drinking water to three important districts of north Karnataka — Belagavi, Gadag and Dharwad — which go parched in summer due to acute water scarcity. Mahadayi river originates from a cluster of 30 springs at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in the Belgaum district of Karnataka. Then it enters Goa and finally drains in Arabian sea. Goa state capital Panaji lies on the banks of Mandovi Mahadayi Water Tribunal (MWT) Award in 2018:Karnataka has been allocated 13.5tmcft of water, Goa has been 24tmcft while Maharashtra has been allocated 1.3tmcft. Sahitya Academy: Shashi Tharoor wins Akademi’s 2019 award for English Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I - Culture In News Sahitya Akademi award established in 1954, is a literary honour that is conferred annually by Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of letters. Award is presented to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the twenty-four major Indian languages recognized by the Akademi (including English). Sahitya Akademi award is the second highest literary honour by the Government of India, after Jananpith award. The Award in the form of an engraved copper-plaque, and cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-  The author must be of Indian Nationality.Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray is the designer of the plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi. Joint River Commission: Bangladesh gives a miss Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- International Affairs In News Bangladesh has not sent a delegation for the Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting with India which casts doubt over progress of Feni river water sharing agreement Bangladesh had agreed to let India withdraw 1.82 cusecs from the Feni river to supply the border town of Sabroom in the northeastern State of Tripurafor drinking water purposes Feni River is a trans-boundary river that originates in Tripura and flows through Sabroom town and then enters Bangladesh.  (MAINS FOCUS) ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Indian economy is losing its growth momentum (Part 2) Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 19th December 2019 SRC: IE Before reading this read part 1 : Link  GDP = C + G + I + (NX) In other words, four drivers determine a country’s GDP. These are: C – the total expenditure (demand) by private individuals  G – the total expenditure (demand) by the Government  I – the total expenditure (demand) on investments made businesses in the country  NX – the net effect of imports and exports Derailed Indian economy in 2016 and 2017 Two reasons  & 4 Balance sheets problem 1. The unresolved TBS problem 2. The fall of NBFCs and the real estate sector Together, they make for the Four Balance Sheet Challenge for the Indian economy Reason for the failure of NBFCs : collapse of ILFS in 2018, with Rs 90,000 crores of debt Reason 1 : NBFCs relied on raising short-term funds ,This leads to a situation called an asset-liability mismatch. For example, an NBFC raises money by selling 6-month debt papers and on-lends this as a car loan with a  tenure of 5 years. This leads to a situation where the NBFC has to roll over (or renew) the 6-month debt paper or raise fresh loans to repay the debt paper. In good times, this happens as a matter of course. But when times are tough, this cycle is broken. Reason 2 : The cycle was broken by a default of some firms of the IL&FS; group. There were fears that this would turn out to be a contagion. Simply put, banks, mutual funds and their investors were afraid that more such entities wouldn’t default. As this fear took hold, many institutions refused to give money to NBFCs. The cost of funds rose by as much as 150 basis points for NBFCs. Impacts of the NBFCs Failure on Indian economy  : NBFCs are playing an increasingly important part in the economy. Their share of credit has increased because they were lending in sectors where banks refused to go or did not want to go.  Now that NBFCs are finding it difficult to raise money or having to pay a huge cost for doing so, this will choke the flow of credit to the economy.  It will hit the MSME sector which is already suffering from the twin blows of demonetisation and the goods and services tax. It will hit consumption demand in the economy( consumption was the primary engine driving the economy).  A reduction in credit further adds to economic slowdown pressures, which are already visible.  Slowdown in credit could lead to another pile of non-performing assets in sectors such as commercial real estate and infrastructure, which could have economy-wide knockdown effects Real estate story: Builders launched numerous projects since the start of mid-2000s in the hope that these flats would be sold But after the Global Financial Crisis, the demand for flats as well as bank funding for builders collapsed. The NBFCs  took the lead in lending to the real estate sector.  By June-end 2019, the real estate sector reached a breaking point with close to 10 lakh unsold units (as against an annual demand of just 2 lakh units) in just the top 8 cities in the country. Real estate sector was unable to pay back to the NBFCs , which, in turn, started defaulting. Conclusion: India’s GDP has been affected by different factors at different times. After Global Financial Crisis, private consumption bailed India out. However, this component – “C” – has become progressively weaker since 2017 and is today the main worry. G or government spending bailed out the GDP but at the cost of hiding the true fiscal deficit.  The “I” or business investment component has been weak since the GFC  sharp repo rate cuts and corporate tax cuts appear ineffective in the short term. The net exports or “NX” component has remained weak all through since the GFC Connecting the dots: Do you think Demonetisation and GST contributed to Indian Economic distress? How do you think Indian economy can be recovered from the distress? POLITY TOPIC: General Studies 2: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures. Right to information:  ‘Abuse’ of RTI Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 19th December 2019 SRC:RTI Context: Chief Justice of India said the unbridled use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act had created a sense of “paralysis and fear” in the government.  Paralysis and fear about this Act (RTI). People are not taking decisions CJI said time had come to lay down guidelines on the use of the RTI. Guidelines should be put in place to check the locus of the RTI applicant and put a “filter” on the kind of requests made under the 2005 Act. Justice Bobde said : The court was not against the exercise of the right to information. “But it cannot be an unrivalled right. There is the serious problem of people filing RTI requests with malafide intentions, people set up by rivals,” he said. The RTI Act had become a source of criminal intimidation by people with an axe to grind. “Criminal intimidation is a nice word for ‘blackmail’,” Justice Bobde said. Genesis of RTI: 1975, in State of Uttar Pradesh vs Raj Narain “The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way by their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing. Their right to know, which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute, is a factor which should make one wary when secrecy is claimed for transactions which can at any rate have no repercussion on public security.”  It observed, “Voters’ (little man-citizens’) right to know antecedents including criminal past of his candidate contesting election for MP or MLA is much more fundamental and basic for survival of democracy.  RTI Act An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him. “The information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person ”Bhagat Singh vs CIC in 2007, then Delhi High Court Justice Ravindra Bhat (now a Supreme Court judge) observed: “Access to information, under Section 3 of the Act, is the rule and exemptions under Section 8, the exception.  Section 8 being a restriction on this fundamental right, must therefore be strictly construed. It should not be interpreted in manner as to shadow the very right itself.” SC Judgements: Jayantilal N Mistry vs Reserve Bank of India Public Information Officers under the guise of one of the exceptions given under Section 8 of RTI Act, have evaded the general public from getting their hands on the rightful information that they are entitled to.  The ideal of ‘Government by the people’ makes it necessary that people have access to information on matters of public concern.  DAV College Trust and Managin  vs Director of Public Instructions Declared that NGOs are not beyond the RTI Act. This was based on an examination of the question whether NGOs are substantially financed by the government. Because of this observation, the spotlight falls of several NGOs that have been getting public money and were not covered under the RTI. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) & Anr vs Aditya Bandhopadhyay and Others in 2011 Nearly 60-70 lakh RTI applications are filed in India every year, and activists have questioned whether addressing these would require 75% of the time of government staff.  Several public authorities have used this observation while denying information, ignoring the fact in the same case, the Supreme Court had ordered disclosure of the requisite information. SC : “The nation does not want a scenario where 75% of the staff of public authorities spends 75% of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties” Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs Central Information Commission & Ors in October 2012 The performance of an employee/officer in an organisation is primarily a matter between the employee and the employer and normally those aspects are governed by the service rules which fall under the expression ‘personal information’ the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest. if the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer of the Appellate Authority is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information, appropriate orders could be passed but the petitioner cannot claim those details as a matter of right Conclusion: A Transparency Audit report submitted to the Central Information Commission (CIC) in November 2018 sought feedback from 2,092 PAs under the CIC to evaluate implementation of Section 4 of the Act. Only 838 (40%) responded and even here, 35% of the PAs fared poorly with little transparency in parameters such as organisation and functions, budget and programme, e-governance, and other information disclosures.  The other key misgiving with RTI implementation has been the persisting problem of vacancies in the CIC and State commissions — the CIC has four vacancies and 33,000 pending cases. After the top court’s directions, this lacuna should be addressed by governments quickly. (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 Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) can hear appeals against the orders passed by which of the following bodies? National Company Law Tribunals Competition Commission of India Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India  Select the correct answer from codes given below. 1 only 1 and 2 only 1 and 3 only 1,2 and 3 Q.2) Consider the following statements about GST Council GST Council is a constitutional body established under Article 279A of Indian Constitution headed by Union Finance Minister Centre has 25% voting power while all the States combined have 75% voting power and for any proposal to be cleared it has to get 66% per cent of the vote. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Consider the following statements about Mahadayi River Goa state capital Panaji lies on the banks of this river The Kalasa Banduri project is planned across this river so as to provide drinking water to Northern Karnataka region Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) Feni is a transboundary river between which two countries? India and Nepal India and Bhutan India and Pakistan India and Bangladesh ANSWERS FOR 18 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 C 2 A 3 C 4 D 5 A MUST READ Quick, not hasty: On Kuldeep Singh Sengar conviction The Hindu The last bastions of secular India The Hindu Trump cards in the impeachment deck The Hindu Are fears over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act misplaced? The Hindu Growth as well as a low-carbon economy ET Institutional clash, not democracy, in Pak ET Students who protest against discriminatory laws are real patriots. They offer hope for future IE Discrimination, not justice: Hope this generation does a better job of navigating the struggle than the one that came before IE

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 18th December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 18th December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) First Global Refugee Forum (GRF) Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains II- International Affairs In News The first Global Refugee Forum (GRF), a two-day gathering of United Nations member states, began in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 17th The Forum, jointly hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the government of Switzerland,  Aims to debate and discuss the response of the world’s countries to the global refugee situation. The first GRF has been organised around six areas of focus: burden- and responsibility-sharing, education, jobs and livelihoods, energy and infrastructure, solutions, and protection capacity. The number of refugees has risen to over 25 million people worldwide The GRF will be held every four years at the Ministerial level.  It is intended to present an opportunity for UN member states and other stakeholders to announce action plans and pledges towards meeting objectives such as easing the burden on the host country, enhancing refugee self-reliance, expanding access to third-country solutions, and supporting conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity. Indian Culture Portal Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I- Culture In News Culture Minister unveiled a portal on Indian culture which brings together all the cultural resources of the country on one platform i.e. www.indianculture.gov.in The Indian Culture Portal is a part of the National Virtual Library of India project, funded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.  The portal has been created and developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.  Data has been provided by organisations of the Ministry of Culture (such as the National Archives of India, Gandhi Smriti and DarshanSmriti, Archaeological Survey of India and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts) and curated by Indira Gandhi National Open University. The portal currently has details on 90 lakh items, including manuscripts, archives, research papers, audio books and folk tales with some of them dating back to 4000 years National Broadband Mission Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Economic Development In News The government announced a new ‘mission’ aimed at providing broadband access in all villages in the country by 2022,  Under the mission, the government plans to lay incremental 30 lakh route km of Optical Fiber Cable, while also increasing tower density from 0.42 to 1 tower per thousand of population by 2024. The mission envisages stakeholder investment of $100 billion (Rs7 lakh crore), including Rs70,000 crore from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) in coming years The vision of the national broadband mission is to fast-track growth of digital communications infrastructure, bridge the digital divide, facilitate digital empowerment and inclusion, and provide affordable and universal access of broadband for all Additionally, a Broadband Readiness Index will be developed to measure the availability of digital communications infrastructure within a State/UT. Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI) drops Monitoring agency plan Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Governance In News UIDAI was seeking to hire a social media agency that will employ ‘social listening’ tools to monitor and influence conversations on Aadhaar on Facebook and Twitter. However, it has informed the Supreme Court -which is hearing a plea objecting such a proposal - that it has decided to withdraw hiring Social media monitoring agency About UIDAI UIDAI was created with the objective to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named as "Aadhaar", to all residents of India that is (a) robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities, and (b) can be verified and authenticated in an easy, cost-effective way. UIDAI is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. Prior to its establishment as a statutory authority, UIDAI was functioning as an attached office of the then Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) Under the Aadhaar Act 2016, UIDAI is responsible for Aadhaar enrolment and authentication, including operation and management of all stages of Aadhaar life cycle,  Developing the policy, procedure and system for issuing Aadhaar numbers to individuals and  Perform authentication and  To ensure the security of identity information and authentication records of individuals. It comes under the Electronics & IT ministry. No State-wise minority classification Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II - Polity In News The petition asked the Supreme Court to frame guidelines to “identify and define” religious minorities in every State, especially where Hindus are in a minority (in eight states) so as to protect their culture and interests. Articles 29 (protection of the interests of minorities) and Article30 (the right of minorities to administer educational institutions) of the Constitution deals with special provisions for minorities. However, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition stating that the States have been carved language-wise. But religion is beyond all borders, especially political borders. Religion has to be taken on a pan-India basis (MAINS FOCUS) SOCIETY  TOPIC: General Studies 1: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies Global Gender Gap Index, 2020(India has ranked 112th among 153) [caption id="attachment_55048" align="aligncenter" width="398"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 18th December 2019[/caption] SRC: Outlook Context: India has ranked 112th among 153 countries in the annual Global Gender Gap Index for 2020,  The Report was published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently.  Iceland, Norway, and Finland occupy the top three spots in the Report. The Global Gender Gap Index The Report benchmarks countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions. The dimensions are: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment. The Report aims to serve as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men on health, education, economy and politics.  It measures women's disadvantage compared to men, and is not a measure of equality of the gender gap. Through this annual yardstick, stakeholders within each country are able to set priorities relevant in each specific economic, political and cultural context. [caption id="attachment_55049" align="aligncenter" width="319"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 18th December 2019[/caption] Source: Indian Express Global Gender Gap Index for 2020: Key findings Globally, the average (population-weighted) distance completed to gender parity is at 68.6%, which is an improvement since last edition. The largest gender disparity is in political empowerment.  Projecting current trends into the future, the overall global gender gap will close in 99.5 years, on average. There is a sharp deterioration in the economic opportunity gap, especially in women's under-representation in emerging roles, such as cloud computing, engineering and data and artificial intelligence. India’s Status India has slipped four places in the report to 112, behind neighbours China, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh,  It is due to due to rising disparity in terms of women's health and participation in the economy.  The country ranked 98th in WEF’s first report in 2006. Since then, it has fallen due to poor performance in three out of four indicators. India is also ranked in the bottom-five in terms of women's health and survival and economic participation. The report showed that economic opportunities for women are extremely limited in India (35.4 per cent). India also ranked among countries with very low women representation on company boards. The report highlighted abnormally low sex ratios at birth in India (91 girls for every 100 boys). On health and survival, four large countries -- Pakistan, India, Vietnam and China -- fare badly with millions of women not getting the same access to health as men. India is the only country among the 153 countries studied where the economic gender gap is larger than the political one. On a positive note, India has closed two-thirds of its overall gender gap. Way forward The Indian government needs to make sure that maternal and women’s healthcare is a top priority. It needs to increase efforts to skill more women in technology-based fields.  Else, the potential of a large chunk of the population will remain unrealised. Conclusion: Supporting gender parity is critical to ensuring strong, cohesive and resilient societies around the world.  Diversity forms an essential element in the global economy too. Connecting the dots: Do you agree that India badly needs to focus on improving women’s access to healthcare? What ways would you suggest  to improve gender parity? ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Indian economy is losing its growth momentum (Part 1) [caption id="attachment_55050" align="aligncenter" width="398"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 18th December 2019[/caption] SRC: Financial Express  Context: In April, the IMF had that predicted India will grow at a rate of 7.2 per cent in FY20, but recent data indicates a falling GDP growth (4.5 per cent).  The IMF particularly spoke of the “slow growth in rural incomes, domestic demand (as reflected in a sharp drop in sales of automobiles) and credit from non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)” as plausible causes. According to the World Inequality Report 2018, the top 10 per cent of India’s population got 54 per cent of all income while the bottom 50 per cent shared only 15 per cent. Low wages and income inequality have led to a fall in demand. Fundamental equation in macroeconomics: GDP = C + G + I + (NX) In other words, four drivers determine a country’s GDP. These are: C – the total expenditure (demand) by private individuals  G – the total expenditure (demand) by the Government  I – the total expenditure (demand) on investments made businesses in the country  NX – the net effect of imports and exports  Current status of Indian Economy: Indian economy is facing both structural (that is, more long-term issues related to the overall framework of the economy such as the flexibility or inflexibility of labour laws etc.) and cyclical (that is, more short-term issues such as a bad monsoon that disrupts production of food articles etc.) challenges. Since the causes are both structural and cyclical, Experts say, arresting this economic slowdown is proving to be so difficult. Two balance sheets- TBS: The two balance sheets are referred to the Indian banks (especially public sector banks or the government-owned banks) and the corporate sector, respectively. The balance sheets of Indian banks were burdened by a high proportion of non-performing loans and the balance sheet of corporate were clogged because they had over-borrowed and were unable to pay.  Economic boom 2005-09: The origins of India’s TBS is credited to the economic boom that happened between 2005 and 2009. This was a period when economic prospects were rosy and the economy was growing at near double-digit growth rates.  Companies borrowed heavily in the hope of making profits in the future. The banks, especially the government-owned ones, too, ignored prudential norms and lent a lot of money to companies in the hope that this would help boost economic growth.  As it happened, economic prospects collapsed quite sharply after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and companies found that their projects were no longer viable.  The end result was that the companies were left with huge loans they could not pay back in time and the banks were left with huge loans that had turned to  NPA. This meant that neither the Indian companies were in position to invest nor were the Indian banks in a position to lend.  Economic growth 2010-12: Economy continue to grow faster  between 2010 and 2012 9% to 10% in the succeeding years (2010 and 2011). Between 2009 and 2013, companies were in no position to invest. So the “I” (total expenditure (demand) on investments made businesses in the country )component became weak. During this period There was a  hit to India’s exports because of a decline in global demand. So “NX” component also weakened. But unlike in the developed world, where such companies would have been declared bankrupt and liquidated, in India, both the companies and the banks survived. Why? Because most of the struggling banks were owned by the government and so there was no risk associated with them because it was always believed that the government would bail them out.  Most companies survived because banks took a call that giving these companies more time will help the companies repay and many banks lent new loans to such companies so that these companies stayed afloat. Another reason why India continued to grow fast in the immediate aftermath of the GFC. That had to do with the robust demand from the other two components – C the total expenditure (demand) by private individuals and G– the total expenditure (demand) by the Government . In particular, private consumer demand — which is quite weak these days Economy going from 2014 to 2018 Even though the TBS problem remained unsolved – in other words, the bank NPAs continued to climb and share of debt-ridden companies unable to pay interest payments continued to rise – yet,  due to sharp fall in crude oil prices, Indians experienced an income boost.  During 2015 and 2016, international crude oil prices fell to a third of what they were in 2014. This essentially meant that Indians could spend more and the “C” component of the equation boosted the GDP.  Experts claim this gave a 1 to 1.5 percentage point boost to the GDP. 2017 and 2018 saw an uptick in world demand and a real depreciation of the rupee, resulted non-oil export growth rose from -8.6 percent in 2015-16 to 8.9 percent in 2017-18”.the “NX” component helped bump up the GDP growth. Increased government spending increased the “G” component India’s growth was boosted by a lending spree provided by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) like IL&FS and DHFL. NBFCs took over the leading role of lending to the economy because banks were still struggling with NPAs and were largely unwilling to lend directly to businesses. T he credit provided by NBFCs fuelled both private consumption (C) and business investment (I), and through this route fuelled GDP growth. Connecting the dots: Do you think govt shouldn’t bail out Public sector banks during distress? Do you think NPA problems of the Banks can be resolved ? (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) Consider the following statements about the First Global Refugee Forum The Forum is jointly hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the government of Switzerland. It aims to debate and discuss the response of the world’s countries to the global refugee situation Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Consider the following statements about Indian Culture Portal It is a part of the National Virtual Library of India project, funded by the Ministry of Culture It is being created and developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Open University. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Consider the following statements about Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) Money for this fund would be raised through a prescribed percentage of the revenue earned by the telecom licensees. The Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 gives statutory status to the fund which is to be utilized exclusively for meeting the Universal Service Obligation. Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) Global Gender Gap Index is released by which body/organisation? World Bank International Council of Women United Nations Development Programme World Economic Forum Q.5) Consider the following statements about Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) It is a statutory body established under the provisions of the Aadhar Act, 2016 It functions under the overall guidance of Ministry of Home Affairs Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 ANSWERS FOR 17 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 C 2 C 3 A 4 C   MUST READ Justice for the Rohingya The Hindu Time to defend India’s secularism The Hindu Bearing the brunt of slack laws The Hindu Rationalise, not raise, rates of GST ET Protest is legitimate but violence is not ET Unfree speech IE The cost of food IE

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 17th December 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 17th December 2019 Archives (PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS) Hydrogen cell technology (Fuel Cell Technology) Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III – Science & Technology In News Ahead of next July’s Tokyo Olympics, Japan is gearing up to put on its roads thousands of vehicles based on a hydrogen cell technology, also known as ‘fuel cells’. At the heart of the fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) is a device that uses a source of fuel, such as hydrogen, and an oxidant to create electricity by an electrochemical process. Like conventional batteries under the bonnets of automobiles, hydrogen fuel cells too convert chemical energy into electrical energy. From a long-term viability perspective, FCEVs are billed as vehicles of the future, given that hydrogen is the most abundant resource in the universe. Fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process, it does not store energy  Relies on a constant supply of fuel and oxygen — in the same way that an internal combustion engine relies on a constant supply of petrol or diesel, and oxygen Unlike battery-powered electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles do not need to be plugged in, and most models exceed 300 km of range on a full tank. They are filled up with a nozzle, just like in a petrol or diesel station Criticism of Hydrogen Cell Technology: The process of making hydrogen needs energy — often from fossil fuel sources. That has raised questions over hydrogen’s green credentials. Safety — hydrogen is more explosive than petrol. Sexed Semen Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III- Science & Technology In News The Union Minister for animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries said that government plans to provide dairy farmers with ‘sexed semen’ for cattle for as cheap as Rs 100 per straw by 2020. The reproduction system of cattle is similar to humans. Cows carry XX chromosomes while bull semen carries both X and Y. Sexed semen is specially processed semen of bulls from which ‘Y’ chromosomes in sperm cells — which lead to the birth of a male calf — are either removed through a ‘sorting’ process or killed.  Semen which has only ‘X’ chromosomes can ensure that a female calf is born. Sexed semen can help solve the stray cattle problem in country as male calves(and cows which has stopped giving mil) are abandoned on the roads by farmers as they do not give milk.  The guarantee of a female calf being born is never 100 per cent. It can be up to 90 per cent High quality conventional semen straws are available for just around Rs 20-40 per straw only whereas sexed semen costs at least Rs 1,200 per straw without subsidy. GIMS or Government Instant Messaging System Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Governance In News The government is testing a prototype of an Indian equivalent of popular messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, for secure internal use – codenamed GIMS Designed and developed by the Kerala unit of National Informatics Centre (NIC) GIMS is being packaged for employees of Central and state government departments and organisations for intra and inter organisation communications It is being developed as a secure Indian alternative without the security concerns attached with apps hosted abroad or those owned by foreign entities. Like WhatsApp, GIMS employs end-to-end encryption for one-to-one messaging Do You know? There was a WhatsApp breach through a spyware called Pegasus some Indian users’ mobile devices were targeted  Pegasus code can be transmitted via Whatsapp call.It sends the targets contacts, calls and messages to its controller. It can also turn the phone into a spy device by switching on the camera or microphone. Asia’s biggest surge pool  Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Economic Development In News The Stage is all set for the filling of the Asia’s biggest surge pool (open to sky) with the waters of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project  The surge pool measures 92 meters deep and 56 meters diameter and would store one tmc feet of water, which would be lifted by using four motors to the Ananthagiri Reservoir.  The open-to-sky Surge pool was constructed in a record time of 13 months at a cost of Rs 2,700 crore Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project  It was previously known as Pranahita-Chevella Lift Irrigation Project  It is multi-purpose irrigation project at the confluence point of Pranhita River and Godavari River i.e, at Kaleshwaram village in Telangana.  Pranahita river in itself is a confluence of various other smaller tributaries like Wardha, Penganga and Wainganga Rivers. Under the scheme, 89 cumecs (cubic metres per second) of water will be lifted to a height of 106 metres from the Sripada Yellampalli reservoir to Medaram reservoir and will be used for irrigation and water supply in nearby drought-prone areas. Increase Lok Sabha seats Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Polity In News Former President Pranab Mukherjee made a case for raising the number of Lok Sabha constituencies to 1,000 from the existing 543 and for a corresponding increase in the Rajya Sabha’s strength,  He argued that India has a “disproportionately large size” of electorate for elected representatives and thus needs expansion of Parliament The last time the strength of the Lok Sabha was revised was in 1977, which, he noted, was based on the 1971 census that put the total population at 55 crore. The population since then has more than doubled, and there is a ‘strong case’ to remove the freeze in the delimitation exercise. It should be ideally increased to 1,000, GST compensation Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II - Federalism In News The Centre released ₹35,298 crore to the States in Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation, just two days before a crucial meeting of the GST Council. Earlier in Nov 2019, the Centre had written to States voicing concern that due to lower GST collections, the compensation cess might not be enough to pay for the losses arising out of the adoption of the tax system. While the government had budgeted for ₹6,63,343 crore in GST collections for the current fiscal, 2019-20, it had garnered only about 50% of its budget estimate in the first eight months. About GST Council The GST Council is a constitutional body established under Article 279A of Indian Constitution It makes recommendations to the Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and Service Tax (GST). The GST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister. Its other members are the Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in-charge of Finance or Taxation of all the States. (MAINS FOCUS)  ECONOMY  TOPIC: General Studies II Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 [caption id="attachment_55002" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 17th December 2019[/caption] Src:CM Context: Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University, followed by violent clash between students and police, have had a ripple effect across the country. Background Acquiring Indian citizenship: According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are four ways in which Indian citizenship can be acquired: birth, descent, registration and naturalisation.  The provisions are listed under Citizenship Act, 1955. By birth: Every person born in India on or after 26.01.1950 but before 01.07.1987 is an Indian citizen irrespective of the nationality of his/her parents. Every person born in India between 01.07.1987 and 02.12.2004 is a citizen of India given either of his/her parents is a citizen of the country at the time of his/her birth.  Every person born in India on or after 3.12.2004 is a citizen of the country given both his/her parents are Indians or at least one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of birth. By registration with conditions: A person of Indian origin who has been a resident of India for 7 years before applying for registration. A person of Indian origin who is a resident of any country outside undivided India. A person who is married to an Indian citizen and is ordinarily resident for 7 years before applying for registration. Minor children of persons who are citizens of India. By descent: A person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India by descent if his/her father was a citizen of India by birth. A person born outside India on or after December 10, 1992, but before December 3, 2004 if either of his/her parent was a citizen of India by birth. If a person born outside India or or after December 3, 2004 has to acquire citizenship, his/her parents have to declare that the minor does not hold the passport of another country and his/her birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of birth. By naturalisation: A person can acquire citizenship by naturalisation if he/she is ordinarily resident of India for 12 years (throughout 12 months preceding the date of application and 11 years in the aggregate)  and fulfils all qualifications in the third schedule of the Citizenship Act. Dual citizenship: The amended Citizenship Act of 1955 does not provide for dual citizenship or dual nationality.  Any citizen of India, who by registration, naturalisation or otherwise voluntarily takes the citizenship of another country, shall upon such acquisition cease to be a citizen of India.  Cases of termination or cessation of citizenship will be determined ultimately by courts of law. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019: The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB, which grants Indian citizenship to the non-Muslims of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh(Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis) The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill proposes to grant citizenship to the non-Muslims Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis -- from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. CAB paves way for Indian citizenship to lakhs of immigrants, who identify themselves with any of the given religions, even if they lacked any document to prove their residency. It also means that any immigrant who does not belong to the said communities would not be eligible for Indian citizenship Any illegal immigrant from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who belongs to these said communities will not be deported or imprisoned if they are not carrying any valid documents for their residency in India The duration of the immigrants' residency was 11 years. The amended bill has reduced it to five years. This means that immigrants from the three countries and from the mentioned religions, who have entered India before December 31, 2014, would not be treated as illegal immigrants. Exemptions: Bill exempts certain areas in the North-East from this provision tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura as included in Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and the area covered under the Inner Limit notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.(Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram along with almost whole of Meghalaya and parts of Assam and Tripura) The Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders: As per the citizenship bill, a foreigner may register as an OCI under the 1955 Act if they are of Indian origin (e.g., former citizen of India or their descendants) or the spouse of a person of Indian origin. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill entitles the OCI cardholders to benefits such as the right to travel to India, and to work and study in the country. The Citizenship Bill, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha, amends the Act to allow cancellation of OCI registration if the person has violated any law notified by the Central government. Concerns : Lack of inclusion of several non-Muslim countries around India, such as Sri Lanka,concern about the citizenship status of Tamil-speaking Hindus who were allowed to legally settle in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu due to previous discrimination on the  Tibetan refugees from China are also excluded from the bill despite being an ongoing concern and being unable to acquire Indian nationality The passage of the Act caused large scale protests in India Muslim groups and secular groups have protested alleging religious discrimination, for violating the secular Constitution of India and its promise of equality under Article 14 and believe it legalises religious discrimination The people of Assam and other north-eastern states continue to protest fearing that the non-Muslim illegal immigrants in their regions would be allowed to stay. The protests stem from the fear that illegal Bengali Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, if regularised under CAB, will threaten cultural and linguistic identities of the state. Act was criticised by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Way forward: Conciliation would be the best way forward to contain violence and reassure those in need of reassurance, pending a determination by the Supreme Court on the constitutional validity of the Act. Incendiary statements and irresponsible finger-pointing on the basis of no evidence is not needed  Conclusion: Preamble of India ensures equality of status and opportunity the act is evident that it violates this principle and it also violates UDHR 1948 declaration so steps must be taken to ensure this status ENVIRONMENT  TOPIC: General Studies III Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment COP25: Longest climate talks end [caption id="attachment_55001" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 17th December 2019[/caption] Src: UNFCC Context: The 25th annual talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), referred to as the Conference of Parties (COP), was recently held in Madrid. It ended without any outcome. It was the 15th meeting of the parties for the Kyoto Protocol (CMP15), and also, it was the second meeting of the parties for the Paris Agreement. The prime objective of the conference is to complete the rule-book to the 2015 Paris Agreement that will become effective in 2020 to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (comes to an end in 2020). Conference of Parties (COP) The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention.  All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention. The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995. Kyoto Protocol 1997 The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part one) global warming is occurring and (part two) it is extremely likely that human-made CO2 emissions have predominantly caused it. That protocol legally bound developed countries to emission reduction targets. However, the agreement was widely believed to be ineffective because the world’s two top carbon dioxide-emitting countries, China and the United States, chose not to participate Paris Agreement, 2015 Paris Agreement or COP21 was adopted in December 2015. It aimed to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to global warming. The Paris Agreement also aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol(to strengthen emission reductions, in 1997) Aims of Paris Agreement The aim of the agreement is to decrease global warming, enhancing the implementation of the UNFCCC through:  Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels . Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development This strategy involved so-called 20/20/20 targets, namely the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20%, the increase of renewable energy's market share to 20%, and a 20% increase in energy efficiency. COP 25: Focus Ambitions for this conference were limited because many countries were focused on narrow technical details such as the workings of the globalcarbon markets. It was hoped that countries would resolve to work on more ambitious carbon targets needed to fulfil the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement. [caption id="attachment_55000" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 17th December 2019[/caption] Src: Ethics forge Why CoP25 failed? The failure of the talks underlined starkly the massive gap between what scientists say the world’s nations need to do on climate change, and what the most powerful political leaders on the planet are prepared to even discuss. According to scientist, talks focused on some of the rules for implementing the 2015 Paris agreement, but the overriding issue of how fast the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions has received little official attention.  Countries agreed in Paris in 2015 to revisit their climate pledges by 2020. But many countries were pushing this year for a clear call for all countries to submit more ambitious climate pledges next year. But countries such as China and Brazil opposed placing any obligation on countries to submit enhanced pledges next year, arguing it should be each country’s own decision. They instead argued the focus should be on pre-2020 action by developing countries to meet their previous pledges There was a recognition that tougher carbon targets are needed globally, but few countries came up with any and the resolve to come back next year with more ambitious plans was worded too weakly to satisfy most campaigners. India’s stance: India played a mixed role at the recently concluded 25th Conference of Parties (CoP 25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at Madrid. On the question of markets, India emphasised the transition of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits earned under the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement.  Pointed out that that excessively cheap emissions reductions enabled by the CDM as well as the possibility of double counting could corrupt the process. India played a strong role in critiquing the developed world’s continuing poor record on climate action. It argued that unless a stocktaking exercise of the fulfilment of various pre-2020 commitments by developed countries ,India would not raise its climate ambition for its next round of Paris Agreement targets due in 2020. India also took a lead in calling for more finance for developing countries for climate action, (“not even 2 per cent” of the promised “$1 trillion in the last 10 years” had been delivered) Way forward It is entirely appropriate for countries such as India to insist on not taking on an even more unfair share of the global mitigation burden unless developed countries deliver on the minimal parameter of fulfilling their existing promises. It is crucial that India continue to push developed countries in this fashion as the entire global climate action framework has been put in jeopardy by the inaction of big polluters. Connecting the dots: Do you think COP25 climate summit has ended in staggering failure of leadership? Do you think Climate change is Real? (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) Consider the following statements about Hydorgen Fuel Cell The fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen to generate an electric current, water being the only byproduct.  Like conventional batteries, hydrogen fuel cells too convert chemical energy into electrical energy.  Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Consider the following statements about GIMS or Government Instant Messaging System It is Indian equivalent of popular messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, for secure internal use. It is being developed by National Informatics Centre Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? 1 only 2 only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Consider the following statements about GST Council: It is a constitutional body established under Article 279A of Indian Constitution It is Chaired by Prime Minister of India Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project is at the confluence of which two rivers? Ganga and Yamuna River Godavari and Kaveri river Pranhita River and Godavari River  None of the above ANSWERS FOR 16 DEC 2019 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK) 1 A 2 C 3 A 4 B 5 C MUST READ ‘Abuse’ of RTI has led to ‘paralysis and fear’ among officials, says CJI Bobde The Hindu If India has to grow faster, States have to grow faster: BibekDebroy The Hindu ‘Extent of India's economic slowdown has surprised us at the IMF’: Gita Gopinath The news minute Climate of inaction: On UN climate change conference The Hindu CoP that flopped IE Listen to them IE

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RSTV IAS UPSC – Fatty liver

Fatty liver Archives Liver Largest organ in our body that helps process nutrients from food and drinks and filters harmful substances from your blood. The liver secretes bile, which is later stored in the gall bladder. Bile is needed for the breakdown of fats in the body. It also plays a role in burning of fat. What is Fatty Liver? Also known as hepatic steatosis It happens when fat builds up in the liver. Excess fat can cause inflammation called steatohepatitis (steato=fat + hepar=liver + itis=inflammation), although there is no relationship between the amount of fat present and the potential for inflammation. Steatohepatitis can lead to cirrhosis (fibrosis, scarring and hardening of the liver). There is also an association with liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). Types When fatty liver develops in someone who drinks a lot of alcohol, it’s known as alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD). In someone who doesn’t drink a lot of alcohol, it’s known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). What Causes Fatty Liver? Obesity: Obesity involves low-grade inflammation that may promote liver fat storage. It's estimated that 30–90% of obese adults have NAFLD, and it's increasing in children due to the childhood obesity epidemic  Excess belly fat: Normal-weight people may develop fatty liver if they are "viscerally obese," meaning they carry too much fat around the waist  Insulin resistance: Insulin resistance and high insulin levels have been shown to increase liver fat storage in people with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome  High intake of refined carbs: Frequent intake of refined carbs promotes liver fat storage, especially when high amounts are consumed by overweight or insulin-resistant individuals Sugary beverage consumption: Sugar-sweetened beverages like soda and energy drinks are high in fructose, which has been shown to drive liver fat accumulation in children and adults  Impaired gut health: Recent research suggests that having an imbalance in gut bacteria, problems with gut barrier function ("leaky gut") or other gut health issues may contribute to NAFLD development  Symptoms of Fatty Liver Fatigue and weakness Slight pain or fullness in the right or center abdominal area Elevated levels of liver enzymes, including AST and ALT Elevated insulin levels Elevated triglyceride levels What are some lifestyle changes that can help with fatty liver disease? If you have any of the types of fatty liver disease, there are some lifestyle changes that can help: The most important part of treating alcohol-related fatty liver disease is to stop drinking alcohol.  Eat healthy diet, limit salt and sugar, plus eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains Get vaccinations for hepatitis A and B, the flu and pneumococcal disease. If you get hepatitis A or B along with fatty liver, it is more likely to lead to liver failure. People with chronic liver disease are more likely to get infections, so the other two vaccinations are also important. Get regular exercise, which can help you lose weight and reduce fat in the liver

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