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Creative Guidance: Book Review – Become what you are – Alan Watts

Become What You Are : Alan Watts Life is simply here and now in the present moment. Everything else simply passes by; only this moment remains. In his beautiful book ‘Become what you are’ Alan Watts introduces one to the art of being in the moment and understanding the importance of it.   Life is a constant and endless sequence of activities. Whether those activities make sense or not, they just keep on going. Learning the art of being in the moment helps one to be rooted in the experience of the present. This helps one to go beyond the disturbances of the constantly oscillating mind. The most important quality about you is your uniqueness. You have to travel very far before deciding to become yourself. That is the whole message of this book. How to find your true inner self and be rooted in the experience of being you? There is nothing more important than knowing that what you are searching for is yourself. Explore this beautiful book to get a deeper insight into this moment and your life.   “This Book Review is a copyright of The Ahamo Movement and IASBABA.”

IASbaba’s 60 Day Plan- Prelims Test 2018 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY & CURRENT AFFAIRS [Day 17]

Hello Friends,  The 60 Days Training has finally begun:) Before any competition, there is a preparatory phase. That phase involves a lot of sessions on strengths and weaknesses. Throughout the preparatory phase, the athletes train in a gradual manner. In the last phase, just before the actual competition, the training is done so as to sharpen their skills. This training requires complete focus and dedication. In this phase, the athletes do not try anything new or train in a new fashion rather focus on sharpening of skills, focusing on strength and precision. Similarly, the upcoming 60 days, is like the last phase (training session), just before the actual competition. Here, the focus should be on sharpening the concepts, consolidating the knowledge base and solidifying the learning with loads and loads of revision. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL DETAILS AND SOLVE QUESTIONS

IASbaba’s Bimonthly Gist of Frontline and IDSA-Edition 7

ARCHIVES   Hello Friends,  Continuing our effort towards right guidance and quality coverage to assist you in all possible ways, we are glad to introduce this new initiative where Frontline, IDSA and Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) will be covered considering the relevance of UPSC Examination. This initiative will help you in Essay, Sociology and PSIR Optional as well. This is the 7th edition of Frontline/IDSA- Bimonthly Magazine. Hope you all like it 🙂 DOWNLOAD THE MAGAZINE

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs [Prelims + Mains Focus] - 22nd March 2018

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs (Prelims + Mains Focus)- 22nd March 2018 Archives (PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS) ‘Ayushman Bharat — National Health Protection Mission’ (AB-NHPM) Part of: Mains GS Paper II- Government interventions in important sectors Key pointers: The Union Cabinet recently approved the launch of ‘Ayushman Bharat — National Health Protection Mission’ (AB-NHPM). AB-NHPM will subsume the on-going centrally sponsored schemes — Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS). Salient features of the AB-NHPM scheme: This scheme has the benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. The target beneficiaries of the proposed scheme will be more than 10 crore families belonging to poor and vulnerable population based on SECC database. The Rs. 5 lakh per family a year cover will take care of almost all secondary care and most of tertiary care procedures. To ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly) there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme. The benefit cover will also include pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses. All pre-existing conditions will be covered from day one of the policy. A defined transport allowance per hospitalisation will also be paid to the beneficiary. Also, benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and a beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospital across the country. AB-NHPM will be an entitlement based scheme with entitlement decided on the basis of deprivation criteria in the SECC database. Public and private- The beneficiaries can make use of benefits in both public and empanelled private facilities. All public hospitals in the States implementing AB-NHPM, will be deemed empanelled for the Scheme. Keeping in view the State specific requirements, States/ UTs will have the flexibility to modify these rates within a limited bandwidth. One of the core principles of AB-NHPM is co-operative federalism and give flexibility to States. There is provision to partner the States through co-alliance. The expenditure incurred in premium payment will be shared between Central and State Governments in specified ratio as per Ministry of Finance guidelines. Article link: Click here ‘Ayushman Bharat — National Health Protection Mission’ (AB-NHPM) Part of: Mains GS Paper III- Energy Security Key pointers: The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – “Saubhagya” – is the Centre’s household electrification scheme. It aims to connect all households with electricity connections by December 2018. Progress: The demand for power in the country is on a rise as new consumers are being connected under the Saubhagya scheme. “There has been a 6.5-7 per cent growth in power demand during the current fiscal compared to the last financial year. This is on the back of 35.96 lakh new households getting electricity connections under the Saubhagya scheme since October 2017. Article link: Click here (MAINS FOCUS) NATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections The Cambridge Analytica scandal: Democracy at stake What happened? Recent media reports that a political consultancy that worked on President Donald Trump’s campaign gained inappropriate access to data on 50 million Facebook users. The alleged scandal involving Cambridge Analytica’s use of the data of more than 55 million Facebook users has reopened big questions about the organisation of the information order in a democracy. They have also revealed how the language of democracy is struggling to come to terms with complex technological developments. Who are Cambridge Analytica? Cambridge Analytica (CA) is a British data firm. The organisation has been drawing flak for its alleged role in influencing behaviour of voters in the 2016 presidential election campaign, and for helping the ‘Leave’ side in the Brexit referendum. What has the organisation done? The firm is alleged to have harvested data of tens of millions of Facebook users without permission in order to design a software to predict and influence people’s voting preferences. From where did it collect the data? Dr Aleksandr Kogan, a psychology professor at Cambridge University developed an application, thisisyourdigitallife, to harvest data of Facebook users. Although the app was downloaded by 270,000 people (these people granted permission for data collection), it extracted personal information of each of the users’ friends without consent Kogan then passed on all the data collected through his app to CA and other companies. What kind of data were acquired by CA? When the app was downloaded, Kogan had access not only to users’ basic information such as city of residence and details about friends, but also data from the profiles of their Facebook friends. How was the data used by the firm? Kogan’s firm Global Science Research (GSR) offered users small amounts of money to complete a survey on the condition they grant permission to access their personal details through Facebook. This helped GSR to build personality and psychological profiles of millions of people. The data were allegedly used by CA to tailor its political advertisements for a group of individuals, whose likings and interests were already known to them. How did this help Donald Trump in his presidential election campaign? CA performed a variety of services including designing target audiences for digital advertisements and fund-raising appeals, modelling voter turnout, buying $5 million in television ads and determining where Trump should travel to get maximum support. Issues: The first issue at stake is what consent means in the new information order. The conceit, and attraction of the modern information order is that it does things with our consent, in our name, ostensibly to satisfy our desires. But given the complexities of data-sharing, possible third-party uses, or use by friends, through whom your data can be accessed, it is not very clear what we are consenting to, and whether the terms of that consent can be enforced. The regulatory approach often hinges on user consent and the growth of social media companies over the past decade is fair evidence that consent is not hard to obtain, even with the knowledge of private data being signed over. The fact that such vast amounts of data were so easily collected in the first place—and without breaking the rules —points to the larger issues to do with the economics of the internet. Way ahead: Regulatory action can change this to a certain extent. Data localization conditions can ensure that user data collected within a country must be kept within it. Regulations can also compel businesses to adopt privacy by design principles that foreground user choice and consent. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which takes effect from 25 May this year, has adopted this approach. Perhaps the most stringent data protection regime globally, it will be a litmus test for companies’ ability and willingness to comply. Connecting the dots: What was the Cambridge Analytica Scandal? Discuss how the democracy is at stake in the new information order. INTERNATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 2: India and its neighbourhood- relations. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests India-Russia: Maintaining the relationship Introduction: India has sought to retain strategic autonomy by maintaining a careful balance in its relationships with the major centres of power — notably the US, Russia, China and the European Union. This has never been easy because of the geopolitical rivalries inherent. The challenges we now face are unprecedented because of the determination of an aggressive China to become the sole centre of power in Asia. Reading Russia: Although the US and powers like Japan regard the role of India as important in maintaining a viable balance of power in Asia, there are misgivings about Russia’s approach to India. Moscow’s policies are driven largely by the relentless hostility of the US to oppose and contain Russia’s influence. Moscow has thus been literally driven into the arms of Beijing, resulting in a virtual Moscow-Beijing alliance to counter American hegemony. India-Russia: India has been endeavouring to maintain its strategic autonomy by seeking to expand its relationship with Russia. This is being done internationally by working with Moscow in forums such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the India-Russia-China triangle, which was initially promoted by Russia. India has also sought to complement Moscow’s efforts to stabilise the secular Assad regime in Syria. While limited connectivity has served as an obstacle to trade with Russia, the defence relationship between the two countries remains vibrant. The approximately 270 Russian Sukhoi-30 fighters are the main element of the IAF’s strike and air defence potential. Russian defence exports to India in recent years account for around 39 per cent of its total exports and far exceed the exports to China which, unlike India, has successfully developed a vibrant defence industry with significant export potential. Potential: Russia and India have a mutual interest in carrying forward defence and security cooperation. India’s trade with Russia remains limited because of problems in connectivity. However, mutual cooperation in investments in the petrochemical sector is substantial and significant. The recent $12.9-billion deal for the acquisition of Essar Oil refinery by Russia’s largest oil producer, Rosneft, is one of the single biggest foreign investments in India. There is also considerable potential for Russia and India to reinforce each other in executing energy and rail transportation projects in third countries such as Afghanistan and Vietnam. It is evident that India cannot match China’s economic power in its relations with Russia. One should, however, remember that there has been grave mutual distrust between Russia and China for centuries. The Russians view China’s meteoric rise and its growing population as a threat to their Siberian region and even to Vladivostok. Conclusion: Both Russia and India have an interest in keeping their relationship forward-looking, in light of their common interest in developing a multipolar world order. Moscow needs to be told clearly that the Quad — the US, Australia, Japan, India — will primarily maintain a viable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region, even as India seeks a greater cooperative partnership with Russia. Connecting the dots: Both Russia and India have an interest in keeping their relationship forward-looking. Discuss the potential and the challenges involved. MUST READ Conserve every drop The Hindu Much ado about an impractical idea Indian Express New farmer old paradigm Indian Express Privatization is not a panacea for the ills Livemint

IASbaba’s 60 Day Plan- Prelims Test 2018 HISTORY & CURRENT AFFAIRS [Day 16]

Hello Friends,  The 60 Days Training has finally begun:) Before any competition, there is a preparatory phase. That phase involves a lot of sessions on strengths and weaknesses. Throughout the preparatory phase, the athletes train in a gradual manner. In the last phase, just before the actual competition, the training is done so as to sharpen their skills. This training requires complete focus and dedication. In this phase, the athletes do not try anything new or train in a new fashion rather focus on sharpening of skills, focusing on strength and precision. Similarly, the upcoming 60 days, is like the last phase (training session), just before the actual competition. Here, the focus should be on sharpening the concepts, consolidating the knowledge base and solidifying the learning with loads and loads of revision. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL DETAILS AND SOLVE QUESTIONS

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs [Prelims + Mains Focus] - 21st March 2018

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs (Prelims + Mains Focus)- 21st March 2018 Archives (PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS) Karnataka modifies the criterion for an educational institution to be termed minority Part of: Mains GS Paper II- Key pointers: Making it easier for educational institutions to get the minority tag, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education has tweaked the eligibility criterion to set up minority education institutions. The older rules required a school to have 25% of the total number of students in an academic year belonging to a specific religious or linguistic minority community. But, the draft rules issued recently state that the institution can have 25% students belonging to any number of religious or linguistic minority communities. The other criterion of two-thirds of the management members having to be of a particular minority community remains unchanged. Article link: Click here Diluting AFSPA: Part of: Mains GS Paper II- Internal security Key pointers: The Centre has recently announced its plan to water down the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958. A proposal is under consideration to make the Act more operationally effective and humane. The AFSPA is in force in several northeastern States. The decision came after the Home Ministry decided to reduce the number of Central Armed Police Force personnel deployed in the northeastern States. Jeevan Reddy committee: Another official said there was no final decision to repeal the AFSPA as of now, but the Jeevan Reddy Committee report, which recommended so, was taken into account. The Centre appointed a five-member committee headed by Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy in November 2004 to review the AFSPA. The committee recommended repealing of the AFSPA. It recommended that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, should be modified to specify the powers of the armed forces and the Central forces. Article link: Click here Prevention of Atrocities Act being misused: Supreme Court Part of: Mains GS Paper I- Social empowerment Key pointers: The anti-atrocities law, which protects Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from casteist slurs and discrimination, has become an instrument to “blackmail” innocent citizens and public servants, the Supreme Court observed in a judgment recently. The past three decades have seen complainants — who belong to the marginalised sections of society — use the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 to exact “vengeance” and satisfy vested interests. Instead of blurring caste lines, the Act has been misused to file false complaints to promote caste hatred, the apex court said. The current working of Atrocities Act may even “perpetuate casteism” if it is not brought in line and the court needs to intervene to check the “false implication of innocent citizens on caste lines.” The 1989 Act penalises casteist insults and even denies anticipatory bail to the suspected offenders. The law is therefore used to rob a person of his personal liberty merely on the unilateral word of the complainant, the court said. Guidelines issued by the SC: The SC has directed that public servants can only be arrested with the written permission of their appointing authority. In the case of private employees, the Senior Superintendent of Police concerned should allow it. Besides this precaution, a preliminary inquiry should be conducted before the FIR is registered to check whether the case falls within the parameters of the Atrocities Act and if it is frivolous or motivated. Article link: Click here (MAINS FOCUS) NATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 1: Poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Transforming Cities Introduction: The quality of life the cities are offering is either worsening or improving painfully slowly. The first step to fixing our cities is to acknowledge their current state as a fact, and then think about what needs to be done by whom and how. Steps taken: In the last three years, we have seen historically unprecedented amounts of money being set aside for municipalities through 14th Finance Commission grants and the five central schemes of AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation), Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, HRIDAY (Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) and Housing For All. Slow progress: Reasons behind slow progress includes- Our cities do not have proper spatial plans; public utilities in our cities do not have design standards. Cities do not have adequate funds to invest in capital expenditure; they do not possess financial management systems that measure financial accountability. Human resources policies and practices of municipalities are outdated; mayors and municipal councils (of all sizes) are largely toothless. Citizens do not have avenues to participate systematically in their neighbourhoods. As a country we need to invest significantly in strengthening the municipality as an institution, and in the institutional systems and processes of city governance. We cannot afford to focus on short-term projects alone (such as bridges and flyovers), but need to undertake a twin-track approach of projects plus institutional reforms. Engaging stakeholders: India’s journey of transforming our cities will need to be uniquely collaborative with leadership from governments but ownership across stakeholder groups. The capacities of our governments to govern our cities will not grow fast enough for us to surmount the challenges and opportunities of urbanization in India in a timely manner, given the pace and scale at which it is occurring. Therefore, a wide variety of stakeholders will need to be engaged. Way ahead: City governance reforms: Institutional reforms in spatial planning (by overhauling town and country planning acts). Fiscal decentralization. Overhauling cadre and recruitment rules for municipalities. Empowering mayors and municipal councils. Instituting decentralized platforms for citizen participation (ward committees and area sabhas). Putting in place city blueprints: The blueprint must have following component- Quantitative goals for a five-year period, e.g. number of kilometres of walkable footpaths in the city or number of households for whom piped water supply would be extended. Detailed activity road maps with quarterly milestones (comprising both reforms and projects), on how the quantitative goals are proposed to be achieved and how simultaneously institutional strengthening would happen. Single owners at the city level to be appointed in whom accountability can be vested for various sectors rather than having multiple agencies handle parts of the same quality of life area. Performance dashboards which are published quarterly and show progress against quantitative goals and activity milestones. An institutional structure that overcomes the significant challenge of fragmentation of governance in a city across the municipality, agencies such as the transport corporation, the development authority, the water board, state departments such as traffic police, etc. Countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and the Philippines have accomplished much in their cities through city blueprints, led by state- and city-level political leaders. Conclusion: Thus, we need a broad coalition of stakeholders to adopt a positive narrative on institution-building and better city systems along with the narrative on outcomes. Rome was not built in a day. Neither will our cities. Connecting the dots: While various central government schemes are steps in right direction to transform Cities in India, there is need to ensure various stakeholders' engagement along with having a blueprint for each city. ENVIRONMENT TOPIC: General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. General Studies 3: Conservation, Environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment. Water Pollution, Wastewater management. Nature-based solutions for water related issues Background: This year’s World Water Development Report makes it clear that nature-based solutions — which are also aligned with the principles and aims of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — can offer answers to our most pressing water-related challenges. Business-as-usual approaches to water security are no longer viable. The water-related challenges we face today are immense. The issue of water scarcity: The world’s population is expected to increase from 7.6 billion (2017) to between 9.4 and 10.2 billion people (2050), with two-thirds of them living in cities. UN estimates are that more than half of this anticipated growth will be in Africa (1.3 billion) and Asia (0.75 billion). Therefore, those most in need of water will be in developing or emerging economies. Climate change is also impacting the global water cycle with wetter regions generally becoming wetter and drier regions drier. An estimated 3.6 billion people now live in areas that could face water scarcity for at least a month in a year, with that number increasing to 4.8 and 5.7 billion by 2050. The International Water Management Institute estimates that total demand could increase from 680 billion cubic metres (BCM) to 833 BCM by 2025, and to 900 BCM by 2050. By 2050, countries already facing water scarcity challenges may also be forced to cope with the decreased availability of surface water resources. India faces major threats to its water security, with most water bodies near urban centres heavily polluted. Inter-State disputes over river resources are also becoming more intense and widespread. Deteriorating water quality: Along with water scarcity, there is the issue of water quality. Since the 1990s, water pollution has worsened in most rivers in Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). An estimated 80% of industrial and municipal wastewater is released without any prior treatment, with detrimental impacts on human health and ecosystems. A Central Pollution Control Board report indicates that almost half of India’s inter-State rivers are polluted. Sewage from 650 cities and towns along 302 polluted river stretches in the country increased from 38,000 million litres per day (MLD) in 2009 to 62,000 MLD in 2015. It found that the untreated sewage and industrial waste was a major cause of pollution in 16 of 40 inter-State rivers in the country. Way ahead: Given the transboundary nature of most river basins, regional cooperation will be critical to addressing projected water quality challenges. Nature-based solutions can address overall water scarcity through “supply-side management,” and are recognised as the main solution to achieving sustainable water for agriculture. Environmentally-friendly agricultural systems like those which use practices such as conservation tillage, crop diversification, legume intensification and biological pest control work as well as intensive, high-input systems. The environmental co-benefits of nature-based solutions to increasing sustainable agricultural production are substantial as there are decreased pressures on land conversion and reduced pollution, erosion and water requirements. Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment can also be a cost-effective, nature-based solution that provides effluent of adequate quality for several non-potable uses (irrigation) and additional benefits that include energy production.   Natural and constructed wetlands also biodegrade or immobilise a range of emerging pollutants. Watershed management is another nature-based solution that can also spur local economic development, job creation, biodiversity protection and climate resilience. Nature-based solutions are closely aligned with traditional and local knowledge including those held by indigenous and tribal peoples in the context of water variability and change. Case of Chennai: Chennai in Tamil Nadu is a textbook example of how nature is being ignored in urban development-posed challenges. Unplanned urban development and unwieldy growth with no hydrological plan are causing many problems. Earlier, when there was heavy rain in catchment areas in the Chennai region, lakes, ponds, tanks, rivers and inter-linked drainage systems helped replenish groundwater, hold back some water and release the excess to the ocean. With development, a number of tanks and lakes in and around Chennai have been encroached upon by various stakeholders. The Pallikaranai marsh which acted as a sponge to soak up excess rainwater is now an over-run. Conclusion: Overall it can be concluded that, nature-based solutions are crucial to achieving our Sustainable Development Goals. Adopting them will not only improve water management but also achieve water security. Connecting the dots: Discuss the water related issues in India. Suggest how nature-based solutions like watershed management, wetlands etc. can help solve the dual challenge of water scarcity and deteriorating quality. MUST READ Separate freedoms The Hindu One nation many religions Indian Express Indian farmers call for free markets Livemint

AIR

All India Radio (AIR) : India Jordan Bilateral Relations

India Jordan Bilateral Relations ARCHIVES Search 1st March, 2018 Spotlight here: http://www.newsonair.com/Main_Audio_Bulletins_Search.aspx TOPIC: General Studies 2 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests. India and West Asia Relations. Indo-Jordan Relations The visit by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan to India is a testimony that India’s "Think West" policy, like its "Act East" initiative, is progressively getting robust and vigorous. His visit to India represents an opportunity to catapult the relationship to the next higher level in strategic, security, political, energy, trade, investment and economic cooperation. India’s history with Jordan: The first bilateral agreement on cooperation and friendly relations was entered into soon after Indian independence in 1947. Established diplomatic relations in 1950 after India became a Republic The first ever visit by an Indian Head of State to Jordan took place in 2015 which provided a huge impetus to bilateral engagement between the countries Dimensions of this Relationship: Political Both India and Jordan face the common threat of terrorism and extremism, and both believe that there’s an urgent need for measures against radicalisation of youth. Both the countries are of the opinion that nations must coordinate their positions to fight against the misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred and justifying terrorism. Queen Rania has been very active in promoting equality and education. She represents the moderate, progressive and developed face of a Muslim woman. She has described India as the "rising star of Asia" and Jordan's "natural partner". In fact, Jordan has expressed their viewpoint that India should be more pro-active and steadfast in promoting peace and stability in the region. Economic India is Jordan's fourth largest trade partner after Iraq, Saudi Arabia and China. Jordan also plays an important role in India's food security through provision of fertilisers and phosphates. India is Jordan’s largest importer of phosphates and potash. Jordan could play an important role in India’s energy security paradigm, given the fact that it claims to have the second-largest shale deposits in the world after the US. The FTAs have provided a major boost to the Indian businessmen in Jordan. Middle East Diplomacy India and Jordan are both in a suitable position to collaborate effectively to mitigate the adverse impact of challenges in the Middle East which are impacting global security – terrorism, lack of employment opportunity, weak governance, conflicts and civil war. These problems are depriving the region and its people of their right to live in peace and prosperity. Jordan is one of the few countries in West Asia that maintains diplomatic relations with Israel and has cordial relations with the West as well as its neighbours. King Abdullah is the custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem, especially the Al-Aqsa mosque. His country is also home to a significant number of Palestinian refugees—more than two million. Agreements Signed between India & Jordan: Defence: Promote cooperation between India and Jordan in the field of defence by defining the scope of such cooperation and making provisions for implementation of the cooperation in some of the recognised areas like training; defence industry; counter-terrorism; military studies; cyber security; military medical services, peace-keeping etc.. MoU on cooperation in the field of health and medicine: Establish and encourage cooperation in the fields of health, medical science, medical education and research on the basis of equality and mutual benefits in accordance with the respective legislations and regulations of India and Jordan – Universal health coverage Services and IT in health Health research National health statistics Diagnosis, treatment and medication of tuberculosis Regulation of pharmaceuticals and medical devices Setting up of a next generation centre of excellence (CoE) in Jordan for training of at least 3,000 Jordanian IT professionals over a period of five years, and setting up of a resource centre in India for training of master trainers in the IT field from Jordan. Cooperation in the Field of Manpower: Aims at enhancing collaboration between the two sides in Promoting best practices in the administration of contractual employment Reflects the latest reforms in recruitment processes Enhances the protection and welfare of Indian workers in Jordan Usage of online portal for recruitment of Indian manpower is expected to usher in greater transparency and curb malpractices in the recruitment process. Mining and beneficiation of Rock Phosphate & MOP and setting upproduction facility in Jordan for Phosphoric Acid/DAP/NPKFertilizers: Ensure consistent supply of raw material, intermediaries and finish P&K; fertilizers to cater to the needs of the country at a reasonable price. Way Forward: Both the countries have the potential to work as natural allies as both countries are peaceful, stable and are witnessing rapid economic growth and have similar positions on regional and global affairs. Their attempts to bring stability and prosperity to the region should be complemented with well-thought out policies and strategic diplomacy. Indian businesses should utilize the expansive web of FTAs available with Jordan. ICT, renewable energy, financial/banking services, leather, automobile, higher education, tourism, Bollywood, pharmaceuticals and construction sectors present good potential for increased trade and investment. Connecting the Dots: India and Jordan are the two pillars that can drive peace and stability in the region. Examine.

MindMaps

IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue – Sino-US Trade War and India

IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue – Sino-US Trade War and India Archives NOTE – Instructions to download Mind Maps/Images Right Click on the image and ‘Open in a new tab’ Remove/Delete the resolution part from the URl. Eg. “-1024×869” and Press Enter/Load Again Afterwards the URL will look something like this – “iasbaba.com/…./…/..-IASbaba.jpg” Right Click and Save As/Download (You’ll get the maximum resolution)

IASbaba’s 60 Day Plan- Prelims Test 2018 HISTORY & CURRENT AFFAIRS [Day 15]

Hello Friends,  The 60 Days Training has finally begun:) Before any competition, there is a preparatory phase. That phase involves a lot of sessions on strengths and weaknesses. Throughout the preparatory phase, the athletes train in a gradual manner. In the last phase, just before the actual competition, the training is done so as to sharpen their skills. This training requires complete focus and dedication. In this phase, the athletes do not try anything new or train in a new fashion rather focus on sharpening of skills, focusing on strength and precision. Similarly, the upcoming 60 days, is like the last phase (training session), just before the actual competition. Here, the focus should be on sharpening the concepts, consolidating the knowledge base and solidifying the learning with loads and loads of revision. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL DETAILS AND SOLVE QUESTIONS

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs [Prelims + Mains Focus] - 20th March 2018

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs (Prelims + Mains Focus)- 20th March 2018 Archives (PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS) Climate change to affect wheat production in India Part of: Mains GS Paper III- Environment Key pointers: Central Indian States, including Madhya Pradesh, which account for nearly one-fifth of wheat production in the country, would be severely hit by climate change, leading to a drop-in yield by 2050, says a study by Indian wheat scientists. Researchers at the Karnal-based Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), which is a constituent lab of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, found that the other worst-hit States would be Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Assam. Another six regions in Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Gujarat, which account for 12 per cent of the national production, are moderately vulnerable. In arid and tropical regions, a further rise in temperature would be detrimental as it would increase the heat stress and rate of evaporation. It is projected that wheat output would fall to the tune of 10 per cent if atmospheric temperature increases by 2 degrees Celsius. The potential loss, on the other hand, can be minimised if region-specific adaptation and climate-smart farming practices are adopted. Article link: Click here Law on online 'hate speech' Part of: Mains GS Paper II- Key issues related to Governance Key pointers: Moving a step ahead towards framing a distinct law for online “hate speech,” the Home Ministry has written to the Law Commission to prepare a draft law. The provisions will deal with offensive messages sent through social media and online messaging applications. A committee headed by former Lok Sabha Secretary General T.K. Viswanathan submitted a report recommending stricter laws to curb online hate speech. The panel was formed after Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, was scrapped by the Supreme Court in 2015. The scrapped provision provided punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services. The 267th report of the Law Commission had recommended inserting additional provisions in Sections 153 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Bezbaruah committee had proposed to insert two stricter anti-racial discrimination provisions in the IPC. Article link: Click here (MAINS FOCUS) NATIONAL TOPIC:General Studies 2: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies. Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources. National Medical Commission Bill: A step in right direction Background: Article 47 of the Constitution makes it clear that the state is duty-bound to improve public health. But India continues to face a health crisis, with an absolute shortage of and an inequitable presence of doctors and over-burdened hospitals. Although India has 10 lakh medical doctors, it needs 3,00,000 more in order to meet the World Health Organisation standard of the ideal doctor-population ratio. There is an 81% shortage of specialists in community health centres (CHC), the first point of contact for a patient with a specialist doctor. Those most affected by this are poor and rural patients who are then forced to consult quacks. 82.2% of providers of “modern medicine” in rural areas do not have a medical qualification. Rural India, which accounts for 69% of the population has only 21% of the country’s doctors serve them. It is ironic that, while India is a hub for medical tourism (in 2016, India issued 1.78 lakh medical visas), it is a common sight in government hospitals to have patients sleep in corridors waiting for their outpatient department appointments. The National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2017, among other things, seeks to address the above problems. Issue of commercialisation: Section 10A in the Indian Medical Council Act resulted into an exponential rise in the number of private medical colleges. This was encouraged given there is a shortfall in the number of medical practitioners. However, the high capitation fees charged by these colleges can have a negative effect in terms of affordability of medical services. The regulatory authority has been unable to act. With corruption in the issuing of licences and regulatory requirements, many academic institutions have a faculty of questionable standards, with obvious repercussions on the quality of education imparted. How does the bill help to solve the issue? The Bill puts in place a mechanism to assess and rate medical colleges regularly, with a high monetary penalty for failure to comply with standards. Also, such failures will result in the de-recognition of a college. There is also an enabling provision for the government to regulate the fees of up to 40% seats in private medical colleges. The Bill goes relaxes the criteria for approving a college in specific cases. Currently, there is a blanket standard for establishing a medical college in India, which disregards the contextual realities in some areas such as difficult terrain or a low population density. For instance, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland do not have a single medical college. Issue of Inverted pyramid: India has a well-thought-out, three-tier public health-care system which rests on A base of sub-centres (SC) and primary health centres (PHCs) which take care of common ailments. Patients in need of specialist consultations go up the chain to secondary centres (CHCs) , or tertiary centres, which are district hospitals (DHs) or medical colleges. However, because of a poor vanguard, patients who can be treated at the “base” (SCs or PHCs), go straight to the “apex” (CHCs or DHs). How does the bill help to solve the issue? With the government now planning to revamp 1,50,000 sub-centres into health and wellness centres by 2022, there is need for an equivalent number of mid-level providers. The Bill has facilitated this by providing for a bridge course for AYUSH/non-allopathic doctors. This course, to be designed by a joint sitting of all medicine systems, will ensure that non-allopathic doctors are trained to prescribe modern medicines in a limited way, within the scope of primary care. A parallel is the system of “barefoot doctors” in China. Thirteen States now permit AYUSH doctors to prescribe varying levels of allopathic care. The NMC Bill will bring in a homogenisation of such rules without diluting the varied systems of medicines. An added measure in the Bill prevents “cross-pathy” or the unqualified cross-over of health-care providers from one system to another. The Bill provides for two separate national registers – allopathic doctors, and AYUSH doctors who complete the bridge course, respectively. Conclusion: The Bill thus seeks to make structural changes in a stagnant and increasingly exploitative health-care system. It should be looked at as a step in the right direction. Connecting the dots: Discuss the problems in the healthcare sector segment of India. Also highlight how National Medical Commission is a step in right direction, helping sort various issues. INTERNATIONAL TOPIC:General Studies 2: India and its neighbourhood- relations. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests Confronting the rising China Introduction: Last two years turned to be rather contentious between India and China. Delhi is now trying to reset relations with Beijing. The reset is supposed to reinforce the proposition that China is India’s “natural ally”. Issues: The problems between the two countries have become increasingly intractable in recent years. The talks on resolving the boundary dispute have been stalled for more than a decade. As the two armed forces operate closer to the long and disputed frontier, they run into each other quite frequently. On the economic front, the trade deficit in favour of China continues to grow and at $52 billion in 2017 it constitutes nearly half of the gap between India’s imports and exports. Within the region, China’s deepening ties with Pakistan and its growing economic and military penetration into the Subcontinent and the Indian Ocean are making India increasingly anxious and laying the foundation for prolonged friction between the two Asian giants. Challenge: Beijing has been active in blocking India’s effort to secure membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. China also remains the only major power that does not support India’s claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. China’s absolute and relative power vis a vis India (and all other powers in the world) has dramatically risen, thanks to decades of economic reform and sustained high growth rates. For example: China’s GDP ($12 trillion) is nearly five times that of India and its defence expenditure at $150 billion is three times larger than that of India. The huge power differential in favour of China, Beijing’s growing global reach and expanding international influence mean Beijing has fewer reasons than before to accommodate India’s concerns. Policy ahead: Delhi must strive to retain its strategic space amid the expansion of the Chinese footprint and at the same time avoid the escalation of differences into disputes. An effort, to widen the areas of cooperation that will provide some balance against the many negative factors that are unsettling bilateral relations, must continue. Delhi, for example, is deploying considerable resources to compete with Beijing in economic and military diplomacy in India’s neighbourhood. It is also building strategic partnerships with other powers. Even as India joins the quad, Delhi should try to engage with China in various multilateral forums including the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and keep alive all bilateral channels of communication. Conclusion: India, by no means, is alone in confronting the problems with Chinese power. All major nations are struggling to come to terms with it. As a larger country sharing a disputed border and an overlapping periphery, India’s task is a lot more complicated. Given this a set of policies can help India tackle China. Connecting the dots: India along with almost all the major nations is confronting the problems with Chinese power. Sharing a dispute border has only complicated matters for India. In this light discuss what policy measures should India adopt. MUST READ Time to move beyond subsidies The Hindu To be fighting fit The Hindu First step in a long journey The Hindu Treaty that backfired The Hindu NPPA must balance access with innovation Livemint Emerging powers must be at a global high level Livemint