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MOTIVATION: UPSC CSE MAINS 2017- GO THAT EXTRA MILE!

Hello Friends Here we are, once again, at the gates of an event called Civil Services Mains (CSM)! This event repeats itself every year and in spirit, resembles the churning process that gives achievers and bureaucrats to the country. This ‘samudra Manthan’ will give toppers this year too. But who will that be? Can it be you? Think about it. Or think about the person who will secure AIR 1 this year. Does he/ she know that already? In all probability, no. No one knows what the future holds. Isn’t it? But we know that the selected few who would move to the next stage are among those 15000 who would appear for Mains this year. You have to be one of those selected few. For that, you have dedicated your day and night. You have worked hard in the last 6 months, lost your sleep, stayed away from your family, stopped communicating with best friends and what not. Is it all a misery then? No, it is not. All the sacrifices and hardships suffered by you will make you buoyant enough to come out in the churning that UPSC does every year to select the best candidates. The knowledge and analytical skills that you have built up won’t let you settle down. You would rather float and eventually rise up to meet success. But for that to happen, you need self-belief. Even the best batsman has to score a century in the match and not during net practice. The three hours that you get to convey your thoughts and understanding on various issues, events and ideas must witness your best. All your efforts and dedication must reflect in your answers. You can’t afford to give your 99.99%. Within a difference of one mark, UPSC can take in or throw out candidates from the merit list. Such is the level of competition and you are well aware of that. Keep one thing in mind- do better than your best, always one notch above your ability. Sometimes walking that extra mile can take you to the destination even if it has remained elusive during the entire journey. While you give your best, the following tips might help you in scoring better. Please take a note of the following points and try to follow them during the exam and we are sure that you would find them useful: Remove this feeling from your mind that you have to attempt all the questions to qualify. It is not possible that you would be knowing the answers to all the questions. There would always be 2-3 questions that you won't be having any idea of or only have a vague understanding of the issue. There is no point banging your head on those questions. UPSC won’t even give you a single mark for random and vague answers. It is UPSC, not your university!   In the first reading of the questions that you won’t be answering. Suppose you have already realised during the first reading that you can’t answer 2 questions. That reduces the number of questions to 18 for you. It means you have 10 minutes for each question. That extra minute per question should be used to make your answers better, compact and structured having no loose ends. Two dot balls can always be compensated by two boundaries! Isn’t it?   Think before you write. Out of the 9-10 minutes, at least 60-90 seconds should be invested in gathering your thoughts, making points and creating the structure of the answer in your mind. This will allow you to save time while you actually write the answer. It will also make your answers better ad more structured. Many times we stop midway in an answer due to lack of thoughts and organisation. This won’t happen to you if you adopt this simple strategy.   Write in paragraphs and points. It means your first and last paras should always be written in paragraph format whereas the body can be written in points. This gives your answer a definite structure. We take a sample question and answer to make you understand the structure. Please note that the template is an indicative one just to make you understand better. Question: India’s intelligence activity would have to keep pace with globalization and India’s growing relevance in the global order. Comment. Introduction: To give an idea about the issue, its backdrop and the content that will follow in the next paragraph. RAW and IB are two premier external and internal intelligence agencies of India. With changing world order and globalization, they have to keep pace with changing times and they need reforms to keep India at par with other global powers. Body: Must contain all the relevant points pertaining to the question. Legal status: Intelligence agencies should be given proper legal status at par with other countries. Specialist talent: Threat is no more restricted to physical presence; proper expertise should be in place for changing the level of threats. Training: Proper training should be given on the basis of field operations and different spheres of intelligence gathering. Technology: With changing the form of security threats, agencies should be provided with the latest technology. Co-ordination: Proper co-ordination between various intelligence agencies and security agencies to stop threats. Foreign assets: More than internal, external threat is very high so foreign intelligence assets should be strengthened. Collaborations: Intelligence agencies can collaborate with friendly countries sharing the same level of threats and use each other’s expertise and improve to tackle the threats. Ex: India and Israel. Conclusion: To provide a end remark/ summary/ way ahead/ solution to the issue. India is aiming to become a superpower and overtake China. But recent attacks have shown the fault lines in India’s intelligence capabilities and also the need of major reforms. Intelligence is the foundation of the security apparatus of our country. If intelligence is robust, any threat can be prevented and India’s growth and resurgence can be assured. This strategy will ensure that you write a compact yet a comprehensive answer to all the questions. This will also give a better impression as there won’t be any possibility of your answers ending abruptly. Never try to fool the examiner. Be honest and write only what you are sure of. Random and vague points will irritate the examiner and you will end up losing marks in your other answers too. Always write the first few questions in good handwriting and impressively. For example, the first three questions in Paper I will be from Art and Culture. Your impression for the rest of the paper will be determined by the way you have presented the answers in the first three questions. So, always try to create a good impression in the first three answers itself. We have done our bit to help you in this process and we wish you all the best for your exams. And finally, as we always say, everyone is feeling the same pressure. You don’t have to outperform anyone. You just have to give your best and success will follow. Keep your head high and give your best. All the best IASbaba 

MindMaps

IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - Electric Vehicles

IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - Electric Vehicles 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 Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs 26th Oct, 2017

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 26th Oct 2017 Archives ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Recapitalisation of banks: With caution In news: The government has commited itself to a bold programme to provide additional capital to public sector banks. The Rs2.11 trillion recapitalisation plan—Rs0.76 trillion of equity from the government and financial markets and another Rs1.35 trillion through recapitalisation bonds has been approved. It should be adequate for the next two years. Rating agency CRISIL has estimated that public sector banks will need about Rs1.4-1.7 trillion of additional capital by March 2019 to meet the international Basel III requirements. Background: Burdened with bad loans as well as stressed assets of close to Rs. 10 lakh crore, India’s banking sector has been facing issue of extending fresh loan in recent quartes. The economy has been seized in the twin balance-sheet problem. Over-leveraged companies unable to invest or borrow afresh and banks unwilling or/and unable to finance fresh investments made private investment-led recovery seemed unlikely. Rationale: The Centre is betting that recapitalisation plan will strengthen the banks’ ability to extend credit at a faster clip. RBI Governor Urjit Patel has said this is the first time in a decade that there is a real chance of meeting the banking sector’s challenges. Although resorting to recapitalisation bonds is not a desired outcome, it is perhaps the best that the government could have done in the given circumstances. It is important to note that India is predominantly a bank-financed economy and would find it difficult to grow at a higher rate without the necessary support from the banking system. Infusion of capital will fast-track the resolution of non-performing assets and will help economic revival with the restoration of flow of credit to small and medium enterprises. Drastic corrective measures were needed to solve the twin balance sheet problem. Way forward: As the recapitalisation deals with the stock of toxic assets, the challenge will be to ensure that the lending spree to influential industrial groups that took place is not repeated. Giving banks extra capital was only one of the seven grand themes of the Indradhanush programme announced in 2015. The reform of the Indian banking sector—and especially the privatization of banks—should be the next step. Every bank recapitalisation of this sort naturally brings in its wake fears of moral hazard. Banks will not take adequate precautions when they are lending when they know that the government will step in to help if the loans turn sour. The weaker banks should be given capital only to maintain their current operations, maybe by asking them to use incremental deposits only for investment in government securities. Meanwhile, the larger borrowers who have defaulted on loans should face the heat of the new insolvency law, rather than be allowed to free ride on the recapitalisation. Such market discipline is needed. The government needs to decide what proportion of the fresh capital will go for provisions against existing bad loans and how much is to be allocated for new loans. The NPA reform and disciplining of errant companies should be focused upon. This will give credence to the initiative. Conclusion: The government should back bank recapitalisation with reforms in the financial sector—and in public sector banks in particular. The fact that recapitalisation bonds can be used for capital infusion should not become an alternative for better governance. Connecting the dots: The central government recently approved the plan for recapitalisation of banks. Discuss the rationale behind and also what all other steps are required to be taken if the plan is to succeed in revamping the banking sector. INTERNATIONAL TOPIC: General studies 2: India and its neighborhood- relations. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora. Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate. An alternative to Belt and Road Initiative In news: Recent developments have set the stage for some real competition for promoting connectivity in Asia and opened up fresh opportunities for India to shape the outcomes. Only a few months ago, Delhi seemed alone in opposing China’s trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that has been viewed with awe around the world and enthusiastically embraced by most of its neighbours in the region. Now Delhi may be in a position to work with its partners — especially Japan and the US — to offer a credible alternative to the BRI. The US and Japan have supported Delhi’s criticism of the BRI during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in September. Delhi, Tokyo and Washington have also begun a serious conversation on working together on Indo-Pacific infrastructure development. India's objection to BRI: When Beijing convened a high-level international gathering to seek political endorsement of the BRI last May, India refused to participate at any level despite much diplomatic pressure from China. Arguing that projects under China’s BRI have not met international norms for infrastructure development, Delhi insisted that the “connectivity initiative must follow principles of financial responsibility to avoid projects that would create unsustainable debt burden for communities; balanced ecological and environmental protection and preservation standards; transparent assessment of project costs; skill and technology transfer to help long term running and maintenance of the assets created by local communities.” Delhi also affirmed that “connectivity projects must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity” of other states. Japan's objection: The return of Prime Minister Abe with a sweeping mandate in the snap general elections to the lower house of the Japanese parliament should help reinforce Tokyo’s own programme to promote connectivity in Asia. In 2015, Abe had announced the partnership for quality infrastructure (PQI) with a fund of nearly $110 billion. In an enhanced version of the initiative announced in 2016, Japan plans to spend about $200 billion during the next five years on infrastructure projects around the world. Unlike China, Japan brings much greater experience in executing development projects in third world countries and is offering much better terms for its assistance. Well before Xi announced the BRI in 2013, Abe had unveiled a new vision of regional connectivity. During his first term as prime minister, Abe visited India in 2007 and in his address to Parliament talked about “confluence of the two seas”. More recently, he expanded on the concept by talking about a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”. It now calls for connecting “two continents” — Asia and Africa — and “two oceans” — the Indian and Pacific through trans-border connectivity corridors. US's objection: In a major speech, the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, outlined a strong critique of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Describing China’s development assistance as “predatory economics”, Tillerson accused Beijing of undermining the sovereignty of its neighbours in Asia. He echoed India’s criticism of the BRI by saying China’s projects burden host countries with large debt and conditions that force a swap of debt for equity and strategic control of assets. Way forward: India needs to provide a real alternative to the BRI. Delhi has seen countries like Sri Lanka and Burma express political reservations against some of the Chinese infrastructure projects, suspend some of them, but eventually renew the engagement with Beijing. Many Indo-Pacific nations have limited alternatives when it comes to infrastructure investment programmes and financing schemes, which often fail to promote jobs or prosperity for the people. It’s time to expand transparent, high-standard regional lending mechanisms — tools that will actually help nations. India and the United States must lead the way in growing these multilateral efforts.” Tillerson has revealed that the US has begun consultations with other countries in the region about providing alternative financial mechanisms to China’s BRI. India’s emphasis in the coming days must be three-fold. One is to press ahead vigorously with the large number of infrastructure projects that it has undertaken with its own resources in the Subcontinent and the Indian Ocean. Second is to intensify the current discussions with the US, Japan, Europe and other partner countries to coordinate their regional infrastructure initiatives as well as take up joint projects in the Indo-Pacific. Third, Delhi must quickly find ways to overcome its many institutional limitations in implementing projects in other countries. Conclusion: Offering an alternative to China’s BRI is not about a zero-sum rivalry with Beijing. By demonstrating the possibility for sustainable infrastructure development, Delhi and its partners can improve the bargaining capacity of smaller countries vis-a-vis China and might eventually encourage Beijing to discard its predatory geoeconomics and turn the BRI into a genuinely cooperative venture. Connecting the dots: While earlier India seemed to be only country to object to BRI initiative of China, recently US and Japan have also raised their concerns. This opens up an opportunity for India to ensure collaboration with US and Japan to provide an alternative to BRI. Critically discuss. MUST READ Being self-aware The Hindu Trump and the new world disorder The Hindu Should robots be nationalised? The Hindu Going back to the basics The Hindu The exemplar effect Indian Express Afghan initiative looks unrealistic Business Line  

Daily Prelims CA Quiz

UPSC Quiz- 2017 : IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 69]

UPSC Quiz- 2017 : IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 69] Archives Q.1) Consider the following statements about Chief Election Commissioner of India The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office only by the President of India Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President of India on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner and it is binding on the President Select the correct statements 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Consider the following statements about Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana (PMKVY) Under this Scheme, Individuals with prior learning experience or skills will also be assessed and certified under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) The scheme will be implemented through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) Select the correct statements 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Vultures are considered to be declining in population mostly due to consumption of carcasses of livestock and cattle injected with Ketoprofen Diclofenac Both (a) and (b) Neither (a) nor (b)  Q.4) Indradhanush scheme is concerned with Recapitalisation of banks SBI and its associate banks merger Black money post demonetisation Securing NPAs Q.5) Rashtriya Rail SanrakshaKosh is focused on High Speed Railways Passenger Safety Pension for Railway staff Upgrading all the meter and narrow gauge to broad gauge  To Download the Solution - Click here All The Best  IASbaba

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs 25th Oct, 2017

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 25th Oct 2017 Archives NATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 1: Urbanization, their problems and their remedies. General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Solving the problem of garbage in India In news: Garbage slide: Ghazipur case study In East Delhi’s garbage dump at Ghazipur last September, a garbage slide from the steep mountain of mixed solid waste (50 metres high, about the height of a 16 storey building and more than twice the permissible height for landfills) killed 2 people, as heaps of garbage full of slippery wet plastic slid into the canal, creating giant waves which hit the road, disrupted traffic and caused damage to life and property. A massive fire broke out at the same place in Ghazipur from where the garbage had collapsed, adding to the air pollution woes of the city. Minor and major fires in these dumpsites occur because of the methane trapped in the accumulated heaps and combustibles in the mixed waste. The NGT directive: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued an order to reduce the mound height by at least 10 feet and use the material for highway construction. The NGT directed the NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) to lay a trial 2-km stretch of NH-24 using the Ghazipur waste for its widening. Usage of technology: Plastic roads Bringing down the height of tall garbage hills is not difficult, but it requires careful bio-remediation and bio-mining before the recovered material can be put to productive use. The first step is to reduce the volume of waste and to dry it out through bio-remediation using composting bio-cultures. Then comes the second step of screening the waste, which is called bio-mining. The different fractions obtained from the stabilised waste (bio-remediated and bio-mined) after it is bio-mined, and the light thin plastics which are collected are useful material for compost, road building, refuse derived fuel (RDF). Thin-film plastics including metallised multifilms are finely shredded to 2-4 mm size (like tea leaves) and used in hot-mix plants that supply ready asphalt/bitumen mixes which are spread and compacted for road-making. In such plants, stone aggregates of various sizes are blended and sent by conveyor into a heating chamber, where tar is poured onto the hot stones and mixed for three to four minutes before loading onto a vehicle for transport to the road laying site. Benefits of plastic roads: The bitumen adheres so much more strongly to these coated stones that potholes do not form during rains and road edges remain straight and firm. Such “plastic roads” withstand breakup in snowy regions and far outlast normal roads. With their capacity to handle tanks and heavy vehicle traffic, such roads are ideal for border roads. Plastic roads will not only withstand future monsoon damage but will also solve the city’s problem of disposing of non-recyclable plastic. States on forefront: The good news is that Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and some other states are regularly laying plastic roads. In Tamil Nadu, 1,400 km of rural tar roads used plastic in 2003-2004 alone. The Central Pollution Control Board has put out guidelines for making such roads (PROBES/101/2005-06) and the results of comparative testing (PROBES/122/2008-09) after three years of laying. The results have been so good that on November 9, 2015 the Central Road Research Institute mandated plastic roads for all National Highways up to 50 km from cities that have a population over five lakh. Bengaluru has resolved to spend Rs 2,220 crore for fixing rain-battered roads in the next four months. Way ahead: The Ghazipur crisis should be seen as an opportunity to urgently implement a sustainable strategy of solid waste management. We should not be looking for more land to create a new “landfill”. This is not just a bad idea; it is an idea that will not work. Building awareness at the household level for not mixing biodegradable waste with dry waste, and to enable the recycling of dry waste like paper, plastic, glass, and metal. Communicating to all citizens the reasons why a sustainable strategy of waste management is crucial for their own health and safety. There is a need to increase the capacity of waste to energy plants. Since the Solid Waste Rules clearly mandate the use of high calorie non-recyclables for waste to energy plants, these plants cannot use mixed waste without pre-sorting Conclusion: If salvaged waste from dumpsite hills can be thus consumed nationwide at the bottoms and tops of our highways, that will be a wonderful way to usefully manage waste and save scarce land. We do not need rocket science to correct the issue of mounting garbage, nor too much additional finance, but only civic engagement, better governance and a diligent search for least-cost technical solutions, which do exist. Connecting the dots: The issue of mounting garbage can be solved only by civic engagement, better governance and a diligent search for least-cost technical solutions. Discuss. What do you mean by plastic roads? What are its benefits? ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. "Ease of doing business" rankings: Critical analysis Background: The World Bank's annual “Doing Business” indicators attempts to quantitatively capture the regulation that small- and medium-sized firms encounter in 190 countries around the world. Established in 2002, the annual exercise has arguably become the single most influential measure of a country’s investment climate. Indian context: Clocking in at 130th on last year’s rankings, India had the worst business environment of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economies. Even by Indian standards, the anticipation for this year’s edition of the report is remarkable, since there is an expectation that India’s rating will improve significantly thanks to recent reforms. Doing Business: De facto vs de jure By the World Bank’s own admission, the Doing Business rankings do not “measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms or investors”. They provide an assessment of red tape and administrative hurdles across 11 areas of business regulation. To determine their rankings, the World Bank relies on four sources of information: the laws and regulations on the books, experts well-versed in local business practices, national governments, and World Bank staff. The insights the World Bank compiles are extremely useful, but they are not necessarily representative of what firms experience in real life. Where the informal economy thrives and regulations are poorly enforced, the de jure regulations measured by the World Bank are often only tangentially related to the de facto processes that businesses encounter. The challenges are even more profound in large countries such as India, since the World Bank has traditionally assessed just the largest business city in each country, only incorporating a second major city for the 11 most populous economies as of the 2015 report. In India, the relevant cities are Mumbai and Delhi. One should consider the representativeness of the data with caution and bear in mind that the methodology incentivizes reforms in a few cities rather than improvements to the investment climate of the country as a whole. Comparing surveys- The IDFC Institute in Mumbai conducted its own survey (in 2015-16) of manufacturing firms in conjunction with NITI Aayog, the results of which were published last month. Data from this survey and from that conducted by World Bank differs a lot. Implications: Following points must be noted while analysing ease of doing business rankings: First, the Doing Business indicators provide a snapshot of a country’s red tape; they have no pretension of providing a comprehensive picture of the investment climate. As the World Bank makes clear, the indicators are not designed to comment on macroeconomic indicators or prospects for growth. Second, there exists a wide divergence between de jure and de facto realities in most economies. What firms actually encounter “on the ground” is perhaps more important, but there are limitations to our ability to measure and interpret those experiences without bias. Way ahead: The Doing Business reports’ de jure indicators offer a snapshot of a country’s regulatory cholesterol, but likewise should not be viewed in isolation. Rather, by using the two types of data in tandem, one can develop a more holistic picture of the business environment. Furthermore, by examining the differences between the data sets, one can gain insights into issues of governance and the rule of law. One aspect of the Doing Business report which should be focused is how India rates on the so-called “Distance to Frontier” (DTF) measures, which capture the ease of doing business compared to the highest score any country has ever received in a given category (say, registering property). This metric is useful because a country can make absolute progress but fail to climb in the relative rankings because other countries have also reformed. The World Bank, to its credit, has tried to account for various limitations through another undertaking: firm-level enterprise surveys. These are explicitly designed to capture the de facto realities that the Doing Business indicators might miss, shedding light on what firms actually experience, as opposed to what experts estimate or formal rules demand. Conclusion: The Ease of doing business rankings thus, should not be seen as the ultimate marker of the ruling party’s reform success. Likewise, investors who are considering the prospects for investment in India should recognize what the rankings do and do not tell us. Connecting the dots: The ease of doing business rankings provided by World Bank suffers from various shortcomings. Discuss. MUST READ Complicated terms of engagement The Hindu We can’t let India Pakistan relationship to be hostage to dispute The Hindu Shedding light on saubhagya The Hindu Promises to keep Indian Express Mahatama Macaulay Indian Express For the sake of the Indo-Pacific Indian Express Rex Tillerson goes long on India-US relationship Livemint Aadhaar push heightens privacy concerns Business Line Think global act local Business Line  

Daily Prelims CA Quiz

UPSC Quiz- 2017 : IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 68]

UPSC Quiz- 2017 : IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 68] Archives Q.1) The Supreme Court judgement in ‘Bijoe Emmanuel & Ors vs State of Kerala & Ors’ is concerned with Basic structure of the constitution Right to healthy and pollution-free environment Provided basic definitions of sexual harassment at the workplace None of the above Q.2) Consider the following statements Governor of an Indian state draws ordinance making power from Article 213 of the constitution. Article 123 of Constitution gives legislative power to President Select the correct statements 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Consider the following statements about ‘123 Agreement’ It is Civil Nuclear agreement signed between India and Japan India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards Select the correct statements 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) Consider the following statements about ‘Environmental Kuznets curve’ It describes that as countries develop initially, pollution increases, but later, as the economy achieves further development, pollution decreases. According to ‘Kuznets Curve’ Pollution follows an inverted “U” shape as it rises and then falls again with the increase of income per-capita. Select the correct statements 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.5) Consider the following statements about Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is given the status of a statutory body to streamline adoption procedures for orphan, abandoned and surrendered children Juveniles in conflict with Law in the age group of 16–18, involved in Heinous Offences, can be tried as adults. Select the correct statements 1 Only 2 Only Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 To Download the Solution - Click here All The Best  IASbaba

RSTV Video

RSTV- The Big Picture : Saubhagya Scheme- The Electrification Challenge

Saubhagya Scheme- The Electrification Challenge Archives TOPIC: General Studies 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Development processes and the development industry the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; In news: PM launched Rs. 16320 crore scheme to supply electricity to all households by December 2018, providing free connection to poor and at low cost to others. The PM Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana named SAUBHAGYA aims to improve environment, public health and education and connectivity with help of last mile power connections across India. Rationale: Despite the government’s aggressive village electrification programme, the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana launched in July 2015, under which 78% of 18,000 villages have been electrified, it was realised that the problem of electricity ‘access’ wasn’t resolved. A village is marked electrified if 10% of the households are given electricity along with public places such as schools, panchayat office, health centres. However, a large number of household still remained without access to electricity. Why now? More than a decade ago, it was decided to take electricity to every village. At that time, there was desire of opting for renewable energy, but as their cost was high, the villages objected to their use and states were also not keen on subsidizing it. Today, the country has surplus power, the cost of renewable energy has come down. So it is right stage to make electricity reach every home. Benefits: It will help reduce use of kerosene lamps in non-electrified households. This scheme would bring major changes to the lives of the poor. It may be difficult to take gas connection to every household. But the kitchen has to be cleaned up with cleaner cooking fuels (biomass), provide lighting and provide electricity for small industry and artisans working closer to home. Challenge known but little done to overcome it The biggest challenge and weakest link has been the distribution companies of electricity chain starting from generation, transmission, distribution and consumption. The Discoms have not been able to perform. They are largely state held monopoly and consumer has no choice but to go to one supplier. Now the time has come to start working towards separation of carrier and content so that non performers are pushed to side. Any system can function in a sustainable manner if the money invested in system gets back. This can happen from distribution end. If the transmission and distribution losses which includes commercial losses, are not improved drastically, it will be an ever losing proposition. For this, there should be either stricter laws or improving technology. The latter is better option as stricter laws can be misused. Telecom is the right example for this. The importance of electricity 69% of people still live in villages and migrating to cities. Electricity has been perceived so far as city or town centric. This scheme has the capability to make people live in their villages with unhindered electricity. Two factors responsible for power sector mess are Gaming at the highest economy including businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats, and engineers. In greed of earning money, the poor are being grilled without any fault of theirs. The electricity is supplied when not needed and when needed, it is not supplied. India is an agrarian society. It cannot sustain itself unless villagers develop themselves and retain themselves in villages. Along with smart cities and towns, India needs smart villages. It can be done through decentralized generation of electricity. The glamour of announcing big projects and them failing is the proof. In decentralization, no big transmission lines are needed. So worry of setting up project, project funds, management failures and all kind of mismanagement can be eliminated. There can be 1MW, 2MW, 3MW projects in villages. They can be developed along with dairy, food processing and storage for local market. From this local market, the government has to ensure that products are picked up. All middle men are thus eliminated. This will make people see that this scheme is for them. Non-conventional source of electricity Solar energy is going to change the complete platform of electricity sector. Solar parks and green corridor have been derived as suitable alternative to conventional resources. Solar plants can be settled at 2.3-3 mts high. So land acquisition becomes non-problematic. The people on whose lands the solar plants are being made should be made partner. If this happens, every village or group of villages will support to have electricity infrastructure and thereby have good school and college. Skill development will happen, job creation will be possible because of cold storage, food processing, market mechanism etc. Taking the connectivity to one place or arranging the local source is one part. The real challenge lies in making it sustainable, i.e. provide 24 hour round the year power supply. It has to be also ensured that money invested in system comes back. There is a need to revolutionize collection of dues at the distribution end. There should be pre-paid metering just like the model of telecom sector. It has been able to penetrate the poor sections without any issues of collection. Every household can decide the amount of electricity it requires on an average and pay previously for it and get uninterrupted supply until the balance finishes. This will instill the sense of judiciously using the electricity as well as realizing that electricity shall not be free. Once electricity is there, there is demand generation and there is use to it and ready to take pre-paid connection, it will be game-changer. Benefits of Saubhagya scheme The present scheme aims to build upon Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana launched in 2015 and Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana launched by the UPA government in 2005, both of which also aimed to provide free electricity connections to the poor. It aims to improve electricity access within villages that are already classified as “electrified”. With electricity, there will be larger penetration of telephone, digital payments, more ATMs, tourism in rural areas which encapsulate natural beauty. Way ahead Free electricity connection is not the end. Affordability of the electricity should be next step taken. Though India is claimed to be power-surplus nation, the power generation utilities remain vastly under-utilised. Though Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) has been not quite successful in making an impact to restructure the debt of State distribution agencies, more and more efforts should be made under it. The discoms should be given the freedom to sell at a profitable price as well as be supplied with demand asked for after consulting various stakeholders. Connecting the dots: Electricity is the ‘guiding light’ towards attaining the goal of ‘developed India’. Critically analyse with respect to new scheme launched recently.

PIB

IASbaba PIB Weekly : Press Information Bureau - 16th Oct to 21st Oct, 2017

IASbaba Press Information Bureau 16th to 21st October, 2017 ARCHIVES GS-2 Indian Food Recovery Alliance (IFRA) (Topic: Issues relating to poverty and hunger) A coalition of food recovery partners in country to fight the issue of hunger and also prevent food loss and food wastage in India. The food recovery partners showcased their existing models of food recovery and showcased an integrated web-based platform that is being developed. This web based platform, released on a pilot level, allows interested donors, individuals and volunteers to register themselves to be a part of this initiative. The donors will be able to track all the data, information and the status of the food they donate through their personal logins. This platform will also provide guidance to citizens, food businesses and various food recovery agencies on prevention of food loss and food waste, and safe recovery of surplus food. Signing of MoC on Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) between India & Japan (Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations) Objective: To significantly expand the bilateral cooperation between India and Japan in the field of skill development The synergy between Japan’s advanced technology and India’s rich human resources can transform both countries into new centres of production in the global industrial network. The MoC on TITP paves the way for sending Indian technical interns to Japan for on-the-job training for a period of three to five years. First Investment Agreement signed between NIIF and a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations) Objective: To mobilise long term investment into National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) – paves way for creating significant economic impact through investment in commercially viable infrastructure development projects. As a part of the agreement, ADIA will become the first institutional investor in NIIF’s Master Fund and a shareholder in the NIIF’s investment management Company. GS-2 Project CHAMAN (Topic: Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, e-technology in the aid of farmers) Objective: To provide strategic development to the horticulture sector, so as to increase farmer’s income By: Mahalanob is National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) using remote sensing technology (gives methodology for preparing reliable estimates) and is likely to be completed in March 2018 Horticulture Sector: Provides nutrient rich crops to the people and better remunerative prices to the farmers thereby augmenting their income Provides higher employment opportunities in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors Post-Harvest damages of farmers would be significantly reduced by creation of desired Post Harvest Infrastructures like cold storages etc. thereby increasing their income In addition the Geo-Spatial Studies like crop intensification, orchard rejuvenation and aqua-horticulture would further help the farmers’ to grow their horticultural crops in a profitable manner which will help doubling their income. India is the Second largest producer of Vegetables and Fruits in the world and is First in the production of Banana, Mango, Lime and Lemon, Papaya and Okra. Must Read: Link 1 Must Solve: Link 1 + Link 2 Note: ‘Sushruta Samhita’ – talks of surgery while Charak describes hundreds of diseases, their causes and treatment methods. ‘MAGUDAM AWARDS’ – Awarded to people from Tamil Nadu who have excelled in the field of Sports, Entertainment, Public Service, Literature, Technology and Start-Ups. India has the second highest number of US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved plants after the USA and is the largest producer of recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine. In the field of Science and Technology and Entrepreneurship, Indian women have had a major presence over the last 100 years – The first women to receive a medical doctorate degree was Anandibai Joshee in 1885 The first Indian women Doctorate in Basic Science was Janaki Ammal in 1931 India’s first woman to get a doctorate of science from an Indian university was Asima Chatterjee in 1944. The Jaipur and Srinagar Airport got First and Second rank respectively in the category of 2-5 million passengers in ACI-ASQ Survey. The Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards are the aviation industry's most prestigious accolades recognizing the airports which have achieved the highest passenger satisfaction ratings in the ASQ Survey - the world's benchmark measure of airport excellence. It is the only worldwide programme to survey passengers at the airports on their day of travel. INDRA: India and Russia’s annual military exercise. INDRA-2017 is the first tri-service bilateral exercise between the two countries. Under the provisions of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO), the prices of only those medicines are fixed which are in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), numbering about 850 against more than 6,000 medicines available in the market of various strengths and dosages. This constitutes approximately 17% of the total pharmaceuticals market, in value terms. There is an Expert Committee which continuously evaluates the list of Essential Medicines. Government makes Revised Quality Standards for Caustic Soda mandatory – The revised quality standards, compliant with Bureau of India Standards (BIS) specifications, would necessitate the industry to produce caustic soda using the modern and more energy efficient membrane based technology. Mandating compliance to revised BIS specifications will allow superior grade caustic soda to be produced and imported in the country which would be beneficial to human health and environment. The first ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) is set up in New Delhi along the lines of AIIMS. As an apex institute under the Ministry of AYUSH, the AIIA will bring synergy between the traditional wisdom of Ayurveda and modern diagnostic tools and technology. PM laid the Foundation Stone for five infrastructure and development projects in Kedarnath– Development of retaining wall and ghat on the Mandakini River; Development of retaining wall and ghat on Saraswati River; Construction of main approach to Kedarnath Temple; Development of Shankaracharya Kutir and Shankaracharya Museum; Development of houses for Kedarnath Purohits

RSTV Video

RSTV- The Big Picture : Economic Challenges for Government

Economic Challenges for Government Archives TOPIC: General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. The Indian economy is experiencing a slowdown. The debate is no longer whether demonetisation and GST have impacted the economy adversely. The debate is now what the government should do to kick-start the economic growth. A stimulus of Rs. 40000-50000 is expected to be put in which can boost exports and encourage domestic investments, supporting SMEs and providing more money for rural infrastructure and affordable housing. But the stimulus won’t come without its cost. The government doesn’t have the kind of fiscal space it is trying to explore. The stimulus is a conventional increase in deficit and it is not wise. Possible hiccups There is a large holding of government debt by foreigners of over 75 billion dollars. It is borrowed from parent country at 2% and invested in India at 6%. This is hot money which is quick money making, carry trade type activity. If they react to an increase in fiscal deficit or decline in exchange rate, there is chance of creating instability in the economy. Investments in equity come with more stable approach as people who invest in equity are taking long term view. There is no evidence that government spending is going to solve the basic problem of absolute free or near free private sector intention for investments. In 2016, there was significant boost in public spending and public investment but it has not stimulated private sector investments due to factors such as lack of demand growth, NPA problem and huge fall in investment in non-corporate sector. The investments have fallen by 5% in last 5 years relative to GDP. They have been seriously affected by demonetisation and GST that at this point simply pushing a larger deficit will not help the economy. In the first four months of current fiscal year 2017-18, there was enough stimulus to the economy due to passing of budget in March. There is 2 lakh crore extra revenue expenditure including Rs. 20000 crore of capital expenditure that has come into economy compared to last year. If this has not been able to give the higher growth, then any more stimulus will give the desired outcome is not expected. On the contrary, the message is that the fiscal should be under strict control because there are serious pressure on the revenues and on expenditures- due to shortfall in disinvestment, dividend and spectrum money. (Disinvestment was supposed to be Rs. 72500 crore, but till now, only Rs. 19000 crore mobilised. Rs. 44000 of spectrum earnings that well may be stretched and RBI dividends are down by 27000 crore) Possible measures Decline in interest rates for savings, decline in real estate has created discontent in market. But all is not bad in the economy. The number of IPOs coming out shows that economy has green shoots. There are high expectations of high growth post the settlement of more rationalised GST rates. Hence, there is a need of policy changes which will resolve the problems like improving implementation of GST. The government should focus more on fundamental principle of single tax rate across the country working. The system was over complicated with compliance mode where invoices got inter-linked, online filing of returns and no paper work. This should now be done in phases. Everything in one year shouldn’t be attempted. The small sector has been paralysed. If the filing conditions are relaxed for them with the intention that down the line in three years, everybody will be brought in same integrated system. The stimulus effect of public spending in investment depends on effectiveness on PPP model. The problem is that lot of institutions that government is looking forward to do partnerships with are entangled in NPAs. Thus, risk sharing has to be fixed quickly. It has been done in highways and helped in getting investments back. Together with it, working on flexibility of labour law rigidities, sector wise- textile reforms, revamping exchange rate policy where the rupee is overvalued have to be looked upon. The exchange rate policy is hitting exports and bringing in flood of imports. The voters are watching what is happening in the economy right now. From politico-economic point of view, in last one half years, the tax net has been widened. Demonetisation caused pain and disruption, GST implementation had its own challenges. The net result of these actions on economy and middle class (7.7 million tax payers between 5-50 lakh annual income) has been visible. This is the most vocal community which is contributing to lot of anguish in market. If the government wants to improve voter sentiment, there should be a concession like tax rebates which can lift the spirits. The government can push the public sector into more efficiency mode. Many PSUs have resources but they are not investing. Government is a shareholder and it should push these public sector companies to invest. The government’s job is not to sit on cash but to use it. This will enhance the spending in the economy which will give push to desirable outcomes. Liquid mutual funds investments have seen rise of 60% in last two years which is good. Connecting the dots: The worst for the economy seem to be over post the critical structural changes. Do you agree with the statement? Discuss.

IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs 24th Oct, 2017

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 24th Oct 2017 Archives ENVIRONMENT TOPIC: General Studies 3: Conservation, Environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment. Determining environmentally-desirable growth rate Background: There is a silver lining to a lower growth rate from the perspective of the sustainability of the economy in the long run. It can bring significant economic welfare through improvements in environmental quality. Economists concerned about sustainable development advocate low levels of economic growth since with large expansions in national income come negative environmental consequences such as pollution. These adversely affect the environmental quality and economic welfare of individuals and households dependent on the environment for their basic livelihood. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis: It appears that it is the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis that underlines almost all our development policies, which are directed towards pushing double-digit income growth with little concern for environmental capital. The EKC hypothesis is shown in an inverted U-shaped curve depicting the relationship between per capita income and environmental deterioration. It suggests that during the initial period of economic development, where per capita income is low, deterioration of environmental quality caused by rapid industrialisation and urbanisation is inevitable. Society will have to accept a certain level of environmental damage arising from income-generating activities because large-scale income growth is essential for achieving other development goals such as generation of mass employment and poverty reduction. Once per capita income reaches a higher level, the trade-off between income growth and environmental quality will cease to exist. With increased financial and technological capabilities, we can restore the environmental quality to desired levels. So, income growth on a higher path brings a win-win outcome in the long run where poverty is reduced and environmental quality is improved. Issue with the EKC hypothesis: In reality, the EKC is a near myth since an increase in per capita income does not bring desirable levels of improvement to the environment. In fact, empirical evidence across countries reveals that various attempts to increase per capita income causes more environmental deterioration. The Indian context: Studies that have attempted to estimate the economic costs of environmental damages in India have revealed some striking findings. For example, a 2013 World Bank study highlighted that in India, a higher level of economic growth maintained in the past imposed Rs. 3.75 trillion worth of environmental damage cost, which is equivalent to 5.7% of the country’s GDP at 2009 prices. Another study by the World Bank found that India’s air pollution alone caused welfare loss equivalent to 7.69% (approximately Rs. 31,316.2 billion) of its GDP in 2013. Issues: The values reported by the above studies are underestimates since they do not capture the wide range of economic impacts on the environment due to non-availability of data. For example, the environment generates a range of ecosystem services such as provisioning services (food, irrigation, drinking water), regulating services (climate regulation, water quality regulation), cultural services (recreational and religious services) and supporting services (nutrient recycling, soil formation). Identifying and quantifying them for the purpose of damage assessment is a difficult task in the absence of relevant data. In India, millions of households and economic activities utilise these ecosystem services for production and consumption. Though economically highly valuable, ecosystem services are not traded in the markets and, therefore, their true values are not reflected in the system. Therefore, the actual value of economic welfare lost due to loss of ecosystem services will be much higher than what is being currently estimated. Another issue is that the current method of GDP estimation treats environmental damage costs as income. Since development policies give more priority to income and employment generation, implementation of pollution control policies are very poor. For example, pollution control measures implemented in the bleaching and dying units in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, for more than 25 years did not achieve any pollution reduction. In fact, the measures led to not only the closure of these units in 2011 but had already caused significant irreversible damage to the health, agriculture and livestock sectors in that region. Regional poverty and inequality in income are caused by such ineffective policies. Adequate reforms in the area of pollution control with a larger role for market-based instruments such as pollution tax and tradable pollution permits are yet to be carried out in India. At present, the price of a commodity from a polluting unit covers only the private cost of production, not the damage cost. This makes the commodity relatively cheaper leading to more demand and output, and more pollution and environmental damage cost. Increased output and demand increases the value of GDP, but the corresponding environmental damage cost is not adjusted in the GDP estimation. More environmental damage may lead to an increased level of purchase of market goods contributing to expansion of the GDP. When individuals become sick due to water pollution, the demand for medical services will rise; increase in the purchase of these market goods and services will expand the GDP size. So, more pollution damage leads to higher GDP. The size of environmental social costs is significantly higher than the social benefits being brought about by GDP growth. This means, if we try to increase income and employment in traditional sectors, we lose them in other sectors that are dependent on the environment. Sometimes, the economic losses are much higher than the gains of income growth. Conclusion: Since GDP growth and environmental damage have a strong positive relationship, lower growth in GDP could afford benefits. Though there is an uncertainty in determining environmentally desirable growth rate. Maintaining 5-6% growth rate with strict environmental regulation is supposed to reduce environmental damage significantly. A proper assessment of environmental social benefits and social costs of income growth is warranted so that policies can be directed towards setting environmentally sustainable growth rates. Efforts to develop environmental accounting and green GDP for India can help us achieve sustainable development in future. Connecting the dots: What is the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Do you agree that income per capita and environmental degradation relationship can be depicted by an inverted U-curve? In this light discuss the need of determining environmentally desirable growth rate. GOVERNANCE / WELFARE 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. Solving the issue of homelessness Background: One of the most challenging problems of our times is homelessness. The challenges for India are daunting: An estimated 65 million people, or 13.6 million households, are housed in urban slums, according to the 2011 Census which estimated that an additional 1.8 million people in India were homeless. India is urbanising fast. Around 38 per cent of India will be urbanised by 2025. This would mean some 540 million people will be living in urban areas by 2025. Experts estimate that 18 million households in India are in need of low-income housing. This paired with a shrinking supply of land and high construction costs is leading to a growing slum population. Experts estimate that by 2025 more than 42 per cent of India’s population will be urban. Currently, the level of public services offered in slums is seriously deficient. An estimated 58 per cent of slum areas have open or no drainage, 43 per cent transport water from outside communities, 34 per cent have no public toilets, and an average of two power outages occurs each day. Owning a house: Bedrock of possibilities Providing stable, affordable housing is a major first step to establishing and sustaining a basic standard of living for every household. Many who live in slums have little to no control over or ownership of the property they live on. The formal financial sector is unable to serve them. Once titled, they could obtain access to several public benefits including loans. Housing is often the bedrock of other development interventions: owning land boosts health profiles, educational outcomes and gender equality. The converse is equally true. A decent habitat for the poorer sections of society will not only contribute towards their well-being and real asset creation, but also catalyze overall social and economic growth. The priority for housing ought to be higher than education and health. For many people in the developing world, the land on which they live is their only asset. If that property is not publicly recognised as belonging to them, they lose out on social benefits. Giving slum-residents basic property rights would encourage residents to invest in home improvement and encourage municipalities to provide infrastructure and better services. Way ahead: Upgradation rather relocation should be an option. Several attempts to relocate slum dwellers to the city’s fringes have failed because the location restricts the access of residents to employment, schools and other amenities. Slum-dwellers favour upgradation of existing facilities and secure tenancy. The Government should improve the legal and regulatory environment and increase the supply of affordable, legal shelter with tenure security and access to basic services and amenities. The Government should undertake physical upgradation of informal settlements sometimes accompanied by the provision of public services, such as access to roads, electricity, water supply and sanitation. These services create a high level of perceived tenure security. There is extensive need for repair of dilapidated housing stock and the provision of essential services. Property rights: Conventionally, property rights mean the right to use, develop and transfer property. However, a different set of property rights for informal housing, one that gives the owner-occupant mortgageable status can be provided. The Government could also permit the owner-occupant to have only the right to use the property and access basic services as in public housing. Alternatively, it could give property rights on lease. It could restrict use and exchange of such property to only between low-income groups. This can bring unplanned settlement into acceptable relation with the planning norms. Titles could be regularised in exchange for acceptance agreed urban planning guidelines. Case study: The Odisha government recently took a revolutionary decision by providing urban poor residing in 3,000 slums land rights for residential use that are heritable, mortgageable and non-transferable. Endowing slum dwellers with mortgaeable titles can open the gates to many opportunities for improving health, education, employment and providing entitlements to social programmes. Conclusion: The stresses on account of homelessness are mounting. Solutions will come from pairing passion with entrepreneurship and digging deep into the challenge at hand. Connecting the dots: Homelessness is a serious challenge in India. Discuss the importance of owning a house and the ways government can ensure ownership rights for maximum population including those living in slums. MUST READ A different trajectory The Hindu Brinkmanship in Spain The Hindu With or without veto The Hindu The road to partnership Indian Express Colonial Rajasthan Indian Express Turning the poor's assets into capital Livemint  

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