Published on Sep 30, 2019

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Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 30th September 2019

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 30th September 2019

(PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS)

Petronet – Tellurian deal

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-II – International Affairs

In News

During Indian PM visit to the USA, a MoU instead of an actual agreement, was singed for the $2.5 billion investment planned by Indian PSU Petronet in American LNG company Tellurian’s Driftwood LNG terminal

Reasons for delay in reaching agreement:

Price drops in LNG
India’s demand shortfallgiven the recent downturn in manufacturing
Expected LNG supply from Indian market and
Negative experience with locking in contracts for along period

About Petronet

It was formed as a Joint Venture by the Government of India to import LNG and set up LNG terminals in the country.
It involves India's leading oil and natural gas industry players with its promoters being GAIL, ONGC, IOCL and BPCL.
It has set up the country's first LNG receiving and regasification terminal at Dahej, Gujarat, and another terminal at Kochi, Kerala.

Government bans export of Onions

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-III- Economy

In News

In the light of increasing prices, the GOI prohibited onion exports and imposed limits on the stocks that can be held to prevent hoarding
The buffer stocks are maintained through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and supplies are sent to states at regulated prices using these stocks

About NAFED

NAFED was set up in 1958 under the Multi State Co-operative Societies Act.
Its objective is to promote Co-operative marketing of agricultural produce to benefit the farmers.
Agricultural farmers are the main members of Nafed, who have the authority to say in the form of members of the General Body in the working of Nafed.

GALO Community

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-I- Society

In News

Members of the Galo community in Arunachal Pradesh can recall the name of their ancestor from 20 generations ago i.e. right up to the founder of their clan.
This is made possible by their system of naming.

About Galos

The TheGalos belong to the Tani group inhabiting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, besides Tibet.
Galos are one of the 26 major communities of Arunachal Pradesh.
They have a system of prefixing the second syllable of a father’s name to that of a son, who passes on the suffix in his name to his son. thus, they can trace the names of ancestors from the first syllable or prefix of our names.
The genealogy is patriarchal.

National nutrition survey

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-II - Health

In News

The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey was conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF between February 2016 and October 2018
It is the first study undertaken to measure malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies through biochemical measures such as blood and urine samples, anthropometric data as well as details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents.
Some of the key finding of the report (yet to be released) are
- 10% of children and adolescents are pre-diabetic
- 4% adolescents have high cholesterol
- 7% children and adolescents have high risk of chronic kidney disease
- 5% adolescents were found to have high blood pressure

Difference with National Family Health Survey (NFHS)

The NHFS, collects anthropometric data (weight for age, height for age, weight for height, mid-upper arm circumference) to measure prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight and household dietary intake to measure deficiencies.
Moreover, these are collected for children in the age group of 1-5 years and adults, but not for school going children between the age of 5 and 19 years.
NHFS were carried out in 1992-93 (NFHS-1), 1998-99 (NFHS-2), 2005-06 (NFHS-3) and 2015-16(NFHS-4)
All NFHS have been conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, serving as the nodal agency.

Plogging

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-II - Health

In News

PM in his Mann Ki Baat radio address highlighted the efforts of RipudamanBelvi who has started the movement of plogging
Plogging is a combination of jogging with picking up litteri.eworkout combined with an activity to keep the environment clean
The picking-up-litter part can be seen as a cooling-down exercise after the exhausting cardio.
It started as an organised activity in Sweden in 2016 and started spreading to other countries
Plogging encapsulate the government’s two initiatives together — Fit India Movement and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.
Sports Ministry has organised “Fit India Plogging” run on October 2nd in which participants from across India would plog for 2 kms

Miscellaneous

IAU names asteroid after PanditJasraj

The International Astronomical Union has named as asteroid discovered in 2006, after Indian Classical Singer PanditJasraj
The asteroid or more formally known as minor planetoid is located between Mars and Jupiter.

(MAINS FOCUS)

INDIA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS

TOPIC: General Studies 2 :

India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Context :

The imposing Lotus Tower in Colombo, which was opened to the public recently, is considered to be the latest symbol of Sri Lanka-China ties.

Srilanka:

Island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and to the southeast of the Arabian Sea.
The island is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.
Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to the modern Maritime Silk Road
a 26-year civil war, which ended decisively when the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009
founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G77, and the Non-Aligned Movement

Image: https://www.worldatlas.com/img/areamap/continent/asia_map.gif

China – Sri-lanka relations:

1957, China and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations
Relations between both countries during the rule of Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, saw closer relations due to Rajapaksa's pro-China stance
Under current Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, relations remain strong with Sirisena interested in balancing both Chinese and Indian influence in the country.
recent developments have shown a pro-China tilt in Sri Lanka's current foreign policy
support of China's position in the South China Sea dispute
Sri Lanka is a major country on the String of Pearls (Chinese strategic initiative in the Indian Ocean,)
Srilanka is part of the Belt and road initiative(BRI) of china
Though economic ties with China are driving Sri Lanka into a “debt trap”, the bilateral relationship on the economic front is only becoming stronger. Ex : (Hambanatota )

Did you know:

Back in 1952, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and China signed a barter trade pact under which the two countries agreed to exchange Sri Lanka’s natural rubber for Chinese rice. With the international market for its natural rubber much reduced, Sri Lanka’s economy slumped. China’s purchase of Sri Lanka’s natural rubber helped ease the crisis.

Hambantota port:

The Hambantota Port is a maritime port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka
Total estimated construction cost of the Phase 1 of the project is US$361 million, out of which 85% was funded by China
As the port incurred heavy losses, making debt repayment difficult, in 2016 it was proposed to lease 80% of the port in a debt-for-equity swap to China Merchants Ports holding company (CMPort)(Signed ) for 99 years
In July 2018, it was announced that Sri Lanka would relocate its naval base at Galle to Hambantota.

India sri- lanka relations:

Srilanka was before part of various Indian kingdoms.
India is the island's largest trading partner
India is the only neighbour of Sri Lanka, separated by the Palk Strait
India and Sri Lanka are republics within the Commonwealth of Nations.
India has signed a nuclear energy deal to improve relations
the Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene Accord of 1987 and the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, envisaging devolution of powers for provinces, still provide a solid framework to address the ethnic question
India’s assistance during the 2004 tsunami and Mr. Modi’s visit to Colombo in June (the first foreign dignitary to do so) in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks show India’s sincerity of approach

Low time in India – srilanka relations:

The anti-Tamil program of 1983 dragged India into the Sri Lankan Tamil question.
withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in March 1990 a
the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 made New Delhi adopt a “hands-off approach” towards Colombo till the final phase of the civil war.

Recent development:

India cannot claim to have accomplished much in the Sirisena years, despite its “neighbourhood first” policy since May 2014. India cannot boast of having taken up any major infrastructure project in Sri Lanka.
the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, an improved version of the existing bilateral Free Trade Agreement, has been shelved.
In recent years, only a couple of social sector projects of the Indian government— gathered momentum.( — building 60,000 homes for Tamils and ambulance services)
concern over delays in projects proposed by India. The joint development of an oil storage facility in Trincomalee is one such project

India – Srilanka – China:

China’s footprint in Sri Lanka is expanding into the island’s Tamil-dominated areas where India’s influence in the island has been the strongest, is worrying” as its role here could grow at India’s cost.
According to the 2018 annual report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, imports from China accounted for 18.5%, just a little less than the 19% from India.

Way forward:

India must sit with that leader not just to get expeditious approvals for all the pending infrastructure projects but also contribute to a holistic development of Sri Lanka’s youth.
India must encourage the voluntary repatriation of nearly 95,000 refugees who live in Tamil Nadu back to Sri Lanka.

Conclusion:

China-funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka may look great, but India-Sri Lanka ties are deeper and more complex.
A benign and comprehensive approach, backed by the sincerity of purpose, will earn India greater respect of Sri Lankans, and also send a message to the world about the strength of its ties with Sri Lanka.

Connecting the dots:

Unlike China, India has not accomplished much in Sri Lanka. Critically analyze.

HEALTH

TOPIC: General Studies 2 :

Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

Context:

September 29 is observed as World Heart Day, an initiative by the World Heart Federation to spread awareness about cardiovascular diseases (CVD)

World Heart Federation:

The World Heart Federation (WHF) is a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland in 1971
The first World Congress of Cardiology was convened in Paris in September 1950

"World Heart Day" was founded in 2000 to inform people around the globe that heart disease and stroke are the world’s leading causes of death

cardiovascular diseases (CVD) :

CVDs are a group of disorders of the heart and the blood vessels.
coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease and congenital heart disease among others.

Causes:

lifestyle choices such as an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and excessive use of alcohol.
lead to increased blood pressure, increased blood glucose levels and obesity.
Essentially, they increase the risk of developing a heart attack, stroke and other such complications.

preventable to some extent.

Data:

17.9 million people die of CVDs every year(31 per cent of global deaths) One-third of these deaths are premature
75 per cent cases come from low and middle-income countries.

Indian scenario:

the number of years lost to ill-health has increased in India
2016, CVDs contributed to 28.1 percent of the total deaths, as compared to 15.2 percent in 1990.
prevalence of CVDs is estimated to be around 54.5 million.
35% of patients with no conventional risk factors suffered from cardiovascular diseases (CAD) due to reasons linked to air pollution.

Reasons: high systolic blood pressure, ambient air pollution, high total cholesterol and high BMI among major risk factors contributing towards heart diseases

Air pollution : A person stranded in a traffic junction for five minutes in a polluted area will be exposed to the effect of smoking five cigarettes

Case study:

The research was carried out on 2,400 patients in the Premature Coronary Artery Disease (PCAD) .Patients under the age of 40, who had been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, were registered.
The study shows that 26% of the patients were working in different types of jobs in the private sector; 15% each were agriculturists and daily wage workers, 12% were working in technical fields, and 6.5% were housewives. As many as 24% of the patients were drivers, which accounted for the most common nature of work among PCAD patients.

Steps taken:

In 2013, the WHO developed targets to control and prevent non-communicable diseases includes a relative reduction of 25 per cent in overall mortality from CVDs by 2025.
India’s National Health Policy 2017 too, aims to reduce premature mortality from CVDs, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases by 25 per cent by 2025.

Conclusion:

risks contributing to cardiovascular diseases across India is ominous, and this situation has to be addressed through systematic policies and action in various sectors

Connecting the dots:

Air pollution is a new tobacco; it kills more people than smoking. Substantiate.

(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)

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Q.1)Consider the following statements

National nutrition survey is the first survey undertaken by Ministry of Health & Family welfare to study both malnutrition and non-communicable diseases in India
September is being observed as PoshanMaah or Nutrition month

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Q.2)Consider the following statements about National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)

It was set up under National Food Security Act, 2013
Its objective is to promote Co-operative marketing of agricultural produce to benefit the farmers.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?