Monthly Magazine: January 2019 · circulation, and A.K. Ramanujan‟s essay „Three Hundred...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PH NO: 8880120120 , 8123379686 [email protected] ACHIEVERS IAS ACADEMY #1360, 2 ND FLOOR , 100 FEET ROAD , 9 TH BLOCK, JAYANAGAR, BANGALORE - 69

Monthly Magazine: January 2019

Source: The Hindu,PIB

General Studies-I : Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature

and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

1.ASI finds 2,300-year-old artefacts in Odisha

● Archaeologists have unearthed artefacts believed to be 2,300-year-old while carrying

out excavation at the Asurgarh Fort in Odisha‘s Kalahandi district.

● Archaeologists excavated the items dating from Mauryan to Kushan period.

● The present archaeological work reveals a number of brick structures. Wedge

shaped bricks are also noticed in the circular structures. Most of the structures have

terracotta tiles with groves and hole for socketing

● The Asurgarh people during that time probably used stone rubbles and tile

fragments for flooring their houses and the streets. Besides, silver punch marked

coins, silver and copper toe ring and ear rings, beads of carnelian, jasper, beryl,

garnet, agate and coral have been found

● Other discovered artefacts include, glass bangle pieces of different designs and

colours, sling balls, pestle, iron equipment like small wheel, ring, and arrow head.

● It is believed that the fort is surrounded by moat on its northern, eastern and

southern sides.

2.„Kumbh will generate ₹1.2 lakh crore revenue‟


● The mega Kumbh Mela, which began on January 15 and will continue till March 4,

is expected to generate a revenue of ₹1.2 lakh crore for Uttar Pradesh, according to

apex industry body Confederation of Indian Industry.

● Although the Kumbh Mela is spiritual and religious in nature, the economic

activities associated with it generate employment for over six lakh workers across

various sectors, the CII said in a report.

● The Uttar Pradesh government has allocated ₹4,200 crore for the 50-day Kumbh

Mela this year, which is over thrice the budget of the Maha Kumbh in 2013, making

the mega pilgrimage perhaps the costliest ever.

● Around 12 crore people are expected to visit the Kumbh between now and March 4,

when the Mela will come to a close on Maha Shivratri day.

● The hospitality sector aims at employing 2,50,000 people, airlines and airports

around 1,50,000 and tour operators around 45,000. The employment numbers in eco-

tourism and medical tourism are being estimated at 85,000, said a CII study.

● Apart from this, there will be around 55,000 new jobs in the unorganised sector,

comprising tour guides, taxi drivers, interpreters and volunteers. This will lead to an

increase in income levels for government agencies and individual traders.

● Attracting a massive number of tourists from various countries like Australia, the

U.K., Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand, Mauritius,

Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, the Kumbh is a festival of the world.

● ―The ‗mela‘ is expected to generate a revenue of ₹1,200 billion for Uttar Pradesh, the

State where it is being held, while neighbouring States like Rajasthan, Uttarakhand,

Punjab and Himachal Pradesh will also benefit from the enhanced revenue generation,

with a large number of national and foreign tourists expected to explore other

destinations,‖ the study said.

3.Death by design

● Tighter regulations cannot eliminate the element of danger intrinsic to jallikattu

● In situations involving humans and animals, Murphy‘s law takes a strong hold: if

things can go wrong, they most likely will.

● Jallikattu may have drawn the attention of animal rights activists for the innumerable

accounts of cruelty to bulls, but the deaths fall mostly on the human side of the ledger.

● The animals suffer but generally survive the ordeal, while a few youth lose their

lives. A tragedy as in Viralimalai in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu, where two

men were gored to death by bulls, was waiting to happen.

● Whatever the precautions taken, and there were many, one cannot prepare for the

behaviour of a rampaging bull.


● Viralimalai jallikattu may not be as famed as the Alanganallur or Palamedu events,

but this year it had the full weight of the government behind it.

● The event was organised by Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar, a bull-owner himself,

in an attempt to create a ‗record‘ for the largest number of bulls in a single arena.

● The event got a bigger profile with Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in

attendance. Multi-tier metal galleries were erected on either side of the arena to

accommodate the thousands who had turned up to watch the contest.

● Double barricades were in place at the vaadivasal, the entry point for the bulls, but the

tragedy happened at the exit point, the open area for collection of the bulls after the

event.

● The contest was over, and the bull-tamers were no longer chasing the bulls. But how

were the bulls to know?

● An owner trying to rein in his bull was gored to death by another behind him, and a

spectator who wandered out of the protective cover at the scene of action bled to

death on being pierced in the abdomen.

● Could anything have been done differently? In keeping with the guidelines set by the

Supreme Court to regulate the sport, the Health Department had also deployed teams

of doctors from Pudukottai.

● Medical experts from Tiruchi and Thanjavur Medical Colleges were deployed to

attend to emergency cases.

● A makeshift operation theatre was also set up at the venue. After Sunday‘s tragedy,

jallikattu events of the future might have barricades at the collection points too. But

danger is in the very nature of the blood sport that is jallikattu. Unpredictability is

intrinsic to the sport.

● Attempts to ban the sport have been opposed on the ground that it is an inseparable

part of Tamil Nadu‟s culture.

● The Tamil Nadu government in 2017 took the ordinance route to allow for the

holding of jallikattu following a ban by the Supreme Court, and the Centre exempted

bulls from the rules framed for ensuring the well-being of performing animals.

● After every loss of human life the regulations might get tighter, but the danger to the

life and limb of participants, spectators, and bull-owners will remain in the conduct

of jallikattu.

General Studies-II : Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features,

amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

1.Removing fear


● The private member‟s Bill aimed at protecting literary freedom from threats is

welcome

● Literary freedom is taken for granted in democracies, but forces that threaten or

undermine it are always at work. Each age has to fight the battle afresh.

● In recent times, several attempts to get books withdrawn, pulped or sanitised of

offending content have achieved full or partial success in India.

● Wendy Doniger‘s The Hindus: An Alternative History was withdrawn from

circulation, and A.K. Ramanujan‟s essay „Three Hundred Ramayanas‟ was

dropped from a Delhi University syllabus.

● Tamil writer Perumal Murugan‟s Madhorubagan was withdrawn by the author

under mob pressure but resurrected by a Madras High Court verdict.

● Public order, national unity and social or religious harmony are the principles

commonly invoked against the practice of literary freedom.

● Threats to free expression, especially artistic freedom, in our times mainly come

from those claiming to espouse the interests of a particular religion or social group.

● It is in this context that Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP and writer, has introduced a

private member‘s Bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to protect freedom of literature.

● Its objective — that ―authors must be guaranteed the freedom to express their work

without fear of punitive action by the State or by sections of society‖ — commends

itself to any society that upholds liberal values.

● It seeks the omission of three IPC sections, including 295A, in effect a non-

denominational blasphemy law, as it targets deliberate or malicious acts to outrage

religious feelings.

● Section 295A is a grossly misused section, often invoked in trivial ways to hound

individuals, harass writers and curtail free expression. It deserves to be scrapped.

● Sections that relate to the sale of obscene books and uttering words that hurt religious

feelings are also sought to be omitted.

● However, it is unclear why Section 153A, which punishes those who promote enmity

between groups on grounds of religion, race or language, and Section 153B, which

criminalises words and imputations prejudicial to national integration, do not draw

Mr. Tharoor‘s attention.

● In the process of proscribing a book, he proposes a tweak in the form of a 15-day

prohibition. Thereafter, the onus should be on the State government to approach

the High Court to seek a permanent ban.

● It favours the scrapping of the provision in the Customs Act to ban the import of

books, but makes a public order exception. It wants to limit the bar on obscenity in

the Information Technology Act to child pornography.


● Private Bills rarely become law, but they are useful in highlighting gaps in the body of

law.

● Seen in this light, Mr. Tharoor‘s initiative is most welcome as a step towards

removing or diluting penal provisions that inhibit literary freedom.

General Studies-II : Issues relating to development and management of Social

Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

1.„Slump in numeracy skills of rural Class VIII students‟

● While there has been some improvement in the reading and arithmetic skills of

lower primary students in rural India over the last decade, the skills of Class VIII

students have actually seen a decline.

● The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018, the results of a yearly

survey that NGO Pratham has been carrying out since 2006, shows that more than

half of Class VIII students cannot correctly solve a numerical division problem and

more than a quarter of them cannot read a primary level text.

● Those figures are worse than they were a decade ago. In 2008, 84.8% of Class VIII

students could read a text meant for Class II; by 2014, only 74.6% could do so, and by

2018, that percentage had fallen further to 72.8%.

● Four years ago, 44.1% of students in Class VIII could correctly divide a three digit

number by a single digit number; in 2018, that figure had fallen slightly to 43.9%.

● Noting that the ―additional value added in terms of math skills for each year of

schooling is low,‖ Pratham researchers concluded that ―without strong foundational

skills, it is difficult for children to cope with what is expected of them in the upper

primary grades.‖

● The picture is slightly more encouraging at the Class III level, where there has been

gradual improvement since 2014. However, even in 2018, less than 30% of students


in Class III are actually at their grade level, that is, able to read a Class II text and do

double digit subtraction.

● These overall percentages also camouflage wide differences in skill level between

States, or even between students in a single classroom.

● For example, Pratham found that almost half of Class III students in government

schools in Himachal Pradesh can read a Class II level text, while another quarter can

read a Class I level text. This allows the teacher to use grade level textbooks for most

of the class, although the rest will need ongoing support for basic skills.

● In government schools in Uttar Pradesh, however, a quarter of students cannot

recognise letters yet, while another 37% can recognise letters, but not read words.

Urgent and immediate help is needed if these students are not to be left behind.

● The ASER survey covered almost 5.5 lakh children between the ages of 3 and 16 in

596 rural districts across the country. In an encouraging trend, it found that

enrolment is increasing and the percentage of children under 14 who are out of

school is less than 4%.

● The gender gap is also shrinking, even within the older cohort of 15-and-16-year-

olds. Only 13.6% of girls of that age are out of school, the first time that the figure has

dropped below the 15% mark.

Learning little

● The reading and arithmetic abilities in rural schools are shockingly dismal

● The latest assessment of how children are faring in schools in rural areas indicates

there has been no dramatic improvement in learning outcomes.

● The picture that emerges from the Annual Status of Education Report, Rural (2018)

is one of a moribund system of early schooling in many States, with no remarkable

progress from the base year of 2008.

● Except for a small section at the top of the class, the majority of students have

obviously been let down. The survey for 2018 had a reach of 5.4 lakh students in 596

rural districts.

● It should put administrators on alert that while 53.1% of students in Class 5 in rural

government schools could in 2008 read a text meant for Class 2, the corresponding

figure for 2018 stood at 44.2%; for comparison, private schools scored 67.9% and

65.1% for the same test in those years.

● Arithmetic ability showed a similar trend of under-performance, although there

has been a slight uptick since 2016: an improvement of about 1.5 percentage points

in government schools and 1.8 percentage points in private institutions, among Class

5 students.


● Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Haryana did better on the arithmetic

question with over 50% students clearing it, compared to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya

Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Karnataka, which scored below 20%.

● A significant percentage of students were not even able to recognise letters

appropriate for their class, highlighting a severe barrier to learning.

● Now that the ASER measure is available for 10 years, the Centre should institute a

review mechanism involving all States for both government and private institutions,

covering elementary education and middle school.

● A public consultation on activity-based learning outcomes, deficits in early

childhood education, and innovations in better performing States can help.

● At present, children start learning in a variety of environments: from poorly

equipped anganwadi centres to private nurseries.

● The enactment of the Right to Education Act was followed by a welcome rise in

enrolment, which now touches 96% as per ASER data.

● Empowering as it is, the law needs a supportive framework to cater to learners from

different backgrounds who often cannot rely on parental support or coaching.

● There is concern that curricular expectations on literacy and numeracy have

become too ambitious, requiring reform.

● It is worth looking at innovation in schools and incentivising good outcomes; one

study in Andhra Pradesh indicated that bonus pay offered to teachers led to better

student scores in an independently administered test in mathematics and language.

● The solutions may lie in multiple approaches. What is beyond doubt is that

governments are not doing their duty by India‘s children.

2.States put on high alert as swine flu cases spike across the country

● With 49 swine flu deaths and 1,694 cases reported in just one fortnight from January

1-13 as per data released by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme

(IDSP), several States are on alert.

● Rajasthan alone has reported 31 deaths in this period with other instances being

reported from Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Prdaesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil

Nadu and Telangana.

● While the Rajasthan health department has reported that the number of cases in the

State has crossed 1,000 with more than 200 people having died in the past 13 months,

the Union Health Ministry has said that there is no cause for panic and that the

situation is being closely monitored.


● H1N1 influenza (or swine flu) is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of

pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in

pigs.

● Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human

infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in people

with direct exposure to pigs (e.g., children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine

industry). However, there have been cases of human-to-human spread of swine flu.

● All State governments have been asked to create awareness about the spread, testing

and prevention of swine flu and we have also asked them to ensure that there are

enough beds and medicines to treat any cases that are being reported

● According to Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry‘s IDSP, 14,992 people

contracted swine flu in 2018., while 1,103 people died. In 2017, 38,811 people tested

positive with 2,270 deaths.

● Children younger than five years old and adults who are 65 years and above,

patients with chronic pulmonary condition (including asthma), , neurological,

neuromuscular or metabolic disorders (including diabetes), obese adults and

pregnant women are in the high risk group

Season‟s worst

● A concerted public health push is required to tackle periodic outbreaks of influenza

● Seasonal influenza poses a significant public health challenge for India every year.

● The spurt in infections during the first two weeks of 2019 cries out for an effective

plan to contain it. Rajasthan, which had a big case load last year, is the worst-

affected State in the current season, with 768 cases and 31 deaths as of January 13.

● There have been peaks in the country over the past six years, with the number of cases

recorded by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme soaring to 42,592 and

the death toll touching 2,990 in 2015.

● With better understanding of the nature of active viruses and the availability of a

quadrivalent vaccine, State governments have no excuse for failing to sharply

reduce the spread.

● Last year, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare deputed teams to assist

Rajasthan in containing the outbreak.

● It is pertinent to ask what preventive measures were put in place based on the

experience.

● Large-scale vaccination covering high- risk groups such as health workers, people

with lung, kidney, liver and heart disease, diabetics and the elderly could reduce the

impact of the viruses in States such as Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana


and the National Capital Region, all of which had a large number of cases three years

ago.

● A universal preventive programme should be considered at least for the future.

● Last year, the Union Health Ministry put out an advisory on the right vaccine to

protect against a known set of viruses, such as Influenza A H1N1, H3N2 and

Influenza B.

● Yet, most public health programmes are not prepared for a mass adoption of the

vaccine. Non-availability of sufficient doses of quadrivalent vaccine as well as

profiteering on the demand have not been addressed.

● If a vaccine has proven efficacy in reducing the burden of seasonal influenza, it must

be made part of the public health system.

● An umbrella scheme such as Ayushman Bharat can easily provide it to everyone

using public and private institutions.

● Campaigns to educate the public through mass media ahead of the season,

especially on respiratory etiquette and risk reduction, can help cut transmission.

● At the same time, upgrading existing vaccines requires a consistent effort to track

viral mutations that take place periodically, and communicate the information to

researchers through open access databases.

● There are 41 Virus Research Diagnostic Laboratories in India and they can study the

nature of infections to provide genetic insights to peer scientists. This can help

develop vaccines and remedies.

● When it comes to treatment, the availability of anti-viral drugs such as Oseltamivir

in the public health system should be ensured.

● Seasonal influenza will, according to the WHO, continue to resurface. India must

prepare for it with a comprehensive programme that covers all the States.

3.Decision put off on Institutes of Eminence

● The University Grants Commission has deferred a decision on which institutions

should be granted the prestigious Institutes of Eminence tag as an expert committee

has recommended more names than the government scheme allowed for.

● The expert committee recommended 30 names, 15 in each category. But the

government scheme said we had to select ten in each category [of public and private

institutions],

● The scheme is aimed at developing world-class institutions which would put India

on the global education map.

● Institutions were offered greater autonomy and freedom to decide fees, course

durations and structures. The 10 selected public institutions would also receive a


grant of ₹1000 crore, while the 10 private institutions would not receive any financial

assistance.

● The empowered expert committee headed by former Chief Election Commissioner

N. Gopalaswami had initially recommended 11 institutions for the tag in July

2018.

● Of those, the Centre had actually bestowed the tag on six institutions, three public

— IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay and IISc Bangalore – and three private — BITS Pilani,

Manipal University, and the yet-to-open Jio University. In December, the committee

recommended 19 more names, taking the total list to 30.

General Studies-II : Government policies and interventions for development in various

sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

1.Modi‟s decision to buy 36 Rafales shot the price of each jet up by 41%

● Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s decision, announced out of the blue in Paris on April

10, 2015, to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France instead of the 126 asked for by

the Indian Air Force for six squadrons pushed the price of each fully fitted, combat-

ready aircraft up by 41.42%.

● It was the National Democratic Alliance government‘s acceptance of the cost of €1.3

billion claimed for the ‗design and development‟ of 13 India Specific

Enhancements (ISE), and the distribution of this ‗non-recurring cost‘ over 36

instead of 126 bare-bones aircraft, that was the major reason for the big increase in

price.

● The NDA government has refused to disclose even to a privileged committee of

Parliament full information on the pricing of a Rafale aircraft, contending that its

agreement with France on the ‗Exchange and Reciprocal Protection of Classified

or Protected Information‟ stands in the way of such disclosure.

● The French government, however, has made it clear that this inter-governmental

agreement is there only ―to protect the classified information provided by the partner,

which could, in particular, impact the security and operational capabilities of the

defence equipment.‖

● The restriction clearly does not apply to the disclosure of pricing details.

● In fact, a scan of news media coverage reveals that there has been selective

background briefing by military and civilian defence officials on technical and other

supposedly sensitive details of the deal and that these briefings have helped answer


some, but not all the critical questions being asked about the Rafale deal, chiefly on

the pricing of these medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).

● In 2007, five years before M/s Dassault Aviation was declared the L1 vendor, that is,

the Lowest Bidder and the presumptive winner of the tender floated by the United

Progressive Alliance government for the supply of 126 Rafales (18 flyaway plus 108

to be manufactured, under licence, in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), the

price quoted by the vendor for one flyaway bare-bones aircraft was €79.3 million.

● By 2011, the escalation cost factor had taken this per-aircraft price up to €100.85

million.

● In 2016, the 9% discount on the 2011 price obtained by the NDA government for the

36 Rafales it was buying from France through an Inter-Governmental Agreement

brought this per-aircraft price down to €91.75 million.

● But that is not even half the story. Dassault claimed a €1.4 billion cost for the ‗design

and development‟ of 13 India Specific Enhancements, that is, additional

capabilities in the form of hardware as well as software that had been specified by the

Indian Air Force all along, and this cost was negotiated down to €1.3 billion.

● What it meant was that the design and development cost, now distributed over 36

Rafale fighter jets, shot up from €11.11 million per aircraft in 2007 to €36.11 million

when the deal was struck in 2016.

Clear the air

● The fog of doubt over the Rafale deal can be lifted only with greater transparency

● That troubling questions about the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets will persist

despite a clean chit of sorts from the Supreme Court, was demonstrated

compellingly last week following The Hindu‘s detailed investigation into the deal.

● It showed that in comparison to the bid under the UPA there was an overall

escalation in the price of each jet in the 2016 deal struck by the Modi government,

because the price of 13 India Specific Enhancements (ISEs), essentially upgrades

that were sought on the bare-bones aircraft, was spread over 36 jets as opposed to

the original 126.

● Significantly, as The Hindu‘s investigation revealed, three Defence Ministry officials

in the seven-member Indian Negotiating Team objected to the €1.3 billion assigned to

ISEs; it was eventually approved by a narrow 4-3 majority on the ground that ISEs

are a non-recurring cost.

● But this raises an obvious and perplexing question: since they are a non-recurring

cost, why did the government drop, or fail to secure, the follow-on provision, which

would have given India the option to purchase more Rafales, and reduce the per-


aircraft price by spreading the design and development costs involved in the

upgrades?

● After all, the follow-on clause was a part of the deal under negotiation under the

UPA government.

● The import of the question assumes an altogether different dimension given that the

Air Force, with an old and depleting fleet, has required — and for some two decades

now — far greater numbers of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) like

the Rafale.

● Last year, the government issued a Request for Information for 110 fighters, of

which about 15% will be acquired in a flyaway condition and the remainder

manufactured under the strategic partnership route.

● With the same manufacturers back in the bidding fray, we are in a way back to where

we were — in other words, to a place that casts doubts on the vigour of India‟s

long-term planning when it comes to defence preparedness.

● Owing to a mix of investigation, statements and government leaks, much of the

information about the pricing, the acquisition process and the ISEs are already in the

public domain.

● It is nobody‘s case that information that could impact the aircraft‘s operational

capability or jeopardise national security should be shared, but the government has

been less than willing to come forward to address the issue of pricing.

● Instead it has been taking cover, unconvincingly, under the secrecy clause in the

general security agreement signed between India and France in 2008.

● Given the fog of doubt over a number of issues, it is unclear why it doesn‘t adopt a

more accommodating posture by arranging private briefings for Opposition leaders

and permitting a JPC to examine the deal.

● Without this, the general presumption will be that it has something to hide.

2.Panel to go into quota for Assamese

● The Centre has set up a high-level committee headed by former IAS officer M.P.

Bezbaruah to assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the Assam

Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people, besides providing employment

opportunities.

● Last week, the Union Cabinet took a decision in this effect under the Assam Accord

of 1985.

● The committee and its terms of reference were notified a day before the Joint

Parliamentary Committee on the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, is expected

to table its report in Parliament, paving the way for India to grant citizenship to six


persecuted minorities — Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists —

from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who came to the country prior to the year

2014.

● There has been a strong resistance to the Bill in BJP-ruled Assam as it would pave the

way for giving citizenship, mostly to illegal Hindu migrants from Bangladesh in

Assam, who came after March 1971, in violation of the Assam Accord.

● In a notification, the Home Ministry said the committee would examine the

effectiveness of actions taken since 1985 to implement Clause 6 of the Assam

Accord.

● Clause 6 of the Accord states: ―Constitutional, legislative and administrative

safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote

the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people‖.

● The committee can also suggest any other measures, as may be necessary, to protect,

preserve and promote cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the

Assamese people. It will submit its report within six months from the date of

notification

● A Joint Parliamentary Committee will submit its report on the Citizenship

(Amendment) Bill on Monday, in all probability recommending its introduction.

Centre okays Citizenship Bill

● The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the contentious Citizenship

Amendment Bill, 2016 recommended that the Assam government should help settle

migrants ―especially in places which are not densely populated, thus, causing lesser

impact on the demographic changes and providing succour to the indigenous

Assamese people‖.

● The Bill paves the way to grant citizenship to six religious minorities — Hindus,

Jains, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists — from Pakistan, Afghanistan and

Bangladesh who came to India before 2014.

● There has been a strong resistance to the Bill in the BJP-ruled Assam as it would

pave the way for giving citizenship, mostly to illegal Hindu migrants from

Bangladesh, in Assam who came after March 1971, in violation of the Assam Accord

of 1985.

● The Union Cabinet cleared the redrafted Citizenship Amendment Bill on Monday,

and it is likely to be tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

● The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) expressed its concern before the

committee.


General Studies-II : 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.

1.10% quota for the poor gets LS approval

● The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill allowing 10% quota in employment and

education for the general category candidates who belong to the economically

weaker sections.

● The Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, introduced by Minister of Social

Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot, was cleared with a majority of the

members (319) voting for it, and four against. The Rajya Sabha will take it up on

Wednesday.

● However, the Opposition questioned the haste with which the government

introduced the Bill, on the last day of the winter session.

Quota questions

● Moves for reservations on economic grounds are more about politics than social

justice

● Rattled by the erosion in upper caste votes in the recent Assembly elections in

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the BJP government has attempted to

recover this traditional vote base through an unapologetic political manoeuvre.

● It has sought to provide a 10% quota for economically weaker sections in public

employment and educational institutions.

● That this is more an election-time signal to upper castes than a genuine attempt to

revisit social justice policy is clear for at least two reasons.

● The 124th Constitution Amendment Bill will have to be passed by two-thirds of

the MPs present and voting, and the challenge will be to drum up the numbers in

both Houses. And, it is doubtful if it will stand judicial scrutiny.

● If enacted, the 50% limit on total reservation laid down by the Supreme Court will

be breached. (The court did allow for a higher percentage in extraordinary

situations, but it does not apply in this case.)

● Even if it is arguable that such a move will create deserving opportunities to those

outside the purview of caste-based reservations, in Indira Sawhney a nine-judge

bench had struck down a provision that earmarked 10% for the economically

backward on the ground that economic criteria cannot be the sole basis to determine

backwardness.


● Any attempt to amend the Constitution to extend what is limited to the ―socially and

educationally backward‖ to those economically weak is problematic.

● If the amendment is challenged, a question that will arise is whether financial

incapacity warrants special treatment.

● With the income ceiling for eligibility likely to be fixed at ₹8 lakh a year — the same

as the ‗creamy layer‟ limit above which OBC candidates now enjoying reservations

become ineligible — an uneasy parity has been created between socially and

educationally backward classes with limited means and those who are socially and

educationally advanced with the same limitation.

● The other issue that has come up frequently when quotas are increased by State

governments is that exceeding the 50% limit offends the equality norm.

● In Nagaraj (2006), a Constitution Bench ruled that equality is part of the basic

structure of the Constitution.

● It said the 50% ceiling, among other things, was a constitutional requirement without

which the structure of equality of opportunity would collapse.

● There has been a string of judgments against reservations that breach the 50% limit.

Another issue is whether reservations can go to a section that is already adequately

represented in public employment.

● It is not clear if the government has quantifiable data to show that people from lower

income groups are under-represented in its service.

● Reservations have been traditionally provided to undo historical injustice and social

exclusion suffered over a period of time, and the question is whether they should be

extended to those with social and educational capital solely on the basis of what they

earn.

2.#MeToo: time limit on filing complaints likely to be relaxed

● A government sub-committee formed in the wake of the #MeToo movement to

recommend ways to prevent sexual harassment at workplace is likely to propose

waiving the three-month time limit for victims to file complaints as laid down under

the law.

● The sub-panel headed by a Special Secretary-level officer from the Ministry of

Home Affairs (MHA) has met thrice so far and is in the process of drafting its

recommendations. These will be presented before a four-member Group of

Ministers (GoM) headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

● According to a government official in the know of the Committee‘s deliberations,

relaxing the three-month window provided to victims for filing complaints will


require an amendment to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace (PoSH)

Act, 2013.

● Section 9 of the law lays down that a complaint will have to be filed within three

months of an incident taking place.

● However, until the law is amended, the sub-panel may recommend that an Internal

Committee can relax the three-month window after a “speaking order” or after

noting down proper reasoning for waiving the time limit.

● Late last year, many from the Indian media and entertainment industry took to

Twitter to share personal accounts of being sexually assaulted and harassed by

colleagues and seniors at workplaces.

● Many of these allegations, such as those against former Union Minister M. J.

Akbar, were about incidents that were several years, and sometimes many decades,

old.

● It is reliably learnt that some members wanted no time restriction at all on the filing

of complaints.

● The Committee is also likely to propose that members of Internal Committees be

treated on a par with “public servants‖ as defined under Section 21 of the Indian

Penal Code so that they have immunity from prosecution.

3.Sanitary pad vending machines reach Telangana govt. schools

● Sanitary pad vending machines, which were earlier limited to corporate offices, has

now reached government schools in Telangana, as the exercise of installing them

has been taken up by the government.

● The machines help schoolchildren buy sanitary pads without going to a vendor.

● Even today, children feel shy when they buy sanitary pads. Girls hesitate to buy

them from medical stores. The vending machines are meant to popularise the use

of pads and also make them available at schools for children to access them without

any hassle

● In India, around 80% of adolescent girls still use cloth or absorbent material like ash

during their menstrual cycle, said a report by the National Commission for Women

in 2018.

● The previous year, the commission had also sent its recommendations supporting

installation of such machines, to Ministry of Human Resource Development.

● The commission had highlighted that 23% of girls drop out of school owing to non-

availability of sanitary products at schools. Apart from schools, the commission had

also recommended installation of machines at colleges and universities.


● With this initiative, Telangana could be one of the first States to opt for sanitary

pad vending machines in government establishments

4.Helping build urban houses faster, cheaper

● The Centre will offer about ₹150 crore as a technology innovation grant to build

6,000 homes — cheaper, faster and better — using alternative technologies and

materials under the Global Housing Technology Challenge launched on Monday.

● However, the challenge may not do much to actually speed the pace of construction

under the urban section of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or Housing for All,

which has completed just over 10% of its target as the scheme reaches its halfway

point.

● The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will invite bids and identify proven

demonstrable technologies from around the world, which are to be adapted and

mainstreamed for use in the Indian context.

● By July, six winning bidders will be invited to design and build lighthouse projects

of 1,000 housing units each. Apart from state and Central assistance of ₹1.5 lakh each,

the Centre will offer an additional technology innovation grant of ₹2.5 lakh for each

house, PMAY (Urban) mission director Amrit Abhijat said.

● Another section of the challenge will identify potential future technologies which

may not yet be market ready, and offer incubation facilities and accelerator support

in collaboration with four of the IITs.

● Once innovative technologies have been tested and proved, they will be included in

the Central Public Works Department list, with an approved schedule of rates.

● However, they will still be optional for use, and there is no guarantee they will be

adopted by private or government builders, or even used to construct PMAY homes.

5.36 years on, devadasi custom still prevalent

● More than 36 years after the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act

of 1982 was passed, the State government is yet to issue the rules for administering

the law.

● Meanwhile the practice of dedicating young girls to temples as an offering to appease

the gods persists not just in Karnataka, but has also spread to neighbouring Goa.

● Two new studies on the devadasi practice by the National Law School of India

University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in

Mumbai, paint a grim picture of the apathetic approach of the legislature and

enforcement agencies to crack down on the practice, particularly prevalent among

oppressed communities of north Karnataka.


● A disturbing aspect revealed by the new studies is that special children, with

physical or mental disabilities, are more vulnerable to be dedicated as devadasis

— nearly one in five (or 19%) of the devadasis that were part of the NLSIU study

exhibited such disabilities.

● The NLS researchers found that girls from socio-economically marginalised

communities continued to be victims of the custom, and thereafter were forced into

the commercial sex racket.

● The TISS study buttresses the point by stressing that the devadasi system continues to

receive customary sanction from families and communities.

● Reporting of cases pertaining to the custom under the Karnataka law is very low,

with only four cases filed between 2011 and 2017.

● None of these cases were filed in Ballari, where village and district authorities

indicated that identifying and preventing the incidents were difficult. The law is used

sparingly, and focuses on prosecution (including of the victims themselves) with no

frame-work for rehabilitation.

● Despite sufficient evidence of the prevalence of the practice and its link to sexual

exploitation, recent legislation such as the Protection of Children from Sexual

Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, and Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act of 2015 have not made

any reference to it as a form of sexual exploitation of children, the NLSIU‘s Centre

for Child and the Law noted in its report.

● Dedicated children are also not explicitly recognised as children in need of care and

protection under JJ Act, despite the involvement of family and relatives in their

sexual exploitation.

● India‘s extant immoral trafficking prevention law or the proposed Trafficking of

Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2018, also do not recognise

these dedicated girls as victims of trafficking for sexual purposes.

● The State‘s failure to enhance livelihood sources for weaker sections fuels the

continuation of the practice, the studies underline.

● More inclusive socio-economic development apart, the NLSUI has mooted a

legislative overhaul and a more proactive role from State agencies.

6.Death traps

● The Meghalaya government must urgently ensure that all illegal mines are shut

down

● The tardy response of the Centre and the State of Meghalaya to the plight of at least

15 workers trapped in a rat-hole coal mine since mid-December has exposed the

extraordinary indifference in government to labour welfare and the law.


● Two workers have been found dead in a second mine in the East Jaintia Hills

district.

● The primary responsibility for the operation of illegal mines lies with the State

government, and it should be called to account for ignoring the directions of the

National Green Tribunal to close them and levy punitive royalties on those that

extracted the coal.

● Several appeals are before the Supreme Court in connection with a ban ordered by the

Tribunal on rat-hole mining and the transport of already mined coal.

● It should be possible at least now to put an end to it. The Meghalaya government has

been evasive on the issue of the continued operation of the illegal mines, in spite of

the adverse findings of the Justice B.P. Katoki committee appointed by the NGT.

● It avoided taking action even after a similar mine-flooding accident that claimed 15

lives in 2012 in South Garo Hills, and the subsequent ban.

● Although the NGT has ordered the State to deposit ₹100 crore with the Central

Pollution Control Board for environmental restoration in the wake of the recent

disaster at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills, the first-order priority is to close the rat-hole

mines.

● It is the responsibility of the Centre and the State to rehabilitate the workers from

impoverished communities, reportedly including some child labourers, who are

ready to undertake the risky labour because of the higher-than-average wages paid.

● This should not be difficult, considering that the value of extracted coal stored in

Meghalaya was officially estimated at over ₹3,078 crore four years ago, and mineral

resources should be treated as state property.

● The scale is high: as interpreted from satellite images and reported by the Katoki

panel, it could be of the order of 24,000 mines, many of them illegal.

● If illegal mines continue to operate in flagrant violation of rules under the Mines and

Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, the responsibility lies with the State

government. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has said a ban on coal mining is not

the solution, given the economic conditions in the region.

● Yet, the State government has done little to implement reforms and diversify

employment away from dirty mining under primitive conditions over the years, in

spite of judicial orders.

● In fact, authorities in Shillong continue to ignore such directions, as the accident at

the Lumthari mine in East Jaintia Hills shows.

● As recently as in December, Parliament was informed that 22 States had constituted a

task force to review illegal mining and act on it, but Meghalaya does not figure in

that list. A clean-up is overdue.


7.Hunar Haat is to ensure „Development with Dignity‟ to Artisans and Craftsmen of the

Country

● Finance Minister Shri ArunJaitley and Union Minority Affairs Minister Shri Mukhtar

Abbas Naqvi inaugurated ―HunarHaat‖, here today. This HunarHaat has been

organised at State Emporia Complex, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place,

New Delhi from 12th to 20th January, 2019.

● On the occasion, Shri Jaitley said that India is full of heritage of master artisans.

Programmes such as ―HunarHaat‖ are playing an important role in national and

international branding of this heritage.

● Hunar Haats are organised by Ministry of Minority Affairs under USTTAD

(Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development)

scheme.

● The USTTAD scheme aims at preserving & promoting the rich heritage of the

traditional arts & crafts of the Minority communities. This is one of the flagship

programmes of the Ministry.

Significance of Hunar Haats:

● Hunar Haats have become a successful mission to provide employment and income

generation opportunities with platforms for marketing the products of master

artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts belonging to the minority communities.

● It envisages at boosting the skill of craftsmen, weavers and artisans who are already

engaged in the traditional ancestral work

8.Leprosy is no longer a ground for divorce

● The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a Bill seeking to remove leprosy as a ground for

divorce, stating that this was a “discriminatory” provision for a disease that is now

curable.

● The Bill has sought to amend five Acts — the Divorce Act, 1869, the Dissolution of

Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, the Special Marriage Act, 1954, the Hindu Marriage Act,

1955, and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 — on provisions related

to marriage, divorce, and separation of Hindu and Muslim couples.

● Each of these Acts prescribe leprosy as a ground for seeking divorce or separation

from the spouse. The Bill cleared on Monday removes this as a ground for divorce or

separation.


General Studies-II : Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the

Judiciary

1.Collegium controversy

● An unusual change of decision brings the judicial appointments system under

scrutiny

● The controversial collegium system of judicial appointments is under public scrutiny

once again. This time, the potential for embarrassment to the superior judiciary is

much higher.

● Former Chief Justices of India, a sitting Supreme Court judge, and the Bar Council of

India have taken exception to the collegium‘s unusual action of revisiting decisions

made at an earlier meeting, and recommending the elevation to the apex court of

Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, instead of two judges whose

names had been considered earlier.

● The allegation is not merely one concerning the seniority or the lack of it of the two

appointees; rather, it is the much graver charge of arbitrarily revoking a decision

made on December 12 last year.

● The official reasons are in the public domain in the form of a resolution on January

10.

● It claims that even though some decisions were made on December 12, ―the required

consultations could not be undertaken and completed‖ in view of the winter

vacation.

● When the collegium met again on January 5/6, its composition had changed following

the retirement of Justice Madan B. Lokur.

● It was then decided that it would be ―appropriate‖ to have a fresh look at the matter,

as well as the ―additional material‖.

● The only rationale for the names of Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pradeep

Nandrajog and Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon being left out is the

claim that new material had surfaced. However, it is not clear what the material is

and how it affected their suitability.

● Former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha is right in underscoring the institutional

nature of decisions by the collegium. Can the retirement of one judge be a ground to

withdraw a considered decision, even if some consultations were incomplete?

● There is little surprise in the disquiet in legal circles. Another curious element in the

latest appointments is that Justice Maheshwari, who had been superseded as

recently as last November, when a judge junior to him was appointed a Supreme


Court judge, has been found to be ―more suitable and deserving in all respects‖ than

any of the other chief justices and judges

● There is no objection to the elevation of Justice Khanna except his relative lack of

seniority.

● There is little substance in this criticism, as it is now widely accepted that seniority

cannot be the sole criterion for elevation to the Supreme Court.

● However, the fact that there are three other judges senior to him in the Delhi High

Court itself — two of them serving elsewhere as chief justices — is bound to cause

some misgivings.

● The credibility of the collegium system has once again been called into question.

The recent practice of making public all resolutions of the collegium has brought in

some transparency.

● Yet, the impression that it works in mysterious ways refuses to go away. This

controversy ill-serves the judiciary as an institution.

2.SC refuses to stay amendments to SC/ST Act

● The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, that nullified

a judgment that diluted the stringent provisions of the law to protect Dalits.

● The government brought in the amendments, arguing that the Scheduled Castes and

the Scheduled Tribes still faced social stigma, poverty and humiliation.

● The 2018 Act nullified a March 20 judgment of the court, which allowed

anticipatory bail to those booked for committing atrocities against members of

these communities.

● The original 1989 Act bars anticipatory bail. After the verdict, protests broke out,

in which several died and property worth crores was destroyed. The government

filed a review petition and then amended the 1989 Act.

● The government responded that there was no decrease in the atrocities on these

communities, despite the laws to protect their civil rights, and 195 special courts in

14 States.

● ―The 1989 Act is the least the country owes to this section of society that has been

denied several civil rights for generations and subjected to indignities, humiliations

and harassment,‖ the government argued.

3.Sabarimala review hearing awaits Justice Malhotra‟s return

● Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday told petitioners seeking a review of

the court‘s September 28 judgment revoking the bar on women of menstrual age


from entering the Sabarimala temple that a date for hearing their petitions would be

fixed after consulting Justice Indu Malhotra, a member of the Bench who is now on

medical leave.

● A five-judge Bench led by the Chief Justice, which was earlier scheduled to hear the

review petitions on Tuesday, did not assemble as Justice Malhotra was on leave.

● Justice Malhotra had delivered the lone dissent in the five-judge Constitution

Bench‟s majority judgment on September 28.

● The judgment had declared the exclusion, based solely on the menstrual status of

women, a smear on individual dignity. It said the bar amounted to ―treating women

as the children of a lesser God.‖

● Justice Malhotra had declared the prohibition on women aged between 10 and 50 an

―essential practice.‖ The judge had held that imposing the court‟s morality on a

religion would negate the freedom to practise religion according to one‘s faith and

beliefs. The dissenting judgment has since then become a rallying point for the

review petitioners.

● Review petitions were filed by a range of persons, from the Sabarimala temple‘s

chief priest to individuals and Ayyappa organisations, including women devotees‘

bodies.

● They contend that ‗reform‟ cannot mean rendering a religious practice out of

existence on the basis of a PIL petition filed by ―third parties” lacking belief in the

Sabarimala deity.

● Justice Malhotra‘s rationale that courts should not allow “interlopers‖ to file PIL

petitions challenging religious practices is a common thread in the review petitions.

● The review petitioners have argued that the right to move the Supreme Court for

violation of fundamental rights must be reserved for those whose personal rights

to worship have been violated.

● Entertaining PIL petitions on religious practices by third parties may invite ―perils

even graver for religious minorities,‖ some of them contend.

4.SC to hear petition on Bhopal gas leak payout

● The Supreme Court on Monday decided to examine in April a curative petition by

the government for more compensation to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy,

over and above the $470 million paid by Union Carbide.

● The petition, which came up before a Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan

Gogoi, said the compensation, determined in 1989, was based on the assumptions

of truth unrelated to realities.


● The tragedy unfolded in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984,

when the highly dangerous and toxic gas, Methyl Isocyanate, escaped from the

Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL).

● It resulted in the death of 5,295 humans and injuries to 5,68,292 persons, besides a

loss of livestock and property of 5,478 persons.

● Dismissing the curative plea in 2011, the court held that ―no satisfactory explanation

has been given to file such curative petitions after about 14 years from the 1996

judgment.‖

● As a Bhopal court order sentencing Union Carbide executives to two years in jail

sparked public outcry, the CBI moved the Supreme Court and wanted it to ―restore‖

the criminal charge under Section 304 Part II of the IPC (culpable homicide not

amounting to murder) against the accused.

● Those convicted included former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra.

5.SC reinstates Alok Verma as CBI Director, but clips his wings

● The Supreme Court on Tuesday ―reinstated‖ exiled CBI Director Alok Verma, but

ordered him to “cease and desist‖ from taking any major policy decisions till a

high-power committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides the question of

his divestment in a week.

● Now, with just a few days left before the end of his tenure as CBI Director, Mr.

Verma‘s fate hinges on the decision of this committee comprising Mr. Modi, Chief

Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge, as Leader of the

Opposition.

● Their call would be based on the allegations levelled against him in a complaint

filed by rival CBI officer R.K. Asthana. The complaint had led to a Central


Vigilance Commission (CVC) inquiry and his divestment from office. The court itself

has not commented on the merits of these allegations.

Reinstated, conditionally

● Supreme Court rejects the Centre‟s contention in the CBI Director‘s case, but

softens the blow

● In setting aside the orders divesting Alok Verma of his functions and duties as

Director of the CBI, the Supreme Court has strengthened the principle that the head of

the agency should be insulated against any form of interference.

● The court took up the matter in the midst of an unseemly tussle for supremacy

between Mr. Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana, with corruption charges

being traded.

● However, the court‘s interim order asking for a time-bound inquiry into the charges

against Mr. Verma is now of no avail, as the Bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan

Gogoi, has chosen to deal only with the major question of law involved.

● The decision has gone against the government, with the court holding that the action

taken against Mr. Verma amounted to a ‗transfer‟, something that cannot be done by

any authority except the high-powered selection committee headed by the Prime

Minister in terms of the 2003 amendments to the law.

● It has rejected the government‘s contention that stripping the CBI Director of his

duties did not amount to a transfer, but only a measure to deal with an extraordinary

situation.

● It has gone into the legislative intent behind the amendments to the Central Vigilance

Commission Act in 2003, which included changes to the Delhi Special Police

Establishment Act before coming up with its finding.

● The Bench has noted that the amendments flow from the principles laid down by the

Supreme Court in 1997 in Vineet Narain to protect the agency, especially its

Director, from external interference.

● As the law is clear that any transfer of the Director can only be made by the selection

committee, and there being no provision for any other interim measure, the only way

the government can divest the head of the agency of his powers is to let the same

committee make the decision.

● The court has been mindful of the fact that an officer could be stripped of his power

without being formally transferred to another position, thereby achieving the

objective of interfering with the agency‘s functioning by oblique means.

● Its decision will further strengthen the CBI‟s independence. However, it is intriguing

that the court passed a consequential order to the selection committee to meet within


a week and consider Mr. Verma‘s powers and authority. Until then, he has been

restrained from making any policy decisions.

● Having set aside the orders of the government divesting Mr. Verma of his powers, as

well as the CVC‘s order recommending the action, the court could have reinstated

him unconditionally.

● What it has done, instead, is to soften the blow it had dealt the government by giving

it an opportunity to achieve through the committee route what it could not do

successfully through its midnight ‗coup‘.

PM-led panel moves Alok Verma out of CBI, Rao back in charge

● The high-power committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on

Thursday removed Alok Verma as CBI Director, a day after he resumed office

following the Supreme Court order that restored his position.

● The decision to remove Mr. Verma was taken by a 2:1 majority in the three-member

committee. Justice A.K. Sikri, a nominee of the Chief Justice of India, was the third

member.

● Government sources, however, said that in the light of the Central Vigilance

Commission‟s report against Mr. Verma, a detailed investigation, including a

criminal probe, was ―necessary‖ and therefore, his position was untenable.

● The Cabinet Committee on Appointments posted Mr. Verma as Director-General, Fire

Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards, for the remaining period of his term that

ends on January 31.

General Studies-II : Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

1.SC sets deadline for Lokpal search committee

● A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, fixed the deadline for the

search panel on the PIL litigation petition filed by NGO Common Cause.

● Under Rule 11 (2) of the Search Committee Rules, 2014, the panel recommends at

least five names for chairperson and at least three times the number of vacancies in

the case of members to the selection committee.

● The selection committee comprises the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of the

Opposition, the Chief Justice of India and an eminent jurist as members.

● At the previous hearing, the government said a search committee was constituted in

September 2018 for zeroing in on eligible candidates.


● The Department of Personnel and Training‟s notification, issued on September 27,

lists the names of the eight-member search committee, led by former apex court judge

Ranjana Prakash Desai.

Nudged into action

● After long delays, a Supreme Court push is needed to establish the Lokpal

● It should have never come to this on the Lokpal. That it requires a Supreme Court

order to nudge the government to make any progress towards establishing the anti-

graft institution is a poor commentary on its functioning.

● The court has asked the eight-member Search Committee under the Lokpal Act to

recommend a panel of names before the end of February. This shortlist has to be

sent to the Selection Committee, headed by the Prime Minister.

● It has taken five years since the Lokpal Act, 2013, received the President‘s assent on

January 1, 2014, for a Search Committee to even begin its work.

● It was formed only on September 27, 2018, after Common Cause, an NGO, filed a

contempt petition against the government over the delay in constituting the authority

despite a Supreme Court verdict in April 2017.

● It is true that setting up the Search Committee requires some groundwork, as its

composition should be drawn from diverse fields such as anti-corruption policy,

public administration, law, banking and insurance; also, half its membership should

consist of women, backward class, minority and SC/ST candidates. However, it is the

government‘s duty to expedite this process and not cite it as a reason for delay.

● Even after it was formed, the Search Committee has been handicapped because of

lack of office space, manpower, infrastructure and a secretariat.

● The court has now asked the government to provide the required infrastructure. In the

past too, the court has admonished the Centre for the delay in creating the institution.

● In its April 2017 verdict, the court brushed aside the reason that the government was

awaiting the passage of an amendment based on a parliamentary committee report

and said there was no legal bar on the Selection Committee moving ahead with its

work even if there was a vacancy in it.

● There is a good deal of politics behind the delay. The Selection Committee, which

includes the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Justice of

India and an eminent jurist, has met in the past without Mallikarjun Kharge, who

heads the Congress in the Lok Sabha.

● He has been skipping meetings, as he is aggrieved that the government has not made

him a full member, and has roped him in as a „special invitee‟.


● The government sticks to its view that he has not been recognised as the Leader of

the Opposition by the Speaker.

● This minor issue has been resolved in respect of appointments to other posts such as

CBI Director and Central Vigilance Commissioner by a simple amendment to

treat the leader of the largest Opposition party as the Leader of the Opposition for this

purpose.

● This amendment has not been brought about despite a parliamentary committee

report endorsing the idea in December 2015.

● Nothing except the lack of political will to establish the Lokpal can explain years of

delay.

2.Clearer TV

● New TRAI order provides for greater choice and transparency on pricing of channels

● The tariff order on broadcasting and cable services issued by the Telecom

Regulatory Authority of India is set to become effective on February 1, giving the

consumer the option to pay only for those channels she wants to watch.

● Under the scheme, there is also a maximum price for pay channels declared by the

broadcaster, which is reported to TRAI, bringing about greater transparency. Each

channel will be available on an a la carte basis.

● The effect is that the consumer‟s subscription cost on a base package of 100

standard definition television channels is fixed in the form of a network capacity

fee.

● And even within this group, there is freedom to choose channels, with a provision

for appropriate revision for any pay channels.

● This is a welcome departure from a regime where combinations of free and pay

channels were decided by distributors and broadcasters as bouquets that did not reflect

actual demand for individual channels.

● Efforts to introduce a la carte choice were thwarted by pricing individual channels

almost as high as the bouquets they were part of. Bouquets are enabled in the new

scheme, but with the stipulation that at least 85% of the total price of all channels

that form part of a bouquet be charged, removing the incentive to distort prices.

● Distributors including cable and DTH platforms, and advertisers, should welcome

the order, which strengthens price discovery and eliminates inflated claims of the

subscriber base.

● Television in the conventional sense has changed in the era of the Internet, with the

emergence of new distribution possibilities.


● Many broadcasters, including popular news channels, provide their content free on

platforms such as YouTube and through mobile phone applications, reaching global

audiences.

● Global Over the Top (OTT) providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have

opened a new front and are competing for viewers who get advertisement-free

programming streamed on subscription.

● TRAI has made clear that since broadcast licensing does not apply to such new

technology platforms, these do not come under price regulation.

● In the fast-changing competitive landscape of home entertainment, conventional TV

must now compete on the strength of transparent pricing and better programming for

subscription revenue growth and viewer time that attracts advertising.

● Industry data show that there are about 197 million homes in India with a TV set, and

100 million more homes without one represent scope for growth.

● This can be achieved through regulatory schemes that empower broadcasters and

subscribers alike.

● TRAI has done well to put up a calculator on its website to help consumers calculate

bills under the new regime before signing up for a package with the operator.

● The broadcast industry must welcome a new era that promises to remove distribution

bottlenecks and empower consumers with choice.

3.Cabinet decides to strengthen northeast autonomous councils

● The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a constitutional amendment to increase

the financial and executive powers of the 10 autonomous councils in the Sixth

Schedule areas of the northeast.

● The amendment would impact a population of about 1 crore tribals living in Assam,

Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to the Centre.

● The Finance Commission would be mandated to recommend devolution of financial

resources to the councils, the government said in an official statement.

● Till now, the autonomous councils have depended on grants from Central

Ministries and the State governments for specific projects.

● As per the proposed amendment, at least one third of the seats would be reserved for

women in the village and municipal councils in the Sixth Schedule areas of Assam,

Mizoram and Tripura.

● The amendment also provides for transfer of additional 30 subjects, including the

departments of Public Works, Forests, Public Health Engineering, Health and Family

Welfare, Urban Development and Food and Civil Supply to Karbi Anglong


Autonomous Territorial Council and Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council in

Assam.

● The Cabinet approves the landmark amendment to Article 280 and Sixth Schedule

of the Constitution.

● The most important part of these amendments is that these will significantly improve

the financial resources and powers of the autonomous districts councils in Assam,

Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, fulfilling long-standing aspirations of the tribal

population in these northeastern States,‖ the government said.

● A Bill in this regard is expected to be introduced in the upcoming session of

Parliament

● The proposed amendments provide for elected village municipal councils, ensuring

democracy at the grass-roots level.

● The State Election Commissions would hold elections to the autonomous councils,

village and municipal councils in the areas of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura.

General Studies-II : 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.

1.Korean consensus?

● Kim Jong-un‘s visit to China is likely to force next steps after the Singapore summit

● The visit to China of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the invitation of President

Xi Jinping, is significant for two distinct reasons.

● It is evidence of the continuing calm in the Korean peninsula for nearly a year

since the thaw between Pyongyang and Washington that culminated in the

Singapore summit in June 2018.

● The meeting also coincides with the resumption of trade negotiations this week

between U.S. and Chinese delegations in Beijing.

● Expectations are that the dialogue between the regional neighbours could impact the

trade dispute between the world‘s two largest economies.

● Whereas Mr. Xi is keen on securing sanctions relief for Mr. Kim, U.S. President

Donald Trump will be equally eager that his peace deal continues to resonate in the

region and beyond, notwithstanding the practical hurdles it has encountered.

● The Xi-Kim meeting cannot have overlooked the stalled progress on the

denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula that Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump agreed on in

Singapore.


● The American and North Korean leaders have in recent days reiterated their

willingness to schedule another bilateral summit, a hope they have held out for

months.

● But unlike the ambiguous promises issued in the Singapore declaration, Mr. Kim

now wants to talk specifics. This could raise the stakes beyond diplomatic niceties

and sound bites.

● In his New Year address, he emphasised the easing of economic sanctions as a

priority, on which Beijing‘s diplomatic clout could prove critical despite the lack of

movement on the nuclear question.

● In that speech, Mr. Kim also insisted on a permanent end to the annual joint military

exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. Another demand was for multilateral

negotiations to declare a formal end to the Korean war in place of the truce that has

obtained since 1953.

● The latter issues have acquired greater weight in view of the ongoing rapprochement

between Seoul and Pyongyang. This is exemplified by their decision to convert the

Demilitarised Zone that separates the two countries into a peace park, and to

disarm the joint security area.

● Formal negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. have made little headway

since the Singapore summit. Access to North Korea‟s nuclear installations has

proved elusive to U.S. officials.

● The sudden cancellation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo‘s visit to Pyongyang last

August was an indication of the stalemate.

● A North Korean test of a new tactical weapon in November was seen as a way to

pressure Washington for concessions, if not a return to the hostile posturing of

previous years.

● The uneasy calm that has been sustained on the peninsula for over a year now is no

doubt a respite from Pyongyang‘s successive nuclear tests to rattle the U.S. mainland.

● But Washington is impatient for information on the North Korean weapons

stockpile. Pyongyang is anxious about sanctions relief. Something has to give.

2.Pull-out puzzle

● As Turkey rebuffs its plea to protect Syrian Kurds, the U.S. must evaluate its next

move

● President Donald Trump‘s planned withdrawal of American troops from Syria ran

into trouble this week as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rebuffed National

Security Adviser John Bolton‘s suggestions for an orderly exit.


● After Mr. Trump announced the pull-out of about 2,000 troops from northeast Syria,

Mr. Bolton had said the troops would leave the war-torn country after the Islamic

State is beaten.

● He also said Kurds, U.S. allies in the fight against the IS, should be protected.

● This has ostensibly angered Turkey, which considers the Syrian Democratic Forces,

the official military wing of Syrian Kurdistan, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers‘

Party, deemed a terrorist group by Ankara and Washington.

● Mr. Erdogan, who initially welcomed Mr. Trump‘s announcement of troops

withdrawal, lashed out at Mr. Bolton for setting conditions for the pull-out.

● Tensions were so high that Mr. Erdogan refused to meet Mr. Bolton, who was in

Turkey.

● The U.S. is now in a fix. Its President has announced the withdrawal. But it cannot

just exit Syria without considering the existing geopolitical equations in the region.

● Kurds were pivotal in the war against the IS, and it is highly likely that Turkey

could attack them as soon as the U.S. troops leave.

● Ankara sees an autonomous, militarily powerful Kurdistan on the Syrian side of the

border as a threat to its territorial integrity.

● Part of the problem is with the way Mr. Trump announced his decision to withdraw

troops.

● He should have held talks with the stakeholders, including Turkey, Russia and

Kurds, before taking a decision. Or he could have used his intent to pull out from

Syria as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from other countries involved in the

civil war.

● In the event, the abrupt announcement has become a concession to Turkey, which

was hamstrung by U.S. presence in the Kurdish-populated region in pursuing its own

military options. In practical terms, the U.S. has three options.

● One, it could go ahead with the unilateral pull-out irrespective of what Turkey does.

This would leave the Kurds at the mercy of Mr. Erdogan and the Turkish troops.

● Two, Mr. Trump can walk back on his decision and continue to station troops in

Syria, influencing, at least partially, the outcome of the civil war.

● This is unlikely given his aversion to keeping troops indefinitely in Syria (and other

West Asian conflict zones).

● Three, the U.S. can stagger the withdrawal and pursue talks with Turkey, Russia and

the Syrian government to reach an agreement to guarantee the protection of the Kurds

and the defeat of the IS in Syria.

● Mr. Bolton‘s Ankara trip may have failed to extract any assurances from Mr.

Erdogan, but Washington should continue to keep diplomatic channels open to

ensure that the pull-out is done in an orderly fashion.


3.At mini 2+2, India, U.S. review progress on pacts

● The two sides also exchanged notes on developments in the Indo-Pacific and the

region

● India and the U.S. reviewed the progress on finalising two key agreements during

the 2+2 intercession meeting last week, apart from taking stock of the overall defence

cooperation.

● The agreements are the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) and the Basic Exchange

and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA), a foundational

agreement.

● This was to follow up on the 2+2 dialogue and to keep the official-level dialogue

going.

● The two sides reviewed the decisions taken at 2+2 and also exchanged notes on

developments in the Indo-Pacific and the region, broadly the countries of interest.

● Also, the bilateral defence cooperation was reviewed, especially the greater Maritime

Domain Awareness (MDA) and the first tri-service exercise which will take place

later this year.

● The inaugural 2+2 dialogue was held last September and was chaired by the Defence

and External Affairs Ministers and their U.S. counterparts.

● The third foundational agreement, Communications Compatibility and Security

Agreement, was signed on the sidelines. As the next step in furthering defence

cooperation, negotiations are on to conclude the ISA and BECA.

● The U.S. has already shared a draft of BECA, the last foundational agreement to be

signed.

● The ISA is particularly essential as the Indian industry looks for a greater role in

defence manufacturing.

● It allows sharing of classified information from the U.S. government and American

companies with the Indian private sector, which is so far limited to the Indian

government and the defence public sector undertakings. The ISA draft is currently

going through the official process in Washington.

● The meeting was attended by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alice

Wells and Assistant Secretary of Defence Randall Schriver from the U.S. and Joint

Secretary of the External Affairs Ministry Gourangalal Das and Joint Secretary of the

Defence Ministry Shambhu Kumaran from India.

● The next 2+2 dialogue will take place this summer, by which time India will have a

new government

4.Theresa May survives no-trust vote by a narrow margin


● The British government led by Theresa May survived a vote of no-confidence by a

narrow margin of 19 on Wednesday evening.

● The vote came at the end of a five-hour debate on a motion tabled by Opposition

leader Jeremy Corbyn, who accused the government of failing the country and

turning a deal that had been touted as ―the easiest in history‖ into a ―national

embarrassment.‖

● Prime Minister May had been expected to win the vote as both her ally the

Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland and party MPs promised to back her;

306 MPs voted with Mr. Corbyn and 325 voted against him.

● The vote followed the huge defeat suffered by the government on Tuesday night,

when MPs rejected the government‘s Brexit withdrawal deal by a margin of 230.

● The margin was considerably larger than the 166 votes by which the minority

government of Ramsay Macdonald lost a vote in 1924, which Mr. Corbyn said

would have led any other leader to do the ―right thing‖ and resign.

● Mr. Corbyn too is under pressure from within his own party with 71 signing a letter

calling on him to back a second referendum.

Escape options

● After losing the Brexit vote, the British PM‘s best option is to postpone the exit date

● After the British Parliament‘s overwhelming rejection of Prime Minister Theresa

May‘s Brexit deal, chances are the government will postpone the March 29 deadline

to leave the European Union.

● An extension of the exit date – hinted at by Britain‘s Chancellor of the Exchequer and

France‘s President following the vote – seems the least controversial in the spectrum

of complex alternatives.

● For a start, Ms. May is expected to sail through the motion of no-confidence against

her government moved by the Opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party.

● Both the Conservative Eurosceptic backbenchers, and Northern Ireland‘s

Democratic Unionist Party, which supports the minority government in London,

have promised to oppose the motion.

● Consequently, the onus of taking the country out of the EU will remain with Ms.

May, who struck a conciliatory note after the defeat in the House of Commons with a

230-vote margin (432 to 202) on Tuesday.

● Ms. May argues that there is no better deal than the one she has painstakingly

negotiated with the other 27 members of the EU.


● Yet, the build-up to the vote, delayed by over a month, laid bare the difficult task of

persuading MPs on the merits of the agreement. Ms. May will hope to win the

Commons‟ approval on Monday for a Plan B.

● At the minimum, it must do better on the contentious Irish backstop that could come

into force after the transition period expires, and something that Brexit supporters

oppose.

● It is highly improbable that the EU can offer any big improvements so soon to

ensure that the backstop, which allows the flow of goods between Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland, will not indefinitely lock Britain into a customs union

with the EU.

● Such an arrangement, which would necessarily limit London‘s freedom to make trade

deals with third states, is regarded as anathema for a country that championed Brexit

as a route to regain its sovereignty.

● Deep differences persist within the Conservative and Labour parties on the terms of

exit they must obtain from Brussels.

● There is also increasing clamour for a second referendum from remainers in the two

parties, who view the uncertainty as symptomatic of a flawed Brexit project.

● Their case is rooted in concerns that citizens be enabled to make a more informed

decision, given the mounting evidence on the economic impact of Brexit.

● But such enthusiasm would have to be balanced with the consideration that the

majority of MPs, despite strong opposition among members, have resolved to

respect the June 2016 popular mandate.

● In any case, a reversal of the 2016 Brexit result is not a guaranteed outcome. There is,

meanwhile, support growing within and outside Parliament to avert, at all costs, a

crashing out of the EU in late March, with imponderable consequences for the

economy and society.

● Ms. May will gain in stature if she takes Parliament into greater confidence, not

just her own party backbenchers.

5.Shape of the slowdown

● China‘s capacity to manage its economic transition has implications the world over

● The Chinese growth juggernaut is slowing down. The world‘s second-largest

economy has reported that its exports for December fell by 4.4%, the sharpest fall in

two years amidst rising trade tensions with the United States and fears of a global

economic slowdown.

● China‟s trade surplus with the U.S. has increased to $323 billion, its highest level

since 2016 and up 17% from a year ago.


● This is likely to put added pressure on Chinese exports to the U.S. Besides,

China‟s factory activity contracted to a two-year low by the end of December while

car sales in 2018 dropped for the first time since 1990, pointing to faltering demand

from Chinese consumers.

● There are increasing fears that the Chinese government may further drop its growth

target to 6% this year, from 6.5% last year.

● Given its implications for global growth, markets across the world have naturally

been worried about the fate of the Chinese economy.

● Its stock market, in particular, was the worst-performing among major economies last

year. Apple, Jaguar Land Rover and other companies have warned of weak earnings

due to a slowdown in their sales in China.

● Responding to fears of a serious slowdown in the economy, the People‟s Bank of

China on Wednesday injected cash worth $83 billion into the economy through open

market operations in order to boost bank lending and overall economic growth.

● It is believed that the Chinese government may be prepping for a stimulus worth

trillions of yuans to step up spending in the economy.

● China has been struggling to transition from its earlier growth model led by cheap

exports and huge capital investments into a more domestic consumption-led

economy.

● In particular, the government and the central bank have in recent years tried to wean

the economy off cheap debt that fuelled its impressive growth run.

● The Chinese central bank fully opened the credit taps of the economy in the aftermath

of the 2008 global financial crisis that threatened to derail growth.

● But even as it tries to steer the economy towards more consumption-led growth, the

state has been wary of allowing economic sectors like real estate that were earlier

boosted by the availability of cheap credit to go bust.

● A true restructuring of its export- and state-led economic model will not be possible

until China allows the liquidation of uneconomical projects that were begun only

because of the availability of ample amounts of cheap credit.

● This will be the first step towards building a more market-driven economy. But it is

not clear whether China is willing to bite the bullet and stop feeding its economy with

cheap credit.

● It may be tempted to go further and look at socialising the losses coming from

defaults on business loans. None of this will be good for the long-term health of the

Chinese or the global economy.

6.India, South Africa to revise 22-year-old Strategic Partnership


● India and South Africa will update their Strategic Partnership by agreeing on a

comprehensive ―roadmap‖ on the way ahead, as well as relaxing visa restrictions,

when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa meets with Prime Minister Narendra

Modi on Friday, officials said here.

● Mr. Ramaphosa will be in India as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on

January 26, and and will be accompanied by nine Ministers and a 50-member

business delegation.

● The Strategic Partnership between India and South Africa, called the Red Fort

Declaration, was signed in March 1997 by the then South African President Nelson

Mandela and former PM H.D. Deve Gowda.

● Officials said all aspects the partnership would be reviewed and updated with a

three-year plan of action on security cooperation, trade and investment, tourism,

harnessing the „blue economy‟, maritime cooperation, agriculture, science and

technology projects.

● The two sides are also expected to explore new defence deals in the backdrop of the

lifting of a 13-year old ban on South African defence firm Denel that was barred from

doing business in India since 2005.

● Denel was finally removed from the blacklist in September 2018 after the Central

Bureau of Investigation filed a closure report and the Supreme Court subsequently

dismissed corruption charges against the company.

● The decision to take Denel off the blacklist was made after Mr. Ramaphosa made a

personal intervention on the issue during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra

Modi in Johannesburg last July.

7.Crisis in Caracas

● Venezuela plunges from one catastrophic crisis to another

● The political crisis in Venezuela took a dangerous turn when Juan Guaidó, the new

head of the National Assembly, declared himself ―acting President‖, challenging the

authority of President Nicolás Maduro.

● Soon after Mr. Guaidó‘s announcement, the U.S., Canada, Brazil and a host of other

Latin American countries recognised the 35-year-old leader from the Popular Will

party as interim President.

● A furious Mr. Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the U.S. and ordered American

diplomats to leave in 72 hours. Venezuela has grappled with an economic and

political crisis of its own making for almost two years now.

● When oil prices started falling from its 2014 highs, it badly hit an economy that was

over-reliant on petroleum exports and was borrowing heavily to fund its over-


spending on social welfare programmes, which former President Hugo Chávez

liked to describe as a ―Bolivarian revolution‖. Mr. Maduro‘s government was clueless

when the economy started collapsing.

● At least 90% of the people now live below the poverty line, inflation is forecast to

touch 10 million per cent this year, food and medicine shortages are widespread, and

the economic woes have triggered a massive migrant crisis — nearly three million are

estimated to have fled the country in recent years.

● The opposition, whose attempts to overthrow the Socialists, including the 2002

coup against Chávez, had failed in the past, launched protests against Mr. Maduro.

● The government used brute force to suppress them, while the economic situation

deteriorated.

● This left Venezuela in a constant state of economic hardships and violent street

protests over the past two years.

● The main opposition boycotted last year‟s presidential election, which Mr. Maduro

won with 67.8% vote.

● Mr. Guaidó‘s claim is that the election was not free and fair and therefore Mr.

Maduro is not the legitimate President — a claim that the U.S. and its allies back.

● While Mr. Maduro shares a lot of the blame for the mismanagement of the

economy, forcibly removing him from power with support from foreign nations may

destabilise the country further, even leaving aside the legality of such a move.

● Mr. Guaidó may have hoped that by anointing himself a rebel President with

backing from the U.S., he could win the support of sections of the armed forces,

without which he cannot unseat Mr. Maduro.

● But that plan appears to have failed with the military declaring its loyalty to

President Maduro.

● To be sure, the people of Venezuela deserve a better deal from a government that

has led them to untold suffering and forced millions to flee the country.

● Destabilisation by interfering in the political process is not the solution, however.

● What is required is a coordinated international effort to restore some degree of

economic and political normalcy. In the long run, it is up to the people of Venezuela

to decide their own political destiny.

8.Shutdown surrender

● Donald Trump is forced to retreat by accepting a temporary end to the shutdown

● The partial shutdown of the U.S. government was the first major showdown between

President Donald Trump and the Democrats after the latter took control of the

House of Representatives in the mid-term Congressional elections in November 2018.


● Mr. Trump had threatened to keep the government shut down indefinitely unless

Congress authorised $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, one

of his key campaign promises.

● He finally agreed to reopen the federal departments, on the 35th day, without

getting anything in return.

● The Democrats, on their part, had insisted from the beginning that they first wanted

the shutdown to end before discussing border security.

● The President had stormed out of a meeting with the Democratic House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi that was called to discuss the shutdown. But now he has agreed to hold

talks, after reopening the government.

● There were a host of factors that influenced the turnaround. If the Trump team had

hoped a prolonged government shutdown would break the Democratic Party‟s rank

and file, it didn‘t happen.

● Instead, the longest government shutdown in America‟s history created fissures

within Congressional Republicans.

● The FBI Director, a Trump appointee, was among the senior functionaries who

decried the governmental dysfunction.

● The President‟s approval ratings fell and polls suggested that most Americans held

him responsible for the crisis.

● For Speaker Pelosi, who stuck to her demand despite the administration‘s posturing, it

was a victory of sorts in the game of chicken played between Mr. Trump and her.

But the key issue remains unaddressed.

● For now, the spending bills will allow the government to run till February 15.

● President Trump has said he would not back off from his demand for funding for the

wall, which he believes is necessary to stop illegal immigration and cut crime — a

claim that is contested widely as border-crossing apprehensions hit a 46-year low in

2017.

● But Mr. Trump has threatened to shut down the government again in February

unless the Democrats agree to fund the wall, or he would declare a national

emergency using his executive powers and redirect public funds to build the

barrier. Neither option will be easy.

● The shutdown tactic has failed. Pushing the U.S. into another government closure

would be catastrophic for millions of Americans.

● The national emergency idea lacks support even among the Republicans. Mr.

Trump will be better off if he realises that holding the government to ransom to

extract compromises from Congress is not a sound tactic for a President.


● He could adopt a less confrontational approach towards Democrats and hold talks

with them with an open mind on immigration and border security. He may just get

a deal.

General Studies-II : India and its neighborhood- relations.

1.India for Afghan-led peace talks

● India supports the efforts of the government and the people of Afghanistan to build an

inclusive nation, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at a meeting with the

Foreign Ministers of Central Asian countries and Afghanistan on Sunday.

● India supports the people and the Government of Afghanistan in their efforts to

build a united, sovereign, democratic, peaceful, stable, prosperous and inclusive

nation. India supports all efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan which are

inclusive and Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled

● The statement indicated India‘s support for a peace process that will help end the war

that has haunted the country for decades.

● A joint statement issued after the Samarkand meeting highlighted the opportunities

that the collaborative platform would provide for the people of Afghanistan and

asked for Kabul‘s participation.

● The regional Ministers described Afghanistan as a ―land link” in the region that will

help in connectivity among the nations.

2.„SAARC nations must have synergy‟

● The conundrum of South Asian identity, involving the challenges posed by the 1947

Partition, internal politics of each country and meddling by the U.S. and China,

could be resolved if the ―negative discourse” on the region was driven out of the

public domain and the borders were rendered irrelevant, a panel of diplomats,

essayists and foreign policy experts said here on Friday.

● The panel comprising former Ambassador and National Security Adviser

Shivshankar Menon, Pakistan's former diplomat Husain Haqqani, Singapore-based

economist Prasenjit Basu and Canadian essayist of Nepali descent Manjushree Thapa

was in conversation with Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor of The Hindu at

the Jaipur Literature Festival here.

● The experts said in the JLF session on “South Asia: Walls and Bridges” that the

region‘s future lay in cooperation among the eight SAARC nations and


strengthening of bonds with emphasis on common ethnicity, culture, traditions,

languages and religions.

● The panel felt the focus of South Asian discourse needed to shift away from the

perception of India's dominance in the region.

● Mr. Menon said the walls in South Asia were political, whereas the bridges could be

built in every domain.

● The SAARC could play a meaningful role, as there were no security or financial

dilemmas among the member countries, except between India and Pakistan, he said,

and added that there was no need to panic on interference by countries such as China

and the U.S.

● Ms. Thapa pointed out that when Nepal looked towards India with an ―emotional

response‖ for emulating the values of secularism, institutional independence and

women's empowerment, the new trends of majoritarianism were sending across

confusing signals. ―The 2015 Constitution has declared Nepal [to be] a secular State.

We expect India to be our role model,‖ she said.

● Ms. Haidar made observations about the role of SAARC in the changing geo-political

scenario and stressed the need to go a step ahead of the use of “soft power” and

bring the South Asian nations together to ensure regional cooperation.

3.U.S. declares it has agreed upon peace framework with Taliban

● American and Taliban officials have agreed to the framework of a peace deal in which

the insurgents guarantee to prevent Afghanistan from being used by terrorists,

and that could lead to a full pull-out of U.S. troops in return for a ceasefire and

Taliban talks with the Afghan government

● After nine years of halting efforts to reach a peace deal with the Taliban, the draft

framework, though preliminary, is the biggest tangible step toward ending the two-

decade war.

● A senior American official said that the Taliban delegation had asked for time to

confer with their leadership about the U.S. insistence that the insurgents talk with the

Afghan government and agree to a ceasefire as part of any finalised deal.

● The official said they had made it clear to the Taliban that all the issues discussed

were ―interconnected” as part of a “package deal‖. The official‘s account was

supported by details that have been leaked by some Taliban and Western officials in

recent days.

● Although other Taliban sources said that more concrete details of a U.S. troop

withdrawal had already been agreed upon, American officials said on Monday that

those details had not yet been hashed out.


● President Ashraf Ghani expressed concern that a peace deal would be rushed. He

highlighted previous settlements that ended in bloodshed, including when the Soviet

Union withdrew from the country in the late 1980s. Despite a promise of a peace deal

at the time, Afghanistan broke into anarchy.

● As the first step in the framework, Mr. Khalilzad said that the Taliban was firm about

agreeing to keep Afghan territory from being used as a staging ground for terrorism

by groups like al-Qaeda, and had agreed to provide guarantees and an

enforcement mechanism. That had long been a primary demand by American

officials.

● The next set of contingencies would see the U.S. agreeing to withdraw combat

troops from Afghanistan, but only in return for the Taliban‘s entering talks with the

Afghan government and agreeing to a lasting ceasefire.

● Those last two points have long been resisted by Taliban officials, and could still

provide trouble with the process, officials said.

● But the agreement in principle to discussing them at all was seen as a breakthrough

after years of failed attempts, American and Afghan officials said.

General Studies-III : Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of

resources, growth, development and employment.

1.SC upholds bankruptcy code, cites improved financial flows

● In a whoop of victory for credits markets and entrepreneurship, the Supreme Court

on Friday upheld the constitutionality of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC),

saying the law sends a clear message that India is no longer “the defaulter‟s

paradise.‖

● The Code consolidates disparate bankruptcy and insolvency laws of the past under

one umbrella.

● It said the liquidation value of 63 of the 80 cases resolved through the acceptance of

resolution plans was ₹29,788.07 crore. But the amount realised from the resolution

process was ₹60,000 crore, that is, 202% higher than the liquidation value

● Approximately 3,300 cases have been disposed of by the adjudicating authority

based on out-of-court settlements between corporate debtors and creditors which

themselves involved claims amounting to over ₹1,20,390 crore

● The judgment, however, partially reads down Section 29A. This provision

disqualifies certain kinds of persons from submitting a resolution plan.

● The court said the very purpose of Section 29A is to ensure that the ―persons

responsible for insolvency of the corporate debtor do not participate in the resolution

process‖.


● However, the court interprets clause (j) of Section 29A to hold that the ―mere fact that

somebody happens to be a relative of an ineligible person cannot be good enough to

oust such person from becoming a resolution applicant, if he is otherwise qualified‖.

● The court upheld certain relaxations given to micro, small and medium

enterprises (MSME) under Section 29A of the Code. It the MSME form the

―bedrock of our economy‖ and stringent restrictions through the IBC would

adversely affect them. That is, instead of resolving crisis, it would lead to the

untimely liquidation of MSMEs.

● The court said the relaxation for MSMEs is proof that the legislature is alive to the

anomalies within the Code and is taking steps to rectify them.

Shot in the arm

● The Supreme Court‘s ruling eases the implementation of the IBC in knotty cases

● Last week‘s Supreme Court judgment upholding the validity of the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Code 2016 (IBC) in its ―entirety‖ could have a major impact on the

country‘s economic landscape.

● The fledgling IBC has been severely tested in the two years since its enactment,

with the Centre being forced to amend a couple of its provisions in order to plug some

loopholes that enabled defaulting borrowers to challenge the legislation.

● Any law of this nature that takes over businesses and assets from defaulters and

empowers lenders to change the management is bound to face legal challenges.

● Borrowers were never going to take the IBC lying down, and that is exactly what

happened; over the last two years, they have challenged various aspects of the law in

tribunals and courts.

● In the event, the apex court‘s stamp of approval on the entire Code is a strong signal

to borrowers and banks even as it brings a sense of relief to the Centre, which has

been watching one of its better economic initiatives being stifled by vested interests.

● One of the major challenges mounted against the IBC was by operational creditors,

who are owed money by the company in the normal course of operations for supply

of goods and services.

● In the payment waterfall prescribed under Section 53 of the IBC in the event of

liquidation of the company or its sale to another entity, their dues rank below those

of financial creditors, workmen and employees.

● This was challenged by the operational creditors, who wanted equal treatment with

financial creditors in the waterfall mechanism.


● Several landmark cases that were referred to the National Company Law Tribunal

under the IBC remain stuck there, including that of the high-profile Essar Steel, as a

result of its operational creditors seeking equal treatment.

● With the Supreme Court now ruling that there are ―intelligible differentia‖ between

operational and financial creditors, an avenue that defaulters used to stymie

proceedings has been closed.

● Repayment of financial debt by borrowers infuses capital into the economy as lenders

can on-lend the money that has been repaid to other entrepreneurs, thus aiding

economic activity, the judges observed.

● The apex court has also clarified that a mere relationship with an ineligible person

cannot disqualify someone from becoming a bidder for a troubled asset. It has to be

proved that such a person is ―connected‖ with the business activity of the resolution

applicant.

● The court used strong words: ―…[T]he experiment conducted in enacting the Code is

proving to be largely successful. The defaulter‟s paradise is lost.”

● This constitutes a clear signal of its backing for the IBC which, despite all the

challenges that it has faced, has been successful in sending a message to recalcitrant

defaulters that there can be no more business-as-usual when they default.

2.India‟s GDP may grow at 7.3% in 2018-19, says World Bank

● India‘s GDP is expected to grow at 7.3% in the fiscal year 2018-19, and 7.5% in the

following two years, the World Bank has forecast, attributing it to an upswing in

consumption and investment.

● The bank said India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy in the

world.

● China‟s economic growth is projected to slow down to 6.2% each in 2019 and 2020

and 6% in 2021, according to the January 2019 Global Economic Prospects report

released by the World Bank.

● In 2018, the Chinese economy is estimated to have grown by 6.5% as against India‘s

7.3%.

● In 2017, China with 6.9% growth was marginally ahead of India‟s 6.7%, mainly

because of the slowdown in the Indian economy due to demonetisation and

implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the report said.

3.Gold rush


● Tightening monetary policies in the West and supply factors led to the spurt in gold

prices

● Gold is shining once again. The price of gold in the Indian market reached its highest-

ever level, hitting the ₹33,800 mark in Mumbai on Tuesday in the midst of

increasing demand from buyers and lagging supply in the global market.

● And it is not just the rupee that is witnessing a fall in value against gold.

● A similar trend has been seen in the price of other major emerging market currencies

as well when their worth is measured against the yellow metal.

● In fact, many emerging market currencies have already hit, or are quite close to

hitting, historic lows against gold.

● Against the U.S. dollar, however, gold is still priced well below its all-time high of

over $1,500 that was reached in 2012 even as it has shown some appreciation against

that currency in the last few months.

● The increase in the price of gold worldwide should be seen against the backdrop of

rising uncertainties that threaten to derail the global economy.

● Western central banks have been tightening their monetary policy stances for a

while now, leading to increasing fears that this could put an end to the decade-long

recovery since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.

● The U.S. Federal Reserve has been at the forefront of the current tightening cycle.

The resulting flow of capital from emerging markets to the West has put further

pressure on various emerging market currencies.

● The rupee, for instance, has depreciated significantly in value against the U.S. dollar

in the last year alone. This probably explains the divergence in the performance of the

dollar vis-à-vis other emerging market currencies against gold.

● The U.S.-China trade war and the lowered rate of Chinese economic growth have

added to fears of a global economic slowdown.

● Furthermore, as stock markets around the world continue to trade sideways with

increased volatility, investors seeking financial safety have turned to gold and

boosted its price.

● Many central banks have been trying to hoard gold to restore confidence in their

currencies.

● Apart from these short-term influences, there are probably other long-term secular

factors at play as the price of gold looks to shoot up towards new highs.

● The fall in price after 2012 led to a fall in capital spending by gold miners, which

has meant that supply has failed to keep up with growing demand.

● This is typical of all commodities that see years of oversupply that lead to a price

slump followed by years of under-supply that leads to a jump in prices.


● The depreciation in the value of national currencies against gold is also an indication

of the increase in inflationary pressures across the globe.

● What could put a premature end to gold‘s rally is the easing of policy by global

central banks. While this will restore investor confidence in the global economy, it

carries with it risks linked to debt-fuelled growth.

4.Tokenisation may aid safe digital transactions

● The Reserve Bank of India‘s (RBI) decision to allow card payment providers to

offer tokenisation services will ensure the safety of digital transactions and reduce

chances of fraud, industry players said.

● Tokenisation involves a process in which a unique token masks sensitive card

details like card and CVV number. The token is used to perform card transactions in

contactless mode at Point Of Sale (POS) terminals, Quick Response (QR) code

payments, etc.

● Tokenisation is expected to increase digital transactions in India.

● The way the token will work is like this — the debit or credit card holder will create

a code for a particular amount, say ₹500, through an app in the form of a number.

● That number will have the amount that can be spent, the merchant type where it can

be spent as well as time within which the transaction needs to be completed. Then

the number can be shared with the merchant who will enter it in the mobile, to get

the payment for the items sold.

5.Tax, compliance burden eased for small businesses


● The GST Council, in its meeting on Thursday, decided on a series of measures that

will ease the tax and compliance burden for small businesses. Henceforth, companies

with annual turnover up to ₹40 lakh will stay out of the GST net (₹20 lakh earlier).

● In the case of companies in the northeastern and hill States, the limit has been

doubled to ₹20 lakh.

● The annual turnover limit for eligibility for the Composition Scheme has also been

raised to ₹1.5 crore from April 1. From that date, companies eligible for the

Composition Scheme can file annual returns and pay taxes quarterly.

● The Confederation of All India Traders said in a statement that the increase in limit

would allow about 10 lakh traders to be exempt from the GST compliance burden,

and added that increasing the Composition Scheme limit would benefit about 20 lakh

small businesses.

● Mr. Jaitley announced that the limit for eligibility for the Composition Scheme

would be raised to an annual turnover of ₹1.5 crore from April 1, 2019. He added

that companies opting for the Composition Scheme would be allowed to file annual

returns and pay taxes quarterly from April 1.

● The Composition Scheme currently allows companies with an annual turnover of up

to ₹1 crore to opt for it, and file returns on a quarterly basis at a nominal rate of

1%. So far, only manufacturers and traders were eligible for this scheme.

● Mr. Jaitley said that the Council had decided to extend the Composition Scheme to

small service providers with an annual turnover of up to ₹50 lakh, at a tax rate of

6%


● The The GST Council also decided to allow Kerala to levy a cess of up to 1% for up

to two years on intra-State supplies to help finance the disaster relief efforts following

the recent floods in the state.

● Confederation of All India Traders, in a statement, said that increasing the GST

threshold limit would allow about 10 lakh traders to be exempt from the compliance

burden of GST, and added that increasing the Composition Scheme limit would

benefit about 20 lakh small businesses that fall between the annual turnover brackets

of ₹1 crore and ₹1.5 crore.

● As there were diverse and differing opinions on the issues of taxing real estate and

lotteries, the GST Council decided to set up to separate Groups of Ministers to look

into the issue and present their assessments to the Council

6.„Bihar outgrew others in FY18 GDP‟

● Bihar and Andhra Pradesh led the pack among States in terms of GDP growth in

financial year 2017-18, clocking 11.3% and 11.2% growth, respectively, compared

with the national GDP growth of 6.7% for the year, according to a report by Crisil.

● According to the report, 12 of the 17 general category States grew faster than the

national growth rate.

● However, it noted that this growth was not equitable, with the gap between the per

capita incomes in low-income and high-income States widening over the last five

years.

● In Gujarat and Karnataka, manufacturing was the main driver, while in Madhya

Pradesh, agriculture and allied activities drove growth on average,‖ the report said.

―Among the laggards, West Bengal was dragged down by mining, Jharkhand by

electricity and other utilities.‖

● On the fiscal front, the report noted that most veered off the Fiscal Responsibility and

Budget Management Act (FRBM) line of maintaining their fiscal deficits at 3% of

their respective state GDPs.

● With little fiscal legroom for the Centre, States are now the new engines of

government spending [over 65% in total government spending]

● The combined fiscal deficit of States crossed the 3% of GSDP threshold, in both

fiscals 2016 and 2017. This improved in fiscal 2018 to 3.1%, but this was still higher

than the FRBM limit, and also the 2.7% of GSDP budgeted for the year, the report

noted.

Centre‟s debt-to-GDP falls, States‟ rises


● While the Centre is moving in the right direction in terms of meeting the N.K. Singh

Committee recommendations on public debt, the States are moving in the opposite

direction, data released by the government show.

● According to the Status Paper on Government Debt for 2017-18, the Centre‘s total

debt as a percentage of GDP reduced to 46.5% in 2017-18 from 47.5% as of March

31, 2014.

● The total debt of the States, however, has been rising over this period, to 24% in

2017-18, and is estimated to be 24.3% in 2018-19.

● In absolute terms, the Centre‟s total debt increased from ₹56,69,429 crore at the

end of March 2014 to ₹82,35,178 crore in 2017-18, representing a 45% increase.

● The total debt of the States increased from ₹24,71,270 crore to ₹40,22,090 crore

over the same period, an increase of almost 63%.

● The N.K. Singh-headed FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management)

Review Committee report had recommended the ratio to be 40% for the Centre and

20% for the States, respectively, by 2023.

● It said that the 60% consolidated Central and State debt limit was consistent with

international best practices, and was an essential parameter to attract a better rating

from the credit ratings agencies.

● The increase in the debt stock at the State level is worrying because they don‘t have

the wherewithal to service the debt if it goes beyond a certain point. They could

then start getting into a debt trap situation

● Outstanding liabilities of States have increased sharply during 2015-16 and 2016-

17, following the issuance of UDAY bonds in these two years, which was reflected in

an increase in liability-GDP ratio from 21.7% at end-March 2015 to 23.4% at end-

March 2016 and further to 23.8% at end-March 2017

● The total outstanding liabilities as a percentage of GDP stood at 24% as at end-

March 2018 and is expected to move upward to 24.3% at end-March 2019.‖

● This, combined with the fact that ratings agencies have predicted that the combined

fiscal deficit of the States to be 3.2% of GDP in financial year 2020 (higher than the

prescribed 3%), and it begins to look increasingly unlikely that the States will meet

their 20% debt-GDP ratio target by 2023.

● The report, however, says that the States do have some fiscal space to reduce their

borrowing in the coming years due to the large cash surpluses they hold.

● State governments as a group have exhibited a tendency to hold large cash

surpluses/investments in Cash Balance Investment Account on a consistent basis

while at the same time resorting to market borrowings to finance their GFD (Gross

Fiscal Deficit)


● This indicates scope for reducing the quantum of market borrowings by State

governments in case they bring down their cash surpluses (parked as investment in

treasury bills of the Central government)

7.Inflation conundrum

● A weak performance and low inflation may persuade the RBI to go for an interest

rate cut

● The multi-month low retail and wholesale inflation prints for December pose an

interesting challenge for policymakers and the central bank.

● Inflation in Consumer Price Index (CPI), at 2.19% in December, is at an 18-month

low, while the WPI, at 3.8%, is at an eight-month low.

● The Reserve Bank appears to have been blindsided by the CPI number, which is way

below projections made during its last few monetary policy pronouncements.

● The RBI has maintained a CPI projection of 4.4-4.8% for the second half of fiscal

2019.

● Even in the October policy announcement, the bank projected 3.8-4.5% retail inflation

in the second half with upside risk, and even changed its policy stance to ―calibrated

tightening‖ from ―neutral‖.

● The MPC and the RBI may well want to reassess the robustness of their inflation

projection mechanism in light of the data coming in.

● When the new Governor, Shaktikanta Das, sits down with the monetary policy

committee (MPC) in early February he may well have to return to a ―neutral‖ stance

given the soft trends in headline CPI.

● There may even be pressure on him to look at a rate cut, especially given the weak

economic data coming in — factory output growth was a low 0.5% in November

with manufacturing showing a contraction.

● The automobile industry, the first to feel the effect of an economic slowdown, has

seen sales falling over the last two months.

● The inflation data have also thrown a curveball at policymakers in that their different

components show divergent trends.

● So, while headline CPI inflation is trending lower, core inflation is still sticky at

close to 6%.

● Again, there is a divergence between core rural and urban inflation — the former

is trending higher at 6.34% while the latter is heading downward at 5.26% in

December.


● Curiously, rural health and education index numbers are high. The point with all

this divergence in data is that monetary policymaking is a challenge.

● Governor Das alluded to this in a recent speech where he pointed to the divergences

and volatility in different sub-groups as a major challenge in inflation assessment

and projection.

● But the broader question is whether the interest rate structure is lagging behind the big

structural change in inflation in the last few years.

● According to Mr. Das, headline CPI inflation has moderated from around 10% in

2012-13 to 3.6% in 2017-18 and 3.7% in April-December this fiscal.

● Yet the nominal interest rate structure has not changed significantly, leading to

rather high real interest rates.

● Prominent policymakers, including principal economic adviser Sanjeev Sanyal, have

called for the RBI to take a re-look at the interest rate structure. It will be

interesting to watch how the RBI under the new Governor reacts to these calls.

8.The gap within

● We need to address the issue of slower growth in our poorer States

● India, as the world‘s fastest-growing major economy, may well be catching up with

the richer economies in terms of absolute size.

● But economic convergence within the country remains a distant dream as poorer

States continue to lag behind the richer ones in economic growth.

● A report from the rating agency Crisil found that the inter-State disparities have

widened in recent years even as the larger economy grows in size and influence on

the global stage.

● Many low-income States have experienced isolated years of strong economic

growth above the national average. Bihar, in fact, was the fastest-growing State this

year among the 17 non-special category States evaluated by the report.

● But they have still failed to bridge their widening gap with the richer States since

they have simply not been able to maintain a healthy growth rate over a sustained

period of time.

● Richer States like Gujarat, for instance, have been able to achieve sustained

economic growth and increase their gap over other States.

● The report found that there was a slight, albeit weak, convergence in the per capita

income levels of the poorer and richer States between fiscal years 2008 and 2013, but

the trend was reversed in the subsequent years.


● Between fiscal years 2013 and 2018, there has been a significant divergence rather

than convergence in the economic fortunes of the poorer and richer States.

● This was the result of richer States continuing to show strong growth while the

poorer States fell behind.

● In fact, only two of the eight low-income States in 2013 had growth rates above the

national average over the next five years.

● On the other hand, six out of the nine high-income States recorded rates higher than

the national average during 2013-18.

● What explains the divergence in the economic fortunes of States? The report suggests

that, at least during fiscal year 2018, government spending may be what boosted

gross domestic product growth in the top-performing States, particularly in Bihar and

Andhra Pradesh whose double-digit growth rates have come along with a

burgeoning fiscal deficit.

● The impact of greater spending was that 10 of the 17 States breached the 3% fiscal

deficit limit set by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.

● Many other big-spending States, however, have not managed to achieve growth

above the national average.

● Punjab and Kerala, which are at the bottom of the growth table, are ranked as

profligates by the report.

● This suggests that the size of public spending is probably not what differentiates

the richer States from the poorer ones.

● Other variables like the strength of State-level institutions, as gauged by their

ability to uphold the rule of law and create a free, competitive marketplace for

businesses to thrive, and the quality of public spending could be crucial

determinants of the long-run growth prospects of States.

9.Cabinet approves creation of the National Bench of the Goods and Services Tax

Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)

● The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved

the creation of National Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal

(GSTAT).

● The National Bench of the Appellate Tribunal shall be situated at New Delhi. GSTAT

shall be presided over by its President and shall consist of one Technical Member

(Centre) and one Technical Member (State).


● The creation of the National Bench of the GSTAT would amount to one time

expenditure of Rs.92.50 lakh while the recurring expenditure would be Rs.6.86 crore

per annum.

Details:

● Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal is the forum of second appeal in GST

laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between Centre and States.

● The appeals against the orders in first appeals issued by the Appellate Authorities

under the Central and State GST Acts lie before the GST Appellate Tribunal, which

is common under the Central as well as State GST Acts.

● Being a common forum, GST Appellate Tribunal will ensure that there is uniformity

in redressal of disputes arising under GST, and therefore, in implementation of

GST across the country

General Studies-III : Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

1.RailTel is turning railway stations into digital hubs

● The Indian Railways has one of the world‟s largest public WiFi networks in

RailWire WiFi.

● With around 2.6 crore users logins in a month, and over 9,491 Tetra Byte (TB) of

aggregated data consumption, RailWire WiFi at 746 railway stations across the

country is only getting stronger.

● The network, provided by RailTel, a „Mini Ratna‟ central PSU (Public Sector

Undertaking) under the Ministry of Railways, is not only one of the largest but also

one of the fastest public WiFi networks.

● Bona fide passengers are using this WiFi facility for streaming high definition (HD)

videos, and downloading movies, songs and games, and engaging with their office

work online

● For a modern handset, the speed can go as high as 40 Mbps for the initial 30 minutes

of unhindered open access, which is unmatched on any other network.

● The backbone capacity of each of these railway stations is 1 GBPS.

● Free WiFi services to commuters are being provided under ‗RailWire‘, RailTel‘s

retail Broadband initiative.


General Studies-III : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation,

environmental impact assessment Disaster and disaster management.

1.„Plastic waste imports to India go up‟

● In spite of a ban on the import of plastic waste into India, the influx of PET bottles

has quadrupled from 2017 to 2018 thanks to legal loophole, says a Delhi-based

environmentalist organisation, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Manch (PDUSM).

● Indian firms are importing plastic scraps from China, Italy, Japan and Malawi for

recycling and the imports of PET bottle scrap & flakes has increased from 12,000

tonnes in FY 16-17 to 48,000 tonnes in FY 17-18 growing @ 290%. India has

already imported 25,000 MT in the first 3 months of FY 18-19

● Government and industry estimates suggest that India consumes about 13 million

tonnes of plastic and recycles only about 4 million tonnes.

● A lack of an efficient waste segregation system and inadequate collection is the root

cause, according to experts, for much of the plastic not making its way to recycling

centres.

● To incentivise domestic plastic recycling units, the government had banned the

import of plastic waste, particularly PET bottles in 2015.

● In 2016, an amendment allowed such imports as long as they were carried out by

agencies situated in Special Economic Zones. It‘s this loophole that‘s been

exploited.

Half done

● A plan is needed for plastic waste in packaging and manufacturing


● India won global acclaim for its ―Beat Plastic Pollution” resolve declared on World

Environment Day last year, under which it pledged to eliminate single-use plastic

by 2022.

● So far, 22 States and Union Territories have joined the fight, announcing a ban on

single-use plastics such as carry bags, cups, plates, cutlery, straws and thermocol

products. Puducherry will implement a ban from March 1. Where firm action has

been taken, positive results have followed.

● A Bengaluru waste collective estimates that the volume of plastic waste that they

collect dropped from about two tonnes a day to less than 100 kg.

● Voluntary initiatives are having an impact in many States, as citizens reduce, reuse

and sort their waste. Yet, this is only a small start.

● Waste plastic from packaging of everything from food, cosmetics and groceries to

goods delivered by online platforms remains unaddressed.

● It will take a paradigm shift in the manner in which waste is collected and handled

by municipal authorities to change this.

● Governments must start charging the producers for their waste, and collect it

diligently, which will lead to recovery and recycling.

● But the depressing reality is that State and local governments are unwilling to

upgrade their waste management systems, which is necessary to even measure the

true scale of packaging waste.

● The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 are clear that producers, importers

and brand owners must adopt a collect-back system for the plastic they introduce

into the environment

● Although the rules were notified in the same year, amended later and given high

visibility by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, not much has

been done to take the process forward. At the very least, local bodies should consult

manufacturers or importers to assess the problem.

● Delaying such a measure has created the anomalous situation of small producers of

plastics facing the ban, while more organised entities covered by the Extended

Producer Responsibility clause continue with business as usual.

● Such enforcement failure is not an argument in favour of relaxing the prohibition on

flimsy plastics that are typically used for under 15 minutes, but to recover thousands

of tonnes of waste that end up in dumping sites.

● Cities and towns need competent municipal systems to achieve this. Again, there is

little doubt that plastics play a major role in several industries, notably in the

automotive, pharmaceutical, health care and construction sectors.

● But it is the fast moving consumer goods sector that uses large volumes of

packaging, posing a higher order challenge.


This calls for urgent action. Governments should show the same resolve here, as they have

done in imposing the ban

2.Protest against proposed bird sanctuary in Manipur

● The Manipur government‟s plan to set up a bird sanctuary at the Loktak lake in

Bishnupur district has met with stiff opposition from the villagers in nearby areas.

● A large number of residents of Thingnunggei village took out a massive procession

against the government‘s proposal on Sunday.

● Thousands of migratory birds flock to the Loktak lake, the largest freshwater lake

in north-eastern India, every year. However, in the past few years there has been a

sharp decline in the number of migratory birds coming to the lake.

● Reports indicate that bird poachers are active in the area, targeting the winged

guests. Officials of the forest department's wildlife wing say in view of the

widespread bird poaching at the lake, setting up of the sanctuary is a must.

● Birdwatchers on the other hand blame human intrusion, bird poaching and

hydroelectric power project near the lake for the decline in the number of migratory

birds and brow-antlered deer in the Keibul Lamjao national park in the vicinity.

● Some decades ago, the villagers of the lake islets had agitated against setting up of the

Keibul Lamjao National Park, the natural habitat of the endangered brow-antlered

deer.

● They wanted the land demarcated for the park to be made available to them for

cultivating paddy.

● Now, several years later, the latest census suggests that there are only 260 brow-

antlered deer in the Keibul Lamjao national park.

3.Centre aims for 20% cut in air pollution by 2024

● The Centre has launched a programme to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution

by 20-30% in at least 102 cities by 2024.

● The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which was formally unveiled on

Thursday, is envisaged as a scheme to provide the States and the Centre with a

framework to combat air pollution.

● Pointing out that curbing PM pollution would be a long-term process, officials said

the ₹300-crore programme will bring pollution concerns to the heart of a State‘s

development plans.


● In the past year, the 102 cities, identified as hotspots of pollution, were asked to

submit a plan for addressing the problem.

● Broadly, the plans include increasing the number of monitoring stations,

providing technology support, conducting source apportionment studies, and

strengthening enforcement.

● For achieving the NCAP targets, the cities will have to calculate the reduction in

pollution, keeping 2017‟s average annual PM levels as the base year.

● The World Health Organisation‘s database on air pollution over the years has listed

Tier I and Tier II Indian cities as some of the most polluted places in the world. In

2018, 14 of the world‘s 15 most polluted cities were in India.

● A study in the journal Lancet ranked India as No.1 on premature mortality and

deaths from air pollution

139 polluted cities not on clean air plan: report

● There are 139 Indian cities that breach air pollution standards but are not included

in the Centre's National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), says a report by

Greenpeace and made public on Tuesday.

● The NCAP was launched by the government earlier this month and is a ₹300 crore

initiative to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution by 20-30% in at least 102

cities by 2024.

● The 102 cities, identified as hotspots of pollution, were asked to submit a plan for

how they would address the problem.

● Broadly, the plans include increasing the number of monitoring stations, providing

technology support, conducting source apportionment studies, and strengthening

enforcement.

● Airpocalypse III, as the Greenpeace report is titled, analyses air pollution data of

313 cities and towns for the year 2017

● Of these 313 cities, 241 (77%) had PM10 levels beyond the National Ambient Air

Quality Standards (NAAQS). These specify upper limits to a range of airborne

chemicals and compounds.

● While 102 of these cities were included in the NCAP, the remaining 139 cities were

left out.

● That‘s because, say the authors of the report, the government‘s list of 102 cities relied

on average pollution data until 2015, whereas Airpocalypse III used data updated

up to 2017.

● Even if the NCAP were to able to reduce pollution by 30% by 2024, 153 cities would

still be left with pollution levels exceeding the NAAQS, the report added.


● Of the 139 cities that have not been included in the non-attainment list under the

NCAP, there are several cities that have a population of more than 1 million, and PM

levels (recorded in 2017) above NAAQS.

● These include: Ranchi, Dhanbad (Jharkhand); Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh); Chennai,

Madurai (Tamil Nadu); Meerut (Uttar Pradesh); Pimpri-Chindwar, Thane,

(Maharashtra); Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara (Gujarat); and Howrah (West Bengal).

4.Study says cow urine may be adding to global warming

● Cow urine — a minor fount of research in India for its medicinal benefits — may

also contribute to global warming.

● The urine from the ruminant is a source of nitrous oxide emissions (N2O), a gas that

is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

● Most times, when cow urine is used in degraded pastures, which are also seen in

vast tracts of land in India, N2O emissions are tripled, says a study conducted in

Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, and published in the

latest edition of the peer-reviewed Scientific Reports.

● That cattle and livestock are a significant source of methane, a greenhouse gas, and

therefore a contributor to global warming, is well-known.

● However, the role of cow urine is less understood.

● For the study, researchers collected urine from cattle and spilled 500 millilitre

samples on paired cattle fields classified as degraded or healthy, which was

determined by vegetation coverage.

● In six of the seven test sites, degraded pastures emitted significantly more N2O —

sometimes up to three times as much. The study was conducted by the

International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia.


● Dung and urine are commonly mixed together for manure in Indian fields. Since,

India also hosts the world‘s largest livestock population, as well as significant tracts

of degraded land, the findings may have a bearing on nitrogen emissions from Indian

fields.

● A 2012 satellite study by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that

about 30% of India‟s geographical area (or about 96.4 million hectares) is

degraded.

● Degraded grasslands emitted more N2O than healthy pastures because the

vegetation in the latter took up some of the reactive nitrogen compounds and only the

leftovers were emitted.

● According to an expert in India, India had estimates for dung and urine production per

cow or buffalo or other livestock animals as well as their overall estimates for their

populations as per 2012 livestock census, but the exact contribution of cow urine to

the total nitrous oxide emission from India are not estimated precisely.

5.Rajasthan‟s State bird may be extinct soon

● Almost two years after the Rajasthan government proposed setting up of captive

breeding centres for the Great Indian Bustards to boost their wild population, the

wildlife activists here have called for enforcement of recovery plan for the country‘s

most critically endangered bird.

● The GIB‘s last remnant wild population of about 50 in Jaisalmer district accounts for

95% of its total world population.

● No progress has been made on the proposal for establishing a captive breeding

centre at Sorsan in Kota district and a hatchery in Jaisalmer‘s Mokhala village for

conservation of the State bird of Rajasthan.

● The previous BJP regime had taken up the work in 2017 after the Union Ministry of

Environment, Forest and Climate Change sanctioned ₹33.85 crore to facilitate the

two centres and authorised the Wildlife Institute of India to be its scientific arm.

● A group of wildlife activists, who met Rajasthan Minister of State for Environment &

Forest Sukh Ram Bishnoi here earlier this week, offered to formulate an emergency

action plan for conservation of GIB in order to help the State government tackle the

issue methodically.

● Tourism & Wildlife Society of Indian honorary secretary Harsh Vardhan, who was

among those who met Mr. Bishnoi, said the decisions after the launch of the Project

Bustard in 2013 had not been followed up for five years.


● The group pointed out that the WII had not nominated any scientist to work

exclusively on GIB in the State despite the related issues discussed at a meeting held

here in April 2017 to decide for setting up the conservation breeding centres.

General Studies-III : Science and Technology- developments and their applications and

effects in everyday life Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization

of technology and developing new technology.

1.Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh releases

recombinant ELISA kits

● Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh today

released recombinant Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) kits: one for

Glanders and other for Equine Infectious Anaemia. Both these diseases are

notifiable diseases in India and require special diagnosis for control and eradication

in the country.

● Glanders is a fatal infectious and notifiable disease of equines including horses,

donkeys and mules.The disease is caused by a bacterium known as Burkholderia

mallei and has zoonotic potential.The organism is also considered as potential bio-

weapon and categorized under ‗Tier 1 Select Agent‘.

● This ELISA has a huge potential of international commercialization as recombinant

protein-based ELISA is not available in any other country. This technology will

prove to be a milestone in the control and eradication of glanders from India.

● Equine infectious anaemia (EIA) is a chronic, debilitating and persistent infectious

disease of equines caused by a retrovirus

● This technology will provide sustainable and homogeneous source of antigen and

harmonized protocol to ensure regular surveillance of EIA. Both kits are highly

economical as compare to imported kits.

General Studies-III : Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-

technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

1.A reckless experiment

● Editing the ‗human germline‟ is an exercise fraught with unknown risks

● The saga of the Chinese scientist who created the world‘s first gene-edited babies

last November has forced researchers everywhere to take a hard look at the ethics of

gene-editing.


● Chinese authorities have since condemned the researcher, He Jiankui, with a

government report this week saying he violated both ethics and laws.

● But though Mr. He‘s actions drew international outrage, they weren‘t revolutionary

in technological terms.

● Editing DNA to correct disease mutations has been possible for a while now, which

means others can also do what Mr. He did.

● The promises of such gene-editing are boundless; over a dozen clinical trials are

currently on to treat diseases like HIV, multiple myeloma and other forms of

cancer, using the Crispr-Cas9 editing system. But none of them involve editing the

so-called human germ-line; instead, they have restricted themselves to fixing genetic

flaws in sick adults.

● In contrast, Mr. He deactivated a gene in two human embryos, which means that

the changes he made could be inherited by the next generation.

● In doing so, he violated the widely held ethical consensus that it is too early for

germline editing, for we simply don‘t know enough yet about the risks of such

fiddling.

● One pitfall of embryo gene-editing is that it is not as precise as we need it to be

today. Studies have shown that the technology can result in unintended mutations,

which in turn can cause cancers.

● Then there is the danger of mosaicism, in which some cells inherit the target

mutation, while others don‘t. To be sure, the error-rates of Crispr are falling with

each passing year. But we aren‘t in the clear yet.

● What is more, even when gene-editing becomes fool-proof, the decision to edit

embryos will still be a weighty one.

● This is because, today, scientists are far from understanding how exactly individual

genes influence phenotypes, or the visible traits of people.

● Every gene likely influences multiple traits, depending on the environment it

interacts with. This makes it hard to predict the ultimate outcome of an embryo-

editing exercise without decades of follow-up.

● This uncertainty became evident in Mr. He‘s experiment, in which he sought to

immunise a pair of twins from HIV by tinkering with a gene called CCR5.

● The problem is that while protecting against HIV, a deactivated CCR5 gene can also

make people more susceptible to West-Nile Fever.

● Every gene influences such trade-offs, which scientists barely understand today. This

is why several scientific societies have advised abundant caution while fiddling with

the human germline.


● In a 2017 report, the U.S.‘s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and

Medicine said such an intervention would be defensible only in very rare situations,

where no alternative exists.

● The He Jiankui incident shows it is time to translate these advisories into regulations.

Unless this happens, the Crispr revolution could well go awry.

2.ISRO tastes first success of 2019

● ISRO successfully placed into orbit a military satellite, Microsat-R.

● The mission with the modified PSLV with just two strap-on motors, dubbed the

PSLV-DL (dual strap-ons), marked another first for ISRO as it provided an

alternative to its normal six strap-on motors. This will enable it to carry slightly

higher payloads than its Core-Alone version.

● Innovation is the making the fourth stage, as an experimental platform to do

technology demonstrations and carry out science experiments by students

● This would enable any agency that wants to conducts experiments in space to use the

fourth stage till it disintegrates naturally.

● The fourth stage of the rocket may be orbiting in space for six months to a year.

ISRO is aiming to use this time-frame to enable agencies to run short time

experiments. Mr. Sivan asked students in India to develop such satellites and ISRO

would take care of the launch.

● He also said ISRO was developing a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV),

smaller than the PSLV. The first SSLV launch will take place this year

3.ISRO cranks up Gaganyaan project


● The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday said work on

‗Gaganyaan‘, the project to send a manned mission to space by 2022, would start

soon at the newly created Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC).

● The Human Space Flight Centre [based in Bengaluru] will carry out all activities

related to the human programme. Under it will function the Gaganyaan Project

● The heavy lift launch vehicle GSLV Mark III, which got operational in November

after its second successive flight in a row, must be suitably certified or human-

rated. It will have two non-crew flights in December 2020 and July 2021.

● The actual flight with crew is targeted to happen by December 2021 — to meet the

Prime Minister‘s goal of August 2022, India‘s 75th Independence anniversary.

4.Trusted workhorse set to get new features

● Upcoming mission to use PSLV-DL, which will sport two strap-on boosters to give

added thrust

● With the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) planning to keep the fourth and

final stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) ‗alive‘ in space as a useful

‗orbital platform‟, the rocket — popularly dubbed ISRO‘s trusted workhorse — is

getting added features.


● Set for lift-off this month with the Microsat-R payload, the upcoming PSLV-C44

mission will see a new variant of the PSLV in use. This variant, tagged PSLV-DL,

will be the first to sport two strap-on boosters for providing added thrust.

● Its final and fourth stage — PS4 — will be equipped with lithium-ion batteries, but

no solar panels.

● An in-house technology, the lithium-ion cells are critical to keep the spent stage in

orbit. Solar panels will be added, in all likelihood, in the next mission, Vikram

Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director S. Somanath says.

● ISRO had hit upon the idea of transforming the expendable fourth stage into a

makeshift satellite to reduce space debris. In a normal scenario, the initial stages of

the rocket, once they detach, drop back into the sea. However, stage four, after

releasing the payload, wanders around in space as junk.

● If the plan is successful, the spent stage will be automatically „recycled‟ into a

valuable platform for space-based experiments

General Studies-III : Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges

to internal security.

1.Rana extradition unlikely before 2023, indicates U.S.

● Indian agencies will have to wait a little longer before Tahawwur Rana, a key

accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case is extradited here from the U.S.

● The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team that was in the U.S. a few days ago to

seek the extradition of Rana, a close associate of David Coleman Headley, has been

given an indication that Rana has to first complete his jail sentence.

● Rana, who was arrested in 2009, is serving a 14-year prison term in the U.S. for

providing material support to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which planned

and executed the attacks.

● Though he was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2013 by a U.S. district court, his term

would also include the period he has already served in prison and would come to an

end in 2023.

● Minister of State Gen. V.K. Singh (retired) told the Lok Sabha last week that the

Government of India had engaged with U.S. authorities, under terms of the India-

U.S. Extradition Treaty of 1997, for custody of U.S.-based individuals for their role

in the November 26, 2008, terrorist attacks in Mumbai.


● The ‗double jeopardy‟ clause in U.S. law prohibits punishment for the same crime

twice, so India renewed its bid to seek Rana‘s custody on the ground that he was

actively involved in planning an attack on the National Defence College in Delhi

and Chabad Houses (Jewish religious centres) in several cities.

● Rana, a Chicago-based businessman, helped Headley open an immigration firm in

Mumbai, which was a cover to conduct reconnaissance on targets that were attacked

on November 26, 2008.

● Rana was a school friend of Headley from Pakistan. According to the FBI, after the

26/11 Mumbai attacks, Headley visited India again in March 2009 to conduct

additional surveillance, including of the NDC in Delhi and of Chabad Houses.

● The NIA also has registered a forgery case against Rana for opening the

immigration centre based on fake documents.

2.8 people from India have joined Al Qaeda wing: NIA

● Around eight men from Kerala and Karnataka are said to have joined Jabat Al-

Nusra, a former Al Qaeda outfit, in Syria, a National Investigation Agency (NIA)

official said.

● The NIA has registered a case against the suspects and begun investigations. This is

the first time that the agency has filed a case against Indians for joining a terrorist

outfit other than the Islamic State in Syria.

● A senior NIA official said none of the accused left from India; they travelled to Syria

from Qatar, where they were working.

3.Report on AQIS‟s growing influence alarmist: official

● A top intelligence official on Thursday dismissed as ‗alarmist‘ a U.S.-based think

tank‟s report that contends that the Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) was

exploiting the growing incidents of violence against Muslims in India and attacks in

the name of ―cow vigilantism‖ to recruit cadres.

● Asserting that the study by The Soufan Center, a New York-based think tank, was

misleading, the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: ―researchers

appear to have extrapolated isolated instances, imaginatively.”

● The report titled ‗AQIS — The Nucleus of Jihad in South Asia‟ asserts that the rise

in inter-religious clashes in India due to a changing political discourse had resulted

in further divisions between Hindus and Muslims.


● Increasing incidents of violent attacks on Muslims in India, who are accused of eating

beef, was being exploited by groups like AQIS to ―incite Indian Muslims to join

what is being called a fight for their honour,‖ according to the study‘s authors.

● Indian Islam is based on rich Sufistic traditions of pluralism, inclusivism and

composite nationalism.

● The wave of Al Qaeda in the 1990s and 2000s did not impact the Indian Muslim.

● The wave of Islamic State had minimal impact, with only about 108 individuals

succumbing to its lure. In the past few decades, global Islamist uprisings and

terrorism have not impacted the Indian Muslim, as they were based on Jihadism,

born out of exclusionism,‖ the official added, dismissing the report‘s premise on the

increasing vulnerability of the Indian Muslim to recruitment by the AQIS.

● The think tank said the situation in Kashmir had also taken an ―unprecedented turn.‖

For the first time since the onset of conflict in Kashmir, the region is responding to

the appeal of groups like al-Qaeda

4.„9/11 derailed Army plan to capture Pakistani posts along LoC‟

● Had it not been for the 9/11 terror attacks, the Indian Army may have carried out its

largest operation to end infiltration by capturing at least 25 selected Pakistani posts

along the Line of Control (LoC) in September 2001, two former senior commanders

have revealed in a new book.

● The operation, dubbed ‗Operation Kabaddi,‘ would have been on a scale far larger

than the “land-grab” attempted by Pakistan, which led to the Kargil war in 1999,

as well as the surgical strikes launched by India in 2016, says the book, Line on Fire:

Ceasefire Violations and India-Pakistan Escalation Dynamics.

● The objective [of Operation Kabaddi] was to change the geography of the LoC with

access to tactical points there, which would then help them [the Army] tackle the

infiltration of militants by the Pakistani side,

● Surgical strikes as they were carried out in 2016 involved no casualties of

Pakistani military personnel, and involved no land grab. That is business as usual

on the LoC and happens all the time

● Eventually, the units were prepared for Op Kabaddi on September 1, 2001, but the

order to proceed was never issued, given the changed geopolitical situation after the

9/11 attacks as it would have been considered ―taking advantage of a tragedy‖ and

―viewed unfavourably by the international community‖

Other Issues in News:


1.Bharat Ratna for Pranab, Deshmukh, Hazarika

● President Ramnath Kovind on Friday conferred the Bharat Ratna, the nation‘s

highest civilian honour, on former President Pranab Mukherjee, along with social

activist Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumous), and Assamese musician Bhupen Hazarika

(posthumous).

● Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to congratulate the awardees. ―Pranab

Da is an outstanding statesman of our times. He has served the nation selflessly and

tirelessly for decades, leaving a strong imprint on the nation‘s growth trajectory. His

wisdom and intellect have few parallels,‖ he tweeted.

● Of Nanaji Deshmukh, a senior RSS leader who also worked for rural development

and welfare of farmers and was considered a stalwart of the Sangh Parivar, the Prime

Minister said: ―Nanaji Deshmukh‘s stellar contribution towards rural development

showed the way for a new paradigm of empowering those living in our villages. He

personified humility, compassion and service to the downtrodden. He is a Bharat

Ratna in the truest sense.‖

● He said Bhupen Hazarika popularised India‟s musical traditions globally. ―The

songs and music of Shri Bhupen Hazarika are admired by people across generations.

From them radiates the message of justice, harmony and brotherhood.‖

2.„A.P. Buddhist remains date back to Satavahana period‟

● The Department of Archaeology and Museums has found Buddhist remains under the

‗garbhagriha‘ (sanctum sanctorum) of Sivalayam at Kondaveedu fort. The remains

date back to later Satavahana period — 1st to 2nd century A.D.

● One small fragment of Brahmi Inscription was found in the stupa remains. Based on

this inscriptional evidence, it emphasises that Buddhism existed on Kondaveedu fort

from Satavahana period. It has eight letters i.e.. ‗gha ra kha tha sa a thae vaa.‘

3.Steel pipes will link Godavari and Cauvery, says Gadkari

● Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari has revealed plans to take the

backwaters of the Godavari up to the Cauvery river in Tamil Nadu through Krishna

and Penna using steel pipes instead of developing canals en route as suggested by a

non-resident engineer from Andhra Pradesh.

● By doing so, wastage of water from canals could be prevented and the overall cost

reduced

● The DPR for the river inter-linking project has already been prepared and is in the

process of being submitted to the Cabinet.

● It is estimated to cost ₹60,000 crore


Like,Share and Comment to support the initiative

Thank You

Monthly Magazine: January 2019 · circulation, and A.K. Ramanujan‟s essay „Three Hundred...

Documents

Transcript of Monthly Magazine: January 2019 · circulation, and A.K. Ramanujan‟s essay „Three Hundred...