Neha Bhosle - Current Affairs Notes PDF

CURRENT AFFAIRS NOTES
These are Notes I made for Current Affairs, mainly from the Mains perspective.
Please read the following post before reading these Notes -

https://nehabhosleblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/18/covering-current-affairs/
This will provide you a complete picture of what all I read apart from these Notes.
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All the Best !
Neha Bhosle
Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

Vision - Social Issues
Also to Read:
February 2015 - Page 70 - MDG India's Achievements

June 2015 - Pages 17 to 19 - SECC 2011 Data
Mains 365 2017 - Pages 61 to 63 - National Health Policy 2017
Mains 365 2018 Updated - Pages 104, 105 - Adultery
• Studies of price elasticities in India find that a 10% increase in tobacco prices is estimated to reduce bidi consumption by 9.1 % and
cigarette consumption by 2.6%.
Over 120 million Indians smoke, and 10% of the world’s tobacco smokers live in India. India has the second largest group of
smokers in the world after China.
According to WHO, tobacco-related diseases kill about 2,500 Indians daily and over 10 lakh Indians a year.
Bidi consumption constitutes 35 to 40 per cent of total tobacco use in the country; it is far greater than the number of cigarettes
smoked.
In India the number of people suffering from cancer is reported to be at around 2.5 million, with over 7 lakh new cases and 56
thousand deaths yearly - 40% due to tobacco.
Economic costs attributable to tobacco use from all diseases in India in 2011 for people aged 35-69 was at over Rs. 1 lakh crore, or
1.16% of the GDP.
The tax on cigarettes is about 43 per cent of the retail price. This is way below the WHO’s recommended excise duty of 70 per cent
of the retail price.
Tripling tax on tobacco will yield 0.3 % of GDP in revenue.
‘Prevalence and Extent of Substance Use in India’- survey was conducted on consumption of substances in India by the Social
Justice and Empowerment Ministry in collaboration with AIIMS. Key findings and highlights of the survey:
○ India is home to six crore alcohol addicts.
○ less than 3% of the people with drinking problem get any treatment.
○ More than 3.1 crore Indians (2.8%) have reported using cannabis products, Bhang, Ganja, Charas, Heroin and Opium, in last
one year. But only one in 20 drug addicts get treatment at a hospital.
According to a UN report, 1 million heroin addicts are registered in India, and unofficially, there are as many as 5 million.
• In India, official figures show that there are 4.75 million domestic workers, out of whom 3 million are women in urban areas. The
actual number is probably close to 90 million.
India became a signatory to the ILO Convention 189, which mandates decent working conditions for domestic workers, but it has
still not ratified it.
Paid domestic work continues to be excluded from Payment of Wages Act (1936) or the Workmen’s Compensation Act (1923) or
the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act (1970) or the Maternity Benefit Act (1961).
The Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition
and Redressal) Act, 2013 are only two initiatives of government which construe domestic help.
National Domestic Workers Regulation of Work and Social Security Bill 2016 is pending.
• 50 per cent of the country’s GDP comes from “sweat and toil of 42 crore workers in the unorganized sector.” As per the India
Labour Market Update of 2016, 82% of the Indian workforce is in unorganized sector.
The government has a proposal to codify the Central Labour Law architecture by merging
Neha all 44
Bhosle Central
- Rank 15,legislations
UPSC CSE into 2019
four codes
Current Affairs Page 1

The government has a proposal to codify the Central Labour Law architecture by merging all 44 Central legislations into four codes
on labour laws — one each on wages, industrial relations, social security and safety and welfare.
• India spent only 1.4% of its GDP on healthcare in the financial year 2017-18. India already spends about 6 per cent of its GDP on
healthcare. But 80% of this is OOP and drives over 60 million Indians below the poverty line every year. Also more than 20% do not
even seek health care, despite being unwell due to this reason.
According to the National Health Profile of 2018, public per capita expenditure on health increased from Rs. 621 in 2009-10 to Rs.
1,112 in 2015-16. Despite the doubling of per capita expenditure on health over six years, India’s health spending is only 1.15-1.5%
of GDP, even in the recent interim budget 2019-20 only 2.2% is allocated to healthcare.
Government should increase public expenditure on health from the current 1.2% of GDP to at least 3% of GDP by 2022.
Expenditures on primary healthcare should account for at least 70% of all healthcare expenditure. The objective should be to
achieve a minimum norm of 500 beds per 10 lakh population in an average district.
In terms of Quality and Access to Health facilities, as according to the findings of a recent Lancet report on Global Burden of
Diseases, India ranks 145th among 195 countries, standing behind Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Shortage of infrastructure and human resources for health has led to 72% of the population in rural areas and 79% in urban areas
to seek healthcare in the private sector. There is a shortage of PHCs (22%) and sub-health centers (20%), while only 7% sub-health
centers and 12% primary health centers meet Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) norms.
Urban areas command 73% of the public hospital beds, even when 69% of India’s population resides in rural areas. There is one
government hospital bed for every 614 people in Goa compared with one every 8,789 people in Bihar.
More than 80% of hospital beds are in the private sector.
Outpatient Care comprises up to 70% of total healthcare utilization in India and 60% of total health expenditure.
NSSO Survey - In 2014, more than 70% of the Outpatient care and more than 60% of the inpatient care was in the private sector.
• NSSO Survey - In 2014, out of all health expenditure, 72% in rural and 68% in urban areas was for buying medicines for non-
hospitalized treatment.
About 26% of the healthcare budget is spent on procurement of drugs, vaccines and medical supplies.
The WHO estimates that one in 10 medical products sold in low- and middle-income countries such as India are either substandard
or falsified - Drugs and Cosmetics Act. ASSOCHAM study showed that fake drugs constitute 25% of domestic medicines market in
India. About 55% of the OOP expenditure is estimated to be on medicines.
In the Indian market, generics hold a whopping 75% share.
India spends only a little more than 0·1% of GDP on publicly funded drugs. Jan Aushadhi campaign to provide 361 generic drugs at
affordable prices - There are too few JAKs in the country. About 3,084 JAKs in 717 districts, many of which have none.
• There are 45 doctors/lakh populations while desirable number is 85. There is shortage of about 5 lakh doctors as per WHO
prescription. There are 75 nurses/lakh populations while desired number is 255. India has just 3 psychiatrists per million (global
norms is 56 per million). The country has less than 2,000 clinical psychologists.
Currently, the Primary Health Centers require 25,650 doctors across India to tend to a minimum of 40 patients per doctor per day
for outpatient care, as per Indian Public Health Standards. If these standards are met, 1 million patients could be benefit every day.
Alma-Ata Declaration was the first declaration which identified Primary Health Care as a key to the attainment of the goal of Health
for All.
Data by India-Spend show that there is a staggering shortage of medical and paramedical staff at all levels of care - 10,907 auxiliary
nurse midwives and 3,673 doctors are needed at subhealth and primary health centers, while for community health centers the
figure is 18,422 specialists.
Even a well-placed State such as Tamil Nadu has an over 30% shortage of medical and nonmedical professionals in government
Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

Even a well-placed State such as Tamil Nadu has an over 30% shortage of medical and nonmedical professionals in government
facilities.
Rural medical practitioners, who provide 80% of outpatient care, have no formal qualifications for it.
Recently the Union Cabinet approved the Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018 that aims to regulate and standardize the
education and services by allied and healthcare professionals - physiotherapists, nutritionists and workers in laboratories - will
directly benefit around 8-9 Lakh existing Allied and Healthcare related professionals in the country and several other graduating
professionals joining workforce annually and contributing to the health system.
The government must introduce up to one-year long training courses for practitioners engaged in treating routine illnesses. This
would be in line with the National Health Policy 2002, which envisages a role for paramedics along the lines of nurse practitioners
in the United States.
Public Health Cadre:

○ Bhore Committee, 1946 - The Health Survey and Development Committee offers a comprehensive assessment of the state of
public health in India and makes recommendations for the training of the public health workforce.
○ Mudaliar Committee (1959) - This committee, for the first time, suggested that the personnel dealing with problems of
health and welfare should have a comprehensive and wide outlook and rich experience of administration at the state level.
○ Kartar Singh Committee (1973) - The committee suggested that doctors with no formal training in infectious disease control,
surveillance systems, data management, community health related problems, and lacking in leadership and communication
skills, etc., were ill-equipped and misfits to work in public facilities.
○ The 12th Five Year Plan and the National Health Policy, 2017 have also strongly advocated establishing a public health
management cadre to improve the quality of health services by having dedicated, trained and exclusive personnel to run
public health facilities.
• 71st Round of NSSO has found that 85.9% of rural households and 82% of urban households have no access to healthcare
insurance/assurance.
Also, RSBY could only cover 12% of urban and 13% of rural population.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s has mandated that insurance companies are to make provisions to
cover mental illnesses in their policies along with physical illnesses.
According to the National Health Agency, the implementing authority for PMJAY, the average hospitalization was around 4,000 per
day after the scheme was rolled out on 23 September 2018. This could increase to as high as 100,000 per day once the scheme is
fully accessed by beneficiaries from underserved states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Merely 11% of the working population is under pension net. Only 20% citizens have life insurance. Only 4% citizens have accident
insurance.
• The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 - To provide for the registration and regulation of clinical
establishments with a view to prescribe minimum standards of facilities and services. The Act permits health authorities to conduct
inspections and penalize or cancel licenses of hospitals that are found to be fleecing patients, either by prescribing needless tests
and procedures, or overcharging.
NITI Aayog along with the Health ministry has started ranking district hospitals through ‘Health of our Hospitals’ index.
• India contributes to 21% of the global disease burden.
India is experiencing a rapid health transition with a rising burden of Non-Communicable Diseases surpassing the burden of
Communicable diseases like water-borne or vector-borne diseases, TB, HIV, etc. Therefore, the National Programme for Prevention
and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) was launched in 2010 in 100 districts across 21
States, in order to prevent and control the major NCDs. The main focus of the programme is on health promotion, early diagnosis,
management and referral of cases, besides strengthening the infrastructure and capacity building. Over 60% deaths in India are
now due to NCDs.
India accounts for 27% of the world’s tuberculosis burden - Nikshay which is an online tuberculosis reporting system for medical
practitioners and clinical establishments, with the aim to increase the reporting of tuberculosis, especially from the private sector -
around 3 lakh people in India die each year from this respiratory infection. India has 24% of the world’s drug-resistant TB burden -
the highest in the world.

the highest in the world.
Due to lack of focus in preventive oncology in India, over 70% of cancers are diagnosed in stages III or IV. The reverse is true in
developed countries.
Indian government has released a National Strategic Plan (NSP) for malaria elimination for years 2017-2022, targeting eradication
by 2030. India has sustained significant decline in malaria cases, halving numbers to 5.1 million in 2018 from 9.6 million the year
before.
The World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water, and diarrhoea alone causes
more than 1,600 deaths daily.
In 2017, there were 197·3 million people with mental disorders in India, comprising 14·3% of the total population of the country.
(One among every seven people in India had a mental disorder, ranging from mild to severe.)
India accounts for 60% of all new Leprosy cases reported annually, with over 1.3 lakh new cases in the year 2016-17, according to
the National Leprosy Eradication Programme. Leprosy was officially declared eliminated as a public health concern in India in 2005
when new cases fell to less than 1 per 10,000.
The total number of people living with HIV in India is estimated at 21.17 lakhs in 2015.
There is provision of free dialysis services to poor under Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme. However, the services
continue to reach only a fraction of such patients.
According to the OIE, 60% of existing human infectious diseases are zoonotic i.e. they are transmitted from animals to humans.
• The WHO has said that in the particular circumstances of the Ebola disease outbreak and provided certain conditions are met, it is
ethical to offer unproven interventions as potential treatment or prevention. WHO has stated ethical criteria must guide the
provision of such interventions. These include transparency about all aspects of care, informed consent, freedom of choice,
confidentiality, respect for the person, preservation of dignity and involvement of the community, according to a statement.
• As many as 39 crimes against women were reported every hour in India, up from 21 in 2007, according to Crime in India 2016
report by NCRB. The NCRB, 2015 reports less than 22% conviction rate in cases involving crimes against women in India.
As per latest data released by NCRB, in almost 95 out of every 100 cases of rape registered last year, the culprits were known to
their victims.
One in every six male and one in every four female children under 18 years fall victim to sexual abuse. Close relatives are the main
culprits in 89% of the cases. Parents/family members are unaware of the incident in 70% of the cases.
Almost 44% of all victims are in the age group of 18-30 years.
One in every 100 victims was under six years of age. - WTF
There are approximately 70,000 children who are reported missing every year.
Rate of crimes against women in India stands at 53.9%. The proportion of IPC crimes committed against women with respect to
total IPC crimes has increased during the last 5 years from 9.4 percent in 2011 to 10.7 percent during 2015.
Every third women, since the age of 15, has faced domestic violence of various forms in the country, reported the NHFS-4. In India
intimate partner violence is the highest at 37.7% in the WHO South-East Asia region.
Proposal of Justice Verma Committee was accepted to treat juvenile between 16-18 years age as an adult for committing heinous
crimes. Recently, the government has brought amendments in POCSO act 2012 in which rape of girl child below 12 years will be
punished by death penalty.
Justice Verma committee had decided against recommending the death penalty for rape. The 262nd Law Commission Report has
recommended universal abolition of the death penalty, except in terror cases. The Supreme Court has ruled in Bachchan Singh case
that death penalty should be awarded in the “rarest of the rare”.
India ratified Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.

India ratified Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993.
• Section 304 B of the IPC deals with dowry death related cases. A person convicted under this section can be punished with
imprisonment of 7 years to life term.
NCRB 2016 - Among all registered cases of serious crimes against women, the largest share 36% of all cases was under "cruelty by
husband and relatives".
While charge sheets were filed in 96% of the cases regarding dowry only 14.4% resulted in convictions.
• PAM RAJPUT COMMITTEE ON IMPROVING STATUS OF WOMEN:

○ It wants the AFSPA to be repealed, gay sex decriminalized, and at least 50% reservation for women at all levels of legislature,
right up to the Parliament.
○ To deal with violence against women, the committee called for several legislative interventions.
○ Calling for 50 % reservation of seats for women in the local bodies, state legislative assemblies, Parliament, cabinet and all
decision-making bodies of the government, the committee noted: “Gender parity in governance and political participation is
a pre-requisite to the realization of gender equality.”
○ The committee called “India’s missing girls”, the problem of skewed sex ratio due to cultural preferences for sons, a “national
shame”. While proposing a gender score card for all those in public life, it also recommended that all elected
representatives — MPs, MLAs and members of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies — should be accountable
for the sex ratio in their respective constituency, inviting rewards and recognition for progress, and prosecution for
negligence, inaction, and complicity.
• The World Bank's latest ‘Women, Business and the Law’ report shows that countries whose laws discriminate against women and
do not promote gender equality suffer economically. The estimated income losses for South Asia is 19% whereas it is 10% in
Europe.
• Census 2011 - A total of 20.5% women were employed in the organized sector in 2011 with 18.1% working in the public sector and
24.3% in the private. The labour force participation rate for women across all age groups was 25.3 in rural sector and 15.5 in urban
sector compared with 55.3 and 56.3 for men in the rural and urban sector respectively.
India ranks 122 out of 162 on Gender Inequality Index 2018. 112 out of 153 on WEF Global Gender Gap Index 2019.
According to World Bank, India’s Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR), has fallen to a historic low of 23.3% in 2017-18.
The world average stood at 48.47% in 2018. The largest decline in employment was experienced in the primary sector. In contrast,
the services sector grew in employment by 6.6 million. The estimated loss of female jobs was between 1.1 to 1.8 million for
2017-18, over and above the usual job loss due to attrition related to maternity.
The New India @ 75 strategy document aims to achieve a female labour force participation of at least 30% by 2022.
2018 - 18 lakh women workforce in organized sector - announcement in the Budget 2018, that contribution by new women
recruits to EPFO be reduced from 12% to 8% to increase the take home pay.
According to Global Wage Report 2018-19, India has one of the highest Gender Pay Gap of 34%.
The literacy rate of women has risen from a mere 9% in 1951 to 65% in 2011.
National Family Health Survey 2015-16 state that 26.7% of rural women are underweight and 54.2% are anaemic.
Empowerment of adolescent girls through schemes like SABLA which promote life skills training among girls.
According to the FAO, women's contribution to Indian agriculture is about 32%, while in some states (such as Hill states, North-
eastern states, and Kerala) contribution of women to agriculture and rural economy is more than men.
A research by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research shows that the participation of women is 75% in the production of major
crops, 79% in horticulture, 51% in post-harvest work and 95% in animal husbandry and fisheries.
The chance of propertied women being physically abused is reduced from 49% to 7% due to an increase in the women’s bargaining
power.
MAKAAM, or Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch is a nationwide informal forum of more than 120 individuals and organizations of

MAKAAM, or Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch is a nationwide informal forum of more than 120 individuals and organizations of
farming women, of women farmers' collectives, civil society organizations, researchers and activists, drawn from 24 states of India,
to secure due recognition and rights of women farmers in India.
According to Census 2011, out of total female main workers, 55% were agricultural labourers and 24% were cultivators. However,
there is a gender disparity in ownership of landholding in agriculture (only 12.8% owned by women) along with concentration of
operational holdings (25.7%) by women in the marginal and small holdings categories.
Women make up about 33% of cultivators and about 47% of agricultural labourers in rural India. Overall, the percentage of rural
women who depend on agriculture for their livelihood is as high as 84%.
October 15 is celebrated as National Women’s Farmer’s Day.
In 2014, according to the NCRB, of 8,007 farmer suicides, 441 were women. Also 577 women labourers committed suicide that
year.
According to Oxfam India, women are responsible for about 60-80% of food and 90% of dairy production, respectively. But the
work by women farmers, in crop cultivation, livestock management or at home, often goes unnoticed.
As per the World Bank, India ranks 120 among 131 countries in female labor force participation rates and rates of gender-based
violence remain unacceptably high. At 17% of GDP, the economic contribution of Indian women is less than half the global average
of 37%, and compares unfavorably to the 40% in China.
Women entrepreneurs account for about 78% of the total number of borrowers under MUDRA - 9.8 crore women have benefitted
from the scheme.
DAY-NRLM - Cumulatively, more than 5.63 crore women have been mobilized into more than 49.7 lakh SHGs. Cumulatively, Rs.1.96
lakh crore worth of bank credit has been leveraged by the SHGs during the last five years.
In 1999, Government of India, introduced Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarojgaar Yojana to promote self-employment in rural areas
through formation and skilling of SHGs. The programme evolved as a national movement in 2011 and became National Rural
Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). The programme was renamed in November 2015 as Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana. DAY-NRLM now
covers 100 million families through 8.5 million SHGs with savings deposit of approx. Rs. 161 billion.
SIDBI has been implementing two schemes for women entrepreneurs namely - Mahila Udyam Nidhi and Mahila Vikas Nidhi.
As of March 2014, women constituted about 28% of all savings accounts, with 33.69 crore accounts. Risen to about 40% by March
2017 due to PMJDY.
Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP).
NITI Aayog launched Women Entrepreneurship Platform.
Mahila E-Haat.
Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra - To provide an interface for rural women to approach the government for availing their
entitlements and for empowering them through training and capacity building.
In case of India on average 66% of women’s work is unpaid according to the WEF. The value of unpaid domestic and care work
done by women is estimated to be 13% of the global GDP.
Estimates from the IMF suggest that India’s GDP could expand 27% if the number of female workers increases to the same level as
that of men.
India could boost its growth by 1.5 percentage points to 9% per year if around 50% of women could join the work force.
According to World Bank estimates, India’s economic growth can rise by a full percentage point if it even manages to raise its
female LFPR to the level of Bangladesh.
• According to a 2015 FICCI study, 36% of Indian companies and 25% of multinational companies had not yet constituted their
Internal Complaints Committee (ICCs) which is mandatory under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,

Internal Complaints Committee (ICCs) which is mandatory under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act. 70% of the women do not report sexual harassment by superiors due to the fear of repercussions.
Justice Verma committee termed the Sexual Harassment Bill unsatisfactory and said it did not reflect the spirit of the Vishakha
guidelines framed by the Supreme Court in 1997 to curb sexual harassment at the workplace. The report noted that an internal
complaints committee as laid down under the then proposed law would be counter-productive as dealing with such complaints in-
house could discourage women from filing complaints. The committee proposed forming an employment tribunal to receive and
adjudicate all complaints.
Act does not cover women in the armed forces and excludes women agricultural workers and all men.
Report by BSE reveals that there is a 12% increase in reporting of sexual offences at workplace after #MeToo.
Laws under the IPC:

○ Section 354 (A): A man committing any physical contact, advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures; or
demanding or requesting sexual favours; or showing pornography against the will of a woman; or making sexually coloured
remarks, shall be guilty of the offence of sexual harassment. (Punishment: Rigorous imprisonment for a term which may
extend to three years)
○ Section 209: Obscene acts in any public place, singing obscene songs to the annoyance of others (Punishment: Imprisonment
for a term of up to 3 months or fine, or both).
○ Section 509: Uttering any word or making any gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman. (You cannot call her
“mast”.) Punishment: Imprisonment for 1 year, or fine, or both.)
The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1987 - If an individual harasses another with books, photographs,
paintings, films, pamphlets, packages, etc. containing ‘indecent representation of women’; they are liable for a minimum sentence
of two years.
Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act 2000 lay down a punishment of three to five years for circulating obscene material and five to
seven years for circulating sexually explicit material, respectively.
1972 Mathura rape case.
• Census 2011 - Alarming 30.2% of all married women (10.3 crore girls) were married before they had turned 18. Child marriage is a
non-cognizable and non-bailable offence.
According to Census 2011, the nine-year period to 2011 saw 15.3 million (approximately 20% of all females) girls being married
before they reached the age of 18 years.
The court read down Exception to Section 375 of the IPC, which allowed the husband of a girl child — between 15 and 18 years of
age — blanket liberty to have non-consensual sexual intercourse with her. It creates an artificial distinction between a married girl
child and an unmarried girl child. The exception had remained an anomaly because Section 375 itself mandated that sex with a girl
below 18 years of age, with or without her consent, was statutory rape. The court, however, clarified that Section 198(6) of the
CrPC will apply to cases of rape of wives below 18 years, and cognizance can be taken only in accordance with this provision. It is
also clarified that nothing said in this judgment shall be taken to be an observation one way or the other with regard to the issue of
“marital rape”.
• Sterilization constitutes 75% of India’s total contraceptive use, which is the highest anywhere in the world.
Of the total sterilizations performed in 2012-13, as many as 97.4% were tubectomy procedures.
An analysis by a non-governmental organization suggests that in 2013-14, India spent 85% of its family planning expenditure on
sterilization, the beneficiaries of which were mostly women.
According to NFHS-4 data, the unmet need of contraceptives is 12.9% and this contributes to undesired fertility.
Currently only 56% of married women use some method of family planning in India. A majority of them (37%) have adopted
permanent methods like sterilization.
• The latest NFHS 2015-16 report shows that the use of Sanitary Napkins among Indian women is 48.5% in rural, 77.5% in urban and
57.6% total. Not 12% as claimed by Bollywood.

• Overall drop in child sex ratio: for the age group of 0-6 years has declined to 919 girls in 2011 against 927 per thousand boys in
2001.
There are only 586 convictions out of 4202 cases registered even after 24 years of existence of the PCPNDT act, though half a
billion medical crimes have possibly been committed.
Son meta preference = 21 million unwanted girls (for the age group of 0-25 years) - Economic Survey 2017-18.
As per a United Nations Report, more than 4.6 lakh girls went missing at birth on an average annually during the period 2001-12.
The stock of missing women as of 2014 was nearly 63 million and more than 2 million women go missing across age groups every
year (either due to sex selective abortion, disease, neglect, or inadequate nutrition).
There are around 100 million missing women around the world, 40 million of which are in India alone.
Good - Effective implementation of the Act has been identified as one the prominent reasons in increasing sex ratio in Rajasthan
where it has increased from 888 in 2011 census to 950 in 2017-18.
• According to the 2011 census, out of 24.88 crore households, 12.97 crore or 52.1% were nuclear households.
In India, 46.7% of families are couples living with their children, over 31% live in extended families while single person families
account for 12.5%.
4.5% of all Indian households are run by single mothers.
The poverty rate of lone mother households in India is 38% in comparison to 22.6% for dual-parent households.
• Indian Airforce and Indian Navy in 2015 and Indian Army in 2017 allowed women in combat roles. Delhi High court has paved way
for induction of women into Territorial Army units by quashing Centre’s notification barring the same. As per government data, the
Army has 3.80% of its workforce as women, the Air Force has 13.09% and the Navy 6%.
• As per the Election Commission of India, 49% of the Indian electorate consists of women. Yet, only 14% of the 17th Lok Sabha
members are women MPs, the highest since Independence.
The percentage of women in the Lok Sabha has gone up by only a small margin from 4.4% in 1951 to 11% in 2014 - way below the
global average of 23.4%, and at this pace, it will take another 180 years to reach the gender balance. The situation is worse at the
state level, where the average representation ratio of women is around 7%. According to the 73rd and 74th Amendment Act of the
Constitution, passed in 1993, one third of the seats in all rural and urban local bodies are reserved for women. However, 16 states
have laws in place that reserved half their seats in rural local bodies for women.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008 was introduced in Rajya Sabha with an aim to reserve 33% seats
in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. However, bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
Joint Parliamentary Committee (1996) chaired by Geeta Mukherjee had recommended women reservation for a period of 15 years
and also reserving seats in Rajya Sabha and Legislative Councils.
Parliamentary Standing Committee (2008) recommended that every political party must distribute 20% of its tickets to women.
Also had suggested to create dual member constituencies, with women filling one of the two seats from those constituencies.
BJD, TMC fielded 33% female candidates in the 2019 LS elections.
• As per report of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, South Asia reported more than 1.5 lakh victims of human trafficking each year.
An estimated 6 to 8 lakh women and children are trafficked each year globally excluding those trafficked within their own countries
or missing children.
• 2011 Census says 2.21% or 2.68 crore people are disabled in India.
India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

India has become the first country in the world to ratify the Marrakesh Convention that codifies exemptions to copyrights to
benefit blind and vision-impaired readers. India has 63 million visually impaired people, of whom about 8 million are blind.
45% of all PWDs in India are illiterate. At the national level, only 2% of the PWDs were enrolled in any vocational course.
Kerala became first state to conduct a census of its own called Kerala Disability Census for 2014-15. National Census relies on self-
reporting of disability and hence number may be higher.
Accessible India Campaign - targets three separate verticals for achieving universal accessibility namely the built up environment,
transportation eco-system and information and communication eco-system.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 in line with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities and aims at encouraging establishments to have a disabled friendly workplace.
• According to data available, India has 4,90,000 transgenders but activists who have been fighting for their rights maintain that
many are still reluctant to declare themselves as the third gender because of the stigma attached. A survey by NGO Salvation of
Oppressed Eunuchs puts their number at 19 lakh.
The affirmative action provided for transgenders under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is aimed at pushing up their literacy levels,
which is around 44% as opposed to the national average of 74% as recorded in the 2011 Census.
They represent less than 1% of total workforce.
Kerala has become the first state to have a policy for transgenders. TN, Maharashtra, WB, CG, Karnataka have Transgender Welfare
Boards. Government of Odisha conferred the Below Poverty Line status to transgenders in Odisha.
Transgender activist Gauri Sawant was appointed as one of the goodwill ambassadors of the Election Commission in Maharashtra.
Kinnar Akhara in Kumbh Mela at Allahabad.
Yogyakarta principles - adopt a model of gender recognition that does not rely on a diagnosis by medical professionals.
• India already has a strong outflow of migrants of which two-thirds migrate to the Gulf countries, 13% migrate to North America
while Asian countries, other than Persian Gulf, absorb about 10%. In contrast, fast-ageing Europe attracts less than 3% of migrants
but offers excellent opportunities for high and medium-skilled labour, especially in Italy, Germany, Poland and France. These
opportunities need to be availed of the near future by appropriate manpower planning.
The 2001 Census pegs the total number of internal migrants in the country, including those who have moved within and across
States, at a staggering 139 million out of which 33 million or 8% of India workforce belong to migrant workers. However, recent
studies place the share of migrants in the workforce to lie between 17% and 29%, much greater than 8.1% indicated by census
2001.
Domestic remittance industry is huge and is expected to exceed rupees 1.5 lakh crores.
The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act (1979) is weak.
• There are more than 11 crore people in India who are above the age of 60 years. 8.6% of population in Census 2011. Will reach
16% by 2041.
Nearly 90% of them are associated with the unorganized sector and are not included in any sustainable social security programme.
While some three crore elderly people who are under the ‘below poverty line’ category get about Rs. 500 as old age pension, the
remaining eight crore have to fend for themselves.
65% of the elderly in India are dependent on others for their financial requirements and undergo financial crisis.
In contrast to many countries in Europe where age-related expenditure on health and care is 8-10% of GDP, it is less than 1% in
India.
India spends only 0.032% of GDP towards pension, which covers only 25% population. By contrast, Thailand spends 0.324% of GDP
towards pension, covering 94%.

towards pension, covering 94%.
India’s social security shortfall will increase from $3 trillion in 2015 to $85 trillion in 2050, which needs to be addressed.
India’s old age dependency ratio increased from 10.9% in 2001 to 14.2% in 2011.
The proportion of literates among elderly increased from 27% in 1991 to 47% in 2011.
Though India is likely to see its 60-plus population swell from 80 million to nearly 200 million by 2030, nearly 90% of these people
are not covered by any formal pension scheme.
By 2050, 20% of the Indian population would be above 60.
National Policy on Older Persons 1999: It envisages State support to ensure financial and food security, health care, shelter and
other needs of older persons, equitable share in development, protection against abuse and exploitation, and availability of
services to improve the quality of their lives. Several schemes launched within it are Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal
Pension Yojana, Health Insurance for Senior Citizens, Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana 2017, Scheme for providing Aids and Assisted
Living Devices to Senior Citizens below Poverty Line, Senior Citizens Welfare Fund, etc.
India is a signatory to The Madrid Plan of Action and the United Nations Principles for Senior Citizens adopted by the UN General
Assembly in 2002.
Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.
The National Policy on Senior Citizen, 2011, focused on various aspects related to old age like income security, healthcare, safety,
housing, productive aging, welfare, multigenerational bonding, etc. It also established a National Council for Senior Citizens, to
suggest required policy changes for the elderly.
India is a signatory of South Asia Partnership on Ageing - The Kathmandu Declaration 2016 which focuses on the special needs of
the elderly population in the region.
• Tribals - Levels of illiteracy are high, with 47% in rural areas and 21.8% in urban areas being unable to read and write. According to
census 2011 literacy rate for STs is 59% compared to national average of 73%. Literacy level among ST men is at 68.5% but for
women it is still below 50%.
In India 52% of the STs belong to the category of BPL and 54% of them have no access to economic assets such as communication
and transport (World Bank, 2011).
Life expectancy of tribals is 63.9 compared to national average of 67 years.
Sex ratio among tribals is 990/1000 as compared to national average of 933/1000.
Tribals derive 20-40% of their annual income from MFP. Around 100 million forest dwellers depend on MFPs for food, shelter,
medicines and cash income.
The literacy drives in tribal areas and based on Salunkhe Committee report an overhaul of children’s health in tribal ashrams to be
undertaken.
• Compared to a 45% conviction rate for all cases under the Indian Penal Code, no more than 28% of crimes against SCs and STs end
in conviction, according to the data from the NCRB.
NCRB data states that 75% of cases under the Atrocities Act have resulted in acquittal or withdrawal.
Countrywide, 43,203 cases of atrocities against Dalits (including IPC and SC/ST Act cases) were reported in 2017.
Investigation of an offence committed under the SC/ST Act cannot be done by an officer below the rank of Deputy Superintendent
of Police.
Supreme Court of India in Subhash Mahajan vs State of Maharashtra vis a vis PoA Act said that there is no absolute bar against
grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the Atrocities Act if no prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny, the
complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide. The Court in Vilas Pandurang Pawar and Shakuntala Devi cases also held that the

complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide. The Court in Vilas Pandurang Pawar and Shakuntala Devi cases also held that the
bar against anticipatory bail was not absolute especially when no case is made out or allegations are patently false or motivated as
freedom from arbitrary arrest is one of the fundamental facets of the rule of law.
In August 2018, amendment restored the bar against anticipatory bail and nullifying the apex court verdict. A new section 18A was
inserted in the Act of 1989, which does away with the court-imposed requirements of undertaking preliminary inquiry and of
procuring approval prior to making an arrest. It also asserted that in cases under the Atrocities Act, no procedure other than that
specified under the Act and Cr. P. C. shall apply.
• The Global Slavery Index, 2018 estimates that on any given day in 2016 there were nearly 8 million people living in modern slavery
in India. This was strongly contested by the government on the grounds that its parameters were poorly defined and too wide-
ranging.
There has been no government-led nationwide survey on Bonded Labour System since 1978, despite each district having been
given money for such surveys. Instead, the government relies on rescue and rehabilitation numbers.
NCRB data show that not all cases are reported by the police. Between 2014 and 2016, they recorded just 1,338 victims, with 290
police cases filed — a stark difference from 5,676 rescues reported by six states in this period.
• SECC 2011 data shows that there are nearly 1.82 lakh households in rural India, who are dependent on manual scavenging for
income. According to the data from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment the number of manual scavengers stands at
770,338 with highest in Maharashtra. There are about 2.6 million insanitary latrines (dry toilets) that require manual cleaning,
according to Safai Karmachari Andolan.
According to Census 2011, there are 740,078 households across the country where human excreta is removed by a person from a
dry latrine.
Manual scavenging was banned 25 years ago with the passing of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry
Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. Also Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
According to National Commission for Safai Karamcharis since January 1, 2017, one person has died every five days, on an average,
while cleaning sewers and septic tanks across the country.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is responsible for rehabilitation of manual scavengers and it implements the ‘Self
Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers’ (SRMS).
• The IHDS shows that among children aged 8-11, 68% of the forward caste children can read at Class 1 level while the proportion is
far lower for OBCs (56%), SCs (45%) and STs (40%).
• HRD ministry constituted one-man commission under Ashok Kumar Roopanwal to look into the case of untouchability in
educational institutions and suggest measures to prevent such.
Thorat Committee findings on discrimination:

○ The Thorat Committee report served as a milestone in efforts to identify caste-based discrimination in higher educational
institutes.
○ It revealed that about 69% of the SC/ST students reported that they did not receive adequate support from teachers and
about half of them cited inaccessibility and indifference as reasons for less contact with teachers.
○ About one-third gave caste background as reason for avoidance by the teachers, and 72% of SC/ST students mentioned some
kind of discrimination during teaching sessions.
○ About 76% of students mentioned that their papers were not examined properly and 88% mentioned that they got fewer
marks than they expected.
○ About 84% of these students mentioned that evaluation in practical and viva was unfair and 85% of them mentioned that the
SC students didn’t receive enough time with the examiners, as compared to higher caste students.
○ Besides, a large chunk of SC/ST students experienced social isolation and discrimination during their stay in the hostels at
AIIMS.
○ The report also delineated the discrimination felt by SC/ST faculty members employed at AIIMS, Delhi.
• Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy in his 1985 judgment - efficiency cannot be used as a camouflage to let the upper classes take
advantage of the backward classes in its name and to monopolize the services, particularly the higher posts and the professional
institutions.

Jat Reservation - The Supreme Court ruled that “caste” and “historical injustice” cannot blind a state in according backward status
to a community and that new emerging groups such as transgenders must be identified for quota benefits.
The union cabinet has approved setting up of a commission under Article 340 to examine whether sub quotas need to be created
within central list of OBC reservation - headed by Justice Rohini Kumar.
The Supreme Court in its order in Indra Sawhney case observed that there is no Constitutional or legal bar to a State categorizing
backward classes.
• The Sachar Committee, the Ranganath Misra Commission and the Mehmood-ur-Rehman Study Group have accepted that Muslims
are educationally and socially backward, and special measures are needed to bring them into the mainstream of secular education.
• There was a shortage of 18.78 million housing units in 2012. Over 95% of this shortage was for low-income households that earn
less than Rs. 2 lakh as total household income per year. Taking the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation’s own
formula — that a household can afford a house five times its annual income — this means ‘Housing for All’ needs to make nearly
17 million houses, all under Rs.10 lakh.
The estimate of housing shortage in urban areas has been revised downwards to about 10 million units (MoHUA, 2017).
• The Boston Consulting Group’s 15th annual report, “Winning the Growth Game: Global Wealth 2015” - Of the world’s poorest 20%
people, nearly 25% are Indians. China’s share is a mere 3%. The richest 1% of Indians today own 49% of India’s personal wealth,
and the top 10% Indians own 74% of the country’s personal wealth.
• Presently in India, BPL is determined according to Suresh Tendulkar committee. It is based on a poverty line basket which includes
both food items (determined using calorific norms) and non-food items (clothing, education, rent, etc.). As per this committee
poverty line stood at Rs. 27 and Rs. 33 for rural and urban area with total poor population estimated at 27 crore (22% of
population).
• In India, food grain yields have risen 33% over the last two decades, however, consumer’s access to rice, wheat and other cereals
has not increased at the same rate, due to population growth, inequality, food wastage and losses, and exports.
India ranked at 102 out of 117 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2019. India ranks 129 among 189 countries in Human
Development Index 2019 released by UNDP.
40% of all fruits and vegetables, 20% of all food grains produced rot due to inefficient supply chains.
SDG 12.3 has recognized food wastage and goal has been set to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer
levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.
BPL households spend 70% of their income on food. APL households spend 50% of their income on food. Urban working class
spends 30% of their income on food.
An international study found that the poor in developing countries had enough money to increase their food spending by as much
as 30% but that this money was spent on alcohol, tobacco and festivals instead.
○ 15% of the Indian population is undernourished - the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2018.
○ 1 in four children in India are malnourished.
○ 190 million people in India go hungry daily.
○ 3000 children in India die daily from poor diet related illness.
○ 24% of deaths of children aged below five globally is in India.
○ 30% of the global neo-natal deaths is in India.
Akshaya Patra feeds 326.5 million meals (in FY18) through 37 kitchens and the plan is to raise this threefold by 2025. There are
mobile kitchens to feed 5,000-7,000 people every day during the Kumbh Mela, the NTR canteens in Andhra Pradesh feed 60,000
people at just Rs. 5 per meal. The Robin Hood Army is a voluntary organization that aims to provide surplus food from restaurants
to the less fortunate across the cities of India.
• According to National family health survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4):

○ 38.4% of children under the age of five are stunted (low height for age - need to reduce to 21% by 2030), 35.7% are
underweight (low weight for age) and 21% are wasted (low weight for height).

underweight (low weight for age) and 21% are wasted (low weight for height).
○ 58% of children in India are stunted before they are 2 year-olds.
○ 8% acutely malnourished.
○ 9.5% overweight and 3% obese. India has 14.4 million children with excess weight.
Close to 1.3 million children die every year in India because of malnutrition, according to the WHO.
Of the 27 million babies born in India annually, approximately 13% (3.5 million) are born preterm and 28% (7.6 million) with low
birth weight.
Institutional deliveries have increased from 38.7% in 2005-06 to 78.9% in 2015-16.
Infant Mortality Rate (age below 1 year) has declined from 57 in 2005-06 to 34 in 2016-17.
India’s neonatal mortality rate (2016) is 24/1000. SDG target for neonatal mortality of 12 by 2030.
India’s current under-five mortality rate is 39/1000 (2016) as per Sample Registration System, 2016. SDG target of 25 by 2030. The
under-five mortality rate for girls was 11% higher at 41 per 1,000 as against 37 per 1,000 for boys.
Maternal Mortality Ratio of India has declined to 122 per lakh live births in 2015-17.
Women in India gain only about 7 kilograms during pregnancy, which is substantially less than the 12.5-18 kgs gain that the WHO
recommends for underweight women.
The broad objectives of NHM by 2020:

○ Reduce MMR to 1/1000 live births.
○ Reduce IMR to 25/1000 live births.
○ Reduce Total Fertility Rate to 2.1.
○ Prevention and reduction of anaemia in women aged 15–49 years.
India Newborn Action Plan (2014) - attain Single Digit Neonatal Mortality and Stillbirth Rates by 2030.
India pays an income penalty of about 9% to 10% due to a workforce that was stunted during their childhood.
• As per the Census 2011, India has over ten million working children in the age group of 5-14. Kailash Satyarthi says 32 million
because he also counts those who work at home - 69% child labourers are girls, 80% child labourers are Dalit, Tribal, Backward
Caste and Muslim.
According to the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Children (India ratified it in 1992) – all children are born with
fundamental rights:
○ Right to Survival - to life, health, nutrition, name and nationality.
○ Right to Development - to education, care, leisure, recreation and cultural activities.
○ Right to Protection - from exploitation, abuse, trafficking and neglect.
○ Right to Participation - to expression, information, thought and religion.
Provisions of the National Child Action Plan of 2016:

○ On Child Survival, Health and Nutrition
✓ It will help in the improving child health by universalizing the maternal and child healthcare.
✓ It will also give emphasis on new born care by initiatives like universal immunization.
✓ It will prevent mental and physical disabilities through timely measures for pre-natal, peri-natal and post-natal care of
mother and child.
○ On Education and Development
✓ It will provide universal and equitable access to quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) for all children
below six years of age.
✓ It will promote affordable and accessible quality education up to the Secondary level for all children.
○ On Child Protection
✓ It will help strengthen legislative, administrative, and institutional redressal mechanisms for Child Protection at all
level.
○ On Child Participation
✓ It will ensure that children actively participate in planning and implementation of programmes concerning them.

• Public expenditure as a per cent of GDP for education increased from 2.8% in 2014-15 to 3% in 2018-19.
Rights of Children to Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 - The Act lays down the Pupil Teacher Ratio
○ Primary Level – 30:1
○ Upper Primary Level – 35:1
○ Secondary Level – 30:1 (According to Rashtriya Madhyamik Shisksha Abhiyan)
At present close to 8.5 lakh unqualified teachers hold jobs who would now be given a chance to attain the degrees according to the
amendment to Compulsory education Act. Around 20% of regular teachers and 40% of contract teachers did not have professional
qualifications for elementary education.
The shortage of teachers is a perennial problem with 9.08 lakh vacancies of teachers at elementary level in government schools as
on 31 March 2016.
Justice Verma Commission and Poonam Batra Committee was appointed to look into teacher education. Their recommendations
were based on creating new teacher education programmed in multi-disciplinary environments. Subramaniam Committee on New
Education Policy suggested fixing minimum eligibility of 50% marks at graduation level for entry into B. Ed courses and making
Teacher Entrance Tests compulsory.
Economist Eric Hanushek finds that a child taught by a good teacher gains 1.5 grade-level equivalents, while a child taught by a bad
teacher only gets half an academic year’s worth.
A study by the National Institute of Education Planning and Administration revealed that teachers spend only around 19% of their
time teaching while the rest is spent mostly on non-teaching administrative work.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) launched the National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic
Advancements (NISHTHA) recently, which is aimed at training over 42 lakh teachers across the country.
The ministry of human resource development and the National Council for Teacher Education in collaboration with non-
government stakeholders launched the National Teacher Platform or Diksha in 2017. Diksha is envisioned as a one-stop solution to
address teacher competency gaps through courses that address their skill gaps and by empowering them to “learn what they want,
where they want”.
• The ASER 2018 has been published by education non-profit organization Pratham. The latest report collected data from 596
districts by surveying 546,527 students from 354,944 homes.
○ Poor reading skills: Indian students, especially those in elementary school (Classes I-VIII), are not learning enough. Only half
(50.3%) of all students in Class V can read texts meant for Class II students.
○ There seems to have been some improvement in learning levels, especially among students of Class III and Class V, in 2018
compared with those of the previous five years. However, the improvement is not visible at a higher level, for example
among students of Class VIII.
○ Poor Arithmetic skills: While 40% of Class VIII students in government schools can do simple division, the figure is 54.2% in
private schools.
○ While 30.9% of students in the 6-14 age group were in private schools in 2018, the figure was 30.6% in 2016 and 30.8% in
2014. This is less than a percentage point growth since 2014.
In 2017, the World Bank said Indians born today are likely to be just 44% productive as workers, way below their Asian peers.
Need to increase the public spending on education to 6% of GDP as recommended by many committees like the recent TSR
Subramaniam committee.
• As per Section 16 of RTE Act, the students up to class VIII are automatically promoted to the next class without being held back
even if they do not get a passing grade. This has been implemented as part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)
under the RTE Act to ensure all-round development of students. In recent years, two expert committees - Geeta Bhukkal (2014)
and TSR Subramanian (2016) reviewed the no-detention provision in the RTE Act and recommended it be removed or be
discontinued in a phased manner.
Private schools account for only about 30% children.
According to the 2011 Census, the number of out-of-school children in the 5-17 age group was 8.4 crore (4.2 crore in 5-14 age).

According to the 2011 Census, the number of out-of-school children in the 5-17 age group was 8.4 crore (4.2 crore in 5-14 age).
2018 - Access to elementary (classes I-VIII) schooling is almost universal and the number of children out of schools is below 4%.
The mid-day meal scheme directly feeds approximately 120 million school children every day.
The number of secondary schools is less than 150,000 for a country of 1.3 billion, and even this comes down to just 100,000 at the
higher secondary level. While there are around five million primary school teachers, at the secondary level the number is just 1.5
million.
RTE Act provided for the availability of a school at a distance of 1 km from the residence of the child at the primary level and 3 km
at the upper primary level. But this is hardly the reality.
Location-specific mergers - as of 2015-16, at least 187,006 primary schools (Class I-V) and 62,988 upper primary (Class VI-VIII)
schools were running with fewer than 30 students. Besides, 7,166 schools had zero enrolment. Further, some 87,000 schools have
a single teacher.
Samagra Shiksha - A comprehensive programme subsuming Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and
Teacher Education.
• Globally average spending on education is 4.9% of GDP while in the case of India it is just 3.4%.
Private institutions account for almost two-thirds of the higher education in India.
40% of faculty positions lie vacant in Central Universities.
The Centre has targeted to achieve a 30% gross enrolment ratio in higher education by 2020. Current higher education GER - males
(26.3%), females (25.4%), SC (21.8%) and ST (15.9%).
If one in every three eligible students who have completed high school actually wants to join college in three years from now, we
need to create 40 million university seats.
The college density (number of colleges per lakh eligible population) varies from 7 in Bihar to 59 in Telangana as compared to All
India average of 28.
Spectacular growth in private sector education — the education sector had gross revenues of ₹7,80,000 crore as of 2017 and is
growing at a clip of 20% per year.
India opened 100% FDI in the education sector (automatic route) in 2002.
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is flagship programme of Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) that aims to enrich Rural India -
The scheme aims to link higher education institutions with set of at least five villages, so that they can contribute to economic and
social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base.
The best-ranked universities of the world have, on an average, a student population of 18,000 per university. In comparison, the
best-ranked Indian universities are operating at a much smaller scale, averaging at around 11,000 students per institution. The
best-ranked universities in the world have a large pool of highly qualified, talented and committed faculty such that on an average
each university has over 1,800 regularly appointed full-time faculty. In contrast, the number of full-time faculty even in the best-
ranked universities of India averages at around 600. The best universities of the world, on an average, spend over $1,68,000 per
student, per year. In sharp contrast, the average spending per student by the best-ranked higher educational institutions in India is
just above $7,000. Even in terms of purchasing power parity, the best of our universities spend no more than PPP $28,000 per
student, per year.
The government has recently launched the Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP) to improve the
quality and accessibility of higher education.
• New Delhi Declaration on Education - adopted by BRICS nation to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote
life-long learning opportunities for all. In this context various steps were mooted:
○ Develop an enabling framework to promote research cooperation and knowledge transfer.
○ Facilitate mobility of students and scholars, and encourage exchange of teaching faculty.
Identify a nodal institution within each country and create an institutional network to share ICT policies, Open Educational

○ Identify a nodal institution within each country and create an institutional network to share ICT policies, Open Educational
Resources, e-Libraries.
○ Use of ICTs for improving access to education, enhancing the quality of teaching-learning process, teacher development, and
strengthening educational planning and management.
○ Expand technical and vocational education and skills development programmes.
○ Initiate actions to formulate country-specific targets within the broader scope of the SDG4 and corresponding targets.
• INCHEON DECLARATION on education:

○ The Declaration will be implemented through Education 2030 Framework For Action. The 2030 FFA will form Goal 4 of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will succeed the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
and Education for All goals expiring at the end of 2015.
○ The Incheon Declaration re-affirms that education is a fundamental human right and public good that is crucial to promoting
social, economic and environmental justice.
○ The Declaration affirms that the responsibility for implementing the right to education agenda lies with the State.
○ The Declaration also calls for a commitment to twelve years of free, public funded formal quality education for all by 2030,
nine years of which should be compulsory.
○ Other key commitments on the right to education include:
✓ Ensuring access and equity issues are addressed, with a special emphasis of the importance of gender equality in
achieving the right to education;
✓ Improving learning outcomes and guaranteeing quality education, including by ensuring that teachers are well -trained
and supported; and
✓ Confirming that national governments should adhere to international spending benchmarks on education (4 -6% of GDP
and 15-20% of total public expenditure).
• An assessment in 2016 found only 18% of engineers to be employable in the software services sector in a functional role.
Recognition of Prior Learning - The project may be of particular relevance to India as just 2% of the workforce is certified as skilled,
as against skilled workforce levels of 96% in South Korea, 80% in Japan, 75% in Germany and 70% in Britain. NSQF recognizes prior
learning, through which an estimated 20 million school dropouts can get a second chance.
Jan Shikshan Sansthan (formerly known as Shramik Vidyapeeth) have a challenging mandate of providing vocational skills to non-
literate, neo-literates as well as school drop-outs by identifying skills that have a market in the region of their establishment. The
JSSs are unique, they link literacy with vocational skills and provide large doses of Life Enrichment Education to the people. They
aim for convergence with other stakeholders in society. It is their endeavour to shape their beneficiaries into self-reliant and self-
assured employees and entrepreneurs.
Less than 30% of the workforce has completed secondary education, and less than a tenth has had any vocational training.
According to the NSSO, out of the 470 million people of working age in India, only 10% receive any kind of training or access to
skilled employment opportunities.
According to India Skill report 2018, employability in the country is at 47%.
Against 12.8 million new entrants to the country’s workforce every year, the capacity of skill development in India is only around
3.1 million.
The Sharada Prasad Committee, held the NSDC responsible for poor implementation of the Standard Training Assessment and
Reward (STAR) programme. It highlighted that only 8.5% of the persons trained were able to get employment.
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme under Ministry of Skill Development where Union Government will provide financial
incentives to the employers to engage apprentices and will directly share 25% of the total stipend payable to an apprentice with
employer.
The Ministry of Human Resources Development has launched the Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills
(SHREYAS) for providing industry apprenticeship opportunities to the general graduates exiting in April 2019 through the National
Apprenticeship Promotional Scheme. It aims to enhance the employability of Indian youth by providing ‘on the job work exposure’
and earning of stipend. It targets in all the tracks together, it is proposed to cover 50 lakh students by 2022.
• Since the inception of Skill India mission, there are many measures taken under it:
○ Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
○ Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission
Director General of Training – Modular Employable Skills

○ Director General of Training – Modular Employable Skills
○ Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
○ National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF)
○ National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
○ National Skill Development Agency
○ Aajeevika – National Rural Livelihoods Mission
○ Atal Innovation Mission
○ Startup India
• National Youth Policy(NYP) 2014:
• According to a study by the CII, the size of India’s surrogate motherhood industry was $2.3 billion a year - surrogate arrangements
depersonalize reproduction and create a separation of genetic, gestational, and social parenthood.
• Census data and studies show that bigamy continues to prevail among the Hindus despite the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 outlawing
it, and Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) declaring it a punishable offence. This is mainly due to the non-cognizable nature
of Section 494. It means that the police can take cognizance of the offence of bigamy only on a complaint by the victim i.e. the first
wife in this case. This doesn’t always happen due to social norms, pressure and lack of awareness.
• Social innovation = “new solutions to social challenges that have the intent and effect of equality, justice and empowerment”.
Examples of Social Innovation in India: Self-help groups, Co-operatives, Micro credit societies, Distance learning, community
courts - new ideas that work to meet pressing unmet needs and improve peoples’ lives.
• Mexico passed a sugary-drink tax in 2013, prompting a substantial drop in consumption. Hungary has imposed a tax on packaged
products with high sugars, salt or caffeine levels.
• Based on the 2011 census, more than 400,000 destitute people across the country are classified as beggars, vagrants.
Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 - It considers begging as a crime rather than a social issue. Anyone perceived as having
“no visible means of subsistence” and “wandering about” in public place can be branded a beggar and detained for a period of not
less than one year and up to 10 years for second time offenders.
The act of begging is a crime in 21 states and two union territories of India. It is treated as cognizable and non-bailable offense.
• The state of Sikkim recently announced that UBI will be implemented in state by 2022.
India doesn’t have the fiscal capacity to implement Universal Basic Income. Economic Survey calculations showed that a 75%
universality rate with an annual Universal Basic Income of Rs 7,620 per year at 2016-17 prices will cost about 5% of the GDP.
Economist Pranab Bardhan showed that an inflation-indexed Universal Basic Income of Rs 10,000 at 2014-15 prices—about three-
quarters of that year’s poverty line—will cost about 10% of the GDP.
• Around 182 million beneficiaries (15% of India's population) are provided social security by MGNREGA (under Ministry of Rural
Development). The Mid-day meal scheme, under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, reaches out to 105 million
beneficiaries which make it the biggest school feeding programme. The Janani Suraksha Yojana, under the National Rural Health
Mission, has around 78 million beneficiaries and is the top-most social security programme in terms of conditional cash transfers.
(Conditional cash transfers involve transfer of money only when the persons meet the certain criteria). Indira Gandhi National Old
Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), launched by the Ministry of Rural Development, is the second largest social security programme
in the world for unconditional cash transfer. Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

in the world for unconditional cash transfer.
• Manipur became the first state to pass a law against lynching.
Government has set up a high-level committee chaired by the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to make recommendations for
checking incidents of mob lynching across the country.
• The 2011 Census showed that if we considered household-level data, only 55.3% of rural homes used electricity as the primary
source for lighting.
• According to the 2011 Census data, around 49% of households still use firewood for cooking while only 29% use LPG or PNG for
cooking purposes.
Economic Survey 2018 had highlighted that only 79% of Ujjwala beneficiaries came to refill the cylinder, with average per capita
consumption being 3.28 cylinders.
The CRISIL report noted that 37% of households in rural areas procure traditional cooking fuel for free.
According to WHO estimates, about 5 lakh deaths in India alone due to unclean cooking fuels. According to experts, having an open
fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.
Gas Agencies should be set up within 10 km radius, especially in the rural and remote areas to increase accessibility.

Vision - Polity
Also to Read:
January 2015 - Page 18 - Shanta Kumar Recommendations; Page 21 - Xaxa Recommendations

June 2015 - Page 7 - Bibek Debroy Report on Railways
Mains 365 2016 - Page 38 - Regulatory Bodies
Mains 365 2016 Updated - Page 14 - Police Reforms
Mains 365 2017 - Page 32 - Public Accounts Committee
Mains 365 2017 Updated - Page 8 - Right to Privacy
Mains 365 2018 - Page 6 - Inter-State Council; Page 11 - 5th and 6th Schedule; Page 14 - Water Disputes; Page 19 - Fiscal Federalism;
Page 63 - Judicial Accountability + RTI; Page 69 - ADR; Page 92 - Fake News; Page 99 - Local Governance
Mains 365 2018 Updated - Page 6 - Benami Act; Page 8 - POCA; Page 9 - CCS Rules; Page 20 - FEOB
• CBI was set up by a resolution of Ministry of Home Affairs in 1963 after Santhanam committee recommendation. Superintendence
of CBI rests with CVC in corruption cases and with DoPT in other matters. Currently the CBI is not financially independent as
administrative and financial control wrests with Ministry of Personnel. It makes it prone to interference by the government. Since
CBI is police agency (as it acts as per procedures of CrPC) and police is a state subject, CBI needs to go through cumbersome
procedure to get the consent of State government in question before it can make its presence in that State.
In Vineet Narayan vs. Union of India (1998), the apex court laid down that the director, CBI shall be appointed on the
recommendation of a committee comprising the Central Vigilance Commissioner, vigilance commissioners, secretary (home) and
secretary (personnel), and that he shall have a minimum tenure of two years. Lokpal Act, 2013, modified the procedure for the
selection of director CBI. It prescribed that he shall be appointed on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Prime
Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Chief Justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court nominated by h im.
The need is to ensure that CBI operates under a formal, modern legal framework that has been written for a contemporary
investigative agency.
In 2013, the Supreme Court called it a “caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice”.
CBI is exempt from the provisions of the RTI Act of 2005.
P Singh committee has recommended the enactment of comprehensive central legislation for self-sufficient statutory charter of
duties and functions. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2007) also suggested that a new law should be enacted to
govern the working of the CBI. Parliamentary standing committee (2007) recommended that a separate act should be promulgated
in tune with requirement with time to ensure credibility and impartiality. The 19th and 24th reports of the parliamentary sta nding
committees (2007 and 2008) recommended that the need of the hour is to strengthen the CBI in terms of legal mandate,
infrastructure and resources.
WHAT IS SECTION 6A DSPE ACT? - It requires the CBI to seek government sanction before probing an officer of or above the rank of
joint secretary. Section 6A had been inserted into the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act in 2003 to make sure that the C entral
government’s permission was necessary to investigate senior officials.
• The Central Vigilance Commission was established on 1964 by a resolution of Government of India as an apex body for preventio n
of corruption in Central Government institutions. Later, in 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the
CVC.
The CVC consists of a Central Vigilance Commissioner (chairperson) and not more than two vigilance commissioners. They are
appointed by the president on the recommendation of a three-member committee consisting of the prime minister as its head, the
Union minister of home affairs and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
CVC is only an advisory body. Central Government Departments are free to either accept or reject CVC's advice in corruption c ases.
In the case of investigations submitted by Chief Vigilance Officers, almost half of them were closed without any action. It v itiates
the vigilance process and weakens the impartiality of vigilance administration.
Even though CVC has supervisory powers over CBI, it does not have the power to call for any file from CBI or to direct CBI to
investigate any case in a particular manner.

investigate any case in a particular manner.
• India is one of the 59 nations that retain the death penalty. Worldwide, 140 countries (out of 192 recognized by the UN) have
abolished the death penalty and over 20 other countries — though they retain it — have not executed capital sentences in last 10
years. Rome Treaty creating the International Criminal Court envisages life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. Law
Commission presented its 262nd Report, titled ‘The death penalty’ where it recommended abolition of the death penalty for all
crimes except terrorism-related offences and waging war against the state. The SC had ruled that “retribution has no Constitutional
value” (Shatrughan Chauhan case). The SC itself has come to doubt the implementation of “rarest of rare” test (Bachan Singh c ase)
due to rather high rate of death penalty. Fallibility of criminal justice system example - Ravji Rao case.
• The IPC 1860, the CrPC 1973, along with parts of the Indian Evidence Act 1872, constitute Indian criminal law. Criminal Justice
System refers to the agencies of government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime, and correcting criminal conduct.
Justice V.S. Malimath committee submitted its 158 recommendations in 2003 to suggest reforms in the existing criminal justice
system.
• There are specific and extensive provisions of judicial review in the Constitution of India such as Articles 13, 32, 131 -136, 143, 226,
227, 246 and 372. Though the term judicial review is not mentioned in these Articles, but it is implicit.
• Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code - declared unconstitutional by the SC
but still a part of both the official version of statutes published on India Code and commercially published copies - Under Art 142 of
the Constitution, it is the duty of the parliament to enforce the decrees of the Supreme Court by making a law and until such a
provision is made the President can issue orders to enforce the same.
• Parliamentary privileges are defined in Article 105 of the Indian Constitution and those of State legislatures in Article 194 .
Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah heading the Constitution Review Commission recommended to define and delimit the privileges for
the free and independent functioning of the legislature. This is based on the apprehension that codification will involve interference
of the court as the matters would be presented in the court of law.

Supreme Court in Keshav Singh’s case observed that the privileges conferred on the members are subject to the fundamental
rights. The Supreme Court has also held that any conflict arising between the privileges and the fundamental rights would be
resolved by adopting harmonious construction.
• As per an IB report, opposition to several development projects by NGOs including Green Peace will have a negative impact on
economic growth by 2-3%. Only about 10% of the over 30 lakh non-government organizations file their annual income and
expenditure statements with the authorities they are registered with.
At present, Home Ministry monitors foreign funds donated to NGOs and organizations through the FCRA. But for effective
monitoring it wants the Finance Ministry to surrender its powers to monitor NGOs under FEMA as many International donors such
as the Ford Foundation, the U.K.’s Department for International Development and Canada’s International Development Research
Centre are registered under FEMA. It is estimated that at least 10,000 FCRA licenses, needed to receive foreign funds, have been
revoked.
India has 1 NGO per 600 people, but only 1 cop per 943 people. Recently, Supreme Court voiced its concerns on the NGO becoming
a “proxy litigant” and a front for settling corporate rivalry or personal vendetta.
The global average ratio of police-population is 270 to 100,000, where it’s 136 in India and the vacancy rate stands at 25%.
NGOs that do not have Darpan Portal Registration Number, a facility offered by the NITI Aayog and National Informatics Centre for
government to list authentic bodies or FCRA registration number or have been blacklisted by any ministry or autonomous body
such as NABARD, NCW, etc. have been blacklisted by MoWCD.
National Policy on Voluntary Sector, 2007. It aims:

○ To create an enabling environment for VOs that stimulates their enterprise and effectiveness, and safeguards their
autonomy.
○ To enable VOs to legitimately mobilize necessary financial resources from India and abroad.
○ To identify systems by which the Government may work together with VOs, on the basis of the principles of mutual trust and
respect, and with shared responsibility.
○ To encourage VOs to adopt transparent and accountable systems of governance and management.
• Justice A P Shah - to unclog the judiciary, traffic and police fines — which the law commission found make up over a third of the
lower judiciary’s cases — need to be removed from the court system.
The country has a judicial strength of a mere 18,000, as against the requirement of about 50,000 judges. At present, 434 vaca ncies
of High Court judges remained unfilled. The subordinate judiciary has 5,133 vacancies across the country. Vacancy rates are 3 7% for

of High Court judges remained unfilled. The subordinate judiciary has 5,133 vacancies across the country. Vacancy rates are 3 7% for
high courts. As per economic survey, as of December, 2018, subordinate courts are working at 79% their sanctioned strength.
As per the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), in 2018, 2.93 crore cases are pending in the subordinate courts, 49 lakhs case s in High
Courts and 57,987 cases in Supreme Court respectively.
Economic Survey 2018-19 highlights that the backlog in lower courts can be cleared in five years at full sanctioned strength with an
efficiency gain of 24.5% and further 8,152 judges are needed, in subordinate courts.
1/3rd HC judges come by promotion from subordinate courts - AIJS to improve their quality (After the Swaran Singh Committee’s
recommendations in 1976, Article 312 was modified to include the judicial services).
India has only 20 judges for every million people, while in the US the judge-to-population ratio is 107 judges. Law Commission in
1987, had recommended that India should raise the number of judges to 50 for every million population.
A recent document by the Ministry of Law and Justice, state that the government, including PSUs and other autonomous bodies,
are party to around “46%” of the 3.14 crore court cases pending in various courts in the country, making it the biggest litigant in the
country. Suggestion - seeking to reduce the number of cases in which it is a party, the government may not approach the Supreme
Court against high court orders where the financial implication is less than Rs 50 lakh.
Tax departments must limit their appeals, given that their success rate is less than 30% at all three levels of judiciary (Appellate
Tribunals, High Courts, and Supreme Courts).
Unusable money - The indirect and direct tax stuck in litigation by the quarter ending March, 2017, amounted to nearly ₹58 lakh
crore, over 4.7% of GDP - Economic Survey 2017-18 pitched for separate ITAT benches at various high courts to reduce pendency.
Nearly two-thirds of all pending cases in Indian courts are related to property disputes. NITI Aayog has said that such property cases
take an average of 20 years to settle. As per McKinsey over 90% of the land records in the country are unclear. Land market
distortions and unclear land titles cost the country 1.30% of GDP per year.
EODB 2018 - 163 rank in enforcing contracts. It was 186 in 2014.
Delays in power, roads, and railways projects led to an increase in almost 60% of the project costs.
The Economic Survey found that more than ₹52,000 crore worth of government infrastructure projects have been stalled by
various orders of the courts. As per the Economic Survey 2017-18 pendency hampers dispute resolution, contract enforcement,
discourage investments, stall projects, hamper tax collection and escalate legal costs which leads to Increasing cost of doin g
business.
Special leave petition cases in the Supreme Court, currently comprises to 40% of the court’s pendency. The rate at which the
Supreme Court admits SLPs increased from about 25% in 2008 to almost 40% in 2016.
Due to injunction 60% of cases are being stayed, whose average pendency is 4.3 years. About 50% of these cases are pending at the
stage of pleadings and another 12% of these cases are pending for final disposal.
As per a 2016 World Bank estimate, judicial delays cost India around 1.5% of its GDP annually.
Supreme Court works on average for 188 days a year, while apex court rules specify minimum of 225 days of work. Average annua l
working days for subordinate courts is 244, 190 for Supreme Court, 232 for High Court. Increase in number of working days cou ld
improve productivity significantly.
National Litigation Policy 2010 - aim is to reduce government litigations and achieve the goal in the National Legal Mission to
reduce average pendency time from 15 years to 3 years. It recommends setting up of the national and regional level monitoring
system to minimize litigation. “Nodal Officer” in each department to “actively” monitor litigation and track court cases.
India spends only about 0.09% of its GDP to maintain the judicial infrastructure. A 2016 report published by the Supreme Court
showed that existing infrastructure could accommodate only 15,540 judicial officers against the all-India sanctioned strength of
20,558.
An internal portal called Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS), was created in 2015 with the objective of
tracking cases to which the government is a party. As of 11 June 2018, data collected by LIMBS show 2.4 lakh ‘live’ cases.

A major recommendation of the 100th Law Commission of India report was to set up a ‘litigation ombudsman’ in each state to
manage and handle government litigation. Similarly, the 126th LCI report recommends the creation of a grievance redressal sys tem
within departments, specifically to manage disputes between the government-employer and its employees.
Steps taken:
○ The enactment of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015.
○ Amendments to Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 - The Arbitration and
Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 envisages various ways to encourage foreign investment by projecting India as an
investor friendly country having a sound legal framework and ease of doing business in India.
○ The National Mission for Justice Delivery and legal Reforms was set up in June, 2011 to achieve the twin goals of increasing
access by reducing delays and arrears; and enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance
standards and capacities.
○ Setting up of Alternative dispute resolution centers such as Lok Adalats.
○ Setting up of Fast Track Courts, Additional Courts and Family Courts.
○ The 'Integrated Case Management Information System' (ICMIS) has been introduced in the SC for digital filing.
○ Tele Law - Union Ministry of Law and Justice has partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, to
provide legal aid services through its Common Service Centers (CSC) at the Panchayat level across India.
○ High Level Committee, under the Chairmanship of Justice B. N. Srikrishna, to review the institutionalization of arbitration
mechanism and suggest reforms thereto.
Repeal of old statute - a Committee headed by R. Ramanujam was formed to identify Central Acts which are not relevant or no
longer needed or require repeal/re-enactment. As per the Ramanujam Committee, 2781 Central Acts were in existence as on 15
October 2014. Out of these, it recommended the repeal of 1741 Central Acts. Of these 1741 Acts, 340 were Central Acts on Stat e
subjects that had to be repealed by the respective state legislatures.
It is rightly said by Publius Cornelius Tecitus that “the more corrupt the state, the more laws”.
Suggested: A National Court of Appeal with regional benches in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata meant to act as final court of justice
in dealing with appeals from the decisions of the High Courts and tribunals within their region in civil, criminal, labour and revenue
matters. In such a scenario, a much-relieved Supreme Court of India situated in Delhi would only hear matters of constitutional law
and public law. Also reducing appellate burden (rationalization of SLP, subordinate judiciary reforms, improving judicial str ength,
quality, infrastructure). Investigation professionalization, rationalization of court systems through technology and limiting appeal
procedures to the minimum.
The Economic Survey 2018-19 has suggested formation of Indian Courts and Tribunal Services to provide administrative support
functions needed by the judiciary and identify process inefficiencies and advise the judiciary on legal reforms.
The Government, in September 2015, proposed a National Litigation Policy for out-of-court settlement of cases among government
departments, public sector undertakings and other government bodies. However, no concrete decision has been taken yet in this
regard.
The Committee on the Reforms of Criminal Justice System in India (2003) suggests - dividing the penal code into four different
codes: Social Offences Code, Correctional Offences Code, Economic Offences Code and Indian Penal Code.
○ The Social Code includes matters of civil nature that can be settled without police intervention and prison terms through
administrative processes.
○ The Correctional Code includes offence punishable up to three years imprisonment where plea-bargaining can be liberally
invoked.
○ Economic Code includes property offences, which affect financial stability of the country dealt with through combination of
criminal and administrative strategies.
○ Indian Penal Code will include only major crimes warranting ten years imprisonment or more or death.
• There are three tools of Alternate Dispute Redressal system:

○ Arbitration - Arbitration is a process in which a neutral third party or parties render a decision based on the merits of the
case. The process of arbitration can start only if there exists a valid arbitration agreement between the parties prior to the
emergence of the dispute.
○ Mediation - The process of mediation aims to facilitate the development of a consensual solution by the disputing parties.
The mediation process is overseen by a non-partisan third party - the Mediator. The authority of the mediator vests on the
consent of the parties that he should facilitate their negotiations.
○ Conciliation - This is a process by which resolution of disputes is achieved by compromise or voluntary agreement. In contrast
to arbitration, the conciliator does not render a binding award. The parties are free to accept or reject the recommendations

to arbitration, the conciliator does not render a binding award. The parties are free to accept or reject the recommendations
of the conciliator.
Panchayats in India are the earliest known alternate dispute redressal mechanism. It has long been the part of Indian culture to
take the help of an unbiased third party to reach a decision. Also, The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2009 and Legal Services Authorit ies Act
(1987) (established Lok Adalat System) in accordance with the constitutional mandate in Article 39 -A of the Constitution of India.
The Lok Adalats can deal with all Civil Cases, Matrimonial Disputes, Land Disputes, Partition/Property Disputes, Labour Dispu tes
etc., and compoundable Criminal Cases.
A tribunal is a quasi-judicial body established in India by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature under Article 323A or 323B to
resolve disputes that are brought before it. Average pendency across tribunals is 3.8 years with 25% increase in the size of
unresolved cases while pendency in high courts is 4.3 years.
As on December 2018, 699 Fast Track Courts are functional across the country. Since inception in 2000, close to around 39 lak h
cases were transferred to the FTCs out of which, 6.5 lakh cases are still pending with FTCs. In its judgment in the Brij Mohan Lal
case, the Supreme Court held that the continuation of FTCs is within the domain of the States with their own funds. This has left
FTCs on the mercy of State as some states have continued support for FTCs while others did not.
• Article 129 and 215 provide that the SC and HCs respectively, with all the powers as a court of record including the power to punish
for contempt of itself.
The Judiciary was provided with this power under Contempt of Court Act, 1971 which defines contempt powers of judiciary.
This Act gives powers to the courts, to restrict an individual’s right to personal liberty for “scandalizing the court” or fo r “willful
disobedience” of any judgment, writ, direction or order. Section 2 of the Act provides with a definition of the contempt of court and
categorizes it under civil (willful disobedience to any judgement, order, writ or other process of a court) and criminal cont empt
(publication of any matter or doing an act which lowers the authority of a court, interferes with its due proceeding and obstructs
the administration of justice).
• The SC struck down the 99th Amendment and concluded that NJAC did “not provide an adequate representation, to the judicial
component”.
Now the Supreme Court Collegium has handed over the finalized Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) 2016 for appointment of
judges to the government - For the first time, it has been asked to include “merit and integrity” as “prime criteria” for appointment
of judges to the higher judiciary. Evaluation of judgments delivered by a high court judge during the last five years and initiatives
undertaken for improvement of judicial administration should be a yardstick of merit for promotion as chief justice of a high court.
It seeks to introduce performance appraisal as a standard for appointing chief justices of high courts and Supreme Court judg es. It
also talks of setting up a permanent secretariat in Supreme Court for maintaining records of high court judges, scheduling me etings
of the Collegium, receiving recommendations as well as complaints in matters related to appointments. Up to three judges in t he
Supreme Court need to be appointed from among the eminent members of the Bar and distinguished jurists with proven track
record in their respective fields.
• The President on recommendation of Collegium appoints the judges of Supreme Court and High Court.
Law Commission in its 230th report said that nepotism, corruption and personal patronage is prevalent in the functioning of t he
collegium system.
The constitutional provisions related to their appointment are - Article 124 says the President should appoint Supreme Court judges
after consultation with such judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court as he/she may deem necessary. The Chief Justice of India
is to be consulted in all appointments barring his/her own. Article 217, which deals with the appointment of High Court judge s, says
the President should consult the CJI, Governor, and Chief Justice of the High Court concerned. Neither of them speaks about
collegium system.
Article 222(1) of the Constitution says that the “President may, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, transfer a judge
from one High Court to any other High Court.”

• Under Article 124(4) of the Constitution a Judge of SC can be removed only by the President on ground of ‘proved misbehaviour’ or
‘incapacity’ only after a motion to this effect is passed by both the Houses of Parliament by special majority. Article 217B provides
for removal of HC Judge. The Act has only been invoked three times since 1950. No judge could be successfully impeached till date.
Supreme Court approves live-streaming of court proceedings agreeing it would serve as an instrument for greater accountability
and formed part of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Suggestions: A National Judicial Oversight Committee should be created by parliament which shall develop its own procedures to
scrutinizing the complaints and investigation against judges. The composition of such committee should not affect judicial
independence. Bringing a new Judicial standards and accountability bill along the lines of Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill
2012 (which lapsed) to establish a set of legally enforceable standards to uphold the dignity of superior judiciary and establish a
new architecture to process the public complaints leveled against the judges. A more formal and comprehensive Code of Conduct
for Judges should be put in place, which is enforceable by law.
• Article 142 of Indian Constitution - It empowers the Supreme Court to pass such decree or order as may be necessary for doing
complete justice in any cause or matter that is pending before it.
• According to National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) annual Prison Statistics India (PSI) report 2015, there were more than 4. 19
lakh prisoners across India out of which 67.2% were under trials and around 18000 (about 4.3%) are women. India’s prisons are
overcrowded with an occupancy ratio of 14% more than the capacity.
There are 1,401 prisons in India, and only 18 are exclusive for women which can house just around 3000 female prisoners. Thus , a
majority of women inmates are housed in women’s enclosures of general prisons.
A high undertrial proportion in the prison population may be the result of too many arrests during the investigation and trial
process or too few convictions at the end of trial.
The prisons have 53,009 officials to take care of 4,19,623 inmates which amount to one official per eight inmates leading to
problems of ineffective monitoring.
Children up to 6 years are allowed in jail with their mothers, after that they are sent away to children home. Nearly 2,000 c hildren
of women inmates live behind bars, 80% of those women being undertrials.
All India Committee on Jail Reforms (also known as Justice Mulla Committee) suggested setting up of a National Prison Commission
as a continuing body to bring about modernization of prisons in India. Lodging of under trials in jails should be reduced to bare

as a continuing body to bring about modernization of prisons in India. Lodging of under trials in jails should be reduced to bare
minimum and they should be kept separate from the convicted prisoners.
India has an exceptionally low rate of incarceration which is defined as the number of persons in prison per 1,00,000 populat ion.
The International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS) points out that at 30 (2012) the Indian incarceration rate is among the 10 lowest
rates in the world.
Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 - The Supreme Court has ordered the release of all undertrial prisoners who
have already served half the term of sentence, had they been convicted of the offence for which they were being tried.
India signed the UN Convention against Torture in 1997, but neither has it ratified nor followed or preceded by domestic legislation
to outlaw and prevent custodial torture. The current government spoke of amending Sections 330 (voluntarily causing hurt to
extort confession) and 331 of the Indian Penal Code, but nothing has been done yet. Absence of Anti torture legislation has resulted
in difficulty to secure extraditions because there is a fear within the international community that the accused persons would be
subject to torture in India. For e.g. Denmark denied extradition of Kim Davy in Purulia Arms case due to risk of “torture or other
inhuman treatment” in India.
Not following UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules), which suggest that prison
accommodation shall be mindful of "minimum floor space, lighting, heating and ventilation". These rules highlighted that open
prisons provide favourable conditions for rehabilitation of carefully selected prisoners.
Supreme Court in 2015, ordered to install CCTV cameras in all the prisons in the country to improve surveillance.
Supreme Court in 2017, asked all high courts to register a suo motu petition to identify kin of prisoners who admittedly died an
unnatural death after 2012 and award suitable compensation to them.
The poor quality of investigation of crime lead to only 47% conviction rate for crimes (The Law Commission 2012).
• Political parties under RTI - ADR contends that political parties have constitutional and statutory status. Incorporation of Articles
102(2) and 191(2) through 42nd Amendment and the 10th Schedule. A body does not become a political party until it is register ed
by the EC under Section 29A of the RoPA, 1951 and this registration lends it the character of a public authority.
Parties have defied that they come under the ambit of RTI act. And despite provisions under section 29 of RPA, 1951, parties do not
submit their annual audit reports to the Election Commission.
Political parties are legally bound to submit their income tax returns annually under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 .
However, the electoral bonds have also been exempt from IT Act. Thus, removing the need to maintain records of names,
addresses of all donors.
• A report published in 2013 by Global Financial Integrity states that the total black money outflow from India was nearly $343 billion
during the last decade. India's black economy could be nearly 3/4th the size of its reported GDP.
• According to Joseph Stiglitz, development should result in an enhancement of the totality of a nation's four-fold capital stocks: the
capital of material goods, natural capital such as soil, water, forests and fish, human capital including health, education and
employment, and social capital comprising mutual trust and social harmony.

employment, and social capital comprising mutual trust and social harmony.
• Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008 - Every worker in the unorganized sector may soon be issued a smart card with a
unique identification number for accessing social schemes and benefits - The Gujarat launch (a card, "U-WIN") was a pilot for
launching the card in all States - three things — health insurance, pension and disability assistance.
• In RC Cooper vs. Union of India, 1970, SC held that the President’s decision could be challenged on the grounds that ‘immediate
action’ was not required and the Ordinance had been passed primarily to by-pass debate and discussion in the legislature.
AK Roy vs. Union of India, 1982 SC argued that the President’s Ordinance making power is not beyond the scope of judicial review.
Later in case of Venkata Reddy vs. State of Andhra (1985) SC held that the Satisfaction of the President cannot be called in question.
DC Wadhwa vs. State of Bihar, 1987 - SC said that the legislative power of the executive to promulgate Ordinances is to be used in
exceptional circumstances and not as a substitute for the law making power. It was examining a case where a state government re-
promulgated a total of 259 Ordinances and some of them for as long as 14 years. An ordinance is promulgated by the President on
the Union Cabinet’s advice under Article 123 of the Constitution. It is a power wielded in circumstances that require immediate
action. Ordinances cannot be re-promulgated on a massive scale in a routine manner, the apex court had held.
Krishna Kumar Singh vs. State of Bihar, 2017: Supreme Court held that the failure to place an ordinance before the legislature
constitutes abuse of power and a fraud on the Constitution. It makes mandatory for an ordinance to be tabled in the legislature for
its approval.
• In Rev. Stainislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, the court dissected Article 25 to hold that “the Article does not grant the right to
convert other persons to one’s own religion but to transmit or spread one’s religion by an exposition of its tenets.” “What i s
freedom for one is freedom for the other in equal measure and there can, therefore, be no such thing as a fundamental right to
convert any person to one’s own religion.”
The Supreme Court, in reference to the Arun Ghosh vs. State of West Bengal verdict of 1950, held that an attempt to raise
communal passions through forcible conversions would be a breach of public order and affect the community at large. Thus, it held
that the States were empowered under Entry 1 of List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution to enact local Freedom of
Religion laws to exercise its civil powers and restore public order.
Currently, five states — Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh — have anti conversion laws in place
to prevent forced conversions. Arunachal Pradesh has an anti-conversion law but it is in limbo since the rules have not been
framed. Rajasthan passed a similar law a decade ago but the bill is yet to get the assent of the President of India. Penal provisions
already exist under Section 295(A) of IPC for those indulging in coercive conversion or using allurement.
• Section 309 of IPC - decriminalize suicide.
In P. Rathinam case, 1994, the Supreme Court held that the “right to die” is a right enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution
and hence Section 309 of Indian Penal Code was unconstitutional.
Overturned by Supreme Court in Gian Kaur Case 1996 - right to life under Article 21 does not include the right to die.
The 196th Law Commission of India report in 2002 advocated passive euthanasia. However, it decided not to make any laws on
euthanasia.
In the Aruna Shanbaug’s case (2011), a major milestone, the Supreme Court decided to legalize passive euthanasia by means of
withdrawal of life support to patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). According to the Court, the decision of the patient must
be an informed decision.
The Central government objected to legalizing the concept of ‘Living Will’ — an advance written directive to physicians for end-of-
life medical care.
A committee headed by Dr. M R Rajagopal tabled a report with the government listing the parameters and the threshold values at
which ‘passive euthanasia’ and ‘living will’ can be implemented in the state.
• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance,
2014 - The LARR Act 2013 requires that the consent of 80% of land owners is obtained for private projects and that the consent of
70% of land owners be obtained for PPP projects.
The Ordinance creates five special categories of land use which are exempted from
Nehathe above -requirement:
Bhosle (i) defence,
Rank 15, UPSC CSE (ii) rural
2019

The Ordinance creates five special categories of land use which are exempted from the above requirement: (i) defence, (ii) rural
infrastructure, (iii) affordable housing, (iv) industrial corridors, and (v) infrastructure projects including Public Private Partnership
(PPP) projects where the central government owns the land.
The process for land acquisition involves a Social Impact Assessment survey, preliminary notification stating the intent for
acquisition, a declaration of acquisition, and compensation to be given by a certain time.
Compensation has to be up to 4 times the market value in rural areas and 2 times the market value in urban areas. Where acqui red
land is sold to a third party for a higher price, then 40 % of the appreciated land value (or profit) will be shared with the original
owners.
• There are 10 million Indian citizens staying abroad, and with 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, an average of 18,000 votes per
constituency may get polled from abroad. Greater impact in Kerala, Punjab.
• Section 69A of the IT Act empowers the government and its agencies to block websites on any of six grounds: "in the interest of
sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for
preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above".
Section 69 gave power to authorities to intercept, monitor or decrypt information, and introduced penalties for child pornogr aphy,
cyber terrorism and voyeurism.
• Section 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, pertain to criminal defamation.
Section 499 defines the offence ‘defamation’. Section 500 (Punishment for defamation) - Whoever defames another shall be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. As the law stands,
defamation is both a civil wrong and a criminal offence. In a civil action, a person may be sued for monetary compensation while a
criminal wrong can invite imprisonment up to two years.
While in a civil defamation case, a defendant need only show that her statement was true in order to escape liability, in a criminal
defamation proceeding, an accused must show that her statement was true and in the public interest.
Reputation of an individual, constituent in Article 21 is an equally important right as free speech.
In 2011, the Human Rights Committee of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights called upon states to abolish
criminal defamation, noting that it intimidates citizens and makes them shy away from exposing wrongdoing. Given that a civil
remedy to defamation already exists, no purpose is served by retaining the criminal remedy except to coerce, harass and threa ten.
But monetary compensation in civil defamation is not proportional to the excessive harm done to the reputation.
• Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (CrPC) provided that where any public servant is accused of any offence alle ged
to have been committed by him “while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty”, no court shall take
cognizance of such offence except with the previous sanction of any government, Central or State, that employed him. This
safeguard is meant to help government servants perform their duties honestly without fear of malicious prosecution. However, the
provision has largely become a ruse to delay prosecution in corruption cases.
• The SC in Berubari case 1960 held that the power of Parliament to diminish the area of state (under Article 3) does not cover
cession of Indian Territory to a foreign country. Hence, Indian Territory can be ceded to a foreign state only by amending the
Constitution under Article 368. In line with the Berubari judgement, the Government of India came up with the 119th
Constitutional Amendment Bill as it requires ceding part of Indian Territory to Bangladesh. It involves exchange of land in 111
Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves on Indian soil. Indian enclaves in Bangladesh are spread over 17,149
acres, while Bangladesh enclaves in India are located in 7,110 acres of land, implying that India will have to cecede some part of its
territory. Exchange of territories in the States of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and Tripura.
• The RAAG (RTI Assessment and Analysis Group) report found that on an average, 5 million applications are filed under the RTI Act
every year. In less than 3% of cases, penalties were imposed on government departments denying information sought.
The Whistleblowers Protection (Amendment), Bill, 2015 has renewed concerns regarding the vulnerability of information seekers
making disclosures in the public interest. The amendments do not provide immunity to whistleblowers, making them liable for
prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. The Bill completely dilutes the provisions of the earlier law removing everything
exempted under Section 8 (1) of the RTI Act from within the ambit of whistle-blowing.
India is a signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption, which includes provisions for protecting
Neha Bhosle - Rank whistle blowers.
15, UPSC CSE 2019

India is a signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption, which includes provisions for protecting whistle blowers.
Forty activists who had demanded crucial information, with the potential to expose corruption within the government, had been
killed. Almost 375 incidences of attacks on citizens have been recorded who sought information about corruption or wrongdoing s
in various public authorities.
According to the Information Commission’s annual reports, there are at least 50 lakh RTI applications filed in India every ye ar and
over the last decade, at least 2% of the Indian population has used the law. Less than 1% applications are frivolous. Majority of
applicants sought basic information about actions of government, functioning of public authorities and use of public resources. A
little over 1% applications only require vast information which could divert time. 70% of the information sought should have been
made public proactively (as mandated by section 4 of RTI).
ARC has recommended setting aside 1% of the budget of flagship programmes of each ministry for improving the poor state of
management of public records.
Section 24 of RTI says that RTI is not applicable to the intelligence and security organizations specified in the Second Schedule with
only exception for information on allegations of corruption and human rights violations.
Exemption to certain Information under Section 8 of RTI - National security or sovereignty, National economic interests, Relations
with foreign states, Law enforcement and the judicial process, Cabinet and other decision making documents, Trade secrets and
commercial confidentiality, Individual safety, Personal privacy.
Over 30.8% or 48 out of total 156 posts are vacant for information commissioners at the Union and state level.
In the 2018 global RTI ranking India is at the sixth position. India ranks lower than smaller nations like Afghanistan which adopted
the RTI later than India. The Right to Information Rating is a programme founded by Access Info Europe (AIE) and the Centre
for Law and Democracy (CLD) and is conducted by Transparency International.
In the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, India ranked 78th most corrupt country of the 180 countries surveyed. 81st rank in 2017,
79th rank in 2016.
According to Transparency International India, the total number of RTI pleas received during 2005-16 were 2.43 crore and during
the same period, the number of second appeals filed to the CIC were 18.5 lakh.
Instances of poor implementation - Central Information Commission took an average of 319 days to hear and give an order on an
appeal from the date it was filed before the commission, with the maximum number of days taken by the CIC reaching to 862 days.
The callous attitude of Information Commissioners reflects in the fact that an average of 56% of orders recorded violations o f
Section 20 of the RTI, based on which penalties should have been imposed. But a penalty was imposed in only 4% of the cases.
If guilty under OSA, a person may get up to 14 years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.
Section 22 of the RTI Act provides for its primacy vis-a-vis provisions of other laws, including OSA. This gives the RTI Act an
overriding effect, notwithstanding anything inconsistent with the provisions of OSA. However, under Sections 8 and 9 of the RTI
Act, the government can also refuse information. So effectively, if government classifies a document as “secret” under OSA Cl ause
6, that document can be kept outside the ambit of the RTI Act.
2018 - The Delhi court held former diplomat Madhuri Gupta, who had served at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, guilty
under the OSA. In 2017, journalist Poonam Agrawal was charged under OSA for conducting a sting operation on an Army official
who criticized the sahayak system in the Army.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations way back in
1966, specifically includes the right to freedom of expression, defined as “the freedom to seek, receive and impart the information
and ideas of all kinds”. India being a signatory to ICCPR makes it necessary to repeal the archaic OSA as suggested by Goswami
Commission in the late 1970s as well as the Second ARC.
• The Santhanam Committee Report (1964) identified four major causes of corruption, namely:
○ Administrative delays.
○ Government taking upon itself more than what it could manage by way of regulatory functions.
○ Scope for personal discretion in the exercise of powers vested in different categories of Govt. servants.
○ Cumbersome procedures in dealing with various matters which were of importance to citizens in their day to day affairs.

The report notes that, “Corruption cannot be eliminated or even significantly reduced unless preventive measures are planned and
implemented in a sustained and effective manner. Preventive action must include administrative, legal, social, economic and
educative measures”.
• Size of states: Maharashtra = Japan, UP = Brazil, Bihar = Mexico.
• To create a business-friendly environment, the Telangana Government has announced a unique and highly welcome Right to
Clearance policy. Akin to the Right to Information, the Right to Clearance recognizes that businesses have the right to know why
project proposals are being delayed and to demand redress for unnecessary procrastination.
• In Bijoe Emmanuel case of 1987, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that mandatory singing of the national anthem could not be
imposed on pupils who genuinely believed that it was against their religious belief. Affirming its universal truth, Supreme Court
ruled that if any religious belief is “genuinely and conscientiously held, it attracts the protection of Article 25”.
The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act 1971, till date recognizes only three things — the Constitution, the national flag
and the national anthem — as symbols of national honour and prescribes penalties for insulting these. Section 2 of the act
prescribes penalties for “whoever… shows disrespect to or brings into contempt (whether by words, either spoken or written, o r by
acts) the Indian national flag or the Constitution of India or any part thereof”, and the next section for intentionally preventing
singing of the national anthem or causing disturbance to any assembly engaged in its singing. The SC had given its Bijoe Emmanuel
ruling with reference to these provisions of the Constitution and the 1971 act. SC held that standing up respectfully when the
national anthem was sung but not singing oneself does not violate Section 3 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act,
1971.
SC in Shyam Narayan Chouksey v/s Union of India, 2016 case said that the National Anthem must be played in all cinemas,
accompanied by an image of Indian flag and everyone, except disabled, must stand; and that doors must remain closed to prevent
people from entering or leaving. The order was challenged by a film club in Kerala which argued that forcing cinemas to play
national anthem and instilling that people stood, infringed fundamental rights and created a false equivalence between an
“outward show of respect” and an “actual sentiment of respect”. Supreme Court in January 2018 reversed its order.
• Kerala High Court freed Shyam Balakrishnan, who had been picked up in 2014 on suspicion of being a Maoist, saying “being a
Maoist is not a crime”. The court said that although the political ideology of the Maoists ran counter to India’s constitutio nal polity,
a person could be prosecuted only if it could be proved that he had acted unlawfully as a result of his adherence to this ideology.
Mere membership of a banned organization would not incriminate a person unless he resorted to violence or incited people to
violence, or did an act intended to create disorder or disturbance of public peace.
• The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, mandated the setting up of District Mineral
Foundations in all districts in the country affected by mining related operations and to protect the interests of tribal comm unities
who have borne the costs of mining. High priority areas like drinking water supply, health care, sanitation, education, skill
development, women and child care, welfare of aged and disabled people, skill development and environment conservation will
get at least 60% share of the funds.
• The Inner Line Permit regulates the entry of non-domicile citizens into a restricted region. The British used this to safeguard their
revenue-generating regions in the Northeast against raiding tribal communities from the hills. Today, ILP is seen as a way to protect
the demographic, cultural, political and social integrity of the small tribal populations in the hill states. At present, it is imposed in
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. The dominant Meitei community of Manipur have been demanding the
implementation of the permit to restrict the entry of ‘mainland Indians’ for years. The tribal population among Kuki and Naga
communities, whose land is protected under the 6th schedule on account of being a tribal people, believe that it’s a ploy by the
Meitei dominated Manipur government to grab tribal land and marginalize their population. Tribal land in the state is governed by
customary law and can only be sold to another tribal.
• Article 262(1) of the Constitution lays down that “Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint
with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river, or river valley”. Parliament has enacted
the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
One solution can be to bring water under concurrent list and according to Mihir shah report central water authority can be
constituted to manage rivers. A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources too has stated the need for bringing the
subject in the Concurrent List
• In Union Budget 2016-17 the total number of Centrally Sponsored Schemes has been brought down to 28.

• Article 263 provides the establishment of an Inter-State Council to effect coordination between the states and between Centre and
states. It is not a permanent constitutional body but can be established 'at any time' if it appears to the President that the public
interests would be served by the establishment of such a Council. First time it was set up on the recommendation of the Sarkaria
Commission by a presidential ordinance on May 28, 1990. The ISC is proposed to meet thrice a year (Punchhi Commission
recommendation), but in 26 years, it has met only 11 times. Recently Inter-State Council met after a gap of 12 years.
The council consists of the PM as the Chairman, CMs of all states and UTs, Administrators of UTs not having Legislative Assemblies
and six union cabinet minister including Home Minister nominated by PM. Its function is complementary to Supreme Court’s
jurisdiction under Art 131 to decide a legal controversy between the governments.
It has the mandate of enquiring into and advising upon disputes arising between the various states of India, to investigate subjects
of common interest amongst the states, and to make recommendations upon such subjects for the better coordination of policy
and action. It can play a useful role in facilitating dialogue and discussion towards resolving conflicts. However its recomm endations
are not binding on the government.
• Article 239AA of the Indian Constitution says that the Delhi Government does not have powers to enact laws on Public Order, P olice
and Land. However, Rule 45 of the transaction of business rules says that Delhi government can have powers on these three
subjects if there is an order issued by the Central Government. This section is quoted by the state government while demanding
more powers.
In 1991, the 69th Amendment to the Constitution created the Legislative Assembly of Delhi.
Resolving the dispute over the demarcation of powers between the Union Government and the Government of Delhi, the Supreme
Court laid down a few key principles:
○ Delhi government has power in all areas except land, police and public order and the LG is bound by the aid and advice of the
government in areas other than those exempted.
○ The only exception to this rule, it said, was a proviso to Article 239-AA, which allowed the LG to refer to the President any
issue on which there was a difference of opinion with the council of ministers. In such a case, the LG would be bound by the
President’s decision.
○ Delhi Lieutenant Governor cannot act independently and must take the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers because
national capital enjoys special status and is not a full state. Hence, the role of the L-G is different than that of a Governor.
○ It observed that neither the state nor the L-G should feel lionized, but realize that they are serving Constitutional obligations
and there is no space for absolutism or anarchy in our Constitution.
• In 2014, the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed a Bill to amend the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta and Up-Lokayuktas Act as a
Money Bill and did not send this to the Legislative Council. The Act was challenged (Mohammed Saeed Siddiqui v State of U.P.) but
the Supreme Court decided that the decision of the Speaker “that the Bill in question was a Money Bill is final and the said decision
cannot be disputed nor can the procedure of the State Legislature be questioned by virtue of Article 212”.

In UK, The House of Commons appoints two senior members who must be consulted before the speaker gives the certificate. In
India, the speaker makes this decision on her own. A consultative mechanism can be developed before speaker certifies the bill as
money bill.
• Sedition - In 1962, the Supreme Court in Kedar Nath Singh vs. State of Bihar upheld Section 124A and held that it struck a “correct
balance” between fundamental rights and the need for public order. The court had significantly reduced the scope of Sedition law
to only those cases where there is incitement to imminent violence towards overthrow of the state. Further, the Court held th at it
is not mere against government of the day but the institutions as symbol of state. The draconian nature of this law—non-bailable,
cognizable, non-compoundable and punishment that can extend for life—has a strong deterrent effect on dissent even if it is not
used. Popular cases where sedition law was used recently:
○ Dr. Binayak Sen v. State of Chhattisgarh
○ Kanhaiya Kumar v. State (NCT of Delhi)
○ V.A. Pugalenthi v. State (Tamil Nadu)
• ‘Office of profit’ is not defined in the Constitution. However, based on Supreme Court judgement in Pradyut Bordoloi vs Swapa n
Roy (2001), the Election Commission has noted five below tests for what constitutes an office of profit:
○ Whether the government makes the appointment?
○ Whether government has the right to remove or dismiss the holder?
○ Whether the government pays remuneration?
○ What the functions of the holder are?
○ Does the government exercise any control over the performance of these functions?
Further in Jaya Bacchan v. Union of India case SC defined it as “an office which is capable of yielding a profit or pecuniary gain.” thus
it is not the actual ‘receipt’ of profit but the ‘potential’ for profit that is the deciding factor in an ‘office of profit’ case. She was
holding an office of profit as chairperson of the UP Film Development Council.
Under Article 102(1)(a) and Article 191(1)(a) of the Constitution, a person shall be disqualified as a member of Parliament o r of a
Legislative Assembly / Council if he holds an “Office of Profit” under the central or any state government (other than an off ice
declared not to disqualify its holder by a law passed by the Parliament or state legislature). The recommendations of ECI are
binding on the President or Governor regarding the issues related to these articles.
Constitution allows a legislature to pass a law to grant exemption to any office of profit holder. In past, states and Parliament have
done this as well. The SC in UC Raman case has upheld this.
Joint Committee on offices of profit consists of 15 members drawn from both the houses of Parliament. It examines the
composition and character of the Committees appointed by the Central and State Governments and recommends what offices
should or should not disqualify a person for being, a member of either House of Parliament.
2nd ARC recommendations: The Law should be amended to define office of profit based on the following principles:
○ All offices in purely advisory bodies where the experience, insights and expertise of a legislator would be inputs in
governmental policy shall not be treated as offices of profit.
○ All offices involving executive decision making and control of public funds, directly deciding policy or authorizing or approving
expenditure shall be treated as offices of profit.
○ If a serving Minister is a member or head of certain organizations, where close coordination between the Council of Ministers
and the organization is vital for the functioning of government, it shall not be treated as office of profit.
• Parliamentary secretaries are not ministers within the meaning of Article 239 AA(4) because they are not appointed by the
President and are not administered the oath of office and secrecy by him. But Parliamentary Secretary’s post is seemingly in
contradiction to Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution which provides for limiting the number of Ministers in the State Cabine ts to
15% of the total number of members of the State Legislative Assembly because a Parliament Secretary holds the rank of Ministe r of
State. (The limit is 10% for Delhi, owing to its special status).
• The anti-defection law was passed by parliament in 1985 and strengthened in 2002. The 52nd amendment to the Constitution
added the Tenth Schedule which laid down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection.
Changes required:
○ Rationalization of whip - it should be limited to only matters that affect the stability of the government like non-confidence
motion, adjournment motion, money bill or financial matters (Dinesh Goswami Committee).
○ Power to decide not to speaker - As recommended by the Dinesh Goswami Committee, the government should consider
giving the power to decide on disqualification under the Act to the President or the Governor, who shall act on the advice of
the Election Commission (as is there under Article 103).

the Election Commission (as is there under Article 103).
○ Party loyalty to extend to pre-poll alliance - The rationale that a representative is elected on the basis of the party’s
programme can be extended to pre-poll alliances. The Law Commission (170th Report, 1999) proposed this change with the
condition that partners of such alliances inform the Election Commission before the elections.
○ Constitution Review Commission (2002) - The vote cast by a defector to topple a government should be treated as invalid.
Since 1985, there have been a total of 19 cases where MPs lost their seat in Parliament for disobeying the party whip. The of fice of
Whip is mentioned neither in the Constitution nor in the rules of the house nor in the Parliamentary statutes. It is based on the
conventions of the Parliamentary government. In India, the concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule.
• Issues faced by NHRC:

○ NHRC investigates matters related to human right violations and then recommends remedial measures. However its
recommendations are not binding and thus not taken seriously by state authorities which results in no or delayed
implementation.
○ Paucity of resources – human, financial and material that results in inefficient and ineffective functioning.
○ NHRC cannot investigate a case if complaint was made more than one year after the incident.
○ The act does not extend to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
○ NHRC powers with respect to investigating cases of human rights violation by armed forces are limited.
○ Protection of human rights act 1993 does not categorically empower NHRC to investigate matters of human rights violation
by private parties.
○ NHRC do not have any kind of contempt powers thus it cannot penalize authorities who do not implement its
recommendations in a time bound manner.
○ Staff often involved in executing NHRC functions are not experts or experienced in the field of human rights as they are often
drawn from various Government departments on deputation.
○ Non-judicial posts are often filled by retired bureaucrats in place of relevant experts in the field.
○ Mammoth backlog of cases - around 40,000 cases pending.
• Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory body regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the
Cinematograph Act 1952.
• According to Article 85 and Article 174, elections to Lok Sabha and Legislative assemblies have to be held within six months
(respectively) of dissolving either of them.
• ECI - At present only Chief Election Commissioner has security of tenure. Also its budget is not a charged expenditure, but is voted
by the Parliament.
In S. Dhanoa vs Union of India (1991) - the SC held: “The chief election commissioner does not appear to be primus inter pares, i.e.
first among equals, but he is intended to be placed in a distinctly higher position”.
In T.N. Seshan vs Union of India (1995), the SC held that the CEC and ECs are equal. CEC is given the power of recommending the
removal of ECs with the intention of shielding them and not to use it against them. CEC cannot use its suo moto as he is an equal to
them.
The appointment of CEC and other ECs according to the Article 324, shall be done as per the law made by the Parliament in this
regard. However, no such law has yet been made which leaves a “gap”. The constitution has not prescribed the qualifications (legal,
educational, administrative, or judicial) of the members of election commission. The constitution has not debarred the retiri ng
Election commissioner from any further appointment by the government. There is also no clarity regarding the power division
between the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
In its 255th report, the Law Commission recommended a collegium, consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Oppositi on
and the Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the Election Commissioners.
The Election Commission is vested with absolute powers under Article 324, but still has to act according to laws made by Parl iament
and it cannot transgress the same. Example: Despite being the registering authority for political parties under Section 29A o f the
Representation of the People Act, 1951, it has no power to de-register them even for the gravest of violations. Also, presently,
about 20% of registered political parties contest election and remaining 80% parties create excessive load on electoral syste m and
public money as they are entitled to various incentives. India has more than 1,900 registered parties but only 400 have conte sted
elections in recent years - “shell parties” may be operating as tax evasion havens.
ECI has also proposed an independent secretariat for itself with which it will not have to depend on DoPT to appoint its officers. If it
is approved by the Law Ministry, the poll panel will be free to frame its own recruitment rules and shortlist and appoint officers on

is approved by the Law Ministry, the poll panel will be free to frame its own recruitment rules and shortlist and appoint officers on
its own. It can then also draw competent professionals and experts from the job market.
ECI wants contempt powers. However, Dinesh Goswami committee on electoral reforms, three decades earlier, had rejected this
proposal.
Recently, ECI told the SC that it should be given the power to make rules under the electoral law, instead of the Centre. At present,
RP Act empowers the Central Government to make rules after consultation with ECI. However, the Central Government is not
bound to accept.
• The section 126 of RPA currently prohibits publication of ads by political parties in electronic media (TV, radio) and recent ly added
social media, 48 hours before voting ends. The ECI wants print media to be included in Section 126 of the RPA. ECI wants bribery
during election season as cognizable offence.
ECI supports making paid news an electoral offence punishable by minimum two years of imprisonment. Making paid news an
electoral offence will lead to disqualification and is also mentioned by Law Commission Report on Electoral Reforms 2015. ECI has
appointed a Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at District and State level for checking Paid News. Law
Commission said that the definitions of “paying for news”, “receiving payment for news” and “political advertisement” should be
inserted in the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Clause 58A of RPA empowers the Election Commission to cancel polls only if there is an evidence of booth-capturing or use of
muscle power. ECI seeks a new clause ‘58B’ in the Act for dealing with use of money power in elections or amendment to this effect
in the existing clause ‘58A’.
It also seeks disqualification of a candidate from contesting elections if a court has framed charges against him. Currently a
candidate is disqualified if convicted for crime bearing sentence more than 2 years.
Section 123 of RPA makes bribery an offence – but giving free things to everybody without any condition of voting to a particular
party, cannot be construed as bribery.
MCC comes into force the moment an election is announced and remains in force till the results are declared. This was laid do wn by
the Supreme Court in the Union of India vs. Harbans Sigh Jalal and Others Case. The MCC is not enforceable by law. However,
certain provisions of the MCC may be enforced through invoking corresponding provisions in other statutes such as the Indian
Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and Representation of the People Act, 1951. In 2013, the Standing Committ ee
on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, recommended making the MCC legally binding and the MCC be made a part of
the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Social media platforms and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) presented a ‘Voluntary Code of Ethics for the
General Election 2019’ to the Election Commission.
SC in its 1995 verdict held that canvassing votes in name of ‘Hindutva/Hinduism’ was not a corrupt electoral practice under S ec 123
of RoPA, as Hinduism was not a religion but a way of life in India. Section 123(3) of RPA Act, 1951 declares a corrupt practi ce if, “The
appeal by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or re frain
from voting for any person on the ground of his religion, race, caste, community or language…..”
In Lok Prahari case, SC has asked the Centre to amend the rules as well as the disclosure form filed by candidates along with their
nomination papers, to include the sources of their income, and those of their spouses and dependents. Non-disclosure of assets
and their sources would amount to a “corrupt practice” under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
In Subramaniam Swamy vs ECI (2014), SC said VVPAT is necessary for transparency in voting and must be implemented by ECI.
Section 123 of RPA categorizes certain sections as corrupt practices:

○ Bribery - If a candidate or his agent bribes any person to contest or not to contest, to withdraw or not to withdraw from being
candidate of the election or ensure an elector to favour or refrain in voting.
○ Interference in election right - Influencing or attempting to interfere by threatening any candidate or elector.
○ The promotion of or attempt to promote, feelings of hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of
religion, caste, community or language.
Under Section 8 (1), (2) of the RPA 1951, if any of the lawmakers are convicted of crimes like rape, murder, practicing
untouchability or Sati, violating Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, causing enmity over religion, language or region, indulging in
electoral violations, insulting Indian Constitution, importing and exporting banned goods, indulging in terrorist activities, etc. will be
disqualified for a minimum period of six years. It is irrespective of whether theyNeha
are fined or imprisoned.
Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

disqualified for a minimum period of six years. It is irrespective of whether they are fined or imprisoned.
Crimes under section 8(1) and 8(2) are related to various sections of Indian Penal Code; Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955;
Prevention of Corruption Act 1988; Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. Any lawmaker
convicted of any other offence under section 8(3) and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years, he/she will be
disqualified from date of conviction and further six years from the time released.
The Supreme Court in Lily Thomas case (2013) held that charge-sheeted MPs and MLAs, on conviction for offences, will be
immediately disqualified from holding membership of the House without being given three months’ time for appeal, as was the
case before.
In March 2014 SC judgment, court directed all subordinate courts to give their verdict on cases involving legislators within a year, or
give reasons for not doing so to the chief justice of the high court.
As per Association for Democratic Reforms in 16th Lok Sabha (2014) 34% of newly elected MPs have criminal cases filed against
them (182 out of 543 elected MPs). It was 124 in 2004, 162 in 2009. 112 (21%) winners have declared serious criminal cases
including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, communal disharmony, kidnapping, crimes against women. Winnability is
13% for criminal record, but only 5% for clean record.
1,581 criminal cases pending against MPs and MLAs - 12 fast track courts to finish them in 1 year. But only 40% of pending cases
have been transferred to special courts — of which judgments have been pronounced in just 136 cases (11%).
As recommended by the Law Commission of India’s report on Electoral Disqualifications, by effecting disqualification of taint ed
politicians at the stage of framing of charges, with adequate safeguards, the spread of criminalization of politics may be curbed.
Also, conviction on the charge of filing of a false affidavit must be grounds for disqualification as recommended by the Law
Commission.
In Public Interest Foundation Case, SC recommended that the Parliament must make law to ensure that persons facing serious
criminal cases do not enter into the political stream. The Court directed disclosure of criminal cases pending against the ca ndidate
by himself/herself through Election Commission of India and his/her political party. Moreover the criminal antecedent of
candidates must be widely publicized through different media including the websites of concerned political parties.
• Association for Democratic Reform highlighted in its report that 69% funding to parties came from anonymous sources between

• Association for Democratic Reform highlighted in its report that 69% funding to parties came from anonymous sources between
2004-05 to 2014-15. Estimates say nearly $5 billion was pumped into 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Unlike some countries like Germany and Portugal, India has no legal provision for enforcing internal democracy in a political party
apart from few related provisions in section 29A of RPA and in Election Commission guidelines.
Finance Bill 2017 - The 7.5% (on average net profit) cap on funding has been removed for corporates. In FCRA a provision has been
introduced that legalizes donation from a foreign company, provided that its nominal value of share capital is within the lim its
specified for foreign investments under the FCRA, 1999, or rules and regulations thereafter. The proviso shall be inserted wi th
retrospective effect from 26 September, 2010.
Electoral bonds - The requirement for a company to have been in existence for three years is removed (paving the way for fly-by-
night shell companies).
State funding of elections was recommended by Dinesh Goswami committee (1990). The Indrajit Gupta Committee on State
Funding of Elections had endorsed partial state funding of recognized political parties and their candidates in elections in 1998.
State funds should be given only to national and state parties allotted a symbol and not to independent candidates.
According to Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi an alternative worth exploring is a National Electoral Fund to which
all donors can contribute. The funds would be allocated to political parties in proportion to the votes they get.
Recommendations of Tarkunde committee - Certain facilities be made available to every constituency at government expense like
giving printed cards with the registered number of voters and the polling booths where they may cast their vote, making available
school rooms and halls for meetings, sending one communication to each voter free of postage and so on. Without favourable
economy and without key reforms in other areas such as decriminalization of politics, introduction of inner party democracy,
electoral finance reform, transparency and audit mechanisms and stricter implementation of anti-corruption laws, there is no point
moving towards state funding of elections.
LS MP - average wealth (declared via self-sworn affidavits) is around ₹14 crore. (In the Rajya Sabha, the average is ₹55 crore).
As per IAMAI’s social media report 2019 - political parties have earmarked 2% - 5% of their election budgets for social media.
• At present, six states namely Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP, UP and Tamil Nadu, provide for mayors that are electe d
directly by voters for a five-year term.
• A Census Town is an area with urban characteristics such as - Minimum population of 5,000. At least 75% of the male working force
mainly engaged in non-agricultural activities. Population density of at least 400 persons per sq.km. As per 2011 Census, there are
3,784 Census Towns as against 1,362 in 2001.
• In India, over 1,40,000 people die and more than 5,00,000 suffer serious injuries every year in road crashes. About 1,374 acc idents
and 400 deaths take place every day on Indian roads which further translates into 55 accidents and loss of 17 lives on an ave rage
every hour in our country. It means a death every 3.5 minutes on Indian roads.
Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill was passed by Lok Sabha in April 2017:
○ A motor vehicle accident fund has been constituted for the treatment of injured person, compensation to the person hurt or
to the representatives of person died in hit and run case.
○ It provides for a National Road Safety Board (as recommended by Sundar committee) to be notified by central government.
○ It also provides that any contractor or consultant responsible for the design, construction, or maintenance of the safety
standards of roads would need to adhere to specified standards by state/central government and would be held responsible
through penalty for road accidents instead of bad drivers.
Planning Commission of India stated that over 3% of India’s GDP is lost to road accidents annually, and this amounted to 3.8 lakh
crore rupees in 2016.
KS Radhakrishnan panel on road safety advocates the Zero tolerance policy towards drunk driving, accidents caused by speeding
and more robust methods of issuing driving licenses.
S. Sunder committee 2007 on road safety highlighted the need for scientific study of road infrastructure which includes effective
road engineering solutions at the design stage, rectification of accident hot spots.
Rakesh Mohan committee on National Transport Development Policy advocated setting up of safety departments within operating
agencies at different levels for ensuring day-to-day compliance with safety standards
Neha and study
Bhosle effectiveness
- Rank of existing
15, UPSC policies
CSE 2019

agencies at different levels for ensuring day-to-day compliance with safety standards and study effectiveness of existing policies
and standard.
For effective road safety in the country, new policies and actions should be based on Brasilia Declaration of 2015 which call s for
rethinking the transport policies in order to favour more sustainable methods and modes of transport.
The 201st Law Commission of India in a report noted that over 50 per cent of road accident deaths can be averted with timely
medical care within the first one hour. This translates to 70,000 lives that could be saved - hence Good Samaritan Law.
• Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System - The CPGRAMS is an online web enabled application to facilitate
speedy redress of public grievances as it allows for online lodging and status tracking of grievances by the citizens.
• Reservation of bill passed by the state legislature for the consideration of the President by Governor under Article 200.
Under Article 163, Governor exercises his functions with the aid and advice of chief minister and his council of minister exc ept
where he is required to function in his discretion.
In B.P. Singhal vs Union of India case, SC observed that power to remove Governor cannot be exercised in an arbitrary, capric ious or
unreasonable manner. This power should only be exercised in rare and exceptional circumstances for valid and compelling reaso ns.
Even after Supreme Court Judgement in B.P. Singhal v. Union of India calling for a fixed tenure for Governors to encourage
neutrality and fairness in the discharge of their duties, it is not being implemented on ground.
Under Article 356, the governor gives report of the working of constitutional machinery of the state. It ensures that states actions
are in confirmation with the central law and directions. No other provision has been used, misused and abused like Article 35 6 of
the Constitution. Since independence, till now Article 356 has been used approximately 120 times.
○ According to the Sarkaria Commission’s Report, which analyzed 75 cases of President’s Rule from June 1951 to May 1987, and
found that Article 356 was not meant for use in 52 out of these 75 cases.
○ Punchhi Commission (2008) recommended imposition of localized emergency i.e. only a district or a part of a district to be
brought under Governor’s rule instead of the entire state. Such an imposition should not be of a duration exceeding three
months.
○ National Commission for Reviewing the Working of Constitution (2002) said that a warning should be issued to the errant
State, in specific terms that it is not carrying on the government of the State in accordance with the Constitution. Before
taking action under Article 356, any explanation received from the State should be taken into account.
• Nagaland women are demanding 33% constitutional reservation for Urban Local Bodies in Nagaland. But the customary law allows
only the men to run the institutions of governance.
Nagaland has not witnessed any ULB election since 2011 due to the conflict between 74th CA and Article 371A principles.
• Elected women representatives now make up about 46% of panchayat members.
The average age of MPs in India is 56 years where as 50% of the population is below 25 years of age.
• Gorkhaland Timeline:
○ In 1780, the Gorkhas captured Sikkim and other areas including Darjeeling, Siliguri, Simla, Nainital, Garhwal hills, and
Kumaon, that is, the entire region from Teesta to Sutlej.
○ After 35 years of rule, the Gorkhas surrendered the territory to British in the Treaty of Segoulee in 1816, after they lost the
Anglo-Nepal war.
○ In 1907, the first demand for Gorkhaland was submitted to Morley-Minto Reforms panel.
○ Later, on several occasions demands were made to the British government and then government of Independent India.
○ There have been two mass-movements - first in the 1980s and then in 2007.
○ Aspiration of Indian Gorkha identity since creation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988 and GTA in 2012 did not fulfill this
aspiration. GTA is a semi-autonomous administrative body. It has administrative, executive and financial powers but no
legislative powers.
Creation of an Autonomous State of Gorkhaland within an undivided West Bengal can be considered. Article 244 A provides for a n
autonomous state for certain tribal areas in Assam with its own legislature and council of ministers. By a constitutional ame ndment,
the applicability of this article can be extended to West Bengal.
Alternatively, through a constitutional amendment, an Article similar to Article 244 A, can be inserted as a new chapter in P art VI of

Alternatively, through a constitutional amendment, an Article similar to Article 244 A, can be inserted as a new chapter in P art VI of
the Constitution. This will enable the establishment of an Autonomous State of Gorkhaland, with a legislature and council of
ministers within the existing state of West Bengal without bifurcating it.
• The powers and functions of UT Administrator are defined under Article 239 and 239AA of the Constitution. According to Articl e
240, the President has powers to make regulations for a UT unless there is a legislature for that State. Even if there is a legislature,
the Administrator can reserve it for the assent of President, who might reject it, except a money bill.
• Article 351 - It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a
medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India.
• The number of sitting days of Parliament has come down from about 140 days a year in the 1950s to an average of 65 days over the
past five years.
Over the years, the time spent on discussing the Budget has reduced from an average of 123 hours in the 1950s to 39 hours in the
last decade.
Between 2012-2016, disruptions took away 30% of the time in the Lok Sabha and 35% of the time in the Rajya Sabha which
undermines the delicate system of checks and balance essential for a functioning democracy.
In the 16th Lok Sabha, question hour has functioned in Lok Sabha for 77% of the scheduled time, while in Rajya Sabha it has
functioned for 47%.
In 2018, budget session witnessed passing of the budget without any debate, Rajya Sabha took up just 5 out of 419 listed starred
questions.
National Commission to Review the working of the Constitution recommended the minimum number of days for sittings of Rajya
Sabha and Lok Sabha should be fixed at 100 and 120 days respectively. Same suggestion by Parliament (Enhancement of
Productivity) Bill, 2017.
Odisha has already shown the way, mandating minimum 60 days for the State Assembly.
According to government’s estimates, each minute of the Parliament costs Rs 2.5 lakh. Also cost-to-country of an MP is more than
Rs. 35 lakh per year, which is almost 40 times the per capita income of the nation.
Since the inception of the 16th Lok Sabha, only 29% bills have been scrutinized by parliamentary committees as compared to 60 %
and 70% of bills being examined in 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas respectively. The attendance of members in committee meetings has
been a cause for concern as well, which is about 50% since 2014-15.
• To date, only 14 private member bills have been passed.
• Some features of Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013

○ Constitution of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta in states - States to set up Lokayukta within a period of 365 days from the
date of commencement of the Act.
○ Composition - Lokpal will consist of a chairperson and a maximum of eight members, of which 50% shall be judicial members
and 50% of members of Lokpal shall be from SC/ST/OBCs, minorities and women.
○ Selection committee - The selection of chairperson and members of Lokpal shall be through a selection committee consisting
of Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India or a sitting Supreme
Court judge nominated by CJI, eminent jurist to be nominated by the President of India on the basis of recommendations of
the first four members of the selection committee.
○ Jurisdiction of Lokpal - Prime Minister has been brought under the purview of the Lokpal, with some exceptions. All entities
receiving donations from foreign source in the context of FCRA in excess of Rs 10 lakh per year are brought under the
jurisdiction of Lokpal.
○ Power with respect to CBI - Lokpal will have power of superintendence and direction over any investigation agency including
CBI for cases referred to them by Lokpal. Transfer of officers of CBI investigating cases referred by Lokpal with the approval of
Lokpal.
○ Attachment of property - The act also incorporates provisions for attachment and confiscation of property acquired by
corrupt means, even while prosecution is pending. The act lays down clear time lines for preliminary enquiry, investigation
and trial.
In corruption cases the rates of conviction are just 3%.


• Indian companies spent rupees 9309 crores on CSR projects in 2015-16. CSR applicable to companies with at least 5 crores net
profit or 1000 crores turnover or 500 crores net worth. Companies will have to spend 2% of their 3 year average annual net pr ofit in
CSR activities in each financial year starting from 2014-15.
• According to the 2011 Census, there are 46 cities in India with a population of more than one million, and eight with a population of
more than four million. 4041 cities and towns in India.
Recently, 94 cities across 14 states received credit ratings from agencies such as Crisil as part of their preparations for i ssuing
municipal bonds. It rated the cities covered under Smart City Mission and AMRUT. 55 of these cities got “investment grade” ra tings,
39 received credit ratings below the investment grade (BBB-).
Indian cities revenue is less than 1% of gross domestic product. The result is that cities do not have adequate financial autonomy.
The committee on urban infrastructure headed by Isher Judge Ahluwalia (2011) had estimated that Indian cities would need to
invest around Rs. 40 trillion at constant prices in the two decades to 2031. Total revenues of the municipal sector accounts for only
0.75% of the total GDP which is 6% for South Africa, 5% for Brazil and 4.50% for Poland.
ULGs generate about 44 per cent of their total revenue from own sources. RLGs, in contrast, rely overwhelmingly (about 95
percent) on devolution. Per capita own revenue collected by ULGs is about 3 per cent of the urban per capita income while the
corresponding figure is only 0.1 per cent for RLGs.
Even after 25 years, local government expenditure as a percentage of total public sector expenditure comprising Union, State and
local governments is only around 7% as compared to 24% in Europe, 27% in North America and 55% in Denmark. The central and
state governments spend on an average 15-20 times more per capita than do RLGs. ULGs spend about 3 times more.
The own source revenue of local governments as a share of total public sector own source revenue is only a little over 2% and if
disaggregated, the Panchayat share is a negligible 0.3%.
Even state’s share of own revenue capacity is estimated to be 37.5% (average) as against 55.6% (average) of revenue expenditu re
or basic requirement.
The 73rd, 74th constitutional amendment gave constitutional status to local self-governments. At present India has around 2.5 lakh
institutions of local self-governance with 32 lakh representatives.
The Minimum Education Criteria for Panchayat and ULBs was introduced in Haryana in 2015. The constitutional validity of decis ion
was subsequently upheld by Supreme Court in Rajbala vs. State of Haryana.
Mani Shankar Aiyyar committee observed that decentralization has led to decentralization of corruption.
Indian constitution under Article 280 provides for the establishment of Finance Commission by the President of India. Its mai n aim
is to define the financial relations between the central Government and the individual state governments. The FC does not dir ectly
deal with local governments; it is required to recommend “the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to
supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the state, on the basis of the recommendations made by the
Finance Commission of the State.” The 14th FC recognizes the need to trust and have respect for local bodies as institutions of local
self-governments. Out of the recommended money, approximately 2 lakh crore is to be given to Panchayat and rest to the
municipalities and this amount is fixed.

• Aadhaar has helped save government more than INR 49,000 crore in subsidies.
• Delimitation Commission Acts 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
The 42nd Amendment Act 1976, froze the allocation of the seats in the Lok Sabha to the states and the division of each state into
territorial constituencies till year 2000 at the 1971 (census) level. The prohibition on readjustment was extended for anothe r 25
years, i.e. up to 2026, by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001. The main objective behind extending this was to encourage populati on
limiting measures.
The 87th Amendment Act 2003 provided for delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census, which was done without
altering the number of seats or constituencies.
In 1971, India’s population was 548 million, and by 2031, the first census after 2026, it may well be close to 1.4 billion. O ne of the
distortions and anomalies created by the 1971 freeze, which applies to national elections, is that we have constituencies as small as
50,000 and as large as three million residents. The average MP from Rajasthan represents over 30 lakh people while the one in
Tamil Nadu or Kerala represents less than 18 lakh.
The Home Ministry has proposed an increase in the number of seats in the Sikkim Assembly from 32 to 40 as it was observed tha t
Limboo and Tamangs (notified as STs in Sikkim) were not adequately represented in the Assembly. Special constitutional provisions
to Sikkim under article 371(f) have allowed government to make the proposed changes without constituting a fresh delimitation
commission as the Article 170 of the Constitution (related to composition of assemblies and some provisions of delimitation f or
them) does not apply to Sikkim.
• FPTP was adopted in the era of one party rule. But now because of a division of votes, a party with 20% share does not even get a
single seat, while a party with 28% can get disproportionately large number of seats. Example, Uttar Pradesh Assembly electio ns
held in March 2017.

held in March 2017.
• Rajya Sabha - ‘open ballot’ system under Rule 39AA of the Conduct of Election Rules of 1961. However, Rule 39AA is silent on who
would be the authorized representative for a rebel MLA. In the Kuldip Nayar vs. Union of India, 2006, case the five judge
Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court said that "free and fair elections" would not stand defeated by "open ballot" to give effect
to concept of proportional representation.
• Article 145(3) of constitution states that any substantial question of law relating to the interpretation of the Constitution must be
heard by benches of at least five judges.
• Social audits refer to a legally mandated process where potential and existing beneficiaries evaluate the implementation of a
programme by comparing official records with ground realities.
Social Audit has become crucial after greater devolution of central fund to PRIs, ULB on the recommendation of 14th Finance
Commission as CAG’s audit jurisdiction over such entities is nebulous.
The primary focus of the CAG’s performance audits remains, in most cases, processes within Governmental agencies, with the
actual verification of outputs and outcomes being only of secondary focus, which are primary agendas of social audits.
Learning from the progress made by the civil society groups and Gram Sabhas in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan in setting up
separate directorates for social audit, other states can also introduce such measures. NGOs can help in strengthening social audits
such as MKSS in Rajasthan.
Meghalaya became the first state in India to operationalize a social audit law - ‘The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public
Services Social Audit Act, 2017’.
• Lateral entry - 1st ARC as early as in 1965 talked about need for specialization. The 10th Report of 2nd ARC has also recommended
an institutionalized transparent process for lateral entry at both central and state levels. Other two committees that follow ed the
suit were Surinder Nath Committee and Hota committee in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The Basawan Committee (2016) had
pointed out that the bigger states like Bihar, MP and Rajasthan have a deficit of over 75 to 100 officers. Lateral induction is,
therefore, being seen as a small step towards essential housekeeping in central government staffing.
As per Goldman Sachs, a bureaucracy that is based on merit rather than seniority could add nearly a percentage point annually to
the country’s per capita GDP growth.
• GeM - It aims to ensure that public procurement of goods and services in India which is worth more than Rs. 5 lakh crore annually,
is carried out through online platform. Government can save up to 10-15% on every bulk purchase of goods and services through
GeM platform. In future, GeM would eventually emerge as the National Public Procurement Portal, keeping in tune with the Global
best practices.
• Value Capture Financing seeks to enable States and city governments raise resources by tapping a share of increase in value o f land
and other properties like buildings resulting from public investments and policy initiatives, in the identified area of influence. The
VCF is constituted of four steps:
○ Value Creation - Creating new development opportunities.
○ Value Capture - Investment turned into monetary value.
○ Value Realization - Sharing of gains through agreed instruments of VCF.
○ Value Recycling - Resources thus collected are used for local development projects, thus looping the loop.
• Constitution outlines special provisions for only four classes – SCs, STs, Backward Classes and Anglo Indians in the Articles 330-342
under Part XVI.
In Balaji vs. Mysore, 1962, the Supreme Court noted that ultimately, poverty, rather than community identity, was the real ma rker
of social and educational backwardness. While the court did not categorically reject using caste identity to determine the
beneficiaries of quota or reservation schemes, the damage had been done. Also the SC had held that in general conditions the
special provision should be less than 50%.
However, in the watershed Indra Sawhney case, the Supreme Court held that exclusively “economic criteria” were unconstitution al
since the category of “poor” did not reflect “social backwardness”. This majority judgment under Justice Jeevan Reddy held th at “a
backward class cannot be determined only and exclusively with reference to economic criterion. It may be a consideration or b asis
along with and in addition to social backwardness, but it can never be the sole criterion”.

Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019 + 124th Amendment - The government quoted the 2010 report of the Commission for
Economically Backward Classes, chaired by Major General S.R. Sinho (retired), which said 18.2% of the general category came u nder
the below poverty line (BPL).
• The “State of Democracy in the World in 2018” index report Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) - India was ranked 41, a mid-range
country among flawed democracies.
OECD's Government at a Glance report 2017 states that 73% Indians have faith in their government which is third highest in the
world after Indonesia and Switzerland.
• IDFC study says that there is 77% chance that the Indian voter will vote for the same party for both the state and center, when
elections are held simultaneously. Evidence from Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Germany, the US and Europe supports the idea that
elections that are held simultaneously produce greater alignment between national and regional election outcomes.
Article 83 and 172 of the constitution (dealing with duration of both houses and state legislatures respectively) along with sections
14 and 15 of the 1951 Act (dealing with notification of general elections in both houses and state assemblies respectively), will have
to be appropriately amended.
• Data from the 2018 electoral rolls suggests that there could be 52 million missing voters on the electoral rolls.
The 17th Lok Sabha elections of India would be the biggest election in world history, with over 900 million registered voters , out of
which 15 million are aged 18-19. Nearly one million polling stations, 2.33 million ballot units, 1.63 million control units and 1.74
million VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trails).
The highlight of 2019 was the highest ever voter turnout in a general election so far (67.11%).
• NOTA was introduced in India following the 2013 Supreme Court directive in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties vs. Union o f India
judgment. India became the 14th country to institute negative voting.
In the 2013 Assembly elections held in four States NOTA constituted 1.85% of the total votes polled. Then it dropped to 0.95% in
the 2014 Assembly elections held in eight States. It increased to 2.02% in the 2015 Assembly elections held in Delhi and Biha r.
While Delhi polled a mere 0.40%, Bihar saw 2.49% of NOTA votes, which remains the highest NOTA votes polled so far in any Sta te
in Assembly elections.
In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, six million people exercised this right. An Association of Democratic Reforms analysis sa ys that
since 2013 till March 2018, NOTA has secured a total of 1.33 crores votes from all assemblies and Lok Sabha polls combined.
An analysis by researchers from the University of Houston showed that NOTA increased voter turnout by approximately 1 -2% of the
eligible voting population. In fact, they specifically mentioned that first-time voters participated in polls just to exercise this mode
of protest.
The NOTA votes are not accounted while calculating votes polled by candidates for making them eligible (1/6th of valid votes) for
getting back their security deposits.
Maharashtra State Election Commission (MSEC) recently made an order for local body polls that fresh elections should be held if
NOTA ‘emerges winner’. The state election commissions in Haryana and MP have started disqualifying candidates that get less
votes than NOTA in the local body elections.
2019 LS elections - NOTA votes played a crucial role in deciding winner in 26 constituencies where winning margin was less than
NOTA votes. Also, higher NOTA votes in SC, ST, LWE and bipolar contest constituencies.
In 2014, ECI issued a circular that the provisions of NOTA be included in the Rajya Sabha elections too. But the Supreme Court
scrapped the use of ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) option in Rajya Sabha polls. SC held NOTA option is meant only for universal adult
suffrage and direct elections.
To give greater sanctity to NOTA and order a fresh election, Rule 64 of Conduct of Election Rules will have to be amended and can
be done by the law ministry. It will not require Parliament sanction.
• In India, the Extradition Act, 1962 regulates the surrender of a person to another country or the request for arrest of a per son in a
foreign land - extradition treaties with only 44 countries and extradition arrangements with another 9 countries where there is no
treaty. Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

treaty.
The “double jeopardy” clause, which debars punishment for the same crime twice, is the primary reason why India, for example,
has been unable to extradite David Headley from the US. Headley, an American terrorist involved in plotting the 26/11 Mumbai
attacks, has already been sentenced to imprisonment by US courts, for killing six Americans.
• Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of a 2018 Karnataka law granting consequential seniority to government
servants promoted on the basis of reservation. Article 16(4A) of the Constitution permits reservation in promotion posts for the SCs
and STs, but Supreme Court judgments over the years have imposed certain conditions for the state to exercise its power under this
provision.
• Linguistic Minorities:
○ Article 347 allows use of minority languages for official purpose.
○ Article 350 directs the State to allow the use of minority language for redressal of grievances.
○ Article 350A directs the State to provide facilities to linguistic minority groups for instruction in the mother tongue at the
primary stage of education.
○ Article 350B provides provision for a special officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President.
• Article 370 — Temporary Provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Articles 371 to 371J – contain special provisions for 12 states - Assam, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka,
Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Goa.
• The T. K. Viswanathan committee, constituted by the Centre, has recommended introducing stringent provisions for hate speech.

• The T. K. Viswanathan committee, constituted by the Centre, has recommended introducing stringent provisions for hate speech.
○ Section 78 of the IT Act primarily ‘dealt with capacity building’ and needs to be relooked to sensitize the officers and give
them support with electronic expertise, computer-forensics and digital-forensics.
○ It has recommended amendments in CrPC to enable each state to have a State Cyber Crime Coordinator (Sec 25B) and a
District Cyber Crime Cell (Sec 25C).
○ Insertion of Section 153C to prohibit incitement of hatred through online speech on grounds of religion, caste, community,
gender, sexual orientation, tribe, language, place of birth etc.
○ Section 505A as proposed to be inserted by the Law Commission to prevent causing of alarm, fear, provocation of violence
etc. on grounds of identity.
○ It was clarified that the need for intent has to be established.
However, extremely broad terms like, highly disparaging, indecent, abusive, inflammatory, false or grossly offensive informat ion,
etc., have been used by the report which takes us back to the ambiguity that the section 66A held.
Law Commission in its 267th report had observed that “Hate speech generally is an incitement to hatred primarily against a gr oup
of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief. Thus, hate speech is any word written or
spoken, signs, visible representations within the hearing or sight of a person with the intention to cause fear or alarm, or incitement
to violence.”
Supreme Court in Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan v. Union of India in 2014, states that hate speech must be viewed through the lens of
the right to equality.
Section 295A of Indian Penal Code incriminates any act that outrages the religious feelings or sentiments of others - Whoever, with
deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India (by words, either spoken or
written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise), insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of
that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of three years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 153(a) - Whoever, by words, signs or otherwise promotes enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race,
place of birth, residence, language, etc., shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or
with both.
• According to the NCRB data, there were 291 cases related to honour killings in India between 2014 and 2016.
In Laxmi Kahhwaha vs. The State of Rajasthan the Rajasthan High Court held that the Caste Panchayats have no jurisdiction
whatsoever and cannot impose fine or social boycott on anyone.
In Armugam Servai vs. State of Tamil Nadu, Supreme Court said that Khaps are illegal and must be rooted/stamped out.
Prevention of Crimes in the Name of ‘Honour’ and Tradition Bill, 2010 - The bill was proposed by National Commission For
Women. Any assembly of village Panchayat for the passing diktat against inter caste or inter religious marriage of the couple will be
illegal. It provides Protection to the couple against the ostracism.
Law Commission drafted 2 bills on khap panchayats specially on prohibiting honour killings:
○ The Prohibition of Unlawful Assembly (Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances) Bill, 2011
○ Endangerment of life and Liberty (Protection, Prosecution and other measures) Bill, 2011
The two bills are still proposals and so far no concrete legislative reform has been done.
“The Prevention of Crimes in the name of Honour and Tradition and Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial
Alliances Bill, 2017” was introduced as a private member Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
• In 2016 the Central government has filed a fresh affidavit in SC saying a Central University, cannot be granted minority stat us -
SC was hearing an appeal against Allahabad high court Judgement 2006 in which the minority status accorded to Aligarh Muslim
University (AMU) was revoked. The Law Ministry has recommended revoking the 2011 order of NCMEI declaring Jamia Millia
Islamia as a religious minority institution on the same ground.
Universities receiving direct funding from states cannot be accorded minority status as this is in direct conflict with Art 2 7 which
says that no proceeds of any taxes shall be utilized for promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious
denomination.
Universities established under parliament act has to follow the reservation policy of central government but AMU and JMIU do not
provide any reservation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Hence the minority tag provided to
such institutions is unconstitutional and illegal.

such institutions is unconstitutional and illegal.
In Azeez Basha case, 1967 case, the SC upheld that AMU was not a minority educational institution as it was set up by British
legislature, and not by Muslims. In 1981, Parliament reinstated minority status by amendment in AMU Act. The Allahabad High
Court, in 2006, struck down the 1981 amendment Act on the ground that it ultra vires of the Constitution.
Sect 12 of Right to Education Act (RTE) 2009, which mandates 25% reservation for children belonging to economically weaker
section (EWS), is also not applicable on MEI.
National Commission for Minorities (NCM) was set up by Union government as a statutory body under the National Commission for
Minorities Act, 1992.
• 16 MLAs in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly were disqualified by the Speaker, Nabam Rebia, in 2016 despite not officially leavi ng
the party or defying its directives.
• The Law Commission’s 170th and 255th report have suggested that 25% or 136 more seats should be added to the present Lok
Sabha and be filled by Proportional Representation.
• Mukul Mudgal Panel for drafting National Sports Development Bill, 2013 and Justice R.M. Lodha suggested bringing BCCI under
purview of RTI.
It virtually acts as National Sports Federation and like all other sports bodies which are listed as NSFs BCCI should also be covered
under the RTI Act and the act should be made applicable to all of its constituent member cricketing associations.
• Prior sanction is generally mandated to protect public servants from legal harassment for their public action. The issue is w hether
prior sanction is required before beginning investigation, or before prosecution in court.
In MK Aiyappa case, 2013 and Narayana Swamy, 2016 case Supreme Court held that even an investigation cannot be ordered under
Section 156(3) CrPC without prior sanction.
Currently under CrPC prior sanction is required before prosecution in courts. Section 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act also
requires prior sanction for prosecution of public servants for offences such as taking a bribe or criminal misconduct.
Hota Committee recommended that Article 311 of the Constitution be amended to facilitate summary removal from service of a
corrupt officer.
2nd ARC in Ethics in Governance observed that the rights of a civil servant under the Constitution should be subordinate to the
overall requirement of public interest and the contractual right of the State. Therefore, it recommended to repeal Article 31 0 and
Article 311 of the constitution. It also called for appropriate and comprehensive legislation under Article 309 to cover all aspects of
recruitment and service, even with regard to dismissal, removal or reduction in rank.

•
Good governance means effective and efficient structures which provide optimal support to citizens in leading a safe and
productive life in line with their desires and opportunities. Essentially, this involves a combination of democracy, the soci al welfare
state and the rule of law.
The 4 pillars on which the edifice of good governance rests, in essence are:
○ Ethos (of service to the citizen),
○ Ethics (honesty, integrity and transparency),
○ Equity (treating all citizens alike with empathy for the weaker sections), and
○ Efficiency (speedy and effective delivery of service without harassment and using ICT increasingly).


• In 2014, a Pre-legislative Consultation Policy was adopted by the Government of India which mandates that all draft legislations
(including subordinate legislation) be placed in the public domain for 30 days for inviting public comments and a summary of
comments be made available on the concerned ministry’s website prior to being sent for Cabinet approval.
• The Law Commission of India submitted a report to the government, saying that since it is impossible to stop illegal gambling , the
only viable option left is to “regulate” gambling in sports.
The Constitution of India in its Seventh Schedule, List II (State List) empowers the State Governments to make laws regarding
gambling and betting activities.
The Public Gambling Act, 1867, prohibits any games of chance and probability except lotteries. The Act prohibits owning, keeping
and being found in a common gaming house, however, the Act excludes "games of skill" from its ambit.
The Information Technology Act 2000 prohibits online gambling and the punishment for such activities is much more serious than
for offline gambling operations.
Lodha Committee recommended the legalization of betting, except for those covered by the BCCI and IPL regulations.
• Law Commission of India is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India. The First Law Commission was
established in 1834 by the British Government under the Chairmanship of Lord Macaulay. The Commission is established for a fixed
tenure and works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Vision - Economy
Also to Read:
Mains 365 2018 - Page 42 - SEBI Panel on Corporate Governance; Page 58 - Agricultural Marketing + FPCs + Contract Farming;
Page 70 - Seed Industry; Page 73 - Technology in Agriculture; Page 101 - Champion Sectors; Page 136 - Methanol
• PJ Nayak Committee 2014 - The government should transfer its holdings in PSBs to a Bank Investment Company (BIC).
• Bank nationalization caused the saving rate to go up from 12 per cent of GDP in 1968-69 to 20 per cent in 1979-80. The rise in
saving facilitated a commensurate rise in the investment rate from 13 per cent to 21 per cent. The increase in the investment rate
set the stage for the growth rate of the economy to shift from the much-derided “Hindu” rate of 3.5 per cent up to the 1970s to 5.5
per cent in the 1980s.
• Before PMJDY - only 58.7 per cent of an estimated 24.67 crore households availed themselves of banking services. In rural areas 44
per cent of the households and in urban areas 33 per cent of them did not have a bank account.
• Deepak Mohanty committee on financial inclusion, December 2015:

○ Last mile service delivery: A low-cost solution should be developed by utilization of the mobile banking facility for maximum
possible G2P payments.
○ Stability of the credit system: Fall out of FI initiatives is a stress on health of financial system. A unique biometric identifier
such as Aadhaar should be linked to each individual credit account and the information shared with credit information
companies.
○ Gender Inequality: Banks have to make special efforts to step up account opening for females.
○ Introduction of a system of unique identification for all MSME borrowers and sharing of such information with credit bureaus.
○ It recommended a graded system of certification of business correspondents (BCs), from basic to advanced training. BCs with
a good track record and advanced training can be trusted with more complex financial tasks such as credit products that go
beyond deposit and remittance.
○ The committee has recommended the use of application-based mobile phones as points of sale for creating necessary
infrastructure to support the large number of new accounts and cards issued under the Jan Dhan Yojana.
○ In order to increase formal credit supply to all agrarian segments, digitization of land records backed by Aadhar-linked
mechanism is the way forward.
○ Model land act will be helpful for increasing access to tenant farmers.
○ Encourage multiple guarantee agencies to provide credit guarantees in niche areas for micro and small enterprises (MSEs),
and explore possibilities for counter guarantee and re-insurance.
• Payment Banks will mainly deal in remittance services and accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh - 75% has to go into government
securities. This limits their ability to earn from the deposit base.
• Government set up Narasimhan Working Group in 1975. And on the basis of its recommendations, Regional Rural Banks Act 1976
was brought into force. Central Government = 50%, State government = 15% and Sponsor bank = 35%. 75% Priority Sector Lending.
• 5 Cs of financial inclusion - Coverage, Convenience, Confidence, Convergence and Cost.
• Before demonetization - India is a cash intensive economy with cash to GDP ratio of over 12 per cent. As per estimates 95% of
consumer transactions (volumes) and 65% (value) in India are carried out in cash. This compares with 40-50% (volumes) and 10-20%
(value) for advanced economies. The ratio of cash to gross domestic product is 9.47% in China and 4% in Brazil.
RBI data showed that in India low denomination notes had a soil rate of 33 percent per year. In contrast, the soil rate for the Rs 500
note was 22% and the Rs 1000 just 11%.
A 0.4% reduction in cost of cash can also boost savings by 4 trillion by 2025. Moody’s report pegged the impact of electronic
transactions to 0.8% increase in GDP for emerging and 0.3% increase for developed markets.
A large shadow (~19% of economy) Remittance based Economy (60% of remittance funds are used for day to day finances) have
become deeply rooted.
Amount of black money calculated using ‘soiled notes’ (notes returned to Central Bank because they are too damaged) has been

Amount of black money calculated using ‘soiled notes’ (notes returned to Central Bank because they are too damaged) has been
found to be substantial, as it represents about 2 percent of GDP - about rupees 3 lakh crore.
When demonetization happened - Internet penetration is lower than 30%, and smartphone penetration lower at 17%. 73% of
Indians do not have Internet access. Out of 27% connected, only 15% have broadband connection.
The World Bank observed that a 10% increase in Internet penetration leads to a 1.4% increase in GDP.
• Stressed Asset - An account where principal and/or interest remains overdue for more than 30 days.
NPA - A loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days.
• 4 Rs of Banking Issues - Recognition, Recapitalization, Resolution, Reform.
5:25 Scheme 2014: It allows banks to extend long-term loans of 20-25 years to match the cash flow of projects, while refinancing
them every 5 or 7 years.
Private Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) ARCs were introduced to India under the SARFAESI Act (2002), with the notion that
as specialists in the task of resolving problem loans, they could relieve banks of this burden.
Joint Lenders Forums, where decisions can be taken by 75 percent of creditors by value and 60 percent by number. But reaching
agreement in these Forums has proved difficult, because different banks have different degrees of credit exposure, capital
cushions, and incentives.
SCHEME FOR SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURING OF STRESSED ASSETS (S4A) 2016 - Banks can split the overall loans of struggling
companies into sustainable and unsustainable based on the cash flows of the projects. The unsustainable debt could be converted
into equity or a convertible security. However at least 50% of the debt should be serviced in the same period as that of the existing
loan. Once the unsustainable debt is converted to equity, banks can sell this stake to a new owner who will have the advantage of
getting to run the business with a more manageable debt.
Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) 2016 - consortium of lenders converts a part of their loan in an ailing company into equity, with
the consortium owning at least 51 per cent stake.
Indradhanush 2016 = Appointments, Bank Board Bureau, Capitalization, De-stressing, Empowerment, Fiscal Performance,
Governance Reforms.
2017 EASE – Enhanced Access and Service Excellence - Customer Responsiveness, Responsible Banking, Credit Off-take, PSBs as
UdyamiMitra, Deepening Financial Inclusion & Digitalization: micro-insurance, digitalization, Ensuring outcomes: Governance/HR.
• Since 1991, with Narasimhan committee report, creation of large size banks is demanded - consolidate resources and
infrastructure, reducing the cost on operations, human resource and technological solutions like reducing managerial positions,
overlapping bank branches, reduce inter-banking transaction cost.
It had envisaged a three tier banking structure with three large banks with international presence at the top, eight to 10 national
banks at tier two, and a large number of regional and local banks at the bottom.
• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016 - by the Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee (BLRC), headed by T K Vishwanathan.
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code:

○ A unified code for greater legal clarity.
○ Fixed a timeline of 180 days, extendable by another 90 days, to resolve cases of insolvency or bankruptcy.
○ A new regulator - the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to regulate professionals/agencies dealing with
insolvency and informational utilities.
○ Specialized Bench at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to adjudicate bankruptcy cases over companies, limited
liability entities.
○ Debt Recovery Tribunal (“DRT”) shall be the Adjudicating Authority with jurisdiction over individuals and unlimited liability
partnership firms.
○ The code allows the corporate debtor itself to initiate the insolvency-resolution process once it has defaulted on a debt.
○ Prioritization of claims by different classes of creditors (Financial creditors and operation creditors).
○ If the insolvency resolution plan is not submitted by the Insolvency Resolution Professional within 270 days or if it is
disapproved by the adjudicatory authority then liquidation is the only option.

• Measures to Strengthen Corporate Bond Market - RBI accepted recommendation of the HR Khan Committee (August 2016) to boost
investor participation and market liquidity in the corporate bond market by permitting commercial banks to issue rupee-
denominated bonds overseas (masala bonds) for their capital requirements and for financing infrastructure and affordable housing.
China - corporate debt at the equivalent of 155% of GDP in 2018 is among the highest in Asia.
• Small finance banks were key recommendations of the committee on financial inclusion chaired by Nachiket Mor, 2013.
• The Kenyan Banking Correspondent to population ratio is 1:172. By contrast, India’s average is 1:6630, less than 3 per cent of the
Kenyan level.
• Second Narasimhan Committee (1998) observed that directed credit had led to an increase in non- performing loans and had
adversely the efficiency and profitability of banks. It observed that 47% of all non-performing assets have come from the priority
sector.
Despite agriculture being a prime focus, no substantial gain in capital investment has happened in agriculture because banks tend
to lend for short-term just to fulfil RBI norms (Economic Survey 2014-15). So RBI issued a notification permitting the issue and
trading in Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs) as recommended by Raghuram Rajan Committee, 2008, whereby banks can
buy and sell such credits to manage their priority sector lending requirements. All Scheduled Commercial Banks (including Regional
Rural Banks), Urban Co-operative Banks, Small Finance Banks and Local Area Banks are eligible for PSLC trading.
• Ratan Watal Committee (December 2016) recommended constituting a Payment Regulatory Board (independent of RBI) to
promote competition and innovation in the payment ecosystem in India.
• Need for PDMA - Public Debt Management Agency

○ Internal and external debts are managed by RBI and central government respectively. Establishing a debt management office
would consolidate all debt management functions in a single agency and bring in holistic management of the internal and
external liabilities.
○ There is a severe conflict of interest in the RBI responsibility of setting the short term interest rate (i.e. the task of monetary
policy) and selling bonds for the government.
○ For an effective debt manager RBI action would lean towards selling bonds at high prices, i.e. keeping interest rates low. This
leads to an inflationary bias in monetary policy.
○ Management of government debt, regulation of banks and monetary policy are all interlinked which could be better
coordinated by an agency like PDMA.
○ Some functions that are crucial to managing public debt are not carried out. For instance, no agency undertakes cash and
investment management, information relating to contingent and other liabilities are not consolidated. This will be taken care
of by PDMA.
• A RBI discussion paper in April 2017, has proposed to set up long-term finance banks especially to fund infrastructure and
Greenfield projects of industries, with a minimum capital requirement of Rs. 1,000 crores - wholesale banks. India is in the need of
$1.5 trillion investment in infrastructure in next 10 year to sustain or increase the present growth levels.
In April 2017, Cabinet cleared a proposal to enable State government entities to directly access funding from international bilateral
financing agencies.
• IPPB will focus on providing banking and financial services to people in rural areas, by linking all the 1.55 lakh post office branches
(that’s nearly 2.5 times the bank network) with IPPB services by the end of 2018.
• The NBFC sector, accounted for 17 % of bank assets and 0.26 % of bank deposits as on September 30, 2017.
NBFCs have been maintaining low net NPA ratios of 3.5% unlike their banking sector counterparts.
RBI could consider re-visiting some of the unimplemented recommendations ofNeha

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RBI could consider re-visiting some of the unimplemented recommendations of the Working Group on Issues and Concerns in the
NBFC Sector chaired by Usha Thorat in 2011. One such recommendation was the introduction of a liquidity coverage ratio for
NBFCs. The objective was to ensure that NBFCs have cash balances and holdings of government securities which may fully cover
gaps between cumulative outflows and cumulative inflows for the first 30 days. This would be the buffer in times of stress.
The Financial Intelligence Unit has put 9,491 NBFCs under the high-risk category because of noncompliance with Prevention of
Money Laundering Act.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently launched the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC).
• The Chit fund business is regulated under the Central Act of Chit Funds Act, 1982. Rules are framed under this Act by various State
Governments for this purpose. The Central Government has not framed any rules of operation for them. Thus, registration and
regulation of Chit funds are carried out by State Governments under the rules framed by them.
Functionally, Chit funds are included in the definition of Non- Banking Financial Companies by RBI under the sub-head
miscellaneous non-banking company (MNBC). However, RBI has not laid out any separate regulatory framework for them.
Cheating by Chit Fund Company through fraudulent schemes is an offence under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes
(Banning) Act, 1978. The power to investigate and prosecute lies with the State Governments.
To protect the savings of the investors, the Union Cabinet has given its approval to introduce the two bills in the Parliament:
(a) Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 & (b) Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
• Rangarajan Committee 1993, recommended the reduction in government equity up to 49 per cent in case of six the industries i.e.
coal and lignite, mineral oils, arms ammunitions and defense equipment, atomic energy, radioactive minerals and railway transport.
It also warned that private ownership does not guarantee efficiency.
Disinvestment Commission (1996) under GV Ramakrishna identified 58 CPSUs for purpose of disinvestment and suggested that the
long term disinvest policy should stress that on minimizing budgetary support to unprofitable PSUs.
Strategic Disinvestment - It is the sale of substantial portion of the Government shareholding of a central public sector enterprise
(CPSE) of up to 50%, or such higher percentage along with transfer of management control.
• Arvind Mayaram committee 2014 - rationalizing the definition of FDI and FII - all investments constituting more than 10% stake in a
listed Indian company should be treated as FDI. All existing investments made under the FDI route, irrespective of the level of stake,
should continue to be treated as FDI. All foreign investment in an unlisted company should be treated as FDI.
• In 2007 Percy Mistry Committee Report had explored the idea of setting up an IFSC in India - India’s first International Financial
Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City near Gandhinagar.
• It is seen that investments in infrastructure equal to 1% of GDP will result in GDP growth of at least 2% as infrastructure has a
“multiplier effect” on economic growth across sectors.
Private sector contributed to a third of India’s infrastructure investment, between fiscals 2008 and 2017. However, it has declined
sharply in recent years in terms of share of investment, from 37-38% to below 25% in fiscal 2018.
As per industry estimates, infrastructure in India needs an investment of USD 6 Trillion in the period 2016-2030.
• Deepak Parekh headed Committee on Infrastructure, December 2014:

○ The report recommends establishing a PPP model for power distribution, starting first with the cities.
○ It asks Central government to provide for viability gap funding for public sector distribution companies.
○ In order to increase the competitiveness of the power market it recommends earmarking 15% of power generation of the
central PSUs for open access customers. It will help reduce reliance of open access customers on state controlled power
distribution companies. It will thus help in attracting the open access clientele. This is also expected to increase investment in
the electricity sector.
○ A graded tariff system (based on the paying capacity of the customers) to be set up. It further recommends moving high
income households, commercial consumer and industries to market based pricing. The consumers subject to market based
pricing may be allowed to choose from different suppliers of electricity. Low income consumers, however, should be subject
to low tariffs and their requirements should be met with supplies from depreciated power station.
○ It comments that privatization of coal mining wherein Coal India or its arms/subsidiaries can retain ownership of mines can go
a long way in improving net power production in the country.
It suggests GOI to constitute a High level task force headed by a deputy governor of RBI to
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○ It suggests GOI to constitute a High level task force headed by a deputy governor of RBI to decide on measures to restore the
health of power projects facing financial trouble due to scarcity of fuel.
• Kelkar Committee on Revisiting and Revitalizing the PPP model of Infrastructure Development, January 2016:
○ Infrastructure PPP Project Review Committee (“IPRC”) and Infrastructure PPP Adjudication Tribunal (“IPAT”) should be
established to ease the bottlenecks in PPP projects.
○ Encouraging the banks and financial institution to issue Deep Discount Bonds or Zero Coupon Bonds (ZCB) for PPP.
○ Protection against 'Obsolescing Bargain' - loss of bargaining power by private players in PPP over the long time-frame of the
project due to abrupt changes in policy or economic environment.
○ The Committee had noted that inefficient and inequitable allocation of risk can be a major factor leading to failure of PPPs.
PPP contracts should ensure optimal risk allocation across all stakeholders.
• High-level committee under the chairmanship of K. Kasturirangan (2013) to look into the unresolved issues impacting the road
infrastructure sector.
India has one of the largest road networks of over 56.17 lakh km (rural road = 61%) and contribute highest in terms of inland freight
transportation. India’s road density at 1.66 km/sq.km of area is highest among BRIC countries.
• HAM - The new hybrid model is a mix of the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and the BOT models. In the annuity
mode, the concessionaire gets a fixed and more importantly assured payment from the government.
○ Assured return: This assured return frees the concessionaire’s dependency on the toll collected on the highway. The
government shoulders the responsibility of revenue collection.
○ Further, the government will pay 40 per cent of the project cost to the concessionaire during the construction phase in five
equal installments of 8 per cent each.
○ Land: The government will provide 90 per cent of land and the related environment and forest clearance (earlier 80 per cent).
○ Operation and Maintenance: The balance of 60 per cent needs to come from the concessionaire. Operation and maintenance
of the toll road also rests with the concessionaire.
In the hybrid annuity model, one need not bring 100 per cent of finance upfront and since 40 per cent is available during the
construction period, only 60 per cent is required to be arranged for the long term. Moreover, there is no risk of tolling as well as
traffic uncertainty. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will collect toll and refund the amount in installments over a
period of 15-20 years, cutting down on upfront investment required to be made by the government.
• RERA - 70% of unused amounts collected for ongoing real estate projects have to be kept in a separate bank account by the
developers to ensure completion of the project.
• Crowding In Effect – Government spending during economy downturn will boost the economy and subsequently draw investment
from private industries too.
• Convergence Puzzle - in India, the less developed states are not catching up; instead they are, on average, falling behind the richer
states. Probably governance traps are impeding equalization within India.
• The government has proposed to set up reverse special economic zones (SEZs) in Iran and Myanmar, from where Indian chemical
industry can source its materials in a cost-effective manner.
• The share of manufacturing in India’s GDP has stagnated at 15-16 per cent since 1980 while the share in comparable economies in
Asia is much higher at 25-34 per cent.
• Under the National Manufacturing Policy 2011, the government has proposed setting up of NIMZs. Of 16 NIMZs, eight are along the
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Besides, eight other zones have been given in-principle approval. They are proposed to
come up in Nagpur, Chittoor, Medak, Tumkur, Kolar, Bidar and Gulbarga.
Under the Make in India initiative 2014, the Government of India aims to increase the share of the manufacturing sector to the
gross domestic product (GDP) to 25 per cent by 2022, from 16 per cent, and to create 100 million new jobs by 2022.
• SEZs contribute about one-third to the country’s total exports. They provide employment to about 15 lakh people.
Once major export and manufacturing hubs, SEZs started losing sheen after the imposition of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and
Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) in 2011 on them. In 2011, government had imposed 18.5 per cent MAT on book profits of special
economic zone developers and units.

Other reasons for SEZ failure include:
○ Incentives offered under the foreign trade policy to exporters outside of the zones.
○ Disincentives arising out of free-trade agreements (FTA).
○ Land Acquisition is one of the major hurdles.
○ Inflexibility of labour laws in SEZs.
○ Policy uncertainty because of differences between Finance and Commerce Ministry.
CAG report on Special Economic Zones shows that as much as 31,886 hectares, or 53% of the total land acquired by the government
for these zones, remains unused, leading to land hoarding in country.
India’s trade-to-GDP ratio has been rising very sharply, it doubled to 53% from 2002-2012. Internal trade is about 60% of GDP as per
Economic Survey 2017-18.
• MUDRA - According to the NSSO survey of 2013, there are 5.77 crore small business units, mostly individual proprietorships, which
run small manufacturing, trading or services activities. Only 4% of such units get institutional finance.
2018 - The disbursement under Mudra loans alone is Rs.6.37 lakh crore, which is over 7% of the total outstanding bank credit. Given
that these are small loans up to ₹10 lakh each, with the borrowers mostly from the informal sector, banks have to monitor them
very closely. It is debatable whether banks have the resources and manpower to do this.
RBI relief to MSME borrowers with aggregate exposure up to Rs 25 crores, giving 90 day extension for repayments, is likely to lead
to a reversal of about Rs. 15,000 crores Gross NPA in this segment.
• The national procurement policy involves purchases of at least Rs. 2 trillion a year. The Public Procurement Policy 2012 stipulates
that 4 per cent of procurement done by Ministries, Departments and CPSEs would have to be from enterprises owned by SC/ST
entrepreneurs.
• Trade Receivables Discounting System or TReDS - an exchange driven trading mechanism that could end the agony of lakhs of Small
and Medium Enterprises which face endless delays in receiving payments for their supplies to bigger companies. TReDS will be like
an exchange where an MSME that has some receivables pending from a large corporate will be able to trade the bill. So, if an MSME
has to realize rupees 100 from a corporate, it can exchange the bill with one of the participating entities on the exchange for, say,
rupees 95. The buyer of the bill will then recover the rupees 100 from the corporate concerned, pocketing the profit of rupees 5.
The MSME will benefit because its credit cycle is shortened and it will get a better price on the bill due to competition.
MSME has 32% contribution to the nation’s GVA and 40% and 45% share of the overall exports and manufacturing output.
According to the Ministry of MSME, the sector generates around 110 million jobs through over 60 million units situated throughout
the geographical expanse of the country.
Economic Survey (2017-18) had pointed out that the MSME received only 17.4 per cent of the total credit outstanding.
• Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 - plan for doubling India's exports to $900 billion by 2019-20 while giving a boost to the Make in India.
Introduced two new schemes, namely “Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)” and “Services Exports from India Scheme
(SEIS)”. Establishment of 108 MSME clusters for focused interventions to boost exports.
According to statistics released by the WTO, the share of India in total world merchandise exports was 1.68 per cent in 2017, a level
it has more or less maintained since 2011. In 2017-18, exports of goods and services contributed about 12% of India’s GDP. In
contrast, exports made up over 42% of South Korea’s GDP.
Higher logistics costs have been a major impediment to export growth. The FTP review document admits that logistics cost in India
is close to double of that in developed countries. The average logistics costs in India are about 15% of GDP. Aim is to bring down
logistics cost to less than 10% of GDP by 2022.
An ASSOCHAM study conducted a few years ago shows that India runs against a disadvantage of about 11% of its trade due to
deficient infrastructure.
Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES, for bridging gaps in export infrastructure) and Market Access Initiative (MAI, catalyst
to promote exports on product-focus country approach) Scheme.
• India’s model draft on BIT - After losing in the 2011 White Industries case, India prepared a model BIT. Some of its provisions are:
Deleting the MFN clause.

○ Deleting the MFN clause.
○ Enterprises based definition of investment- Investors who do not set up an enterprise in India to carry business cannot seek
protection under BIT.
○ Compulsorily exhausting the local courts first before approaching international tribunal for dispute resolution.
○ List of subject exceptions where provisions of BIT would be invalid are health, environment etc.
• National Steel Policy 2017:

○ The policy envisages a crude steel capacity of nearly 300 mt by 2030-31, which is similar to the earlier target set by the earlier
National Steel Policy, 2005. 122 mt in 2015-16, needs investment of 10 lakh crore.
○ In a shift away from earlier policies, it not only sets a directional roadmap by setting 160 kg per capita steel consumption (61
kg now) but also puts in place a policy on how to achieve it, produce new products and access key raw materials.
○ India currently imports around 70 per cent of coking coal requirement. It aims at raising the availability of washed coking coal
to reduce import dependence on coking coal by 50 per cent by 2030-31.
○ India to emerge as net exporter of steel by 2025-26.
The steel sector in India is valued at over 100 billion dollars and contributes 2 percent to the GDP. The sector employs 6.5 lakh
people directly and 13 lakh people indirectly.
• The government has set the target of constructing 35, 000 km of National Highways in the next five years under the Bharatmala
project which requires an investment of Rs. 5.35 crore. (2018 to 2022)
• INNOVATION COUNCIL OF INDIAN RAILWAYS – ‘KAYAKALP’.
• New metro projects will be approved in line with global best practices, on the basis of ‘Economic Internal Rate of Return of 14%’, a
change from the existing ‘Financial Internal Rate of Return of 8%'.
• The Indian Railways run 19,000 trains including 12,000 passenger trains to carry 24 million passengers each day on its 65,000 km
tracks. From 1950 to 2016, passenger and freight traffic grew by 1,344 percent and 1,642 percent respectively, while the network
increased by a mere 23 percent.
• As per the International Civil Aviation Organization that every rupee invested in civil aviation add Rs 3.5 to the economy and every
job created directly generates 6.1 jobs indirectly.
In 2017, Indian airlines flew nearly 140 million passengers, most of them domestic.
• World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in their report stated that India's travel and tourism sector ranks 7th in the world in terms
of its total contribution to the country's GDP.
World Tourism Organization asserted that, foreign tourist arrivals in India are expected to reach 15.3 million by 2025. The direct

World Tourism Organization asserted that, foreign tourist arrivals in India are expected to reach 15.3 million by 2025. The direct
contribution of travel and tourism to GDP is expected to reach US$ 147.96 billion by 2027.
It has grown to US$ 27.7 billion in 2017 (Economic Survey 2017-2018).
In 2016 tourism had created 40.3 million jobs - can go up to 46 million jobs by 2025.
Tourism in India accounts for 9.6 per cent of the GDP and is the 3rd largest foreign exchange earner for the country. The sector
accounts for 9.3% of the country's total jobs. India 2nd in the world in terms of total employment generated in this sector.
Draft National Tourism Policy 2015 - It aims to increase the tourist arrival from 0.68 % to 1% of total world tourist by 2020 and
increase it to two fold (2%) in a span of 5 years.
• Maritime trade accounts to about 95% of Indian trade by volume and close to 70% by value. Presently, India has 12 major and 187
non-major ports. Currently, around 78% of the marine traffic from the east coast ports of India is trans-shipped to Colombo,
Singapore and Klang (Malaysia), as most of the Indian ports don’t have a draught to match global cargo handling efficiencies and
function as a trans-shipment hub.
• 4 major objectives of the Sagarmala programme –

○ Port Modernization and New Port Development,
○ Port Connectivity Enhancement,
○ Port-led Industrialization and
○ Coastal Community Development.
• Waterways in India: There are 5 national waterways has been created by an Act of Parliament and they are:
○ Ganga- Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system (Allahabad-Haldia-1620 km) in National Waterway-1
○ River Brahmaputra (Dhubri-Sadiya- 891 km) in National Waterway-2.
○ West Coast Canal (Kottapuram-Kollam) along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals (205 km) in National Waterway-3.
○ Kakinada- Puducherry canals along with Godavari and Krishna rivers (1078 km) in National Waterway-4.
○ East Coast Canal integrated with Brahmani river and Mahanadi delta rivers (588 km) in National Waterway-5.
• Coastal Employment Zones - These can be a solution for creation of high productivity, high-paying jobs, if following features are
incorporated:
○ These should be large areas with flexible land-use conversion rules.
○ These should provide liberal economic environment and tax incentives.
○ Their proximity to deep draft ports will help docking of big ships.
○ Adoption of easier administrative and management systems for trade facilitation and liberalization.

•
• The World Bank's Logistics Performance Index measures performance in terms of six components i.e. Customs, Infrastructure,
International Shipments, Logistics Quality and Competence, Tracking and Tracing, and Timeliness.
Unfavorable modal mix (Roadways 60%, Railways 30%).
India got rank of 44 among 160 countries in 2018.
• WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index is based on scores covering 12 categories - They are institutions, infrastructure,
macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market
efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.
India got rank of 58 among 140 countries in 2018.
• EODB Rank 77 - The jump in overall ranking was driven by the “dealing with construction permits” (from 181 to 52) and “trading
across borders” (from 146 to 80) parameters. National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP) 2017-2020 for increasing the
efficiency of cross-border trade. implementation of the single-window clearance system for construction permits in Delhi and the
online building permit approval system in Mumbai.
In contact enforcement India stands at 164 rank out of 190 countries - hardly any state has actually set up the commercial courts
which could have helped in greater contract enforcement in the country. According to the Ease of Doing Business Index Report,
enforcing a contract in India can take 1445 days and 30% of the claim value as cost.
Steps taken by government to improve contract enforcement regime:

○ Scrapping of over 1000 redundant legislations
○ Rationalizing the Tribunals
○ Amending the Arbitration & Conciliation Act 2015
○ Passing the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division & Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act 2015
○ Expanding Lok Adalat programme
○ Reduced intra governmental litigation
○ Advancing prospective legislative regime for legal consistency
Anand Desai Committee (2016), was formed to suggest changes in Specific Relief Act, 1963, as tremendous economic development
has brought in enormous commercial activities in India, which have prompted extensive reforms in the related laws to facilitate
enforcement of contracts, settlement of disputes in speedy manner.
Specific Relief is term for performing a contract when monetary compensation for failing to complete contractual obligations is not
enough. The law prescribes that in an event where the actual damage for not performing the contract cannot be measured or
monetary compensation is not adequate, one party can ask the court to direct the other party to fulfil the requirements of the
contract.

• Taxation is the economic glue that binds citizens to the state in a necessary two-way relationship as part of the social contract.
• Vodafone - The income tax department had issued a show cause notice to Vodafone, asking the company to pay Rs 3,200 crore as
transfer pricing adjustment.
• Roughly 5.5 percent of earning individuals pay taxes in India. India currently has amongst the lowest number of taxpayers (as a ratio
of voting age population).
Overall tax to GDP ratio of India was low 16.6% in 2015-16.
• Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) refers to tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to make profit
‘disappear’ for tax purposes or to shift locations where there is little or no real activity but the taxes are low, resulting in little or no
overall corporate tax being paid. BEPS can be achieved through the use of transfer pricing mechanism. According to OECD
estimates, such tax avoidance has led to a global revenue loss of $100-240 billion every year - as significantly large as four to 10 per
cent of global corporate income-tax revenues.
• A look at the composition of central and states’ own taxes and expenditure reveal that the share of the own tax revenue and
expenditure of the states is 38% and 58% respectively. This reflects the more than proportionate expenditure obligations of the
states and also the lesser revenue raising powers vis-à-vis the center.
India’s total spending to GDP ratio (26.6%) and human capital expenditure (health and education) to GDP ratio (5.1%) is lowest
among the BRICS.
The center has buoyant sources of revenue like personal income tax, corporation tax, excise duty, customs duty and service tax.
However, the tax–gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of the center has stagnated by 11% on an average, during the period 1970–71
to 2016–17.
The committee on revenue neutral rates (RNR) of the central government had suggested the apportionment between the states
and the center at 60:40 ratio, as almost 44% of states’ own tax revenue was subsumed under the GST as against 28% for the center.
• Parthasarathi Shome - Tax Administration Reform Commission 2014 suggestions:

○ Focus on bringing in new taxpayers by targeting sectors that are currently untaxed, especially the informal/unorganized
sectors.
○ Extension of scope of TDS for early collection of tax and also deter tax evasion.
○ Levying of banking transaction tax on withdrawal of cash beyond a specific limit in a day - banking cash transaction tax.
○ Fringe benefit tax.
○ Large farmers with income more than 50 lakh should be brought into the tax net - also suggested by Bibek Debroy.
○ Using presumptive tax schemes for small businesses to ease and encourage compliance.
○ Use surveys and technology based information and intelligence systems to identify potential taxpayers.
○ The tax administration needs to be oriented more towards customers to improve voluntary compliance.
○ Against amnesty schemes - taxpayers keep waiting for amnesty schemes to be announced and take advantage of these
schemes to build their capital. Amnesty schemes also cause inequity among taxpayers, and there is no proof that they

schemes to build their capital. Amnesty schemes also cause inequity among taxpayers, and there is no proof that they
improve taxpayer behaviour among evaders.
The Kelkar task force report of 2002 estimated that 95% of the farmers were below the tax threshold.
• The tag of Tax Terrorism is used in the context of practices such as:
○ Retrospective taxation cases such as: Vodafone pricing case, Cairn India-Vedanta group case.
○ Minimum Alternative Tax – though with right intentions but wrong implementation.
○ Enforcement of regulations relating to tax avoidance: GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Regulations) etc.,
○ The practice of raising large unjustified tax demands followed up with:
✓ Aggressive recovery procedures
✓ Coercive methods
CCD Founder V. G. Siddhartha
○ Adjusting interest rate manually so that refund payable is reduced to zero.
○ Many decisions taken by discretion without proper accountability.
The Parthasarathy Shome Committee 2014 observed that the root cause of such unhealthy practices has been the practice of
setting unrealistic revenue collection targets for tax officers in Budget. This has to be reformed. The basic problem is the mess of
Indian tax laws, a legacy of the socialist era. The system is adversarial and tilted towards enforcement rather than compliance.
• R.V. Easwar Panel in December 2016 - A committee, set up by the government to change direct tax laws. Recommendations:
○ Simplifying provisions related to tax deducted at source (TDS), claims of expenditure for deduction from taxable income and
for tax refunds.
○ Several taxpayer-friendly measures to improve the ease of doing business, reduce litigation and accelerate the resolution of
tax disputes.
○ Deferring the contentious Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) provisions and making the process of refunds
faster.
○ Income-tax department to desist from the practice of adjusting tax demand of a taxpayer whose tax return is under
assessment against legitimate refunds due.
○ Deletion of a clause that allows the tax department to delay the refund due to a taxpayer beyond six months and suggested a
higher interest levy for all delays in refunds.
○ Stock trading gains of up to Rs.5 lakh will be treated as capital gains and not business income, a move that could encourage
more retail investments in the stock market.
○ TDS rates for individuals be reduced to 5% from 10%. Dividend income on which dividend distribution tax has been levied
should be treated as part of total income.
○ Provide an exemption to non-residents not having a Permanent Account Number (PAN), but who furnish their Tax
Identification Number (TIN), from the applicability of TDS at a higher rate.
○ The processes of the income-tax department should be conducted electronically to minimize human interface.
○ To make it easy for small businesses, the eligibility criteria under the presumptive scheme be increased to Rs. 2 crore from Rs.
1 crore. Launch a similar scheme for professionals. The presumptive tax is levied on an estimated income and makes life (and
work) easier for small businesses.
Earlier committees to consolidate the direct taxes - Raja Chelliah Committee (early 1990s) and Vijay Kelkar Committee (2002).
• The Economic Survey 2017-18 highlighted that there has been a decline in the reliance on direct taxes in India which contribute only

• The Economic Survey 2017-18 highlighted that there has been a decline in the reliance on direct taxes in India which contribute only
around 35 % of total taxes as against a contribution of about 70 % in Europe. Country’s total taxpayer base increased to 6.41 crore
in 2016-17 from 4.38 crore in AY 2011-12.
• Decline in tax-GDP ratio from 12 percent in 2008 and to 9 percent in 2017 occurring due to a fall in collection of excise, customs
duties and corporate tax. In India, the ratio of indirect to direct taxes collected in the aggregate, is 52 to 48 which will further be
aggravated by the introduction of GST. This can well be balanced by the introduction of direct tax reforms - Direct Tax Code.
• Government has constituted a six member penal headed by Arbind Modi, to draft a new direct tax law to replace the existing
Income Tax Act, 1961 - later headed by Akhilesh Ranjan - report expected in July 2019.
• Arbind Modi committee had recommended a 12% GST rate, of which 5% would go to the Union government, 5% to the state
governments and the other 2% to the third tier of government. The GST in New Zealand, widely regarded as the most efficient in
the world, has a single standard rate of 12.5 percent across all industry groups.
• It is estimated that India will gain $15 billion a year by implementing the Goods and Services Tax as it would promote exports, raise
employment and boost growth. It is estimated to increase the GDP growth by 1.5 to 2%.
Cross-border exchanges between and within firms amount to at least 54 per cent of GDP, implying that interstate trade is 1.7 times
larger than international trade.
Previously, goods faced an excise tax levied by the Centre and a state VAT. There were at least 8-10 rates of excises and 3-4 rates of
state VATs, and VATs being different across states. So, a structure of multiple rates (as much as 10 times 4 times 29 states) has been
reduced to a structure of 6 rates.
Eliminating check point delays could keep trucks moving almost 6 hours more per day, equivalent to additional 164 km/day –
pulling India above global average and to the level of Brazil.
• Project Insight is an initiative of the finance ministry to widen the tax base by detecting tax evaders using technology.
• For inflation targeting and for setting Policy Rates CPI is going to be Sole Parameter - CPI better reflects demand side of the
economy and market dynamism. It is more close to what the general population is effected by, and therefore a better parameter.
Unlike WPI, CPI indirectly takes into account the services sector as reflected in the spending of health, education, transport and
communication.

•

•
• What is Outcome Budgeting (OB)?

○ It is a budgeting scheme that gives project wise outlays for all central ministries, departments and organizations listed against
corresponding outcomes (measurable physical targets) to be achieved during the year. It measures the development
outcomes of all government programmes.
○ Outcome based performance budgeting symbolizes a shift from traditional budgeting in the sense that it goes beyond
budgeting by inputs (how much can we spend) towards budgeting by measurable outcomes (what can we achieve with what
we spend).
○ The Outcome Budget is expected to sharpen the budgetary projections by listing the projected outcomes under various
schemes.
○ The outcomes are expected results not only in terms of monetary units or physical infrastructure but also in terms of
qualitative targets and achievements. The first step is defining the desired outcomes (mostly long term) for the concerned
ministry, department or function.
○ This is followed by the process of identifying the interventions required for achieving target outcomes.
○ Finally, the expenditure required for implementing the identified interventions is estimated, which forms a line item in the
budget for that particular year.
• Base rate calculation is based on cost of funds, minimum rate of return, i.e. margin or profit, operating expenses and cost of
maintaining cash reserve ratio while the MCLR is based on marginal cost of funds, tenor premium, operating expenses and cost of
maintaining cash reserve ratio. RBI decided to shift from base rate to MCLR because the rates based on marginal cost of funds are
more sensitive to changes in the policy rates.
• India currently has full convertibility of the rupee in current accounts such as for exports and imports. However, India’s capital
account convertibility is not full. There are ceilings on government and corporate debt, external commercial borrowings and equity.
• FATCA - India and US signed an agreement to share financial information about their residents Financial institutions, including
banks, deposit taking non-banking finance companies, mutual funds, private equity funds, custodians and life insurance companies,
who will have to maintain information about their customers, including name, address, tax identification number etc. They will also
have to disclose information about the bank account balance.
• United State Trade Representative (USTR), which oversees enforcement of US trade policy, including IP policy, brings out the annual
Special 301 list. It categorizes countries based on their IPR rules - India is placedNeha
in theBhosle
Priority -Watch
RankList
15,(PWL)
UPSC - Serious offenders.
CSE 2019

Special 301 list. It categorizes countries based on their IPR rules - India is placed in the Priority Watch List (PWL) - Serious offenders.
• GDR is a popular financial instrument used by listed companies in India, as also in many other countries, to raise funds denominated
mostly in US dollar or euros. GDRs are typically bank certificates issued in more than one country for shares of a company, which
are held by a foreign branch of an international bank. While shares trade on a domestic stock exchange, which happens to be in
India in the present case, they can be offered for sale globally through the empaneled bank branches.
Participatory Notes or P-Notes are financial instruments issued by foreign institutional investors to investors and hedge funds who
wish to invest in Indian stock markets. These are also called offshore derivative instruments.
Under the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952, which regulates commodity trading in India, a forward contract is a contract
for the actual delivery of goods. On the other hand, a futures contract is one where the buyer can settle the contract in cash as well.
• A bilateral currency swap is an open-ended credit line from one country to another at a fixed exchange rate - Japan for $ 75 bn.
• Impact Investment - According to the definition of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN): "Impact investments are
investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or
environmental impact alongside a financial return”. Impact investing is a subset of socially responsible investing, but while the
socially responsible investing encompasses avoidance of harm, impact investing actively seeks to make a positive impact.
• “Dutch disease” - named after the impact that discovery of natural gas in the North Sea had on the domestic economy in the
Netherlands. This windfall caused the real exchange rate to appreciate as the extra income was spent domestically, pushing up the
price of non-tradables, such as services geared to the local economy. The higher prices for services then eroded profitability in
export and import competing industries, de-industrializing the economy, with the share of manufacturing in the economy falling.
Similar effects have occurred in Canada, Australia, Russia, and Africa.
‘Redistributive Resource Transfers’ - RRT to a state is defined as gross devolution to the state adjusted for the respective state’s
share in aggregate gross domestic product. The higher the RRT - The slower is growth, The smaller is the share of manufacturing in
GSDP, The lower are own tax revenues - India's Dutch disease.
• Salient points of the Financial Responsibility and Budget Management Act 2003:
○ Achievement of Fiscal Deficit of 3% of GDP and eliminating Revenue Deficit.
○ Prohibits borrowing by Government from RBI – Making Monetary Policy independent of Fiscal Policy.
○ Prevent monetization of Government deficit – Ban on purchase of primary issues of Central government by RBI from 2006.
○ Act mandates 4 Documents to be laid before Parliament:
✓ Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement: 3 year rolling targets for 5 fiscal indicators with respect to GDP at market price
and the strategy to attain them. Five fiscal targets are: Revenue Deficit, Effective Revenue Deficit, Fiscal deficit, Tax to
GDP Ratio and Total Outstanding Debt as percentage of GDP.
✓ Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement: Presented at the time of Budget and outlines the Govt. strategic priorities for ensuing
financial year related to Taxation, Borrowing, Expenditure, Investment, Pricing, Guarantees etc.
✓ Macro-economic Framework Statement: Presented at the time of budget and contains the expected GDP growth rate
with underlying assumption, Fiscal balance of Central Government and the external sector balance of Economy.
✓ Medium Term Expenditure Framework Statement: This has been added in 2012 and presented in Monsoon Session.
FRBM review committee chaired by NK Singh, January 2017 - Instead of fiscal and revenue deficit numbers, the government should
focus on public debt as a proportion to GDP to 60% by 2023 (presently 68%). This is a simple measure of insolvency.

• Centre-State Investment Agreement (CSIA) - It is a voluntary agreement between state and center where states will be required to
fulfill their obligations under the BITs. Even without the CSIA, under Art 253 of the constitution center can make legislations to give
effect to international agreements, which are binding on states.
• Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) amended Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013 - allow the companies to account
contributions made to Swach Bharat Kosh (SBK) and Clean Ganga Fund (CGF), under compulsory CSR spending mandated by the
Companies Act. The contributions will count as being made for social welfare work.
The CSR law is often viewed as a 2% tax, albeit spent by the firms rather than given to the government. The corporate tax rate in
India is 34.61%—already one of the highest, compared to a global average of 24.09%.
• Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has cancelled the registration of 2.1 lakh dormant companies and directors of about 1.07 lakh
shell companies among them will also be disqualified.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it would set up a public credit registry that collates all loan information of individuals and
corporate borrowers based on the recommendations of a High Level Task Force on PCR for India’ Headed by YM Deosthalee.
• India has spent $280 billion in gold imports from 2005 to 2015 - more than the inflow from foreign institutional investors in both
equity and debt in the same period. Annual investment demand for gold is estimated at 300 tons a year and holdings of gold are
estimated at 20,000 tons, most of which are privately held lying idle in bank lockers and vaults.
It is estimated that 12 of 14 diamonds sold globally are cut or polished in India. India has a 60% share by value and 90% share by
volume in global diamond market.

volume in global diamond market.
Indian manufacturers have the expertise to make 22 and 20-carat gold jewellery but exports market demand 8 or 10-carat gold
jewellery.
• The demand for electronics products in India will increase to $400 billion by the year 2020 while production is expected to reach
$104 billion only by that time.
• MP Chief Minister has announced a 'happiness ministry' to measure the state's progress and growth.
• The Seventh Pay Commission was headed by Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur.
• “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to
dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom” – Nelson Mandela.
• Remarkable progress in bringing down poverty from about 70% at independence to 22% in 2011-12 (as per Tendulkar report).
• Oxfam - Since 2000 the poorest half of world population has received just 1% of the total increase in global wealth, while 50%
increase has gone to top 1%. Total wealth of 62 individuals = wealth of 3.6 billion individuals.
• The World Bank global poverty line = $1.90 a day.
• According to poverty level, consumptions level, income and inflation, the Economic Survey gives out a minimum UBI of INR
7620/year for 2016-17 at 75% universality. This is supposed to be 4.9% of GDP.
Three principles of UBI - universality, unconditionality and agency. The poor in India have been treated as objects of government
policy. An unconditional cash transfer treats them as agents, not subjects. Thus poor can utilize the money in their own customized
way to alleviate their condition.
The government spends nearly 4.2 per cent of GDP subsidizing various commodities and services.
Central subsidies are 2.07% GDP while state subsidies amount to 6.9% of GDP. Although a fiscal space exists to start a UBI by rolling
back on some subsidies, it is politically and administratively challenging.
QUBRI (quasi-universal basic rural income).
A better solution to structural inequality is universal basic capital (UBC). People own the wealth they generate as shareholders of
their collective enterprises. Amul, SEWA, Grameen, and others have shown a way.
The Economic Survey 2015-16 analyses seven areas of implicit subsidy to the well-off:
○ Kerosene (Rs. 5,501 crore)
○ Railways (Rs. 3,670 crore)
○ Electricity (Rs. 37,170 crore)
○ LPG (Rs. 40,151 crore)
○ Gold, (Rs. 4,093 crore)
○ Aviation turbine fuel (Rs. 762 crore)
○ Small Savings (Rs. 11,900 crore)
Thus the subsidy given to the well-off amounts to more than Rs. 1 lakh crore (including the tax foregone and PPF schemes). The

Thus the subsidy given to the well-off amounts to more than Rs. 1 lakh crore (including the tax foregone and PPF schemes). The
Survey defines ‘poor’ as those whose consumption falls in the bottom 30% of the population. Rest all are termed as ‘better-off’.
• In the top 6 welfare schemes in terms of their resources, under no scheme do the poorest districts receive more than 40% of the
total resources. States having over 50% poor got only about 33% MNREGA funds in 2015-16.
• MGNREGA - The work covered under MGNREGA has been divided into 10 broad categories like Watershed, Irrigation and Flood
management works, Agricultural and Livestock related works, Fisheries and works in coastal areas and the Rural Drinking water and
Sanitation related works. A NCAER study of 2015 showed that the Act helped in lowering poverty by almost 32 per cent between
2004-05 to 2011-12 and prevented almost 14 million people from falling into poverty. Since the launch of the scheme it has helped
in reducing poverty level among scheduled caste and scheduled tribes 38 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Till now, it has
generated 19.86 billion person-days of employment benefitting 276 million workers, with more than half the jobs going to women
workers and almost a third to members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. 57% of all workers are women, more than the
statutory requirement of 33%.
• India needs to grow at 7 to 8 per cent for at least a decade to create jobs for the 12 million people entering the market each year
and generate resources to improve physical and social infrastructure.
• The unemployment rate has reached a 45-year high (6.1%) in 2017-18 as per leaked data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey
(PLFS) report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
The unemployment rate in December 2018 rose to 7.38% from 6.62% in November 2018 and 4.78% in December 2017, highest
since September 2016 when it stood at a high of 8.46%, CMIE data showed. The estimated labour participation rate also dropped
from 43.57 in December 2017 to 42.47 in December 2018. The rate was at 45.15 in December 2016 and at 47.84 in September
2017, the data showed.
Post demonetization - The total number of people employed fell by about 1.09 crore, about 83% or 91.4 lakh jobs were lost in rural
areas.
• According to the data published in the Business Standard, the labour force participation rate has declined systematically. It was 43%
in 2004-05, 40% in 2009-10, 39.5% in 2011-12 and 36.9% in 2017-18. Almost the entire decline in the labour participation is
triggered due to a sharp reduction of women in the workforce. The labour force participation rate of women was 29.4% in 2004-05,
23.5% in 2009-10, 22.5% in 2011-12 and 17.5% in 2017-18.
The Fifth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey Report revealed that in 2015-16, about 85% of India’s workers earned less
than or up to ₹10,000 a month and only 0.5% of workers earned ₹50,000 or more.
• The 2011 Census pegs the total number of internal migrants in the country, including those who have moved within and across
States, at a staggering 139 million out of which 33 million or 8% of India workforce belong to migrant workers.
As per a 2016 survey, there were 10 crore migrant workers in the country which was around 20 per cent of the labour force.
Migrant flows within states are 4 times the labour migrant flows across states. Migration within India is between 5 and 9 million
annually. The domestic remittances market, exceeds Rs. 1.5 lakh crores growing at an annual rate of 15% p.a.
• Core dilemma of economy addressed - 50% of India’s workforce employed in agriculture but contributes only 15% of output. Firms
with less than 20 workers employ 72% of the manufacturing workforce and produce merely 12% of the manufacturing output. 40%
of the services output is produced by merely 2% of the service sector workers, employed in the largest services firms.
Disproportionate share of microenterprises, with 98% of companies employing fewer than 10 workers.
5.7 crore existing informal sector micro enterprises.
87% of firms are purely informal (outside both social security and tax nets), 12% of firms are under tax net but not social security
net and less than 0.1% are in social security net and not in tax net. India’s formal sector non-farm payroll is substantially greater
than currently believed. Its estimate is ranging from 31% in the case of social security-defined formality and 53% in case of tax-
defined formality.

•
• A 2018 World Economic Forum report ranked India at 103 (out of 130 countries) in terms of preparation of talent.
• In U.P and Bihar, the government is setting up 50 global skill banks (training centers) to train potential immigrant workers in 110 job
roles as per international standards.
• National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) - target of training 50 lakh apprentices by 2019-20 - India has less than 3 lakh
apprentices. This is a small proportion of over a crore people annually joining labour force of 48 crore workers.
• On the recommendations of the 2nd National Commission on Labour 2002, government has taken steps for simplification,
amalgamation and rationalization of Central Labour Laws and replacing them with 4 Labour Codes viz. Code on Wages, Code on
Industrial Relations, Code on Social Security & Welfare, and Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions.
Wage Code Bill 2017 seeks to consolidate laws relating to wages by replacing: The Payment of Wages Act, 1936, The Minimum
Wages Act, 1948, The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
LABOUR CODE ON INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS BILL 2015 would replace three laws i.e. Trade Unions Act, 1926; Industrial Employment
(Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
DRAFT LABOUR CODE ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS, 2018 will amalgamate 13 labour laws
including the Factories Act, 1948; the Mines Act, 1952; the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment
and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996; the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.
Labour welfare and reforms is contained in Concurrent list.
• The agriculture sector provides employment to 58.4% of country’s work force and is the single largest private sector occupation.
Agriculture accounts for about 14.7% of the total export earnings. Besides, goods made with the raw material of agriculture sector
also contribute about 20% in Indian exports.
• Of the nearly 142 million hectares of net sown area, only about 64 million hectares, less than half, has assured access to irrigation
facilities. The rest still depend on rainwater. Moreover, even within the overall irrigated land, nearly 60 per cent is based on
pumped ground-water, banking on free or highly-subsidized power provided to farmers in most states, thereby putting further
pressure on a fast-depleting critical resource.
Agriculture consumes around 78% of India’s total freshwater resources. Just rice and sugarcane consume more than 60% of the
irrigation water in the country while occupying just around 24% of the total gross cropped area.
India is the largest user of groundwater in the world with over 63 per cent of irrigated agriculture and 85 per cent of drinking water
supplies dependent on aquifers.
The overuse of irrigated water is reflected by low irrigation efficiency of about 35 % to 45 % in most surface irrigation systems, and
about 65 % in case of ground water use.
Due to climate change, 15% of India’s groundwater resources are damaged.


Due to climate change, 15% of India’s groundwater resources are damaged.
If the current trends continue, by 2030 nearly 60% of Indian aquifers will be in a critical condition. This means that some 25% of the
agricultural production will be at risk.
India, with 2.5% of global landmass, has 4% of the world’s freshwater resources.
• Of India’s 121 million agricultural holdings, 99 million are with small and marginal farmers, with a land share of just 44 per cent and
a farmer population share of 87 per cent. With multiple cropping prevalent, such farmers account for 70 per cent of all vegetables
and 52 per cent of cereal output.
• According to the Agriculture Census 2015–16, the total area under farming in India declined from 159.59 million hectares in
2010–11 to 157.14 million hectares in 2015–16. At the same time, the number of operational holdings increased by 5.33%, from
138 million in 2010–11 to 146 million in 2015–16. Thus, the average size of operational holdings in India declined from 1.15
hectares to 1.08 hectares. In 2015–16, about 86.21% of the landholdings in the country consisted of small and marginal holdings (0
to 2 hectares).
Demographic pressure has pushed down the land to man ratio to less than 0.2 hectares of cultivable land per head of rural
population. Around 83% of rural households are either entirely landless or own less than 1 hectare of land. Another 14% own less
than 3 hectares. At the opposite end, less than 0.25% of rural households own more than 10 hectares of land and a minuscule
0.01% own over 20 hectares.
About 85% of the operational landholdings in the country are below 5 acres and 67% farm households survive on an average
landholding of one acre.
73.2 million hectares out of a net sown area of 141.4 million hectares are unirrigated and rainfall dependent.
Unirrigated is defined as districts where less than 50 percent of cropped area is irrigated.
263 million farmers - 800 million people live in villages and depend on agriculture.
The census also reveals that Scheduled Caste (SC) groups operated only about 9% of the total available area and that the average
size of their holdings was 0.78 hectares. Also, about 92% of holdings operated by SC groups comprised small and marginal holdings.
Between 2011 and 2015, agricultural employment fell by 26 million, while non-farm jobs increased by 33 million.
• The Indian agricultural land covers area of 140 million hectares out of which, 17% of area is dedicated to horticultural crops that
contributes to 30% of total agricultural GDP.
Livestock and the fisheries sectors contributing almost 25% and 6% of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) respectively.
• Climate change models predict that temperatures in India are likely to rise by 3-4 degree Celsius by the end of the 21st century.
These imply that in the absence of any adaptation by farmers and any changes in policy (such as irrigation), farm incomes will be
lower by around 12 percent on an average in the coming years. Unirrigated areas will be the most severely affected, with potential
losses amounting to 18 percent of annual revenue.
In a year where temperatures are 1 degree Celsius higher farmer incomes would fall by 6.2 percent during the kharif season and 6
percent during rabi in unirrigated districts. In a year when rainfall levels were 100 millimeters less than average, farmer incomes
would fall by 15 percent during kharif and by 7 percent during the rabi season.
• The ministry of agriculture estimates that to double farmer incomes by 2022-23, private investment in agriculture must jump two
times to almost Rs 1,40,000 crore. To achieve government’s goal by 2022-23, the Ashok Dalwai Committee points out that farmers
real incomes need to grow at 10.4 % per annum that is 2.8 times the growth rate achieved historically.
The Dalwai Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income has pointed out that the share of farmers in consumer’s price is very low. It
generally varies from 15 to 40 per cent. The committee has also recommended rolling out the model Agriculture Produce Marketing
Committee (APMC) Act 2017 which would facilitate single-point levy of taxes, promote direct interface between farmers and end-
users, and give freedom to farmers to sell their produce to whomsoever and wherever they get better prices.
Recent survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey) shows that
the average monthly income of rural households is Rs. 8,059, with agricultural households deriving only 43% of their income from
agriculture. Most of it is from providing daily wage labour and government jobs.

agriculture. Most of it is from providing daily wage labour and government jobs.
• In 2013, Public Accounts Committee chaired by K.V Thomas pointed out that Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, lead
to corruption, error in inclusion and exclusion of beneficiary, inadequate documentation, and unused fund with the institutions.
Erodes credit discipline + moral hazard.
World Bank economist Martin Kanz finds in a recent paper that the loan waiver scheme did not have any positive impact on
household savings, credit uptake from banks, or investments.
A study by Rythu Swarajya Vedika in June 2018 showed that 75% of farmer suicides in Telangana are by tenant farmers, who have
no or least access to formal credit. 3 lakh farmer suicides in last 2 decades.
Also a recent study by the International Food Policy Research Institute reveals that at the national level, 48% of agricultural
households do not avail a loan from any source. Among the borrowing households, 36% take credit from informal sources. The
share of institutional loans disbursed during a year to agriculture and allied sectors has risen from 8.9% of the value of output in
2000-01 to 31.4% in 2015-16.
According to NABARD’s Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS), only about 30.3 % of Indian agri-households took loans from institutions.
Over 40% farmers still rely on non-institutional lenders - NSS data.
• Distress Management - Establish farmers’ distress and disaster relief commissions at the national and State levels, based on the
model of Kerala Farmers’ Debt Relief Commission.
• Investment in agriculture has declined at 2.3% per annum in real terms. Real agricultural growth since 1960 has averaged about 2.8
percent in India, while China is 4.3 percent.
A 100 % increase in the PSL to the export sector, MSME sector, Agriculture sector increases the export GDP by 76%, manufacturing
GDP by 41 % and agricultural GDP by 11 % respectively, indicating the inability of the agricultural sector to yield returns
commensurate with the increased credit supply.
• The NITI Aayog launched the first ever “Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index” to rank States and Union
Territories. The rankings are based on implementation of seven provisions proposed under model APMC Act, joining e-NAM
initiative, special treatment to fruits and vegetables for marketing and level of taxes in mandis.
• In India post-harvest losses in food grains, fruits and vegetables are extremely high amounting to around 40-50%. This is primarily
due to insect infestation, microbiological contamination, physiological changes due to sprouting and ripening, and poor shelf life.
This could be controlled by irradiation. Irradiation doses are recommended by the IAEA and the final product is absolutely safe. It
does not reduce the nutritional value of food products and does not change their organoleptic properties or appearance.
• The attracticide (or lure and kill) concept-based method involves using a pheromone to lure insects to a specific point source or an
area whereby they contact a toxicant which causes a rapid kill or contamination with some kind of pathogen.
• Marathwada - Sugar cane is a water-guzzling crop (requires 2000 to 2500 mm of water). Unlike Northern regions, which has huge
network of rivers, Maharashtra’s sugar cultivation is in regions with water scarcity. The 4% of land under sugarcane cultivation
consumes as much as 71.5% of irrigated water. The region has over 20 sugar factories and each uses 1500 liters of water to crush
per ton of cane.
• According to a study the average penetration level of Micro-irrigation in India is 5.5%. The task force on micro irrigation had
estimated a potential of 69.5 million hectare under micro irrigation, whereas the area covered so far is only about 10 million
hectares.
Drip irrigation can save 40% of water.
• PDS - A committee on restructuring the Food Corporation of India (Shanta Kumar, 2015) suggested in its report that the
government begin direct cash transfers of food subsidy because the existing delivery mechanisms lead to a leakage of as much as
47% or 25.9 million metric tonnes (MMTs) of the grains (rice and wheat) in 2011-12. It estimated that cash transfers alone could
save the exchequer Rs.30,000 crore every year.
Acknowledging issues inherent in targeting, few states like TN, Chhattisgarh universalized access to PDS and few other schemes.
The government had set up a six-member committee under Shanta Kumar to suggest restructuring or unbundling of FCI to improve
its financial management and operational efficiency in procurement, storage and distribution
Neha Bhosle of food grains.
- Rank Important
15, UPSC CSE 2019

its financial management and operational efficiency in procurement, storage and distribution of food grains. Important
recommendations made:
○ Reduce the number of beneficiaries under the Food Security Act—from the current 67 per cent to 40 per cent.
○ Allow private players to procure and store food grains.
○ Stop bonuses on minimum support price (MSP) paid by states to farmers, and adopt cash transfer system so that MSP and
food subsidy amounts can be directly transferred to the accounts of farmers and food security beneficiaries.
○ FCI should involve itself in full-fledged grains procurement only in those states which are poor in procurement. In the case of
those states which are performing well, like Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, the
states should do the procurement.
○ Abolishing levy rice: Under levy rice policy, government buys certain percentage of rice (varies from 25 to 75 per cent in
states) from the mills compulsorily, which is called levy rice. Mills are allowed to sell only the remainder in the open market.
○ Deregulate fertilizer sector and provide cash fertilizer subsidy of Rs 7,000 per hectare to farmers.
○ Outsource of stocking of grains: The committee calls for setting up of negotiable warehouse receipt (NWR) system. In the new
system, farmers can deposit their produce in these registered warehouses and get 80 per cent of the advance from bank
against their produce on the basis of MSP.
○ Clear and transparent liquidation policy for buffer stock: FCI should be given greater flexibility in doing business; it should
offload surplus stock in open market or export, as per need.
• The country’s food production has increased tremendously from just 51 million tons in 1950-51 to about 253 million tons in
2015-16.
India produces about 280 million tonnes of food grain every year. India leads the world in the production of basmati rice, millets,
pulses, chickpea, ginger, chilly, okra, banana, mango and papaya. For dairy, marine, poultry and meat products, India is a significant
player in the global market.
India’s share in global exports of agriculture products was merely 2% in 2016. The share of India’s high value and value-added
agriculture produce in its agri-export basket is less than 15% compared to 25% in the US and 49% in China.
Agriculture Export Policy - To double agricultural exports from present ~US$ 30+ Billion to ~US$ 60+ Billion by 2022 and reach US$
100 Billion in the next few years thereafter, with a stable trade policy regime.
• According to the Shanta Kumar Committee 2015, only 6% farmers get the benefit of MSP and remaining 94% are dependent on the
markets. SEBI recently allowed options trading in selected commodities, including farm produce - Security to farmers as they will
benefit from a stable price regime. But there are concerns that if speculators dominate trading, the impact on prices could be
significant - cartelization and price-rigging.
As per NSSO 2012-13, less than 10 per cent of the country’s farmers sold their produce at MSPs — the percentage though is a little
higher for sugarcane, wheat and rice farmers.
• Despite restricting tenancy nearly 35 per cent of India’s agricultural land is cultivated by tenant farmers, who tend to be landless,
poor and marginal.
• GM Mustard - India spends about $12 billion on imported edible oil. India has 4th largest GM crop acreage in the world.
• Currently, total edible oil production is just 7.31 million tonnes (mt). Estimated demand of edible oils in India is 24.5 mt. So, total
edible oil import account for 65-70% of the domestic requirements. In early 1990s, it was less than 5%.
Total edible oil requirement by 2022 is estimated at 33.2 mt, assuming per capita consumption of about 22 kg per person a year,
from 19 kg during 2015-16.
India is the fourth largest oil seed-producing country in the world after USA, China and Brazil. Currently, annual oilseed production
from primary sources in India is around 34 mt.
• In 2017-18, the outlay on organic farming is a mere Rs 350 crore under the governments flagship Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana
while the annual subsidy for chemical fertilizers is over Rs 70,000 crore.


• India has low seed replacement rate - below 20% in pulses, below 30% in wheat and rice. Farmer saved seeds account for 80-85% of
total seeds used for crop production, which are of low quality.
• Around 40% of the total cultivated area is treated with the pesticides (State of India Agriculture 2015-2016).
Even though pesticides are essential for improving crop yields, per hectare pesticide use is much lower in India in comparison with
other countries. India uses a low amount of 0.5 kg per ha pesticide compared to 7.0 kg per ha in the USA, 2.5 kg per ha in Europe,
12 kg per ha in Japan.
India is signatory to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) led Stockholm Convention for persistent organic pollutants
and Rotterdam convention for export import of pesticides.
Integrated Pest Management is an eco-friendly approach which aims at keeping pest population at below economic threshold levels
by employing all available alternate pest control methods and techniques such as cultural, mechanical and biological with emphasis
on use of bio-pesticides and pesticides of plant-origin like Neem formulations.

on use of bio-pesticides and pesticides of plant-origin like Neem formulations.
○ The use of chemical pesticides is advised as a measure of last resort when pest population in the crop crosses economic
threshold levels (ETL).
○ The National policy on Agriculture - 2000 and National policy on Farmers - 2007 have supported the IPM.
○ Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture & Co-operation (DAC) has launched a scheme “Strengthening and
Modernization of Pest Management (IPM) Approach in India in 1991-92” has been launched under the “National mission on
Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET)”.
• Fertilizer accounts for large fiscal subsidies (about 73,000 crore or 0.5 % of GDP, nearly 70% of this amount is for Urea), the second
highest after food and only 35% of total subsidy reaches the intended beneficiaries. 130 kilos per hectare - India's fertilizer
consumption, China is 400 kilos per hectare.
PM call to cut urea consumption by half by 2022.
Gas price pooling - Under this, price of domestic natural gas is averaged or pooled with cost of imported LNG to create a uniform
rate for fertilizer plants.
Unlike Di Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Murate of Potash (MOP) which is subsidized based on nutrient content, Urea is
subsidized based on cost of production.
Suggestions:
○ De-canalizing urea imports: Allowing more agencies to import urea and giving them more freedom in procurement decision
would allow flexibility in adjusting to demand.
○ Bringing urea under nutrient based subsidy compared to current practice of cost based subsidy.
○ Secure long-term supplies from locations where energy prices are cheap. For e.g. Agreements from Iran and Oman.

•

•
• The Committee of State Ministers, in charge of Agricultural Marketing to Promote Reforms (2013) has highlighted in its report that
covered and open auction platforms exist only in two-thirds of the regulated markets and Cold storage units exist in less than one-
tenth of the markets and grading facilities in less than one-third.
Mega Food Park - facilitating creation of modern infrastructure for food processing with strong forward and backward linkages
through a cluster based approach.

• The food processing sector contributed 1.6 % of India's GDP in 2015-16. It made up 10.12% of GDP attributable to agriculture and
9% of manufacturing GDP during the same year. Also 11.95% of formal employment in 2015-16. India has a less than 10%
processing level of the large production base.
• Tajamul Haque Committee 2016 - Model Land Leasing Law:

○ About 20% of land holdings are managed by tenant farmers.
○ Need to make land leasing legal.
○ Remove adverse possession clause from laws of states. (Adverse possession creates fear among owners, as a tenant may
claim title if he keeps possession of the land for a specified period of time).
○ Facilitate access to short-term credit and crop insurance based on a simple lease agreement for tenants.
○ Allow automatic resumption of land on expiry of agreed lease period without requiring any minimum area criteria. (In some
states, the criterion stipulates a minimum area to be left to the tenant on expiry of the lease to protect his future).
○ Terms of lease and rent to be determined mutually by owner and tenant.
○ Lease to be terminated within lease period by giving an advance notice of one crop season or one crop or grounds like non-
payment of rent, use of land for purpose other than what was agreed upon, lease harms the land, legal framework of leasing
is not farmer-friendly and both parties are not benefiting.
• Provisions of the Draft Model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitating) Act (APLM), 2017 which
will replace the Agriculture Produce Markets Committee Act, 2003:
○ To create a single agri-market where with single license one can trade agri-produce as well as livestock.
Intra-state trade made available by paying a single fee. Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

○ Intra-state trade made available by paying a single fee.
○ Traders will be able to sell perishables like fruits and vegetables outside existing mandis (wholesale markets).
○ The draft law proposes to cap market fees and commission charges payable by a farmer after bringing produce to a wholesale
market.
○ Cap on levy of market fees is proposed at 2% (of sale price) for fruits and vegetables and 1% for food grains.
○ Warehouses and cold storages are to act as regulated markets.
○ All regulatory powers will lie with the office of the director of agricultural marketing in the state, who will also issue licenses
to traders and new private players. As of now, this power lies with the mandis - managed by a board of directors.
○ Farmers can directly sell their produce to bulk buyers.
• As pointed out by Ramesh Chand, in Punjab, there are as many as 22,000 commission agents and innumerable middlemen in each
market. According to Ashok Gulati, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, commission agents in
Delhi charge exorbitant fees ranging from 6 per cent to 15 per cent.
• NITI Aayog has recommended for completely removing agriculture commodities from the Essential Commodities Act - It will lead to
organized trading, improve scale and logistics benefit and bring about more capital into trade with handful of big traders competing
with each other. This will reduce handling costs, bring economies of scale, reduce prices and increase returns for farmers.
• Pulse Vision 2050: To raise the demand of Pulses 50 MMT by 2050 - The Indian Institute of Pulse Research has envisioned To bridge
the yield gap in pulses through:
○ bringing additional area under pulses by promoting crop diversification, identification of specific areas for pulse production.
○ Improving Yield Stability by development of transgenics against drought, efficient water management in rainfed areas etc.
○ Reducing Post Harvest Losses by development and popularization of harvesters, threshers and graders, modernization of
existing mills, development and popularization of low cost safe storage structures etc.
○ Assured procurement and creation of procurement centers in production zones and announcement of MSP well in advance.
○ Development of organized markets for pulses.
○ Production of value added products and use of by-products.
Pulses in India are grown on about 25 mha of land, largely rain-fed, with only 16% under irrigation. Production hovers between
18-20 MMT. Pulses need much less water and are nitrogen fixing, so they do not need much chemical fertilizer. India produced 101
MMT of rice from about 43 mha, almost 60% of which is irrigated. The key point in the case of rice is that it needs high doses of
water for irrigation, roughly 3,000-5,000 litres per kg of rice, depending on where it is being grown. Further, 40-50% of irrigation
water goes back to groundwater with much higher nitrate content, polluting potable water. Farmers prefer to grow cereals over
pulses because pulses are among the least productive of all crops — the yields are on average 760 kg per hectare, compared to
2,400 kg per hectare for cereals, and 1,100 kg per hectare for oilseeds.
The social returns to pulse production is higher than the private returns, because it uses less water, fertilizer and fixes atmospheric
nitrogen naturally. It also helps keep the soil porous and well aerated. These positive social benefits should be incorporated into
MSP estimates.
• Average yields of wheat and rice in India are much below that of China’s – 46 per cent below in the case of rice and 39 per cent in
the case of wheat. India’s average yield in 2013 of 3075 kg/ha is lower than the world average of 3257 kg/ha.
• India uses 2 to 4 times more water to produce a unit of major food crop than does China and Brazil.
While Brazil and China use approximately 60 per cent of their renewable fresh water resources for agriculture, India uses a little
over 90 per cent.
• During 2016-17 India produced around 5.8 million tonnes of cotton from 10.5 million hectares with total output around 550 kg
lint/hectare.
• The Indian dairy sector provides livelihood to 15 crore farmers. India is the world’s largest milk producer with 163 MMT of the item
produced annually. However, exports of these items from India are negligible (about 0.5 MMT or 0.3% of the production). While
New Zealand controls 25% of the global dairy trade and Australia around 5%. New Zealand and Australia export 86% and 25% of
their production. As per a Crisil report the Indian milk economy is worth Rs 5 lakh crore, growing at a CAGR of 15-16 per cent, out of
which the organized milk economy is worth Rs 80,000 crore.
The average annual milk yield of Indian cattle is 1172 kg which is only about 50% of the global average.
The per capita milk availability in India has gone up from 126 gm per day in 1960 to 359 gm per day in 2015.

• Livestock provides livelihood to two-thirds of rural community. More than three-fourth of the labour demand in livestock
production is met by women. The share of women employment in livestock sector is around 90% in Punjab and Haryana where
dairying is a prominent activity and animals are stall-fed.
There are 19 crore cattle in the country, which amounts to 14% of the total cattle population of the world.
But the livestock sector received only about 12% of the total public expenditure on agriculture and allied sectors, which is
disproportionately lesser than its contribution to agricultural GDP.
Hardly 5% of the cropped area is utilized to grow fodder. India is deficit in dry fodder by 11%, green fodder by 35% and
concentrates feed by 28%. The common grazing lands too have been deteriorating quantitatively and qualitatively. By 2025, going
by the present way of cultivation pattern, there will be 65% deficit of green fodder.
• In India 80 million cattle are unproductive. Government and private cow shelters will be able to take care of only 5-10% of it.
30000 crores worth of exports of leather.
Tanneries in Kanpur - 2 million employed.
22 lakh people employed in the meat industry, India top beef exporter - $ 4 billion.
5% beef, 23% buffalo - so law is stopping total 28% meat production in the country.
• The ‘Blue Economy’ or the ‘Oceans Economy’ is defined by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as
“A subset of, and complement to, the evolving development paradigm emphasizing greener and more sustainable and inclusive
economic paths.” It seeks to expand the economic frontiers of coastal countries beyond their land territories. It is a multi-
disciplinary approach for the exploitation of hydrocarbons and other marine resources, deep sea fishing, preservation of marine
ecology, mitigating climate change by addressing environmental issues and disaster management.
• India contributes about 6.3 per cent to the global fish production (both marine and riverine) and has 14.5 million people engaged in
various fisheries-related activities. The sector contributes to 1.1 per cent of the GDP and 5.15 per cent of the agricultural GDP.
After Independence, fish production has been increased from 7.5 lakh tons in 1950-51 to 114.1 lakh metric tons in 2016-17.
There are two branches of fishery sector namely Inland Fisheries and Marine Fisheries. The total fish production has nearly 65%
contribution from the inland sector and rest form marine fishing.
Marine fisheries wealth in India is estimated at an annual potential of 4.412 million metric tons and annual wealth of Rs. 65,000
crores.
India is the world’s second-largest fish producer with exports worth more than Rs 47,000 crore.
Government has identified thrust areas to enhance fisheries production from 10.79 million metric tons (mt) (2014-15) to 15 mmt in
2020-21. MPEDA envisage an ambitious target of US$ 10 Billion for the year 2020.
In Norway, a fisherman catches 250 kg per day while the Indian average is four to five kg.
• The estimated potential brackish water area suitable for shrimp farming is about 1.2 million hectare of which around 14% is utilized
for farming, producing about 5 lakh tons of shrimp and scampi which is going to the export basket.
Shrimps account for around 70% of the total seafood export from the country valued at Rs 45,000 crore.
In 2017-18, India’s seafood exports have seen a growth of 13.7% in quantity and 10.1% in value. Research expects that in 2019
India’s seafood exports will grow at 17-18%, clearly showing a demand for Indian products.
Seafood exports from India during the year 2014 – 2015 reached to an all-time high of US$ 5.5 Billion. 106 countries in the world
taste Indian seafood, SE Asia, EU, USA, Japan, China and Middle East being the major markets.
India is the second largest aquaculture producer in the world, largest exporter of shrimp to USA, the 2nd largest exporter of shrimps
to Europe and the 4th largest exporter of shrimps to Japan.

• B Meenakumari Committee on deep sea fishing:
○ Allow fishing in the EEZ - between 22 km and 370 km beyond territorial waters – for vessels with a length of 15 meters or
more by getting a "letter of permission" from the Centre.
○ These ships can be owned or acquired by Indian entrepreneurs or by joint ventures with up to 49 per cent foreign investment.
○ Create a buffer zone between the near-shore and offshore regions (waters between 200 m and 500 m in depth) along the
coast and regulate fishing there “in order to augment resources in the near-shore areas as well as the deep-sea regions in the
EEZ”.
• Pharma Sector:
○ Poor and non-transparent Regulatory environment.
○ Lack of enforcement of manufacturing standards as prescribed by Indian laws and WHO standards.
○ Ban of Indian drugs on ground of poor quality, adulterated drugs, hygiene and sanitation standards by developed nations like
US and EU.
○ Bulk Drugs: Growing dependence on imports in the area of bulk drugs. Majority of the import is from China. Bulk Drugs or
APIs are basically the active raw materials used in a drug that gives it the therapeutic effect. Bulk drugs currently constitute
only 10-12 percent share in the country's Rs 80,000 crore-domestic pharmaceutical sector. There is dependency on import
from China. According to industry estimates, 70-80 per cent of the requirement of the industry is met by imports from China,
varying across categories.
Based on recommendations of Katoch committee, Department of Pharmaceuticals had moved draft on Bulk Drugs Policy.
○ IPR: The R&D investment by the domestic pharma industry has gone down in the recent years.
○ Poor and erratic power supply led to decline of the fermentation industry engaged in production of drugs.
○ Lack of coordination among different ministries which deals with different aspects of pharma industry – like Department of
Pharmaceuticals deals with drug policy, Department of Science and Technology deals with innovation etc.
In this sector, 74% FDI would be allowed in the pharmaceutical sector under the automatic route (and 100% by government
approval) in existing domestic companies (Brown Field projects). Currently, FDI up to 100% is permitted in new projects in the
pharma sector (Green field projects).
India is the largest supplier of generic medicines to the world accounting for 20% of global exports in terms of volume.
• 680 formulations come under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) - The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
(NPPA) fixes their ceiling prices.
• Innovate in India (i3) i.e. the national biopharma mission - Currently, India has only 2.8% share in the global biopharmaceutical
market, the program would elevate this to 5% resulting in an additional business opportunity of 16 Billion USD.
A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted
from, or semi-synthesized from biological sources.
The mission aspires to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.
• Cities in India generate two-third of national GDP, 90 per cent of tax revenues and the majority of formal sector jobs, with just a
third of the country’s population.
India's urban population is expected to reach 814 million (50 percent) by 2050. Most municipal governments are unable to
undertake more than 50% collection on property taxes or development charges, mainly due to poor records of property ownership.

•
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has come out with a draft Urban Rental Housing Policy. It classifies rental housing
into two broad categories: Social rental housing for urban poor and market-driven rental housing. But housing is a state subject.
• India has power generating capacity of 270 gigawatts but due to DISCOMs being forced to sell power at a loss, they simply refuse to
lift power production. As a result of which India is currently using only half of its power generation capacity.
15% target of AT&C losses as per UDAY.
India's annual per capita power sector consumption is at 1,149 kWh in 2017-18, which is among the lowest levels in the world.
India houses 1/6th of world's population but uses only 6% of its energy.
To protect against uneven power supply, about 47 percent of firms report using a diesel generator.
The Mata Prasad committee, constituted by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), in its report (October 2016) has

The Mata Prasad committee, constituted by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), in its report (October 2016) has
suggested an overhaul in transmission planning to facilitate transfer of power on economic principles.
The cases of 34 financially stressed power projects, with a capacity of 40 GW and with bank exposure of over Rs 1.8 lakh crore, are
reportedly headed to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for resolution under the Bankruptcy Code - January 2019.
• Cost of power will be reduced - by increased supply of cheaper domestic coal, coal linkage rationalization, liberal coal swaps from
inefficient to efficient plants, coal price rationalization based on GCV (Gross Calorific Value), supply of washed and crushed coal,
and faster completion of transmission lines.
Indian coal has very high ash content - 30-40% ash content as against 10-15% in imported coal. 2009 notification of MoEF provided
guidelines on ash utilization advocated its usage within 100 km radius of thermal power plants. As per a recent study by CSE only
50-60% of the fly ash generated is being utilized. The Maharashtra state cabinet has recently approved the State Thermal Power
Plant Ash Utilization Policy. With this it has become the first state to adopt this policy. Export policy - demand from places like
Singapore and Dubai.
Only 15% of India’s coal production is from underground mines. The industry aims to reach a total coal production of 30% from
underground mines by 2030. There is a clear trend towards underground mines as this has positive implications for the
environment + no land acquisition, forest clearance issues.
The government has indicated that India will reduce its dependence on thermal coal from the current 69 per cent of capacity to
around 50 per cent and increase the share of renewables to 40 per cent by 2035.
China aiming for 20% of its power to come from clean sources (including nuclear) by 2030.
• Lighting accounts for about 20% of the total electricity consumption in India, therefore energy efficiency assumes significance, for
which various initiatives have been taken like:
○ Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LED for All (UJALA) providing LED bulbs to domestic consumers to replace 77 crore incandescent
bulbs with LED bulbs.
○ Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) to replace 1.34 crore conventional street lights with smart and energy efficient
LED street lights by March 2019.
• Deregulation of diesel prices - The government's subsidy bill has come down as it no longer have to reimburse oil companies for
selling diesel at below-market price. In 2013-14, the government had to pay Rs. 85,000 crore for selling diesel, LPG and kerosene at
below-market prices.
• It is planned to reserve crude oil for 90-100 days to meet the requirement during emergency situations and crisis. The present
storage capacity is 70-75 days. The global standard for strategic oil reserves, as set by International Energy Association (IEA) for
member-countries, is 90 days of net oil imports. Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, Padur, Bikaner, Rajkot, Chandikhol.
The country domestic crude oil production of 36.95 million tons in 2015-16 barely met 20 per cent of its oil needs. Natural gas
output at 32.249 billion cubic meters meets less than half of its needs.
Low oil prices could boost India’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.4-0.6 percentage point. India imports more than 80 per cent of
its crude oil and 40 per cent of its natural gas requirement.
According to NITI AYOG exercise, the energy demand in India is likely to go up by 2.7-3.2 times between 2012 and 2040 and thus
import demand could increase from 31% in 2012 to 36-55% in 2040.
• Recent IMF study says that every $10 fall in oil price adds 0.2 percentage points to global GDP growth. And that should mean a
boost of over 1.2 percentage points to global GDP growth when oil has dropped from around $115 a barrel to less than $50 a barrel
within 6 months.
An increase of $10 per barrel in crude prices will lead to an increase of about Rs. 17,000 crore in fuel subsidies, equivalent to 0.09%
of GDP. A $10 fall in crude could reduce the current account deficit by approximately 0.5% of GDP and the fiscal deficit by around
0.1% of GDP.
• Urja Sangam 2015 - PM urged all stakeholders to increase the domestic production of Oil and Gas to reduce import dependence
from 77 % to 67% by the year 2022.
• Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas released Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East with an eye to leverage the
hydrocarbon sector for the development of the North-East India. Aim is doubling Oil and
Neha Gas production
Bhosle - Rank 15,byUPSC
2030, making clean fuel
CSE 2019

hydrocarbon sector for the development of the North-East India. Aim is doubling Oil and Gas production by 2030, making clean fuel
accessible, fast tracking projects, generating employment opportunities and promoting cooperation with neighbouring countries.
Five Pillars of the Vision are: People, Policy, Partnership, Projects and Production.
• Four main facets of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) policy 2016 are:
○ Uniform license for exploration and production of all forms of hydrocarbon, conventional as well as unconventional oil and
gas resources including CBM, shale gas/oil, tight gas and gas hydrates.
○ An open acreage policy.
○ Easy to administer revenue sharing model and
○ Marketing and pricing freedom for the crude oil and natural gas produced.
• Urja Ganga gas pipeline project - 2,050-km pipeline connecting Jagdishpur (UP) to Haldia (West Bengal).
• We can produce second-generation ethanol from biomass, bamboo, rice straw, wheat straw, and cotton straw.
India is set to close in on the highest ever of 7.2 per cent of ethanol blending with petrol in the current season (December 2018 –
November 2019). The current consumption of fuel sets 3300 million liters of ethanol requirement to achieve 10 per cent of blending
target by 2022 for the entire country. Average all India ethanol blending with petrol achieved last year in 2017-18 was 4.22 per
cent.
The new Bio-fuel Policy, 2018 has fixed a target of achieving 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol by 2030.
• As per the study conducted by ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), India’s solar power potential is as high as 748 GW.
Nearly one square kilometer of land is needed to put up a 40-60 MW solar plant. Such large chunks of land are not readily available
except in isolated areas from which evacuation of power becomes even more difficult.
The land requirement for a coal power plant is usually 2023 m2/MW. Compared to this the requirement of land for a solar power is
around 10 times that of coal.
To achieve and maintain the target of 100 GW solar power plants for 25 years, India requires about 6.5 lakh personnel, trained in
solar energy sector (estimated by CII). The wind sector is expected to create 183,500 jobs by 2022, as wind capacity increases to
60GW. Need of synergy between Renewable energy programme and Skill India Initiative, which aims to skill 400 million people by
2022.
• Different climate financing initiatives existing today:

○ Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral body of governments, civil society, banks etc. acting as a financial
mechanism to environmental conventions like UNFCCC etc.
○ Green Climate Fund was created by UNFCCC in 2011 as an operating entity of financial mechanism of the UNFCCC.
○ Carbon taxes and cess by the national governments.
○ Clean Development Mechanism – It involves investment by developed countries in emission reduction projects in developing
countries.
○ Joint Implementation (JI) - JI enables developed countries to carry out emission reduction projects in other developed
countries.
○ Perform Achieve Trade (PAT) - It is a market-based trading scheme under National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency
(NMEEE). It involves trading in energy efficiency certificates to offset emissions.
India has a target of building 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. This requires $200 billion in funding.
• Country’s current installed nuclear capacity is 6,780 MWe. 10 indigenous pressurized heavy water nuclear reactors (PHWR) with
each having a capacity of 700 MWe are being built. India’s Department of Atomic Energy’s target is to have 63GW of nuclear power
capacity by 2032.
US wants to cut nuclear energy from 20% in 2017 to 11% by 2050.
India’s Integrated Energy Policy projects 800 GW installed capacity in 2031-32 out of which 40 % (320 GW) will come from
renewable energy.

• Currently, R&D spending amounts to around 0.9% of GDP. The private sector in India accounts for around 35% of the country’s total
R&D spending, compared to many advanced economies as well as China, where the corresponding number is around 70%.

•
• Long term ideas:

○ To tap the advantages we have in our demographic dividend, we should promote innovation.
○ We must tap our vast Thorium deposits for clean electricity generation and thus end power shortage.
○ Set up desalination plants along our long coastline to provide adequate water for coastal States.
○ Overcome technological issues and build a water grid by linking major rivers, from Ganga to Cauvery, through canals so that
water is available to full fill basic needs in water scarce areas and as well as for irrigation.
○ Develop new alternative technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells to provide an environmentally friendly substitute to
petroleum products.
• India is, currently, a $2.8 trillion economy (June 2019) to reach the $5 trillion mark by 2024, the economy would require nominal
growth in dollar terms of over 12% a year.

•

Vision - International Relations
Also to Read:
August 2014 - Page 26 - WTO Subsidy Issue

September 2014 - Page 44 - India USA History
Mains 365 2016 - Page 85 - Cuba History
Mains 365 2018 - Page 11 - China; Page 18 - GB Order; Page 39 - Kra Canal; Page 42 - ASEAN; Page 55 - North Korea; Page 68 - Israel;
Page 85 - GDPR; Page 89 - NSS + Pacts; Page 96 - Commonwealth; Page 102 - IBSA; Page 106 - Nuclear Policy; Page
109 - Paradiplomacy
Mains 365 2018 Updated - Page 24 - BIMSTEC + BRICS; Page 34 - Major Initiatives for Refugees
• Sri Lanka - a formula called ‘Thirteen-Plus’ was promised during diplomatic negotiations with former Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in 2010. 'Thirteen-Plus' has never been precisely defined, but the 13th
Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution created provincial councils and made both Tamil and Sinhala official languages. India stands
for a “united Sri Lanka”, but wants an “early and full implementation of the 13th Amendment” that provides for devolution in the
Tamil majority Northern and Eastern provinces.
Since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in 2009, China has been heavily investing in infrastructure, including ports, expressways, an airport
and a power plant amounting to $4 billion.
In 2012, India voted against Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council. In 2014, India abstained from voting on the resolution, pressing
what analysts termed a “reset button” in Indo-Lanka diplomacy, however China's apparently growing influence remains a concern
among many.
Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).
SL recently allowed India to jointly develop the Trincomalee port (oil tanks farm) in north-eastern part of the country. SL signed an
agreement with India to build 1,200 houses in Hambantota. India has also bid to lease and manage the Mattala airport in
Hambantota.
Sri Lanka recently formally handed over its southern port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease.
• Iraq - Under a de facto agreement established in recent years, Iraq's prime minister is a Shia Arab, the president is a Kurd and the
speaker of parliament is a Sunni Arab.
Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize - The Yazidis, who face murderous attacks by ISIS militants, are a Kurdish speaking minority in Iraq,
said to number less than half a million. They follow an ancient religion with ties to Zoroastrianism and worship Melek Tawwus, or
the Peacock Angel. Their religion is said to have similarities with Hinduism. In their temples, Yazidi worshippers make wishes and
then throw a scarf around a big rock. If the scarf stays on top of the rock, the wish will be fulfilled. If it falls on the ground, the
worshipper has two more chances. They live primarily in the Lalesh Valley in northern Iraq, 560 km from Baghdad. They fled their
homes after the Islamic State group issued an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death.
Members of this ethnic group have migrated towards Syria, Georgia, Armenia, and Europe.
• In 1990, the GDP of India and China was roughly equal in nominal and purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. In 2017, China’s
economy is nearly five times India’s size in nominal terms and two-and-a-half times larger in PPP terms.
China - Xinjiang, home to the ethnic Turkic Uighurs. It borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Greater China consists of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Face-off between Vietnam and China over the latter’s installation of its deep-water oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 deep within Vietnam’s
claimed exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China doesn't really care about Vietnam's EEZ. What matters to Beijing is the nine-dash line -
A loosely-defined maritime claim based on historical arguments which China uses to claim much of the land mass in the South China
Sea. Going by its U-shaped curve, the larger group of the Spratly Islands also falls within Chinese territory, despite competing claims
by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. The 200 or so mostly uninhabitable islands and rocks also are thought to
be rich in oil and gas.

There have been tense encounters between Japan and China over the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands in recent years, and China has
locked horns with the Philippines over competing claims to the Scarborough Shoal. The United States sees the disputed Senkaku
islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyus, as firmly under Japan’s control.
The South China Sea is a busy international waterway, being one of the main arteries of the global economy and trade. More than
$5 trillion of world trade ships pass through the SCS every year.
India-Vietnam memorandum of understanding for exploration by ONGC Videsh Limited in two blocks in the South China Sea. While
neither of the two blocks signed for is in the disputed part, India’s exploration has irked Beijing in the past.
China is contemplating to establish a military Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea. The imposition of an
ADIZ would require overflying planes to first notify China.
String of Pearls = Cocos Island in Myanmar, Chittagong in Bangladesh, Hambantota (Sri Lanka), Marao Atoll (Maldives) and Gwadar
(Pakistan). China’s expansion into the region is being referred to as the new “Great Game” akin to Britain and Russia who jostled for
influence in Central and South Asia during 19th and 20th centuries.
OBOR - More than 4.4 billion people, or 63 per cent of the global population and 60% global GDP, are expected to benefit. It
involves 126 countries and 29 international organizations.
3,000 km—long China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is part of OBOR. Once the economic corridor is fully developed and
Gwadar Port is fully modernized, China is hoping to reduce its dependency on the longer Malacca Straits route for its humungous
energy need. It will shorten the route for China’s energy imports from the Middle East by about 12,000 kms. CPEC passes through
Baluchistan.
Gwadar port is in Baluchistan. The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is also planned to go through Baluchistan.
Gilgit-Baltistan or Northern Areas do not find any mention in the Pakistani constitution - it is neither independent, nor does it have
provincial status. This helps Pakistan maintain ambiguity about the region, in the way it does with PoK. China constructed the
Karakoram Highway linking Kashghar in Xinjiang with Gilgit.
China-South Asia Cooperation Forum - Recently ‘First China-South Asia Cooperation Forum’ (CSACF)’ was launched in Yunnan
Province with an outcome document ‘Fuxian Lake Initiative’. CSACF Secretariat will be established in Yunnan where its summit also
will be held annually. Officials from SAARC countries (except Bhutan) — plus Myanmar and Vietnam from South-East Asia and some
other countries participated in the forum. India’s participation at the CSACF is at variance from India’s boycott of the BRI, thus
indicating a clear delineation between trade and sovereignty issues.
Great South-North Water Transfer Project is a Chinese project of diverting Tibetan waters.
Aksai Chin - two borders between India and China were proposed during the time of the British Raj – the Johnson’s Line and the
McDonald Line. The Johnson’s line shows Aksai Chin to be under Indian control whereas the McDonald Line places it under Chinese
control. The line that separates Indian-administered areas of Jammu and Kashmir from Aksai Chin is known as the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) and is concurrent with the Chinese Aksai Chin claim line.
McMahon Line separates Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet - China considers the McMahon Line illegal and unacceptable claiming that
Tibet had no right to sign the 1914 Convention held in Shimla which delineated the McMahon line on the map.

• Iran - Chabahar port is located in Sistan-Baluchistan Province on Iran's southeastern coast and is of great strategic utility for India
which will get sea-land access route to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan. From Chabahar port using the existing Iranian road network,
a link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan and then using the Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009, access to Afghanistan's
Garland Highway can be made.
The port would cut transport costs and freight time for India to Central Asia and the Gulf by about a third. India is constructing a 560
mile long railway line linking the Iranian port with the Hajigak in southern Afghanistan which is close to Zaranj-Delaram Highway.
Zahedan is connected with the main Iranian railway network and the proposed rail link when concluded will join Chabahar with
INSTC and provide access to Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and beyond.
International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7200 km long multi-modal transport project established by Iran, Russia
and India for the purpose of promoting transportation cooperation among the Member States. Russia, Iran and India signed the
agreement for the INSTC project in 2002.
It aims for the ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia. This corridor
connects India Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, and then is connected to St. Petersburg and North European via
Russian Federation. In 2014, Dry runs of the two routes in INSTC were conducted, the first was Mumbai to Baku (Azerbaijan) via
Bandar Abbas (Iranian Port) and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan (Russia) via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali (Iran).
Later INSTC was expanded to include 11 new members namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey,
Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Oman and Syria. Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Oman and Syria.
Ashgabat Agreement - India has recently joined the Ashgabat agreement.

○ It is an agreement between the Governments of Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, aiming to establish
international transport and transit corridor linking central Asia with the Persian Gulf, came into force in 2016.
○ Kazakhstan and Pakistan joined the grouping in 2016. India had deposited the Instrument of Accession in April 2016.
○ The Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan (ITK) railway line will be the major route under the Ashgabat Agreement which became
operational in December 2014 and has also been included as part of INSTC.
• Camp Lemonier - US military base in Djibouti.
Given its proximity to the oil sea lanes and oil producing nations, US wanted to build a base at Aldabra Island in the Seychelles, but
had to shift it to Diego Garcia due to political constraints.
The Chagos Islands - referred to by the British as the British Indian Ocean Territory, but which is not recognized as such by
Mauritius - is home to the US military base Diego Garcia. Mauritius has repeatedly asserted that the Chagos Archipelago is part of its
territory and that the UK claim is a violation of UN resolutions banning the dismemberment of colonial territories before
independence. In 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration unanimously held that the marine protected area (MPA) which UK
declared around the Chagos Archipelago in April 2010 was created in violation of international law.
Seychelles is a leader among SIDS group (Small Island Developing States). India has a base in Assumption Island in Seychelles,
strategically located in the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar.
Seychelles is a leader in advancing the concept of ‘blue economy’, which covers several aspects like environment, hydrocarbons,
marine economy, renewable energy and exploration of continental shelf.
India Seychelles Joint Military Exercise Lamitye being conducted since 2001.
Indian navy conducted “Operation Flower Are Blooming” in 1986 to avert a coup and helped Seychelles achieve political stability.
“Blue Economy” is marine-based economic development that leads to improved human well-being and social equity, while
significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.
• Nigeria - Boko Haram wants the Islamic north excised from the Christian south. Africa’s most populous nation of some 160 million
people divided almost equally between Muslims and Christians.
• The BIMSTEC countries host a population of around 1.5 billion, approximately 21% of global population, with cumulative GDP of US$
2.7 trillion. The annual GDP growth rate has averaged around 6%. Trade among the BIMSTEC member countries reached six percent
in just a decade, while in SAARC, it has remained around five percent since its inception. Compared to SAARC, BIMSTEC has greater
trade potential as well. Among the member countries, India’s intra-BIMSTEC trade is around 3 percent of its total trade.
• Russia - Mega gas pipeline deal for Russian exports of $400 billion worth of natural gas to China over 30 years. Agreement to supply
China 38 billion cubic meters of gas every year for 30 years.
Eurasian Economic Union - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have agreed to set up a full-fledged economic bloc that should act as a
bridge between Europe and Asia and a counterweight to Western integration unions + Armenia, Kyrgyzstan joined later.

Russia has been one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s main allies and has used its veto power four times at the 15-nation Security
Council to prevent international sanctions on Syria.
Russia in 2014 lifted arms embargo on Pakistan. Russia and Pakistan conducted a military exercise in September 2016. In 2017, a
military-technical cooperation agreement was signed which deals with arms supply and weapon development.
• Building of the Supreme Court of Bhutan - India's assistance project.
• France - India France Air Exercise Garuda, Naval Exercise Varuna, Exercise Shakti of Army.
Following India’s peaceful nuclear explosion in 1974, the United States and Canada terminated their nuclear engagements with
India, but France supplied us with fuel for the Tarapur nuclear plant. Soon after the India-specific waiver was granted by the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG) in 2008 to engage in civil nuclear trade, France was the first country to sign a civil nuclear agreement with
India.
The first Indian Satellite Telecommunication Experimental Project (STEP) was undertaken during the 1970s by using French satellite
Symphonie, followed by “Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment” (APPLE).
India and France, eying the Indian Ocean, have signed the “reciprocal logistics support” agreement as part of which warships of both
the nations would have access to each other’s naval bases.
• 6th annual BRICS summit 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil - BRICS countries announced the BRICS bank and contingency reserve fund as a
counterpoint to the U.S.-led World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
BRICS consists of 43% of world population, 22% of the total world GDP and 17% world trade share.
BRICS Udaipur Declaration - set up a dedicated Joint Task Force for Disaster Risk Management for regular dialogue, exchange,
mutual support and collaboration.
• Bangladesh - India currently exports 660 MW of electricity, on a daily basis, to Bangladesh.
15-km railway track to link Tripura’s capital Agartala with Bangladesh’s south-eastern city of Akhaurah. Agartala is 1,650 km from
Kolkata and 2,637 km from New Delhi via Guwahati and West Bengal, whereas the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata
through Bangladesh is just about 350 km.
We share 54 trans-boundary rivers, big and small. Bangladesh has been demanding to stop the construction of the Tipaimukh
Hydro-Electric Power Project on the Barak River on the eastern edge of Bangladesh. Bangladesh also allege that dry season flows has
significantly declined in the Hardinge Bridge (Bangladesh) after the commission of the Farakka barrage (India) thereby severely
impacting the agriculture and allied sectors of Bangladesh.
Despite a crackdown by the Sheikh Hasina government, there is continuing presence of anti-India forces across the border like
Harkat-al-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), the recently banned political outfit Jamaat-e-Islami, and HUJI-B whose links to al Qaeda. The current
Awami League government claims to be committed to secularism, and has boldly initiated the trial of war criminals who committed
genocide and mass rape during the Liberation War of 1971. Jamaat-e-Islami has been hardest hit by these trials. Many of their
leaders have been convicted of war crimes. The main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has joined hands with the
Jamaat-e-Islami to unleash violent protests against the government, particularly against the war trials. Much of the recent Islamist
militancy in Bangladesh is in response to the trials of 1971 war criminals by the International Crimes Tribunal.
Sundarban Moitry is a joint exercise between Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Integrated Check Posts at Agartala and Petrapole (biggest land port in South Asia). These will enable greater economic integration
and significantly improve the connectivity between India and Bangladesh.
Through Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT), India is assisting Bangladesh to capture the potential of waterways for
both inter and intra border connectivity of Bangladesh.
The Rooppur NPP will be built on River Padma by Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and the Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) will assist in construction, installation and infrastructural assignments and is the first initiative
under an Indo-Russian deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third country.
India has extended National Knowledge Network for digital connectivity of education with Bangladesh - launched in 2010 with

India has extended National Knowledge Network for digital connectivity of education with Bangladesh - launched in 2010 with
National Informatics Centre (NIC) as the implementing agency. It aims to interconnect all institutions of higher learning and research
with a high speed data communication network to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaborative research.
Teesta - In 2011 India and Bangladesh finalized an arrangement, by which India would get 42.5% and Bangladesh 37.5% while
remaining 20% would flow unhindered in order to maintain a minimum water flow of the river. This agreement was not signed due
to opposition from chief minister of West Bengal.
• Pakistan - expressed concerns over India’s Pakal Dul (1000 MW), Ratle (850 MW) and Lower Kalnai (48 MW) projects — located in
Chenab basin – contending they violated IWT.
Kishanganga hydro power project in Jammu and Kashmir is a 330 megawatt Run of the River Hydroelectric power project located in
Gurez valley of Bandipora district in north Kashmir. It envisages diversion of water from the Kishenganga River to a power plant in
the Jhelum River basin through an underground tunnel and the discharge of the water into the Wular lake. Pakistan is constructing
its own 1,000 megawatts Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project with the assistance of China on its side of the river.
One of the oldest Track-II initiatives (referred as Neemrana dialogue) between India and Pakistan and was first held in 1991-92, in
Neemrana Fort (Rajasthan). Track II Diplomacy is also known as Backchannel Diplomacy, in which private individuals (such as former
diplomats, military veterans, academicians etc.), meeting unofficially, can find their way to common ground that official negotiators
can’t and the talks under it are not codified as official statements.
• WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement - If customs processes are unified and simplified, there could be huge benefits for the world
economy—estimates suggest that it could enable the creation of an additional $1 trillion in global GDP and create 21 million new
jobs across the world. This would be a boost of over 1 percent to the global GDP simply via the reduction of red tape.
• Ebola - Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria.
• Israel - Iron Dome is a mobile all-weather air defence system developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. The Iron Dome
system has emerged as a game-changer in the current round of violence, with Israeli officials citing a success rate as high as 90
percent. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometers
to 70 kilometers away and whose trajectory would take them to a populated area. Iron Dome was declared operational and initially
deployed on 27th March 2011. It is part of a future multi-tiered missile defence system that Israel is developing, that will also
include Arrow 2, Arrow 3, Iron Beam and David's Sling.
• Three and a half decades after the rule of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge ended, a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal sentenced two top
leaders of the regime to life in prison on war crimes charges for their role in the 1970s. The case, covering the forced exodus of
millions of people from Cambodia’s towns and cities and a mass killing, is just part of the Cambodian story. Nearly a quarter of the
population died under their rule, through a combination starvation, medical neglect, overwork and execution when the group held
power in 1975-79.
• Australia has about 40% of the world’s recoverable uranium resources and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of yellow cake annually.
India and Australia signed the civil nuclear deal in September 2014. With this move, India becomes the first country to buy
Australian uranium without being a signatory to the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
• India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterized by open borders and deep-rooted people-
to-people contacts of kinship and culture. Under the provisions of India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 Nepalese
citizens have availed facilities and opportunities at par with Indian citizens. Nepal wants to amend 1950 Treaty of Peace and
Friendship which enjoins it to consult India before buying weapons or enter into any security relationship with a third country.
Nepal - 900 MW Upper Karnali Hydro Power Project by GMR.
Nepal’s installed hydel capacity of 700 MW is much lesser than potential of over 80,000 MW. Further considering 60% of the Ganga
waters come from Nepal’s rivers and 80% of these flows take place in monsoon months, effective water management for both
irrigation and power generation cannot be under-emphasised.
Earthquake was April 2015 - India dispatched NDRF teams, rescue and relief materials and extended New Line of Credit agreement
for US$ 750 million for post-earthquake reconstruction projects.
September 2015 - 6 months blockade - tilt towards China began.
The protestors were upset that the federal restructuring of Nepal into seven provinces left the Madhesi divided among five
provinces, with only one of them having a majority of plains-origin people. The constituency delimitation is skewed against the

provinces, with only one of them having a majority of plains-origin people. The constituency delimitation is skewed against the
Madhesi population as half the population, that is the Pahari (Hill) community gets 100 seats but the other half consisting of the
Madhesi and the Janajatis get only 65 seats. Main demand of the Madhesi for the creation of two separate Madhesi provinces on
the plains of Nepal.
China agreement to provide the Tianjin seaport for transit of Nepali goods imported from third countries - At present 98 per cent of
Nepal’s third country trade goes through India and to the port of Kolkata. The viability of agreement is debated as Tianjin is located
at a distance of 3,000 km from Nepal, as against 1,000 km from the Haldia port currently used.
Nepal-Bharat Maitri Irrigation Project launched in 2017 - aims for the construction of 2,700 shallow tube well irrigation systems in
12 districts of the country's southern Terai region.
September 2018 - Nepal China Transit Agreement - China formally agreed to provide seven transit points– four sea ports (Tianjin,
Shenzhen, Lianyungang, Zhanjiang) and three land ports (Lanzhou, Lhasa, Xigatse) – to Nepal for trade with third countries.
India needs to finish the infrastructure projects on time for instance Pancheswar project has been pending for over 20 years now -
India and Nepal signed Mahakali Treaty in 1996. Implementation of Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project is the centrepiece of the
Mahakali Treaty.
Possibility of construction of a Raxaul-Kathmandu railway line.
Nearly 30 lakh Nepalis (some 10 per cent of Nepal’s population) are employed in India; this includes some 50,000-60,000 soldiers.
Two thirds of Nepal’s global trade is with India and over 90 per cent of their exports/imports go through India.
• Crimea - Many of those in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine distrust the new central government in Kiev, which came to power after
the February 2014 ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych, whose power base was in eastern Ukraine. The insurgency in
mostly Russian—speaking eastern Ukraine flared up in April 2014, a month after Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s peninsula of
Crimea in response to the ouster of Ukraine’s former pro—Russian president and Kiev’s shifted policy towards the European Union.
Public support for Mr. Putin is high because of the seizure of Crimea, a Russian territory until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave it
to Ukraine 70 years ago in 1954.
• AIIB - The 21-nation group comprises Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Japan, Indonesia,
South Korea and Australia keep out.
• SAARC grid—originally floated in 2009 as part of an Asian Development Bank report on SAARC energy trade—long-pending inter-
regional power grid project for enhancing energy cooperation and interconnectivity among the eight nations comprising the SAARC.
A significant example of an inter-regional power grid is the Central Asian Power Grid or the Central Asian Power System, built during
the Soviet Era. The common power system—created by the Soviet Union for Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Turkmenistan—worked till the countries were part of the Union, but started facing difficulties since 1991.
Education Ministers of SAARC issued a joint statement in New Delhi titled 'The New Delhi Declaration on Education.' Education
Ministers and officials of eight South Asian countries have resolved to collaborate on increased use of information technology and
improving the quality of education. The priority areas of action decided upon include enhancing the learning and development
readiness of preschool age children, ensuring education for all, expanding skill development, facilitating mutual recognition of
qualifications and mobility of students and teachers and expanding alternative ways of learning like open and distance education.

• India is the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, having contributed more than 200,000 troops in 43 out of 69
peacekeeping missions mandated by the United Nations Security Council in the last 70 years. The UN also owes India $110 million,
the second highest outstanding payment to any country, for costs relating to peacekeeping operations and troops.
Currently India is the third largest troop contributor in the world, with over 6,000 personnel deployed in Cyprus, Congo, Haiti,
Lebanon, the Middle East, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
Both during the World War I, when 14 lakh Indians went to the battle front, and the World War II, the participation of Indians was
immense.
India has lost the highest number of its peacekeepers in various UN peacekeeping operations in the last 70 years, with 168 military,
police and civilian personnel from the country laying down their lives in the line of duty.
India was among the founding members of United Nations. India has been a member of UNSC for 7 terms and a member of G-77
and G-4, so permanent membership to UNSC is a logical extension.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the
maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the
establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions; it is the only
UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
• Norway - Rovaneimi, the “official home” of Santa Claus. Rovaneimi is promoted as a destination where you can meet Santa Claus
every day.

every day.
• The Golden Triangle is a region in Northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar that is infamously known as a production region of drugs.
The Golden Crescent is the name given to Asia’s principal area of illicit opium production, located at the crossroads of Central,
South, and Western Asia. This space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, whose mountainous peripheries define
the crescent though only Afghanistan and Pakistan produce opium, with Iran being a consumer and trans-shipment route for the
smuggled opiates. Traditionally India was only a transit route, but now the demand for various drugs is increasing within the
country.
• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year - importance of three ‘Cs’ in bringing about synergy among
Indians worldwide: Come, Connect, and Contribute. 1915 - Gandhi returned on this day. Celebrated from 2003.
• The EU accounts for more than 50 per cent of total exports of fruits and vegetables from India. It is now mandatory for exports of all
perishable items to the EU to be routed through pack-houses certified by the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export
Development Authority under the vigilance of plant protection inspectors.
• Global wealth inequality has reached staggering proportions with 1 in 9 people not getting enough to eat and over a billion on less
than $ 1.25 a day.
• The U.S. has agreed to partner with Indian in developing three smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam.
• Ansar Allah ("Supporters of God"), more commonly known as the Houthis. They unilaterally announced the dissolution of the
Yemeni parliament and said a new interim Assembly and government would be formed, a move denounced by a main political
faction as a coup. The Houthis are followers of the Shia Zaidi sect, the faith of around a third of Yemen’s population.
• The Kokang people are an ethnic group of Burma. They are Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese living in Kokang, administered as
Kokang Special Region. Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army or Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)
is a rebel army in Kokang, northeastern Burma. The army has existed since 1989, having been the first one to sign a ceasefire with
the Burmese government that lasted for about two decades. On 9 February 2015 the MNDAA tried to retake the Kokang self-
administered zone, which had been under its control until 2009 and clashed with Burmese government forces in Laukkai. Heavy
fighting between the Myanmar army and Kokang rebels for control of Laukkai Township, capital of the self—administered Kokang
zone, in the northern Shan state, is causing civilians to flee across the border. China has assured Myanmar that it will not interfere in
its domestic affairs, despite a cross-border surge in the Yunnan province of refugee.
• Albinism is a hereditary genetic condition which causes a total absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. It affects one
Tanzanian in 1,400, often as a result of inbreeding. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights harshly condemned the
murder and mutilation of a toddler with albinism in Tanzania. Body parts of persons with albinism are used for witchcraft in the
country. Attacks on people with albinism, which are often motivated by the use of body parts for witchcraft rituals, had claimed the
lives of at least 75 people since 2000. Body parts of people with albinism sell for around $600 in Tanzania, with an entire corpse
fetching $75,000, according to the UN. - WTF
• India is not party to the 1983 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and also not a U.S. Treaty
Partner under the convention. The Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on
Private International Law (HCCH) that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from
one member country to another.
• SCO membership importance:

○ Energy security - Some of the member countries of the grouping are rich in energy resources – both hydrocarbons and
uranium – and they want to connect with big energy markets like India.
○ Security - The Asian-Eurasian block can play a key role not only in stabilizing Afghanistan post-2014, but also help form a joint
platform against terrorism, reducing and minimizing the menace of drug trafficking, cyber security and ensuring energy
security to all stakeholders.
○ SCO’s regional anti-terrorist structure - counter terror exercises and military drills. RATS coordinates cooperation for security
and stability, through intelligence-sharing on criminal and terrorist activities.
○ Economic integration - An important factor is the promotion of India’s economic integration with the Central Asian republics,
which is in line with India’s Connect Central Asia policy. India has long historical and cultural ties with countries in the Central
Asia region but economic relations lack substance – a gap that membership in the SCO could help address by opening up
avenues for trade in the region.
○ Iran’s observer status will ensure the SCO serves as a platform for India to discuss trade through the Iranian ports of Bandar
Abbas and Chabahar, and link them to the Russian proposal for a North-South Transport Corridor.
○ With Russia and China taking the lead, the SCO could even prove a guarantor for projects such as the TAPI (Turkmenistan-
Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) and IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India) pipelines that India has held off on security concerns.

Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) and IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India) pipelines that India has held off on security concerns.
○ The SCO will now represent over 42% of humanity and nearly 20% of the global GDP.
Qingdao Declaration by the SCO member states leaders calls for prioritizing the implementation of the Cooperation Programme to
fight terrorism, separatism and extremism for 2019-2021 and speeding up the coming into effect the SCO Convention on Countering
Extremism.
The SCO Anti-Drug Strategy for 2018-2023 and the Programme of Action for its implementation, as well as the Concept for the
Prevention of the Abuse of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances adopted at the Qingdao summit.
India coined SECURE strategy for comprehensive security in the SCO region in the Qindao summit:
S- Security of citizens
E- Economic development for all
C- Connecting the region
U- Uniting our people
R- Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity
E- Environmental protection
The Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan became independent in the 1990s.
In 2012, India announced the ‘Connect Central Asia’ policy, and also announced to hold an India-Central Asia Dialogue at Track II
annually in one of the republics.
• Indian Ocean channels carry two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments, a third of the bulk cargo and half of all container traffic. Also
95% of India’s trade by volume, 68% of trade by value and 80% of crude oil imports and 45% of LNG.
Forty per cent of the world’s offshore oil production takes place in the Indian Ocean basin. Fishing in the Indian Ocean now accounts
for almost 15 per cent of the world’s total.

• Indo-Mauritians form about 70% of the country’s population. Mauritius celebrates its National Day on March 12 as a mark of
respect to Mahatma Gandhi, who began his Dandi march on this day in 1930.
• Lee Kuan Yew - first prime minister of Singapore, was in power for 31 years - country was separated from Malaysia in 1965 -
“Singapore model,” sometimes criticized as soft authoritarianism, included centralized power, clean government and economic
liberalism along with suppression of political opposition and strict limits on free speech and public assembly, which created a
climate of caution and self-censorship.
• Iran and P5+1 JCPOA:

○ Completely eliminate its stock of medium enriched uranium.
○ Iran will reduce the number of installed centrifuges by two-thirds.
○ Bring uranium stocks down from 10,000 kg to 300 kg LEU (low-enriched uranium).
○ Turn its nuclear facility in Fordow into an R&D facility for 15 years.
○ All the excess stockpile and nuclear parts will be kept at an IAEA-monitored location.
○ The U.N., the U.S. and the EU will withdraw all sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy for years.
The reason sighted by the USA for withdrawal is that the deal does not target- Iran’s ballistic missile programme, its nuclear
activities beyond 2025 and its role in conflicts in Yemen and Syria.

• TAPI - It has the capacity to carry 90mn standard cubic meters a day gas for a 30-year period, of which India and Pakistan would get
38 mnscmd each, and Afghanistan would get the remaining 14 mnscmd. The 1735 km gas pipeline is expected to stretch from the
largest gas field in Turkmenistan, Galkynysh, through Afghanistan’s provinces of Herat and Kandahar to Fazilka, area located
between India and Pakistan. The four nations’ president signed the intergovernmental agreement of the TAPI project in 2010 in
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
• In its 2015 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Rights, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has
retained India in its “Priority Watch List”. The “Special 301” Report is an annual review of the global state of IPR protection and
enforcement. Each year the USTR identifies countries which do not provide "adequate and effective" protection of intellectual
property rights or "fair and equitable market access to United States persons that rely upon intellectual property rights". Trading
partners on the Priority Watch List present the most significant concerns regarding insufficient IPR protection or enforcement or
actions that otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.
• The story of Princess of Ayodhya Suriratna who is believed to have travelled to South Korea in 48 AD to marry King Kim Suro. A
prominent branch of the Kim clan called the Gimhae Kims proudly claim this Indian lineage.
• The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is a regional
intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab
Emirates.
• Ireland has a written constitution which can only be amended by referendum. Ireland is the first country to legalize same-sex
marriage through a popular vote.
• India achieved Observer status in the Arctic Council during the period of Sweden’s Chairmanship.
• The Global Apollo Programme aims to make the cost of clean electricity lower than that from coal-fired power stations across the
world within 10 years. It calls for 15 billion British Pounds a year of spending on research, development and demonstration of green
energy and energy storage, the same funding in today’s money that the US Apollo programme spent in putting astronauts on the
moon. The plan is the brainchild of a group of eminent UK scientists, economists and businessmen including Sir David King, currently
the UK’s climate change envoy, Lord Nicholas Stern, Lord Adair Turner and ex-BP chief Lord John Browne. The programme was
discussed at the Energy Ministers run-up meeting to the 41st G7 summit.
• The Kurdistan Workers' Party, commonly referred to by its Kurdish acronym, PKK is a Kurdish militant organization based in Turkey
and Iraqi Kurdistan. The group has been fighting Turkey for autonomy since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by
Ankara and its allies. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by several states and organizations, including the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union. However countries such as India, China, Russia, Switzerland and
Egypt have not designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.

• The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide was the genocidal killing, in July 1995, of more than 8,000 Muslim
Bosniaks in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. On July 8, 2015, Russia vetoed, by request of the Republika
Srpska and Serbia, a UN resolution condemning the Srebrenica massacre as genocide, Serbia calling the resolution "anti-Serb".
Serbia and Bosnian Serbs deny the killings were “genocide,” and claim that the death toll has been exaggerated.
• The Koreas are still technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice agreement and not a proper ceasefire.
Since then there have been several incidents of border violence. While the two countries have not had a full-scale armed conflict
since 1953, tensions on the peninsula have remained high, particularly after the North went nuclear in 2006. The border is the
world’s most heavily armed and there has never been a formal peace agreement ending the Korean War, so the area is always
essentially in a “quasi-state of war”.
• The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project is a project that will connect the seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in
Myanmar by sea; it will then link Sittwe seaport to Lashio in Myanmar via Kaladan river boat route and then from Lashio on to
Mizoram in India by road transport. Current route from North East to Kolkata port via chicken neck faces heavy traffic; cargo via this
route takes many days to reach a port. This project will reduce distance from Kolkata to Mizoram by approximately 1000 km and cut
travelling time to 3-4 days for transport of goods. Apart from development of North-East region, this route is necessary in case of
any conflict with China as the present route, i.e., chicken neck could be blocked by China in conflict situation.
India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway - 3,200-km India-ASEAN trilateral highway that extends from Moreh in India to Mae Sot
in Thailand via Mandalay, Myanmar. In the future, the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway could link up with already existing
roads like the one linking Thailand with the Vietnamese port of Da Nang.
In terms of security and strategic partnership, several deep sea ports of Myanmar, including Yangon and Dawei, can be crucial for
India like Chabahar port in the west.
The Rhi-Tiddim road in the Chin state bordering Mizoram.
The Archeological Survey of India has also recently restored the Ananda temple, a jewel among all Bagan pagodas.
• Maldives timeline:
○ In October 2008 the Maldives held free and fair elections which ended the 30-year rule of autocrat Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
○ President Mohamed Nasheed of Maldivian Democratic party (MDP) came to power after elections in 2008.
○ Nasheed’s alleged order to arrest Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, whom he accused of political bias and
corruption, led to weeks of protests.
○ Nasheed was forced to resign in February 2012, and lost a presidential election one year later to Abdulla Yameen.
○ In the 2013 election, held after the country’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Nasheed resigned amid
protests, the Supreme Court annulled the first round of voting, in which Nasheed was leading.
○ Yameen, candidate of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), clinched an unexpected victory in the presidential run-off over
opposition leader and former president Mohammed Nasheed.
○ Abdulla Yameen was sworn in as the sixth President of the Maldives.
○ Nasheed was arrested over the detention of a judge in 2012, was charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1990. Nasheed had
taken shelter at the Indian High Commission in Male to avoid arrest in connection with the same case in February 2013.
○ Nasheed was jailed for 13 years on terrorism charges. A United Nations panel had ruled the jailing illegal and called for his
immediate release.
○ The Yameen Presidency has been criticized widely for its intolerance of dissent and crackdown on the opposition. Maldivian
government took several steps to bolster Yameen's authority such as removal of Chief Justice, police chiefs and arrest of Vice
President and former Defence Minister. These incidents earned widespread condemnations from various countries, including
India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped Maldives in his Indian Ocean tour.
○ Yameen even proclaimed Emergency fearing Impeachment.
○ Yameen Presidency also saw tilt to China, FTA, 70% aid comes from China. Radicalization grew. Visas renewal rejected. Asked
India to remove Dhruv advanced light helicopters. Declined India’s invitation to take part in biennial eight-day naval exercise,
MILAN. With China owning 70 per cent of the country's debt, the Maldives is now into serious debt trap.
○ November 2018 - victory of Ibrahim Solih. Triumph of democratic forces in the Maldives, also reflects the firm commitment to
the values of democracy and the rule of law.
India provided bottled water through its helicopters to Maldives when its only water treatment plant collapsed in December 2014.
• The Arab-Indian Co-operation Forum was launched in New Delhi in 2008. The 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation
Forum was held on 24 January 2016 in the Bahraini capital Manama.
• Africa = 55 countries in the continent. India is the largest contributor to UN-mandated peacekeeping
Neha Bhosle - Rankand
15,other
UPSC operations
CSE 2019in Africa,

• Africa = 55 countries in the continent. India is the largest contributor to UN-mandated peacekeeping and other operations in Africa,
with more than 30,000 personnel involved in 17 of 22 total missions in the region since 1960.
In 2006, India launched its flagship aid initiative in Africa by constructing the $125 million Pan-African e-Network, the continent's
largest tele-education and telemedicine initiative. The network links 47 African countries with schools and hospitals in India through
satellite and fiber-optic links.
Among the most important technical assistance programmes are the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme
and the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Programme for Africa (SCAAP). Under ITEC and SCAAP, some 1,000 African
experts are given short-term training in India every year in a number of technical fields — from public administration to agricultural
research and computer literacy.
Light up and power Africa initiative - Under this the African Development Bank has entered into partnership with the International
Solar Alliance (ISA) to scale up solar energy in Africa.
Recently Indian government approved the opening of 18 new Indian missions up from current 29 missions over four years
(2018-2021) in Africa with an aim to expand its footprints.
African countries are set to launch the African Continental Free Trade Area or AfCFTA, the biggest free trade agreement in the world
since the World Trade Organization. AfCFTA is projected to increase intra-African trade by 52.3 percent by 2022; from 2010 levels.
India’s exports to Africa could increase by US$4.3 billion (or 10 percent) by 2022 if AfCFTA is established.
• BREXIT - Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon treaty.
• Significance of the MTCR membership - a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal and voluntary partnership among 35
countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying above 500 kg payload
for more than 300 km.
○ The MTCR membership will provide a boost to India's space and missile technology, besides the government's Make in India
initiative.
○ India’s space programme will be an obvious beneficiary, albeit belatedly – in the 1990s, New Delhi’s pursuit of Russian
cryogenic engine technology was stymied by the MTCR.
○ MTCR membership will enable India to buy high-end missile technology and also enhance its joint ventures with Russia.
○ Membership will ease the way for New Delhi to export its supersonic BrahMos cruise missile.
○ India will be able to import Predator drones from the US.
• Importance of NSG membership:

○ India is keen to become a member of the NSG, apart from being stakeholders in the Wassenaar Agreement and Australia
Group, to expand its nuclear power generation.
○ India also wishes to enter the export market in the coming years.
○ Membership with the NSG will provide greater certainly and a legal grounding for India's nuclear regime, evoking greater
confidence of countries that invest billions of dollars to set up ambitious nuclear power projects in India.
○ With India committed to reducing dependence on fossil fuels and ensuring that 40% of its energy is sourced from renewable
and clean sources, there is a pressing need to scale up nuclear power production. This can only happen if India gains access to
the NSG.
○ With access to latest technology, India can commercialize the production of nuclear power equipment. This in turn will boost
innovation and high tech manufacturing in India and can be leveraged for economic and strategic benefits.
○ India’s entry into the NSG will strengthen the global non-proliferation regime.
○ It will formalize 2008 waiver that we got from NSG.
○ Not being a member, India does not have any control over future amendments. It means that the waiver that India enjoyed, in
a sense, can be reversed by subsequent amendments.
○ There has been one major change in guidelines which is that the NSG in 2011, adopted a new rule which introduced a non-
proliferation treaty criterion for the export of reprocessing and enrichment (ENR) equipment.
• Grouping of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka met for the South Asia Sub-regional Economic
Cooperation (SASEC) programme in Delhi to release the first SASEC Operational Plan 2016-2025. SASEC’s lead financier, the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), has already approved about 40 infrastructures and IT projects worth about $7.7 billion.
• The world is faced with more than 21 million refugees, almost 41 million internally displaced, 3.2 million asylum seekers and
increasing flows of mixed migrants caused by conflict, repression and poverty. 1 in 200 children in the world is a child refugee.
The global migrant population constitutes 4 per cent of the world’s population. According to the United Nations, approximately 258
million migrants around the world are living outside their country of birth. Around 68 million
Neha Bhosleout of these
- Rank 15,are in “forcibly
UPSC displaced”.
CSE 2019

million migrants around the world are living outside their country of birth. Around 68 million out of these are in “forcibly displaced”.
The UN data also shows that more than 60,000 migrants have lost their lives while on the move.
The last 50 years has seen an almost doubling of immigration; 115 million immigrants live in developed countries; 20%
(approximately 38 million) live in the US alone, making up 13% of its population; 33% of all immigrants live in Europe; 75% live in just
28 countries; Women constitute approximately half of all migrants at around 95 million.
As per the latest World Migration Report published by the International Organization for Migration, India features as the largest
country of origin for international migrants (about 17.5 million in 2019) and the largest recipient of remittances (about $78.6 billion
in 2019).
Migrants across the globe sent approximately USD 600 billion in remittances in 2017, which is three times higher than the global
Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).
According to the World Bank, around 143 million people, especially in the developing world, could be forced to relocate within their
countries by 2050.
Another study shows that about 2 billion people may become climate change refugees by 2100.
According to Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, every year since 2008, an average of 26.4 million persons around the world
have been forcibly displaced by floods, windstorms, earthquakes or droughts.
It is estimated that 20 million people in four North African and Middle Eastern countries — Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and
Yemen — are facing extreme drought, and many of these individuals are becoming refugees, forced from their homelands in search
of stable food sources.
Nansen Initiative (2012) - It’s a state-led consultative process to build consensus on a protection agenda addressing the needs of
people displaced across borders in the context of disasters and the effects of climate change i.e. the “Climate refugees”.
United Nation’s Global Compact on Migration - It is the first, inter-governmentally negotiated agreement and is framed consistent
with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in which member States committed to cooperate internationally
to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration.
Other International Protocols:

○ Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).
○ Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (2000).
○ International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990).
• The G20 started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.
G20 represents 85% of global GDP, 80% of international trade, 65% of world’s population.
• The Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009 (also known as the Kerry-Lugar-Bergman Act) was an Act of Congress passed
into law in 2010. It authorizes the release of 1.5 billion USD per year to the Government of Pakistan as non-military aid from the
period of 2010 to 2014. It was proposed by Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar.
U.S. expenditure on rebuilding Afghanistan stands at $104 billion, slightly more than what the U.S. spent on the Marshall Plan
(adjusted for inflation) for rebuilding 16 European countries after World War II. However, delivery on the ground averages below 25
per cent, given inefficient delivery mechanisms, poor planning and excessively high administration overheads.
The cumulative level of committed Indian assistance to Afghanistan amounts to US$ 2 billion.
2018 - The Afghan government controls barely half the country, with one-sixth under Taliban control and the rest is contested.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was launched in 2011 and the participating countries include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,
China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE. These 14 member
countries are supported by 16 other countries and 12 international organizations. The platform was floated to encourage security,
political and economic cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours. It has three key pillars: Political Consultations,
Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and Cooperation with Regional Organizations.
Amritsar Declaration at 6th Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia - It called for immediate elimination of terrorism to help
Afghanistan in its political and economic transition. State-sponsored terrorism was identified as a key challenge and members
agreed upon a concerted effort to dismantle all kinds of terrorism. Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

agreed upon a concerted effort to dismantle all kinds of terrorism.
During the Soviet-Afghan war (1979-89), India was the only South Asian nation to recognize the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic
of Afghanistan. India also provided humanitarian aid to then Afghan President Najibullah's government. Following the withdrawal of
the Soviet forces, India continued to provide Najibullah's government with humanitarian aid.
In 1999, India became one of the key supporters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.
In 2005, India proposed Afghanistan's membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Afghanistan’s highest civilian honour, the Amir Amanullah Khan Award.
India donated three Mi-25 attack helicopters to Afghanistan as part of the bilateral strategic partnership to counter the Taliban.
India and Afghanistan inaugurated a dedicated air freight corridor service in 2017 which could provide Afghanistan greater access to
markets in India.
• More than one million people in Myanmar identify as Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim group living mainly in Rakhine State on the
country’s western coast. These people lack documentation to satisfy the constitutional requirement that their ancestors settled in
the country before 1823. 400,000 still in Myanmar as of November 2017.
Over 13,000 Rohingyas are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India. Around 40,000
Rohingyas are illegally living in India as of September 2017.
International Crisis Group flagged the emergence of a new insurgent group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) - led by
Rohingya emigres in Saudi Arabia, commanded by Rohingyas on the ground with international training and abreast with modern
guerrilla tactics.
India has not signed the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees, or its 1967 Protocol that stipulates the
rights and services host states must provide refugees. The Passport (Entry of India) Act, 1920, The Passport Act, 1967, The
Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, The Foreigners Act, 1946, and The Foreigners Order, 1948, are consulted by Indian authorities
with regard to the entry of refugees and asylum seekers. According the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
India has close to 2 lakh refugees living within its territory.
There are almost 13 lakh Rohingyas living in Bangladesh (March 2018). As per UN estimates, nearly 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have
fled Myanmar's Rakhine state into Bangladesh since recent eruption of violence of August 2017.
• 70 per cent of India’s imported energy needs come from West Asia. 11 million Indians working in West Asia. The Indian diaspora in
the West Asia region remits around USD 40 billion a year.
The Indian diaspora around the world now stands at 31.2 million, of which PIOs were 17 million and NRIs were 13 million, spread
across 146 countries in the world.
• India has done away with older BITs for over 50 countries, including those in theNeha
EU, and has asked
Bhosle these
- Rank 15,countries
UPSC CSE to sign the new
2019

• India has done away with older BITs for over 50 countries, including those in the EU, and has asked these countries to sign the new
ones based on the new model. The previous BITs with these countries expired on 1st April, 2017.
The text of the Indian Model BIT was approved by the Cabinet in December 2015. The revised model BIT will be used for re-
negotiation of existing BITs and negotiation of future BITs and investment chapters in Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
Agreements (CECAs)/ Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) / Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
• Burundi, South Africa and Gambia have quit ICC. Kenya and Uganda now, intend to follow the suit. Russia also formally withdrew
from the International Criminal Court (ICC) - ICC is the world’s first legal body with permanent international jurisdiction to prosecute
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes - formed by Rome Statute.
• India is placed 34th in terms of Soft Power as per the second annual list of nations with the greatest magnitude of soft power
released by London-based PR outfit Portland Communications - soft power is the ability of a country to persuade others to do what
it wants without resorting to force or coercion, the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal and persuasion.
• GSAT-9 = South Asian satellite - Its benefits include mapping natural resources, tele-medicine, tele-education, IT connectivity, DTH
connectivity, more predictable weather forecasting and quick response to natural disasters.
• There are 16,400 nuclear weapons on Earth today - this Balance of Terror provided the world with a very precious gift, the gift of
peace, security and international stability. It acts as a deterrent against usage of nuclear weapons.
• Education has been deeply affected by the scale of crisis in the Arab Region, with over 13 million children and youth not going to
school due to conflict.
• India’s per capita GDP (adjusted for PPPP) is less than half of China, one third of Brazil and one fourth of Russia.
• RCEP - the world’s biggest free trade pact. The 16 nations account for a total GDP (PPP basis) of about $50 trillion (or about 40% of
the global GDP) and house close to 3.5 billion people (about half the world’s population). It also accounts for 29% of world trade and
26% of world foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. Actual combined gross domestic product of $21.3 trillion.
NITI Aayog note on Free Trade Agreements and their costs points out that India’s trade deficit with the RCEP group (it already has
FTAs with the ASEAN, South Korea and Japan) has risen from $9 billion in 2004-05 to over $80 billion today.
• India’s trade stands at 40% of GDP now.
China - The bilateral trade between the two nations reached $95.54 billion in 2018, but the trade deficit was at $53 billion in China’s
favour and it constitutes more than 40% of India's total trade deficit. China’s exports to India account for only 2% of its total exports,
while China’s share in India’s imports stands at 16.6%.
Currently, the volume of bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh is about $9 billion while the trade potential is at least four
times the present level.
Sri Lanka - Bilateral trade in 2015 amounted to US $ 4.7 billion.
Pakistan MFN - Bilateral trade between the two nations was just $2.6 billion in 2015-16 (of which $2.2 billion constituted India’s
exports to Pakistan) - which represented a minuscule 0.4 per cent of India’s overall goods trade worth $643.3 billion in the same
year. Trade potential is $37 billion.
India-Africa trade was worth almost $60 billion in 2017-18, it further has the potential to grow threefold to $150 billion in next five
years. Indian companies invested some $30-35 billion in the continent over the past decade. India is the fifth largest country
investing in the continent, with investments over the past 26 years amounting to $54 billion. While trade has improved in these ten
years, it is still much less than Africa’s trade with China, which was $220 billion in 2017-18. Besides, China has invested more than
$180 billion in Sub-Saharan Africa alone in areas ranging from energy to infrastructure during the period 2005-2015. Chinese
President grabbed headlines by announcing a hefty $60 billion package for Africa towards end of 2018.
At present the five Central Asian republics account for trade of only about $2 billion with India, compared to about $50 billion with
China that has made them a key to its Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative.
In spite of CEPA India Japan trade it has not produced the anticipated results. In 2011-12, the total volume of the bilateral trade was
$18.43 billion, but it declined to $13.48 billion during 2016-17. Japan-China trade is around $300 billion.
South Korea trade - $22 billion at the end of 2018.


South Korea trade - $22 billion at the end of 2018.
The bilateral trade between India and South Africa is more than $10 billion.
Afghanistan - The bilateral trade at for the year 2016-17 was USD 800 million approximately and has immense potential to be
expanded further. India’s trade with Afghanistan is likely to touch $5 billion after Ashgabat projects and INSTC comes into operation
because Afghanistan is diverting its trade from Karachi to Chahbahar and Bandar Abbas port in Iran.
Trade between India and ASEAN stood at $65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12 per cent of India's total trade with the
world. The focus areas of cooperation between ASEAN member states and India for the future can be described in terms of 3Cs –
commerce, connectivity and culture.
India’s trade with the five EEU countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus) stands at about $12 billion and they
have set a target to raise it to $30 billion by 2025.
Trade with Russia has been one-dimensional i.e. defence based. Despite a 42 percent boost from the previous year, trade still only
touched $10.7 billion in 2017-18. This is far below potential in comparison to India’s trade with China ($89.7 billion), the United
States ($74.5 billion). In contrast, China’s trade with Russia has crossed $100 bn in 2018.
The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 12.9% of India's overall trade. The total value of EU-India trade in goods
stood at €85.8 billion in 2017. Further the trade in services have almost tripled in last decade. Overall, the EU is the second largest
investor in India, with €70 billion of cumulative FDI from April 2000 to March 2017, accounting for almost one-quarter of all
investments flows into India.
Despite the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) coming into force the intra-regional trade in goods in the SAARC region
remains around five per cent, and in services, barely 0.2 per cent, in comparison the intra-region trade in ASEAN is 26 per cent, and
in MERCOSUR, it is 15 per cent. It accounts for 50 percent of total trade in East Asia and the Pacific and 22 percent in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Even though SAARC accounts for 21% of world population, its share in global GDP is just around 3%.
Saudi Arabia is the fulcrum of India’s new “Look Middle East” policy – economic/strategic outreach to a region with which India has
over $180 billion of trade, source of 60 per cent of India’s energy supplies and home to 7 million Indians.
Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner after China, US and UAE. It counts for almost 1/5th of India’s crude oil
requirement and 32% LPG requirements. Saudi Arabia is home to more than 3 million Indian people out of the 11 million in West
Asia. The volume of bilateral trade between both countries during 2017-18 recorded at $28 billion. India is the largest recipient of
foreign remittances (upto $11 bn annually) from the kingdom.
UAE - The UAE government has committed USD 75 billion towards developing Indian infrastructure. The NIIF entered into an
agreement with a Dubai based firm for investment up to USD 3 billion. Bilateral trade with UAE stood at around USD 50 billion last
year with UAE’s investments in India in areas ranging from smart cities to real estate.
More than 2.5 million Indians live in the UAE, which is among the largest number of expatriates anywhere in the world, repatriating
$13.6 billion a year to India.
Indonesia - In 2017, trade between the two countries was USD 18.13 billion. India and Indonesia have agreed to triple bilateral trade
to USD 50 billion by 2025.
USA - Bilateral trade in 2018 was $142 billion, a 12.6 percent increase from 2017.
The USA’s GSP sets zero tariffs for certain goods from a set of 121 developing countries to foster their trade and economic
development. The GSP programme accounts for some $5.6 billion of India’s exports to the U.S. in 2017, making India the largest GSP
beneficiary. India's GSP benefits amount to duty reduction of $190 million per annum. The products covered under GSP are mainly
agricultural products including animal husbandry, meat and fisheries and handicraft products. Chemicals, gems and jewellery,
engineering and textiles are among the Indian industrial sectors that benefit from the GSP. India exports nearly 50 products of the
94 products on which GSP benefits are stopped. According to the Washington Post, 90 percent of Indian exports to America face
normal US tariffs and hence will remain unaffected from the exit of the GSP program. GSP withdrawal will cost India $70 million in
raised duties from GSP benefits. It will reduce the trade surplus that India has against trade with US leading to higher CAD which
also runs the risk of further weakening rupee. India is the 11th largest trade surplus country for the US, and India enjoyed an annual
trade surplus of $ 21 bn in 2017-18.
• SACEP - South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme. It is an inter-governmental organization, established in 1982 by the
governments of South Asia to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of the environment in the region. It

governments of South Asia to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of the environment in the region. It
also serves as the secretariat of South Asian Seas Programme (SASP). The Governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the members of SACEP.
• Two- State Solution of Israel Palestine Issue: It envisages an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel west of
Jordan river.
○ 1937: Proposed on basis of Peel Commission report but rejected by Arabs.
○ 1948: UN partition plan given with Jerusalem under international control.
○ Oslo Accord, 1991: Provided the foundation for political boundaries as it stands today.
○ The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference co-sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union to revive the Israeli–
Palestinian peace process through negotiations.
○ UNSC Resolution 1397: Agreed in 2000 with support from USA and becoming first UNSC resolution to agree on two state
solution.
• Asian Premium: it is the extra charge being collected by OPEC countries from Asian countries when selling oil.
○ It has its roots in the establishment of market oriented crude pricing in 1986.
○ There are 3 important benchmarks in global market, representing the cost of oil produced in respective geographies:
✓ Brent: Light sweet oil representative of European market
✓ West Texas Intermediate (WTI): US market
✓ Dubai/Oman: Middle East and Asian Market
○ For Europe and the US, there emerged domestic crude markets and spot prices. These two markets reflected the cost of crude
produced in the respective geographies.
○ But for Asia, there was no such indigenous market/ production location for importers except the export-oriented Gulf
markets. Hence, the Dubai/Oman market price was taken as the marker. But it has failed to indicate the cost of production.
○ The US and Europe had an advantage because their markets and prices were based on future trading and reflected every
trend in the crude market. On the other hand, since Asia represented by Dubai/Oman do not have any derivative trading,
doesn’t have that edge.
○ Hence, price charged from Asian countries remained $1-$2 dollar higher than that from Europe and the US. This price
differential is termed as ‘Asian Premium’.
India sources about 86 per cent of crude oil, 75 per cent of natural gas and 95 per cent of LPG from OPEC member nations. OPEC
accounts for about 40 per cent of global oil output. Oil accounts for 37 per cent of India's imports. India imports more than 80 per
cent of its crude oil requirements. India's crude oil imports bill is pegged at Rs 7 lakh crore per annum.

• The United Nations Security Council has designated JeM Chief, Masood Azhar as a global terrorist after China lifted its technical hold
on his listing under the UNSC 1267 sanctions committee. The JeM itself was sanctioned by the 1267 Committee in 2001. The Wuhan
“spirit,” the supposed positive outcome of the informal summit at Wuhan between Modi and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, is credited
with improving relations between the two countries.
The signing of an internal security agreement as part of Wuhan summit by India and China is an indicator of the special nature of
their relationship. The pact focuses on terrorism, narcotics and human trafficking, intelligence sharing and disaster management.
• The draft Emigration Bill 2019 was released by the ministry of external affairs (MEA), and currently pending parliamentary approval.
It proposes a new legislative framework for matters related to emigration of Indian nationals. It is set to replace the extant one
under the Emigration Act of 1983. The objective of the new legislation is to draw up appropriate regulations that would conform the
contemporary global agenda on emigrant matters.

•
• Videsh Aya Pradesh ke Dwar - It is an initiative recently launched by The Ministry of External Affairs. It is a part of the enhanced
public diplomacy outreach to take the objectives of the foreign policy to the common people. The Ministry will have direct
interaction with the Local Media to communicate foreign policy priorities in simple terms, highlight the benefits accruing to the
common people through diplomatic efforts and bring the domain of foreign policy closer to the people.
Study in India Programmes - It is launched by MHRD and its primary objective is to target foreign students by branding India as an
attractive education destination.
• Indonesia - A link will be established between Andaman Nicobar and Aceh to tap the economic potentials of both areas. Indonesia
agreed to give access to the strategic island of Sabang, close to the Malacca Strait for Indian investment.
• Mongolia has launched construction of its first strategically important oil refinery funded by India in southern Dornogovi province.
Joint India-Mongolia exercise ‘Nomadic Elephant’ is held annually and India is a regular participant in the multilateral exercise 'Khan
Quest' held in Mongolia.
• Arab Spring began in December 2010.

•

•

Vision - Security
Also to Read:
August 2015 - Page 15 - Naga Accord

Mains 365 2017 - Page 43 - Integrated Theatre Command, CDS; Page 51 - Defence Modernization Issues; Page 54 - Outer Space Treaty
Mains 365 2017 Updated - Page 5 - Army Reforms
Mains 365 2018 - Page 20 - Naga Insurgency; Page 33 - TNOC + Drug Trafficking; Page 39 - Draft Defence Production Policy 2018;
Page 47 - Space, Cyber and Special Operations Command; Page 50 - Aadhaar; Page 53 - Police Reforms
Mains 365 2018 Updated - Page 71 - Urban Naxals; Page 72 - Data Protection
• Telephone surveillance is sanctioned under the 1885 Telegraph Act (and its rules), while electronic surveillance is authorize d under
the 2000 Information Technology Act (and its rules). Under Section 69 of the IT Act, the grounds of surveillance have been li fted
from Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
Section 69 of IT Act empowers the Central Government/State Government/ its authorized agency to intercept, monitor or decrypt
any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource if it is necessary or expedient so to do in:
○ Interest of Sovereignty and Integrity of India
○ Defense of India
○ Security of State
○ Friendly relations with foreign states or public sections
• After land, sea, air and space, cyberspace has been officially declared as the 5th dimension of warfare.
India recorded 21,796 cybercrimes in 2017, an increase of 77% from 2016.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) is the national nodal agency since 2004 for responding to cyber security
incidents as and when they occur. Its major work includes collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber inci dents,
forecasting alerts and taking emergency measures to handle a cyber-situation. It also coordinates the cyber incidents response
activities and issues guidelines and advisories on best practices for prevention, reporting and response.
Sectoral CERTs have been functioning in the areas of Defence and Finance for catering to critical domains.
National Cyber Security Policy (2013) and National Cyber Security Coordinator (2014). However the measure to appoint a Nation al
Cyber Security Coordinator has not been supplemented by creating liaison officers in the States.
National Cyber Security Policy 2013 aimed to create a workforce of around 500,000 trained in cyber security. There are curren tly
around 30,000 cyber security vacancies in India.
“Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre” (I-4C) set up in 2016 on the basis of the recommendations of the Gulshan Rai committee.
National Cyber Coordination Centre to handle online threats relating to national security - It derives its powers as per provisions of
section 69B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Rules notified under it. Section 69B of IT Act, 2000, talks about the
power to authorize to monitor and collect traffic data or information through any computer resource for Cyber Security.
The Indian Common Criteria Certification Scheme (IC3S) has been set up by the Department of Electronics and Information
Technology (DEITY) as part of Cyber Security Assurance initiatives of the Government of India. The purpose of the scheme is t o
evaluate and certify IT Security Products and Protection Profiles.
IT Act 2000 defines CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE as the computer resource, the incapacitation or destruction of
which shall have debilitating impact on national security, economy, public health or safety. In simple words, it refers to IC T systems
that are essential to the operations of national and international crucial Infrastructures. Some of the examples include
telecommunication networks, online payment gateways, electronic stock trading - Creation of National Critical Information
Infrastructure Protection Centre, the national nodal agency in respect of CII protection. It was envisaged to act as a 24×7 c enter to
battle cyber security threats in strategic areas such as air control, nuclear and space. It is placed under National Technica l Research
Organization to roll out counter-measures in cooperation with other security agencies and private corporate entities that man
these critical sectors.

The first and the only Cyber Appellate Tribunal in the country have been established by the Central Government in accordance with
the provisions contained under Section 48(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Establishment of Defence Information Assurance and Research Agency for cyber security issues of the tri services and Defence
Ministry.
Cyber Swachhta Kendra – Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre for analysis of malware and botnets that affect networks
and systems.
It is suggested that India should accede to the Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention.
○ The Budapest Convention is the first international treaty that addresses Internet and computer crime by harmonizing
national laws, improving legal authorities for investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation among nations.
○ As a Party, India would benefit from a proven framework under which nations commit to cooperate with each other to the
widest extent possible with respect to cybercrime, and any crime involving electronic evidence.
○ The Budapest convention is the only multilateral convention on cyber security – considered critical to economic and national
security of a country.
○ Developing countries including India have not signed it stating that the developed countries lead by the US drafted it without
consulting them.
Currently, the only source of international guidelines on “cyber warfare” is the Tallinn Manual, a document that was put toge ther
by Western experts under the aegis of NATO.
Ground Zero Summit is the largest collaborative platform in Asia for Cyber security experts and researchers to address emergi ng
cyber security challenges and demonstrate cutting-edge technologies. It is the exclusive platform in the region providing
opportunities to establish and strengthen relationships between corporate, public sector undertakings (PSUs), government
departments, security and defense establishments. It is organized by the Indian Infosec Consortium (IIC), which is an indepen dent
not-for-profit organization formed by leading cyber experts.
Chandrababu Naidu Committee pointed out that the apprehension about digital transaction among people can be curtailed by
providing insurance coverage.
ICT sector is estimated to reach $225 billion landmark by 2020. The estimated cost of cyber -attacks in India stands at four billion
dollars which is expected to reach $20 billion in the next 10 years. By 2020, India is expected to have 730 million internet users with
75% of new users from rural areas.
According to industry estimates, 300-400 cyber policies have been sold in India till date. Average cost of a cyber insurance in India is
around $7.5 million. However, compared to developed countries it is still 20-25% lesser.
Most internet shutdowns in India are ordered under article 144 of the Indian Penal Code, which empowers local authorities to issue
prohibitory orders to deal with situations of potential unrest. (Software Freedom Law Center). A report by the Indian Council for
Research on International Economic Relations says that between 2012 and 2017, India lost around Rs.20,000 crore due to intern et
shutdowns.
In Germany, social networks could pay up to $60 million in fines if hate speech isn’t removed within 24 hours.
• Stuxnet cyber-attack (2010) on an Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz.
• What is Cryptography?
○ This is the process of encoding and decoding information or messages so that it is sent securely over communication
network.
○ Until the 1990s, cryptography was based on algorithms - a mathematical process or procedure.
○ These algorithms are used in conjunction with a key which is a collection of bits (usually numbers).
○ Without the proper key, it's virtually impossible to decipher an encoded message, even if one knows what algorithm to use.
What is Quantum Cryptography?

○ Quantum cryptography uses quantum physics and not mathematics.
○ In this, key is generated using polarized photons.
○ Since, it uses polarized photons, i.e. spin of photons as key, there's little chance it can be cracked using mathematics.
○ It is important in the wake of increased cyber-attacks.

The unique point of using Quantum cryptography is that it is impossible to interfere with messages being sent (using light wa ves)
without hindering the basic properties of the message.
Quantum technologies would also be able to handle problems of “image and speech recognition” as well as “real -time language
translation”. Though much work remains to be done in this field, there are already a few accomplishments like China’s Quantum
Satellite.
• CRIME AND CRIMINAL TRACKING NETWORK & SYSTEM (CCTNS):

○ Provide the Investigating Officers of the Civil Police with tools, technology and information to facilitate investigation of crime
and detection of criminals.
○ Improve Police functioning in various other areas such as Law & Order, Traffic Management etc.
○ Facilitate Interaction and sharing of crime and criminal Information among Police Stations, Districts, State/UT headquarters
and other Police Agencies.
○ Keep track of the progress of Cases, including in Courts.
○ Make the Police functioning citizen friendly and more transparent by automating the functioning of Police Stations.
○ Improve delivery of citizen-centric services through effective usage of ICT.
○ In case of general crime, the Government has revamped the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems (CCTNS) project
for complete computerization of the working of police and extended it to court, jail, prosecution and forensic laboratories.
• POLNET is a satellite based wide area network for the modernization of Police Telecommunication of the country.
• NATGRID is the integrated intelligence grid connecting databases of core security agencies of the Government of India to coll ect
comprehensive patterns of intelligence that can be readily accessed by intelligence agencies. It was conceived in the wake of the
2008 Mumbai attacks.
It collects and collates a host of information from government databases including tax and bank account details, credit card
transactions, visa and immigration records and itineraries of rail and air travel.
This combined data will be made available to 11 central agencies, which are: Research and Analysis Wing, the Intelligence Bur eau,
Central Bureau of Investigation, Financial intelligence unit, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intellige nce,
Enforcement Directorate, Narcotics Control Bureau, Central Board of Excise and Customs and the Directorate General of Central
Excise Intelligence.
NATGRID effectiveness will be reduced if the Central agencies are not willing to share current intelligence with the State ag encies.
• Naxalism has spread to 17 states in India, including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal to name the few main ones, affecting nearly 185 out of 602 districts .
MHA has also recently redrawn the red corridor by bringing down the number of districts affected with Naxal violence from 106 to
90, spread across 11 states and worst-affected district to 30 from 36.
The government is focusing on infrastructure creation and other services etc. through two major developmental schemes - The
Additional Central Assistance (ACA) and Road Requirement Plan (RRP-II). Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) supported
Scheme of Mobile Services to increase mobile connectivity. Schemes like Roshni for skill development of rural poor youth and
facilities of residential schools to children have been started in these areas.
ROSHNI is a special initiative under, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana which envisages training and
placement of rural poor youth from 27 LWE affected districts.
'Police' and 'Public Order' being State subjects, action on maintenance of law and order lies primarily in the domain of the State
Governments. The Central Government closely monitors the situation and supplements and coordinates their efforts in several
ways. These include:
○ Providing Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA).
○ Sanction of India Reserve (IR) battalions.
○ Setting up of Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorism (CIAT) schools.
○ Modernization and upgradation of the State Police and their Intelligence apparatus under the Scheme for Modernization of
State Police Forces (MPF scheme).
○ Re-imbursement of security related expenditure under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme, etc.
○ Special Central Assistance (SCA) for 35 most LWE affected districts which have the main objective of filling the critical gaps in
Public Infrastructure and Services, which are of emergent nature.

Public Infrastructure and Services, which are of emergent nature.
○ Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) including construction of 250 Fortified Police Stations in LWE affected states. The Scheme
aims at capacity building of states by strengthening the security apparatus of the States.
○ Civic Action Programme (CAP) is being implemented since 2010-11 to bridge the gaps between Security Forces and local
people through personal interaction and bring the human face of SFs before the local population. Under the Scheme, funds
are released to the CAPFs, deployed in LWE affected areas, for conducting various civic activities in welfare of the local
people.
○ The National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) is assisting the Security Forces in anti-Naxal operations by providing
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Operation 'SAMADHAN' is the Ministry of Home Affairs' answer to the Naxal problem. The acronym SAMADHAN stands for:
○ S - Smart leadership – states to “take ownership” of anti-Naxal operations and frame an “integrated strategy to deal with
guerrillas”.
○ A - Aggressive strategy - More helicopter support for operations, 400 fortified police stations to be set up in Naxal belt.
○ M - Motivation and training – Indian Army or specialized forces - such as Greyhounds - to train forces to take on Naxals.
○ A - Actionable intelligence – Joint Task Forces for operations along inter-State boundaries to be set up. Better inter-state
coordination and intelligence sharing.
○ D - Dashboard Based KPIs (key performance indicators) and KRAs (key result areas).
○ H - Harnessing technology – UAVs and drones for Maoist hotbed areas, GPS tracking, HHTI (hand-held thermal image)
devices, radar, satellite imagery, trackers in weapons. Each CRPF battalion deployed in the Maoist hotbed is given at least
one UAV.
○ A - Action plan for each theatre.
○ N - No access to financing - Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to be reviewed to ensure effective choking of fund
flow to LWE groups.
Controlling arms supply to Maoist using GPS trackers and Unique Identification number (UID) for Gelatin sticks and explosives
manufacturers.
Joint Task Forces along inter-State boundaries, better inter-state coordination and intelligence sharing.
Black Panther combat force - A specialized anti-Naxal combat force for Chhattisgarh on the lines of Greyhounds unit in Telangana
and Andhra Pradesh.
Bastariya Battalion – A newly formed battalion of CRPF with more than 534 tribal youth from four highly Naxal infested districts of
Chhattisgarh along with adequate female representation in sync with the Government’s policy of 33% reservation for women
making it the first composite battalion in any of paramilitary forces.
UAV - $3 billion domestic market in India - Rustom, Nishant, Panchi, Lakshya, Daksh.
• To improve gender equality in the paramilitary:

○ The government approved reservation of 33% women at the constable rank in CRPF and CISF.
○ It also set a 15% quota in the border forces BSF, SSB and ITBP for women.
• Explosives Act, 1884

Inflammable Substances Act, 1952
Explosives Rules, 2008
• Newly-floated common platform of United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia - which includes NSCN (K), Ulfa(I),
Kamatapur Liberation Organization and NDFB (Songbijit).
• AFSPA: Within that area, an officer of the armed forces has the power to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causi ng of
death, against any person who is acting in contravention of any law or order for the time being in force in the disturbed are a -
prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons or the carrying of weapons or of things capable of being used as weapons or of
fire-arms, ammunition or explosive substances.”
Section 6 of AFSPA says “no prosecution shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central government, aga inst
any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.”
Critics argue that this act has failed in its objective of restoring normalcy in disturbed areas although being in existence for about 50
years. Presently AFSPA is enforced in the 6 states of North East and J&K. Tripura recently decided to lift this act.

B P Jeevan Reddy committee constituted in 2004 by PM on AFSPA in Manipur recommended to repeal AFSPA and the clauses that
are required should be included in other Acts.
The Supreme Court ruled that the armed forces cannot escape investigation for excesses in the course of the discharge of thei r
duty even in “disturbed areas”. The judgment came on a plea by hundreds of families in the north -eastern State of Manipur for a
probe by a Special Investigation Team into 1,528 cases of alleged fake encounters involving the Army and the police.
The Justice Verma Commission has said in unequivocal terms that security persons who rape women should be judged under the
same act that applies to the civilians.
R. N. Ravi, former head of the Intelligence Bureau for the North East is on record that AFSPA is the biggest obstacle to peac e in the
region.
Human rights compliance and operational effectiveness are not contrarian requirements. In fact, adherence to human rights nor ms
and principles strengthens the counter insurgency capability of a force.
• Non-state actors are individuals or organizations that have powerful economic, political or social power and are able to influenc e at
a national and sometimes international level but do not belong to or allied themselves to any particular country or state. Th ey
include NGOs, MNCs, religious outfits, Drug Cartels, Mafias, terrorist groups etc. they may work in tandem for the peace, sta bility
and development of a country or they may work against the State.
• Radicalization - suggest formation of “extremism counselling hotline” similar to the one set up in Austria. It will enable parents,
teachers and friends of "vulnerable and indoctrinated" youth to seek professional help for their "deradicalization”. Also loo k at US’
counter-radicalization program focused on community outreach and UK’s Prevent and Channel programmes.
'Operation Chakravyuh' of the IB, where a dedicated set of officers monitor the web all day long tracing the activities of th e youth
who are in touch with ISIS operatives or viewing the material posted.
• Important aspect of counter-terrorism strategy is capacity building to prevent attacks through intelligence collection and collation,
development of technological capabilities, raising of Special Forces and enactment of special laws.
Despite internal security concerns—from Maoist violence to religious extremism and organized crime—there is a 30% shortfall in
personnel of the Intelligence Bureau.
• Imminent need for National Security Doctrine - a stated principle of government policy in different domains viz. foreign affairs,
military etc. Currently, only defense establishment in India have a doctrine for external security.
• 1999 - IC 814, an Indian Airlines aircraft, was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan.
• TADA came into being during the years of the Punjab militancy and POTA after the Parliament attack of 2001, and the genesis o f
MCOCA was from the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993. Knee-jerk reactions lead to severe laws. Rampant misuse- both as a free hand
to police and also by their political masters example: Vaiko's case when he was booked under POTA for supporting LTTE.
• The UNSCR 1267 committee - The key UN panel that decides on ‘listing’ of terrorists. Related to travel ban, asset freeze and other
sanctions against the listed individuals.
• When India gained independence in August 1947, the state of Jammu and Kashmir had an area of 222,236 sq. km. Since then, due
to conflict and aggression, Pakistan occupies about 78,114 sq. km and China about 42,685 sq. km, including 5,180 sq. km illeg ally
ceded by Pakistan to China. About 101,437 sq. km remains with India.
• January 2016 - Pathankot Air Force Station - Investigating agencies suspect that terrorists used Google maps as they were aware of
the airbase’s topography.
September 2016 - Uri Army Camp + Surgical Strikes.
February 2019 - CRPF Pulwama + Balakot.
A surgical strike in military terms is an operation that is intended to take out a specific target, with no or limited collat eral damage.
July 2016 - Burhan Wani - sparking protests across Kashmir which resulted in the deaths of more than 96 people and injuries in over
15,000 civilians and 4,000 security personnel.

In 2018, the death toll for militants and security forces in Kashmir touched the highest point in a decade, according to offi cial
figures, with more than 400 killed.
Over 2,000 soldiers from both sides have died on the Siachen glacier since 1984.
2015 surgical strike - Indian troops crossed into Myanmar territory to target a National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Khaplang)
military camp. Indian commandos entered three kilometers across the Line of Control and conducted the 'surgical strikes' in
Bhimber, Hotspring, Kel and Lipa sectors. The location was 500 meters - 2 Km across LoC. 7 terror launch pads were destroyed
during the surgical strike. The strike across the LoC was reportedly carried out by Para Commandos and Ghatak platoons of the
Indian Army.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had constituted a seven-member expert committee headed by TVSN Prasad on use of
pellet guns - Use of other non-lethal weapons for crowd control like chilly grenade shells. Use of Nonivamide or Pelargonic Acid
Vanillyl Amide (PAVA) shells and other non-lethal ammunition like ‘stun lac cells’. Tear gas shells should be made of plastic so that
on being fired it may melts and cannot be picked up by the protestors.
While the army’s Operation Sadbhavna (a military civic action initiative of 20 years) has helped in extending marginal outrea ch, the
lack of mass engagement has prevented the development of any perception change and the creation of alternative narratives to
counter the propaganda from Pakistan and the separatists.
• What is Cold Start Doctrine?

○ CSD aims to retaliate Pakistan’s attack with a significant harm before any international community interferes.
○ It is to be done in such a way that Pakistan is not provoked for a nuclear attack.
○ Its main elements include -
✓ Enhancing the offensive operations capability of defensive or ‘PIVOT’ corps to launch offensive from a “cold start”.
✓ Moving Strike Corps cantonments closer to the border.
✓ A number of “integrated battle groups” to be formed to launch limited offensive operations to capture Pakistani
territory.
✓ The captured territory would act as a bargaining chip to force Pakistan to wind down its institutional support to
terrorists.
India from 1984 till 2004 followed Sundarji Doctrine (SD) on possible war with Pakistan. As per SD, seven holding corps at th e
Pakistan border and three strike corps in Central India would be deployed. The holding crops would hold offensive strike of P akistan
till the strike corps, having offensive potency give punitive response to Pakistan.
After Parliamentary terrorist attack of 2001, SD was used under Operation Parakaram. It took about 3 weeks to mobilize soldie rs
due to the long distance. By then international pressure prevented India from taking action.
CSD was developed after the failure of SD. Whereas SD adopts a strategy of defensive offense, the CSD adopts a strategy of
Offensive Defense. In 2001, Operation Vijayee Bhava and Operation Sudarshanshakti successfully reduced the mobilization time
drastically to 48 hours as per CSD.
• Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) is a draft proposed by India in 1996, that has yet to adapted by t he
UN general assembly. The original draft that was tabled in 1996 and discussed until April 2013 includes amongst key objective s:
○ To have a universal definition of terrorism that all 193-members of the UNGA will adopt into their own criminal law. No good
terrorist or bad terrorist.
○ To ban all terror groups and shut down terror camps regardless of their stated objectives.
○ To prosecute all terrorists under special laws.
○ To make cross-border terrorism an extraditable offence worldwide.
Opposition to CCIT:
○ US and its allies - Concerns over definition of terrorism. The U.S. has been worried about the application of the CCIT to its
own military forces especially with regard to interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
○ Latin American countries - Concerns over international humanitarian laws and Human rights being ignored.
○ OIC countries - The OIC feels that the convention will be used to target Pakistan and will restrict the rights of self-
determination groups in Palestine, Kashmir and elsewhere in the world.
Change in draft to accommodate concerns of the countries:

○ India has made changes to the draft that will clarify that “the activities of armed forces during an armed conflict” will not be
governed by the present convention.

governed by the present convention.
○ India agreed to insert the word “peoples” when speaking of rights, in order to “acknowledge the right of self-determination”.
Although consensus eludes towards adoption of the terrorism convention, but discussions have yielded the following:
○ International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted on 15 December 1997.
○ International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, adopted on 9 December 1999.
○ International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted on 13 April 2005.
○ United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted in 2006.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at enhancing and fortifying judicial cooperation worldwide in
countering terrorism. Resolution 2322 aims to enhance the efficacy of international legal and judicial systems in their fight against
terrorism through operational collaboration. It provides an opportunity to strengthen the multilateral counter -terrorism endeavors
in many ways.
• The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 and is mandated to set global protocols and standards to combat
money laundering and other financial crimes with direct ramifications to terrorist acts across the globe. India is a full -member along
with 33 other nations.
Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) membership: to facilitate the adoption, implementation and enforcement of
internationally accepted anti-money laundering and antiterrorist financing standards set out by FATF.
Money laundering laws:

○ The Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA)
○ The Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act, 1976 (SAFEMA)
○ Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA)
○ Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967(UAPA) and the Prevention of Money laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) are effective
instrumentalities to combat offences relating to Terrorist Financing and Money laundering. But PMLA has seen only one convict ion
in 15 years of its history. Hence:
○ Strengthening of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by amendments in 2013 which inter-alia includes enlarging the
scope of proceeds of terrorism to include any property intended to be used for terrorism, enlarging the scope of Section 17
relating to punishment for raising funds for terrorist act by including within its scope, raising of funds both from legitimate or
illegitimate sources by a terrorist organization, terrorist gang or by an individual terrorist, and includes within its scope
offences by companies, societies or trusts.
○ Strengthening of PMLA in 2013 by incorporating the provisions relating to removing the monetary threshold for schedule
offences, strengthening confiscation and provisional attachment powers with regard to money laundering investigation,
covering new financial institutions and designated non-financial business and professions within the scope of PMLA,
enhancing the powers of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to access information from banks and financial institutions and
introduction of broad range of sanctions under PMLA including sanctions against designated Directors and employees of
reporting entities.
Financial Intelligence Unit-IND - FIU-IND is the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and
disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions. FIU-IND is also responsible for coordinating and strengthening
efforts of national and international intelligence, investigation and enforcement agencies in pursuing the global efforts aga inst
money laundering and related crimes. FIU-IND is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC)
headed by the Finance Minister.
A special Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Cell has been created in the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2011, to coordinate with
the Central Intelligence/Enforcement Agencies and the State Law Enforcement Agencies for an integrated approach to tackle the
problem of terror funding.
A Terror Funding and Fake Currency Cell was set up in the National Investigation Agency to investigate Terror Funding cases. The
National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been designated the nodal agency for fake currency cases.
Hawala - FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) 2000 and PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) 2002 are the two
major legislations which make such transactions illegal.
Demonetization - As per the study Rs. 70 crore fake notes were pumped into the economy every year.
P-Notes or Participatory Notes are Overseas Derivative Instruments that have Indian stocks as their underlying assets. They all ow

P-Notes or Participatory Notes are Overseas Derivative Instruments that have Indian stocks as their underlying assets. They all ow
foreign investors to buy stocks listed on Indian exchanges without being registered. The instrument gained popularity as FIIs , to
avoid the formalities of registering and to remain anonymous, started betting on stocks through this route. After KYC rule,
currently, the P-Note assets in the country are around Rs 2.1 lakh crore – 8.4 per cent of the total FPI assets, coming down from
about 50% in 2007.
Criminalize money laundering on the basis of the Vienna Convention and the Palermo Convention which ensures that financial
institution secrecy laws do not inhibit implementation of the FATF Recommendations.
• India has 15,106.7 kms of land border running through 92 districts in 17 States and a coastline of 5,422 kms touching 12 Stat es and
Union Territories (UTs).
‘Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System‘ (CIBMS) is a robust and integrated system that is capable of addressing
the gaps in the present system of border security by seamlessly integrating human resources, weapons, and high -tech surveillance
equipment. It has three main components:
○ New high-tech surveillance devices such as sensors, detectors, cameras, etc. as well as existing equipment for round-the-
clock surveillance of the international border.
○ An efficient and dedicated communication network including fiber optic cables and satellite communication for transmitting
data gathered.
○ A command and control center to which the data will be transmitted providing a composite picture of the international
border.
For 24x7x365 surveillance of the border (western border with Pakistan) through technology. There is a five -layer elaborate plan to
completely stop infiltration on the 2,900-km western border with Pakistan. Five layers include:
○ CCTV cameras.
○ Thermal image and night-vision devices.
○ Battlefield surveillance radar.
○ Underground monitoring sensors.
○ Laser barriers.
There are an estimated 20 million illegal Bangladeshis in Assam.
• Following the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack greater need was felt to strengthen patrolling and surveillance of coastal areas,
particularly shallow areas close to the coast.
○ At the apex level the National Committee for Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security (NCSMCS), coordinates all matters
related to Maritime and Coastal Security.
○ At present, there is three-tier security for the coastal states of the country:
✓ The police forces of the respective coastal states and Union territories have jurisdiction of up to 12 nautical miles from
the coast.
✓ The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy have jurisdiction over the entire maritime zone up to 200 nautical miles,
including the 12 nautical miles of territorial waters.
Indian Maritime Security Strategy (IMSS) 2015 of Indian Navy: It envisages greater coordination between different maritime
agencies; securing Indian Ocean sea lines of communication (SLOCs); Maritime Security Operations for contemporary assessments
of maritime terrorism, piracy; multilateral maritime engagement, local capacity building, technical cooperation etc.
Home Ministry is implementing a comprehensive coastal security scheme (CSS) to strengthen security infrastructure of Marine
Police Force.
National Command Control Communication and Intelligence Network (NC3I) collates data about all ships, dhows, fishing boats an d
all other vessels operating near our coast, from multiple technical sources including Automatic Identification System (AIS) a nd radar
chain. These inputs are fused and analyzed at the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) at Gurgaon, which
disseminates this compiled Common Operating Picture for Coastal Security to all 51 nodes of the Navy and Coast Guard spread
across the coast of India.
Joint operations centers have been set up by the Indian Navy as command and control hubs for coastal security at Mumbai,
Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair.
The Indian navy is also required to raise a specialized force called the Sagar Prahari Bal for protecting its bases and adjac ent
vulnerable areas and vulnerable points.

•
• The 2003 UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, supplementing the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, defines trafficking in persons. It includes sex trafficking and forced labour. India is signat ory of
convention. Article 23 of the Indian Constitution prohibits human trafficking but it does not define the term.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development funds NGO-run shelter and rehabilitation services for women and children through
the Ujjawala program, specifically for female sex trafficking victims, and the Swadhar program for women in difficult circums tances.
• COLOMBO PLAN DRUG ADVISORY PROGRAMME - DAP is the only regional intergovernmental programme exclusively aimed at
capacity building for drug demand reduction in the Asia and Pacific Region.
• International conventions and forums against the use of chemical weapons: Some commonly used chemical weapons are mustard
gas, phosgene, chlorine, and the nerve agents Sarin and VX.
○ Geneva Protocol in 1925: The Convention was silent on the production, storage and transfer of these chemicals.
○ Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 1993 plugged these holes. It outlawed the production as well as stockpiling of
chemical weapons. 192 countries have so far agreed to be bound by it—4 UN states are not party: Israel, Egypt, North Korea
and South Sudan.
○ The CWC is administered by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2013.
○ The Australia Group (AG) is an informal forum of countries that, through the harmonization of export controls, seeks to
ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.
• According to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence, some 68% of the army’s equipment holdings belong to the “vintage”
category, 24% current and 8% state of the art.
India spends close to $50 billion annually on defence and yet might still be ill-equipped to fight the wars of the modern age,
especially in the neighbourhood.
Under the present system, where the ratio of revenue to capital expenditure in defence is roughly 65:35%, any serious attempt at
modernization would be impossible.
In 2018, India has an effective or real defence budget of about $44 billion which, at 1.49
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In 2018, India has an effective or real defence budget of about $44 billion which, at 1.49 per cent of GDP, is the second low est since
1950. Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence and the armed forces have repeatedly recommended that defence budget
should be raised progressively to 3 percent of the GDP.
The army reportedly has some varieties of ammunition for barely ten days of conflict and it will cost Rs 19,000 crore to repl enish
the stocks.
All the three services need to upgrade their C4I2SR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, information,
surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities.
India remains the world’s largest importer of major arms, accounting for 13 per cent of the global total sales, according to a new
data released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent institute that tracks arms prolifer ation
among other issues in conflict studies. Currently, India allocates about 1.8 percent of its GDP to defence spending and impor ts
about 70 percent of defence equipment.
India is the world’s largest arms importer. The present government has further increased the FDI limit in defence, with 49 pe r cent
now permitted under the automatic route, 75 per cent where technology transfer is involved, and up to 100 per cent in cases
involving significant new technology.
Russia still dominates the Indian defense inventory to the tune of about 70 per cent. Russia’s share of Indian defense import s fell
from 79 percent between 2008-2012 to 62 percent between 2013-2017.
Both China and India have one of the world’s largest armies with 23 lakhs and 13 lakhs active troops respectively plus milita ry
expenditure of more than 2% of their GDP.
• There is a revolution in military affairs with the current focus in military thinking across the world is increasingly moving away from
traditional heavy-duty military hardware to high-tech innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, satellite
jammers, hypersonic strike technology, advanced cyber capabilities and spectrum denial and high -energy lasers.

Vision - Environment
Also to Read:
Mains 365 2017 - Page 47 - Paris Agreement (COP 21); Page 49 - About Kyoto Protocol; Page 70 - NDMP
Mains 365 2018 - Page 79 - Peatlands; Page 96 - Dust Storm
• India is ranked 178th out of 180 countries in the 2018 Global Environment Performance Index (EPI) rankings for being unable to
improve its air quality, protect its biodiversity, and cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
India is ranked 5th out of 181 on the Global Climate Risk Index 2020.
India has been ranked 11th in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) in 2019.
• By 2025, 1.8 billion people will experience absolute water scarcity, and 2/3 of the world will be living under water-stressed
conditions.
According to UN Water, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at
least one month of the year.
By 2045 some 135 million people may be displaced as a result of desertification.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that there could be as many as 200 million climate refugees by 2050.
According to the United Nations’ annual food security report 2018, World hunger has risen for a third consecutive year. Climate
Change is among the leading causes of rising global hunger. 60 million people are facing a food crisis.
Nansen Initiative (2012) - It is a state-led consultative process to build consensus on a protection agenda addressing the needs of
people displaced across borders in the context of disasters and the effects of climate change.
According to Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID, 2019), in 2018, of the total new 28 million internally displaced people
in 148 countries, 61% were due to disasters. In comparison, 39% were due to conflict and violence.
As per the estimates, climate change resulted in the displacement of 2.7 million Indians in 2019.
• According to NITI Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index 2018, 600 million people face high-to-extreme water stress; 75
per cent of the households do not have drinking water; and 84 per cent do not have piped water access; and 70 per cent of our
water is contaminated. When water is available, it is likely to be contaminated, resulting in nearly 2,00, 000 deaths each year.
India is at a dismal 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index with nearly 70% water contaminated.
India has only 4% of global freshwater for 16% of global population.
It predicts that a persistent water crisis will lead to an eventual 6% loss in the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 2030.
The annual per capita availability of water continues to decline sharply from about 5,177 cubic meters in 1951 to about 1,720
cubic meters in 2019. In Israel it is only 200 cubic meters.
The water security of the country depends on water storage. Our water storage is low when compared to Russia (per capita
storage of 6,100 cubic meters), the U.S. (1,960 cubic meters), China (1,100 cubic meters); in India, it is only about 200 cubic
meters.
India receives 4000 bcm rainfall every year. Out of this, 1869 bcm is left after evaporation and the actual availability is 1137 bcm.
India is the largest user of the groundwater in the world with almost 90% being used for drinking water and almost 60-70% for
irrigation. At 260 cubic km per year, the country is the highest user of groundwater in the world. We use 25% of all groundwater
extracted globally, ahead of the US and China. 61 per cent decline in groundwater level in wells in India between 2007 and 2017.

extracted globally, ahead of the US and China. 61 per cent decline in groundwater level in wells in India between 2007 and 2017.
According to an estimate groundwater accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the rural domestic water needs, and 50 per cent of the
urban water needs in India.
NASA’s findings suggest that India’s water table is declining alarmingly at a rate of about 0.3 meters per year. At this rate of
depletion, India will have only 22 per cent of the present daily per capita water available in 2050.
Twenty-one cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million
people. Fifty-four percent of India’s groundwater wells have declined over the past seven years.
In India, according to the Asian Water Development Outlook, 2016, almost 89 per cent of groundwater extracted is for irrigation.
The water guzzlers, paddy and sugarcane, consume more than 60 per cent of irrigation water available in the country, thereby
reducing water availability for other crops.
Currently, about 78 per cent of fresh water in India is used for agriculture.
Over-extraction of groundwater, salinity and arsenic contamination etc. affect over 60 per cent of groundwater in the Indo-
Gangetic plain.
Only 8% of domestic and industrial wastewater is treated in India.
According to the NITI Aayog’s CWMI report, adopting micro-irrigation techniques can save roughly 20% of the groundwater used
annually on irrigation in India. Water conserving techniques such as drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, mulching, water sheds, zero
tillage, direct seeding. The Task Force on Micro Irrigation had estimated a potential of 69.5 m ha under micro irrigation, whereas
the area covered so far (2017-18) is only about 10 m. ha (14%).
Pusa Hydrogel - During irrigation, the gel absorbs the irrigated water like a sponge and during dry period releases the water for the
plants. Developed by scientists at Indian Agricultural Research institute, New Delhi.
India’s thermal power plants are estimated to withdraw around 22 billion cubic meter of water, which is over half of India’s
domestic water need.
Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has constituted a ‘Task Force’ on Interlinking of Rivers to
look into the issues relating to Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) in the country. The Task Force would be chaired by B.N. Navalawala.
Inter Linking Rivers - Possibility of displacing nearly 1.5 million people due to the submergence of 27.66 lakh hectares of land.
Mihir Shah Committee 2016 identified that India’s existing water-governance system as silo-based which views ground water,
river basin rejuvenation and other such challenges as isolated tasks. The Committee advocated the coordination approach for
water governance with international studies. For example, independent studies which are based on internationally comparable
evapotranspiration rates (sum of water lost to atmosphere due to evaporation and transpiration via plants) must be considered
for water related governance. The committee recommended creating National Water Commission by subsuming CWC and Central
Ground Water Board (CGWB: managing groundwater resources), to encourage a shift in focus from the construction of dams to
decentralized management and maintenance of water.
Agriculture related policies of India are indifferent to water scenario. For example, guaranteed procurement policy by the Food
Corporation of India neglects the water consumption by major crops.
The National Water Policy (2012) was formulated which advocates conservation, promotion and protection of water and
highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through rain water harvesting, direct use of rainfall and other
management measures. But it does not mandate any legally liability for any damage caused to the water resources as a result of
over extraction.
Ancient system of maintaining and managing water bodies by local communities themselves such as Kudimaramath practice in
Tamil Nadu, Jhalaras (rajasthan), Ahar Pynes (South Bihar), Johads, Baolis (secular structure), Bamboo Drip irrigation System
(northeast India).
• The Ganga drains an area of approximately 10 lakh sq. kms (26% of land mass of India). The river basin directly and indirectly
affects the largest population of any river in the world with over more than 53 crore people (43% of population). Power
generation - 4000 MW of power projects on Ganga alone.

generation - 4000 MW of power projects on Ganga alone.
Girdhar Malviya committee submitted its draft model law to the government on cleanup of river Ganga and its tributaries.
Madhav Chitale committee was formed to prepare guidelines for de-silting the river stretch between Bhimgauda (Uttarakhand)
and Farakka (West Bengal).
• Sichewal Model - This model is named after noted environmental activist Balbir Singh Seechewal who played a prominent role in
reviving the Kali Bein rivulet (a rivulet of Beas river) in Punjab. This was done mainly by cooperation of the villagers in water
management and waste disposal in a meticulous way. The model involves following techniques:
○ Decentralized natural waste water treatment system - oxidation pond and settling tanks.
○ Processes used to remove floating materials.
○ Maintenance of flow of water which ensures self-purification of the river.
○ It inculcated the practice of segregation of solid and liquid waste.
○ Use of treated water for irrigation and composting of solid waste with a sense of community participation and ownership of
the river.
Watershed development in specific areas - Neeranchal scheme was launched for this.
National Aquifer map for location based implementation.
• In India there are about 5254 large dams and about 447 are under construction. Of these dams about 4% i.e. 209 are 100 years
old, 17% i.e. 876 dams are more than 50 years old.
About 75 percent of the large dams in India are more than 25 years old and about 164 dams are more than 100 years old.
The change means drought-hit areas will now be categorized as ‘normal’ and ‘severe’. Only in case of ‘severe’ drought, a state
would be eligible for central assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF).
• Cost due to air pollution is estimated to be 3% of India's GDP and causes 1.2 million deaths every year.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, 23 million tonnes of paddy straw is burnt in Punjab, Haryana and UP every year.
According to estimates of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative — published last year in Lancet Planetary Health — over
half the 12.4 lakh deaths in India attributed to air pollution in 2017 were of individuals under the age of 70. The average life
expectancy in the country could be 1.7 years higher, if air pollution is contained at a level at which human health isn’t harmed.
2.51 million people dying prematurely in the country every year due to diseases linked to air, water and other forms of pollution.
• Coal power plants - The average efficiency of the plants in the study was 32.8 per
Nehacent, one of- the
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CSE 2019

• Coal power plants - The average efficiency of the plants in the study was 32.8 per cent, one of the lowest among major coal-based
power producing countries. Average CO2 emission was 1.08 kg/kWh, 14 per cent higher than China’s. Fifty-five per cent of the
units were violating air pollution standards which are already extremely lax – particulate matter (PM) norms are at 150-350
mg/Nm3 (milligram per normal meter cube) compared to Chinese norms of 30 mg/Nm3.
• The BS-IV compliant fuels have Sulphur concentration of 50 parts per million (ppm). This will come down to as low as 10 ppm in
BS-VI compliant fuels and auto engines. The switch to BS-VI norms will also reduce concentration of carbon monoxide, unburnt
hydrocarbons, nitrous oxide and particulate matter from emissions. BS-VI is the Indian equivalent of Euro Stage VI.
Selective catalytic reduction technology (SCR) - It reduces the nitrogen oxides by injecting an aqueous solution having ammonia. It
is fixed in the engine exhaust. It is used for BS-VI emission standard.
In 2014, Saumitra Chaudhary committee gave recommendations on Auto Fuel Vision Policy 2025 which had recommended
implementation of BS-IV (2017), BS-V (2019) and BSVI (2024) standards.
• The cost of stubble management is not taken into account while determining the minimum support price (MSP). In Andhra, bean
gram and black gram are planted while rice stubble decomposes on its own. Burning leads to decline in the bacterial and fungal
population in the top 2.5cm of the soil, increasing farmers' dependence on fertilizers.
Approximately 35 million tonnes of crop are burn by the farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
• Nitrogen Pollution:

•
• The health problems due to indoor pollution is increasing, a syndrome called Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) - poor ventilation, fuels,
old devices, pets, bacteria, parasites and fungi, asbestos, volatile organic compounds from polish, tobacco.
Scientists have developed graphene-based sensor and switch to detect air pollution at homes.
Neerdhur: Recently, National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) and CSIR has developed ‘Neerdhur’, a
novel multi-fuel domestic cooking stove.
• Three primary Green building rating agencies in India:

○ Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA): Developed by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
○ Indian Green Building Council (IGBC): The vision of the council is, "To enable a sustainable built environment for all and
facilitate India to be one of the global leaders in the sustainable built environment by 2025".
○ Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE): Statutory body under Ministry of Power. Buildings rating based on a 1 to 5 star scale.
• Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy 2015. The policy aims to help the
environment, help local communities, and generate employment by planting trees along all the highways in the country. Under
this policy, every year 1% of the total cost of highway projects will go to the Green Highways Fund. That works out to around Rs.
1,000 crore every year.
• Prime Minister outlined the vision for the future of mobility in India based on 7 C’s. The 7 C’s are Common, Connected,
Convenient, Congestion-free, Charged, Clean and Cutting-edge.
France announced recently that it will end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040.
India - 32, China - 140, Taiwan & Malaysia - 330 to 360, Japan and most Western developed countries - 500 to 600, and some small
and large countries, including the U.S. - 800 plus - car ownership per 1000 people.
• Advantages of hydrogen as a fuel:


• Advantages of hydrogen as a fuel:
○ Hydrogen is the lightest element but it has the highest energy content per unit weight of all fuels.
○ Its energy density is three times greater than that of petrol.
○ Hydrogen can be extracted from virtually any hydrogen-containing compound, including both renewable and non-
renewable resources.
○ Waste products from hydrogen in vehicles are only water vapour and warm air.
Challenges:
○ Hydrogen, seldom found on its own in nature, typically combines with oxygen and carbon.
○ Storing hydrogen a challenge because it requires high pressures, low temperatures, or chemical processes to be stored
compactly.
○ Production cost of hydrogen fuel based vehicles is high at present.
• According to Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report-5 2014, in India, the estimated countrywide
agricultural loss in 2030 is over $7 billion due to climate change. It will severely affect the income of 10 per cent of the population.
The field trials of wheat, rice, maize and soybeans showed that higher CO2 levels significantly reduced the levels of the essential
nutrients iron and zinc, as well as cutting protein levels. 25 million more children under five at risk of malnutrition by 2050
because of climate change.
• Antarctica is shedding 160 billion tonnes a year of ice into the ocean, twice the amount of a few years ago. The loss of the entire
western Antarctica ice sheet would eventually cause up to 4 meters of sea-level rise, devastating low-lying and coastal areas
around the world. Currently, it is believed that ice loss in Antarctica contributes to roughly 8% of global sea level rise.
• The deployment of IndARC, the country’s first underwater moored observatory in the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between
Norway and the North Pole, represents a major milestone in India’s scientific endeavours in the Arctic region. It is expected to
help scientists understand the Arctic climate process and its influence on the Indian monsoon system.
The Kongsfjorden is considered a natural laboratory for studying the Arctic climate variability. Scientists predict that melting of the
Arctic glaciers will trigger changes in weather patterns and ocean currents that could affect other parts of the world. The
interaction between the Arctic ice shelf and the deep sea and its influence on climate shift requires detailed studies over an
annual seasonal cycle.
India currently has two permanent stations, Maitri and Bharati, in Antarctica. The first Indian station, Dakshin Gangotri, located on
shelf ice is now buried and lost.
• Nearly 30% area, 96.4 MHA out of 328.72 MHA is degraded or facing desertification in India. India has adopted the goal of
achieving LDN by 2030 as adopted under SDG.
As per a study by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) cost India
about 2.54 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) i.e. $47 billion in 2014-15.
India had joined "Bonn Challenge" a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into
restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.
India pledged to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020, and an additional 8 million
hectares by 2030.
At COP 14 of UNCCD India raised the Target of 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares between now and 2030, to be restored.
• The high seas are defined as the oceans that lie beyond exclusive economic zones (EEZ, usually within 370km or 200 nautical
miles) of a country's coastline.
It covers 45% of the Earth’s surface and nearly two third of the global ocean that lies outside any country’s jurisdiction. These
waters cover 1.5 times the total land area of the planet and are home to some of the rarest and most charismatic species.
All countries have the right to navigate, over flight, carry out scientific research and fish on the high seas without restrictions.
• According to scientists if even 10 per cent of the gas hydrates available in India’s oceans is exploited, they would meet the
country’s energy requirement for a century.

• According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Heat wave is considered if maximum temperature of a station reaches at
least 40°C or more for Plains, 37°C or more for coastal stations and at least 30°C or more for Hilly regions.
India lost nearly 75 billion hours of labour in 2017 as a result of rising temperatures.
• Over 54% of the world's population now lives in urban areas, creating 80% of global GDP, consuming two-thirds of global energy
and accounting for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to World Bank data.
Energy sector is the dominant source of greenhouse gas emissions. It contributes more than 75% of global emissions. A rapid
transformation of the energy sector by 2050 is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. World Resources
Institute (WRI) — a global research organization — has come out with its latest analyses of the country-wise emissions of climate-
damaging greenhouse gases. India is fourth (7% of global emissions, but only 2.44 ton per capita emission) after China (25% global
emissions and 8.13 ton per capita), USA (14%, 19.86 ton per capita) and EU (10%, 8.77 ton per capita).
India emitted 2,299 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2018, a 4.8% rise from last year, according to a report by the International
Energy Agency (IEA).
Today the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is 42 per cent higher than in the mid-18th century, before the industrial
revolution. World needs to cut CO2 emissions to zero by 2070 and all GHG emissions (methane, nitrous oxide, ozone) to zero by
2100.
At 399 ppm, India matches the world in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
India emission is 1/3rd of China, 1/5th of US but our population is 4 times US. China 26%, US 16%, India 5.6% - of the world
emissions. EU + China - 39 % of manmade emissions (June 2017).

• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund within the framework of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change) founded as a mechanism to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world, in order to assist the
developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. It was formally established by a UNFCCC
decision in Durban, South Africa in December 2011. The objective of the GCF is to raise $100 billion per year in climate financing
by 2020. The GCF will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties.
• In 2015, India made a Bonn Challenge commitment to place into restoration 13 million hectares (Mha) of degraded land by 2020
and an additional 8 Mha by 2030 which will have potential climate benefit of 2 GtCO2 sequestered.
India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) have also pledged to sequester 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent
additionally by 2030 through enhanced tree cover.
Initial government estimates suggest that to achieve this, India will need to extend tree cover on at least 28-34 million hectares,
outside of the existing forest cover.
• A carbon price is a cost applied to carbon pollution to encourage polluters to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas they emit into
the atmosphere. Mahindra & Mahindra became first Indian firm to announce an internal Carbon Price of $10 per ton of carbon
emitted.

•
197 countries have struck a new landmark deal at Kigali in Rwanda to reduce the emissions of category of greenhouse gases
(GHGs) which leads to hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs). The Kigali Amendment amends the 1987 Montreal Protocol that was conceived
only to plug gases that were destroying the ozone layer (like CFCs), to now include gases responsible for global warming. It will be
binding on countries from 2019 and has provisions for penalties for non-compliance.
○ First group: It includes richest countries like US and those in European Union (EU). They will freeze production and
consumption of HFCs by 2018. They will reduce them to about 15% of 2012 levels by 2036.
○ Second group: It includes countries like China, Brazil and all of Africa etc. They will freeze HFC use by 2024 and cut it to 20%
of 2021 levels by 2045.
○ Third group: It includes countries India, Pakistan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc. They will be freezing HFC use by 2028 and
reducing it to about 15% of 2025 levels by 2047.
• Ozone protocols:
○ Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer [1985] - It acts as a framework for the international efforts to
protect the ozone layer. It paves the way for a legally binding treaty through protocol called Montreal protocol.
○ Montreal Protocol [1987] - It aims at reducing the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS). It has
been ratified by 197 parties making it universally ratified protocol in United Nations history.
Kigali agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol [2016] - Its aim is to phase out Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a family of

○ Kigali agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol [2016] - Its aim is to phase out Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a family of
potent greenhouse gases by the late 2040s. It will be binding on countries from 2019.
○ Gothenburg Protocol - It aims to abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground level Ozone and is part of the Convention
on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.

•

•

•

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• According to Plastic Infrastructure Report, 2017, India consumes close to 12.8 million tonnes of plastic per annum, of which, close
to 5.6 million tonnes is rendered as waste every year. It is about 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste generated every day.
Yangtze river, China has 330000 tonnes plastic, Ganga has 120000 tonnes.
1 Indian - 3.2 kg plastic waste a year, global average 17 kg/person.
• Microplastics (or plastic particles of 5mm diameter or less) make up 94 percent of an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the
patch. But that only amounts to eight percent of the total tonnage.
As per a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) every year plastic waste costs marine ecosystems $13
billion in damages.
Report Published by the World Economic Forum, says the world's oceans may have more plastic debris than fish by the year 2050,
as globally, only 14% of plastics is recycled.
The estimated 10-20 million tonnes of plastic waste that finds its way into oceans, smothers coral reefs, routinely entangles
marine wildlife, and more insidiously, degrades into ‘microplastics’ that transfer toxins into the food chain.
Of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic produced, 6.3 billion tonnes have been discarded. Every year, nearly 13 million tonnes of plastic
waste are added to oceans. Given their durability, plastics do not decompose.
India has dumped up to 0.24 million tonnes of plastic into the ocean every year (12th rank); the amount of mismanaged plastic
waste per year is 0.6 million tonnes. In the case of China, the biggest polluter, the coastal population sends up to 3.53 million
tonnes of plastic waste into the oceans each year.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) also described as the Pacific trash vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the north
central Pacific Ocean. It is located about halfway between Hawaii and California. It’s the largest accumulation zone for ocean
plastics on Earth - 79,000 metric tons of plastic in the patch.
Recently, India committed to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022.
• India’s cities already generate over 150,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day, with Mumbai being the world’s fifth most
wasteful city. Yet, only 83% of waste is collected and less than 30% is treated.
Per capita generation of waste varies from 200 gm to 600 gm per capita/day.

Average of waste generation rate is 0.4 kg per capita per day in 1 lakh plus population towns.
Only 43 million tonnes (MT) of the municipal waste is collected, 11.9 MT is treated and 31 MT is dumped in landfill sites. The CPCB
report also reveals that only 68% of the MSW generated in the country is collected of which, 28% is treated by the municipal
authorities. Thus, merely 19% of the total waste generated is currently treated.
• 530 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste is generated in India annually - Mandatory for local authorities to utilize
10-20% of construction and demolition waste in municipal and government contracts to lay drain covers.
• 2 million tonnes of e-waste generated annually in India, Global E-Waste Monitor 2017 - fifth in world. Less than 10% recycled.
12% of the waste is contributed by the telecom sector alone, with 25% of the mobiles in circulation ending up in e-waste annually.
Extended Producer Responsibility needed. 95% of the e-waste in the country in handled by unorganized sector. Better repurchase
offer than the unorganized sector - Deposit Refund Scheme would help in this.
E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2016 - Earlier it was applicable only to producers and consumers, dismantlers and
recyclers. Now extended to Manufacturer, dealer, refurbishers and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO). This will help in
stopping leakage of e-waste to informal sector. Single EPR Authorization for Producers is now being made CPCB‘s responsibility to
ensure pan India implementation.
Unlike EPR regulations in other countries, no collection or recycling targets are imposed on producers. In the absence of targets,
and in a relatively lax regulatory environment, producers have little incentive to ensure collection of their used products.

•
• ‘Polluter pay principle’ - Social justice; it favours a curative approach so that taxpayer’s money is not spent for the fault of another.
Deterrence effect which would promote efficient utilization of resources. In this way it helps in promoting sustainable
development as well as it acts as a negative feedback mechanism upon the polluter.
It was expressly mentioned under Principle 16 of Rio Declaration. It was first recognized by the Apex Court in Vellore Citizen’s case
(1996) which read it under A.21 r/w Article 47, 48A and 51A(g) of the Constitution. It also find place in legislations such as
Compensatory Afforestation Act, Nuclear Civil Liability Act.

• A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened with humans and
destruction. They represent just 2.3% of Earth’s land surface, but between them they contain around 50% of the world’s endemic
plant species and 42% of all terrestrial vertebrates.
India is one of the 17 megadiversity countries and it has about 6.42% of the global fauna.
• Global population of mammals, fish, amphibians and reptiles declined by 58 percent between 1970 and 2012, according to World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report.

•
• If no action is taken then corals worldwide could be on the verge of extinction by as early as 2050.
• Kubuqi Desert in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, became the first desert in the world to achieve large scale desertification control.
According to the State of India’s Environment 2017 by the Centre for Science and Environment report, nearly 30 per cent of India
is degraded or facing desertification.
Agenda 21: It recognizes the need to combat land degradation and desertification. It emphasizes preventive measures in
vulnerable and slightly-affected areas and rehabilitation of moderate-to severely affected areas.

•
• Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN, is a new global partnership seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a
comprehensive manner – building a sound business case for increased investment in the management of ecosystems and
biodiversity. BIOFIN is managed by the UNDP Ecosystems and Biodiversity Programme, in partnership with the European Union
and the Governments of Germany and Switzerland.
The Global Environment Facility is a further partner financing parallel in-country projects in support of the revision of National
Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
• The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has launched a System of Aerosol Monitoring and Research (SAMAR) which will help
the country in studying concentration of black carbon in atmosphere due to air pollution and its impact on climate.

•
The Gadgil panel report had faced unanimous opposition from state governments for recommending that almost three-fourth of
the hills, including plantations, cultivated lands and large habitations, be turned into a restricted development zone. The
Kasturirangan report seeks to bring just 37% of the Western Ghats under the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) zones — down from
the 64% suggested by the Gadgil report.
• EIA - CAG audit says only in 11% of the cases were the Environmental Clearances granted within the prescribed time limit of 105
days.
• In India approximately 300 million people are directly dependent upon collection of non-timber forest products from forest areas
for their livelihood.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002 had introduced a new protected area category called ‘community reserve’. Sacred
Groves have been put under this.
• What is environmental crime? As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) it includes violations under only five laws:
○ the Forest Act, 1927;
○ Wildlife Protection Act, 1972;
○ Environment (Protection) Act, 1986;

○
○ Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981;
○ Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (as amended in 1988).
• Forest Fire - Government policy of 1981 ban on felling of trees above 1,000 m elevation leading to foul means like drying it up by
fire. Resin in Pine trees catches fire fast.
• The Whitley Awards - called the "Green Oscars" - Dr. Ananda Kumar for his work using innovative communication systems to
enable human-elephant coexistence in southern India, Dr. Pramod Patil his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the
Thar Desert.
Dr. Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, the first Indian environmental activist to receive the Luc Hoffman award - He mapped the area of East
Kolkata wetland which is a swathe of water bodies spanning over 100 sq. km. He innovatively calculated the economic value of its
loss and presented it in Net Present Value which could be easily used in GDP and other mathematical calculations.

•
Data available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicates that there have been a total of 3,550 stampedes in the
country from 2001 to 2015, resulting in the death of at least 2,901 people.
• The New Urban Agenda (non-binding document) was officially adopted at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban
Development (referred as “Habitat III”) held recently in Quito, Ecuador:
○ Provide basic services for all citizens.
○ Ensure that all citizens have access to equal opportunities and face no discrimination.
○ Promote measures that support cleaner cities.
○ Strengthen resilience in cities to reduce the risk and the impact of disasters.
○ Take action to address climate change by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
○ Fully respect the rights of refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons regardless of their migration status.
○ Improve connectivity and support innovative and green initiatives.
○ Promote safe, accessible and green public spaces.
The agenda is built around a series of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11, which aims to “make cities and
human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.
• The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR)

Difference with the earlier Hyogo framework:
○ The most significant shift is a strong emphasis on disaster risk management as opposed to disaster management.
○ In addition, the scope of disaster risk reduction has been broadened significantly to focus on both natural and man -made
hazards and related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks.
The seven targets include:

○ a substantial reduction in global disaster mortality;
○ a substantial reduction in numbers of affected people;
○ a reduction in economic losses in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP);
○ a substantial reduction in disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, including health and
education facilities;
○ an increase in the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies by 2020;
○ enhanced international cooperation; and
○ increased access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments.
The four priorities for action focus on:

○ a better understanding of risk;
○ strengthened disaster risk governance;
○ increased investment in DRR; and
○ more effective disaster preparedness and embedding the ‘build back better' principle into recovery, rehabilitation and
reconstruction.
India suffered losses of $80 billion during the 20-year period. Globally, disaster losses are estimated at $520 billion per annum,
pushing more than 26 million people into poverty every year.
• What is GLOF?
○ The acronym GLOF is used for glacier floods caused by the drainage of naturally dammed lakes in the glacier, on or at the
margin of glaciers.
○ Glacial lakes form when a glacier retreats, leaving the debris mass at the end of the glacier – the end moraine – exposed.
○ The moraine wall can act as a natural dam, trapping the meltwater from the glacier and leading to the formation of a lake.
The moraine dams are composed of unconsolidated boulders, gravel, sand, and silt. As with landslide dams, they can
eventually break catastrophically, leading to a glacial lake outburst flood or GLOF.

•

•

•
• In the Monsoon session (2019), the Union Environment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha that 2398 people in India were killed by
elephants while tigers claimed 224 lives in the last five years.

•

•

Vision - Science and Technology
Also to Read:
Mains 365 2016 - Page 62 - Ashwin

Mains 365 2017 - Page 17 - Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene; Page 35 - Weaponization of Space; Page 53 - Technology Vision 2035;
Page 88 - Hyperloop; Page 90 - MOAB
Mains 365 2017 Updated - Page 6 - 3D Printing
Mains 365 2018 - Page 7 - Gene Therapy; Page 54 - LIGO; Page 70 - Quantum Computing; Page 72 - National Policy on Biofuels 2018
Page 75 - Energy Storage Systems, Lithium
• R&D Expenditure has tripled in nominal terms and doubled in real terms since 2004-05 to 2016-17. However, it has remained
stagnant at 0.6-0.7% of GDP over the past two decades. This is well below other countries such as US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3)
and Korea (4.2).
India’s share in global publications increased from 3.1% (2009) to 4.5% (2014). However, this increase must be seen with a caution
with major catalyst for this being number of publications being a determinant for the appointment or promotion of a faculty or
scientists. There are many journals that publish non-peer-reviewed manuscript for a substantial fee.
India ranks 6th position for scientific publications and ranks at 10th for patents which included only resident applications.The
total number of patent applications filed by scientists and inventors in India increased to 61,788 in FY19 (up to Dec 18) from
47,857 in FY18.
Global Innovation Index - 52th position in 2019.
According to WIPO, India is the seventh largest patent filing office in the world. However, India produces fewer patents per capita.
India has employed only 40 researchers per lakh labour force for the last decade as compared to USA’s 790 per lakh of their labour
force.
Ramanujan Fellowship Scheme, the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) Faculty scheme and the
Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship, Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty Scheme (VAJRA).
Global Initiative for Academics Network (GIAN): The programme seeks to invite distinguished academicians, entrepreneurs,
scientists, experts from premier institutions from across the world, to teach in the higher educational institutions in India.
The Inspire Awards and MANAK is an outreach programme of Department of Science and Technology that was started in 2010 to
encourage children to develop interest in science and research through innovation.
Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (Imprint) India - a joint initiative of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian
Institute of Science (IISc).
Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme - It is a public-private partnership (PPP) between Science & Engineering Research Board
(SERB) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which aims to improve the quality of research by attracting the best talents
across the country and reduce brain drain.
Jigyasa - a student- scientist connect programme which focuses on connecting school students and scientists so as to extend
student’s classroom learning with that of a very well planned research laboratory based learning.
Department of science and Technology has restructured all the women specific programmes under one umbrella known as
“KIRAN” (Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing). KIRAN is addressing various issues related with
women scientists (e.g. unemployment, relocation etc.) and aimed to provide opportunities in research, technology development
or demonstration, and self-employment etc.
NIDHI (National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations) is an umbrella programme pioneered by the Department
of Science and Technology - It works towards nurturing knowledge-based and technology-driven ideas and innovations into
successful start-ups. It also aims to provide technological solutions to the pressing needs of the society and create new avenues

successful start-ups. It also aims to provide technological solutions to the pressing needs of the society and create new avenues
for wealth and job creation.
Scientific Social Responsibility - encouraging innovation and applying scientific models for the benefit of society.
• Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured beyond the ability of commonly
used software tools to capture, curate, manage, and process data within a tolerable elapsed time. Now there are 6 Vs - Volume,
Variety, Velocity, Veracity, Value, Variability.

•

•
• July 2018 - India has the highest gender gap in mobile phone and 3rd highest in access to the Internet. Only 43 per cent of women
in India own mobile phones compared to almost 80 per cent of Indian males. India’s 57 per cent gender gap in Internet usage was
surpassed only by Bangladesh and Rwanda. More than 70% of internet users are men in India.

•

Motivation behind this programme - India has 25% of world thorium reserves but only 1-2% global uranium reserve. So it will
enable the thorium reserves of India to be utilized in meeting the country's energy requirements.
• $330-billion - possible space economy.
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) up to 1000 KMs, Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) up to 10,000 KMs or Geo Stationery Earth Orbit (GEO) at 36,000
KMs from the surface of the earth.
Beside Building and launch cost of a satellite Insurance premium is becoming third largest expense for the companies operating in
space.
• Antrix Devas case: In 2011, a leaked draft audit report noted that there were potentially a number of irregularities in the
agreement between ISRO’s Antrix and Devas Multimedia. Shortly after, ISRO cancelled the agreement. Permanent Court of
Arbitration at The Hague ruled against the Indian government over the cancellation of a contract and awarded Devas damages of
nearly Rs. 4,400 crore.

•
• According to the European Space Agency, there were an estimated 7,50,000 objects of size one cm or above in space.
• About LiDAR:
○ Lidar stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to
measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
○ These light pulses-combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional
information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
○ In other words, LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and
analyzing the reflected light.
○ A LIDAR instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver.
○ LiDAR is highly accurate scientific surface/topographic data with active sensing system and it uses its own energy source, no t
reflecting naturally or naturally emitted radiation. This mode allows direct acquisition of terrain information.
• Project Persephone - developing an interstellar Noah’s Ark – a self-sustaining spaceship that can carry humans on a one-way
mission to find a new world to inhabit in the event of climate change or nuclear or biological warfare.
• Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a transport method that uses magnetic levitation to move vehicles without touching

• Project Persephone - developing an interstellar Noah’s Ark – a self-sustaining spaceship that can carry humans on a one-way
mission to find a new world to inhabit in the event of climate change or nuclear or biological warfare.
• Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a transport method that uses magnetic levitation to move vehicles without touching
the ground (10 cm above the ground). With maglev, a vehicle travels using magnets to create both lift and propulsion, thereby
reducing friction and allowing higher speeds. Japan’s maglev train set a new world speed record in a test run, breaking the 600-
kmph mark for 11 seconds.
• Bleeding edge refers to technology that has been released but is still not ready for the general public due to the fact that it has not
been reliably tested. The term bleeding edge was formed as an allusion to the similar terms "leading edge" and "cutting edge".
• Scorpene is a conventional powered submarine weighing 1,500 tonnes and can go up to depths of 300m. Mazgaon Docks Limited
(MDL) is building six Scorpene submarines with technology transfer from DCNS of France. A massive data leak detailing the
combat and stealth capabilities of the Scorpene submarines was reported, more than 22000 pages of secret documents.
• 3 parent baby:
Pronuclear transfer
Spindle transfer

• Pharmacogenomics : This technology helps in analyzing how genetic makeup affects an individual's response to drugs.
• India’s effort towards AMR:

○ In 2012, India’s medical societies adopted the Chennai Declaration, a set of national recommendations to promote antibiotic
stewardship.
○ National Programme on Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance was launched during the 12th five year plan (2012 -2017).
○ The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recently notified the much-awaited tolerance limits for antibiotic
residues in meat, milk, egg and fish.
○ The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has also developed draft standards for antibiotic residues in pharmaceutical
industrial effluent and common effluent treatment plants.
○ In February, 2016, India launched the Red Line campaign. Under this campaign prescription only antibiotics were marked
with a red line to curb irrational use.
• Hospital Acquired Infections are also called nosocomial infections.
• The use of GM technology through BT cotton has increased the country’s cotton production by more than 2½ times since it was
first planted in 2002. Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

• Hospital Acquired Infections are also called nosocomial infections.
• The use of GM technology through BT cotton has increased the country’s cotton production by more than 2½ times since it was
first planted in 2002.


Insights Secure - GS 2
• Section 377 - SC’s judgment will now ensure that military personnel can no longer be tried under Section 69 (civil offences) of the
Army Act (or similar sections in the Navy and IAF Acts).
Heteronormative thinking. Social morality cannot trump constitutional morality - Morality used in Articles 25 and 26 referred to
constitutional morality which includes the values of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.
• National sex offenders list - expected to list 4.4 lakh cases but the state police have been asked to update data from 2005 onwards.
• Only 32% of 9,589 CCIs and Homes (mostly run by NGOs) were registered under the JJ Act. About 33% were unregistered, and the
rest were either empaneled under other schemes or awaiting registration. This is despite the 2015 JJ Act requiring them to be
registered within six months of the law coming into force. Muzaffarpur case.
• According to the 2018 UNESCO Institute for Statistics report on women in science, 44% of bachelor students and 41% of doctoral
students in India are female.
• Legislative impact assessment is a method of estimating the likely impacts of government policy before it is adopted, and
comparing different policy designs to determine which produces the best result - In its reports, the National Commission to review
the working of the Constitution had observed that India’s legislative enactments betray clear marks of hasty drafting and absence
of Parliament scrutiny from the point of view of both the implementers and the affected persons and groups.
• Simmering differences between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central government over - issues of public sector bank
regulation, resolution of distressed assets and the central bank’s reserves, independent payments bank regulator, easing credit to
small firms, liquidity for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), capital requirement for weak banks and lending to micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSMEs) , withdrawal of Prompt Corrective Action for public sector banks.
• Economic capital framework refers to the risk capital required by the central bank while taking into account different risks - The
government believes that RBI is sitting on much higher reserves than it actually needs to tide over financial emergencies that India
may face. Some central banks around the world (like US and UK) keep 13% to 14% of their assets as a reserve compared to RBI’s
27% and some (like Russia) more than that. The Malegam Committee estimated the excess (in 2013) at Rs 1.49 lakh crore.
• MPLAD - MoSPI data shows that over Rs 12,000 crore lies unspent.
• Namami Gange - 20000 crores for 5 years budget - NGT recommended that 100 meters from the edge of the river would be
treated as no development/construction zone between Haridwar to Unnao in UP.
• September 2018 - Five hundred and eighty four districts, 5,840 blocks, 244,687 gram panchayats and 541,433 villages are ODF. The
number of toilets built is 8.6 crore (urban + rural). Sanitation coverage has gone up from 39% from four years ago to over 93%.
Since October 2014, 91.5 million toilets have been constructed and 154.3 million rural households have toilets now.
In Bangladesh only 8.4% households defecate in the open. According to WHO and UNICEF estimates, 61 per cent of rural Indians
defecated in the open in 2015, compared with only 32 per cent of rural people in sub-Saharan Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that SBM could prevent about 300,000 deaths due to water borne diseases
assuming we achieve 100 per cent coverage by October 2019.
UNICEF report revealed that groundwater is 12.7 times less likely to be contaminated in ODF villages than non ODF village.
○ SafiChoo toilet is an inexpensive mobile toilet intended to reduce oral-faecal contamination and the spread of water,
sanitation, and hygiene related diseases.
○ The bio-digester is a simple, low-cost technology for treating human waste and providing safe sanitation facility.
○ In Ecosan toilets, there is no need to flush and the urine and faecal matter is utilized as valuable urea and manure. Which
means sewage and manual scavenging will never be a problem.
○ Bamboo toilets - When it comes to sustainable and affordable sanitation, these Bamboo toilets perfectly fit the bill. The
structures are built with bamboo and are stronger comparable to steel. Bamboo toilets are a huge hit in Nagaland.
○ Multi-User Reinvented Toilets solve many of the issues faced in installation and use of toilets especially in countries such as
India.

India.
• Continuing Mandamus is a writ of Mandamus issued to a lower authority by the higher authority in general public interest asking
the officer or the authority to perform its task expeditiously for an unstipulated period of time for preventing miscarriage of
justice. This happens in a situation which cannot be remedied instantaneously but requires a solution over a long time, at times
going on for years. With this procedural innovation of the writ of mandamus or a mandatory order, the court monitors compliance
of its orders, seeking periodic reports from authorities on the progress in implementing them. The first case, where such a
principle evolved was in the Bandhua Mukti Morcha case.
• Unlike in the late Sixties and again in the late Eighties, when the reservation discourse originated in a deep sense of unfairness of
the social system, today’s reservation discourse draws its strength from unfair development policies.
• E-Governance (Electronic Governance) is the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to the processes
of government functioning to accomplish simple, accountable, speedy, responsive and transparent governance. It integrates
people, processes, information and technology for meeting goals of the government. It aims to bring in SMART governance
implying: simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent governance.
India was ranked 96 in United Nation’s E-Government Index 2018.
Some of the e-Governance models implemented in India: Customs and Excise (Government of India); Indian Railways; Postal
Department; Passport/Visa; Bhoomi – Automation of Land Records (State Government of Karnataka); Gyandoot: Intranet in Tribal
District of Dhar (State Government of Madhya Pradesh); e-Mitra – Integrated Citizen Services Center/ e-Kiosks (State Government
of Rajasthan); Revenue Administration through Computerized Energy (RACE) Billing Project, Bihar.
• The National Commission of Women has evolved an innovative concept of Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat (PMLA) which supplements
the efforts of the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) for redressal and speedy disposal of the matters related to marriage and
family affairs pending in various courts.
• Trade related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD), Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED).
• Artificial trans-fats are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid.
• Smartphone, Internet usages are on a high in India. It is expected that 442 million people will own a smartphone in India by 2022.
IAMAI report predicts that by 2021, there will be about 635.8 million internet users in India.
• E-commerce is expected to become the largest retail channel in the world by 2021.The fast growing ecommerce market in India
will touch USD 84 billion in 2021 from USD 24 billion in 2017 on account of a healthy growth in organised retail sector.
• Industry 4.0:
○ There is an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven $15.7 trillion game-changer that is unfolding. Of this, India can claim a $957
billion boost to its gross domestic product in the next 12-15 years.
○ The global digital transformation market is expected to grow from $ 445.4 billion in 2017 to $ 2,279.4 billion by 2025.
○ The World Economic Forum estimates 133 million new roles may emerge globally in a few years.
○ The cutting-edge technologies such as AI will disrupt 70% of market leaders across industries in the next 10 years.
○ The World Economic Forum estimates 75 million jobs may be displaced globally in a few years.
○ McKinsey says globally, 400 to 800 million jobs may be displaced by 2030, requiring as many as 375 million people to switch
job categories entirely.
○ Indian IT is taking convincing strides to sustain its position as the preferred transformational partner for global clients.
Towards this, investments of about ₹10,000 crore of have been earmarked for re-skilling.
○ The government doubled its Digital India budget to $480 million in 2018-19, which will be used for research and training in
deep tech.
○ The e-commerce sector in India is estimated to reach USD 230 billion by 2028 (accounting for 10% of India’s retail).
○ Online shoppers in India are expected to reach 120 million in 2018 and eventually 220 million by 2025.
• The key targets of the NHP-2017 are:

○ Increase Life Expectancy at birth from 67.5 to 70 by 2025.
○ Reduce Fertility Rate to 2.1 by 2025.
○ Reduce Infant Mortality Rate to 28 by 2019.
○ Reduce Under Five Mortality to 23 by 2025.
○ Achieve the global 2020 HIV target (also termed 90:90:90 global target).
To reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 25 per cent

○ To reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 25 per cent
by 2025.
○ Reducing the prevalence of blindness to 0.25 per 1000 persons by 2025.
○ The disease burden to be reduced by one third from the current levels.
○ Elimination of leprosy by 2018, kala-azar by 2017 and lymphatic filariasis in endemic pockets by 2017.
• India is home to over 40 million stunted and 17 million wasted children (under-five years).
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), with its network of 1.4 million Anganwadi Centres, reaching almost 100 million
beneficiaries who include pregnant and nursing mothers and children up to 6 years.
Mid-day meals (MDM) that reach almost 120 million children in schools.
Public Distribution System (PDS) that reaches over 800 million people under the National Food Security Act.
• The executive exercises powers of ‘delegated legislation’. The parliament makes laws in general broad terms and delegates the
powers to the executive to fill in the details. The power takes the form of rules and regulations issued by the administration under
a law of the parliament. This power has become so enormous that Chief Justice Haldane described it as ‘new despotism.’
• NHRC - In recent times, the rights panel has taken cognizance in the case of killing of 10 people in police firing during anti-Sterlite
protest in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, and intervened in the case of killing of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari after an appeal via
press, by a network of editors and media practitioners, which had urged the NHRC and the Jammu and Kashmir State Human
Rights Commission to push for a swift probe into the case.
• Small states - During the tenth five-year plan period, Chhattisgarh averaged 9.2 percent growth annually compared with 4.3
percent by Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand averaged 11.1 per cent annually compared with 4.7 percent by Bihar, and Uttarakhand
achieved 8.8 per cent growth annually compared with 4.6 percent by Uttar Pradesh.
• Reliability factor of the EVMs:

○ EVMs are standalone systems and not connected to internet unlike EVM used in other countries like USA.
○ Program which controls the functioning of the control unit is burnt into a microchip on a “one time programmable basis”.
Once burnt it cannot be read, copied out or altered.
○ EVM’s use dynamic coding to enhance security of data transmitted from ballot unit to control unit.
○ As an additional precautionary measure, the machines prepared for a poll are physically sealed in the presence of candidates
or their agents and guarded by CRPF.
○ Allegation regarding modification of votes using an external chip (not much base found by SC and ECI).
○ Two-stage randomization is done, to make sure nobody is able to determine constituency-EVM mapping.
• Global Report on Food Crises 2019 report was released jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food
Programme (WFP) and EU. More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced “acute hunger” last year because of
wars and climate disasters, with Africa the worst-hit region.
• “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts
those who are subject to it.”
• Fishing in the Indian Ocean now accounts for almost 15 per cent of the world’s total.
• According to the EODB Index Report, enforcing a contract in India can take 1445 days and 30% of the claim value as cost.
• Independent candidates:
○ With a constant decline in the number of successful independent candidates in all general elections, their average success
rate is just 0.49 per cent.
○ Till now, the highest number of winning independent candidates was seen in 1957 elections when they won 42 seats,
followed by 37 in 1952.
○ Since 1991 polls, number of winning independents is not just stood at single digit but also sharply declining too. The lowest
count also observed in 1991 when only one independent had won out of total 5,514 independents contested.
• The WHO global air pollution database report that ranked 14 Indian cities among the 15 of the world’s most polluted, in terms of
particulate matter (PM) 2.5 concentration, received great attention in India.
India’s urban pollution as measured by PM 2.5 level is already about 40 per cent above the global safe limits across major Indian
cities. If we disaggregate urban pollution, we find 70 per cent to 80 per cent of it (as measured by PM 2.5) comes from vehicular
emissions, domestic activity, construction activity, industry activity and road dust.

Odd-even didn’t work because, while vehicles accounted for around 9% of the city’s pollution, just a tenth was due to 4-wheelers
that were affected by odd-even.
Pollution due to the bursting of firecrackers is relatively small, compared to road dust that contributes 56% and 38% of Delhi’s
PM10 and PM2.5 pollution, respectively, and crop stubble burning according to a Harvard study, is responsible for 50% of the
pollution in October and November in the NCR.
Transport sector generates about a quarter of India’s carbon emissions.
• M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India the Supreme Court held that air pollution in Delhi caused by vehicular emissions violates right to life
under Art. 21 and directed all commercial vehicles operating in Delhi to switch to CNG fuel mode for safeguarding health of the
people.
In Church of God (Full Gospel) in India vs KKR Majestic Colony Welfare Association the Supreme Court observed that noise
pollution amounts to violation of Art.21 of the Constitution.
In Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra vs. State of U.P. the Supreme Court prohibited continuance of mining operations
terming it to be adversely affecting the environment.
The Supreme Court in Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar & Others observed that under Article 21 of the Constitution people have
the right of enjoyment of pollution free water and air for full enjoyment of life. If anything endangers or impairs that quality of life
in derogation of laws, a citizen has right to have recourse to Article 32 of the Constitution for removing the pollution of water or air
which may be detrimental to the quality of life.
The Supreme Court in Vellore Citizen’s Welfare Forum v. Union of India has declared that the polluter pays principle is an essential
feature of the sustainable development.
• National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) - Achieve a national-level target of 20-30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by
between 2017 and 2024.
• Automakers feel that in a country where of a total of 200 Million vehicles, less than 1% is currently electric (as of November 2017),
the target of switching to all-electric vehicles by 2030 seems a too ambitious. According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance
report, India has just over 350 public EV chargers compared with around 57,000 petrol pumps.
Batteries make up 50% of EV costs.
India can save 64% of anticipated passenger road-based mobility-related energy demand and 37% of carbon emissions in 2030 by
pursuing a shared, electric, and connected mobility future. This would result in a reduction of 156 Mtoe in diesel and petrol
consumption for that year.
• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned rat-hole mining in 2014, and retained the ban in 2015, on grounds of it being
‘unscientific and unsafe’ for workers. The verdict was upheld by Supreme Court too.
Use of Satellite imagery and drone technology to find the locations of illegal mines as suggested by BP Katoki committee.
• Green India Mission is one of eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change and aims at “protecting, restoring
and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation
measures”. The $7billion environmental intervention, laid out in 2011, seeks to put a third of the country under forest cover by
increasing forest and tree cover to the extent of 5 million hectares (mha), besides improving quality of forest/tree cover on
another 5 mha of forest/non-forest lands.
• The government’s own data shows that 1.4 mha of forests have been diverted since 1980 for non-forestry purposes, mainly for
mining, defence projects, and hydroelectric projects. In response to a query in Parliament in 2016, it was officially accepted that up
to 25,000 ha of forests are being diverted every year for non-forestry activities.
• The resolution for sustainable nitrogen management in the United Nations Environment Assembly-4, which for the first time was
led by India, has made experts believe that it can help establish an international coordination for nitrogen similar to what exists for
carbon.
India consumes 17 Mt (million tons) of nitrogen fertilizer annually as per the data of the Fertilizer Association of India. 67 per cent

India consumes 17 Mt (million tons) of nitrogen fertilizer annually as per the data of the Fertilizer Association of India. 67 per cent
remains in the soil and seeps into the surrounding environment causing a cascade of environmental and health impacts.
• Estimates show that each one degree rise in temperature will cause grain yields to decline by 5%, posing a serious threat to food
security. In the next 25 years, land degradation and desertification may lead to a decline in global food production by up to 12 per
cent, which might trigger a rise in food price by 30 per cent.
• Food fortification has been identified by the World Health Organization, the Copenhagen Consensus and the Food and Agriculture
Organization as one of the top four strategies for decreasing micronutrient malnutrition at the global level.
• Simultaneous Elections - Amendments needed in the following articles:

○ Article 83 which deals with the duration of Houses of Parliament need an amendment.
○ Article 85 (on dissolution of Lok Sabha by the president).
○ Article 172 (relating to the duration of state legislatures).
○ Article 174 (relating to dissolution of state assemblies).
○ Article 356 (on President’s Rule).
• According to National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (NABARD) All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (Nafis),
small and marginal farmers earned Rs 79,802-1,19,878 in 2015-16. This means that the Rs 6,000 annual direct income transfer
under PM-KISAN would be only about 5-8% of their existing income levels.
• Sharada Prasad committee recommendations:

○ Create a sound and well defined National Vocational Education and Training System of the country which should ensure the
following:
✓ At the secondary school level, the children should be sensitized about the dignity of labour, world of work and career
options but vocational education and training should start only after 10 years of schooling which is the case in most of
the developed world.
✓ Every child should be given an option to go for higher vocational education and training.
○ Create National Labour Market Information System, National Occupational Standards, National Competency Standards,
National Training Standards, National Accreditation Standards, National Assessment Standards and National Certification
Standards and align them to the International Standards.
○ Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship should become the owner of all National Vocational Education and
Training Standards and get them developed though intense industry involvement.
○ Set up state of the art Vocational Education and Training Colleges to impart vocational education and training with a clear
objective of meeting the skills needs of the industry and providing employment to youth.
○ In-plant apprenticeship training should be made an integral part of the Vocational Education and Training for all trainees.
○ The industry must come together to contribute towards a National Skill Development Fund.
○ All diploma colleges and ITIs should be renamed as VETCs and their capacities should be enhanced to about 500 trainees per
annum.
○ There should be one Skill Development Centre (SDC) in a cluster of about 10-12 villages, which would provide skills to the
youth so that they can access employment opportunities in the local economy.
○ The state of Gujarat has already set up a good number of such SDCs called Kaushal Vardhan Kendras which are doing
excellent work.
○ The two existing Acts i.e. Apprentices Act, 1961 and The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act,
1959 should be repealed and a new Vocational Education and Training Act (VETA) should be enacted.
• As a result of prolonged fasting, which sometimes stretches for more than 12 hours, the malnourished children suffer from
hypoglycemia and the process, leading to the triggering of gluconeogenesis (the breaking down of sugar) in their bodies since they
have a lower level of glucose stored in their liver.
It was found that unripe and rotten litchis contain methyl cyclopropyl glycine (MCPG), which inhibits the process of
gluconeogenesis.
This deadly combination of malnutrition and prolonged hypoglycemic status, combined with MCPG, leads to the sugar level in
children to dip much below 50, sometimes to zero, and they start showing symptoms of convulsions and high fever, locally known
as “chamki bukhar”.
• Padmanabhaiah commission recommended that constables, and the police force in general, should receive greater training in soft
skills given they need to deal with the public regularly.
The Madras High Court has said that the state government should contemplate giving policemen a day off in a week like other

The Madras High Court has said that the state government should contemplate giving policemen a day off in a week like other
government officials in order to spend time with their families. The court suggested introducing an 8-hour, three-shift system for
police personnel. It will help them rejuvenate themselves and relieve them from stress.

• Asset gains made in the recent period:

○ The total number of rural houses constructed since 2015-16 under Central schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Awaas
Yojana-Gramin, is 3.3 times that during the preceding four financial years.
○ The pace of rural road construction has significantly increased during this government’s tenure.
○ The number of active domestic LPG connections has gone up from 15.33 crore in June 2015 to 24.72 crore in October 2018,
with overall household penetration levels, too, rising from 57.86% to 88.51%.
○ Under the Saubhagya scheme, launched in 2017, the number of un-electrified households has reduced from around 4 crore
to just 81.53 lakh.
○ More than 8.98 crore household toilets have been built in rural India since 2014 under the Swachh Bharat Mission -Gramin.
○ The BharatNet project has so far enabled laying of optic fiber cable lines in 121,859 out of India’s 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats .
○ 38 crore bank accounts, with 19.75 crore of it in rural areas, have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan -Dhan Yojana.
• According to the Government of India, the ₹16,320 crore Saubhagya scheme funds the cost of last-mile connectivity to ‘willing
households’. The household electrification scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, or Saubhagya, has been
implemented at an unprecedented pace. Of 26.04 million households targeted under the scheme, 99.93% households have got
electricity connections as on 31 March 2019.
• PMJDY - So far, more than 22 crore bank accounts have been opened under the scheme, utilizing a network of more than one lakh
business correspondents (BCs).
• Consumption growth has been aided and abetted by the rise in personal lending. As RBI’s annual report pointed out, liabilitie s of
the household sector went up from 2.4% of gross national disposable income in 2016-17 to 4% in 2017-18.
GDP growth continues to be powered by consumption, not investments. Consumption -led growth is sustainable up to a point,
especially if it is financed by expanding the government (Centre plus States’ cumulative fiscal) deficit. The high growth in the years
preceding the global financial crisis was driven by savings and investments. After the global economic downturn disrupted tha t
trend, an investments famine followed.
Consumption-led growth can arguably lead to a slackening of future growth if it entails growing imbalances due to limits to
capacity creation, and rising debt burdens, particularly for households.
• According to experts some inflation has to accompany industrialization because it requires the diversion of a part of the inc ome of
the economy from producing consumer goods to capital goods. The economic miracle in South East Asia and China bears this out:
South Korea had an average inflation rate of 21 per cent during the three decades in which it became an industrial powerhouse ,
and China has done so only with the help of stringent price controls on essentials. Making price stability the first goal of policy,
therefore, sacrifices growth at the altar of stability. That is what the RBI has been doing since January 2007.
• The infrastructure investments needed will amount to more than 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in developing countries.
Unlike in the UK and the US, in developing economies, nearly 70% of the funding for infrastructure projects comes from the
government budget, 20% from private players, and 10% from multilateral development banks.
• Economic capital framework refers to the risk capital required by the central bank while taking into account different risks. The
economic capital framework reflects the capital that an institution requires or needs to hold as a counter against unforeseen risks
or events or losses in the future.
The RBI’s current equity holding is around 27% of its total assets. This overall equity level can be divided into four catego ries:
1. Paid-up capital
2. Contingency capital – about 6.6%
3. Revaluation capital – around 20%
4. Asset development fund.
The revaluation capital is an accounting entry that offsets changes in the rupee value of the foreign assets and gold holding s of the
RBI due to changes in the exchange rate of the rupee and changes in the dollar price of gold, respectively.
Some central banks around the world (like US and UK) keep 13% to 14% of their assets as a reserve compared to RBI’s 27% and
some (like Russia) more than that. Economists in the past have argued for RBI releasing ‘extra’ capital that can be put to pr oductive
use by the government. The Malegam Committee estimated the excess (in 2013) at RsBhosle
Neha 1.49 lakh crore.15, UPSC CSE 2019
- Rank

use by the government. The Malegam Committee estimated the excess (in 2013) at Rs 1.49 lakh crore.
• IL&FS has over Rs 91,000 crore in debt at the consolidated level.
• Telcom - The license fee of eight per cent of the Adjusted Gross Revenue including five per cent as Universal Service Levy (USL) is
one of the highest in the world. Available spectrum is less than 40% as compared to European nations and 50% as compared to
China.
• India’s mean travel speed across cities is just 24.4 km per hour, much slower than the mean travel speed of 38.5 km per hour in
metropolitan cities in the US.
• The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) latest Global Wage Report finds that, excluding China, real (inflation -adjusted) wages
grew at an annual rate of just 1.1% in 2017, down from 1.8% in 2016. Gap between wage growth and labour productivity remained
wide in 2017. In many countries, labour’s share of national income is still below the levels of the early 1990s.
• Gig Economy - A 2016 McKinsey report found that up to 162 million people in Europe and the US 20-30% of the working-age
population engage in some form of independent work, whether out of choice or necessity.
• A backlog of 0.24 million unfilled posts in the public sector.
• According to the OECD study, the producer support estimate (PSE) for India works out to be a negative 14% of gross farm recei pts
for the period 2000-01 to 2016-17, primarily because of restrictive policies (minimum export prices, export bans or export duties)
and domestic marketing policies (due to Essential Commodities Act, APMC, etc.).
• At the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), scientists have developed improved lines of
chickpea (tolerant to drought), groundnut (resistant to foliar disease and having high Oleic acid content), pearl millet (res istant to
downy mildew and having high iron and zinc contents) and sorghum (tolerant to drought).
• Thirty-three percent of edible food is wasted worldwide, with more than half thrown out in industrialized nations. Food waste
accounts for 9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Poor environmental conditions “cause approximately 25% of global disease
and mortality” — around 9 million deaths in 2015 alone.
According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) report in 2013 food waste globally sums to one -third
of the total food produced for human consumption, about 1.6 billion tons a year, amounting to a loss of $750 billion, also
equivalent to 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emission. Food wastage is responsible for the wastage of nearly 250 cubic
kilometers (km3) of water.
• The Economic Survey 2017-18 has estimated farm income losses between 15% and 18% on average, which could rise to 20%-25%
for unirrigated areas without any policy interventions. These projections underline the need for strategic change in dealing with
climate change in agriculture.
• With rain-fed agriculture practiced in over 67% of our total crop area, weather variability can lead to heavy costs, especially for
coarse grains (which are mostly grown in rain-fed areas). According to one estimate, they may face a 24-58% decline in household
income and 12-33% rise in household poverty through exacerbated droughts.
India has over 120 million hectares suffering from some form of degradation. According to ICAR’s reports, 37% of India’s tota l
geographical area is affected with degradation.
• India relies on imports to meet over 70 per cent of its vegetable oil requirements; almost 60 per cent of the requirement is met
through palm oil. Although oil palm has high productivity in comparison to other crops such as mustard. Yet, the cultivator n eeds to
wait for four years for trees to start yielding oil.
• Draft national forest policy 2018:

○ Existing natural forests should be fully protected and their productivity improved. Adequate measures will be taken to
increase rapidly the forest cover on hill slopes, in catchment areas of rivers, lakes and reservoirs and ocean shores and, on
semi-arid, and desert tracts.
○ Productivity of the forest plantations will be increased through scientific and technological interventions so as to encourag e
usage of more timber so that the dependency on other high carbon footprint wood substitutes is reduced.
○ Management of the natural biodiversity rich forests for maximizing the ecosystem services for ecological security of the
nation.
For conservation of flora, fauna and total biodiversity, the network of national parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserves,

○ For conservation of flora, fauna and total biodiversity, the network of national parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserves,
community reserves, biosphere reserves and important wildlife corridors and biodiversity heritage sites will be strengthened
and extended adequately.
○ Afforestation with suitable species will be intensified so as to cater to the needs of the rural population for fuel wood and
small timber. Further alternative sources of energy like LPG etc. will be promoted in rural areas to reduce dependency on
forests.
○ Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) such as medicinal and aromatic plants, oil seeds, resins, wild edibles, fiber, bamboo and
grass etc. will be sustainably managed for improving the income of the tribals and other forest dependent populations.
○ Promotion of trees outside forests & urban greens will be taken up on a mission mode for attaining the national goal of
bringing one third of the area under Forests & trees cover and also for achieving the Nationally Determined Contribution
(NDC’s) targets of the country.
• Forests act as Carbon sink by absorbing about 30% of man-made GHG emissions (over 11 billion tons of CO2 per year) on other
hand ocean soaks another 23%.
12.6 million hectares of cultivable waste land in India - can grow bamboo.
Urbanization means that India consumes about 135 hectares of forest land a day.
The Global Forest Watch (GFW) released by World Resources Institute (WRI) reveals that India has lost over 1.6 million hectar e of
tree cover between 2001 and 2018, about four times the geographical area of Goa.
• Digitization of land records:

○ Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) was launched by the government of India in August 2008.
The main aim of the programme, was to computerize all land records, including mutations, improve transparency in the land
record maintenance system, digitize maps and surveys, update all settlement records and minimize the scope of land
disputes. Failed due to lack of data.
○ Bhoomi Project in Karnataka.
○ The Rajasthan legislature passed the Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification of Titles) Act. This law ensures that the state
government is a guarantor for land titles in Rajasthan, and will provide compensation in case of issues of defective title. T he
guarantee is based on certification provided by the Urban Land Title Certification Authority, which will verify ownership of
any property for a fee.
○ Andhra Pradesh has tied up with a Swedish firm to use new blockchain technology to prevent property fraud.
• Solar projects should identify lands that are low-yielding and lease it from the farmers on 25-to 28-year-agreements, a win-win
situation for everyone involved as the farmer has a steady flow of income. Example: Karnataka’s Pavagada solar plant – Shakti
Sthala. There is a need to develop decentralized and rooftop solar and more solar pump capacity rather than just large -scale solar
farms. Alternative spaces like floating solar plants (example: Kerala’s Banasura Sagar Dam), solar roads (France and China), solar
trees (developed by CSIR-CMERI), coverings on canals should be looked into. Increasing the height of solar panels so that
cultivation could be done in tandem as done in Wind Farms.
• About 8,500 sq. km of area in northeast India is shown under shifting cultivation but there is inconsistency in the data of v arious
agencies.
• Sustainable Agriculture:

• Sustainable Agriculture:
• In India, fuel is priced as if it, and not crude oil, is imported. Though, in reality, India is a net exporter of fuel, with the export value
in 2017–18 being almost 32 times the import value of fuel, thanks to the expansion in refinery capacity.
“Trade parity price,” or the estimated price of the fuel if it were to be imported and exported in the ratio of 80:20.
• Extraction of shale gas process requires around 5 to 9 million liters of water per extraction activity.
• India’s Energy Storage Mission has proposed three stage solution approach i.e. creating an environment for battery manufactur ing
growth, scaling supply chain strategies and scaling of battery cell manufacturing. Draft sets a realistic target of 15 -20 gigawatt
hours (GWh) of grid-connected storage within the next five years.
• At present, more than 7 million deaths occur worldwide every year due to air pollution.
• Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh produce nearly 40 million tonnes of paddy straw annually.
The road dust contributes 56% and 38% of Delhi’s PM10 and PM2.5 pollution. Industries including power plants are responsible for
over 50% of the NOx pollution.

• SC ban on sale of crackers in NCR ensured that the Air Quality Index registered a PM2.5 pollution of 269 on Diwali at the Dil shad
Garden measuring station as compared to 427 the year before.
• Recent finding of the Central Pollution Control Board that the number of critically polluted segments of India’s rivers has r isen to
351 from 302 two years ago.
• Beijing appears to have turned the tide in its battle against air pollution in five years through an action plan launched in 2013. The
air pollution of Beijing of PM2.5 has come down by 54% on average with commensurate improvement in other parameters.
• National Green Tribunal’s order imposing a Rs.50-crore fine on the Karnataka government and a Rs.25 crore on the Bengaluru city’s
municipal government for negligence that led to the city’s lakes sporting flotillas of toxic froth and even catching fire in the case of
Bellandur.
• According to a forecast by the Asian Development Bank, India will have a water deficit of 50% by 2030. Recent studies also ra nked
Chennai and Delhi at the top of the 27 most vulnerable Asian cities in terms of low per day water availability Mumbai and Kol kata
follow close.
• According to a recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, only 13 percent of the planet’s oceans are untouched by hum an
activity.
Marine dead zones are areas with little or no oxygen supporting microbial processes that also remove nitrogen from the ocean
have quadrupled since the 1950s, and industrial fishing areas now cover half of the world’s oceans.
According to recent estimates, roughly 90 percent of the world’s fish stocks are now fully fished, overfished, or depleted, w ith
nearly one-third of all marine stocks exploited beyond biologically sustainable levels.
Thermal pollution is a byproduct of the ocean’s use as a cooling agent.
• World Bank analysis while preparing the National Hydrology Project (NHP) in 2015 showed that although weather forecasts are
more accurate now, dam managers (especially bureaucrats) are reluctant to authorize advance controlled releases.
River-basin specific flood inundation modelling with climate change simulations is a necessary first step to understand the full
impact of potential unprecedented flooding.
Improved hydromet systems and weather forecasts, robust modelling of catchment water flows with simulations of different
climate-related scenarios, international norms for safety factors and building codes.
• Google Flood Forecasting Initiative aims to provide flood forecasts and warnings in developing countries like India. About 20 % of
fatalities worldwide from flooding occur in India.
• India is the 13th most vulnerable country to climate change. Since more than 60 per cent of its agriculture is rainfed and it hosts 33
per cent of the world’s poor, climate change will have significant impacts on the food and nutritional security.
The World Bank projects that climate change could cost India 2.8% of its GDP, and diminish living standards for nearly half t he
country’s population, in the next 30-odd years.
The mean temperature of the Himalayas has gone up by 0.6°C in the past 30 years.
• The Great Acceleration refers to the most recent period of the Anthropocene during which the rate of impact of human activity
upon the Earth’s geology and ecosystems is increasing significantly. While the Anthropocene commenced with Industrial
Revolution if not long before, the Great Acceleration begins in the 20th century with the acceleration rate dramatically incr easing
after the Second World War.
From 1970 to 2014, 60% of all animals with a backbone like fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals were wiped out by
human appetites and activity, according to WWF’s “Living Planet” report.
Nearly 20% of the Amazon rainforest, the world’s largest, has disappeared in five decades.
Since 1950, Humans have extracted 6 billion tons of fish, crustaceans, clams, squids and other edible sea creatures.

• Climate refugees can be found all over the world, displaced by coastal flooding in Dhaka, by hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, or due
to the desertification of Lake Chad in West Africa. It is estimated that the number of people seeking asylum in the European Union
due to climate change would see a 28% increase by 2100.
• According to IPCC report, unless net carbon dioxide emissions are brought down to zero by 2050, warming above 1.5°C is
practically inevitable. Coral reefs would decline by 70-90% with global warming of 1.5°C, whereas virtually all (more than 99%)
would be lost with a rise of 2°C compared with preindustrial times. A quarter of all marine life depends on coral reefs, and over 500
million people worldwide rely on coral reefs for food security, economic well-being and cultural identity. A combination of rising
ocean temperatures due to global warming and localized threats has resulted in the loss of 50% of reef -building corals in the past
30 years.
Recently a study found that coral reef cover in Lakshadweep has shrunk by as much as 40% in just 18 years.
• The India Cooling Action seeks to:

○ reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25% by 2037-38,
○ reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by 2037-38,
○ Reduce cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by 2037-38,
○ recognize “cooling and related areas” as a thrust area of research under national S&T Programme,
○ Training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022 -23, synergizing with Skill India Mission. These
actions will have significant climate benefits.
• Wildlife experts estimate that 29 per cent of the tigers in India are outside the protected areas.
• India is prone to disasters. About 70% of its coastal areas are prone to tsunamis and cyclones, about 60% of its landmass vul nerable
to earthquakes, and 12% of its land to floods, 68% of India’s land is prone to drought - affecting overall 85% of Indian land and
more than 50 million people.
The economic cost of disasters averages $250 billion to $300 billion annually, according to the 2015 United Nations Global
Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.
• According to a study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, the frequency of severe heat waves in India wil l
increase 30-fold by 2100 under a 2°C warming scenario. India lost nearly 75 billion hours of labour in 2017 as a result of rising
temperatures.
Almost 153 billion hours of labour were lost globally in 2017 due to heat, an increase
Neha of 62 billion
Bhosle hours
- Rank from
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UPSC CSE2000
2019.

Almost 153 billion hours of labour were lost globally in 2017 due to heat, an increase of 62 billion hours from the year 2000 .
• The Four Priorities for Action according to Sendai framework need to be implemented:
○ Priority 1. Understanding disaster risk.
○ Priority 2. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk.
○ Priority 3. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience.
○ Priority 4. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and
reconstruction.
• Biotherapeutic Medicines (also known as biologics) are medicines whose active ingredients are or are derived from proteins (s uch
as growth hormone, insulin, antibodies) and other substances produced by living organisms (such as cells, viruses and bacteri a).
They are larger and more complex than chemically-synthesized medicines and their characteristics and properties are typically
dependent on the manufacturing process itself. Biotherapeutic medicines are an integral and valuable part of modern medicine for
the treatment and prevention of serious illnesses and diseases.
• A biosimilar is a product which is approved by a national regulator after demonstrating that it is highly similar to a biolog ical
product called as reference product which had been previously approved by the regulator. Biosimilars are the generic versions of
biologics medicines made from animal or plant proteins as opposed to chemicals. Furthermore a biosimilar should have no
clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety and effectiveness from the reference product. Biosimilars currently acco unt for
just $5 billion of the $240 billion global market in biologics.
The growth of the biologics market for the treatment of cancer (monoclonal antibodies), diabetes (insulin) and many other aut o-
immune diseases has in turn resulted in creating a global opportunity for biosimilars also.
• Glyphosate herbicide by Monsanto - probably carcinogenic, causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, linked it to chronic kidney disease,
liver damage, changes in gut microflora, cancer, endocrine disruption, neurological damage and immune system dysfunction.
• Data from a large number of peer-reviewed publications have shown that, on average, GM technology adoption has reduced
pesticide use by 37%, increased crop yield by 22%, and increased farmer profits by 68% .
• National Programme on AI.
Global Innovation Index, ranking 57th out of 125 countries.
Today, the nation is home to the third largest number of technology-driven start-ups in the world.
• Automation threatens 69 per cent of the jobs in India, while 77 per cent in China, according to a World Bank research which h as
said that technology could fundamentally disrupt the pattern of traditional economic path in developing countries.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 60 per cent of the formal employment in India relies on “middle -skill”
jobs, including clerical, sales, service, skilled agricultural, and trade-related work, all of which are prone to automation.
Over 40% of activities can be automated across the world.
• The Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026.
• The size of the digital economy in India will be $1 trillion by 2022 and it will account for close to 50% of the entire econo my by
2030.
• Revenue from the India’s e-commerce sector is expected to increase from USD 39 billion in 2017 to USD 120 billion in 2020
• IAMAI report, 2019 data says that Urban India already has 366 million using the internet. Rural India has only 194 million in ternet
users. By 2021, there will be about 635.8 million internet users in India. Men dominated internet usage in India with 71 perc ent to
women’s 29 percent.
• Over 60 per cent of software and hardware being used by BSNL is sourced from either Huawei or ZTE. This is despite Huawei bei ng
probed for hacking a BSNL network in 2014.
• In Germany the Social media companies face fines of up to €50m if they persistently fail to remove illegal content from their sites.

• Internet of things is an integrated system in which devices are connected in a network of information in such a way that they can
communicate with each other without any human intervention. It creates an intelligent system of systems which can manage
multiple activities of human concern like traffic control, health management, optimal use of electricity and inventory manage ment
etc.

• Fixed supply of Bitcoins - in the future it cannot exceed 21 million in number, of which 18 million has already been mined. In India,
an estimated 30 lakh Bitcoins are reportedly in circulation. From a value of a little over ₹60,000 at the start of 2017, the Bitcoin
now commands a value of nearly ₹6 lakh, with a global market cap of $10.2 trillion.
• Researchers have developed an AI ‘robot scientist’ called Eve which is designed to make the process of drug discovery faster and
more economical. AI has shown promising results in detecting conditions such as pneumonia, breast and skin cancers, and eye
diseases. Wearable health trackers. New technological tools are being developed that analyze speech patterns to predict psych otic
episodes and identify and monitor symptoms of neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Apps like Babylon in the U K
use technology to give medical consultation based on personal medical history and common medical knowledge. Precision
Medicine. Tele Health. Monitoring of Chronic Conditions. Manipal Hospitals, headquartered in Bengaluru, is using IBM Watson f or
Oncology, a cognitive-computing platform, to assist physicians discover personalized cancer care options. JP Morgan Chase and Co.
developed a programme called COIN, a learning machine that interprets legal agreements in just a few seconds, a task that
consumed 3,60,000 work hours for lawyers and loan officers annually.
• While 100% of spectrum put on auction in 2015 remained unsold due to high spectrum prices, this was as high as 59% in 2016. N o
auctions could take place in 2017 or 2018 due to telcos being cash-strapped.

•

•

• Indian space SME industry is valued at just $48 million but is expected to expand at a quick pace. Some of the space -related Indian
startups that are already making a mark in the market are:
○ A small satellite developer Dhruva Space joined hands with a German company called the Berlin Space Technologies last year
to establish India’s first factory to manufacture satellites for non -telecom commercial applications such as disaster
management, vehicle and flight tracking, predictive analytics and imaging. It aims to manufacture 10 to 12 satellites every
year.
○ Team Indus, an aerospace startup, won $1 million prize in the Google Lunar XPrize competition in the ‘Landing Milestone’
category. It was the only Indian team to compete in the competition where different teams had to land a robot on the moon
by December 2016.
○ Antara Space signed a satellite procurement agreement with the UK’s Dauria Aerospace in July 2014 to develop two small
geostationary communication satellites for broadcasters.
○ Earth2Orbit is India’s first private space startup that offers earth observation products and launch facilitation services to
different companies.
○ With the launch of ExseedSAT 1, Exseed Space has become the first Indian privately -funded startup to successfully send a
satellite into space.

•
• Adoption of electric and shared vehicles could help country save $60 billion in diesel and petrol along with cutting down as much as
1 gigatonne (GT) of carbon emissions by 2030. The government aims for 30 per cent electric mobility by 2030.
Need an increasing focus on incentivizing electric two-wheelers because two-wheelers account for 76% of the vehicles in the
country and consume most of the fuel.
• According to National crime records bureau figures 17,700 Indians died and 48 people every day due to fire accidents in 2015. Of
those who died, 62% were women.
• Lee Kuan Yew said, preventing terrorist attacks requires that we eliminate the “queen bees” (the preachers of hatred and viol ence)
who are inspiring the “worker bees” (suicide bombers) to become martyrs.

• There are 23,582 government hospitals with 710,761 beds in the country, according to the National Health Profile 2018. These
comprise 19,810 hospitals in rural areas with 279,588 beds and 3,772 hospitals in urban areas with 431,173 beds.
More than 70% of India’s population lives in rural areas and there are 156,231 sub centres, 25,650 primary health centres and
5,624 community health centres to cater to their needs, according to figures from 31 March 2017. There are a total of 2,903 b lood
banks, which means less than three blood banks for every 1 million population, as of March 2018, according to the latest
government data.

Also to Read:
January 2019 - Page 21 - Yom Kippur War; Page 52 - Cyclone, Tornado

April 2019 - Page 15 - Battle of Lion Box
• James Mill was the first to divide Indian history into Hindu, Muslim and British periods.
• According to 2011 census of India, there were close to 1,635 languages being spoken across the length and breadth of the
country.
• Sulvastutra by Baudhayana mentions about ‘Pi’. This further helped in calculations of angles in triangles.
Brahmagupta in Brahmasputa Siddhantika makes a mention of zero.
“Five Principles” (Panch-Siddhantika) dates to 5th Century AD.
Aryabhatta, 5th century Indian mathematician, has referred to Algebra (Bijaganitam) in his treatise on mathematics.
In 12th century, Bhaskaracharya also authored several treatises on the subject – one of them, named Siddantha Shiromani has a
chapter on algebra. He is known to have given a basic idea of the Rolle’s theorem and was the first to conceive of differential
calculus.
The Fibonacci sequence first appeared in Indian mathematics as mātrāmeru, mentioned by Pingala in connection with the
Sanskrit tradition of prosody.
Jyestadeva of the Kerala school wrote the first calculus text, the Yuktibhasa, which explores methods and ideas of calculus
repeated only in seventeenth century Europe.
Ancient scholars of India like Atreya, and Agnivesa have dealt with principles of Ayurveda as long back as 800 BC. Their works and
other developments were consolidated by Charaka who compiled a compendium of Ayurvedic principles and practices in his
treatise Charaka-Samahita.
‘Shushruta-Samahita’ has matters like rhinoplasty (plastic surgery) and ophthalmology (ejection of cataracts).
• Almost 1.5 million Indian soldiers fought WWI and 450 crores from Indian money used. Scindia, Maharaja of Mysore also
donated. 53,486 Indian soldiers lost their lives, 64,350 were wounded and 3,762 went missing or were imprisoned. Indian soldiers
won 11 Victoria Cross honours, Britain’s highest military honour. Overall 13,000 medals were won by the Indian Corps. Not just
combatants, there were 43,737 men who worked in the Indian Labour Corps.
It was Indian jawans(junior soldiers) who stopped the German advance at Ypres in the autumn of 1914, soon after the war broke
out, while the British were still recruiting and training their own forces. The Indian Army fought against the German Empire in
German East Africa and on the Western Front. Indian divisions were also sent to Egypt, Gallipoli and nearly 700,000 served in
Mesopotamia against the Ottoman Empire.
The end of World War I did not see the end of fighting for the Indian Army as they were involved in the Third Afghan War in 1919,
and then the Waziristan Campaign in 1919–1920 and again in 1920–1924. Operations against the Afridis in 1930–1931 and finally
just before the outbreak of World War II operations in Waziristan again in 1936–1939.
• More than 120 of the 192 countries in the world have some form of democracy now, in contrast to only 11 parliamentary
democracies existed in 1941.
• Zimmerman note - It was probably one of the more direct reasons that the Americans decided to join the WW1. The content of
this note is that if Mexico attacked America for the land they had claimed before, then Germany would support them with arms
and supplies.

Germany’s allies were considerably weak compared with Britain and France and faced huge losses at different times in the war -
Both Austria-Hungary and the Turkish Empire were huge empires with internal problems with diverse ethnic groups trying to gain
independence.
By the end of the war, 1918, Germany did not have enough resources and men to fight in the war. Furthermore their country was
devastated because of food shortages and war movements against the war. Eventually, because of the starvation, 750,000
Germans died from hunger which increased the unrest in the country and the number of people against the war.
• In 1908, Rokeya Sekhawat wrote ‘Sultana’s Dream’ in which idea of women’s own governance system was introduced.
In 1910, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani established the Bharat Stree Mandal (Great circle of India Women) with the objective of women
of all castes, creeds and classes together.
Annie Besant became the first woman president of INC in 1917.Her associate Margaret Cousins drafted Indian women’s voting
rights bill and launched Women’s Indian association. In a sense, WIA is the first all India women’s association with the objective of
securing voting rights for women.
In 1916 Begum of Bhopal founded the All-India Muslim Women’s conference. The conference passed a resolution in 1917 to
abolish polygamy which enraged many traditionalists.
In a book called Mother India, the writer Katherine Mayo criticized the Hindu men and slave like condition of women within the
family.
The National Council of Women in India (NCWI) was formed in 1925, and the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) in 1927.The
AIWC, originally convened only to discuss women’s education, became a permanent body.
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) saw contribution by Durgavati Devi who helped Bhagat Singh in his escape
after the Saunders killing. Kalpana Dutta of Indian Republican Army led the armed resistance along with Surya Sen. She was
joined with Pritilata Waddedar in 1931 in attacking the European club in Chittagong.
Sarojini Naidu and Matangini Hajra in Salt March, Vijaya Laxmi in CDM, Kasturba in QIM, Madam Bhikaiji Cama among Indians in
UK, Rehana Tyabjee as President of Youth Congress, Begum Safia Wajid, Captain Laxmi Sahgal in INA, Rani Gaidinliu during
Manipur rebellion.
• Among the 299 members of the constituent assembly, 15 were women - Durgabai Deshmukh, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Begum Aizaz
Rasul (only Muslim woman), Renuka Ray, Annie Mascarene, Dakshayani Velayudhan (only Dalit woman) and Purnima Banerji, as
well as well-known names like Sarojini Naidu and Vijayalakshmi Pandit.
• New women movements: The earliest campaigns – the 2003 Blank Noise Project against eve-teasing, the 2009 Pink Chaddi
(underwear) movement against moral policing and the 2011 SlutWalk protest against victim-blaming – were limited in their scope
but set the tone for this new mode of protest. Campaigns such the 2011 Why Loiter project on women’s right to public spaces,
the 2015 Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) movement against sexist curfew rules in student halls and the 2017 Bekhauf Azadi (Freedom
without Fear) March resonated with a much larger number of women, turningNeha this social
Bhoslemedia-led
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15, UPSC CSEinto 2019
a true

without Fear) March resonated with a much larger number of women, turning this social media-led phenomenon into a true
feminist movement.
• Aravipuram Movement was launched by Sri Narayana Guru in 1888. On that day, Sri Narayana Guru defied the religious
restrictions traditionally placed on the Ezhava community, and consecrated an idol of Shiva at Aravipuram.
• 'If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? - The first thing in my judgement we
must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the
bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and
satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a
great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification
for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are
abandoned, the better for us.' - Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.
• Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India 1917.
The Justice Party’s period in power is remembered for the introduction of caste-based reservations, and educational and religious
reform. In opposition it is remembered for participating in the anti-Hindi agitations of 1937–40.
Party also played a vital role in allowing women to contest elections paving way for Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy to become the first
woman legislator in India. The pioneering efforts of Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy saw the abolition of Devadasi system when the
Justice party was in power.
Rukmini Lakshmipathi, Vice President of Tamil Nadu Provincial Congress Committee, accompanied Rajagopalachariar in his march
to Vedaranyam to break the Salt Laws in 1930.
• According to the 2017 Economic Survey, 90 lakh people, on average, migrated between Indian states for either work or education
each year between 2011 and 2016.
Pattern of internal migration in India: There are four streams of internal migration viz.
○ Rural to urban (R-U) – 18%
○ Rural to Rural (R-R) – 50%
○ Urban to Rural (U-R) – 5%
○ Urban to Urban (U-U) – 17%
The 2001 census estimated the total number of internal migrants at 314 million based on place of last residence, representing
nearly 30% of the total population. According to 2011 Census, the number of internal migrants rose to 453.6 million.
• At present, India, overall as a country, has a large proportion of population that is young. Close to 30% of India’s population is in
the age group 0-14 years. The elderly in the 60-plus age group are still a small proportion (8%) of the country’s population. The
working age group 15-59 years accounts for 62.5% of India’s population. The working-age population will reach the highest
proportion of approximately 65% in 2036.
• Sentinelese - The Government of India issued the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956
to declare the traditional areas occupied by the tribes as reserves, and prohibited entry of all persons except those with
authorization.
In 2005, nearly 50 years after it was promulgated, the ANPATR was amended and made stringent. However, in the years in
between, the Andaman Trunk Road had already ensured increased interaction with the tribals. In the case of the Jarawas, this
had led to the spread of diseases, sexual exploitation, and begging.
Indigenous communities’ combined share of the world population is now at just 4.5%.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy estimated that the country can produce 7000 MW of power in the Gulf of Khambhat
in Gujarat, 1200 MW of power in the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat and about 100 MW of power in the Gangetic delta of Sunderbans in
West Bengal.
India’s maiden Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) project is coming up in Kavaratti, capital of the Lakshadweep
archipelago, off the south-western coast after almost three and a half decades of initial plans. The total OTEC potential around
India is estimated as 180,000 MW, considering 40% of gross power for parasitic losses (Significant amount of the electricity
generated (typically about a third) has to be used for operating the system (pumping the water
Neha Bhosle in and
- Rank out)).
15, UPSC CSE 2019

generated (typically about a third) has to be used for operating the system (pumping the water in and out)).
• At a warm front, where a warm air mass slides above a cold air mass, the warm air is pushed upward forming many different
types of clouds – from low stratus clouds to midlevel altocumulus and altostratus clouds, to high cirrus, cirrocumulus and
cirrostratus clouds. Clouds that produce rain like nimbostratus and cumulonimbus are also common at warm fronts.
At a cold front, where heavy cold air mass pushes a warm air mass upward, cumulous clouds are common. They often grow into
cumulonimbus clouds, which produce thunderstorms. Nimbostratus, stratocumulus, and stratus clouds can also form at cold
front.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands were formed due to collision between Indian Plate and Burma Minor Plate. The Andaman and
Nicobar islands have a geological affinity with the tertiary formation of the Himalayas, and form a part of its southern loop
continuing southward from the Arakan Yoma. This archipelago is composed of 265 big and small islands.
Lakshadweep Islands are coral islands. These islands are a part Reunion Hotspot volcanism. The entire island group is built of
coral deposits. All are tiny islands of coral origin {Atoll} and are surrounded by fringing reefs. These consist of approximately 36
islands of which 11 are inhabited.
• Endorheic basin - When a river does not reach the sea but disappears into the sand, such a region is called an area of inland
drainage. Inland drainage streams are ephemeral streams (short-lived). Example: The Luni river in Rajasthan originates near
Ajmer and after flowing through Thar desert gets lost in the Rann of Kutch.
• Places like Cherrapunji and Mawsynram receive an annual rainfall of about 1000 cm.[They lie on the windward side of the
Meghalaya hills, so the resulting orographic lift (orographic rainfall)enhances precipitation. Also, they are located between
mountains which enhances cloud concentration due to funneling effect].
Somali Jet (Findlater Jet) and Somali Current (Findlater Current) - These effect the intensity of high pressure cell in the Southern
Indian Ocean and flow of moisture laden winds to the subcontinent.
Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) - It is defined by the difference in sea surface temperature between two areas (or poles, hence a
dipole) – a western pole in the Arabian Sea (western Indian Ocean) and an eastern pole in the eastern Indian Ocean south of
Indonesia. The greater than average sea-surface temperatures in Arabian Sea responsible for greater precipitation in the western
Indian Ocean region, and vice versa.

• When the moon is at first and last quarter, the sun and the moon are at right angles to the earth’s center. The attraction of the
sun and that of the moon tend to balance each other. As a result, tides with the lowest amplitudes occur. These are known as
neap tides.
On full moon and new moon, the moon and the sun are almost in a line with the earth. Hence, they exert their combined pull on
the earth. Therefore, on these two days the tides are the highest and are known as the spring tides.
• Nearly 58% of cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal reach the coast as compared to only 25% of those formed in the Arabian Sea.
• International seabed authority by now has opened up a vast 1.2 million square kilometers of seabed one-third the size of India for
exploration of mineral deposits under 26 licences issued since 2001.
• Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) for Africa and Asia, a 45-nation international organization on
disaster warning, has termed ‘Titli’, the severe cyclonic storm that devastated Odisha in October 2018, as ‘rarest cyclone’.
In terms of its characteristics such as re-curvature after landfall and retaining its destructive potential after landfall and re-
curvature away from the coastal areas for more than two days.
Cyclone Titli made a landfall in the Andhra Pradesh coast, entered Gajapati district of Odisha, made a surprise turn towards
adjoining districts and continued as a severe cyclonic storm and deep depression for more than 48 hours. Thus, Titli proved to be
an all-dimensional hazard: non–coastal, coastal and marine.
Cyclonic storms generally lose strength after landfall. So far, only two cyclones in 200 years of recorded history that struck the
Odisha coast retained strength after landfall: the 1999 Super Cyclone and Titli.
• The Governments at central and state level Measures taken by Government to reduce the impacts of cyclone are:
Structural Mitigation measures:

○ Cyclone walls built and Coral reef development promoted.
○ Cyclone Shelters in high vulnerability areas.
○ Natural Bio-shields (Mangroves) and Shelter belt plantations (Casuarinas) are done along the coasts. Maintaining Natural
Sand dunes.
○ Public Address systems and SMS service to alert the coastal citizens.
Non-Structural mitigation measures:

○ Integrated Coastal Zone Management is as an essential institutional mechanism that can deal with all competing pressures
on a coast, including short-, medium-, and long-term.
○ Cyclone zone mapping and Vulnerability index of the zones created.
○ Strict implementation of Coastal Regulations Zone Act – (no development within 500 m of the high tide line with elevation
of less than 10m above m.s.l).
○ Land-Use Zoning done in accordance to Coastal Regulation Zone guidelines.
○ The National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project started by the Ministry of Home Affairs should be strengthened to reduce the
impact of catastrophic events.
• Recently Scientists at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), which maintains
Indian Standard Time, have published a research article describing the necessity of two time zones, with the new one an hour
ahead of the existing time zone. The research paper proposes to call the two time zones IST-I (UTC + 5.30 h) and IST-II (UTC + 6.30
h). The proposed line of demarcation is at 89°52’E, the narrow border between Assam and West Bengal.
○ States west of the line would continue to follow IST (to be called IST-I).
○ States east of the line i.e.., Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands —would follow IST-II.
This move can lead to country’s potential savings in energy consumption 20 million kWh a year if it does follow two time zones.
• Techniques that can be used in controlling soil erosion are:

○ Mulch/Fertilizer - Applying a layer of mulch to the soil top allows the soil to slowly soak up water, as it protects against rain
impact, and restores pH levels helping with erosion prevention.
○ Retaining walls can be built around the area of erosion to prevent water run-off. Runoff water leads to further erosion, and
if used with other methods, retaining walls can be a very effective way to prevent soil erosion.
Contour bunding and Farming Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

○ Contour bunding and Farming
○ Strip Cropping
○ Terracing
○ Gully Reclamation
○ Shelter Belt
• Nearly 20% of the Amazon rainforest, the world’s largest, has disappeared in five decades. Tropical deforestation continues
unabated, mainly to make way for soy beans, palm oil and cattle.
From 1970 to 2014, 60% of all animals with a backbone like fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals were wiped out by
human appetites and activity, according to WWF’s “Living Planet” report.
• Worldwide meat production has tripled over the last four decades and increased 20 percent in just the last ten years.
• In India, 36 MMT of sugar, against consumption of 26 MMT, is being produced since 2018, which involves high risks like high
storage costs and spoilage.
Fixation of Fair Remunerative Price is another bone of contention between the Centre and sugar mills. The Centre decides FRP
annually and the states can hike it by issuing a state advisory price or SAP. But mills want the price of sugarcane to be linked to
the price of sugar.
More than 50 million farmers engaging in sugarcane cultivation in over four million hectares of land (with over five lakh
employees in sugar mills).
India is the second largest producer of sugar (17.1%) in the world after Brazil. Within India, Uttar Pradesh (36.1%), Maharashtra
(34.3%) and Karnataka (11.7%) are the three largest producers.
Sugar mills in India cumulatively owe Rs 22,000 crore to farmers for cane supplied in 2017-18.
Brazil, the world’s biggest sugarcane producer, depends on ethanol, and not sugar, as main revenue source from sugarcane and
blends 27 per cent ethanol with petrol. India aiming for 10% blending but not done yet. Australia has 85% blending.
Rangarajan committee (2012) proposed decontrol of sugar industry and linking sugarcane prices with market price of sugar to
account for this structural imbalance.
Based on the report, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommended a hybrid approach of fixing sugarcane
prices, which involved fair and remunerative price (FRP) or floor price and revenue sharing formula (RSF). Under this approach
farmers’ revenue from sugarcane would be higher if the price of sugar and by-products is high. This is similar to many other
committees formed by the government to recommend the sugar industry decontrol. Committees under Mahajan (1998), Tuteja
(2004), Thorat (2009) and Nandakumar (2010) had similar recommendations.
• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned it in 2014, and retained the ban in 2015, on grounds of it being unscientific and unsafe
for workers. The court placed much emphasis on a report of O P Singh, professor of environmental studies of North Eastern Hills
University of Shillong that explained the grave environmental concerns and health concerns.
In their petition to the NGT, Assam’s All Dimasa Students’ Union and the Dima Hasao District Committee complained that rat-hole
mining in Meghalaya had caused the water in the Kopili river (it flows through Meghalaya and Assam) to turn acidic.
Poisonous gases like Hydrogen Sulphide, Methane.
According to government reports, the coal mining industry was among the biggest revenue earners for the state, generating
about Rs. 700 crore annually, prior to its ban in 2014.
The value of extracted coal stored in Meghalaya was officially estimated at over Rs. 3,078 crore four years ago.
The Katoki panel reported that nearly 24,000 illegal mines are present in Meghalaya as interpreted from satellite images.
The ban has been rendered meaningless by the Supreme court-sanctioned permission to transport “already-mined” coal till
January 2019. Mine owners have used this loophole to continue mining operations illegally.
No other method would be economically viable in Meghalaya, where the coalNeha

seam is extremely
Bhosle thin15,
- Rank unlike that CSE
UPSC in Jharkhand
2019

No other method would be economically viable in Meghalaya, where the coal seam is extremely thin unlike that in Jharkhand
(where open-cast mining is followed).
• The rare earths minerals (REM) are a set of seventeen metallic elements. These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic
table in addition to scandium and yttrium that show similar physical and chemical properties to the lanthanides. They have
distinctive electrical, metallurgical, catalytic, nuclear, magnetic and luminescent properties.
They are extremely important for many modern technologies, including consumer electronics, computers, and networks,
communications, clean energy, advanced transportation, health care, environmental mitigation, national defense etc.
Futuristic technologies need these REMs (For example high-temperature superconductivity, safe storage and transport of
hydrogen for a post-hydrocarbon economy, environmental global warming and energy efficiency issues).

•


Dimensions
1. LAND & THE PEOPLE
2. NATIONAL SYMBOLS
3. POLITY
4. AGRICULTURE
5. CULTURE & TOURISM
6. BASIC ECONOMIC DATA
7. COMMERCE
8. COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
9. DEFENCE
10. EDUCATION
11. ENERGY
12. ENVIRONMENT
13. FINANCE
14. CORPORATE AFFAIRS
15. FOOD, CIVIL SUPPLIES & CONSUMER AFFAIRS
16. HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE
17. HOUSING & URBAN AFFAIR
18. INDIA & THE WORLD
19. INDUSTRY
20. LAW & JUSTICE
21. LABOUR, SKILL DEVELOPMENT & EMPLOYMENT
22. MASS COMMUNICATION
23. PLANNING
24. RURAL DEVELOPMENT
25. SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS


25. SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
26. TRANSPORT
27. WATER RESOURCES
28. WELFARE
29. YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS

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CURRENT AFFAIRS NOTES

Please read the following post before reading these Notes -

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All the Best !

Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

February 2015 - Page 70 - MDG India's Achievements

Tripling tax on tobacco will yield 0.3 % of GDP in revenue.

Current Affairs Page 1

More than 80% of hospital beds are in the private sector.

In the Indian market, generics hold a whopping 75% share.

Current Affairs Page 2

Public Health Cadre:

• India contributes to 21% of the global disease burden.

Current Affairs Page 3

Current Affairs Page 4

• PAM RAJPUT COMMITTEE ON IMPROVING STATUS OF WOMEN:

Current Affairs Page 5

October 15 is celebrated as National Women’s Farmer’s Day.

Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP).

NITI Aayog launched Women Entrepreneurship Platform.

Current Affairs Page 6

Laws under the IPC:

1972 Mathura rape case.

Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

Current Affairs Page 7

4.5% of all Indian households are run by single mothers.

BJD, TMC fielded 33% female candidates in the 2019 LS elections.

India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

Current Affairs Page 8

They represent less than 1% of total workforce.

Kinnar Akhara in Kumbh Mela at Allahabad.

Current Affairs Page 9

By 2050, 20% of the Indian population would be above 60.

Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

Life expectancy of tribals is 63.9 compared to national average of 67 years.

Sex ratio among tribals is 990/1000 as compared to national average of 933/1000.

Current Affairs Page 10

Thorat Committee findings on discrimination:

Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

Current Affairs Page 11

• According to National family health survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4):

Current Affairs Page 12

Institutional deliveries have increased from 38.7% in 2005-06 to 78.9% in 2015-16.

The broad objectives of NHM by 2020:

Provisions of the National Child Action Plan of 2016:

Current Affairs Page 13

Private schools account for only about 30% children.

Current Affairs Page 14

40% of faculty positions lie vacant in Central Universities.

Current Affairs Page 15

• INCHEON DECLARATION on education:

According to India Skill report 2018, employability in the country is at 47%.

Current Affairs Page 16

• National Youth Policy(NYP) 2014:

Current Affairs Page 17

• Manipur became the first state to pass a law against lynching.

Neha Bhosle - Rank 15, UPSC CSE 2019

Current Affairs Page 18

January 2015 - Page 18 - Shanta Kumar Recommendations; Page 21 - Xaxa Recommendations

CBI is exempt from the provisions of the RTI Act of 2005.

Current Affairs Page 19