News @ a glance - Officers Pulse

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For free learning, visit www.officerspulse.com

News @ a glance POLITY ................................................................................. 3 1) MGNREGA ..................................................................... 3 2) Brus reject resettlement sites ............................ 3 3) EWS quota challenge referred to

Constitution Bench............................................... 4 ENVIRONMENT ............................................................... 7 1) Three States rank high in the conservation

of the endangered dhole ................................... 7 2) Report on Leopard Sights ..................................... 7 3) Environment Ministry on LG Polymers

plant ............................................................................. 8 4) Pokkali rice................................................................... 9 ECONOMY ........................................................................ 10 1) Electronics manufacturing schemes ............ 10 2) Purchasing Managers' Index ............................ 10 3) Offline Card Payment scheme ......................... 10 4) Monetary Policy Committee ............................. 11 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS .............................. 12 1) Financial Action Task Force ............................. 12 2) United Nations Security Council .................... 12

3) UN Human Rights Council ................................. 13 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ................................ 14 1) Mars 2020 Mission and Perseverance

Rover ........................................................................ 14 2) Demo 2 - World’s first manned private

space mission....................................................... 15 3) Serum Institute and GAVI tie-up.................... 16 ART & CULTURE .......................................................... 17 1) Babri Masjid ............................................................. 17 2) Ayodhya ...................................................................... 17 PIB ANAYSIS................................................................... 19 1) Draft Defence Production and Export

Promotion Policy 2020 ................................... 19 2) Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network

(eVIN) ...................................................................... 19 3) Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana ......................... 20 4) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) ....... 21 5) TRIFED Foundation day ..................................... 22

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News in Depth

AIR NEWS ........................................................................ 24 1) Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) .............. 24 2) Smart India Hackathon 2020 ........................... 24 THE HINDU EDITORIALS ........................................ 26 1) The COVID-19 crisis as a metropolitan

battle......................................................................... 26 2) A Policy with many a right intention ........... 27 3) Profiteering during a pandemic ..................... 28

4) Health as a public good ....................................... 29 5) How to pay for a stimulus? ............................... 31 6) Rebuild India’s confidence, revive the

economy ................................................................. 32 7) Language of unity .................................................. 33 INDIAN EXPRESS EXPLAINED .............................. 35 1) In farm promise, some concerns ................... 35

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News @ a glance POLITY

1) MGNREGA About: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme is the largest social security scheme in the world — guaranteeing 100 days of work to any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.

The MGNREG Act gives rural households the right to work — making it obligatory for the State to give them work on demand.

The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Govt of India is monitoring the entire implementation of this scheme in association with state governments.

The core objectives : Providing not less than one hundred days

of unskilled manual work as a guaranteed employment in a financial year to every household in rural areas as per demand, resulting in creation of productive assets of prescribed quality and durability;

Strengthening the livelihood resource base of the poor;

Proactively ensuring social inclusion and Strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Key features: Legal right to work: Unlike earlier

employment guarantee schemes, the Act provides a legal right to employment for adult members of rural households. At least one third beneficiaries have to be women.

Time bound guarantee of work and unemployment allowance: Employment must be provided with 15 days of being demanded failing which an ‘unemployment allowance’ must be given.

Work site facilities: All work sites should have facilities such as crèches, drinking

water and first aid.The employment will be provided within a radius of 5 km, if it is above 5 km extra wage will be paid.

Transparency and accountability: Social audits are conducted by gram sabhas to enable the community to monitor the implementation of the scheme. The Gram Sabha is the principal forum for wage seekers to raise their voices and make demands. It is the Gram Sabha and the Gram Panchayat which approves the shelf of works under MGNREGA and fix their priority.

Why in News? One-third of the way through the financial

year, government data shows that the MGNREGA scheme has used up almost half its allocated funds. The government spent more than ₹48,500 crore out of the expanded ₹1 lakh crore allocation announced following the COVID-19 outbreak.

2) Brus reject resettlement sites Who are Brus? Bru or Reang is a community indigenous

to Northeast India, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam.

In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. In Mizoram, they have been targeted by groups that do not consider them indigenous to the state.

In 1997, following ethic clashes, nearly 37,000 Brus fled Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts of Mizoram and were accommodated in relief camps in Tripura.

Background: Ethinic clashes in 1995 with the majority

Mizos led to the demand for the removal of the Brus, perceived to be non-indigenous, from Mizoram’s electoral rolls.

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This led to an armed movement by a Bru outfit, which killed a Mizo forest official in October 1997. The retaliatory ethnic violence saw more than 35,000 Brus fleeing to adjoining Tripura where they took shelter in six relief camps.

In June 2018, community leaders from the Bru camps signed an agreement with the Centre and the two state governments, providing for repatriation in Mizoram. But most camp residents rejected the terms of the agreement.

According to them, the agreement doesn't guarantee their safety in Mizoram.

A quadrilateral agreement was signed among the Bru groups, the Centre and the State governments of Mizoram and Tripura in January 2020 to let the remaining 35,000 refugees who have stayed back to be resettled in Tripura.

As a part of the January 2020 agreement, the Centre announced a package of Rs 600 crore which includes:

Plots of 2,500 sq ft for each Bru family in addition to agricultural land.

A stipend of Rs 5,000 per month and free ration for each family for the next two years.

Bru tribals promised to be included in Tripura’s voter list.

Why in News? Three organisations representing the Bru

community displaced from Mizoram have rejected the sites proposed by the Joint Movement Committee (JMC), an umbrella group of non-Brus in Tripura (comprising of Bengali, Mizo, Buddhist Barua and other communities), for their resettlement.

Why are they opposing? The three refugee groups insisted on

resettling some 6,500 families in clusters of at least 500 families at each of the sites of their choice.

They claim that the sites proposed by the JMC are unconnected by road and electricity and too far from hospitals, schools and other facilities.

About PVTGs In India, tribal population makes up for

8.6% of the total population. Tribal people live in about 15% of the geographical area of the country.

Among them some groups are declared as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) based on the following criteria.

o A pre-agriculture level of technology; o A stagnant or declining population; o Extremely low literacy; and o A subsistence level of economy. Livelihood In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created

Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category, who are less developed among the tribal groups.

In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

75 tribal groups have been categorized by the Ministry of Home Affairs as PVTGs.

PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands.

Among the 75 listed PVTG's the highest number are found in Odisha (13), followed by Andhra Pradesh (12).

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements the Scheme of “Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)” exclusively for them.

PVTGs depend on various livelihoods such as food gathering, Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), hunting, livestock rearing, shifting cultivation and artisan works. Most of their livelihoods depend on the forest.

3) EWS quota challenge referred to Constitution Bench

What is the EWS quota law? It is the 103rd Constitution Amendment

of 2019 that provided a 10% reservation for Economically Backward Section (EWS).

The amendment was done to Article 15 and Article 16 of the constitution.

An additional clause was added to both provisions, giving Parliament the power to make special laws for EWS like it does for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes.

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Key provisions of the amendment Article 15 (6) was added to provide

reservations to economically weaker sections for admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of Article 30.

Article 16 (6) was added to provide reservations to people from economically weaker sections in government posts.

It was enacted to promote the welfare of the poor not covered by the 50% reservation policy for SCs, STs and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC).

It enables both Centre and the states to provide reservation to the EWS of society.

Who is eligible for reservation? Persons who are not covered under the

scheme of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs and whose family has gross annual income below Rs 8 (Rupees eight lakh only) are to be identified as EWSs for the benefit of reservation. Income shall also include income from all sources i.e. salary, agriculture, business, profession, etc. for the financial year prior to the year of application.

Also persons whose family owns or possesses any of the following assets shall be excluded from being identified as EWS, irrespective of the family income:

1) 1.5 acres of agricultural land and above; 2) Residential area of 1000 sq ft. and above; 3) Residential plot of 100 sq. yards and

above in notified municipalities; 4) Residential, plot of 200 sq. yards and

above in areas other than the notified municipalities.

Why is there opposition to this law?

The constitutional validity of the law has been challenged in the Supreme Court. There are 3 major oppositions by petitioners filed in the court. They are:

Basic structure of the Constitution The law was challenged primarily on two

grounds. First, it violates the Basic Structure of the Constitution. This argument stems from the view that the special protections guaranteed to socially disadvantaged groups is part of the Basic

Structure and that the 103rd Amendment departs from this by promising special protections on the sole basis of economic status.

Goes against the Indira-Sawhney judgement

The petitioners have also challenged the amendment on the grounds that it violates the SC’s 1992 ruling in Indra Sawhney & Ors v Union of India, which upheld the Mandal Report and capped reservations at 50%.

In the ruling, the court held that economic backwardness cannot be the sole criterion for identifying backward class.

Fundamental right of trade by private institutions

In another petition the private and unaided colleges have questioned the compulsion put by this act, which asks them to provide reservation for EWS.

They claim that reservation in unaided institutions violates the fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) (which allows every citizen to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business) of the Constitution.

Government’s Arguments The Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment filed counter-affidavits to defend the amendment. When a law is challenged, the burden of proving it unconstitutional lies on the petitioners.

The government argued that under Article 46 (State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people) of the Constitution, it has a duty to protect the interests of EWSs.

The government argued that to sustain a challenge against a constitutional amendment, it must be shown that the very identity of the Constitution has been altered.

Countering Indra Sawhney judgement's argument, the government cited a 2008 ruling in Ashok Kumar Thakur v Union of India case.

In this 2008 ruling, the SC upheld the 27% quota for OBCs. The argument is that the court accepted that the definition of OBCs was not made on the sole criterion of

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caste but a mix of caste and economic factors.

The government made this argument to prove that there need not be a sole criterion for according reservation.

For the unaided institutions, it argued that the Constitution allows the Parliament to place reasonable restrictions on the right to carry on trade.

Why in News? The Supreme Court has referred to a five-

judge Constitution Bench a batch of petitions challenging the 103rd Constitution Amendment of 2019 that provides 10% reservation for Economically Backward Section.

Why has the SC referred the law to the constitutional bench?

According to Article 145(3) whenever there is substantial question of law as to interpretation of the Constitution, the law must be referred to a bench of judges not less than 5.

The EWS law has following things to be decided:

Whether economic criteria alone cannot be the basis to determine backwardness.

The EWS quota exceeds the ceiling cap of 50% set by the court

The rights of unaided private educational institutions.

For doubts and queries email us at: [email protected]

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ENVIRONMENT

1) Three States rank high in the conservation of the endangered dhole

About Dhole

The dhole is genetically different from a

dog; it does not fit into any of the subfamilies like foxes or wolves and is classified in a genus of its own—Cuon.

The dhole has a shorter jaw than a dog with one less molar on each side of its lower jaw.

They are called whistling dogs because they have a peculiar way of communication within the pack through whistling sounds.

Dholes hunt various mammals, generally associating in packs of up to 30 individuals; they usually hunt such prey as deer and wild sheep but are reported to attack animals as large as tigers and bears. They play a vital role as apex predators.

Dholes are incredibly athletic. They are fast runners, excellent swimmers, and impressive jumpers. These skills are critical when the pack is hunting.

It is listed as an Endangered species by IUCN as the population of matured individuals is around 2500.

The historic range of Dholes stretched over the Indian subcontinent, up into Korea, China and Russia and down through Malaysia and Indonesia. However, as vast tracts of forest have been cleared for timber and human developments, Dholes have become far less wide-spread.

Why in the news?

A paper titled ‘A strategic road map for conserving the endangered dhole Cuon alpinus in India’, published recently found that Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh rank high in the conservation of the endangered dhole in India.

The paper also noted that Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Odisha need more financial investment to conserve the forests and wildlife sectors, and reduce the ease of granting forest clearances for infrastructure projects.

It also pitched for improving habitat conditions and prey densities in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha which would strengthen the link between dhole populations in the Western Ghats and central India.

2) Report on Leopard Sights Wildlife Institute of India (WII) It is an autonomous institution of the

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. It was established in 1982.

WII carries out scientific and applied research on various issues of wildlife and biodiversity conservation. It is headquartered at Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

They try to build capacity through training, education and research in the field of wildlife conservation.

They help in conducting Tiger Census every four years along with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Indian Leopard

It is one of the big cats and prominent

species of genus Panthera to which lion, tiger etc belongs.

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The leopard is listed under VULNERABLE category by IUCN.

Like other leopard subspecies, the pattern of rosettes (marks on body) is unique to each individual and can be used to tell them apart. They are sexually dimorphic, with males larger and heavier than females.

Indian Leopards are solitary predators who remain well-camouflaged at night but come down from trees to hunt during the day.

It is estimated that 12,000-14,000 leopards occur in India, and the population is the most genetically diverse/outbred out of all the subspecies in Asia. However, the population has been severely affected by poaching for skins and body parts for the illegal wildlife trade; there were more than 3,000 leopards poached in India between 1994 and 2010.

TRAFFIC TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental

organisation working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Founded in 1979, it is a joint program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

TRAFFIC's headquarters are located in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Why in the news? News 1 The WII is planning to come up with a

report about Leopards in India as a part of the Global Tiger Census.

The last leopard census was conducted in 2014 which estimated its population around 12000 to 14000 individuals.

But in recent days there have been rampant leopard poaching. Since we already have established camera traps for tiger census, the same infrastructure will be used to study the leopards and reports will be presented.

News 2 The TRAFFIC has come up with a study on

Leopard poaching and its illegal trade in India.

The report titled ‘‘SPOTTED’ in Illegal Wildlife Trade: A Peek into Ongoing

Poaching and Illegal Trade of Leopards in India’ presents 747 leopard deaths between 2015-2019 in India, 596 were linked to illegal wildlife trade and activities related to poaching.

The highest numbers of poaching incidents were reported from the States of Uttarakhand and Maharashtra.

In the illegal trade, the skin of the leopard is the most demanding one, and its bones are sold as tiger bones which are used for traditional medicine.

3) Environment Ministry on LG Polymers plant

Environment Protection Act The Environment (Protection) Act,

1986 authorizes the central government to protect and improve environmental quality, control and reduce pollution from all sources, and prohibit or restrict the setting and /or operation of any industrial facility on environmental grounds.

It empowers the Central Government to establish authorities charged with the mandate of preventing environmental pollution in all its forms and to tackle specific environmental problems that are peculiar to different parts of the country.

The Environment (Protection) Rules lay down procedures for setting standards of emission or discharge of environmental pollutants.

Section 5 of EPA Act

Under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act 1986, the central government has power to direct any authority regarding the closure or prohibition of industry, operation or process.

Also under this law the central government can regulate or stop the supply of electricity or water or any other service.

Why in the news? In May 2020, the LG polymers plant in

Visakhapatnam experienced styrene gas leakage which led to the death of 12 people and injuries of nearly 4000 individuals.

After the incident, it was found that the company was already under many violations.

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Now the case of the company is under Violation Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The decision is yet to be taken whether the Ministry will move forward to close the plant under Section 5 of the EPA.

4) Pokkali rice

It is a unique saline tolerant rice grown

in Alappuzha, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts of Kerala.

It has been given a GI tag from Kerala.

Since the tidal flows make the fields highly fertile, no manure or fertilizer need to be applied; the seedlings just grow the natural way. In order to survive in the water-logged field, the rice plants grow up to 130-140 cm.

Pokkali rice cultivation has been evolved through ages by the farmers of the area for the maximum utilization of available resources without affecting the ecosystem.

Why in the news? Ever since Cyclone Amphan has hit the

coasts of West Bengal, the coastal regions have seen severe sea-water incursion which has left crops damaged.

Hence, with the help of local Science Clubs, the farmers of 24 North Parganas district in West Bengal are sowing Pokkali rice from Kerala which is known for its salt water tolerance.


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ECONOMY1) Electronics manufacturing

schemes Government policies and interventions for

development Background In March 2020, to boost large-scale

electronics manufacturing in India, the Union Cabinet approved three schemes with a total outlay of almost Rs 48,000 crore.

The three schemes together will enable large-scale electronics manufacturing, a domestic supply chain ecosystem of components and a state-of-the-art infrastructure and common facilities for large anchor units and their supply chain partners.

The schemes are expected to attract new investments worth at least Rs 50,000 crore in the sector, while generating more than five lakh direct and 15 lakh indirect jobs.

News in Detail The production-linked incentive

scheme aims to attract large investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components. The scheme will offer an incentive of 4-6% on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India and is expected to create a total of 8 lakh jobs.

The ‘Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronics Components and Semiconductors’ will give a financial incentive of 25% on capital expenditure for the identified list of electronic goods.

The third scheme, Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC) 2.0, aims at creating quality infrastructure with a minimum area of 200 acres along with industry-specific facilities such as common facility centres, ready-built factory sheds/ plug-and-play facilities. The scheme is expected to create about 10 lakh jobs.

Why in News? A total of 22 companies, including

Samsung, Apple’s three contract manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron, Lava and Micromax, have filed

applications under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme that aims to boost local manufacturing of mobile phones and components.

Under the scheme, domestic value addition was expected to grow from the current 15-20% to 35-40% in the case of mobile phones and 45-50% for electronic components.

2) Purchasing Managers' Index What is PMI? Purchasing Managers' Index is an

economic indicator which indicates the business activity & economic health of both the manufacturing and service sectors.

PMI of India is published by Japanese firm Nikkei but compiled and constructed by IHS Markit, a London–based global information provider.

Unlike the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which indicates the changes in production volume or output, the PMI is an investor sentiment tracking index and is more dynamic in nature. They are derived from monthly surveys of about 400 private companies.

Variables used for calculating the PMI are: Output, New Orders, Employment, Input Costs, Output Prices, Backlogs of Work, Export Orders, Quantity of Purchases, Suppliers’ Delivery Times, Stocks of Purchases and Stocks of Finished Goods.

How to read PMI? While PMI >50 implies an expansion of

business and economic activity, PMI <50 means contraction.

Why in News? According to the latest PMI data, India’s

manufacturing sector activity contracted at a slightly faster pace in July as demand conditions remained subdued amid prolonged closures.

Manufacturing PMI stood at 46 in July, down from 47.2 in June.

This is the fourth straight month of contraction for the Indian manufacturing sector.

3) Offline Card Payment scheme

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Government policies and interventions for development

What’s in the news? The RBI has announced a scheme on pilot

basis for offline retail payments using cards and mobile devices to encourage customers to go for digital transactions even in those places that lack internet connectivity.

The central bank said that based on experience gained, detailed guidelines for the rollout of the scheme will be announced in due course.

Observing that lack of internet connectivity or low speed of internet, especially in remote areas, is a major impediment in adoption of digital payments, the RBI said against this backdrop, providing an option of offline payments through cards, wallets and mobile devices is expected to further the adoption of digital payments.

Online Dispute Resolution Meanwhile, the RBI also said Payment

System Operators (PSOs) will have to implement Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) as there is a concomitant increase in the number of disputes and grievances as digital transactions rise significantly.

Recourse to technology-driven redressal mechanisms that are rule-based, transparent and involve minimum (or no) manual intervention is necessary to deal with disputes and grievances in a timely and effective manner.

PSOs are required to introduce ODR systems in a phased manner. To begin with, authorised PSOs shall be required to implement ODR systems for failed transactions in their respective payment systems.

Based on the experience gained, ODR arrangements will be extended to other types of disputes and grievances.

4) Monetary Policy Committee Indian Economy About MPC The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is

a committee of the RBI which is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain

inflation within the specified target level.

Under the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework, RBI aims to contain Consumer Price Index (CPI) within 4 percent with a band of (+/-) 2 percent.

The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 was amended in 2016 to provide for a statutory and institutionalised framework for the MPC.

The MPC has six members

o RBI Governor (Chairperson), RBI Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy, one official nominated by the RBI Board and remaining 3 members would represent the Government.

The MPC makes decisions based on majority vote. In case of a tie, the RBI governor will have a second or casting vote.

Why in News? The Monetary Policy Committee decided

to keep the Repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent in its August policy review meeting.

The committee left reverse repo rate at 3.35 per cent while maintaining the accommodative stance.

Repo Rate & Reverse Repo Rate Repo rate is the rate of interest which is

applied by RBI to commercial banks when the latter borrows from RBI. Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from commercial banks by lending securities.

Both the Repo rate and Reverse Repo rate are used to control inflation and money supply in the economy.

Monetary policy stance The Central Banks use different terms to

indicate its monetary policy stance on deciding policy rates like repo rate.

“Accommodative” indicates that the central bank is telling the market to expect a rate cut anytime, “neutral” means that RBI could either increase or reduce repo rates as per liquidity conditions, “calibrated tightening” means that a cut in the repo rate is unlikely in the current rate cycle.


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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1) Financial Action Task Force Important International institutions, Effect

of policies on India’s interests About Financial Action Task Force (FATF): It is an intergovernmental organization

that designs and promotes policies and standards to combat financial crime.

Recommendations of the FATF target 1) Money laundering 2) Terrorist financing 3) Other threats to the global financial

system The FATF was created in 1989 by the G7

countries, and is headquartered in Paris. There are 37 members, including India

and two regional organisations - European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Grey list FATF: Member countries that have deficiencies

in their anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regimes but they commit to an action plan to address these loopholes.

Currently, there are 18 countries on the grey list, including Mauritius and Pakistan.

Black list FATF: Member countries that have deficiencies

in their anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regimes and do not end up doing enough.

As of now there are only two countries in the blacklist — Iran and North Korea.

While greylist includes countries which are considered as safe havens for supporting terror funding and money laundering, blacklisting will mean severe strictures on the countries banks and credit rating, as well as access to loans and foreign investments.

Pakistan has been under the FATF’s scanner since 2018, when it was put on the greylist for terror financing and money laundering risks.

Why in News? Ahead of the crucial FATF meetings in

October, when Pakistan’s performance in acting against terror-financing infrastructure will be assessed, Indian

agencies plan to highlight its inaction in the Pulwama, 26/11 Mumbai attack and Daniel Pearl murder cases.

2) United Nations Security Council

Important International institutions, Effect of policies on India’s interests

About UNSC The United Nations Security Council

(UNSC) was established in 1946 as one of the six principal organs of the UN. It is generally viewed as the apex of the UN system.

It is responsible for 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.

Membership UNSC consists of 15 Members. The council has five permanent

members (P-5) United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France.

These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolutions, including those on the admission of new member states.

The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis as follows:

a. five for African and Asian States; b. one for Eastern European States; c. two for the Latin American and Caribbean

States; and d. two for Western European and other

States. Each year the 193-member UN General

Assembly (UNGA) elects five non-permanent members for a two-year term.

The body's presidency rotates monthly among its members.

Vote and Majority Required Each member of the Security Council shall

have one vote.

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Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members.

Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members.

However, any member, whether permanent or nonpermanent, must abstain from voting in any decision concerning the peaceful settlement of a dispute to which it is a party.

Why in News? A day after China prompted the UNSC to

discuss the abrogation of Article 370 in a closed-door meeting, India firmly rejected the Chinese initiative and reiterated Kashmir is a domestic issue.

China attempted a similar move in January this year as well but it did not attract sufficient support from the UNSC members.

The frequency of the attempts by China to take up the Kashmir issue at the UNSC has prompted diplomats to highlight the unequal nature of the top organisation of the U.N. where the agenda is set by the permanent members (P5) of the UNSC.

3) UN Human Rights Council About the council The Human Rights Council is an inter-

governmental body within the United Nations system.

The Council’s mandate is to promote “universal respect for the protection of all

human rights and fundamental freedoms for all” and “address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon.”

It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year.

The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006. It replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Membership The Council is made of 47 Member

States, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot.

The Council's Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution.

Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.

Why in News? U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

urged UN members not to support Cuba’s bid to join the organisation’s Human Rights Council.

Mr. Pompeo described Cuba’s sale of medical services, the country’s main source of foreign exchange, as a form of human trafficking.


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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1) Mars 2020 Mission and

Perseverance Rover GS 3: Awareness in the fields of Science and

Technology Mars 2020 Mission Overview The Mars 2020 rover mission is part of

NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet.

The Mars 2020 mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars.

The Perseverance rover is the centrepiece of NASA's Mars 2020 mission.

About the Perseverance rover Perseverance is the biggest, most

sophisticated Mars rover ever built — a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers.

The rover will hunt for signs of habitable environments on Mars while searching for signs of past microbial life.

The plutonium-powered, six-wheeled

rover will drill down and collect tiny geological specimens that will be brought back to the earth in about 2031 by a series of missions.

The analysis of Martian rocks on Earth will likely provide a reliable indication of whether life on Mars is feasible in the past or at present.

Perseverance will explore the Jezero Crater, which is an ancient (more than 3 billion years ago) lakebed where microbial life could have developed.

MOXIE

Perseverance will carry a unique instrument, MOXIE or Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment: which for the first time will manufacture molecular oxygen on Mars using carbon dioxide from the carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere.

ISRU means In Situ Resource Utilization: or the use of local resources to meet human needs or requirements of the spacecraft.

Without ISRU, exploration of Mars in the future decades will be incredibly expensive and thereby impossible.

If astronauts have to carry oxygen or water or rocket fuel for their journey for a two-year journey to Mars and back, the cost will be understandably excessive.

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is a

technology demonstration, carried by the Perseverance rover.

A technology demonstration is a project that seeks to test a new capability for the first time, with limited scope.

The rover will release the mini helicopter that will attempt the first powered flight on another planet, and test out other technology to prepare the way for future astronauts.

The flight will be challenging because Mars' thin atmosphere (which is 99% less dense than Earth's) makes it difficult to achieve enough lift.

Why in News? NASA launched its Mars Perseverance

Rover on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30, 2020.

More in the News

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Two other NASA landers are also operating on Mars — 2018’s InSight and 2012’s Curiosity rover.

Six other spacecraft are exploring the planet from orbit: three from the U.S., two from Europe and one from India.

NASA’s first ever Mars rover mission was in 1997 when the Mars Pathfinder Mission with the Sojourner rover landed on the Martian soil.

It was followed by the twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, to Mars in 2003.

No other country has put a rover on Mars or any other planet.

If China’s Tianwen-1 (an interplanetary mission to Mars), launched recently succeeds, it will become only the second nation after the United States to have a rover on another planet.

2) Demo 2 - World’s first manned private space mission

GS 3: Awareness in the fields of Science and Technology

About the mission Demo-2 Demo-2 is a crewed mission to send NASA

astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS).

It was executed by SpaceX, an American private space company, in association with NASA.

The Crew Dragon capsule with the astronauts was launched on top of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS on May 30, 2020, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Crew Dragon capsule under this mission was named as “Endeavour.”

The mission lasted two months after which the two astronauts departed from the International Space Station by boarding the Crew Dragon.

It is a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative that tasked private companies with creating commercial vehicles to ferry the agency’s astronauts to the ISS.

Why was it important? The mission is ‘historic’ because this is the

first-ever time that a private spacecraft company — SpaceX — used its own rocket to put humans into space.

This is the first time that astronauts have been launched from US soil since the STS-135 mission on July 8, 2011, following which all astronauts were flown to the International Space Station in Russia’s Soyuz Capsule.

What is the Crew Dragon?

The Crew Dragon is the spacecraft that

transports astronauts to the ISS. It is a sleek evolution of the Dragon

spacecraft which was built to ferry cargo to the ISS.

The Crew Dragon is designed to carry a maximum of seven passengers, but Nasa flights will carry four, with the rest of the space taken up by supplies.

It is equipped with thrusters that enable it to manoeuvre in space and will dock - or attach - to the space station under autonomous control.

Unlike previous spacecraft designed for humans, the crew cabin features touchscreen controls in place of physical buttons.

Why in News?

o NASA astronauts splashed down safely in

the Gulf of Mexico aboard the SpaceX

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Crew Dragon “Endeavour,” wrapping up the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission.

More in the News It was the first splashdown by U.S.

astronauts in 45 years. The last time NASA astronauts returned

from space to water was on July 24, 1975, in the Pacific, to end a joint U.S.-Soviet mission known as Apollo-Soyuz.

3) Serum Institute and GAVI tie-up

GS 2: Important International institutions About the GAVI Alliance The GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global

Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) is a public-private global health partnership dedicated to “immunisation for all”.

GAVI’s strategy supports its mission to save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.

Its partners provide funding for vaccines and intellectual resources for care advancement.

They contribute, also, to strengthening the capacity of the health system to deliver immunisation and other health services in a sustainable manner.

About Serum Institute of India (SII) Serum Institute of India is a private

manufacturer of immunobiological drugs including vaccines in India.

Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. is now the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses) which includes Polio vaccine as well as Diphtheria, Tetanus,

Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines.

Vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute are accredited by the World Health Organization and are being used in around 170 countries across the globe in their national immunization programs.

Why in News? Serum Institute of India has announced

that it has entered into a new partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate the manufacture and delivery of upto 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for India and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

GAVI in Covid-19 pandemic GAVI co-leads COVAX - a program to

provide equal access to COVID-19 vaccine when available.

Gavi had launched the Gavi Advance Market Commitment for COVID-19 Vaccines (Gavi Covax AMC) in June.

This is a new financing instrument aimed at incentivising vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of eventual COVID-19 vaccines, and to ensure access for developing countries.

The Gavi Covax AMC was launched with an initial goal of raising US$ 2 billion; enough for Gavi-supported countries to immunise healthcare workers as well as high-risk individuals.

For doubts and queries email us at:

[email protected]

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ART & CULTURE 1) Babri Masjid GS 1: Architecture About Babri Masjid, also called the Mosque of

Babur or Baburi Mosque, formerly Masjid-i Janmasthan, was a mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

According to inscriptions on the site, it

was built in the year 935 of the Islamic calendar (1528–1529 CE) by Mir Baqi, possibly an official serving under the Mughal emperor Babur.

Along with the mosques at Sambhal and Panipat, it was one of three mosques said to have been constructed in the 16th century upon Babur’s orders.

It was destroyed in 1992 amid decades of tensions over the site between Muslims and Hindus.

The mosque was constructed in a style developed under the Lodi dynasty that preceded the Mughals: a single aisle arrangement of three domed bays along the wall of the qiblah (the direction of the sacred shrine of the Kaʿbah in Mecca).

The Babri masjid dispute

The location of the mosque has been a

source of contention between Muslims and Hindus.

The Hindus believe that the masjid was built on top of Ram Janmabhoomi, the site they believe to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama.

There are also claims that a temple dedicated to Lord Ram existed at that site before the construction of the masjid.

The first recorded instance of conflict over the site between the religious communities was in 1853.

In 1855, a boundary wall was constructed to avoid further disputes.

The idols of Ram Lalla were placed “surreptitiously” under the central dome of the Babri Masjid in 1949.

In the ensuing controversy, the site was closed off to both communities, but the images were not removed.

The Masjid was demolished in December, 1993, by a group of Hindu kar sevaks (volunteers).

Following a series of litigations, in 2019 the Supreme Court entrusted the site exclusively to Hindus.

Why in News? Foundation stone was laid for

construction of a Ram temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site on August 5, 2020.

2) Ayodhya GS 1: Indian culture About Ayodhya, also called Oudh or Awadh, is a

town situated on the banks of river Saryu, in south-central Uttar Pradesh state.

Ayodhya is revered because of its association in the great Indian epic poem Ramayana with the birth of Rama.

Ayodhya is identical with the ancient town of Saketa, where the Buddha is said to have resided for a time.

The Jain texts also describe it as the birthplace of five tirthankaras including Rishabhanatha.

Ayodhya (Awadhpuri) has been regarded as the first one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites (Moksha Dayini Sapta Puris) for Hindus.

History of Ayodhya In traditional history, Ayodhya was the

early capital of the kingdom of Kosala,

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though in Buddhist times (6th–5th century BCE) Shravasti became the kingdom’s chief city.

Around the 4th century BCE, Kosala was annexed to Magadha by King Ajatashatru.

In the name Saketa, the city became an important Buddhist centre under the Mauryan empire.

The earliest known reference to Saketa as ‘Ayodhya’ was during the rule of Kumaragupta I (415-455 CE).

The Kanauj kingdom arose in Ayodhya, then called Oudh, during the 11th and 12th centuries CE.

The region was later included in the Delhi sultanate, the Jaunpur kingdom, and, in the 16th century, the Mughal Empire.

Oudh gained a measure of independence early in the 18th century but became subordinate to the British East India Company in 1764 and eventually annexed into British India in 1856.

Why in News? Foundation stone was laid for

construction of a Ram temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020.


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PIB ANAYSIS

1) Draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020

Gs Paper 3 - Science and Technology , Defence

Why in News ? The Ministry of Defence has formulated a

draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 (DPEPP 2020).

The DPEPP 2020 is envisaged as an overarching guiding document to provide a focused, structured and significant thrust to defence production capabilities of the country for self-reliance and exports.

Goals and Objectives: To achieve a turnover of Rs. 1,75,000

crore including export of Rs. 35,000 crore in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.

To develop a dynamic, robust and competitive Defence industry, including Aerospace and Naval Shipbuilding industry to cater to the needs of Armed forces with quality products.

To reduce dependence on imports and take forward "Make in India" initiatives through domestic design and development.

To promote the export of defence products and become part of the global defence value chains.

To create an environment that encourages research and development (R&D), rewards innovation, creates Indian Intellectual Property (IP) ownership and promotes a robust and self-reliant defence industry.

Key Highlights The opportunities in the aerospace

industry have been identified in the following segments - aircraft build work, aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), helicopters, engine manufacturing and MRO work, line replaceable units, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and upgrades and retrofits.

A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be set up for the development and production of technologies involved, life

cycle costs and maintenance requirements of platforms, equipment and weapon systems. It also aims to move away from licensed production to design, develop and produce indigenously.

The indigenisation policy aims to create an industry ecosystem to indigenise the imported components (including alloys and special materials) and sub-assemblies for defence equipment and platforms manufactured in India. 5,000 such items are proposed to be indigenised by 2025.

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) have been operationalised to provide necessary incubation and infrastructure support to the start-ups in the defence area.

iDEX would be further scaled up to engage with 300 more start-ups and develop 60 new technologies/products during the next five years.

Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti was launched to promote a greater culture of innovation and technology development and file a higher number of patents in Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). It would be scaled up for promoting the creation of Intellectual Property in the sector and its commercial utilisation.

2) Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN)

Gs Paper 3 - Science and Technology , Health

About: eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence

Network) is an indigenously developed technology system in India that digitizes vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application.

Introduced in 2015, the eVIN is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The integrated solution combines: Technology : to facilitate evidence-based

decision-making by making available online real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage temperature through

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the eVIN application software and temperature loggers;

Governance: to ensure efficient vaccine logistics management by systemizing record keeping through standardizing stock and distribution registers; identifying gaps and improving clarity on vaccine cold chain network; drawing attention to infrastructure upgrades; developing standard operating procedures; and encouraging good practices;

Human Resources: to empower the state cold chain network by building the capacities of government cold chain handlers; and deploying vaccine and cold chain managers in every district for constant support to estimate vaccine requirements, supervise cold chain handlers and coordinate with cold chain technicians across the district.

Why in News? The eVIN system has been used with the

requisite customization during the COVID pandemic for ensuring continuation of the essential immunization services and protecting our children and pregnant mothers against vaccine preventable diseases.

Benefits of eVIN during Covid Pandemic: It has helped create a big data

architecture that generates actionable analytics encouraging data-driven decision-making and consumption-based planning.

It helps in maintaining optimum stocks of vaccines leading to cost savings.

About NHM National Health Mission (NHM) was

launched by the Government of India in 2013 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health Mission.

The main programmatic components include Health System Strengthening in rural and urban areas for - Reproductive-Maternal- Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A), and Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases.

The NHM envisages achievement of universal access to equitable, affordable & quality health care services that are accountable and responsive to people's needs.

The National Health Mission seeks to ensure the achievement of the following indicators:

1) Reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to 1/1000 live births

2) Reduce Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 25/1000 live births

3) Reduce Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 2.1 4) Prevention and reduction of anaemia in

women aged 15–49 years 5) Prevent and reduce mortality & morbidity

from communicable, non- communicable; injuries and emerging diseases

6) Reduce household out-of-pocket expenditure on total health care expenditure

7) Reduce annual incidence and mortality from Tuberculosis by half

8) Reduce prevalence of Leprosy to <1/10000 population and incidence to zero in all districts

9) Annual Malaria Incidence to be <1/1000 10) Less than 1 per cent microfilaria

prevalence in all districts 11) Kala-azar Elimination by 2015, <1 case

per 10000 population in all blocks

3) Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana About: Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) was

initiated in 2007 as an umbrella scheme for ensuring holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors.

The scheme incentivizes States to increase public investment in Agriculture & allied sectors.

In 2017, the government renamed RKVY as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana- Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR).

Objectives of RKVY RAFTAAR The main objective of Rashtriya Krishi

Vikas Yojana is to develop farming as a main source of economic activity. Some of the objectives also include:

Risk mitigation, strengthening the efforts of the farmers along with promoting agri-business entrepreneurship through the creation of agri-infrastructure.

Providing all the states with autonomy and flexibility in making plans as per their local needs.

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Helping farmers in increasing their income by encouraging productivity and promoting value chain addition linked production models.

To reduce the risk of farmers by focusing on increasing the income generation through mushroom cultivation, integrated farming, floriculture, etc.

Empowering the youth through various skill development, innovation and agri-business models.

Funding RKVY-RAFTAAR funds would be provided

to the States as 60:40 grants between Centre and States (90:10 for North Eastern States and Himalayan States).

Why in News? Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship

Development programme has been launched as a component under RKVY-RAFTAAR to promote innovation and agripreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem.

The programme targets start-ups are in various categories such as agro-processing, artificial intelligence, digital

agriculture, farm mechanisation, waste to wealth, dairy, fisheries, etc.

4) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)

About: The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)

Programme was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA) which envisions Housing for All by 2022, when the Nation completes 75 years of its Independence.

The Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme verticals:

Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource

Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy

Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sectors

Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction /enhancement.

Beneficiaries: Beneficiaries include economically weaker sections (EWS), low-income

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groups (LIGs) and Middle Income Groups (MIGs).

The EWS/LIG/MIG categories are defined as follows:

EWS households with an annual income upto Rs. 3.00 lakhs.

LIG households with an annual income between Rs. 3.00 lakhs to Rs. 6.00 lakhs.

MIG households with an annual income between Rs. 6.00 lakhs to Rs. 18.00 lakhs.

Why in News? The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime

Minister has given its approval for developing of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs) for urban migrants / poor as a sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY – U).

About Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs)

ARHCs will create a new ecosystem in urban areas making housing available at affordable rent close to the place of work.

Investment under ARHCs is expected to create new job opportunities. ARHCs will cut down unnecessary travel, congestion and pollution.

A large part of the workforce in manufacturing industries, service providers in hospitality, health, domestic/commercial establishments, and construction or other sectors, labourers, students etc. who come from rural areas or small towns seeking better opportunities will be the target beneficiary under ARHCs.

Government funded vacant housing stock will be converted into ARHCs for economically productive use.

The scheme would create a conducive environment for entities to develop AHRCs on their own vacant land which will enable new investment opportunities and promote entrepreneurship in the rental housing sector.

5) TRIFED Foundation day About The Tribal Cooperative Marketing

Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987. It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

TRIFED has its Head Office located in New Delhi and has a network of 13 Regional Offices located at various places in the country.

Objectives The ultimate objective of TRIFED is socio-

economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of the tribal products such as metal craft, tribal textiles, pottery, tribal paintings and pottery on which the tribals depend heavily for a major portion of their income.

TRIFED acts as a facilitator and service provider for tribes to sell their product.

The approach by TRIFED aims to empower tribal people with knowledge, tools and pool of information so that they can undertake their operations in a more systematic and scientific manner.

It also involves capacity building of the tribal people through sensitization, formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and imparting training to them for undertaking a particular activity.

Main activities to TRIFED include Retail Marketing Development Minor Forest Produce Marketing

Development Skill up-gradation & Capacity Building of

ST Artisans and MFP Gatherers R&D Development/Intellectual

Proprietary Rights (IPR) Activity Achievements of TRIFED Adapting “Go Vocal for Local”: TRIFED

has significantly advanced in digitising various information related to the forest dwellers associated with the VanDhan Yojana, village haats and their warehouses.

Making tribals Atma Nirbhar: This digitisation effort wherein all tribal clusters are identified and mapped using GIS technology will help bring benefits to these people under the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan”.

Exclusive e-marketplace for tribal producers:

i. To facilitate the purchase of MFPs, handicrafts and handlooms online.

ii. The Tribes India E-Mart platform (expected to be launched soon) will be an omni-channel facility for the tribals to sell their goods to a large national and

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international audience in an e-marketplace through their own e-shop.

The Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP Scheme: The scheme has been implemented in 21 states of India and has been successful in injecting Rs 3000 crores directly in the tribal economy since April 2020.

The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras/ tribal start-ups: Has become a valuable source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisans.

Convergences with various Ministries and Departments: With the aim of improving sustainable livelihoods and income opportunities for these tribals.

TRIFED is the nodal agency for implementing Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY).

Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana It is a retail marketing led value

addition plan for Minor Forest Produce (MFP), meant for forest-based tribes to optimize the tribal income, locally. Under the program, MFP-based tribal groups / enterprises of around 300 members are formed for collection, value addition, packaging & marketing of Minor Forest Produces.

These tribal enterprises will be in the form of Van Dhan SHGs which will be a group of 15-20 members and such 15 SHG groups will further be federated into a larger group of Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKS) of around 300 members.

TRIFED will support the VDVKs through providing them with model business plans, processing plans & tentative list of equipment for carrying out the value addition work of MFPs.

Why in News? TRIFED reiterated its commitment

towards the transformation of tribal lives on the occasion of its thirty-third foundation day.


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News in DepthAIR NEWS

1) Market Intervention Scheme (MIS)

What is it? Market Intervention Scheme is a price

support mechanism implemented on the request of State Governments for procurement of perishable and horticultural commodities in the event of a fall in market prices.

The Scheme is implemented when there is at least 10% increase in production or 10% decrease in the ruling rates over the previous normal year.

It works in a similar fashion to Minimum Support Price based procurement mechanism for food grains, but is an ad hoc mechanism.

Objective: To intervene in the market to protect the growers of their commodities from making distress sale in the event of a bumper crop during the peak arrival period when the prices tend to fall below economic levels and cost of production.

Pattern of Assistance: The amount of loss is shared on a 50:50 basis between the Central government and the State government (on a 75:25 basis in case of North-Eastern States).

Eligibility: State / UT government ready to share the loss on 50:50 basis between the Central government and the State government (75:25 basis in case of North-Eastern States).

Why in News? The Market Intervention Scheme was

launched in Jammu and Kashmir last year with an objective to provide optimum prices to the Apple growers.

The scheme generated awareness among the farming community in Kashmir of their rights and subsequently strengthened them for not getting exploited by the market forces which

caused farmers to suffer the losses of the produce.

In view of the overwhelming response, the Jammu and Kashmir government has written to the Centre to extend the benefit of the scheme for this year as well, keeping in view the harvesting season of the apple produce.

2) Smart India Hackathon 2020 Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide

initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem-solving.

The first three editions SIH2017, SIH2018 and SIH2019 proved to be extremely successful in promoting innovation out-of-the-box thinking in young minds, especially engineering students across India.

Key highlights Smart hackathon 2020 is the biggest and

first ever virtual hackathon due to covid-19 pandemic.

The major focus of this event was mass level participation from different parts of the country.

Different types of solutions are coming forward in the field of Agriculture, healthcare, women welfare etc. which can become future innovative solutions for long term.

The hackathon is completely based on the public-private-partnership (PPP) model.

Certain innovations like ease of policing via use of artificial intelligence, virtual police station, reusable cloth sanitary napkins, etc. were coming forward reflecting the innovative mindset of the students.

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Patents can be filed by students for the various solutions as well as provision for joint IP partners is envisioned.

What needs to be done ahead? There are certain challenges like

longevity of solution; the perpetuity of the project needs to be addressed.

Colleges can conduct an internal hackathon in order to boost the students.

The solutions can be made available all over the country which can be used for solving existing and new problems.

Related initiatives Innovation cell of MHRD The Ministry of Human Resource

Development has established ‘MHRD's Innovation Cell (MIC)’ with the mandate to work closely with our Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to

encourage the creative energy of our student population to work on new ideas and innovation and promote them to create start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures.

MIC will focus on creating a complete ecosystem which will foster the culture of Innovation across all educational institutions from ideas generation to pre-incubation, incubation and graduating from the incubator as successful start-ups.

MIC will also work on designing ranking systems to identify institutions in the forefront of innovation.


[email protected]

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THE HINDU EDITORIALS

1) The COVID-19 crisis as a metropolitan battle

GS Paper 2 - Governance, transparency and accountability

Context: COVID-19 has brought in unprecedented

challenges to India’s metropolitan cities, yet again highlighting their limited capabilities to self-govern. The absence of comprehensive and integrated urban planning is starkly visible in the pandemic.

Major issues in health sector Less public spending India’s public health expenditure in 2018

was a mere 1.28% of GDP. More out of pocket expenditure According to the World Bank, India’s out-

of-pocket health expenditure was 62.4% in 2017, while the world average was 18.2%.

Inadequate manpower Manpower in the health sector is low with

India’s doctor-population ratio being 1:1,457 which is lower than the World Health Organisation norm of 1:1,000.

No governance architecture Complimenting an inequitable public

health system is a larger governance issue.

Specific systemic factors underlying city governance include spatial planning, municipal capacities, empowered mayors and councils and inter-agency coordination, and ward-level citizen participation which are still lacking.

Lack of robust integrated spatial planning: The Constitution mandates formation of

Metropolitan Planning Committees (MPCs) in all metropolitan areas with a million-plus population.

MPCs are envisioned to ensure integrated planning for the entire metropolitan area, and are responsible for the preparation of draft development plans, synthesising priorities set by local authorities, State and Central governments.

In reality, MPCs are either not constituted or are not functioning.

Janaagraha’s Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems 2017 report found that only nine out of 18 cities assessed had constituted MPCs even if on paper.

Weak municipal capacities India’s metropolitan cities have weak

capacities in finance and staffing. According to ASICS 2017, Mumbai has the

highest number of officers per lakh population at 938. However, this is abysmally low compared to global cities such as Johannesburg with 2,922 officers and New York with 5,446 officers per lakh population.

Weak mayor and council and fragmentation of governance

No big metropolitan cities with a 10 million-plus population have a directly-elected Mayor.

Mumbai’s Mayor has tenure of 2.5 years, Delhi and Bengaluru, a mere one year.

Mayors do not have full decision-making authority over critical functions of planning, housing, water, environment, fire and emergency services in most cases.

Transparency, accountability and citizen participation

Transparent cities with institutional platforms encouraging citizen participation have significant bearing on urban democracy.

No metropolitan has functional ward committees and area sabhas.

An absence of citizen participation is worsened by poor transparency in finance and operations.

As per Annual Survey of India's City-Systems (ASICS) 2017, India’s big metropolitan cities on average score 3.04/10 in transparency, accountability and participation.

Way forward It is time the Central and State

governments lead efforts towards a metropolitan governance paradigm which includes

1. Empowered Mayors with five-year tenure

2. Decentralised ward level governance

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3. Inter-agency coordination anchored by the city government.

Medium- to long-term spatial planning that focuses on equal access to opportunities and services can avoid a repeat of such disasters.

There is an urgency to bolster the capability of municipalities to self-govern.

Decentralised citizen participation platforms are critical in identifying beneficiaries to provide aid, co-opting communities for contact tracing, adoption of safety precautions, enforcing quarantine, recruiting volunteers, and collaborating with civil society organisations to battle the pandemic.

India needs home-grown solutions suited to its context and political realities, while imbibing lessons on institutional design from global examples.

o Metropolitan cities should be steered by a directly-elected leader, with robust mechanisms to reduce fragmentation in governance.

o Examples include the Tokyo metropolitan government, and recent experimental models such as combined authorities in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Conclusion India should use the current pandemic as

an opportunity to introspect and reform the way its metropolises are governed.

2) A Policy with many a right intention

GS Paper 2- Government policies and interventions for development

Context: The article highlights that National

Education Policy has several innovative ideas and daring proposals.

National Education Policy Thirty-four years after the last National

Policy on Education was introduced, in 1986, the National Education Policy, 2020 was announced and approved by the Union Cabinet recently.

Bold moves Education as a public good There are statements in the policy such as

“education is a public good” and “the

public education system is the foundation of a vibrant democratic society”.

The recognition of education as a public good has important implications for public policy in planning, providing, and financing education.

It also has important implications for the state’s approach towards private education.

It is public education that contributes to the building of nations, their growth socially, economically, politically, culturally, and technologically and the building of a humane society.

Holistic education The policy promotes a holistic

education as well as each student’s holistic development in both academic and non-academic spheres, emphasises extra-curricular activities, emphasises research, speaks of substantial investment in a strong, vibrant public education system, and so on.

Major recommendations approved Early childhood care and education The major recommendations of the

Committee that have been approved include:

1. A 5+3+3+4 system in school education that incorporates early childhood care and education;

2. Universal education that includes the secondary level;

3. Adoption of school complexes; 4. Breakfast in the school meal programme;

and 5. Introduction of vocational education at

the upper primary level. The proposal that medium of

instruction until at least Grade 5 will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language will reduce elitism and dualism in schools to a great extent.

Higher education Reforms proposed in higher education

include 1. a multidisciplinary system offering

choices to students from among a variety of subjects from different disciplines;

2. integrated (undergraduate, postgraduate and research levels) education;

3. a four-year undergraduate programme; and

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4. Overhauling of the governance structure in higher education.

There will be just one regulatory body for the entire sector in the Higher Education Commission of India.

The policy also places emphasis on the liberal arts, humanities, and Indian heritage and languages

Facilitates selective entry of high-quality foreign universities

Aims to increase public investment in education to 6% of the GDP

Promises to provide higher education free to about 50% of the students (with scholarships and fee waivers); and

Aims to increase the gross enrolment ratio in higher education to 50% by 2035.

Three-language formula The three-language formula gives the

freedom to the state, region, and child to choose three languages to be learned will promote national integration.

Missing of the final policy There were proposals or statements that

were made in the draft but are missing in the policy:

1. All commercially oriented private institutions will be closed as per the draft policy but the 2020 policy promises closure of substandard teacher education institutions only.

2. The draft policy promised doubling public expenditure on education to 20% of the total government expenditure, from 10%. The 2020 policy simply reaffirms the commitment to allocation of 6% of GDP.

3. Setting up of a National Education Commission at the national level and a similar one at the State level did not find a place.

4. There is no mention of State School Education Regulatory Authorities in the 2020 policy.

5. There is also no promise of ‘full’ recruitment of teachers at all levels, though the policy promises robust recruitment mechanisms to be put in place.

New proposals in the final policy

There are some proposals which did not find a place in the draft but found its place in the final policy which includes:

1. The establishment of a model Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research University in every district

2. In school education, a National Assessment Centre has been promised to make assessment and evaluation more holistic.

3. The policy, unlike the draft, rightly recognises the need to strengthen the Central Advisory Board of Education.

Conclusion Despite bold reforms envisaged, the real

challenge lies in implementing these long overdue reforms to reap the benefit.

3) Profiteering during a pandemic GS Paper 3- Disaster Management GS Paper 2- Government policies and

interventions for development Sufferings of people post lockdown Prices of essential items shot up in

several places across the country. o For example, even an ordinary mask

being sold at Rs. 150 a piece. Private hospitals overcharge patients,

even after State governments capped COVID-19 treatment charges.

The cost of medicines too shot up. o For example: In Srinagar, Remdesivir was

being sold for as much as Rs. 36,000 against the normal rate of Rs. 6,000.

o So what? o The poor could not afford the medicine

and looked to government agencies for help.

o In some places, those who could afford it purchased more than the required quantity leading to shortage.

Ambulance owners too chose to make good money in these pandemic times.

o For transporting patients up to a distance of about 10-15 km, they charged as much as Rs. 30,000 in Mumbai.

Poor migrants who wanted to go home had to spend large amounts to hire vehicles.

Buses operated by private agencies charged exorbitant fares.

Is there any law to deal with the pandemic?

29


In 1897, the British enacted the Epidemic Diseases Act which empowered the government to implement any measures that would prevent the outbreak or spread of any disease.

According to the law, anyone disobeying the orders of any public servant can be punished under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. However, this is not enough.

What is needed the most? A provision ought to be incorporated in

the Disaster Management Act of 2005 to make overcharging the public a punishable offence.

Denying admission in hospitals, refusing to bury the dead in cemeteries, etc. also need to be made punishable offences.

About Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 It was introduced by British government

to tackle the epidemic of bubonic plague that had spread in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency in the 1890s.

Key features of the Act It empowers state governments/UTs to

take special measures and formulate regulations for containing the outbreak, like inspection of persons travelling by railways, segregation in hospitals etc.

It empowers state to prescribe such temporary regulations to be observed by the public

It provides penalties for disobeying any regulation or order made under the Act.

Why do we speak about the Epidemics Disease Act 1897 now?

In the absence of any new legislation to fight epidemics, Indian States had to resort to this colonial-era law to manage the outbreak.

The law arms the State with emergency powers that allow it to carry out search operations as well as penalise people violating the provisions of the law.

About Disaster Management Act,2005 This Act was enacted in 2005 to provide

for the effective management of disasters and for matters connected with it.

To deal with the purposes of this Act, an authority to be known as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was established.

Members of NDMA

The Prime Minister of India, who shall be the ex officio Chairperson of the National Authority,

Members, not exceeding nine, to be nominated by the Chairperson of the National Authority.

The Chairperson of the National Authority may designate one of the members nominated to be the ViceChairperson of the National Authority.

Power and functions of National Authority The National Authority shall have the

responsibility for laying down the policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management for ensuring timely and effective response to disaster.

Why does it matter now? The legislative intent of the DM Act was

to, “provide for the effective management of disasters”.

The NDMA lays down policies, plans and guidelines for management of disaster.

Similarly, State, District and Local level Disaster Management Authorities were established, manned by high functionaries.

All these agencies are envisaged to work in coordination.

NDMA so far formulated 30 Guidelines on various disasters including the ‘Guidelines on Management of Biological Disasters, 2008’.

The 2019 National Disaster Management Plan issued also deals extensively with Biological Disaster and Health Emergency.

This is the broad legal framework within which activities to contain COVID-19 are being carried out by the Union and State governments.

4) Health as a public good GS Paper 2- Issues relating to Social Sector GS Paper 3- Indian Economy Context The progress of COVID-19 in India varies

across States. It is evident from the number of infections

and mortality rates of various states that wealth is not necessarily health, which means that the relation between them is mediated by possibly the availability of public goods.

30


For instance, though Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat are among the wealthiest regions of the country, they recorded the highest mortality rates.

Public goods and health A public good has the characteristic that

it is accessible to all. Clean and sanitised public spaces,

made possible by deploying a society’s public health infrastructure, are a perfect example of a public good.

In this case members of a society benefit from the existence of a public good, which secures their health without having to pay for it, at least not directly.

Implication: The feature that public good does not

exclude anybody makes it unlikely that the private sector will supply the necessary health infrastructure in sufficient quantities and at prices affordable to all.

So, public goods would have to be publicly provided.

Goa and Kerala are the two States of India where the existence of a relatively better public health infrastructure and better utilisation of the existing infrastructure has diluted the impact of COVID-19.

Infrastructure and outcome Health outcomes are the result of an

interaction of forces ranging from the level of expertise of health personnel to the civic sense of a population.

Civic sense of population is manifested mainly in the willingness of the public to cooperate with the drive against the disease by using masks and adopting social distancing in public.

However, the existence of a well-functioning public health infrastructure is central which can be seen from its distribution across various States.

For example, Maharashtra and Gujarat (states with good wealth but relatively poor health infrastructure) have recorded among the highest mortality rates and Goa and Kerala (states with better public health infrastructure) among the lowest.

Why did the cases surge in Maharashtra and Gujarat?

These states chose to devote a far lower share of their national income to

public health, despite their higher aggregate and per capita incomes compared to some other States.

Weaker public health infrastructure left the people less resilient to the epidemic, resulting in higher mortality.

Poor utilisation It has long been recognised that ‘how you

use it’ may matter more than ‘how much you have’ when it comes to any asset, particularly public capital.

We are aware that much of India’s publicly created infrastructure is poorly utilised.

For instance, Goa spends no greater a share of its domestic product on health than Gujarat does but turns in a much lower mortality rate.

It suggests that the same amount of government expenditure can go much further with better utilisation of the existing resources.

Way forward India’s public health infrastructure and

its responsiveness should be the principal concern of the government.

What are Public Goods? Public goods are the commodities or

services provided by the nature of the government of a country, free of cost or by taxing the few people to offer mass benefit to the public in general.

Characteristics of Public Goods These commodities or services develop

the infrastructure and living standard of a country whose characteristics are

Non-Rival: The public goods are non-competitive, i.e. it can serve many people at the same time without hindering the usage of one another.

Non-Excludable: These goods are usually free of cost and can be used by anyone without any restriction.

Non-Rejectable: The consumption of such goods cannot be dismissed or unaccepted by the public since it is available collectively to all the people.

Free-Riding: The goods categorized under public goods benefit even those who have not paid for it. Such people are termed as free-riders.

What are Private Goods?

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Private goods are the products or services which are manufactured or produced by the companies owned by entrepreneurs who aim at meeting customer’s requirement to earn profits through the trading of such goods in the free market.

Characteristics of Private Goods Private goods serve the personal needs of

consumers. Following are the various characteristics of these goods

Rival: The private products involve rivalry or competition among the consumers for its usage since the consumption by one person will restrict its use by another.

Excludable: These goods involve cost, and therefore the non-payers are excluded from the consumption.

Rejectable: Private goods can be unaccepted or rejected by the consumers since they have multiple alternatives and the right to select the product according to their preference.

Traded in Free Market: Such goods can be freely bought and sold in the market at a given price.

Opportunity Cost: These goods have an opportunity, i.e. the consumer has to let go of the benefit from a similar product while selecting a particular private commodity.

5) How to pay for a stimulus? GS Paper 3- Indian Economy Context: The economic impact of COVID-19 has

resulted in unanimity among economists that the global economy will experience one of its worst years in history.

India is no exception and it is clear that, for the first time in many decades, India’s economy will contract significantly.

This necessitates greater public spending as an essential condition to revive the economy.

Ways to finance Greater public spending will increase

the fiscal deficit and this expansion has to be financed. This financing can be done by external borrowings or monetisation of deficit.

External Debt vs. Monetisation of Deficit

External Debt? External debt is the portion of a country's

debt that is borrowed from foreign lenders, including commercial banks, governments, or international financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Challenges associated with borrowing Stepping up exports- herculean task The borrowed money to be paid back in

hard currency would involve India having to earn hard currency by stepping up exports.

This would be a herculean task for India at present circumstances and also having been subjected to multiple shocks to global output and trade since 2014.

Hard currency refers to money that is issued by a nation that is seen as politically and economically stable. Hard currencies are widely accepted around the world as a form of payment for goods and services and may be preferred over the domestic currency.

Issue of conditionalities It is not obvious what conditionalities will

come along with the loan. Takes time A loan is bound to take some time to be

negotiated, taxing the energies of a government that ought to be engaged in the day to day battle with COVID-19.

Monetisation of Deficit Monetised deficit is the monetary

support the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended to the Centre as part of the government's borrowing programme.

In other words, the term refers to the purchase of government bonds by the central bank from the primary market or printing currency notes to finance the spending needs of the government.

Challenges associated with monetising deficit

High intangible and institutional costs associated with it.

High money supply may result in inflation.

Money financing- an optimal solution Whether a fiscal expansion is inflationary

or not is related more to the state of the economy than the medium of its financing.

32


Also, as COVID-19 has shocked output downwards, unemployed resources must now exist.

When resources are unemployed, output may be expected to expand without inflation.

Thus the option of money financing can take us back to pre-COVID-19 levels of output and employment.

6) Rebuild India’s confidence, revive the economy

GS Paper 3- Indian Economy GS Paper 2- Government policies and

interventions for development Context To revive the economy from the COVID-

19 induced current slowdown, it is imperative that confidence must be injected back in the entire ecosystem.

Consequences of economic contraction The slowdown in economic activity is

both a function of external factors such as the lockdown and behavioural changes of people and enterprises, driven by fear.

However, economic contraction is not merely a GDP number but reversal of many years of progress.

A significant number among the weaker sections of our society may slip back into poverty.

Many enterprises may shut down. An entire generation may be lost due to

severe unemployment. A contracting economy can adversely

impact our ability to feed and educate our children owing to a shortage of financial resources.

The deleterious impact of an economic contraction is long and deep, especially on the poor.

Injecting confidence- needed the most The foundation for reviving our economy

is to inject confidence back in the entire ecosystem.

People must feel confident about their lives and livelihoods.

Entrepreneurs must feel confident of reopening and making investments.

Bankers must feel confident about providing capital.

Multilateral organisations must feel confident enough to provide funding to India.

Sovereign ratings agencies must feel confident about India’s ability to fulfil its financial obligations and restore economic growth.

Ways to boost confidence On NREGA and cash support The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme has proved to be bedrock of support in normal times but it is not enough during difficult times like COVID-19.

So along with expansion of MGNREGA programme, a meaningful cash transfer can restore confidence in these families.

Money in the hands of people can provide an immediate sense of security and confidence, which is the cornerstone to restoring economic normalcy.

Look at the financial system There is also a dire need to restore

confidence in the financial system which acts as the vital lubricant for the economy.

COVID-19 assistance measures undertaken by the RBI and the government such as interest rate reductions, credit guarantee and liquidity enhancement schemes are welcome steps, but they have largely failed since banks are not confident of lending.

Reviving the health of the banking sector is not merely about capital infusion or disinvestment of public sector banks.

Allowing institutions such as the RBI, public sector banks, bankruptcy boards, securities and insurance regulators to function freely and professionally is the foundational step to restoring confidence in the financial system.

If there is confidence among people to spend and among bankers to lend, then the private sector will spontaneously derive the confidence to reopen and invest.

When firms feel confident of availability of capital and consumers, they kick-start production and investment.

Government needs to borrow

33


Large direct cash assistance to people, improving capital adequacy of banks and providing credit guarantee schemes for corporate require significant financial resources.

India must make full use of loan programmes of international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Our long track record as an impeccable borrower with no default, timely repayments and full transparency make us an ideal borrower for these institutions.

India going back to the old ways of deficit monetisation by the RBI, also known as printing money should be adopted as a last resort when all other options are exhausted.

Setting things right It is important to enlarge one’s diagnosis

of India’s economic woes from mere GDP numbers to the underlying sentiments of fear, uncertainty and insecurity prevalent in people, firms and institutions.

Restoring confidence in people through direct cash assistance and other welfare programmes can help them live their lives and spend.

Restoring confidence among bankers through autonomy of institutions and processes will help them lend.

Restoring confidence among businesses with greater access to capital will help them invest and create jobs.

Restoring confidence among international organisations by re-establishing the credibility of our institutions will help get funding assistance and objective sovereign ratings.

Conclusion Thus the path to India’s sustained

economic revival is through the philosophical pursuits of improving the confidence and sentiments of all in our society, using the economic tools of fiscal and monetary policies.

7) Language of unity GS Paper 2- Government policies and

interventions for development; Issues relating to Social Sector

Context

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has rejected the three-language formula advocated in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).

Opposition from the State had last year forced the Centre to amend the draft NEP and withdraw a proposal to teach Hindi as a third language in schools in non-Hindi speaking States.

Yet in the NEP, approved by the Union Cabinet last week, it chose to push for the three-language formula, packaging it as a means to promote multilingualism and “national unity”.

What is the three language formula? It is commonly understood that the three

languages referred to are Hindi, English and the regional language of the respective States.

Though the teaching of Hindi across the country was part of a long-standing system, it was crystallised into a policy in an official document only in the National Policy on Education, 1968.

Three-language formula in Hindi-speaking States included the study of a modern Indian language, preferably one of the southern languages, apart from Hindi and English and in the ‘non-Hindi speaking States’, Hindi should be studied along with the regional language and English.

On promotion of Hindi, the NPE 1968 said every effort should be made in developing Hindi as the link language and as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India as prescribed in Article 351 of the constitution.

The establishment of colleges and other institutions of higher education, in non-Hindi States, which use Hindi as the medium of education should be encouraged.

Incidentally, the NPE 1986 made no change in the 1968 policy on the three-language formula and the promotion of Hindi.

Why is it in the news now? When the Central government released

the draft NPE last year, its reference to mandatory teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking States set off a political storm in Tamil Nadu and some other

34


states, which is traditionally opposed to the compulsory study of Hindi.

However, the final version of NEP gives the freedom to the state, region, and child to choose three languages to be learned of which at least two of them should be native Indian languages.

What is the backdrop to the Hindi imposition row?

Tamil Nadu has been traditionally opposed to any attempt to introduce Hindi as a compulsory language of learning or administration.

The origin of the linguistic row, however, goes back to the debate on official language.

In the Constituent Assembly, Hindi was voted as the official language by a single vote. However, it added that English would continue to be used as an associate official language for 15 years.

The Official Languages Act came into effect on the expiry of this 15-year period in 1965. This was the background in which the anti-Hindi agitation took place.

However, as early as in 1959, Jawaharlal Nehru had given an assurance in Parliament that English would continue to be in use as long as non-Hindi speaking people wanted it.

What is Tamil Nadu’s stand on this? Leaders in Tamil Nadu do not oppose the

voluntary learning of Hindi and cite the

unhindered work of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, established in Chennai by Mahatma Gandhi in 1918.

The institution imparts Hindi teaching at various levels to anyone who enrols for its programme. Also, there is no bar on private schools, most of them affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, offering Hindi.

The State has been following the two-language formula for many decades, under which only English and one regional language are compulsory in schools.

In 2006, facing criticism that many manage to avoid learning Tamil by opting for Hindi or Sanskrit in private schools, the State government enacted The Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act under which Tamil has to be compulsorily learnt in schools operating in the State.

Conclusion An important aspect of the opposition to

Hindi imposition is that many in Tamil Nadu see it as a fight to retain English. India’s federal nature and diversity demand that no regional language is given supremacy over another.


[email protected]

35


INDIAN EXPRESS EXPLAINED Dear students, In Pulse 2 (dated June 7-13), under

"The importance of India’s rising forex reserves amid Covid-19 economic crisis" topic, we had given "Apart from currency it also includes foreign currency deposit held by RBI with foreign central banks and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

It is an error. It should be "Apart from currency it also includes foreign currency deposit held by RBI with foreign central banks and Bank for International Settlements (BIS). We apologise for the error.

1) In farm promise, some concerns

Every sector in the Indian Economy has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. But agriculture has shown a good progress in these times and has been engaged rightfully.

What are the factors which represent growth in the agriculture sector?

Sowing statistics Farmers have in the current monsoon

season so far planted 13.9% more area compared to last year’s coverage at this time.

Except jute, all other crops have seen a surge in their acreage sowing.

Sale of fertilizers Another indicator which showed a surge

is the sale of fertilizers. The sale of fertilizer has seen a growth of

around 34% in the July month of 2020. Exemption from the restriction The movement of labour and machines

for agricultural operations were exempted from the coronavirus-induced lockdown restrictions.

This made feasible for farming activities to continue a normal pattern of work.

Bumper crop in last year’s Rabi season Due to good rainfall last year, the farmers

could produce surplus in the 2019-20 rabi season (winter season).

This also pushed Food Corporation of India (FCI) to procure all-time-high 389.75 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat and 504.86 lt of rice from the 2019-20 crop.

This left farmers with more money which they could invest in the 2020 kharif season.

Benefit Transfers Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman

Nidhi scheme, along with Minimum Support Price (MSP) benefits, the government has till now transferred 1,38,000 crore of government liquidity into the farm economy between April and July.

Good Monsoon The first half of monsoon in 2020 has

showered rainfall above than average in June and July month of 2020.

What are some uncertainties?

To keep this trajectory till the year end we need consistency in the existing factors but there are some uncertainties which can spoil this trajectory.

The most important one is the monsoon. Though we are experiencing the ‘neutral’ El Nino, there are some possibilities where the monsoon can turn out going into a deficit. In the coming months of August and September the monsoon should be good.

The second one is DESERT LOCUST (insect attack). The months of April and May have seen locusts entering India and now scientists predict that they are laying eggs in some of the regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat. If the eggs hatch and young locusts form swarms (group of insects in large numbers), they can destroy vast amounts of crops. This has to be controlled and managed by spraying pesticides.

Dairy is one of the important components of agriculture and allied sectors. But since lockdown the rate of milk has been decreased by almost ₹10 per litre. There is a need to push this sector with incentives and support.

Conclusion Agriculture until now has been a bright

spark amid the economic gloom unleashed by Covid. But the coming days may also expose weak spots.


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4)https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1642061#:~:text=New%20Policy%20aims%20for%20universalization,stream%20through%20open%20schooling%20system.

5)https://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1642441

6)https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1642677

https://ekbharat.gov.in/Pages/About AIR http://newsonair.com/News?title=MIS-

scheme-generated-awareness-among-farming-community-in-Kashmir&id=396384

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmVylBzlIBQ&list=PLcDghvQhYD9IOCPeVG4pQvLDCuTCit_D8&index=3

https://www.sih.gov.in/sih2020 https://mic.gov.in/About_MHRDnnovatio

n.php

ART and CULTURE https://www.britannica.com/place/Babri

-Masjid o https://www.thequint.com/explainers/b

abri-masjid-demolition-case-a-timeline-from-1528-to-2020

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/an-expert-explains-destination-mars-nasa-perseverence-rover-6529898/



https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/6-things-to-know-about-nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter/



https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52776340

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52776340

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dm2/

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/spacex-capsule-and-nasa-crew-make-1st-splashdown-in-45-years/article32257065.ece









https://www.who.int/workforcealliance/members_partners/member_list/gavi/en/



https://www.seruminstitute.com/about_us.php

https://www.seruminstitute.com/about_us.php

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/scandalising-as-contempt-the-hindu-editorial-on-proceedings-against-prashant-bhushan/article32198126.ece




https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/a-motorcycle-and-the-art-of-court-management/article32198142.ece



https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-chilling-effect-of-criminal-contempt/article32198138.ece



https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/reviewing-the-contempt-of-courts-act/article23606610.ece






https://www.unicef.org/reports/state-of-food-security-and-nutrition-2020

https://www.unicef.org/reports/state-of-food-security-and-nutrition-2020













https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1641501




https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1641850


http://www.newsonair.com/News?title=HRD-Minister-launches-India-Report-on-Digital-Education%2C-2020&id=395949#:~:text=Human%20Resources%20and%20Development%20Minister,Report%20on%20Digital%20Education%2C%202020.&text=The%20quality%20digital%20education%20has,the%20present%20context%20of%20globalization.













https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1642061#:~:text=New%20Policy%20aims%20for%20universalization,stream%20through%20open%20schooling%20system.





https://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1642441

https://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1642441



https://ekbharat.gov.in/Pages/About

http://newsonair.com/News?title=MIS-scheme-generated-awareness-among-farming-community-in-Kashmir&id=396384







https://www.sih.gov.in/sih2020

https://mic.gov.in/About_MHRDnnovation.php

https://mic.gov.in/About_MHRDnnovation.php

https://www.britannica.com/place/Babri-Masjid

https://www.britannica.com/place/Babri-Masjid

https://www.thequint.com/explainers/babri-masjid-demolition-case-a-timeline-from-1528-to-2020



38


https://www.britannica.com/place/Ayodhya

https://ayodhya.nic.in/culture-heritage/

RSTV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js5C

1ulosuA&t=18s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojan

MSFMGwc&t=9s



https://ayodhya.nic.in/culture-heritage/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js5C1ulosuA&t=18s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js5C1ulosuA&t=18s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojanMSFMGwc&t=9s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojanMSFMGwc&t=9s

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