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Monthly MainsPulsating

May 2019

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I N D E X

G.S PAPER I ....................................................................................................................................................3

1. History .............................................................................................................................................................. 3

2. Geography....................................................................................................................................................... 5

GS PAPER II .................................................................................................................................................. 8

3. Indian Polity .................................................................................................................................................. 8

4. Governance ................................................................................................................................................... 10

5. Government Policies.................................................................................................................................. 11

6. Education ....................................................................................................................................................... 13

7. Health .............................................................................................................................................................. 14

8. International Relations ........................................................................................................................... 17

GS PAPER III ............................................................................................................................................. 19

9. Indian Economy ......................................................................................................................................... 19

10. Agriculture .................................................................................................................................................... 31

11. Science and Technology.......................................................................................................................... 33

12. Renewable Energy..................................................................................................................................... 36

13. Environment ................................................................................................................................................. 37



G.S PAPER I

1. HISTORY

In various ways Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore aided the progress of Indian national movement.

Analyse KEY POINTS

Rabindranath Tagore used Raksha Bandhan as a means to prevent 1905 Bengal partition, emphasizing on the

brotherhood and unity of the people.

Amar sonar bangla provided cultural cultural unity to Bengal.

Shantiniketan model of schooling gave an impetus to the indigenous education in India. Many schools have

been established based on this model in Bengal.

He remodelled education as a holistic development process where teachers would be more like mentors

guiding students towards emotional, intellectual and spiritual upliftment.

Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood for Jallian Wallah Bagh tragedy in 1919, showing

condemnation towards British, undermining ideological hegemony of British.

At a time when India was struggling to find the right language of freedom movement, Tagore advocated the

idea of global integrity and that the man himself is a gateway to the world.

This philosophy changed the way Indians saw the world. The purpose of the freedom struggle changed from

protest to progress as Tagore explained the universality of man.

The identity of India after independence was closely based on Tagore's ideology of peace and universal

brotherhood. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar realized the importance of upliftment of women, need of secular

education, scientific temper, absorbing the fruits of western civilization without forgetting our own

culture. Elaborate KEY POINTS Iswar Chandra is known to have been thirsty for knowledge since his childhood. He studied Sanskrit grammar,

literature, Vedanta philosophy, logic, astronomy, and Hindu law for more than 12 years at Sanskrit College in Calcutta,

and received the title of Vidyasagar — Ocean of Learning — at the age of just 21. Privately, Iswar Chandra studied English literature and philosophy and was appointed principal of Sanskrit College on

January 22, 1851. Attack on child marriage, advocacy of widow remarriage

Vidyasagar followed in the great reformist tradition of Raja Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1833), and argued, on the

basis of scriptures and old commentaries, in favour of the remarriage of widows in the same way as Roy did for

the abolition of Sati.

His earliest effort at social reform, however, came in the second half of 1850 when, in a paper on the evils of

child marriage, he launched a powerful attack on the practice of marrying off girls aged 10 or even younger,

pointing to social, ethical, and hygiene issues, and rejecting the validity of the Dharma Shastras that advocated

it.

Vidyasagar wrote his two famous tracts on the Marriage of Hindu Widows, basing his argument entirely on

reason and logic, and showing that there was no prohibition on widows remarrying in the entire body of ‘Smriti’ literature (the Sutras and the Shastras).



On July 16, 1856, The Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, known as Act XV, was passed. Inspired by Vidyasagar, a

number of literary men produced dramas advocating the remarriage of widows, both in Bengal and elsewhere.

In 1866 Vishnu Shastri Pandit translated Vidyasagar’s book on widow remarriage into Marathi. Campaign against polygamy

Alongside the campaign for widow remarriage, Vidyasagar campaigned against polygamy. In 1857, a petition

for the prohibition of polygamy was presented to the government with 25,000 signatures, led by the Maharaja

of Burdwan.

In the 1870s, Vidyasagar, the great rationalist, wrote two brilliant critiques of polygamy, arguing to the

government that since polygamy was not sanctioned by the sacred texts, there could be no objection to

suppressing it by legislation. The college bearing his name

Today’s Vidyasagar College in North Kolkata grew out of the Calcutta Training School that Vidyasagar

conceptualised in 1859, and which came to be known as Metropolitan Institution in 1864.

The efforts of Vidyasagar and the brilliant performance of its students led to the college gaining affiliation with

the prestigious Calcutta University in 1872. The college was named after Vidyasagar in 1917. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is not only a great revolutionary, but also a social reformer, visionary

and played a crucial role in Indian National Movement. Discuss KEY POINTS

Savarkar’s life pertains to his efforts as a social reformer, especially against caste discrimination and

untouchability.

After undergoing nearly 15 years of torturous imprisonment in the Andamans, Savarkar focused on social

reforms after his release.

V.D. Savarkar wanted to eradicate the indigenous practices that were creating differences in society.

Savarkar was a strong critic of the caste system and ensured that children of the so-called lower castes attend

school.

He gave monetary incentives to their parents and distributed slate and chalk to children from these castes.

He insisted that the government should abandon the title ‘special schools for low caste children.

He himself brought up a girl child from a former untouchable community and taught people from untouchable

communities to read, write and recite the Gayatri mantra.

In 1930, Public lectures by women and inter-caste dining by women were special features of the festivities

conducted by Savarkar.

Savarkar was also behind many temple movements of Maharashtra, where the untouchables were encouraged

to pray, recite hymns and conduct “abhishek” of the Vishnu idol.

In 1931, the Patitpavan temple was established in Ratnagiri; it had on its trust, representation from all castes,

including those from the erstwhile untouchable caste.

Savarkar also organised community meals in some temples. The first community meal for women in

Maharashtra was held in the Patitpavan temple on September 21, 1931.

Savarkar also talked about the ways to abolish the caste system and untouchability,.

In 1931 Savarkar wrote a song related to the entry of erstwhile untouchables into temples

There are several aspects of this great revolutionary, reformer and visionary which demand greater attention.



2. GEOGRAPHY

Enumerate the conditions for the formation of Tropical cyclones. How the recently formed Cyclone

Fani is unique in serveral ways? Explain KEY POINTS Tropical cyclones originate and intensify over warm tropical oceans. The conditions favourable for the formation and

intensification of tropical storms are:

Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27° C;

Presence of the Coriolis force;

Small variations in the vertical wind speed;

A pre-existing weaklow-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation;

Upper divergence above the sea level system. Uniqueness of Cyclone Fani

Fani is a little outlier, mainly on account of its strength, and the route it has taken.

Cyclones emerging in April-May usually are much weaker than those during October-December.

Fani is, thus, unusual, and that is mainly because of the place it originated, very close to the Equator, and the

long route it has taken to reach the landmass.

A thumb rule for cyclones (or hurricanes and typhoons as they are called in the US and Japan) is that the more

time they spend over the seas, the stronger they become. So Fani is geting stronger and is the cause of extremely

severe cyclone. What is meant by Pacific decadal oscillation? How does it impact monsoon rainfall in India and

north-eastern region? KEY POINTS

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is a recurring pattern of ocean-atmosphere climate variability

centered over the mid-latitude Pacific basin.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation spatial pattern and impacts are similar to those associated with ENSO events,

but stay for 20 to 30 years , unlike El-Nino. Impacts on Monsoon rainfall

Changes in the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), a pattern of fluctuations in the ocean, particularly over the

north Pacific basin are mainly associated with this declined monsoon rainfall.

This inturn can cause drought like conditions as the temperature and pressure conditions are similar to El-

nino

PDO has a signature for a longer time (on the decadal scale) in the sea surface temperatures and its interaction

with the atmosphere, which in turn affects the northeast Indian summer monsoon.

The recent rapid drying in northeast region is a part of interdecadal variability of monsoonal rainfall which is

strongly associated with the PDO.

It can be used to predict the monsoon rainfall over the northeast region on a decadal time scale using Pacific

Ocean region data.

Previous studies have found that a dry spell may be preceded by a wet spell, so change in land cover and

deforestation could potentially result in more natural disasters, for example, flash flood, landslides from

torrential rains, and damage to crops and biodiversity.



Policymakers should take these long-term predictions into account while planning construction of dams,

power plants, etc. to prevent loss of property. How does Kra isthumus canal provide huge opportunities to India from various perspectives?

Substantiate KEYPOINTS The Thai Canal, also known as Kra Canal or Kra Isthmus Canal, refers to proposals for a canal that would

connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand. Transport

The Thai canal is an alternative to an existing route that is congested, and which China does not control.

The economic case for the Thai canal is at best marginal — the route makes sense only for the largest ships on

long haul voyages, when fuel prices are high, if transit fees are low and if the Straits of Malacca are congested. Economic perspective

The Thai proponents like it because the canal project will be accompanied by special economic zones that will

boost their economy.

The Thai canal is no longer an existential threat to the two economies (India and China).

Indeed, if the sovereign wealth funds of the two countries acquire stakes in the Thai Canal, they will be able to

offset some of the losses from the lost marine traffic. Geo-political perspective

It acts as boost to Look-east policy, helps in integration of southeast asian nations.

India’s easy access to Pacific ocean, and boost relations with southeast asian nations. Concerns

The main concerns are geopolitical and strategic. Chinese firms will have a vantage point in the Bay of Bengal

and the Chinese Navy will have a faster, friendlier route into the Indian Ocean.

However, India is suitably placed, literally, to address these concerns by making appropriate investments in

the Andamans and in our naval force structure. Does replicating the “room for river project” of Netherlands in India will help in regulating the

occurrence of floods? Analyse KEY POINTS

‘Room for the River’ project is the flagship project of the Dutch government is centered around protecting

areas adjoining rivers from routine flooding and improving water management systems in delta regions.

The Netherlands has historically been prone to flooding of rivers due to its low elevation. Much of the country

lies below the sea level. The country is located in the delta region of several major rivers like the Rhine, the

Meuse and the Scheldt.

The basic premise of the ‘Room for the River’ project is essentially to provide more space for the water body so

that it can manage extraordinary high water levels during floods

Among the nine measures which define the project are lowering the flood plain, deepening the summer bed,

strengthening of dykes, relocation of dykes, reducing the height of the groynes, increasing the depth of the side

channels and removing obstacles.

A key aspect of the project is also to improve the surroundings of the river banks through fountains and

panoramic decks.



The landscapes are altered in a way that they turn into natural sponges which can accommodate excess water

during floods. Applicability to India

The project if implemented in India will help reduce the occurrence of flash floods.

But the features of this project are implemented in various schemes in India in a scattered manner.

Ex: Water shed development project by Department of Land resources,

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinachayee Yojana by Ministry agriculture family welfare, MGNREGA etc.

So Government of India needs to strengthen co-operative federalism in handling disaster management and

implement the features of the Netherland project in a coherent manner. For the first time that the beginning of an epoch would be based on human activity and not the

consequences of changes brought about by nature. Examine KEY POINTS

The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) overwhelmingly voted to recognise Anthropocene as an epoch.

The AWG vote is a sobering reminder to humanity that failure to end destructive activities will irrevocably

change the face of the earth and make it uninhabitable.

Officially, humans will continue to live in the Holocene epoch for a couple of years more before the

Anthropocene epoch is finally ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences.

The vote by the working group will contribute to the formalisation of the Anthropocene as a stratigraphic

entity on a par with other geologic epochs.

But unlike the others, it will be the first time that the beginning of an epoch would be based on human activity

and not the consequences of changes brought about by nature.

For instance, the start of the Holocene epoch 11,700 years ago marks the end of the transition from the last

glacial phase to a period of warming and a rise in sea level.

Human activity has been drastically changing the earth, with the greatest impacts coming from agriculture,

large-scale deforestation, the industrial revolution and increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, besides the

creation of materials such as concrete and plastic.

However, the working group voted to look for unique signatures around the 1950s to define the start of the

Anthropocene.

Radionuclides from atomic bomb tests from the early 1950s are emerging as a favourite golden spike

candidate to define the base of the Anthropocene.

To be chosen as a geologic marker, the golden spike must be present globally across most environments and

must be a part of deposits for a geologically significant length of time.

Here, coral reefs and Antarctic glacial ice located far from nuclear detonation test sites might be more suitable

as they would not reflect any local spike but a global distribution pattern.



GS PAPER II

3. INDIAN POLITY

Role of judiciary is crucial in restoring the systems of checks and balances in Union territories

having a legislative assembly. Analyse KEY POINTS

Inspired by the Supreme Court’s appeal to constitutional morality , the High Court has also reminded the

Centre and the Administrator that they should be true to the concept of democratic principles.

The Madras High Court opined that the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry should not interfere in the day-to-

day administration of the Union Territory is a serious setback to the incumbent Administrator.

The court has laid down that “the decision taken by the Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister is binding

on the Secretaries and other officials.”

The judgment is based mainly on the principles that were laid down in last year’s Constitution Bench decision

on the conflict between the elected regime in the National Capital Territory (NCT) and its Lt.Governor.

L-G has to either act on the ‘aid and advice’ of the Council of Ministers, or refer to the President for a decision

any matter on which there is a difference with the Ministry, but has no independent decision-making powers.

The High Court also says the Administrator is bound by the ‘aid and advice’ clause in matters over which the Assembly is competent to enact laws.

The L-G’s power to refer any matter to the President to resolve differences should not mean “every matter”,

the court has cautioned.

The Puducherry legislature is the creation of a parliamentary law, based on an enabling provision in Article

239A of the Constitution, whereas the NCT legislature has been created by the Constitution itself under Article

239AA.

At the same time, the NCT Assembly is limited in the extent of its legislative powers, as it is barred from

dealing with the subjects of public order, police and land.

However, looking at the Business Rules as well as other statutory provisions on Puducherry, the judge has

sought to give greater credence to the concept of a representative government. Why democratic decentralisation has shown little progress in few states? Discuss the mechanisms

for establishing good governance at local level. KEY POINTS

The functions assigned are unclear, funds uncertain and inadequate, and decision-making functionaries are

mostly drawn from the state bureaucracy.

Local bodies do not even have powers to determine the base and rate structure of the taxes assigned to them.

The states have not cared to create institutions and systems mandated in the Constitution, including the appointment of the State Finance Commissions, and even when they are appointed, states have not found it obligatory to place their reports in the legislature. The local bodies are not clear about delivering local public

goods, with the prominent agenda of implementing central schemes obscuring their functions.

One of the major shortcomings in the scheme is the absence of clearly defined revenue sources for local bodies.

There is no separate list of tax bases assigned to them in the Constitution, and they have to depend on the state

governments to levy the taxes that the states choose to devolve.

Part IX was inserted into the Constitution with Article 243 (A to O) specifying matters such as the constitution

of local bodies, elections and the functions to be devolved under Schedules 11, 12, and 243 (I and Y) mandating



the appointment of the State Finance Commissions by the Governor every five years to balance their functions

with funds.

The major defect of the entire process is that the ownership and responsibility for local governments rests

squarely with the state government .

It is entirely left for the states to decide, what and how much powers and functions should be devolved to the

third level.

There are no easy mechanisms to ensure compliance of even the provisions prescribed in the Constitution by

the states.

The Union Finance Commission cannot directly transfer funds to local bodies; its job is only to augment the

consolidated funds of the States to supplement the resources of local bodies. Mechanisms of Good governance

In terms of a legal framework, it is important to specify a separate list of functions and sources of revenue to

local bodies to create clarity of functions and independent sources of finance.

There should be clear mechanisms to ensure that the states comply with the Constitutional provisions,

particularly in the appointment and implementation of the recommendations of the SFCs.

The top-down process must be supplemented with the bottom-up effort. Sustainable decentralisation comes

from people’s demand for decentralisation. Co-operative federalism needs to go down deeper below the state level for the betterment of Indian

cities. Examine KEY POINTS

The United Nations projections suggest that India’s urban population will increase from 461 million in 2018 to 877 million in 2050, with India contributing the largest share of global urban population growth from 2018 to

2050.

For this, we not only need more and better urban infrastructure but also significantly better institutions,

which can manage the infrastructure and deliver public services of high quality.

State governments have the principal responsibility for urban development. But in order to deliver, they can

and should ensure that city governments are sufficiently empowered to get the job done.

The 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1992 gives the state governments the power to transfer a set of 18

legitimate municipal functions to the municipal governments and also devolve finances to them to enable them

to perform these functions and organise the delivery of the public services.

Action on devolution of funds to urban local governments has been unpredictable and hopelessly inadequate.

A major opportunity to improve municipal finances was lost at the time of the GST-related Constitutional

amendments in 2016.

Ideally, they should have agreed that GST revenue should be shared among all the three levels of government,

but the third tier was kept out of the deal.

In fiscal devolution, the talk of cooperative federalism stops at the level of the state government.

The Fourteenth Finance Commission increased the share of states in the revenue pool from 32 %to 42%.

By contrast, municipal revenues/expenditures in India have been stagnating at around 1% of GDP for over a

decade.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana as Centrally Sponsored

Schemes, Swacch Bharat, AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, and Housing for All ,these national initiatives have



provided some finance and also nudged the state governments to take up the challenges of urban development,

and all this made some difference.

A major failing of the national missions has been that they have not addressed the issues of empowerment and

devolution to the third tier.

A simple solution would be for the Government of India to introduce an incentive grant system whereby states

that devolve funds to some desired degree get a top-up financial grant from the Centre.

This should be limited to second tier cities, which are crucial in a new urbanisation thrust. Metropolitan cities

need such grants much less, since states can help them to raise resources by empowering them to unlock land

value. They are also better placed to develop PPPs with viable revenue models to attract private funds.

4. GOVERNANCE Lack of access to data for interested stakeholders results in the absence of public accountability and

has huge implications on policy implementation. Discuss KEY POINTS

Development practitioners working on implementation of nutrition programmes at the community level, the

data required to design the programmes should be transparent. This is reinforced by Section 4(1) of the Right

to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.

This shows the importance of transparency of data related to government schemes and programmes, but more

specifically on data related to nutrition and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, which

is aimed at improving nutrition intake of children till six years of age, and also pregnant and lactating mothers.

The ICDS Monthly Progress Report that is collated in every state from every Anganwadi Centre (AWC) has

relevant information on the coverage of beneficiaries as well as weight of children under five for each AWC. But,

unfortunately, it is not easily available.

There isn’t enough information and data available in the public domain for us to understand the nutritional

status and effectiveness of nutrition-related schemes of a particular district, block or village.

The government, on its part, collects a range of information including the number of beneficiaries, their

nutritional status and variances in coverage across villages and social groups like scheduled castes and

scheduled tribes.

National Family Health Survey, but unfortunately their design does not capture locally-relevant information

and it is not real-time.

Ideally, the ICDS data on target beneficiaries, people reached, services offered and funding for different

services should be available at all levels of service delivery.

Relevant break-up at each level including state, district, block and gram panchayat should give a holistic

picture for decision-makers.

Also, communities at village level should have access to the data relevant to their AWC, so they are aware of

the beneficiaries, their entitlements as well as the nutritional status of women and children.

This will help take forward the dialogue between service providers and the community, generate demand, and

improve service delivery.

The ICDS scheme needs to emulate MGNREGA in this regard, in which the principles of transparency and

accountability are ingrained through proactive disclosure of information at all levels of scheme delivery, social

audits and grievance redressal.

This is evident from their management information system—NREGAsoft—that makes information readily

available from the national to the beneficiary level, on every aspect of the scheme and is real-time.



Information is also made available to public at community level through display boards and wall paintings

under MGNREGA.

Transparency of data can be a huge support to governments to identify vulnerable geographies and

populations, evaluate schemes, and come up with new innovations.

But, most importantly, transparency of this data can support communities to engage with an issue like

malnutrition and hold service providers accountable, which will improve service delivery.

5. GOVERNMENT POLICIES While the demand for electricity in agricultural sector is set rise drastically, solar agricultural

feeders provides sustained solution to streamline and utilize electricity effectively. Explain. KEY POINTS

India’s agricultural sector is responsible for the consumption of over 18% of overall national electricity usage.

Electricity theft has emerged as another area of concern and has been on the rise due to non-metered

electricity usage in the agricultural sector. The challenges

1. Ensure farms receive uninterrupted electricity supply during daytime.

2. We need to prevent the rising electricity demand from the agricultural sector to bleed discoms further. Sustained solution

The first step towards the adoption of solar energy is solar agri-feeders installed by discoms to transmit energy

to farms.

A solar agri-feeder is a 1-10 MW community-scale solar power plant and is linked to a substation. These agri-

feeders can provide largely uninterrupted and sustainable 8-10 hours of electricity during the day.

It also prevents installation, maintenance and operation costs for farmers.

Discoms can support farms when the power supply from the feeders is low due to sporadic sunlight, and can

even use excess electricity produced by the feeders in case of low irrigation demand.

Solar agri-feeders have unparalleled utility for the agricultural sector. A shining example is the solar substations

of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), which are pegged to generate

200 MW of clean energy in a year, which can then be infused into the grid at attractive tariffs via long-term

power purchase agreements.

These enable reduction of agricultural subsidy and do not require capital subsidies of their own, from the

government.

These also offer remarkable scalability, as a large number of small solar power plants can be swiftly installed

in the open or unused land of substations across the country.

These feeders also eliminate the need for significant infrastructural costs, due to new large transmission lines,

which is a challenge faced by large-scale wind and solar deployments.

Discoms benefit immensely from this approach, as the mounting losses from agri-electricity subsidies are

mitigated to an extent, which enables in reducing overall losses.

The remarkable utility and viability of solar farm feeders is undeniable and has definite relevance in the

government’s roster of energy sector interventions such as smart metering, renewables proliferation, energy-

efficient pumps, and pan-India energy access.



Indian needs national, state brick missions, and comprehensive legal framework that can transform

brick sector by adopting cleaner technologies and creates formal employment opportunities. Discuss KEYPOINTS Reasons for National, State brick missions

For the past 20 years, the environment ministry has promoted utilisation of fly ash bricks by mandating

manufacture of fly ash bricks within a certain distance of thermal power plants (TPPs).

But there is not enough fly ash to meet the demand of the brick industry in Delhi-NCR.

This variation in demand and supply in different parts of the country is the reason why a blanket approach to

fly ash utilisation has failed so far.

To address this, we should adopt a regional approach to fly ash regulation. That is, regulation should be

tailored depending on the availability of fly ash and the demand for the material in a region.

In general, regions with high fly ash availability should be mandated to produce more of their building

materials from fly ash and vice versa.

But, mandating the manufacture of fly ash bricks is not sufficient. There should also be demand for it, and can

be created by putting in place demand-side regulations and by promoting use of fly ash bricks and other

products.

Demand-side regulations like mandating a certain percentage of building materials from fly ash in the building

by-laws of cities could go a long way in increasing the utilisation of fly ash. But the most important thing required

for generating demand is quality control and certification of fly ash products.

If we need to promote utilisation of fly ash, we should promote a wide variety of fly ash products and not just

bricks. For this, we need promotion and certification programmes to enhance the acceptability of fly ash

products in the market.

There has to be credible deterrence for non-compliance for TPPs. TPPs have flouted the fly ash notification for

two decades because they know that the penalty is small.

Any new law must increase the penalty for non-compliance and set up a transparent system for supply of fly ash

to different users. A regional-level online portal for compliance assurance can be established to improve the

enforcement of the law. Technology to reduce pollution

We can reduce pollution from brick kilns by using better technology. Currently, most Indian kilns use outdated

tech such as clamps and fixed chimney bull’s trench kiln (FCBTK). These are highly inefficient and polluting

and should be replaced with zigzag technology.

It is clear that maximising fly ash utilisation and reducing the environmental impacts of fired clay bricks

require much more than just a simple law that bans fired clay bricks. Formal employment opportunities

Brick sector is one of the breeding ground for child labour and informal employment.

A comprehensive legal framework will enable not only the formalisation of workforce but also combating child

labour in this industry.

MGNREGA can also be linked with this sector to create employment opportunities in non-farm sector, thereby

increasing labour productivity and simultaneously curbing seasonal unemployment. Recent occurrence of fire accidents in the country exposes the gaps in smart cities initiative. Discuss KEY POINTS



The deadly fire in a Surat coaching centre that resulted in the death of 22 young people highlights the gap

between India’s dreamy visions of smart cities and the cruel reality of urban chaos and lawlessness.

So Government needs to fix accountability for Surat tragedy, and update the fire safety protocol countrywide

This incident reflect the India’s abysmal record on fire safety is reflected in the death of 17,700 people

countrywide in fires in both public and residential buildings during 2015, according to the latest available data

from the National Crime Records Bureau. Gaps in smart city initiative

Lethargic civic officials have displayed unforgivable indifference, and tragedy should lead to a comprehensive

review of public buildings. This shows the lack of accountability of officials at local level.

Litigation on fire disasters goes to the courts, and it is essential for the judiciary to send out the message that

there will be no tolerance to corruption and evasion in the enforcement of building rules and fire safety.

Lacking in planned construction of building with appropriate fire safety measures.

Mandating compulsory insurance for all public buildings against fire risk and public liability can bring about a

change to the way architects and builders approach the question of safety, since the insurer would require a

reduction of risk and compliance with building plans.

6. EDUCATION

Discuss various measures which can be used to transform the delivery of education in an equitable

and inclusive manner. KEY POINTS Measures for transforming the education

The focus should be on quality of teacher training, pre-service training which would now be integrated course

of four years for Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.). This has the potential of eliminating non-existent teacher

training colleges and would encourage only those that are keen on this profession to enrol.

The government also amended the Right to Education Act to facilitate training of untrained/unqualified

teachers. There were more than a million such teachers. In-service training was also put on a scientific pedestal

through the use of “DIKSHA” portal.

The segmentation of school education was done away with as a comprehensive approach was adopted through

the launch of Samagra Shiksha replacing the erstwhile segmented schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and

Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. Pre-school was brought on the agenda for the first time as was intermediate

education in terms of making these segments also eligible for funding.

Instead of pre-determining allocation of resources to each segment, States were given the freedom to

determine priorities in the true spirit of cooperative federalism.

Public-private partnership was encouraged so as to leverage good work and practices with a view to scaling such

practices. “Shaala Sarathi” portal was put in place to facilitate transparent interface between the Centre, State

governments, NGOs and CSR Funding Agencies.

The new government does not necessarily have to waste its time on criticising and dumping all that has been

done by the previous government (It will not be an issue if the same government comes to power).

“DIKSHA” portal that has enormous potential needs to be strengthened further and leveraged for in-service

training. It has many other facets, like maintaining teacher related data that can be utilised. Practices evolved

in States such as Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh can be replicated.

Technology can be used to transform delivery of education in a manner that that learning becomes an enjoyable

experience. Technology can also be used for ensuring attendance of teachers as has been successfully done in

Chhattisgarh.



In a diverse country like ours we cannot have the same approach in all the States. Hence, each State requires

different set of interventions in terms of teachers, curriculum, pedagogy and the like. Leveraging NGOs Some NGOs like Akshara Foundation, Sampark Foundation, Kaivalya Foundation are doing phenomenal work in the

field. These NGOs or the government alone cannot transform school education. However, together they have the

potential to bring the desired turn around. Public-private partnership needs to be fostered. There are a host of other issues relating to curriculum, vocational training, educating the girl child, school drop outs,

value based education, children with special needs, ridiculous marking system in the examinations and private schools

that will also need to be addressed. In order to have better allocation of spectrum for commercial entities and Internet use, India needs a

review of its spectrum management and regulatory policies. Explain KEY POINTS

For the spectrum resource to be available to citizens of the country, it is important that at the national level,

relevant spectrum bands are identified, and streamlined processes are put in place for allocating them to

different service providers/users in a timely manner.

Spectrum availability for commercial services continues to be constrained as the spectrum that was allocated to

various public agencies was done administratively, and there was no proper framework to reorient the existing

users to different bands or ensure that it was optimally utilised. Regulating the allocation of Spectrum

To recognise the market potential/price, the released spectrum could be auctioned to service providers.

This mechanism called incentive auction creates a win-win situation for both the seller and the service provider

who can exploit the released spectrum for commercial opportunities. The auction proceeds may then be used

by the seller to go digital.

Incentive auctions have been used effectively in the US and UK, especially for the release of spectrum from

erstwhile broadcast services to mobile services.

In India, spectrum audit studies have hardly been done.

The I&B Ministry has been very slow in digitisation. Doordarshan (DD) has a monopoly in terrestrial services. Recommendations

As a first step, an inter-ministerial group with representation from concerned agencies, both public and

private needs to be put in place.

An action orientation and a well-laid out road map are necessary.

Spectrum audits, especially of government and public users, could identify unutilised spectrum.

Recommendations from previous such groups and task force have remained only on paper. Industry

associations and citizens need to lobby for such reforms as these are also beneficial to them.

7. HEALTH

Policymakers need to view devices and drugs differently in order to make them safe and consider

regulating devices under the ministry of health.Discuss KEY POINTS

Devices do need to be regulated but, once again, the DTAB (Drugs Technical Advisory Board) has suggested

forcibly notifying all medical devices that are engineering products as ‘medicines’ under the Drugs &



Cosmetics Act and the road-map being defined by it does not entail migrating these to a separate ‘Medical

Devices Act’ in due course.

The medical devices market in India is over $10 billion (`70,000 crore) and projected to grow to $50 billion

by 2025 and is the fourth-largest in Asia.

It’s imperative to have a separate law as devices are engineering items and not medicines—an X-ray machine by

no stretch of the imagination can be called a drug, and, so, continued attempts to regulate devices as drugs is

illogical and incorrect unless assured that it is a temporary measure.

Patient safety is more complex with devices where the same are ‘a shared responsibility of the manufacturer,

medical practitioners, product user and the regulator’.

The Drugs Act itself needs reforms as it does not uniformly and equitably regulate quality from state-to-state in

the absence of a national singular regulatory authority and there is no point of replicating this limitation for

devices too.

Medical devices manufacturers need to know the legal requirements, penalties, rules and roles that every

stakeholder in the system needs to follow, in a predictable manner.

This will attract overseas and Indian investments. Presently, investors shy away from an unpredictable,

incomplete and incorrect regulatory environment. Road-map for a robust Medical Devices Law

Medical Devices Rules (MDR), initially experimenting with a few electronic devices under the MDR, the MDR

to be amended as per experience gained after 6 months of introduction.

The National Accreditation Board of Certification Bodies is already accrediting certification bodies for voluntary

quality assurance (the Indian Certification for Medical Devices (ICMED) scheme) under the QCI (Quality

Council of India).

Incentivizing ICMED certification by the QCI will help manufacturers in capacity building for voluntary

compliance to quality standards, thereby ensuring global competitiveness and enabling the smooth transition

to mandatory compliance under a Patient Safety Medical Devices Law. National Dairy Development Board For Nutrition’s (NFN) Giftmilk scheme sets up an excellent blue

print to combat malnutrition among children. Examine KEY POINTS Causes of Child Malnutrition

According to the 2018 Global Nutrition Report, India accounts for more than three out of every 10 stunted

children globally.

Going by the National Family Health Survey-4 results, it appears 40% of our future workforce will be unable

to achieve their full physical and cognitive potential.

It is observed that the topmost milk-producing states of the country also happen to be high at incidence of

malnutrition. This information necessitates urgent intervention by central and state governments.

A common cause across all forms of malnutrition is a suboptimal diet.

One feasible intervention that can tide over this situation is inclusion of milk in the feeding programmes for

children in schools.

Nutrient needs increase in adolescences to meet the demands of pubertal growth and brain maturation.

Milk is an excellent source of several micronutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, phosphorous,

potassium, etc, which help make bones strong, increase immunity, and improve vision, cognitive and motor

functions of the body.



Therefore, milk, being a wholesome food, can play an important role in reducing malnutrition, if included in

regular diets of the population.

India is the largest producer of milk in the world, but people belonging to lower income groups cannot afford

milk due to low purchasing power.

Thus, children from lower income strata are deprived of essential nutrients to support their optimal physical

and mental growth.

Gift milk Scheme

o So, The NDDB Foundation for Nutrition (NFN), a trust/society created by the National Dairy Development

Board, has been facilitating distribution of fortified flavoured milk to children in select government/public schools across the country under its Giftmilk scheme.

o It runs by channelising CSR allocations of corporates. The NFN strives to provide pasteurised flavoured fortified

(with vitamin A and D) milk under robust cold chain logistics to children. The quality of milk is maintained by

creating a cold supply chain till it reaches the end-beneficiary.

The NFN follows a robust implementation methodology, maintaining high transparency and accountability.

Data is shared and monitoring is done at each level using MIS developed for tracking milk consumption.

o Giftmilk for students, mostly tribal, of government schools in Latehar district of Jharkhand started in

2017,

o Fortification also showed its effect in reducing visual impairment among children. The number of

anaemic children decreased after regular consumption of milk, which may be attributed to good quality

proteins provided by milk.

o There was a marked improvement in IQ levels, showing a positive impact on cognitive functions of

children. Cumulative attendance increased by more than 10% in intervention schools.

o The impact study thus testified Giftmilk’s positive impact in addressing malnutrition through milk and

also recommended to continue the programme for a minimum of three years for sustained benefits to

children.

o The NDDB has been impressing upon state governments of major milk producing states for

introduction of school milk programme in their states.

o Any initiative in addressing malnutrition through school milk programmes would benefit and

transform lives of millions of children and help build a strong India. Bio-fortification of foods offers a possible solution to eradicate hidden hunger in India. Elaborate KEY POINTS

Despite major government interventions — including providing highly subsidised foodgrains to the poorest 67 per

cent of the population under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), a free Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDM) that targets

around 100 million students in government schools and a supplementary nutrition programme through the ICDS

network — the country is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world.

Poverty, gender disparity, poor sanitation, low health and nutrition service coverage and poor nutritional

intake — particularly an iron-deficient diet — continue to impede our fight against anaemia.

Food fortification is a largely-ignored, yet critical, strategy which has proved an effective, affordable, scalable

and sustainable intervention in many countries. India too has tested this idea when it successfully tackled the

widespread problem of goitre by mandating iodised salt in 1962.

As there are numerous programmes to address malnutriton, this simple idea of fortifiying meals has the

potential to reach every segment of the population.



Rice is the staple for 65 per cent of the Indian population, most of whom are located in high malnutrition burden

states. Supply of fortified rice through a network of fair price shops is a cost-effective intervention to address

anaemia across all sections of the population

Evaluations in Odisha’s Gajapati district, which experimented with fortified rice in MDM, found that the

incidence of anaemia has reduced by 20 per cent between 2012 and 2015, of which 6 per cent reduction can be

directly attributable to fortification.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution, facilitated by the NITI Aayog, has recently launched a

centrally-sponsored scheme on rice fortification in PDS.

A successful pan-India scale up of fortification will depend on many factors — the political will of state

governments, flexibility to allow states to adapt the fortification model to their procurement and distribution

systems and capacity building of different stakeholders.

The FSSAI’s role, its enforcement machinery and the quality control labs needs to be strengthened.

8. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Iran’s decision to withdraw partially from the joint comprehensive plan of action comes with risks

in west asia and global market. Discuss KEY POINTS

Iran’s decision to reduce its commitments to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the

P5+1 agreement, comes as a reaction to the U.S.’s attempts in recent weeks to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.

Iran is demanding that the remaining signatories of the deal ease the restrictions on its banking and oil sectors

in the next 60 days.

In case the five endorsers of the deal decide not to act in favour of Iran, the authorities of Tehran will remove

the caps on uranium enrichment levels and resume work on the Arak nuclear facility. Loss of patience

Iran’s plans are very clear, and they put an end to long and laborious multilateral negotiations which put strict

limits on Iran’s nuclear activities in return for lifting most international sanctions.

Undoubtedly, Iran’s decision comes as an expression of loss of patience with a deal that is providing very few

of the promised economic benefits.

But by resuming its uranium enrichment operations, Iran could be taking a huge risk, putting at danger its

diplomatic relations with Europe.

Consequently, Iran might be economically isolated, but the message coming out from Russia is that Iran is not

alone.

The Russia has joined Iran to accuse the U.S. of retreating from the nuclear deal, while approving Iran’s

rolling back of some of the terms of the deal due to pressure from the U.S.

If we take a close look at the geostrategic situation of West Asia, Iran’s threat to violate the JCPOA is a very

worrisome decision.

But despite the sanctions, Iran continues to fund its proxies in the region, prepare missile tests and support the

Syrian regime, although some European countries might continue encouraging a return to diplomatic

management of the Iranian crisis. Impacts on India

Increase in trade between Iran and India especially with respect to Oil.

Chabahar Port’s relevance will improve significantly.



But the development of Iran’s nuclear pose a huge threat in West Asia. By inviting leaders from the BIMSTEC countries, at the swearing in ceremony Prime Minister of

India seeks to strengthen India’s neighbourhood and the Indian diaspora across the world. Discuss KEY POINTS

This time, SAARC’s exclusion is clearly aimed at keeping Pakistan out of New Delhi’s engagement with its

neighbours.

By inviting the leader from Kyrgyz Republic, India is displaying an outreach to the Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation (SCO), which is headed by the Kyrgyz leader, and which has China, Russia, Uzbekistan,

Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan as members.

India, which became a member along with Pakistan in 2017, wants to leverage its membership to advance its

strategic objectives — counter-terrorism and connectivity.

Some of these BIMSTEC countries had supported New Delhi’s call for a boycott of the SAARC summit

scheduled in Islamabad in2016, because of the Uri attack.

As the summit was postponed, India had claimed victory in isolating Pakistan, having accused that country of

carrying out the Uri attack. Importance of BIMSTEC

The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world. Over one-fifth (22%) of the world’s population live in the

seven countries around it, and they have a combined GDP close to $2.7 trillion.

Despite economic challenges, all these seven countries have been able to sustain average annual rates of

economic growth between 3.4% and 7.5% from 2012 to 2016.

BIMSTEC, which now includes five countries from South Asia and two from ASEAN, is a bridge between South

Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes all the major countries of South Asia, except Maldives, Afghanistan and

Pakistan. India’s Importance

As the region’s largest economy, India has a lot at stake.

BIMSTEC connects not only South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the

Bay of Bengal.

For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil our key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighborhood First’ and ‘Act

East’.

For New Delhi, one key reason for engagement is in the vast potential that is unlocked with stronger

connectivity.

From the strategic perspective, the Bay of Bengal, a funnel to the Malacca straits, has emerged a key theatre

for an increasingly assertive China in maintaining its access route to the Indian Ocean.

As China mounts assertive activities in the Bay of Bengal region, with increased submarine movement and ship

visits in the Indian Ocean, it is in India’s interest to consolidate its internal engagement among the BIMSTEC

countries.



GS PAPER III

9. INDIAN ECONOMY

Do the creation National anti-profiteering authority met its desired objectives under GST regime?

Analyse KEY POINTS

Government has considered extending the term of the DGAP, which is supposed to have a two-year sunset

horizon.

The government claims this is because the GST council continues to tweak tax rates and so anti-profiteering

continues to be required. Meanwhile, the DGAP itself has also expanded the nature of its operation.

The anti-profiteering authority wasn’t effectively implemented because the government did not lay out details

on how it would determine that profiteering had occurred.

In India, nothing is specified other than the process to be followed.

Companies should be free to respond to tax changes, particularly complex ones such as the GST which have

multiple conflicting effects on their costs, in a manner determined by competitive dynamics and commercial

considerations.

If competitive dynamics are weak and do not allow for proper transmission of tax cuts, that is the business of

the Competition Commission.

But all future tax changes cannot be judged on the same yardstick as the initial introduction of the GST. They

might not all be meant to lower prices for consumers — other economic goals might be in play.

Thus, the stated reason to extend the authority’s term makes little sense. It should be wound up by the

scheduled date. What is meant by regulatory sandbox? While the draft guidelines on it are indeed a logical step

forward, clarity on some of the aspects outlined above is needed. Elaborate KEY POINTS

Regulatory sandbox refers to live-testing of new products and services in a controlled environment with active

cooperation of the supervisor.

This allows companies to experiment with their products and improve their viability in the existing market.

From the regulator’s perspective, the sandbox allows it to gain insights into potential risks and benefits arising

out of innovative products and business models, and facilitate innovation.

RBI, in its draft guidelines, has listed the eligibility criteria for participating in the sandbox.

It has listed certain innovative products, services and technologies that could be tested in the sandbox. It has

also listed what may be excluded from the sandbox.

It has also spelled out the criteria for selection of participants in the sandbox.

The Indian approach spelt out in the draft guidelines, is silent on Licence aspect, obtained for regulatory

sandbox.

Ambiguity in joining criteria. Boundary conditions for the regulatory sandbox refer to the space and duration of

the proposed financial services to be tested in the sandbox.

The draft guidelines have specified the start and end date of the regulatory sandbox, target customer type, limit

on the number of customers involved, the transaction ceiling and cash-holding limits, and cap on customer

losses.



The draft guidelines do not say anything about the evaluation criteria for sandboxes in India. SEBI needs to evolve and stay ahead of changes in technology to cope with future changes. In

context of NSEL’s Co-location controversy, Analyse. KEY POINTS

Co-location (setting up trading terminals in the same physical space as the exchanges’ servers), along with the

use of dark fibre (dedicated cable lines transmitting only exchange data), gives users a significant advantage in

data-access.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) released a comprehensive set of orders on the National Stock

Exchange (NSE) co-location controversy.

The regulator said there was no evidence of fraud committed by the NSE, but the exchange did not exercise

adequate due diligence while selecting its trading architecture, thereby creating an environment in which

information dissemination was asymmetric.

The exchange has also been indicted for “bad governance”, and criticised for its inconsistent “dark fibre”

policy.

The regulator has further directed the NSE to overhaul its algorithmic trading systems and co-location

processes and to subject these to regular systemic audits.

Indeed, the case was so complex and multi-dimensional that the regulator issued five separate sets of orders,

covering different aspects of the case.

It has determined that the tick-by-tick co-location system deployed by the NSE allowed discriminatory access

to several brokers.

It has also determined large conflicts of interest with advisers who were given access to confidential data, which

allowed them to develop algorithmic trading software that could be used for personal gains. The regulator has

directed the NSE to start legal proceedings against these advisers.

AI-based algorithmic trading systems can exploit milli-seconds. While traders will pay more for such services,

it also creates an asymmetric information environment.

These orders demonstrate the regulator has developed a grasp of the technology and policy issues and it is

willing to crack the whip to ensure an equitable environment.

Regulators and exchanges have to work out a robust policy to oversee this and prevent abuse. There are

increasing volumes of algorithmic trading on India’s financial exchanges. Discuss the salient features of Phased Manufacturing programme. How its objectives can be linked

with Global value chain for sustained economic development? KEY POINTS

Phased manufacturing programme (PMP) at present is meant to promote use of locally made components in

mobile phones. MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and IT) is exploring to expand it to other segments as well,

Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) valid for 5 years till 2024 to support setting up of a few large-scale,

export-competitive integrated batteries and cell-manufacturing Giga plants in India.

PMP in this year aims to encourage manufacturing of mobile components in the country.

It also aims to promote the indigenous manufacturing of populated printed circuit boards, camera modules

and connectors in 2018-19, and display assembly, touch panels, vibrator motor and ringer in 2019-20. Linkage with global value chain

India’s strengths include a vast pool of engineers, competitive labour force, familiarity with English, and

others.



Many MNCs have set up design and R&D centres in the country, connected with manufacturing sectors. With

the right policy environment, a thriving electronics sector well-integrated with shifting regional supply chains

could help boost exports and create new jobs.

Strategising imports of electronics in terms of final and intermediate items is important, as imports of certain

products remain essential.

While India increased import duties on certain electronic products in the 2018-19 Budget, it recently exempted

35 machine parts used for manufacturing mobile phone components from basic customs duty to promote local

handset production. A balance will need to be maintained on the import duty structures of such products.

India needs to continue focus on easing the way business is done, especially in terms of trade across borders

such as time and cost of border compliance, documentary compliance, etc, both for exports and imports.

The time taken for border compliance of imports in India is more than five times that in Vietnam and the cost

is almost 25% higher, as per the World Bank. Dedicated industrial parks could help develop a supportive trade

system.

GVCs demand high quality and on-time delivery, necessitating behind-the-border logistics support, with high-

speed and reliable linking of industrial parks and ports.

Equally, contract enforcement, recourse available to firms in case of violations, length of settlement periods,

legal processes, etc, need to be considered.

Workshops by MNCs with suppliers including those at lower tiers could assist in building quality and meeting

requisite standards. The government could also set up training centres for SMEs in key manufacturing clusters.

The electronics market in India is projected to grow to $400 billion by 2020 and this, coupled with global

demand for electronics, creates huge opportunities for firms to invest in India as a hub for exports.

The PMP has contributed to lowering imports of handsets while imports of circuits and micro assemblies has

concomitantly risen.

Systematic government and industry interventions could create a fertile ground to enable development of the

electronics sector. As informal enterprises are facing unique impediments in availing themselves of formal skilling,

interventions are needed to boost their economic productivity in long term. Elaborate KEY POINTS Unique Impediments Limited awareness

Small and informal business owners often see limited benefit of formally skilled workers due to a lack of

awareness of the productivity and income gains that can accrue because of skilling.

This problem also extends to parts of the formal sector, which is experiencing increased ‘contractualisation of

labour’.

These formal employers might not see any incentive to invest in training, given the temporal nature of the

occupation and high attrition rate for the ‘contract employees’. Cost and time of training

Around half of the workers employed in the non-agriculture sector work in enterprises that employ less than

two people on an average.



This low number increases the opportunity cost of training per worker and discourages small and informal

enterprise owners from investing in training.

Entrepreneurs also find it difficult to upskill themselves as they already face time and financial constraints in

their business.

Finally, potential workers who do get formally skilled, demand a wage premium that small enterprises are

unable to afford.

Lack of alignment between current formal programmes and the skilling needs of small and informal

enterprises.

Small enterprises often depend on workers who perform multiple tasks and thus need their employees to be

trained in multiple skills.

The current formal skilling programmes are often not designed for this and tend to be specific to a job role.

The current programmes also provide full-time and non-local solutions while firms need flexible, hyper-local

models. This combination limits the effectiveness of the initiatives. Interventions that can help catalyse demand for formal skills

Provide incentives and increase awareness to drive demand for formal skills training.

Giving financial and non-financial incentives to enterprises in the informal sector has the potential to mitigate

the cost and time pressures of engaging workers in formal training and increasing uptake of skilling

programmes.

Further, as small firms experience the productivity gains from investments in skill building, the demand for

skilling of their workforce will increase.

For example, Kenya launched the Jua Kali Skill Voucher Program to catalyse adoption of skill training

programmes among micro and small enterprises (MSEs) through demonstration effect.

After experiencing more than double the average sales, the MSEs increased their permanent training

resources and staff. Any incentives, therefore, must be designed with the goal of sustainability, with firms eventually transitioning to

skilling their workforce without needing external support.

Foster tailored models of skill provision, there is a significant need to create an enabling environment and

dedicate resources to support testing of new models across the sector.

The ‘micro-training’ provider model in Rwanda is a case in point. It is a hyper-local and flexible training model

operated by small enterprises that engage in production and sale of goods and services and provide training as

a parallel service. Recognise skills required through traditional apprenticeships or other non-formal channels. The task of accelerating economic growth can be made possible by finding a comprehensive solution

to the problems that confront the banking system. Elucidate KEY POINTS Problems of Banking system

The primary reason for increasing Non-performing assets in banking system is the credit boom of the years

2004-05 to 2008-09.

It was a period in which the world economy as well as the Indian economy were booming. Indian firms

borrowed furiously in order to avail of the growth opportunities they saw coming.



Thereafter, the Economic Survey of 2016-17 notes that problems in acquiring land and getting environmental

clearances, several projects got stalled. Their costs soared.

At the same time, with the onset of the global financial crisis in 2007-08 and the slowdown in growth after

2011-12, revenues fell well short of forecasts.

Financing costs rose as policy rates were tightened in India in response to the crisis. The depreciation of the

rupee meant higher outflows for companies that had borrowed in foreign currency.

Higher NPAs mean higher provisions on the part of banks. Provisions rose to a level where banks, especially

PSBs, started making losses. Their capital got eroded as a result.

Since the problem is more concentrated in PSBs, Public ownership of banks, according to them, is beset with

corruption and incompetence (reflected in poor appraisal of credit risk). The solution, therefore, is to privatise

the PSBs, at least the weaker ones.

But the infrastructure projects were impacted by the global financial crisis and environmental and land

acquisition issues. In addition, mining and telecom were impacted by adverse court judgments.

Steel was impacted by dumping from China. Thus, the sectors to which PSBs were heavily exposed were

impacted by factors beyond the control of bank management. Plans to prevent such crises

The government must infuse at one go whatever additional capital is needed to recapitalise banks — providing

such capital in multiple instalments is not helpful.

RBI needs to develop better mechanisms for monitoring macro-prudential indicators, a simple indicator

would be a rate of credit growth.

Actions needs to be taken to strengthen the functioning of banks in general and, more particularly, PSBs.

Overall risk management at PSBs needs to be taken to a higher level. This certainly requires strengthening of

PSB boards. We need to induct more high-quality professionals on PSB boards and compensate them better.

Succession planning at PSBs also needs to improve. Despite the constitution of the Banks Board Bureau to

advise on selection of top management.

The appointment of Managing Directors and Executive Directors continues to be plagued by long delays and

must end. Increasing reliance on external commercial borrowings by corporates with external risks is a

serious concern to Indian economy. Comment KEY POINTS

In External commercial borrowings, the trend changed from 2017-18, when the ECB registrations shot up by 31

per cent. With a 45 per cent increase in ECB registrations in 2018-19, policy makers of the finance ministry,

should be as concerned over the trend as those in the RBI.

Data is based on applications made for ECB or foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB), against which

registrations are allotted during this period.

Since this will be eventually captured in the country’s balance of payments with minor adjustments, the rising

trend is an advance indication of the nature of pressure ECBs could put on India’s management of the external

sector.

A recent study by CARE Ratings has drawn attention to the many aspects of the sharp rise in the ECB

registrations. The relatively elevated levels of interest rates, before they began declining a bit, tightening

liquidity in the domestic economy putting pressure on companies to look for external sources of financing,

slowing activity in the corporate bonds market and the continued stress in the banking sector.



In 2019, the RBI had relaxed the guidelines for approval of ECB applications. Earlier, the minimum maturity

period was three, five and 10 years, based on the purpose and quantum of the ECB.

With the relaxation, the minimum maturity period was reduced to three or five years. The new guidelines,

therefore, allowed Indian entities to borrow more under the ECB route and with a shorter maturity period.

It is clear from both the registrations data and the policy relaxations that Indian companies find ECB to be an

increasingly preferred and attractive route for meeting their financial needs.

This may be a comment on the banking sector’s inability to meet the Indian corporate sector’s fund

requirements on attractive terms and the tight liquidity situation in the domestic economy.

The share of ECB in India’s total external debt of over $510 billion is on the rise, the reduced maturity period

for ECB could adversely impact India’s overall external debt profile.

While companies applying for ECB should always be on their guard, the government too should not be

unmindful of the dangers of increasing reliance on such borrowings with external risks. Considering the occurrence of trade wars in the global economy, India needs to realign its trade

policy with regional trade formations. Discuss KEY POINTS Current Situation

The renewed US-China trade war and related uncertainty is likely to have a negative impact far beyond the

US-China bilateral trade on global growth.

The WTO, in its revised estimates last month, has already trimmed world trade growth forecast for 2019 to 2.6

per cent from the earlier forecasted 3.7 per cent.

In India, withdrawal of the generalized system of preferences (GSP) by the US, end of sanction waivers for

crude oil imports from Iran, and severe criticism of India's protectionist tariff regime

So, there is an urgency, therefore, for India to re-visit its trade policy.

India's exports continue to be predominantly low skill and labour intensive commodities. India's export basket

has not, therefore, evolved in line with the pattern of dynamic GVC-led trade.

At present, GVCs are undergoing a transformation with greater domestic content and regional consolidation,

particularly in East Asia and in sectors like automotives, computers and electronics.

It becomes imperative, therefore, that India seek a trade strategy towards greater integration with East Asia.

Regional comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) offers India this opportunity.

Unfortunately, India's perception of the RCEP is limited by its bilateral trade deficit with the largest economy

in the trade formation — China.

For fear of being overwhelmed by Chinese goods under a preferential arrangement, India's stance in the RCEP

negotiations has been mainly defensive in seeking differential and lower levels of preferential market access for

its non-FTA partners such as China and Australia/New Zealand.

However, the RCEP is not merely about trading with China, which is in any case inevitable, given that China is

the largest trading partner for almost all nations in the world.

Chinese goods will, therefore, find access, maybe even preferential access, to the Indian market through some

or the other trading partner

The RCEP has to be seen as a mega regional trade agreement, which is a means to both trade liberalisation

and integration with regional value chains or GVCs through East Asia.

India's trade strategy to work through multilateralism may once have been an option, but today when the

WTO is struggling to remain relevant, mega regional PTAs have become dominant trade vehicles.



With agreement on major trade disciplines across their large membership, mega regionals play a facilitating

role in making possible efficient multiple border crossings for goods that are fundamental to GVCs.

The RCEP is a trade light mega regional agreement, which is as yet working on liberalisation of trade in goods

and services unlike the CPTPP that, with its WTO plus provisions ( To describe the commitments made by the

acceding members with their contents and levels of obligations exceeding those required by WTO agreements),

is far more ambitious in its coverage.

As RCEP negotiations await completion of electoral processes and government formation in some member

countries, Indian trade diplomacy should set to work on a framework for such a deal. What are ATM Skimmers? Discuss the measures that Government of India to prevent these types of

fraud thereby providing secure banking system. KEY POINTS ATM skimmers, skimming is a theft of card information, where a small device, known as a skimmer, is used to steal

the information during a legitimate ATM transaction. As the card is swiped at the machine, the skimmer device captures the information stored on the card's magnetic

strip. Measures to prevent skimming

Prevention of skimming is possible with the alertness of people who load cash in ATMs and bank officials who

can spot any illegal devices planted in ATMs.

Government should create awareness program among customers to know about this fraud through social

media or via SMS.

Posting guards at ATMs with sufficient knowledge in banking frauds.

Installing machines that do not facilitate installation of cameras and skimmers.

Use of new high-security bank cards that have facilities against theft of data through skimming.

Implement RBI guidelines to prevent skimming of ATM/debit/credit cards. In India, Manufacturing has never been the leading sector in the economy since 1991 reforms and

requires specialized industrial policy to propel the economic growth trajectory in an inclusive

manner. Discuss KEY POINTS The contribution of manufacturing sector in India economy has been hovering around 14% of its GDP since 1991, while

developed countries like Japan, USA are contributing around 27% of their GDP. The percapita income also got declined and the fruits of industrial policies are not reaching the people effectively in an

inclusive manner. Specialized industrial policy

There is the need to coordinate complementary investments when there are significant economies of scale and

capital market imperfections (for example, as envisaged in a Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor).

Industrial policies are needed to address learning externalities such as subsidies for industrial training (on

which we have done poorly).

In fact, industrial policy was reinforced by state investments in human capital, particularly general academic

as well as vocational education/training aligned with the industrial policy, in most East Asian countries.

However, a lack of human capital has been a major constraint upon India historically being able to attract

foreign investment. This can be resolved by easing the labour laws and formalising the workforce via vocational

training.



The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 needs to be amended to provide social security net

for informal labours.

The state can play the role of organiser of domestic firms into cartels in their negotiations with foreign firms or

governments.

The role of industrial policy is not only to prevent coordination failures (i.e. ensure complementary

investments) but also avoid competing investments in a capital-scarce environment.

Excess capacity leads to price wars, adversely affecting profits of firms — either leading to bankruptcy of firms

or slowing down investment, both happening often in India (witness the aviation sector).

Even worse, price wars in the telecom sector in India have slowed profits (even caused losses), which hampers

investment in mobile/Internet coverage of rural India where access to mobile phones and broadband Internet,

needs rapid expansion.

Industrial policy can ensure that the industrial capacity installed is as close to the minimum efficient scale as

possible.

When structural change is needed, industrial policy can facilitate that process. Discuss the measures that are required to boost exports for sustainable recovery of the Indian

Economy. KEY POINTS

Improved demand conditions in key markets, growth in the US and European markets is key as they contribute

to 30% of India’s overall shipments overseas, but across geographies growth has been strong barring South and

Latin America.

In order to provide Indian exporters better access to various markets, the government is engaged in regional,

bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations with various countries and trade blocks.

FTAs have shown results, thrust on free trade agreements (FTA) with partner countries, have actually been

helping Indian exports, either related to SAARC countries or to South East Asia and North East Asia.

As far as SAFTA was concerned, India has huge trade surplus of about $12 billion and with ASEAN, exports

have more than doubled after signing of the Indo-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.

Government has recently released the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20, which has introduced two new

schemes, namely, ‘Merchandise Exports from India Scheme’ (MEIS) for incentivising export of specified goods

to specified markets.

Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) for increasing exports of notified services from India for

diversification of India’s export markets and products and give a boost to India’s exports. This also includes

goods and services from MSME Sector.

The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 has also introduced several measures for facilitating trade and improving

`Ease of doing business’ by reducing the number of mandatory documents required for export and import to

three each. In order to facilitate faster processing and enable working in 24*7 mode.

DGFT has facilitated submission of various applications and documents in online mode, as well as online

payment of application fees through credit/debit cards and electronic fund transfer from 53 banks.



What are Masala Bonds? Discuss the salient features of Masala Bonds and the risks associated with

it. KEY POINTS Features of Masala Bonds

Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated bonds i.e the funds would be raised from overseas market in Indian

rupees. According to RBI, any corporate, body corporate and Indian bank is eligible to issue Rupee denominated

bonds overseas.

The Rupee denominated bonds can only be issued in a country and subscribed by a resident of such country

that is a member of financial action task force and whose securities market regulator is a member of

International Organisation of Securities Commission.

While residents of such countries can subscribe to the bonds, it can also be subscribed by multilateral and

regional financial institutions where India is a member country.

The conversion for such bonds will happen at the market rate on the date of settlement of transactions

undertaken for issue and servicing of the bonds, including its redemption. Risks and Limitations

RBI mandates that the money raised through such bonds cannot be used for real estate activities other than

for development of integrated township or affordable housing projects.

It also can’t be used for investing in capital markets, purchase of land and on-lending to other entities for such

activities as stated above.

According to RBI, the minimum maturity period for Masala Bonds raised up to Rupee equivalent of USD 50

million in a financial year should be 3 years and for bonds raised above USD 50 million equivalent in INR per

financial year should be 5 years.

Since the maturity period is less, long term loans is not possible in the case of masala bonds. What are Masala Bonds? Discuss the salient features of Masala Bonds and the risks associated with

it. KEY POINTS Features of Masala Bonds

Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated bonds i.e the funds would be raised from overseas market in Indian

rupees. According to RBI, any corporate, body corporate and Indian bank is eligible to issue Rupee denominated

bonds overseas.

The Rupee denominated bonds can only be issued in a country and subscribed by a resident of such country

that is a member of financial action task force and whose securities market regulator is a member of

International Organisation of Securities Commission.

While residents of such countries can subscribe to the bonds, it can also be subscribed by multilateral and

regional financial institutions where India is a member country.

The conversion for such bonds will happen at the market rate on the date of settlement of transactions

undertaken for issue and servicing of the bonds, including its redemption. Risks and Limitations

RBI mandates that the money raised through such bonds cannot be used for real estate activities other than

for development of integrated township or affordable housing projects.

It also can’t be used for investing in capital markets, purchase of land and on-lending to other entities for such

activities as stated above.



According to RBI, the minimum maturity period for Masala Bonds raised up to Rupee equivalent of USD 50

million in a financial year should be 3 years and for bonds raised above USD 50 million equivalent in INR per

financial year should be 5 years.

Since the maturity period is less, long term loans is not possible in the case of masala bonds. Setting up of Asset reconstruction companies (ARC) significantly reduce the problem of Non-

Performing assets persisting in the Indian banking system. Elucidate KEY POINTS

The closing balance of NPAs of all scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), which was close to Rs 8 trillion in

2016-17, rose to Rs 10.4 trillion in 2017-18 according to Financial Stability Report by RBI

The NPA problem of the banking sector is essentially a reflection of weaknesses of corporate sector balance

sheets. Many corporates were hand-in-glove with their bankers, accumulating performing assets through the

process of ever-greening year-after-year.

To resolve this we need an Asset Reconstruction Company, which is a specialized financial institution that buys

the NPAs or bad assets from banks and financial institutions so that the latter can clean up their balance sheets.

Bulk of the infrastructure loans can be securitised and sold to an asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) with

appropriate haircut.

Besides restructuring, the ARCs can perform certain other functions as well. They are permitted to act as a

manager of collateral assets taken over by the lenders by receiving a fee. Similarly, they can also function as a

receiver, if appointed by any Court or DRT.

The ARCs get a vital role for asset restructuring under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. In 2016, the

RBI has amended the SARFAESI Act to give make the ARCs more efficient.

If private sector ARCs are not equipped to buy large infrastructure loans, the government may consider setting

up an ARC in the public sector.

Pressure on the government to recapitalise banks may be reduced if a public sector ARC is prepared to take

over sticky advances of banks, particularly those lent to the infrastructure sector.

Instead of transferring RBI’s excess capital to the government, this can be utilised for setting up of an ARC in

the public sector, which can clean up the NPAs of PSBs. Despite much of investment, government of India seeks to resist e-commerce rules at global level.

Explain KEY POINTS E-commerce and digital trade are likely to be among the biggest value creators in economies — and particularly for the

Indian economy. In fact, much of the recent investment in India is in this or related space. The Indian government has also been active

in drafting and enacting rules in this space, many of which have greatly upset foreign players. Reasons for resistance

However, it appears that India is an outlier in global terms when it comes to its attitude toward the regulation

of e-commerce and digital trade.

As the rules framed at global level prevent domestic regulations that restrict the free flow of data across

borders.

There is also a move to prevent domestic governments from bullying transnational companies from handing

over source code or proprietary software.



India, is, however, determined to try and block any international framework on e-commerce on digital trade.

This reflects its own recent moves to force data localisation, which restricts the free flow of data generated by

Indian consumers across borders.

Multinational companies operating in the e-commerce space have also been subject to increasingly restrictive

and even arbitrary rules.

India also wants to make sure that the needs of its IT service sector are met. However, it is far from clear whether

Indian IT services would be harmed or benefited from a global architecture that opens up these services.

The question of data localisation is more fraught, and is not settled domestically in spite of recent government

efforts.

While large Indian companies may benefit from data protectionism and the government has legitimate

questions about national security, Indian consumers and smaller companies and start-ups stand to benefit

greatly from a free flow of data.

Plurilateral agreements that leave India behind would not be to its benefit. It is necessary therefore to seek

more allies for its viewpoint. A combination of compromise and outreach will be necessary. New military bases can form the the catalyst for new cities, which will create a growing spiral of

economic activity and create millions of jobs. Explain KEY POINTS India can create over 30 million new jobs in the short- and medium-term by creating 20 new military bases over the

next 15 years. Shifting parts of old cantonments to new sites can, in a single move, address many policy challenges:

create new cities,

provide the armed forces with modern facilities

create mass employment without adding to the nation’s fiscal burden. Rough estimates suggest that for every new military base or cantonment, between 100,000 to 1 million jobs will be

created in the construction and infrastructure sector in the short- and medium-term.

Further, redevelopment of existing city centres will itself account for 200,000-500,000 new construction jobs

in each location in the short-term.

Additional high-value jobs will be created in these areas given the economic potential of city centres.

Over time, the military bases will germinate into new urban centres with populations of 1-5 million that can

act as engines of economic and job growth for the future.

Cooperative federalism has to operate at a massive scale, the armed forces have to be persuaded to part with

land that has been in their possession since before India’s independence, the environmental impact must be

mitigated, agricultural land acquisition must be sorted out and finally, urban real estate mafias must be kept in

check. Fast growing economy is the need of the hour to address many of India's socio-economic problems

and to provide social safety nets. Analyse KEY POINTS As in the revised new base estimates, the growth rate in 2016-17 was 8.2%; in 2018-19 it was 7%. It is only a fast growing economy that will generate the surpluses which are necessary to address many of our socio -

economic problems and to provide social safety nets.



Decline in investment rate

For faster growth, what is critically needed is a higher investment rate.

In current prices, the ratio of Gross Fixed Capital Formation to Gross Domestic Product has stayed low at

28.5% between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

But for sustained growth, the ratio has to go up, and that too substantially.

RBI Bulletin says that in 2017-18, the industry-wise distribution of projects sanctioned by banks and other

institutions in 2017-18 shows that the power sector accounted for 38.2% of the total expenditure.

Pure manufacturing had only a small share. All these point to the urgent need to accelerate investment. Reviving investment

The bulk of public investment comes from public sector enterprises, including the Railways.

Public sector units can take a longer-term view than the private sector. A strong public investment programme

can be a catalyst of private investment.

In a situation such as the present one, Government of India can crowd in private investment.

There have to be sector- or industry-wise discussions between the government and industrialists to

understand the bottlenecks that each industry faces in making investment and take actions to remove them.

Banks are under stress and the ratio of non-performing assets (NPAs) has risen. We need to resolve this issue

as early as possible so that banks can get back to lending at a significant pace. Jobs and growth

There has been great concern about the inability of the economy to generate adequate employment.

Employment numbers have always been somewhat worrisome because of the presence of heavy

underemployment in the country.

Demand for employment have to be effectively addressed through vocational training at local level via Local

self governments. Minimum income support The government should move in the direction of removing some of the subsidies and schemes which are similar in nature

to minimum income, consolidate them, add to them what is fiscally feasible and provide the funds directly to the poor.

This will help to increase the economic growth indirectly. RBI's decision to introduce liquidity buffers for Non-banking Financial Companies is timely and will

help in disciplining the sector. Discuss KEY POINTS

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) proposal to introduce liquidity buffers for non-banking financial companies

(NBFCs) may restrict their ability to lend, but this short-term pain is necessary to make the sector more

responsible.

NBFCs did play a critical role by partially filling the vacuum created by the trouble in public sector banks

(PSBs) and increasing their geographical reach via swift adoption of new technologies.

The stringent guidelines, which are expected to improve liquidity management in NBFCs and cushion them

against crises that arise from asset-liability mismatches, are necessary as the IL&FS crisis caused a lot of pain,

especially among banks and mutual funds.

Cleaning up of books and a clear idea of the asset-liability situation will give more confidence to lenders and

make the sector healthy in the long run.



LCR, maintained in high-quality liquid assets, ensures that financial institutions have enough liquidity to fall

back on for 30 days in case of a significant liquidity stress.

LCR requirement margin will impact NBFCs with longer-term products.

A possible consequence of these measures is that weaker NBFCs with poor liquidity management will get

absorbed into their larger counterparts to comply with the RBI’s liquidity buffer norms.

10. AGRICULTURE Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act 2001 the first of its kind in granting

intellectual property rights not only to the plant breeders but also to the farmers. Discuss KEY POINTS

PPV&FR Act in defence of the farmers, a farmer shall be deemed to be entitled to save, use, sow, resow,

exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under this Act, provided that the

farmer shall not be entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under this Act.

The Act was tailored to give farmers free access to seeds.

National Gene Bank for conserving seeds of registered varieties and field gene banks have been established at

State Agricultural Universities for conserving genes of perennial crops.

National Gene Fund constituted by Government of India, the fund is also utilised for supporting the

conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources including in-situ and ex-situ collections.

PPV&FR Act, 2001 grants the proprietary ownership of the variety to the plant breeders and farmers for their

varieties.

The act also gives plant breeders, intellectual property rights, which offers protection to their patent in India.

So Pepsico company sued the farmers in Gujarat for violating their rights.

But subsequently case was withdrawn as farmers were not selling the FC-5 potato variety under their brand

name, moreover the act protects farmers’ rights too as long as they don’t seel the plant variety under the brand

name. How the Fall Army Worm (FAW) pose a serious threat to agricultural productivity in India? What

should Government of India do to prevent it effectively? KEY POINTS

The Fall Armyworm (FAW), or Spodoptera frugiperda, is an insect that is native to tropical and subtropical

regions of the Americas.

What makes FAW dangerous is the polyphagous (ability to feed on different kinds of food) nature of the

caterpillar and the ability of the adult moth to fly more than 100 km per night.

It prefers maize, but can feed on more than 80 additional species of crops, including rice, sorghum, millet,

sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton.

Discovered and confirmed only last year, the Fall Army Worm (FAW) has now been detected across 15

districts of Maharashtra.

As farmers fight drought, indebtedness and falling crop prices, the latest infestation has wrecked havoc across

the state. Lack of knowledge and awareness among them as well as state officials further exacerbates the

problem.

The most-preferred host for FAW is sweetcorn, followed by maize and jowar (sorghum) where heavy

infestation has been observed.

In India, FAW has already damaged crops in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.



Measures to control infestation

Farmers will need great support through Integrated Pest Management to sustainability manage FAW in their

cropping systems.

Most entomologists have suggested the Integrated Pest Management system to control the pest. This would

involve constant surveillance of the pest during its vegetative growth phase and taking measures like

mechanically destroying the egg masses and using pheromone traps to catch the insects.

Pheromone traps are devices which are used to attract male insects by luring them with female pheromones.

Farmers should also be discouraged from taking up staggered sowing, as this would allow the pest to have

multiple reservations for growth.

Dissemination of information is one of the most potent tools to control the spread of the pest. Discuss the measures that are required to boost exports for sustainable recovery of the Indian

Economy. KEY POINTS

Improved demand conditions in key markets, growth in the US and European markets is key as they contribute

to 30% of India’s overall shipments overseas, but across geographies growth has been strong barring South and

Latin America.

In order to provide Indian exporters better access to various markets, the government is engaged in regional,

bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations with various countries and trade blocks.

FTAs have shown results, thrust on free trade agreements (FTA) with partner countries, have actually been

helping Indian exports, either related to SAARC countries or to South East Asia and North East Asia.

As far as SAFTA was concerned, India has huge trade surplus of about $12 billion and with ASEAN, exports

have more than doubled after signing of the Indo-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.

Government has recently released the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20, which has introduced two new

schemes, namely, ‘Merchandise Exports from India Scheme’ (MEIS) for incentivising export of specified goods

to specified markets.

Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) for increasing exports of notified services from India for

diversification of India’s export markets and products and give a boost to India’s exports. This also includes

goods and services from MSME Sector.

The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 has also introduced several measures for facilitating trade and improving

`Ease of doing business’ by reducing the number of mandatory documents required for export and import to

three each. In order to facilitate faster processing and enable working in 24*7 mode.

DGFT has facilitated submission of various applications and documents in online mode, as well as online

payment of application fees through credit/debit cards and electronic fund transfer from 53 banks.



11. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Even though Genetically Modified organisms have various advantages, crops like Bt Brinjal, GM

Mustard are not allowed for cultivation in India. Analyse KEY POINTS Plants, bacteria, fungi and animals whose genes have been altered by manipulation are called Genetically Modified

Organisms (GMO). Genetic modification has:

made crops more tolerant to abiotic stresses (cold, drought, salt, heat).

reduced reliance on chemical pesticides (pest-resistant crops).

helped to reduce post harvest losses.

increased efficiency of mineral usage by plants (this prevents early exhaustion of fertility of soil).

enhanced nutritional value of food, e.g., Vitamin ‘A’ enriched rice. Case of Bt Brinjal and GM Mustard

Bt Brinjal being illegally cultivated in the country.

In 2002, the government had to allow Bt cotton cultivation since farmers started growing this, in spite of the

lack of approval.

In the Bt brinjal case, it was the farmer that suffered.

While the crop cleared the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee’s (GEAC’s) biosafety-test in 2009, the

government yielded to pressure from the anti-GM lobby and declared a moratorium in 2010 on the transgenic

crop developed by Mahyco.

The decision not only hurt Indian farmers—the Fruit and Shoot Borer, the pest that is controlled by the

introduction of the Cry1Ac gene in the plant, affects 30-50% of the brinjal crop—it let Bangladesh capture the

benefits. In 2013, Bangladesh approved genetic varieties that carry the Cry1Ac gene, and now nearly 20,000

farmers in the country grow the crop.

Studies by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) show that the genetically-modified brinjal

performed far better than the traditional varieties—zero borer infestation was reported in 2017 and farmers cut

pesticide use by upto 60%.

A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that farmers saw incomes from the

crop rise by 55% since the introduction of Bt brinjal. GM Mustard

GM-mustard was developed by the public sector, by Delhi University researchers. A GEAC sub-committee,

found the crop has ‘nil’ or ‘negligible’ impact for all the criteria it was examined, including toxicity, ‘allergenicity’

and potential as a weed.

But Anti-GM lobby groups protests led to ban on cultivation of Gm mustard.

DMH-11’s claim to safety, higher yield and superior hybridisation technology. Its tolerance to herbicide will

result in loss of weeding jobs, the letter says.

As labour for weeding is either not available when needed, or unaffordable to them.



Why a change in the kilogram’s definition to natural constant will be better for technology, retail and

health? Discuss its advantages. KEY POINTS

Scientists have long stressed that the fundamental units should be defined in terms of natural constants.

Using a machine called a Kibble balance, in which the weight of a test mass is offset by an electromagnetic force,

the value of the Planck constant was fixed, the kilogram was redefined, and the date for the new definition was

fixed for May 20, 2019

Planck constant comes in. It has been measured precisely at 6.626069… × 10^(-34) kilograms per second per

square metre. With the second and the metre already defined, a very precise definition for the kilogram follows.

Scientists have had to create very precise devices to measure Planck's constant with a high enough degree of

accuracy.

For astronomers calculating the movements of stars and galaxies or for pharmacologists trying to define doses

of medications sown to the molecule, the new standard of measurement could change the way they work. Advantages

Change in definitions will result in uniform & worldwide accessible SI system for international trade.

Creation of high- technology manufacturing.

Better human health due to increase in efficacy of drugs

Icrease safety, protection of environment, global climate studies & basic science underpinning these. Discuss the applications and special features of recently launched Radar imaging satellite-2B by

ISRO. KEY POINTS

RISAT-2B will enhance India’s monitoring capabilities for civil and military purposes. Applications

There is a military utility to the satellite, it can be used for enhanced surveillance and checking cross-border

infiltration and it can carry on its observation functions even in poor weather, generating images from the

ground, the potential it has for other areas is far to great to play second fiddle to its surveillance potential.

The satellite will enhance India’s capability in crop monitoring during the monsoon season, forestry mapping

for forest fires and deforestation, and flood mapping as part of the national disaster management programme.

Given that overcast skies are a constant during the monsoon season and during times of flood, the ability to

penetrate the cloud cover is essential. Special features

While optical remote sensing that relies on visible light for imaging gets obstructed by clouds, RISAT-2B will

use microwave radiation.

Unlike visible light, microwaves have longer wavelength and so will not be susceptible to atmospheric

scattering.

Microwave radiation can thus easily pass through the cloud cover, haze and dust, and image the ground.

Hence, RISAT-2B satellite will be able to image under almost all weather and environmental conditions.

Since it does not rely on visible light for imaging, it will be able to image the ground during both day and night.

The satellite does not have passive microwave sensors that detect the radiation naturally emitted by the

atmosphere or reflected by objects on the ground.



Instead, RISAT-2B will be transmitting hundreds of microwave pulses each second towards the ground and

receiving the signals reflected by the objects using radar.

The moisture and texture of the object will determine the strength of the microwave signal that gets reflected.

While the strength of the reflected signal will help determine different targets, the time between the transmitted

and reflected signals will help determine the distance to the object.

The National Policy on Software Products 2019 is an impetus to transform India as a software

products nation and drive the country as a global leader in software industry. Explain KEY POINTS To develop India as a Software Product Nation and a global leader in conception, design, development and production

of intellectual capital driven Software Products, thus, accelerating growth of entire spectrum of IT Industry of the

country. Missions

To promote the creation of a sustainable Indian software product industry, driven by intellectual property

(IP), leading to a ten-fold increase in share of the Global Software product market by 2025.

To build a cluster-based innovation driven ecosystem by developing 20 sectoral and strategically located

software product development clusters having integrated ICT infrastructure, marketing, incubation, R&D/test

beds and mentoring support.

In order to evolve and monitor schemes & programmes for the implementation of this policy, National

Software Products Mission will be set up with participation from Government, Academia and Industry. Outcomes from the policy

As India has embarked on leveraging the potential of frontier technologies—AI, AR/VR, IoT, robotics, 3D

printing—a strong IT industry base and demographic dividend will play a disruptive role and change the IT

landscape.

In the times to come, we will see more start-ups, entrepreneurs and product companies that not only create

world-class products using cutting-edge technologies, but will also develop products that can resolve societal

issues, bridge the digital divide and augment inclusive growth.

We need a collaborative approach amongst all the stakeholders including industry, academia, R&D

institutions, government agencies and state governments.

Indian IT have already started shifting their mandate from software services to software products

development. With the focus on technology start-ups and R&D.

India can make a stride in software product development space, continue its brand as a global IT leader, and

become a wealthy nation, eventually bringing prosperity to all. Discuss the functions of newly floated New Space India Limited by ISRO and its relevance for

India’s space development. KEY POINTS Functions of NSIL

NSIL will be the commercial arm of ISRO and a wholly-owned Government of India undertaking / Central

Public Sector Enterprise.

It was incorporated for commercially utilising research and development activities carried out by ISRO in the

area of space with an authorised share capital of Rs. 100 crore and initial paid-up capital of Rs. 10 crore.



Specifically, it will be responsible for manufacturing and production of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)

and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through technology transfer mechanisms.

It will also meet the emerging global commercial SSLV-market demand providing satellite building and

satellite-based services, including supply of sub-systems for various domestic and international application

needs.

It will also enable space technology spin-offs through Indian industry interface. Relevance

To enable industries scale up high-technology manufacturing and production base for Indian space

programme.

Reduces the work load of Antrix and enables the participation of private sector in Indian space industry

making it more competitive.

NSIL will act as an aggregator for all space-related activities in industry and develop private entrepreneurship

in space related technologies. What is meant by micro-mobility? Discuss its various advantages for Indian urban ecosystem. KEY POINTS

Micro means small, mobility means conveyance, micro-mobility holds the potential to transform mobility; to

reduce gigantism (huge) in transportation.

Current examples include, but are not limited to bicycles, motorbikes, and scooters, e-bikes, motorized

skateboards, unicycles and other battery powered, low-speed vehicles such as small e-rickshaws. Advantages

Reduction in pollution level and congestion in roads.

Spacing for parking can be used for improving green cover.

Reduce the effects of Urban heat islands

Reduction in accidents frequently happening in urban areas.

Micro-mobility could enhance the uptake of public transit by catering to the last mile travel.

Reduce commute time by customizing routes and save road space.

Micro-mobility is inclusive and human in its truest sense .

A variety of vehicles with varying degrees of riding difficulties and protective gears, make the idea suitable for

everyone, not just for the fit and fearless.

12. RENEWABLE ENERGY

Discuss the various challenges present in the generation and distribution of Wind energy in India

and suggest remedial measures to overcome it. KEY POINTS Challenges

The first signs of trouble appeared soon after the Wind sector shifted to reverse auctions, from the 15-year-old

feed-in-tariff (FiT) regime. With an aggressive bid within the first year, the sector achieved the lowest tariff

discovered for renewable power in the country, Rs 2.43/kWh.

After the auction, developers started scrambling to procure land and secure connectivity to evacuation

infrastructure. Wind power relies on geographically concentrated resources where getting contiguous land can

be difficult.



Around 60 per cent of the capacity auctioned in 2017 has not yet been commissioned and is behind schedule

owing to land and connectivity issues.

Even though there are seven wind-rich states, only two of them have sites with mean wind speeds high enough

to provide the expected low tariffs (<Rs 2.85/kWh), causing stress on existing land and evacuation facilities.

Unlike solar PV, the wind sector has a globally competitive domestic supply chain in India. Low annual capacity

additions are gravely impacting small domestic turbine and parts manufacturers, while bigger (mostly

international) players can survive the turbulence. Remedial measures

Distributing capacity means tapping into wind resources available in medium-to-low wind power density

(WPD) regions.

While Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have the highest wind speeds and account for 39 per cent of the total wind

potential in India, (according to the National Institute of Wind Energy), there is an aggregate potential of 184

GW in other medium-to-low WPD regions.

Commissioning wind farms in these states could reduce stress on land and evacuation facilities, potentially

reduce the investment required for inter-state transmission infrastructure, and reduce the overall cost of

integrating wind power into the grid.

In order to optimise energy production from low-WPD sites, there is need for policy support to give incentives

to develop advanced turbine technologies, which could tap low wind speeds.

Distributing the energy generated — to work, effective mechanisms are necessary to transfer power from point

of generation to the nearest transmission network and to the periphery of offtakers’ networks.

The Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mechanism is meant to facilitate the inter-state transfer of power.

But compliance of distribution companies with RPOs is staggeringly low. Stricter compliance would go a long

way to facilitate inter-state power exchange.

Strengthening existing market mechanisms, such as power trading and open access, with regulatory and

technological means would be another option.

Additionally, inter-state and intra-state transmission networks need rapid expansion to keep pace with

renewable energy deployment to pre-empt a real technical constraint in power transmission across the country.

13. ENVIRONMENT

A climate crisis in the Arctic is not a future scenario, it is happening as we speak. Analyse in context

of Arctic council. KEY POINTS

A meeting of eight nations bordering the Arctic in Rovaniemi in Finland was supposed to frame a two-year

agenda to balance the challenge of global warming with sustainable development of mineral wealth.

But the United States cancelled first time, a declaration since the Arctic Council was formed in 1996.

Moreover the agreements between countries in the Arctic Council are non-binding.

The Arctic Council is a forum; it has no programming budget. All projects or initiatives are sponsored by one or

more Arctic States. Some projects also receive support from other entities. Hence the council is dependent on

the member states.

The Arctic Council does not and cannot implement or enforce its guidelines, assessments or

recommendations. That responsibility belongs to each individual Arctic State.

The Arctic Council’s mandate, as articulated in the Ottawa Declaration, explicitly excludes military security.



With Arctic temperatures rising at twice the rate of the rest of the globe, the melting ice is creating potential new

shipping lanes and has opened much of the world’s last untapped reserves of oil and gas to commercial

exploitation.

In this scenario Arctic council has a crucial role to play in preserving the pristine arctic ecosystem and needs to

mobilize the co-operation among the members for effective implementation of measures to protect arctic region. Does the introduction of exotic species pose a threat to the sorroundings? Explain with any two

relevant illustrations KEY POINTS Exotic species, often referred to as alien, nonnative, nonindigenous, or introduced species, are those that occur in

areas outside of their natural geographic range. Yes, exotic species pose a threat to environment

“Russian poplar” is a misnomer as the tree has nothing to do with Russia. It was introduced in Kashmir in

1982 under a Word Bank-aided social forestry scheme. The tree is a Western American species.

With the onset of May, the “Russian poplars” shed their seeds covered in cotton-like material. The cotton-

covered seeds can be seen in the air, on the ground and in water-bodies.

Around the same time, patients complaining of respiratory diseases swell many times. People have been

blaming the seeds for the respiratory diseases.

Citing Article 21, the court also observed: “The right to life can become meaningful, only if a person is

healthy.” And direct concerned authorities to remove branches of Russian poplars.

A 2017 study by the Government Medical College, Srinagar, found that the pollen of “Russian poplars” can

cause allergic reactions in less than 20% of the population. Exotic species clean environment

Common water hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is often a highly problematic

invasive species outside its native range.

But, Water Hyacinth can absorb minerals and inorganic substance from the sewage. It can be grown rapidly in

every kinds of condition.

As a result, after using it to clean the sewage, it is brought to use as organic fertilizer like compost or mulching.

Water Hyacinth could be brought to make compost in order to add nutrients to plant and solve the problem of

lacking soil fertility.

It gradually emits nutrients useful to plants in long period. It also resists acid and alkaline in soil and adds

food source for microbe. As a result, there is a large amount of microbe and microbial activity.

Water Hyacinth can be brought to make compost, mulching and to clean the sewage. It is a good way to

change waste products into useful things.

In case of phytoremediation water hyacinth absorbs metals like lead, chromium, mercury from the area and

cleanse it.



Indian cooling action plan is about improving the quality of life and productivity of the people of

India, and achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and accelerating the

country’s growth trajectory. Discuss KEY POINTS

India is one of the first countries in the world to develop a comprehensive Cooling Action plan which has a long

term vision to address the cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the

cooling demand.

India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) provides an integrated vision towards cooling across sectors encompassing

inter alia reduction of cooling demand, refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency and better

technology options with a 20 year time horizon. The following benefits would accrue to the society over and above the environmental benefits:

Thermal comfort for all – provision for cooling for EWS and LIG housing,

Sustainable cooling – low GHG emissions related to cooling,

Doubling Farmers Income – better cold chain infrastructure – better value of produce to farmers, less wastage

of produce,

Skilled workforce for better livelihoods and environmental protection,

Make in India – domestic manufacturing of air-conditioning and related cooling equipment’s,

Robust R&D on alternative cooling technologies – to provide push to innovation in cooling sector. Closely tied to achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals

Conceived against the backdrop of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Kigali Amendment, the ICAP

for the first time harmonises separate policy streams: Energy consumption and refrigerant use.

The thrust is on ensuring that the vulnerable populations, particularly children and the elderly, are not

exposed to undue heat stresses.

ICAP proposes an approach that first reduces the cooling energy demand through climate appropriate and

energy efficient building design, then serves the demand through energy efficient appliances and finally,

controls and optimises the demand through demand-side and user adaptation strategies, such as adaptive

thermal comfort.

The plan lays special emphasis on enabling thermal comfort for the economically-weaker sections through

climate-appropriate designs of affordable housing, and low-cost interventions to achieve better thermal

insulation (such as cool roofs).

The benefits of the proposed actions extend to enhancing nationwide productivity, reducing heat-islands in

urban areas, mitigating peak-load impacts and reducing the stress on the power systems — much of this would

also free up capital for other developmental priorities.

Driving skill-building of the services sector through training and certification is an important target identified

by the plan.

It also presents an opportunity for providing increased employment, better livelihoods, and safer working

practices for the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) sector. In India, seaweed aquaculture has the potential to address challenges related to nutrition, health

and sustainable circular bio-economy. Elaborate KEY POINTS Nutrition and Health



Seaweed is rich in several important nutrients that help facilitate many biological functions within the body.

The proteins in seaweed have the ability to take part in cell-to-cell communication, recognizing metastatic

(cancer) cells, and can have an anti-inflammatory effect.

Other proteins have an antiviral, anti-tumor, and anti-atherosclerosis, effect.

Seaweed contains phytochemicals-compounds that possess strong antioxidant properties-working against

oxidative stress in the body.

Presence of high concentration of minerals, especially sodium and iodine, but also calcium, magnesium and

iron, help reduce hunger.

Seaweed is one of the best natural sources of bioavailable vitamins and minerals such as iodine, calcium, magnesium, Vitamin E, Vitamin A, and B12.

Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is an important vitamin in terms of cellular transport and utilization. Sustainable Bio-economy

Biodegradation of sea weeds results in methane which is economically important can be produced in large

quantitities.

Potential indicators of pollution in coastal ecosystem, particularly heavy medtal pollution due to their ability

to bind and accumuklate metal strongly.

Products like afar-agar and alginates, iodine which are commercial value are extreacted from sea weeds. The commercial operations have led to the Everest being called the world’s highest garbage dump

and place of tragedy. Elaborate KEY POINTS

Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,848 metres, draws adventurers from all over.

But the mountain on the Nepal-China border is fast becoming a dangerous place to visit even for the hardened

mountaineer.

This season, at least 10 climbers have died or gone missing, including four Indians.

Experts have been calling for Nepal to restrict the number of permits.

The commercial operations have led to the Everest being called the world’s highest garbage dump as many

climbers discard non-critical gear and fail to clean up the mess.

Waiting in sub-zero temperatures at the rarefied altitude can be fatal; this season’s deaths were mostly due to

frostbite, exhaustion, dehydration and lack of oxygen.

But the authorities must learn from this year’s tragedies and work out an optimum number of climbers and

strengthen safety measures. Initiative by Nepal

The campaign is aimed at bringing back tonnes of trash from the world’s highest peak, which has lately turned

into a “garbage dump”.

This is the first time ever that all stakeholders have come together to clean up the world’s highest peak.

The month-and-a-half clean-up campaign is supported by a number of governmental and non-governmental

agencies.

The campaign will conclude on May 29, the day marked every year to commemorate the first summit of

Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.



The collected waste will then be “showcased” in Namche town, before being ferried down to Kathmandu,

where it will once again be showcased on World Environment Day on June 5. What is meant by agro-climatic zone? Discuss its significance in context of sustainable crop

production. KEY POINTS An “Agro-climatic zone” is a land unit in terms of major climates, suitable for a certain range of crops and cultivars. The

planning aims at scientific management of regional resources to meet the food, fiber, fodder and fuel wood without

adversely affecting the status of natural resources and environment. Existing situation

More than 40% of India faces drought this year with half of this area set to experience severe to exceptional

drought, it is alarming that 60% of India’s districts are not drought-ready, as per a 2018 paper by researchers

at two IITs, Indore and Gandhinagar only 241 of India’s 634 districts are drought-resilient.

Farmers sowing crops ill-suited to a region’s soil type and water availability, a water-deficient Maharashtra

dedicating two-thirds of its irrigation water to sugarcane, grown on just 4% of the state’s cultivated area, or a

Punjab growing most of India’s rice for exports when West Bengal has an economic water productivity for the

crop that is 2.5 times higher. Significance of agro-climatic zone

The non-crop based development possibilities like dairy, poultry etc. can be exploited for increasing

employment and income of the people.

Features like watershed development, soil conservation, and groundwater development can be intimated.

Features like watershed development, soil conservation, and groundwater development can be intimated.

More balanced growth can be attained by proper utilization of local resources involving local people.

To detail the institutional, marketing, agro-processing and infrastructure support required for more promising

patterns of development, agro-climate planning is of utmost importance.


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