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Energy Transition Report

World Economic Forum has recently published Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2019 The report contains the Energy Transition Index (ETI),...

27 Mar 2019 News Analysis
New island rules: IPZ 2019

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified Island Protection Zone (IPZ) 2019 for Andaman and...

27 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Inequality in India

27 Mar 2019 Paper 2
Inequality in India

Why in News Oxfam International released its annual inequality report, 2019 report titled “Public good or Private Wealth?” highlighted...

27 Mar 2019 Paper 2
Paradigm Shift for TB Control

(This editorial is based on the article 'Paradigm Shift for TB Control' which appeared in ‘The Hindu’ on 26th March, 2019. The article...

26 Mar 2019 News Editorials
Important Facts For Prelims (26th March 2019)

Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (TReDS) In the recently concluded FinTech Conclave-2019, the Reserve Bank of India Governor termed Invoice...

26 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Italy Joins Belt & Road Initiative

Italy has become the first G7 country to join China’s Belt & Road Initiative (previously known as One Belt One Road (OBOR)...

26 Mar 2019 News Analysis
No clinical trials in India for new drugs

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has allowed waivers on conducting trials for new drugs in India in case the drug is approved and...

26 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Another Look At Fiscal Transfers

(This editorial is based on the article 'Another Look At Fiscal Transfers' which appeared in ‘The Hindu’ on 25th March, 2019. The...

25 Mar 2019 News Editorials
Regionalism In India

25 Mar 2019 Paper 1
Olive Ridley Turtles

Olive Ridley turtles have not yet arrived for mass nesting at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery and Devi river mouth. The reasons are not fully...

25 Mar 2019 News Analysis
FinTech Conclave 2019

FinTech Conclave-2019 to be inaugurated by Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in New Delhi on 25th March, 2019. The conclave, whose objective...

25 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Regionalism In India

About Regionalism is the expression of a common sense of identity and purpose by people within a specific geographical region, united by its...

25 Mar 2019 Paper 1
RBI Deferred Ind AS Implementation by Banks

RBI has again deferred the implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by banks as the requisite legislative amendments are still...

23 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Disinvestment Exceeds Target

For the second year in a row, the government has exceeded the disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore set for the Financial Year 2019, which...

23 Mar 2019 News Analysis
US Recognition to Golan Heights as Israel’s Territory

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the US may recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The U.S. will be the first country...

23 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Important Facts For Prelims (23rd March 2019)

LIMA 2019 The Indian Air Force is going to participate in Langkawi International Maritime Aero Expo (LIMA) 2019. Langkawi International Maritime...

23 Mar 2019 News Analysis
PILs: From Public Interest to 'Publicity Interest' Litigations

(This editorial is based on the article ‘PILs: From Public Interest to 'Publicity Interest' Litigations’ which appeared in ‘The...

23 Mar 2019 News Editorials
Lancet: Building a Tuberculosis Free World

The Lancet Commission on tuberculosis has published report ‘building a tuberculosis-free world’. It is based on modelling for three...

23 Mar 2019 News Analysis
Akula Class – Attack Submarine

India has planned to lease out one more Akula Class nuclear powered submarine from Russia. According to reports, both the countries have signed a...

23 Mar 2019 Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions

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		(int) 0 => [
			'title' => 'Energy Transition Report',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p><strong>World Economic Forum</strong> has recently published <strong>Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2019</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The report contains the <strong>Energy Transition Index (ETI),</strong> which compares the energy sectors of 115 countries and analyses their readiness for energy transition.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Report Findings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Global</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Energy systems have globally become less affordable and less environmentally sustainable than they were five years ago.</li>
<li><strong>Access to energy has improved and currently, less than 1 billion people are living without access to electricity. On average, 135 million people gained access to electricity each year between 2014 and 2016.</strong></li>
<li>The biggest challenge facing attempts to future proof global energy demands is the<strong> lack of readiness among the world&rsquo;s largest emitters.</strong></li>
<li>In 2017, global CO2 emissions grew after remaining stagnant for three years. CO2 emissions from fuel combustion grew in more than half of the countries as demand increased from the residential and transportation sectors.</li>
<li><strong>Coal consumption increased in 2018,</strong> after declining for three years along with an increase in commodity prices and slower-than-needed improvements in energy intensity this has contributed to the slowdown in Energy Transition.</li>
<li><strong>Fossil fuels&rsquo; share of total primary energy supply at 81 percent is constant over the past three decades.</strong></li>
<li>Environmental sustainability of energy production has improved marginally, indicating a general lack of substantive progress.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>India</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>India is amongst the countries with high pollution levels and has a relatively high CO2 emission intensity in its energy system.</strong></li>
<li>Despite this, India has made significant progress in improving energy access in recent years.</li>
<li><strong>India has made fast progress towards universal electrification due to strong political commitment, a stable policy regime, use of grid expansion and decentralized generation sources, and a supportive environment for investment in infrastructure.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Global coal consumption grew in 2017 due to an increase in demand in the Asia-Pacific region, including in India and China.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Energy Transition Index</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Energy transition index ranks countries on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability.</strong></li>
<li>ETI has ranked<strong> 115 economies covering 40 indicators</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Sweden is at the top</strong> followed by Switzerland and Norway in the top three.</li>
<li>Among major economies, the United Kingdom (UK) is ranked seventh. Singapore has been ranked thirteenth, while Germany, Japan, and the US have bagged the seventeenth, eighteenth and the twenty-seventh place respectively.</li>
<li><strong>India has moved up two places from last year to rank 76th on a global energy transition index.</strong></li>
<li>China is ranked lower than India <g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="56" data-gr-id="56">at</g> the 82nd position.</li>
<li><strong>India is the second best in the BRICS bloc</strong> of emerging economies, with Brazil being the best at 46th place globally.</li>
<li><strong>However, India is the only amongst the five economies to improve its rank since last year.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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		],
		(int) 1 => [
			'title' => 'New island rules: IPZ 2019',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified Island Protection Zone (IPZ) 2019 for Andaman and Nicobar.</p>
<h3>Purpose</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Changes in the IPZ are aligned with the Niti Aayog's proposal for holistic development in the Islands.</li>
<li>The government&rsquo;s planning to open up the <a href="/to-the-points/paper3/blue-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blue economy</a> and sustainable harnessing of ocean resources.</li>
</ul>
<h3>IPZ 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It <strong>allows eco-tourism projects 20 meters from the high tide line (HTL)</strong> in smaller islands like Baratang, Havelock, and Car Nicobar.</li>
<li>In case of <strong>larger islands, 50 meters</strong> from the HTL is permitted.</li>
<li>It allows for eco-tourism activities like mangrove walks, tree huts and nature trails in <strong>island coastal regulation zone(ICRZ) IA</strong> (ICRZ 2018: ICRZ IA, provides areas classified as the most eco-sensitive region of the islands which includes turtle nesting grounds, marshes, coral reefs etc)</li>
<li>The notification also allows for construction of roads, roads on stilts by reclaiming land in exceptional cases for defense installations, public utilities or strategic purposes in eco-sensitive zones.</li>
<li>In case construction of such roads pass through mangroves, a minimum three times the mangrove area destroyed during the construction process shall be taken up for c<strong>ompensatory plantation of mangroves</strong> elsewhere.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns over IPZ 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It brings the norms for Andaman and Nicobar at par with <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/coastal-regulation-zone-crz-notification-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2018</a> norms for other islands close to the mainland and backwater islands where a No Development Zone (NDZ)is only 20 meters from HTL.</li>
<li>Previously, IPZ 2011 stipulated <strong>an NDZ of 200 meters</strong> from the HTL for all islands.</li>
<li><strong>Only pipelines, transmission lines</strong>, trans-harbor links to be laid in the eco-sensitive zone were permitted. <strong>Now road construction is allowed</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Note:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>High tide line (HTL)</strong> is defined as <g class="gr_ gr_39 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="39" data-gr-id="39">line</g> up to which highest high tide reaches in spring tides.</li>
<li>It is delineated by walking over or remote sensing data or by helicopter survey.</li>
<li>The<strong> Low Tide Line(LTL)</strong> is the limit up to which the lowest low tide recedes during spring tide.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		],
		(int) 2 => [
			'title' => 'Inequality in India',
			'catname' => 'Paper 2',
			'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/401Drishti_ias_Inequality.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/401Drishti_ias_Inequality.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper2/inequality-in-india-mindmap'
		],
		(int) 3 => [
			'title' => 'Inequality in India',
			'catname' => 'Paper 2',
			'desc' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Oxfam International</strong> released its annual inequality report, 2019 report titled <strong>&ldquo;Public good or Private Wealth?&rdquo;</strong> highlighted the stark Income inequality existing in India.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Inequality</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The United Nations describes inequality as &ldquo;the state of not being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities&rdquo;.</li>
<li>Inequality can be broadly classified in to:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Economic inequality:</strong> Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between individuals or different groups in society.</li>
<li><strong>Social inequality:</strong> It occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly based on norms of a society that creates specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories e.g. religion, kinship, prestige, race, caste, ethnicity, gender etc. have different access to resources of power, prestige and wealth depending on the norms of a society.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Both these categories are deeply intertwined and inequality of one type affects the inequality in another e.g. Social Inequality due to gender have large impact on income of women. In patriarchal societies large gender wage gap tends to exist.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Dimensions of Inequality in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India, following are distinctive forms of social inequality:</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Gender</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Global Gender Gap Report, 2018,</strong> ranks India at <strong>142</strong> among 149 countries.</li>
<li>Four parameters for measuring gender inequality are economic participation and opportunity, health and survival, educational attainment and political empowerment.</li>
<li>Gender wage gap is highest in India according International Labor Organization women are <strong>paid 34% less than men</strong>.</li>
<li>Women comprise over 42 per cent of the agricultural labour force in the country, yet they <strong>own less than 2 percent of its farm land</strong> according to the India Human Development Survey (IHDS).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Caste</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Caste is significant factor for determining access to resources like education, income, health valued by individuals.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s upper caste households earned nearly 47% more than the national average annual household income, the top 10% within these castes owned 60% of the wealth within the group in 2012, as per the World Inequality Database.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Religion</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Religious identities are significant for an individual&rsquo;s ability to mobilize resources.</li>
<li>Religious identities can cause prejudices which may lead to economic exclusion and other forms of discrimination which can impact jobs and livelihood opportunities.</li>
<li>While minorities such as Christians, Parsis and Jains have a larger share of income/consumption than their population share, Muslim and Buddhist populations have significantly lower access to economic resources.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Ethnicity</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Tribal communities in India have been identified as ethnic group on the basis of their unique culture, language, dialect, geographical location, customs etc.</li>
<li>The National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) showed that 45.9% of ST population were in the lowest wealth bracket as compared to 26.6% of SC population, 18.3% of OBCs, 9.7% of other castes.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Economic Inequality</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The 2019 report by Oxfam, titled "Public good or Private Wealth?" showed that India&rsquo;s top 10% holds 77.4% of the total national wealth, while the top 1% holds 51.53% of the wealth.</li>
<li>The bottom 60% population holds only 4.8% of the national wealth.</li>
<li>13.6 crore Indians, who make up the poorest 10% of the country, have continued to remain in debt for the past 15 years.</li>
<li>The Gini coefficient of wealth in India in 2017 is at 0.83, which puts India among the countries with highest inequality countries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Consequences of Inequalities</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Inequalities tend to <strong>produce social conflict</strong> among the social groups e.g. caste groups like Jaats, Maratha, Patels are demanding reservations but this demand is opposed by caste groups already claiming the benefits of reservations, such clash of interest due to perceived inequality tend to produce violent conflicts between opposing caste groups.</li>
<li>Inequalities among ethnic groups have led to various <strong>ethnic movements</strong> demanding separate states or autonomous regions or even outright secession from India. North East has been rocked by numerous such ethnic movement e.g. by Nagas for greater Nagalim etc.</li>
<li>Religious inequality tends to generate <strong>feeling of exclusion among religious minority groups</strong>. This reduces their participation in mainstream, in India religious minorities have large population their economic exclusion compromises the GDP growth of nation as whole.</li>
<li>Poor development indicators like IMR, MMR, low per capita income, lower education and learning outcomes at schools, high rate of population growth can be traced to existing socio-economic inequalities.</li>
<li>High economic inequality is <strong>detrimental to public healthcare and education</strong>. Upper and Middle classes do not have vested interest in well functioning public healthcare and education as they have means to access private healthcare and education.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Measures to Deal with Inequalities</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Constitutional Provision</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Enforcement of Constitutional Guarantee of equality as enshrined in fundamental rights. <strong>Articles 14, 15 and 16</strong> form part of a scheme of the Constitutional Right to Equality. Article 15 and 16 are incidents of guarantees of Equality, and gives effect to Article 14.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Promoting Civil Society</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Provide a greater voice to traditionally oppressed and suppressed groups, including by enabling civil society groups like unions and association with in these groups.</li>
<li>Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes should be motivated to become entrepreneurs, schemes like Stand up India need to be expanded to widen its reach by increasing funding.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Women Empowerment</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>For gender equality policies like affirmative action by reserving seats in legislatures, increasing reservation at Local self government both at Urban and village level to 50% in all states, strict implementation of The Equal Remuneration act,1976 to remove wage gap, making education curriculum gender sensitive, raising awareness about women right, changing social norms through schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Inclusion of Religious Minorities</strong></li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Religious minority groups need special attention through representation in government jobs, provision of institutional credit, improvement of their education access, protection of their human rights by empowering National commission for Minority, strengthening rule of law etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Progressive Taxes</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Additional public resources for public services by progressive taxes on wealthy more and by increasing the effective taxation on corporations, more importantly broadening the tax base through better monitoring of financial transactions.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Economic Policies</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>By ensuring universal access to public funded high quality services like Public health and education, social security benefits, employment guarantee schemes; inequality can be reduced to great extent.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Employment Generation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The failure to grow manufacturing sectors like Textile, Clothing, automobiles, consumer goods etc. is the important reason of rising inequalities.</li>
<li>The Labor-intensive manufacturing has the potential to absorb millions of people who are leaving farming while service sector tend to benefit majorly urban middle class.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has committed to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and to end extreme poverty by that year.</li>
<li>According to Oxfam if India stops inequality from rising further, it could end extreme poverty for 90 million people by 2019. If it goes further and reduces inequality by 36%, it could virtually eliminate extreme poverty.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/622Drishti_ias_Inequality.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/622Drishti_ias_Inequality.png" /></a></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/inequality-in-india'
		],
		(int) 4 => [
			'title' => 'Paradigm Shift for TB Control',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/paradigm-shift-for-tb-control/article26636685.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Paradigm Shift for TB Control'</a> which appeared in &lsquo;The Hindu&rsquo; on 26th March, 2019. The article talks about the burden of TB on public health and the shortcomings of various health programs. It also talks about the potential attitudinal change required to combat the disease.)</p>
</div>
<p>World TB Day marks the global resolve in eradicating tuberculosis (TB). While many countries have successfully defeated the disease, it remains the biggest killer in India, outnumbering all other infectious diseases put together &mdash; this despite our battle against it from 1962, when the National TB Programme (NTP) was launched.</p>
<p>In 1978, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) began, giving Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) to all babies soon after birth and achieving more than 90% coverage. Yet, when evaluated in 1990, the NTP and the EPI had not reduced India&rsquo;s TB burden.</p>
<p>In 1993, the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) was launched, offering free diagnosis and treatment for patients, rescuing them from otherwise sure death. However, <strong>treatment is not prevention</strong>. <strong>Prevention is essential for control</strong>.</p>
<h3>The Killer Disease</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India accounts for about a quarter of the global TB burden. Worldwide India is the country with the highest burden of both TB and Multi Drug Resistance (MDR)TB. There are an estimated 79,000 multi-drug resistant TB patients among the notified cases of pulmonary TB each year.</li>
<li>India has consistently failed in manning the two of the primary routes required to reduce TB incidence and death that are diagnosis and treatment, areas where "large and persistent" gaps remain.</li>
<li>Early symptoms of TB are non-specific, and quite similar to more commonly occurring conditions, such as secondary infections resulting from seasonal flu. Private practitioners rule out other ailments through antibiotic treatment before ordering TB tests. <strong>Delayed TB diagnosis is the biggest risk factor for transmission.</strong></li>
<li>Half of the estimated patients are either unaware that they have TB, or are unreported in the government&rsquo;s e-registry for TB, Nikshay. Infected patients infect others in the community while undiagnosed. TB transmission can&rsquo;t be ended until they are cured.</li>
<li>Non-specific antibiotic courses, multiply the risk manifold, causing the infection to become antibiotic-resistant.</li>
<li>Shortfalls in TB funding are one of the main reasons why progress is not fast enough to be on track to reach the end TB targets</li>
<li>Even when tests and treatment are available for free across all public health centres, and patients can claim a nutritional incentive of ₹500 per month until fully cured, the current decline rate of TB in India is a worrying 1-2%.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Loopholes in National Programs</h3>
<p>Despite starting early with National TB Program and Expanded Program on Immunization in 1960s, the state failed to check the growth of incidence of TB. The main cause of NTP failing was complacency and lack of resources, especially financial.</p>
<p>The Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) which has been successful in curing pulmonary TB too falls short of controlling the spread of TB.</p>
<p>In countries with 5-10 cases in a lakh people annually, curing TB sustains the low disease burden. In India, with 200-300 cases in a lakh in a year, curing TB is essential to reduce mortality, but is not sufficient to prevent transmission.</p>
<p>From a time a person becomes infectious to when she/he turns non-infectious by treatment, there is a gap of several weeks during which the infection saturates contacts in the vicinity making more people vulnerable to disease.</p>
<p>It is not possible to diagnose everyone as the disease exhibits common symptoms such as those of cough and flu and sometimes infection also remains silent making the control even more cumbersome.</p>
<p>Rapid expansion of RNTCP has outpaced the capacity of national and state health authorities to supervise the programme and to maintain high quality which has led to decline in case detection and cure rate in some areas. Country also suffers from acute shortage of accredited laboratories.</p>
<p>The program also lacks public participation and fails in allaying superstition and the appalling ignorance in the society about the disease, its spread and causation.</p>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>TB control requires the slowing down of infection, progression and transmission. Pulmonary TB causes transmission, resulting in infection which leads to progression as TB disease. To transform this vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle of TB control, spiralling down TB prevalence continuously, transmission, infection and progression must be addressed simultaneously.</p>
<p>There is a need to bring change in the health etiquettes in the society through public education for behaviour modification, starting in all schools and continuing through to adults.</p>
<p>One must reduce chances of transmission by insisting that the TB affected should cover their mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing and not to spit in open spaces which are only possible with enhanced Information Education Communication (IEC) activities by providing pamphlets, booklets in simple language to every general patient and public.</p>
<p>Cohorts of schoolchildren (5, 10 and 15 years) can be tested and those Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) positive given preventive treatment. It achieves three results at one go &mdash; an infected child gets preventive treatment and points to adults with undiagnosed TB in the household. Finally, the annual TST positive rate provides an objective measure of annual infection frequency for plotting the control trajectory.</p>
<p>To defeat TB and achieve Indian goal of eradicating TB by 2025, both rigorous and persistent efforts are required. There is a need to develop a strong political will for TB control as <strong>rhetoric and declarations cannot control TB; a strategy of simultaneously using all biomedical and socio-behavioural interventions can</strong>.</p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/paradigm-shift-for-tb-control'
		],
		(int) 5 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (26th March 2019)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (<g class="gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="59" data-gr-id="59">TReDS</g>)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the recently concluded<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/fintech-conclave-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> FinTech Conclave-2019,</strong></a> the Reserve Bank of India Governor termed Invoice trading as another nascent area of <g class="gr_ gr_60 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="60" data-gr-id="60">fintech</g> application in India.</li>
<li>The RBI has set up the <strong>Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs)</strong>, a financing arrangement where technology is leveraged for discounting bills and invoices which<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/support-and-outreach-initiative-for-msme-sector" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> assists Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)</strong></a> to deal with working capital and cash flow problems due to delayed payments.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is an institutional setup for facilitating the <strong>financing of trade receivables of MSMEs</strong> from corporate and other buyers, including Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), through multiple financiers.</li>
<li>It has been set up under the <strong>regulatory framework set up by RBI</strong> under <strong><g class="gr_ gr_45 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="45" data-gr-id="45">Payment</g> and Settlement Systems Act 2007.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>AUSINDEX- 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India and Australia will participate in the <strong>third edition of the biennial "AUSINDEX"</strong> exercise that will be held from April 2 to 16 off the coast of <strong>Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.</strong></li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_52 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="52" data-gr-id="52">Focus</g> of the AUSINDEX exercise will be<strong> &ldquo;anti-submarine warfare&rdquo;.</strong> This will be <strong>Australia&rsquo;s largest display of its <g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="56" data-gr-id="56">defence</g> assets</strong> since 1947.</li>
<li>Another interesting feature of the exercise will be the <strong>deployment of Australian personnel on Indian ships and vice versa.</strong></li>
<li>The AUSINDEX-2019 will be held as a part of<strong> Australia&rsquo;s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019</strong> which will see Australia conducting naval exercises with <strong>7 countries in south and southeast Asia</strong> apparently to increase its profile as a <strong>security provider in the Indian Ocean.</strong></li>
<li>The<strong> first edition of AUSINDEX was held in 2015 off the eastern coast of India</strong>, while the <strong>second edition was conducted off the Western coast of Australia in the year 2017.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>GRAPES-3</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>GRAPES-3 muon telescope</strong> has measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014.</li>
<li><strong>GRAPES-3</strong> (<strong>G</strong>amma<strong> R</strong>ay <strong>A</strong>stronomy <strong>P</strong>eV <strong>E</strong>nergieS phase-<strong>3</strong>) is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of <strong>air shower detectors and a large area muon detector.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong><g class="gr_ gr_63 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="63" data-gr-id="63">Muon</g></strong> is an elementary particle <strong>similar to the electron,</strong> with an <strong>electric charge of &minus;1 e</strong> and a <strong>spin of 1/2,</strong> but with a much greater mass.<strong></strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The GRAPES-3 experiment <strong>located at Ooty in India</strong> started as a collaboration of the <strong>Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India</strong> and the <strong>Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Chinook Helicopter</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Air Force <strong>formally inducted the CH 47 F(I)- Chinook <g class="gr_ gr_47 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="47" data-gr-id="47">heavy lift</g> helicopters into its inventory.</strong></li>
<li>IAF had signed a <strong>contract with M/s Boeing</strong> Ltd in September 2015 for<strong> 15 Chinook helicopters.</strong> These helicopters will be deployed in the Northern and Eastern regions of India.</li>
<li>The addition of heavy-lift CH 47 F(I) helicopter is a significant step towards modernization of Indian Air Force&rsquo;s helicopter fleet.</li>
<li>The helicopter has been customized to suit IAF&rsquo;s future requirements and capability roadmap. The helicopter has a fully integrated digital cockpit management system, advanced cargo handling capabilities and electronic warfare suite that complement the aircraft&rsquo;s performance.</li>
<li>The helicopter is capable of <strong>airlifting diverse military and nonmilitary loads into remote locations.</strong></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TTZZgLfF800" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-26th-march-2019'
		],
		(int) 6 => [
			'title' => 'Italy Joins Belt & Road Initiative',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Italy has become the <strong>first G7 country to join China&rsquo;s Belt &amp; Road Initiative</strong> (previously known as One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative).</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>G7</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Group of Seven is a group consisting of <strong>Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.</strong></li>
<li>These countries, with the seven largest International Monetary Fund (<g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="56" data-gr-id="56">IMF)</g>-described advanced economies in the world, represent 58% of the global net wealth.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Belt &amp; Road Initiative (BRI)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Belt &amp; Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious project that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among multiple countries spread across the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe.</strong>&nbsp; BRI spans about 150 countries (China&rsquo;s Claim).</li>
<li>Initially announced in the year 2013, the project involves b<strong>uilding networks of roadways, railways, maritime ports, power grids, oil and gas pipelines,</strong> and associated infrastructure projects.</li>
<li>The project covers two parts.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Silk Road Economic Belt:</strong> It is land-based and is expected to connect China with Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe.</li>
<li><strong>21st Century Maritime Silk Road:</strong> It is sea-based and is expected to connect China&rsquo;s southern coast to the Mediterranean, Africa, South-East Asia, and Central Asia.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3><g class="gr_ gr_62 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="62" data-gr-id="62">Significance</g> of BRI For China</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the most emblematic of<strong> China&rsquo;s economic and industrial might, as of its ambitions for global, political and strategic influence.</strong></li>
<li>As infrastructure spending at home became less sustainable, <strong>China has shifted the emphasis to boost the global competitiveness of domestic businesses.</strong></li>
<li>The large infrastructure investments in the least developed and developing countries have <strong>enabled China to leverage its influence around the world,</strong> potentially altering the established rules of the global order and challenging western powers.</li>
<li>BRI will <strong>strengthen China&rsquo;s presence in the Eurasian region</strong> and puts it in a commanding position over Asia&rsquo;s heartland.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Criticism of BRI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Western critics have attacked the initiative as<strong> new colonialism, or Marshal Plan for the 21st century.&nbsp;</strong></li>
<li>BRI is also being seen as a part of <strong>China&rsquo;s debt trap policy,</strong> wherein China intentionally extends excessive credit to another country with the intention of extracting economic or political concessions from the debtor country.</li>
</ul>
<h3><g class="gr_ gr_65 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="65" data-gr-id="65">Significance</g> of Italy joining BRI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Italy&rsquo;s <strong>endorsement of the BRI is a potential game changer</strong> as it is one of the major economies in the world.</li>
<li><strong>Other major economies may follow Italy&rsquo;s lead</strong> in joining BRI.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why India has not joined?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)</strong> is one of the flagship projects of BRI which is seen by <strong>India as infringing its sovereignty.</strong></li>
<li>China is building roads and infrastructure in the<strong> disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan,</strong> which is under Pakistan&rsquo;s control but which India claims as a part of Jammu and Kashmir.</li>
<li>If the CPEC project gets implemented successfully, this would<strong> hamper India&rsquo;s strategic interests in the South Asian region.</strong> It will serve Beijing's strategic ambition to encircle India.</li>
<li><strong>CPEC can aid Pakistan&rsquo;s legitimacy in the Kashmir dispute.</strong></li>
<li>China&rsquo;s increasing <strong>footprints in the South Asian region is detrimental to India&rsquo;s strategic hold e.g. construction of the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka</strong> provided China critical strategic location in the Indian Ocean.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/italy-joins-belt-road-initiative'
		],
		(int) 7 => [
			'title' => 'No clinical trials in India for new drugs ',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has allowed waivers on conducting trials for new drugs in India in case the drug is approved and marketed in countries specified by &mdash; the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Regulation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>New drugs approved for use in select developed markets will be automatically allowed in India provided global trials included Indian patients.</li>
<li>This waiver would <strong>also extend to drugs</strong> that receive these marketing approvals even <strong>while a trial is underway in India</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Data generated(clinical trial) outside the country will be acceptable</strong>.</li>
<li>Providing post-trial access of the drugs to the patients that require it have been defined for the first time.</li>
<li>It removed a clause in the clinical trials that mandated the sponsor (the entity initiating the trial) to pay 60% of compensation upfront in case of death or permanent disability of a patient.</li>
<li>Now companies will pay the total amount once it is proven that the injury occurred because of the trial.</li>
<li>Compensations in cases of death and permanent disability, or &ldquo;other&rdquo; injuries to a trial participant will be decided by Drug Controller General of India(DCGI).</li>
<li>It removed regulations on tests conducted on animals in case of drugs approved and marketed for more than two years in well-regulated overseas drug markets.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance of New Rules</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It will<strong> end the unnecessary repetition of trials</strong> and speed up the availability of new drugs in the country.</li>
<li>It will <strong>lower the cost of drugs</strong>.</li>
<li>It will improve the ease of doing business for drug makers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Criticism of new regulations</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is a country of <strong>vast ethnic diversity</strong> and most of the trials are done in the West. There is need of bridging trials for ethnically diverse populations to check drug suitability population.</li>
<li>Waiver should be only for drugs required<strong> urgently for national emergency</strong>.</li>
<li>Proving injury due to the trial is problematic and it is prone to manipulation.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The CDSCO is the Central Drug Authority for discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the <strong>Drugs and Cosmetics Act</strong>.</li>
<li>Major Functions:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Regulatory control over the import of drugs, <strong>approval of new drugs and clinical trials</strong>.</li>
<li>Approval of certain licences as Central Licence Approving Authority</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Drug Controller General of India(DCGI)</strong></li>
<li>DCGI is responsible for <strong>approval of licences of specified categories of drugs</strong> such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines and sera in India.</li>
<li>It comes under the Ministry of Health &amp; Family Welfare.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/no-clinical-trials-in-india-for-new-drugs'
		],
		(int) 8 => [
			'title' => 'Another Look At Fiscal Transfers',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/another-look-at-fiscal-transfers/article26626986.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Another Look At Fiscal Transfers'</a> which appeared in &lsquo;The Hindu&rsquo; on 25th March, 2019. The article talks about the fiscal relationship shared by state and the centre and the challenges associated with it.)</p>
</div>
<p>Federalism is not an alien concept in political lexicon of nations and is relatively an old concept. It is a system of government in which entities such as states or provinces share power with a national government.</p>
<p>It is well known that the efficiency of a government depends on its structure; in large countries like ours federal structure can efficiently meet the requirements of people from different regions as preferences vary across regions and can best be addressed through local leadership.</p>
<p>However, after Independence several compulsions led to a scheme of federalism in which the Centre assumed greater importance. The process of centralisation in economic sphere has resulted in reduced fiscal autonomy for states.</p>
<p>Economic planning at a nation-wide level has resulted in the vertical fiscal imbalance between the federation and the provinces.</p>
<h3>Breaking The Term: Fiscal Federalism</h3>
<p>Fiscal federalism can best be understood as the economic counterpart to political federalism. It is concerned with assigning functions to different levels of government, and providing appropriate fiscal instruments for carrying out these functions.</p>
<p>It is generally believed that the Central government should provide national public goods that render services to the entire population while sub-national governments are expected to provide goods and services whose consumption is limited to their own jurisdictions.</p>
<p>Governments often find it difficult to determine the specific fiscal instruments that enable the different levels of government to carry out their functions.</p>
<p>However Indian Constitution lays down the functions as well as taxing powers of the Centre and States providing clarity in financial relations shared by state and the centre.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Centre State Financial Relations</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Constitution has made elaborate provisions, relating to the distribution of taxes as well as non-tax revenues and the power of borrowing, supplemented by provisions for grants-in-aid by the Union to the States.</li>
<li>Article 268 to 293 deals with the provisions of financial relations between Centre and States.</li>
</ul>
<p>The Constitution divides the taxing powers between the Centre and the States as follows:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Parliament has exclusive power to levy taxes on subjects enumerated in the Union List,</li>
<li>The state legislature has exclusive power to levy taxes on subjects enumerated in the State List,</li>
<li>Both can levy taxes on the subjects enumerated in Concurrent List whereas residuary power of taxation lies with Parliament only.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Evolution of Fiscal Relationship</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In India, substantial sources of revenue remains with the centre and major expenditure obligations lies with the states, creating vertical fiscal imbalance between the federation and the provinces.</strong></li>
<li>This economic relationship can best be attributed to colonial legacy of centralisation under the British. The imperial government had all the powers related to revenue and ordered discontinuation of the assignment of expenditure and revenue functions to the provinces. It was in this situation that the provinces had to give away a portion of their surplus to the imperial government to finance the deficits of the latter.</li>
<li>A clear delineation of powers between the centre and the provinces was attempted through the Government of India Act, 1935. It had a substantial centralising tilt with discretionary powers for the governor general and governors, and the retaining of major revenue sources with the imperial government.</li>
<li>Later, when the Constitution was framed under extraordinary circumstances after partition, most of the fiscal provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, found a place in it without any changes. This is the basic reason for the strong centralising trends in Indian polity, including in the fiscal division of powers and intergovernmental fiscal transfers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Tussle Between The State and The Centre</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Overtime, the non-shareable revenue of centre such as surcharges and cesses has increased which has made states demanding for more fiscal powers and share of all taxes collected by the centre from time to time.</strong></li>
<li>With respect to their own tax revenue, states have substantially lost the power to fix tax rates of items, de facto after value added tax (VAT) was implemented on intra-state trade of goods, and de jure when goods and services tax (GST) got introduced.</li>
<li>On the expenditure side, rise in the share of conditional and tied grants that essentially deal with items in the state list of the seventh schedule of the Constitution has restricted the freedom of the states in spending according to their priorities that takes into account the local specifications.</li>
<li>Challenges also arise from <strong>Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM)</strong> acts, which lay down uniform targets across states ignoring the different fiscal needs.</li>
<li>In short, the domain of the states, which should be given due autonomy in so far as their constitutional assignment is concerned; it is being restricted in more than one way.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recent Developments</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Central governments have tried to address these issues of vertical and horizontal imbalances through various Finance Commissions, taking into account the prevailing set of circumstances.</li>
<li>The Fourteenth Finance Commission has broken new ground in terms of allocation of resources. It has recommended increasing the share of tax devolution to 42% of the divisible pool.</li>
<li>It does not necessarily affect the overall transfers but only enhances the share of unconditional transfers as it looks to address the increasing central encroachment in states through conditional and centrally sponsored schemes.</li>
<li>Increased allocation in unconditional transfers however suffers from two challenges; firstly the total transfers that need to be made to the states, secondly who will be suggesting all the transfers.</li>
<li>Replacement of Planning Commission (entrusted to allocate resources to states) with NITI Aayog, which is simply a think-tank with no powers of resource allocation makes the process all the more difficult.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Harmonising The Relation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The proportion of shareable taxes that go to the States should be fixed at the desired level. The shareable tax pool must also include cesses and surcharges as these have sharply increased in recent years.</li>
<li>Another possible route can be to follow the practice in the U.S. and Canada: of allowing the States to levy tax on personal income, with some limitations, which is as of now collected by Centre.</li>
<li>Any reform aimed at rationalising the sharing of taxes between state and centre should also address issues related to horizontal distribution and should take into consideration the question of equity amongst states as states often feel &lsquo;cheated&rsquo; because of the overuse of the equity criterion.</li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>It is time that the nation arrived at an appropriate solution giving effect to fiscal federalism so that the provincial aspirations are taken care of, meanwhile extending the provincial autonomy that our constitution talks about.</strong></em></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>To correct the horizontal fiscal imbalance between the States and bring more equity, Finance Commission undertakes few steps while horizontally distributing revenue.</p>
<p>The criteria used by the Finance Commissions can be broadly grouped under:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Factors reflecting needs, such as population and income measured either as distance from the highest income or as inverse.</li>
<li>Cost disability indicators, such as area and infrastructure distance.</li>
<li>Fiscal efficiency indicators, such as tax effort and fiscal discipline.</li>
</ul>
<p>While the weightage assigned to population has declined considerably, weightage assigned to income distance and efficiency factors has increased considerably in recent years.</p>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/another-look-at-fiscal-transfers'
		],
		(int) 9 => [
			'title' => 'Regionalism In India',
			'catname' => 'Paper 1',
			'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/324Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/324Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper1/regionalism-in-india-upsc-mindmap'
		],
		(int) 10 => [
			'title' => 'Olive Ridley Turtles',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>Olive Ridley turtles have not yet arrived for mass nesting at Odisha&rsquo;s Rushikulya rookery and Devi river mouth.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The reasons are not fully understood yet. Although it is held that climatic parameters, as well as beach conditions, decide mass nesting at a coast.</li>
<li>However, Mass nesting has already occurred at the Gahirmatha coast (Bhitarkanika National Park) of the Odisha. Mass nesting of Olive Ridleys can occur up to any time till the end of April.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Rushikulya River</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district of Odisha.</li>
<li>The Rushikulya River is one of the major rivers in the state of Odisha and covers entire catchment area in the districts of Kandhamal and Ganjam district of Odisha</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Devi River</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Devi river is one of the principal distributaries of Mahanadhi. It flows through Jagatsinghpur district and Puri district across Odisha state in India and joins the Bay of Bengal.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Olive Ridley</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles</strong> found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.</li>
<li>They are best known for their unique mass nesting called <strong>Arribada</strong>, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.</li>
<li>The species is listed as<strong> Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List</strong>, <strong>Appendix 1 in CITES</strong>, and <strong>Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972</strong>.</li>
<li>Olive-ridleys<strong> face serious threats</strong> across their migratory route, habitat and nesting beaches, due to human activities such as<strong> unfriendly turtle fishing practices, development, and exploitation of nesting beaches for ports, and tourist centers.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Bhitarkanika National Park</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Bhitarkanika National Park is one of Odisha&rsquo;s finest biodiversity hotspots and is famous for its <strong>mangroves, migratory birds, turtles, estuarine crocodiles, and countless creeks.</strong></li>
<li>The wetland is represented by 3 Protected Areas, <strong>the Bhitarkanika National Park, the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary and the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.</strong></li>
<li>Bhitarkanika is located in the estuary of<strong> Brahmani, Baitarani, Dhamra, and Mahanadi river systems.</strong></li>
<li>It is said to house 70% of the country&rsquo;s estuarine or saltwater crocodiles, conservation of which was started way back in 1975.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/olive-ridley-turtles'
		],
		(int) 11 => [
			'title' => 'FinTech Conclave 2019',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p><strong>FinTech Conclave-2019</strong> to be inaugurated by <strong>Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI)</strong> in New Delhi on <strong>25<sup>th</sup> March, 2019.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The conclave, whose objective is to <strong>shape India&rsquo;s continued ascendancy in Financial Technology (FinTech)</strong>, build the narrative for future strategy and policy efforts, and to deliberate steps for comprehensive financial inclusion is <strong>organised by the NITI Aayog.</strong></li>
<li>The Reserve Bank of India has categorised these <strong>financial technology (or fintech) companies as peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Peer to Peer lending, also known as <strong>P2P Lending</strong>, is a financial innovation which <strong>connects verified borrowers</strong> seeking unsecured personal loans <strong>with investors looking to earn higher returns</strong> on their investments.</li>
<li>P2P lending service providers have been in business in India since early 2014. However, it was in <strong>September 2017,</strong> RBI notified that these will be <strong>registered as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)</strong> and subsequently came out with <strong>guidelines for P2P lending.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is one of the<strong> fastest growing FinTech markets globally</strong> and industry research has projected that USD 1 Trillion or 60% of retail and SME credit, will be digitally disbursed by 2029.</li>
<li>The Indian FinTech ecosystem is the <strong>third largest in the globe,</strong> attracting nearly USD 6 billion in investments since 2014.</li>
<li>The Indian FinTech industry is creating cutting edge intellectual property assets in advanced risk management and artificial intelligence that will propel India forward in the global digital economy while simultaneously enabling paperless access to finance for every Indian.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Fintech Sector</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Fintech (Financial technology) describes an emerging financial services sector.</li>
<li>Originally, the term referred to computer technology applied to the back office of banks or trading firms, and now the term has <strong>expanded to include any technological innovation in the financial sector</strong> including innovations in financial literacy and education, retail banking, investment and even crypto-currencies like bitcoin.</li>
<li><strong>Potential benefits of FinTech</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Efficiency</strong> improvements,</li>
<li><strong>Risk reduction</strong> and <strong>greater financial inclusion.</strong></li>
<li>They can <strong>address the unmet demand from Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),</strong> as well as consumers, for credit.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>E.g.: According to the <strong>India Fintech Report 2019,</strong> the traditional ways of banking approve only 25-40% of the loan applications.</li>
<li>However, with access to more data for credit scoring such as transaction behaviour, app-based data, location information, social data and others, these new lending models can increase this threshold by additional 10&ndash;15%.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>With tech-enabled underwriting, FinTechs can provide <strong>tailor-made loans</strong> to various merchants as per their industry segments ranging from food and beverage, apparel, salon, petrol pumps, automobile dealers etc. with quick turnaround times to meet their urgent funding needs</li>
<li>The rural population (which is new to credit) can benefit from this since the urban population is likely to leverage fintech lending services to avoid heavy documentation.</li>
<li><strong>Challenges</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Difficulty of <strong>regulating an evolving technology,</strong></li>
<li>Monitoring activity <strong>outside the regulated sector.</strong></li>
<li>Since, there is no connect with customer as the application is completely processed online there is <strong>higher risks of non-performing assets (NPAs).</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Few countries have taken a variety of regulatory and supervisory initiatives such as <strong>regulatory sandboxes, innovation hubs, innovation incubators or accelerators, etc.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Regulatory Sandbox</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A regulatory sandbox is an <strong>entity hosted by the regulators that enables temporary, limited-scale testing</strong> of a new product that may involve some regulatory ambiguity.</li>
<li>It allows businesses to <strong>test innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms</strong> in the real market, with real consumers.</li>
<li>Inside this <strong>controlled environment,</strong> regulators relax applicable laws or deploy new ones specific to the applications being tested and then observe how the software functions in the new framework.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The MSME lending landscape is evolving and is set to be disrupted by digital lenders, backed by <strong>continuous thrust by Government of India towards digitisation through demonetisation, Unified Payments Interface launch, and the introduction of GST.</strong></li>
<li>Moreover, it is estimated that by 2023, MSME digital lending has the <strong>potential to increase between 10 and 15 fold creating immense opportunity for both traditional lenders and digital start-ups.</strong> Therefore, the initiatives like FinTech conclave is in right direction which aims to evolve future strategy.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/fintech-conclave-2019'
		],
		(int) 12 => [
			'title' => 'Regionalism In India',
			'catname' => 'Paper 1',
			'desc' => '<h3>About</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Regionalism is the expression of a common sense of identity and purpose by people within a specific geographical region, united by its unique language, culture, language, etc.</li>
<li>In a positive sense, it encourages people to develop a sense of brotherhood and oneness which seeks to protect the interests of a particular region and promotes the welfare and development of the state and its people.</li>
<li>In the negative sense, it implies excessive attachment to one&rsquo;s region which is a great threat to the unity and integrity of the country.</li>
<li>In the Indian context generally, the term 'regionalism' has been used in the negative sense.</li>
</ul>
<h3>History of Regional Movements in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The roots of regional consciousness in India can be found in the colonial policies.</li>
<li>Differential attitudes and treatment by the British towards princely states and those of the presidencies developed regionalist tendencies among them.</li>
<li>British exploitative economic policies completely neglected some regions, giving way to economic disparities and regional imbalances.</li>
<li>On the other side, the Indian national movement furthered a pluralistic idea of India.</li>
<li>The history of regional movements in India can be traced back to the 1940s Dravida Movement or the Non-Brahmin movement that started in the present day Tamil Nadu.</li>
<li>Later, the movement was resulted into the demand of a separate and independent Tamil state.</li>
<li>This, in turn, led to several other parties like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) springing up in the Andhra region, with the demands of separate statehood.</li>
<li>The decades of 1950s and 1960s witnessed intense mass mobilisation, often taking on a violent character for the demands of statehood.</li>
<li>In 1954, the revolt for the separate state of Andhra for Telugu - speaking people spearheaded by Potti Sri Ramulu and his eventual death triggered the wave of political regionalism in India with many princely states and other states making a demand for a separate state.</li>
<li>This resulted in formation of the States Reorganisation Committee (headed by Faisal Ali) which recommended re-organisation of Indian states on linguistic lines, thus reinforcing the regionalist tendencies.</li>
<li>With the enactment of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, linguistic states became a reality.</li>
<li>During 1970s and 1980s, owing to the intensification of tribal insurgency for separation and statehood, the Union government passed the North-eastern States Reorganisation Act, 1971.</li>
<li>It upgraded the Union Territories of Manipur and Tripura, and the Sub-State of Meghalaya to full statehood, and Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (then Tribal Districts) to Union Territories which became states in 1986.</li>
<li>The decade of 2000s, witnessed vigorous movements for the creation of separate states due to a rising sense of regional deprivation.</li>
<li>It resulted in the formation of the three new states &ndash; Chhattisgarh out of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand out of Bihar and Uttarakhand out of Uttar Pradesh.</li>
<li>The latest addition to this is the state of Telangana created by the division of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Types of Regional Movements</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong> Secessionism</strong> is a form of regionalism that involves militant and fundamentalist groups advocating a separation from India on the basis of ethnicity or any other factor.</li>
<li>Isac Muivah&rsquo;s National Socialist Council of Nagaland, the Islamic fundamentalist groups in J&amp;K, ULFA in Assam are examples of such an extreme dimension of regionalism.</li>
<li><strong>Separatism</strong> is a demand for separate statehood within the Indian Union.</li>
<li>Many times, linguistic or ethnic minorities within the states come together and unite against the majority community in that state.</li>
<li>This kind of sub-regionalism was validated by the State Reorganisation Act of 1956. The most recent examples include the formation of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, there have been many demands including the creation of Bodoland for the Bodo-speakers in Assam; Gorkhaland for ethnic Gorkha (Nepali) people in West Bengal; a Bundelkhand state (covering part of Madhya Pradesh and part of Uttar Pradesh) for promoting the development of the region.</li>
<li><strong>Demand for Full Statehood,</strong> the union territories have been forwarding such demands like the NCT of Delhi.</li>
<li>Most of such demands have already been accepted. In 1971, Himachal Pradesh got the status of a full state and thereafter Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh (former NEFA) and Sikkim got full statehoods</li>
<li><strong>The Demand for Autonomy,</strong> since 1960&rsquo;s, with the emergence of regional parties, the demand for state autonomy has been gaining more and more strength due to the central political interferences.</li>
<li>In Tamil Nadu the DMK, in Punjab the Akali Dal, in Andhra Pradesh the Telgu Desham, in Assam the Assam Gana Parishad, the National conference in J&amp;K and in West Bengal the Forward Bloc have been continuously demanding a larger share of powers for the states.</li>
<li><strong>Demand for Regional Autonomy within a State,</strong> in some of the states, people belonging to various regions have been demanding recognition of their regional identities.</li>
<li>The genesis of such demands lies in the regional imbalances resulting from inefficient planning for instance in J &amp; K, the Ladakhis are demanding a regional status.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Reasons behind Growth of Regionalism in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Historical and geographical isolation</li>
<li>Lop-sided development</li>
<li>Continuous neglect of a region</li>
<li>Insider-outsider complex that nurturers nativism and son-of-the-soil ideology</li>
<li>Internal colonialism, i.e., despite being rich in natural resources some regions remain economically underdeveloped.</li>
<li>The reasons being either ill-conceived top-down approach or survival of one region at the cost of the other region. Chhota Nagpur plateau is an example of this type of underdevelopment.</li>
<li>Political vested interests can accentuate and exploit regional loyalties.</li>
<li>Reaction to an imposed ideology that can make its appearance as a reaction against the perceived imposition of a particular ideology, language or cultural pattern on all people and groups.</li>
<li>Linguistic aspirations that have remained a formidable basis of regionalism.</li>
<li>Expression of ethnicity.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of Regionalism on Indian Polity</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Rise of regional parties.</li>
<li>Re-focus on regional issues.</li>
<li>Regionalist tendencies often stir inter-state hostility as its spillover effect.</li>
<li>Regional movements often result in violent agitations, disturbs not only the law and order situation but also have negative implications on the economy of the state as well as the nation.</li>
<li>Regionalism sometimes undercuts the national interest by being a hurdle in international diplomacy.</li>
<li>For instance- the opposition of regional/state parties of Tamil against the stand of the central government had a direct implication on the relation of India with Sri Lanka.</li>
<li>The disagreement of political leadership in West Bengal with the central government over the Land Boundary Agreement and Teesta River Water sharing treaty with Bangladesh resulted in increased tensions between the two nations.</li>
<li>Regionalism can become a shield for militancy, extremism to create an internal security threat. Kashmir militancy is an example of this type of regionalism.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Regionalism vs. Nationalism</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Nationalism is a sense of belonging to one nation, a feeling one shares with all the citizens of the country regardless of their caste, creed, culture, religion or region.</li>
<li>This association with a nation is the primary mode of identification for a person and every nation encourages its citizens to take pride in being its citizen.</li>
<li>However, when people begin identifying more strongly with their region than with their nation, it is alleged that nationalism is undercut by a sense of regionalism.</li>
<li>While a nation tries to establish harmony between all its citizens by uniting them through a constitution, national symbols, and songs, regionalism glorifies the heritage of only one particular region and of one culture.</li>
<li>This leads to the formation of multiple communities within one nation and restricts the efforts of national integration.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Is regionalism a threat to national unity and integrity?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Parochial regionalism poses a threat to the sovereignty of the nation.</li>
<li>The anti-migrant or anti-Bihari stance of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) which opposes the employment and residence of non-Maharashtrian people in the state of Maharashtra is a prime example of negative regionalism.</li>
<li>Regionalism beyond a point can lead to secessionism, such as strong regionalism in Punjab ultimately resulted in the growth of Khalistani terrorism.</li>
<li>Regionalism often promotes Vote- Bank politics, thereby weakens the national integration.</li>
<li>Regionalism can weaken the time tested fabric of 'Unity in Diversity', if promoted in an ultra manner.</li>
<li>Positive regionalism promotes a sense of pride in connecting to one&rsquo;s roots and culture.</li>
<li>It has been noticed that often regional movements have helped the art and culture of many neglected regions to flourish by increasing their exposure through local emphasis.</li>
<li>Therefore, in principle, regionalism need not be regarded as an unhealthy or anti-national phenomenon, unless it takes a militant, aggressive turn to encourage the growth of secessionist tendencies.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Constitutional Safeguards Against Separatist Tendencies</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Constitution provides various institutional arrangements to resolve such problem, including the threats posed by violent regionalism.</li>
<li>The provisions of the fifth and sixth schedules of the Indian constitution have been applied by the government with intended objectives of constraining ethnic separatism and tribal alienation in different regions, particularly in the North-east.</li>
<li>Also institutionally, the government has become more receptive to the creation of an autonomous regional council or district council for the people of ethnic enclaves.</li>
<li>The state language policy has been fine tuned to accommodate the claims of various dialect or language groups. This has been done by:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>By including the major languages in the eighth schedule, and</li>
<li>Granting official recognition to culturally significant languages of the state as the language of education and official transaction.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>All these policies have a significant impact on integrating the diverse regional communities within the mould and measures of Indian nationalism.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Unity in Diversity ethos needs to be preserved for the pluralistic character of the Indian nation state.</li>
<li>The accommodation of multiple aspirations of a diverse population is necessary.</li>
<li>Formation of the NITI Aayog has been a positive step to enhance co-operative federalism by fostering the involvement of the State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.</li>
<li>While a number of steps such as the launch of centrally sponsored schemes, incentives to private players for development in backward states have been taken by the government for inclusive development, there is a greater need for their effective implementation.</li>
<li>There is a need to increase the level of social expenditure by the states on education, health, and sanitation which are the core for human resource development.</li>
<li>Introducing a system of national education that would help people to overcome regional feelings and develop an attachment towards the nation can act as a long-term solution to the problem of sub-nationalism.</li>
<li>While the National Integration Council was set up in 1961, there is a need to utilise its potential more effectively.</li>
<li>Schemes like "Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat" have been launched by the GOI to celebrate unity in diversity culture of the nation and to strengthen sentiment for National Unity between the citizens of states, is a welcomed step.</li>
<li>National unity is not impaired if the people of a region have genuine pride in their language and culture.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/595Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/595Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper1/regionalism-in-india-upsc'
		],
		(int) 13 => [
			'title' => ' RBI Deferred Ind AS Implementation by Banks',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>RBI has again deferred the implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by banks as the requisite legislative amendments are still under consideration.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In 2006, <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/icai-nfra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ICAI</a> initiated the process of shifting towards the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The reason behind this step was to increase the acceptability and transparency of the financial statements of the Indian corporates on the global platform.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>For making the proper shift, Accounting Standards Board (ASB) of ICAI formulated <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="37" data-gr-id="37">the Ind</g> AS in line with the IFRS.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>In 2015, MCA notified Companies (Indian Accounting Standard) Rules 2015, which listed out the applicability and adoption of Ind AS.</strong></li>
<li>As per <g class="gr_ gr_42 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="42" data-gr-id="42">initial</g> plan, MCA was to implement Ind AS for banks, insurance companies and <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-what-ails-nbfcs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBFCs</a> from 1 April 2018 onwards but in April 2018,<a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/important-institutions-national-institution-reserve-bank-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> RBI</a> deferred the implementation of Indian Accounting Standards by one year for banks.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>On March 22, 2019, RBI again deferred the implementation of Ind AS by banks till further notice.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>The reason cited is that certain legislative amendments to the Third Schedule to the Banking Regulation Act 1949 are under consideration of the government.</strong></li>
<li>It is expected that these amendments will help in making the current format of financial statements compatible with the requirements under Ind AS.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Ind AS</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) <strong>are set of accounting standards that govern the accounting and recording of financial transactions as well as the presentation of statements such as profit and loss account and balance sheet of a company.</strong></li>
<li>The standards were formulated by the<strong> Accounting Standards Board (ASB), which was constituted as a body in the year 1977.</strong> ASB is a committee under ICAI which consists of representatives from <g class="gr_ gr_45 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="45" data-gr-id="45">government</g> department, academicians, other professional bodies viz. ICAI, representatives from ASSOCHAM, CII, FICCI, etc.</li>
<li>The Ind AS are named and numbered in the same way as the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>IFRS</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are accounting standards that have been <strong>issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) with the objective of providing a common accounting language to increase transparency in the presentation of financial information.</strong></li>
<li><strong>IASB is an independent body that was formed in 2001</strong> for establishing the IFRS. It succeeded the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), which was earlier given the responsibility of establishing the international accounting standards. It is based in London.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/rbi-deferred-ind-as-implementation-by-banks'
		],
		(int) 14 => [
			'title' => 'Disinvestment Exceeds Target',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>For the <strong>second year in a row</strong>, the government has&nbsp;<strong>exceeded the disinvestment target of Rs 80,000</strong> crore set for the <strong>Financial Year 2019,</strong> which ends in March.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Against a goal of ₹80,000 crore in FY19,  divestments have touched ₹85,000 crore with <strong>completion of the acquisition of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) for Rs 14,500 crore.</strong></li>
<li>Apart from Power Finance Corporation acquiring government&rsquo;s stake in Rural Electrification Corporation, <strong>launch of several tranches of <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-13th-march-2019-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE)</a>,</strong> and <strong>PSUs buying back their own shares</strong> were among the measures deployed by the government to achieve its target of stake sales.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>largest chunk of disinvestment c</strong>ame from several tranches of <strong>ETFs launched by the government.</strong></li>
<li>The <strong>second biggest chunk</strong> of Rs 14,500 crore was raised through <strong>Power Finance Corporation</strong> acquiring government&rsquo;s 52.63% stake in REC.</li>
<li>In the last fiscal year, the government had <strong>used the same strategy</strong> to meet its disinvestment target as ONGC bought the entire stake of government in HPCL for a total of around Rs 37,000 crore.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Meeting the disinvestment target for the current fiscal year was crucial because of the <strong>uncertainty in revenue collection from direct taxes as well as from the goods and services tax (GST).</strong></li>
<li>This will enable the government to <strong>achieve the revised fiscal deficit target of 3.4%</strong> of gross domestic product (GDP).
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The budgeted fiscal deficit target was 3.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the beginning of 2018-19 and was later <strong>revised to 3.4% of gross domestic product in the interim budget,</strong> mainly because of an expectation of higher payout because of the direct income scheme for farmers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Disinvestment</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Disinvestment means <strong>selling of assets</strong>. In the case of Public Sector Undertakings, disinvestment means <strong>Government selling/ diluting its stake (share) in PSUs in which it has a majority holding.</strong></li>
<li>Disinvestment is carried out a<strong>s a budgetary exercise,</strong> under which the government announces yearly targets for disinvestment for selected PSUs.</li>
<li>Recently, in April 2016, the <strong>Department of Disinvestment (under Ministry of Finance)&nbsp;</strong>was renamed as<strong> Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).</strong></li>
<li>The mandate of the Department is as follows:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>All matters relating to the<strong> management of Central Government investments in equity</strong> including disinvestment of equity in Central Public Sector Undertakings.</li>
<li>All matters relating to the sale of Central Government equity through offer for sale or private placement or any other mode in the erstwhile Central Public Sector Undertakings.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/disinvestment-exceeds-target'
		],
		(int) 15 => [
			'title' => 'US Recognition to Golan Heights as Israel’s Territory',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the <strong>US may recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>U.S. will be the first country</strong> to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan and marks a dramatic shift in U.S. policy.</li>
<li>The<strong> Golan Heights were captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967</strong> conflict and <strong>annexed in 1981 &mdash; a move not recognized internationally.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>US Stand &amp; Israel's Response</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The U.S. has said that <strong>Israel could not give up the Golan Heights as doing so would endanger Israel&rsquo;s very existence.</strong></li>
<li>Israel has welcomed the US stand.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other countries Response</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Syrian government said the Golan was an &ldquo;indivisible&rdquo; part of Syrian territory</strong> and recovering it &ldquo;via all means guaranteed by international law is still a priority&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>Russia, Iran, and Turkey have condemned the US statement as illegal and unacceptable</strong> and said that the decisions will lead to a crisis in the region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of Withdrawal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The formal recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan <strong>doesn't change anything on the ground.</strong> <strong>Israel already has a considerable military presence in the region.</strong></li>
<li>It is <strong>not immediately clear how the U.N. peacekeeping force in the Golan might be affected</strong> by the U.S. move.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Golan Heights</strong></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577338094_image43.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577338094_image43.png" style="float: right;" width="340" caption="false" /></strong></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Golan Heights is a<strong> rocky plateau with an area of 1,800km&sup2; on the border between Israel and Syria</strong> in south-western Syria.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Dispute</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>I<strong>srael occupied the Golan Heights, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War.</strong> An armistice line was established and the region came under Israeli military control.</li>
<li><strong>Syria tried to retake the Golan Heights during the 1973 Middle East war.</strong> Syria was defeated in its attempt.</li>
<li>Both countries <strong>signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force has been in place</strong> on the ceasefire line since 1974.</li>
<li><strong>In 1981, Israel permanently acquired the territory of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem</strong> in moves never recognized by most countries.</li>
<li>The international community regards as disputed territory occupied by Israel whose status should be determined by negotiations between Israel and Syria.</li>
<li>Attempts by the international community to bring Israel and Syria for negotiations have failed.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>International Recognition of Golan Heights</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>European Union</strong> said its position on the status of the Golan Heights was unchanged and it did not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area.</li>
<li>The <strong>Arab League</strong>, which suspended Syria in 2011 after the start of its civil war has said the move is &ldquo;completely beyond international law&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>Egypt</strong>, which made peace with Israel in 1979, said it still considers the Golan as occupied Syrian territory.</li>
<li><strong>India</strong> has also not recognized Golan heights as Israel territory and has called for the return of Golan Heights to Syria.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Importance of Golan Heights</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Golan Heights<strong> give Israel an excellent point for monitoring Syrian movements.</strong> The topography provides a natural buffer against any military adventure from Syria.</li>
<li>The area is also a <strong>key source of water for an arid region. Rainwater from the Golan's catchment feeds into the Jordan River.</strong> The area provides a third of Israel's water supply.</li>
<li>The<strong> land is fertile, and the volcanic soil is used to cultivate vineyards and orchards and raise cattle.</strong> The Golan is also home to Israel's only ski resort.</li>
</ul>',
			'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
			'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/us-recognition-to-golan-heights-as-israel-s-territory'
		],
		(int) 16 => [
			'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (23rd March 2019)',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<h3>LIMA 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The<strong> Indian Air Force</strong> is going to participate in <strong>Langkawi International Maritime Aero Expo (LIMA) 2019.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Langkawi International Maritime Aero Expo (LIMA-2019)</strong> is planned in Langkawi, Malaysia from 26 March 2019 to 30 March 2019.</li>
<li>Indian Air Force is participating in the <strong>Maritime Aero Expo for the first time,</strong> during which it will showcase its<strong> indigenously developed LCA Tejas fighter aircraft.</strong></li>
<li>Participation of IAF in LIMA-2019 will provide an opportunity to air-warriors to interact with their Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) counterparts and foster a close relationship between the two services.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cyclone Trevor &amp; Veronica</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Two <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-daye" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>cyclonic storms</strong></a>, named <strong>Trevor and Veronica</strong>, are expected to make landfall into<strong> Australia&rsquo;s coasts.</strong></li>
<li>Trevor is expected to make landfall in northeast Australia while Veronica will hit northwest Australia.</li>
<li>Trevor and Veronica are no different from the<strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-titli" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> hurricanes or cyclones </a>except</strong> that they <strong>spin clockwise instead of counterclockwise.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In the <strong>Northern Hemisphere</strong> the direction of the <strong>cyclone is counterclockwise</strong>, and in the <strong>Southern Hemisphere, it is clockwise.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</strong> is observed on <strong>21<sup>st</sup> March every year.</strong></li>
<li>The <strong>theme for 2019</strong> is<strong> Mitigating and countering rising nationalist populism and extreme supremacist ideologies.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>History of the Day</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>UN General Assembly on 26 October 1966</strong> proclaimed <strong>21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</strong> to be commemorated annually.</li>
<li>On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws".</li>
<li>Proclaiming the Day in 1966 which signifies the struggle to end the policy of apartheid in South Africa.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Navroz</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Navroz is<strong> New Year celebrations on March 21 every year for Parsis, followers of Zoroastrianism and various sects of Muslim, both Shias and Sunnis.</strong></li>
<li>In 1079 AD, a <strong>Persian (Iranian) king named Jalaluddin Malekshah introduced the Navroz (New Year)</strong> festival to generate revenue and collect taxes from people.</li>
<li>It was observed on <strong>March 21 to mark the beginning of spring and the day of equinox.</strong></li>
<li>It is inscribed in the list of <strong>UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of India</strong>. In India it is known as <strong>Jamshed Navroz.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Intangible Cultural Heritage of India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Traditional brass and copper craft of utensils among thatheras of Punjab, Sankirtana (ritual singing, dancing and drumming of Manipur), Buddhist chanting of Ladakh, Chhau Dance, Kalbelia (folk song and dance of Rajasthan), Kutiyattam (a Sanskrit theatre of Kerala), Tradition of Vedic Chanting, Ramlila, <strong>Novruz (Persian New Year)</strong>, Ramman(religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas), Mudiyettu (ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		(int) 17 => [
			'title' => 'PILs: From Public Interest to 'Publicity Interest' Litigations',
			'catname' => 'News Editorials',
			'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-gavel-on-the-duds/301330" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&lsquo;PILs: From Public Interest to 'Publicity Interest</a>' Litigations&rsquo; which appeared in &lsquo;The Outlook&rsquo; on 19th <g class="gr_ gr_91 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="91" data-gr-id="91">March,</g> 2019. The article talks about the nature of PILs and the change it has undergone over a period of time.)</p>
</div>
<p><em>Almost exactly 40 years ago, in <g class="gr_ gr_93 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="93" data-gr-id="93">March,</g> 1979, Kapila Hingorani made history by filing and securing the release of nearly 40,000 <g class="gr_ gr_92 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="92" data-gr-id="92">under trials</g> languishing in the jails of Bihar&rsquo;s Patna and Muzzafarpur, in the &lsquo;Hussainara Khatoon&rsquo; case.</em></p>
<p><em>The &lsquo;Hussainara Khatoon&rsquo; case established a new paradigm in the Indian justice system, which until 1979 was accessible to only those personally affected by the law or <g class="gr_ gr_88 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="88" data-gr-id="88">facing</g> penal action.</em></p>
<p><em>The court allowed Hingorani to pursue a case in which she had no personal locus <g class="gr_ gr_86 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="86" data-gr-id="86">standi</g> making Public Interest Litigations (PILs) a permanent fixture in Indian jurisprudence. Ever <g class="gr_ gr_85 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="85" data-gr-id="85">since,</g> PILs has become the champion of the underprivileged and those wronged by the system. </em></p>
<h3>Public Interest Litigation</h3>
<p>Public interest litigation uses the law to advance human rights and equality, or raise issues of broad public concern. It helps advance the cause of minority or disadvantaged groups or individuals.</p>
<p>Public interest cases can arise from both public and private law matters concerning various rules and regulations that govern the exercise of power by public bodies and even when a public body is not involved such as employment law or family law.</p>
<p>It has most ideally and commonly been used to challenge the decisions of public authorities by judicial review to review the lawfulness of a decision or action, or a failure to act, by a public body.</p>
<p>PILs have been responsible for landmark verdicts that have outlawed instant triple talaq, identified privacy as a fundamental right, opened the doors of the Sabarimala temple in Kerala and Mumbai&rsquo;s Haji Ali shrine to women, <g class="gr_ gr_71 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="71" data-gr-id="71">legalised</g> consensual homosexual relations and made passive euthanasia permissible etc.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<h3>Procedures to File A PIL In The Court</h3>
<p>Any citizen of India can approach the court for public case (upon the interest of public) by filing a petition:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under the Supreme Court, under Article 32 of the Constitution</li>
<li>Under the High Court, under Article 226 of the Constitution</li>
<li>Under Court of Magistrate under Section 133 of CrPC</li>
</ul>
<p>At present, a court can treat a letter as a writ petition and take action upon it. In such cases, the court has to be satisfied that the writ petition complies with the following;</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Where the letter is addressed by the aggrieved person</li>
<li>A public-spirited individual</li>
<li>A social action group for the enforcement of legal or constitutional rights to any person who, upon poverty or disability, are not able to approach the court for redress.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>From Public to Publicity</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>PIL was introduced in Indian jurisprudence to help raise the cause of social justice. Unfortunately, it has instead become a tool for people to use these as either to gain publicity or for political agenda.</li>
<li>PILs these days are being used as a means to further bigotry and communal hate in the name of public interest. Filling of flippant cases has resulted in the erosion of the sanctity of the PIL system, which has been responsible for some of the most progressive verdicts delivered by various courts.</li>
<li>In the absence of any robust mechanism to filter genuine pleas from frivolous pleas known as &ldquo;<g class="gr_ gr_75 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="75" data-gr-id="75">publicity</g> interest&rdquo; or &ldquo;political interest&rdquo; litigations, irrational petitions have soared in great numbers. The courts place the onus of curbing the menace on litigants&rsquo; moral conscience.</li>
<li>Frivolous filing of PILs has not only resulted in <g class="gr_ gr_100 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="100" data-gr-id="100">added</g> burden on judiciary but has significantly led to trust erosion in the entire exercise, even if a frivolous plea is eventually dismissed, the judges have to spend a lot of time in going through the prayer and, on most occasions, hearing the petitioner.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Present System of Checks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under the present system, only judges have the power to decide if a petition should be admitted or dismissed while the job of the Registry (of the SC or of any high court) is to ensure that technical requirements of filing a petition have been fulfilled by the litigant.</li>
<li>Petition gets listed for admission irrespective of its merit, eating away the court&rsquo;s time that could otherwise be <g class="gr_ gr_68 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="68" data-gr-id="68">utilised</g> to hear the massive backlog of cases.</li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_70 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="70" data-gr-id="70">Total</g> number of cases pending before the SC, as on December 1 last year, stood at 56,994. The National Judicial Data Grid puts the total number of cases pending before various high courts, as on March 17, at a whopping 42.89 lakh.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Desired Steps</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a need for an effective deterrent to prevent such frivolous cases, especially those that blatantly violate the Constitution, from being filed. Judiciary needs to be more proactive in dealing with those who file cases purely to gain publicity.</li>
<li>A litigant who takes liberties with the truth or with the procedures of the court should be left in no doubt about the consequences to follow. All the courts should impose exemplary cost against petitioners who try to choke the judicial system with absurd PILs mocking both the basic law of justice as well as the secular fabric of the nation.</li>
<li>The court cannot abdicate its responsibility (of deciding whether a case deserves to be heard) in <g class="gr_ gr_87 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="87" data-gr-id="87">favour</g> of the Registry as it is within the powers of the court, and <g class="gr_ gr_84 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="84" data-gr-id="84">its</g> Chief Justice, to lay down broad guidelines for the Registry to follow while deciding what kind of cases deserve to be listed</li>
<li>The Registry should be empowered to at least check the credentials of the person filing a PIL and those who have a prior record of filing such cases should be warned of the consequences.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the 40 years since its inception as a course for judicial remedy, the PIL system has emerged as a potent tool for ensuring transparency in governance and enabler of social justice.</li>
<li>Litigations such as those demanding deportation of Indian Muslims to Pakistan strikes at the very core of the purpose that a PIL is supposed to serve&mdash;public interest, necessitating timely and stern actions against the &lsquo;Lousy Litigants&rsquo; to make evident the deterrent cost of publicity.</li>
<li>Public Interest Litigation is a weapon which should be used with great care and circumspection and the Judiciary needs to be extremely careful so that ugly private malice, vested interest is not seen lurking behind the beautiful veil of public interest.</li>
</ul>',
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		(int) 18 => [
			'title' => 'Lancet: Building a Tuberculosis Free World',
			'catname' => 'News Analysis',
			'desc' => '<p>The Lancet Commission on tuberculosis has published report &lsquo;building a tuberculosis-free world&rsquo;.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is <strong>based on modelling for three high-burden countries(India, Indonesia, &amp; China)</strong>.</li>
<li>It compared with 2015 data, and estimated 57% reduction in incidence and 72% reduction in mortality will been seen only by 2045.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to World Health Organisation (WHO) <strong>10 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported globally in 2017</strong>, out of which 2.74 million were from India.</li>
<li>It shows a marginal reduction from 2.79 million in 2016.</li>
<li>The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include ending the TB epidemic by 2030 under Goal 3.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Lancet&rsquo;s Findings on India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India&rsquo;s goal to end the epidemic by 2025&nbsp;</strong>(five years ahead of the UN SDG) is<strong> too &ldquo;ambitious"</strong>, &ldquo;unrealistic", and, therefore, unattainable. As it requires high quality of care to every person from diagnosis to treatment.</li>
<li>TB incidence in the country being 204 cases per 1,00,000 in 2017.</li>
<li>10% of individuals with TB die or self-cure before presenting for care.</li>
<li>Patient delay before the first presentation for care is 4.1 months.</li>
<li>The proportion of people with TB completing treatment is 85%.</li>
<li>India has the <strong>highest number of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases</strong> in the world. the majority of cases due to direct transmission.</li>
<li>The early diagnosis and prompt initiation of effective treatment should be high priority to curb MDR-TB transmission.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recommendations</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Integration of TB services with the primary health system</strong> will lead to early diagnosis and help cut the transmission cycle.</li>
<li>Strengthening the <strong>care cascade</strong>(visualising problems with the implementation of &lsquo;treatment as prevention&rsquo;) could reduce cumulative TB incidence by 38% in the case of India.</li>
<li>India has to adopt <strong>measures to prevent TB on a population level to eliminate</strong> the disease in the coming decades.</li>
<li>India needs improvement in diagnosis and treatment for drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB.</li>
<li>It suggests that lives of eight million (28%) people with TB can be saved over the next 30 years if tests are subsidised and patients are supported to complete the treatment.</li>
<li>This would <strong>cost an extra $290 million each year</strong>, which is significantly less than India&rsquo;s $32 billion losses associated with TB mortality each year.</li>
<li>India should scale up access to TB services for all those seeking them, optimise engagement of private sector providers and guarantee universal access to drug susceptibility testing and second line TB drugs.</li>
<li>National TB control programme is encouraging, there is political will and the programme mentions all the correct initiatives to bring the disease under control. Accountability is vital component.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India and Tuberculosis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has the highest TB burden in the world.<strong> In 2018, 2.15 million TB case were reported</strong> , which is 16% more the 2017.</li>
<li>Private sector has reported 0.54 million cases, which is 35% increase compared with 2017.</li>
<li>National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination (2017&ndash;25) has called for increase in private TB reporting to two million patients per year by 2020.</li>
<li>Government of India has said that New tools resulting from greater tuberculosis research and development (R&amp;D) are essential to prevent those projected economic losses.</li>
<li>With at least 30 per cent of India&rsquo;s population infected with tuberculosis. Thus it needs accurate point-of-care diagnostics for detecting tuberculosis infection and effective person-centred treatment.</li>
<li>Government of India has said that close coordination between the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and research-oriented pharmaceutical companies, is necessary to reach targets against tuberculosis.</li>
<li>Instead of waiting for people with TB to reach diagnostic centres for testing, India has now<strong> undertaken case-ﬁnding campaigns</strong>.</li>
<li>It acknowledges that high out-of-pocket expenditure incurred during TB treatment keeps people in poverty for seven years after completing treatment.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The Lancet</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general <strong>British medical journal</strong>.</li>
<li>It is among the world's oldest, most prestigious, and best known general medical journals.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tuberculosis</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (<strong>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</strong>) that most often affect the lungs. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable.</li>
<li>TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air.</li>
<li>Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB <strong>caused by bacteria that do not respond to first-line anti-TB drugs</strong>. MDR-TB is treatable and curable by using second-line drugs.</li>
<li>Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a more serious form of MDR-TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to the most effective second-line anti-TB drugs, <strong>often leaving patients without any further treatment options</strong>.</li>
<li>In 2017, the 30 high TB burden countries accounted for 87% of new TB cases. Eight countries account for two thirds of the total, with India leading the count, followed by, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and South Africa.</li>
<li>WHO End TB Strategy, adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2014, is a blueprint for countries to end the TB epidemic by driving down TB deaths, incidence and eliminating catastrophic costs.</li>
<li><strong>World TB Day is observed on 24 March</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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		(int) 19 => [
			'title' => 'Akula Class – Attack Submarine',
			'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
			'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qELdZLk5dek" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>India has planned to lease out one more Akula Class nuclear powered submarine from Russia. According to reports, both the countries have signed a deal for this, worth almost 3 Billion US dollars. This new attack submarine will <strong>replace Indian Navy's INS Chakra 2</strong> whose lease is expiring in the year 2022.</p>
<p>Submarine is a warship with a streamlined hull designed to operate completely submerged in the sea for long periods, equipped with a periscope and typically armed with torpedoes or missiles.</p>
<h3>Types</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Conventional Submarines:</strong> These are the ones which are powered by electric motors and batteries.<br /><strong>E.g. Project-75 Class Submarines</strong></li>
<li><strong>Nuclear Powered Ballistic Submarines:</strong> These are powered by nuclear fuel, thereby capable of operating underwater for longer durations. Primary role of such submarines is to provide strategic deterrence.<br /><strong>E.g. INS Arihant</strong></li>
<li><strong>Nuclear Powered and Armed Submarines (SSN):</strong> These marines have unlimited endurance and high speeds and are armed with cruise missiles and heavyweight torpedoes, thus complementing carrier battle groups.<br /><strong>E.g. Akula Class Submarines.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Akula Class Submarines</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Akula Class Submarine uses a nuclear reactor for propulsion, allowing it to remain underwater for an extended period of time which makes its detection impossible.</li>
<li>This class of Submarine can be used for multiple tasks like hunting enemy submarines, intelligence surveillance etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It will help India in training Arihant and Arihant-class cruise on SSN submarines.</li>
<li>It can be deployed at important focal points in Indian Ocean and thus India will be able to enjoy strategic dynamic of the region. Also, the submarine will have a deterrent impact.</li>
<li>Induction of this SSN will make India an Indian Ocean Power with full spectrum of operational capabilities.</li>
<li>The submarine will act as a supreme board for India&rsquo;s indigenous SSN development program as it will provide clues on submarine designs, nuclear submarine operation and maintenance etc.</li>
<li>It is also the symbol of deep Indo-Russia relations as no two other countries in the world have exchanged any nuclear element in defence armament yet.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India-Russia Defence Trade</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Since the year 1988, Russia has been supplying India with nuclear powered submarines. INS Chakra 1 was inducted into Indian Navy in the year 1998.</li>
<li>INS Chakra 2 was inducted into Indian Navy in the year 2012.</li>
<li>Akula Class Submarine will get inducted by the year 2024.</li>
<li>India and Russia has also come into a joint venture for production of 200 Kamov lightweight multi-role military helicopters for India. The deal for the same was inked in 2015.</li>
<li>India has recently signed agreements with Russia on S-400 air defence missiles and AK 203 Rifles. This India has done, despite the risk of invoking sanctions under <strong>Countering America&rsquo;s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)</strong>.</li>
<li>These trade deals are important for Indo-Russian ties due to Russia&rsquo;s growing interest in the geo-politics of Indo-Pacific Region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Choke points in Indian Ocean need to be controlled through submarines, for maintaining influence in the region.</li>
<li><strong>India needs a very rapid submarine building program</strong> to protect its interests in International Waters, especially between the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca.</li>
<li>More SSNs are required for the deployment at the Indian Ocean in the wake of Chinese ships patrolling the ocean. This is also necessary to deter competitors of India in the International Waters.</li>
<li>Besides building submarines, <strong>India needs to build surveillance capabilities</strong> so that it can exactly detect location of submarines of other countries in the Indian Ocean.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>The new Akula Submarine will definitely provide boost to Indian Navy operational capabilities but India needs to build its own such submarines, considering the cost of lease. Also, it needs to provide a push to its present submarine programmes, especially &lsquo;Project-75&rsquo;.</em></p>',
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	(int) 0 => [
		'title' => 'Energy Transition Report',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p><strong>World Economic Forum</strong> has recently published <strong>Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2019</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The report contains the <strong>Energy Transition Index (ETI),</strong> which compares the energy sectors of 115 countries and analyses their readiness for energy transition.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Report Findings</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Global</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Energy systems have globally become less affordable and less environmentally sustainable than they were five years ago.</li>
<li><strong>Access to energy has improved and currently, less than 1 billion people are living without access to electricity. On average, 135 million people gained access to electricity each year between 2014 and 2016.</strong></li>
<li>The biggest challenge facing attempts to future proof global energy demands is the<strong> lack of readiness among the world&rsquo;s largest emitters.</strong></li>
<li>In 2017, global CO2 emissions grew after remaining stagnant for three years. CO2 emissions from fuel combustion grew in more than half of the countries as demand increased from the residential and transportation sectors.</li>
<li><strong>Coal consumption increased in 2018,</strong> after declining for three years along with an increase in commodity prices and slower-than-needed improvements in energy intensity this has contributed to the slowdown in Energy Transition.</li>
<li><strong>Fossil fuels&rsquo; share of total primary energy supply at 81 percent is constant over the past three decades.</strong></li>
<li>Environmental sustainability of energy production has improved marginally, indicating a general lack of substantive progress.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>India</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>India is amongst the countries with high pollution levels and has a relatively high CO2 emission intensity in its energy system.</strong></li>
<li>Despite this, India has made significant progress in improving energy access in recent years.</li>
<li><strong>India has made fast progress towards universal electrification due to strong political commitment, a stable policy regime, use of grid expansion and decentralized generation sources, and a supportive environment for investment in infrastructure.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Global coal consumption grew in 2017 due to an increase in demand in the Asia-Pacific region, including in India and China.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Energy Transition Index</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Energy transition index ranks countries on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability.</strong></li>
<li>ETI has ranked<strong> 115 economies covering 40 indicators</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Sweden is at the top</strong> followed by Switzerland and Norway in the top three.</li>
<li>Among major economies, the United Kingdom (UK) is ranked seventh. Singapore has been ranked thirteenth, while Germany, Japan, and the US have bagged the seventeenth, eighteenth and the twenty-seventh place respectively.</li>
<li><strong>India has moved up two places from last year to rank 76th on a global energy transition index.</strong></li>
<li>China is ranked lower than India <g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="56" data-gr-id="56">at</g> the 82nd position.</li>
<li><strong>India is the second best in the BRICS bloc</strong> of emerging economies, with Brazil being the best at 46th place globally.</li>
<li><strong>However, India is the only amongst the five economies to improve its rank since last year.</strong></li>
</ul>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/energy-transition-report'
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	(int) 1 => [
		'title' => 'New island rules: IPZ 2019',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified Island Protection Zone (IPZ) 2019 for Andaman and Nicobar.</p>
<h3>Purpose</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Changes in the IPZ are aligned with the Niti Aayog's proposal for holistic development in the Islands.</li>
<li>The government&rsquo;s planning to open up the <a href="/to-the-points/paper3/blue-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blue economy</a> and sustainable harnessing of ocean resources.</li>
</ul>
<h3>IPZ 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It <strong>allows eco-tourism projects 20 meters from the high tide line (HTL)</strong> in smaller islands like Baratang, Havelock, and Car Nicobar.</li>
<li>In case of <strong>larger islands, 50 meters</strong> from the HTL is permitted.</li>
<li>It allows for eco-tourism activities like mangrove walks, tree huts and nature trails in <strong>island coastal regulation zone(ICRZ) IA</strong> (ICRZ 2018: ICRZ IA, provides areas classified as the most eco-sensitive region of the islands which includes turtle nesting grounds, marshes, coral reefs etc)</li>
<li>The notification also allows for construction of roads, roads on stilts by reclaiming land in exceptional cases for defense installations, public utilities or strategic purposes in eco-sensitive zones.</li>
<li>In case construction of such roads pass through mangroves, a minimum three times the mangrove area destroyed during the construction process shall be taken up for c<strong>ompensatory plantation of mangroves</strong> elsewhere.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns over IPZ 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It brings the norms for Andaman and Nicobar at par with <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/coastal-regulation-zone-crz-notification-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2018</a> norms for other islands close to the mainland and backwater islands where a No Development Zone (NDZ)is only 20 meters from HTL.</li>
<li>Previously, IPZ 2011 stipulated <strong>an NDZ of 200 meters</strong> from the HTL for all islands.</li>
<li><strong>Only pipelines, transmission lines</strong>, trans-harbor links to be laid in the eco-sensitive zone were permitted. <strong>Now road construction is allowed</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Note:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>High tide line (HTL)</strong> is defined as <g class="gr_ gr_39 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="39" data-gr-id="39">line</g> up to which highest high tide reaches in spring tides.</li>
<li>It is delineated by walking over or remote sensing data or by helicopter survey.</li>
<li>The<strong> Low Tide Line(LTL)</strong> is the limit up to which the lowest low tide recedes during spring tide.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
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	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'title' => 'Inequality in India',
		'catname' => 'Paper 2',
		'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/401Drishti_ias_Inequality.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/401Drishti_ias_Inequality.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper2/inequality-in-india-mindmap'
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'title' => 'Inequality in India',
		'catname' => 'Paper 2',
		'desc' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Oxfam International</strong> released its annual inequality report, 2019 report titled <strong>&ldquo;Public good or Private Wealth?&rdquo;</strong> highlighted the stark Income inequality existing in India.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Inequality</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The United Nations describes inequality as &ldquo;the state of not being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities&rdquo;.</li>
<li>Inequality can be broadly classified in to:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Economic inequality:</strong> Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between individuals or different groups in society.</li>
<li><strong>Social inequality:</strong> It occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly based on norms of a society that creates specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories e.g. religion, kinship, prestige, race, caste, ethnicity, gender etc. have different access to resources of power, prestige and wealth depending on the norms of a society.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Both these categories are deeply intertwined and inequality of one type affects the inequality in another e.g. Social Inequality due to gender have large impact on income of women. In patriarchal societies large gender wage gap tends to exist.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Dimensions of Inequality in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In India, following are distinctive forms of social inequality:</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Gender</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Global Gender Gap Report, 2018,</strong> ranks India at <strong>142</strong> among 149 countries.</li>
<li>Four parameters for measuring gender inequality are economic participation and opportunity, health and survival, educational attainment and political empowerment.</li>
<li>Gender wage gap is highest in India according International Labor Organization women are <strong>paid 34% less than men</strong>.</li>
<li>Women comprise over 42 per cent of the agricultural labour force in the country, yet they <strong>own less than 2 percent of its farm land</strong> according to the India Human Development Survey (IHDS).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Caste</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Caste is significant factor for determining access to resources like education, income, health valued by individuals.</li>
<li>India&rsquo;s upper caste households earned nearly 47% more than the national average annual household income, the top 10% within these castes owned 60% of the wealth within the group in 2012, as per the World Inequality Database.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Religion</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Religious identities are significant for an individual&rsquo;s ability to mobilize resources.</li>
<li>Religious identities can cause prejudices which may lead to economic exclusion and other forms of discrimination which can impact jobs and livelihood opportunities.</li>
<li>While minorities such as Christians, Parsis and Jains have a larger share of income/consumption than their population share, Muslim and Buddhist populations have significantly lower access to economic resources.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Ethnicity</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Tribal communities in India have been identified as ethnic group on the basis of their unique culture, language, dialect, geographical location, customs etc.</li>
<li>The National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) showed that 45.9% of ST population were in the lowest wealth bracket as compared to 26.6% of SC population, 18.3% of OBCs, 9.7% of other castes.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Economic Inequality</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The 2019 report by Oxfam, titled "Public good or Private Wealth?" showed that India&rsquo;s top 10% holds 77.4% of the total national wealth, while the top 1% holds 51.53% of the wealth.</li>
<li>The bottom 60% population holds only 4.8% of the national wealth.</li>
<li>13.6 crore Indians, who make up the poorest 10% of the country, have continued to remain in debt for the past 15 years.</li>
<li>The Gini coefficient of wealth in India in 2017 is at 0.83, which puts India among the countries with highest inequality countries.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Consequences of Inequalities</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Inequalities tend to <strong>produce social conflict</strong> among the social groups e.g. caste groups like Jaats, Maratha, Patels are demanding reservations but this demand is opposed by caste groups already claiming the benefits of reservations, such clash of interest due to perceived inequality tend to produce violent conflicts between opposing caste groups.</li>
<li>Inequalities among ethnic groups have led to various <strong>ethnic movements</strong> demanding separate states or autonomous regions or even outright secession from India. North East has been rocked by numerous such ethnic movement e.g. by Nagas for greater Nagalim etc.</li>
<li>Religious inequality tends to generate <strong>feeling of exclusion among religious minority groups</strong>. This reduces their participation in mainstream, in India religious minorities have large population their economic exclusion compromises the GDP growth of nation as whole.</li>
<li>Poor development indicators like IMR, MMR, low per capita income, lower education and learning outcomes at schools, high rate of population growth can be traced to existing socio-economic inequalities.</li>
<li>High economic inequality is <strong>detrimental to public healthcare and education</strong>. Upper and Middle classes do not have vested interest in well functioning public healthcare and education as they have means to access private healthcare and education.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Measures to Deal with Inequalities</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Constitutional Provision</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Enforcement of Constitutional Guarantee of equality as enshrined in fundamental rights. <strong>Articles 14, 15 and 16</strong> form part of a scheme of the Constitutional Right to Equality. Article 15 and 16 are incidents of guarantees of Equality, and gives effect to Article 14.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Promoting Civil Society</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Provide a greater voice to traditionally oppressed and suppressed groups, including by enabling civil society groups like unions and association with in these groups.</li>
<li>Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes should be motivated to become entrepreneurs, schemes like Stand up India need to be expanded to widen its reach by increasing funding.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Women Empowerment</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>For gender equality policies like affirmative action by reserving seats in legislatures, increasing reservation at Local self government both at Urban and village level to 50% in all states, strict implementation of The Equal Remuneration act,1976 to remove wage gap, making education curriculum gender sensitive, raising awareness about women right, changing social norms through schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Inclusion of Religious Minorities</strong></li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Religious minority groups need special attention through representation in government jobs, provision of institutional credit, improvement of their education access, protection of their human rights by empowering National commission for Minority, strengthening rule of law etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Progressive Taxes</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Additional public resources for public services by progressive taxes on wealthy more and by increasing the effective taxation on corporations, more importantly broadening the tax base through better monitoring of financial transactions.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Economic Policies</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>By ensuring universal access to public funded high quality services like Public health and education, social security benefits, employment guarantee schemes; inequality can be reduced to great extent.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Employment Generation</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The failure to grow manufacturing sectors like Textile, Clothing, automobiles, consumer goods etc. is the important reason of rising inequalities.</li>
<li>The Labor-intensive manufacturing has the potential to absorb millions of people who are leaving farming while service sector tend to benefit majorly urban middle class.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has committed to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and to end extreme poverty by that year.</li>
<li>According to Oxfam if India stops inequality from rising further, it could end extreme poverty for 90 million people by 2019. If it goes further and reduces inequality by 36%, it could virtually eliminate extreme poverty.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/622Drishti_ias_Inequality.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/622Drishti_ias_Inequality.png" /></a></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/inequality-in-india'
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'title' => 'Paradigm Shift for TB Control',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/paradigm-shift-for-tb-control/article26636685.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Paradigm Shift for TB Control'</a> which appeared in &lsquo;The Hindu&rsquo; on 26th March, 2019. The article talks about the burden of TB on public health and the shortcomings of various health programs. It also talks about the potential attitudinal change required to combat the disease.)</p>
</div>
<p>World TB Day marks the global resolve in eradicating tuberculosis (TB). While many countries have successfully defeated the disease, it remains the biggest killer in India, outnumbering all other infectious diseases put together &mdash; this despite our battle against it from 1962, when the National TB Programme (NTP) was launched.</p>
<p>In 1978, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) began, giving Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) to all babies soon after birth and achieving more than 90% coverage. Yet, when evaluated in 1990, the NTP and the EPI had not reduced India&rsquo;s TB burden.</p>
<p>In 1993, the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) was launched, offering free diagnosis and treatment for patients, rescuing them from otherwise sure death. However, <strong>treatment is not prevention</strong>. <strong>Prevention is essential for control</strong>.</p>
<h3>The Killer Disease</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India accounts for about a quarter of the global TB burden. Worldwide India is the country with the highest burden of both TB and Multi Drug Resistance (MDR)TB. There are an estimated 79,000 multi-drug resistant TB patients among the notified cases of pulmonary TB each year.</li>
<li>India has consistently failed in manning the two of the primary routes required to reduce TB incidence and death that are diagnosis and treatment, areas where "large and persistent" gaps remain.</li>
<li>Early symptoms of TB are non-specific, and quite similar to more commonly occurring conditions, such as secondary infections resulting from seasonal flu. Private practitioners rule out other ailments through antibiotic treatment before ordering TB tests. <strong>Delayed TB diagnosis is the biggest risk factor for transmission.</strong></li>
<li>Half of the estimated patients are either unaware that they have TB, or are unreported in the government&rsquo;s e-registry for TB, Nikshay. Infected patients infect others in the community while undiagnosed. TB transmission can&rsquo;t be ended until they are cured.</li>
<li>Non-specific antibiotic courses, multiply the risk manifold, causing the infection to become antibiotic-resistant.</li>
<li>Shortfalls in TB funding are one of the main reasons why progress is not fast enough to be on track to reach the end TB targets</li>
<li>Even when tests and treatment are available for free across all public health centres, and patients can claim a nutritional incentive of ₹500 per month until fully cured, the current decline rate of TB in India is a worrying 1-2%.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Loopholes in National Programs</h3>
<p>Despite starting early with National TB Program and Expanded Program on Immunization in 1960s, the state failed to check the growth of incidence of TB. The main cause of NTP failing was complacency and lack of resources, especially financial.</p>
<p>The Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) which has been successful in curing pulmonary TB too falls short of controlling the spread of TB.</p>
<p>In countries with 5-10 cases in a lakh people annually, curing TB sustains the low disease burden. In India, with 200-300 cases in a lakh in a year, curing TB is essential to reduce mortality, but is not sufficient to prevent transmission.</p>
<p>From a time a person becomes infectious to when she/he turns non-infectious by treatment, there is a gap of several weeks during which the infection saturates contacts in the vicinity making more people vulnerable to disease.</p>
<p>It is not possible to diagnose everyone as the disease exhibits common symptoms such as those of cough and flu and sometimes infection also remains silent making the control even more cumbersome.</p>
<p>Rapid expansion of RNTCP has outpaced the capacity of national and state health authorities to supervise the programme and to maintain high quality which has led to decline in case detection and cure rate in some areas. Country also suffers from acute shortage of accredited laboratories.</p>
<p>The program also lacks public participation and fails in allaying superstition and the appalling ignorance in the society about the disease, its spread and causation.</p>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>TB control requires the slowing down of infection, progression and transmission. Pulmonary TB causes transmission, resulting in infection which leads to progression as TB disease. To transform this vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle of TB control, spiralling down TB prevalence continuously, transmission, infection and progression must be addressed simultaneously.</p>
<p>There is a need to bring change in the health etiquettes in the society through public education for behaviour modification, starting in all schools and continuing through to adults.</p>
<p>One must reduce chances of transmission by insisting that the TB affected should cover their mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing and not to spit in open spaces which are only possible with enhanced Information Education Communication (IEC) activities by providing pamphlets, booklets in simple language to every general patient and public.</p>
<p>Cohorts of schoolchildren (5, 10 and 15 years) can be tested and those Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) positive given preventive treatment. It achieves three results at one go &mdash; an infected child gets preventive treatment and points to adults with undiagnosed TB in the household. Finally, the annual TST positive rate provides an objective measure of annual infection frequency for plotting the control trajectory.</p>
<p>To defeat TB and achieve Indian goal of eradicating TB by 2025, both rigorous and persistent efforts are required. There is a need to develop a strong political will for TB control as <strong>rhetoric and declarations cannot control TB; a strategy of simultaneously using all biomedical and socio-behavioural interventions can</strong>.</p>',
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	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (26th March 2019)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (<g class="gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="59" data-gr-id="59">TReDS</g>)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the recently concluded<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/fintech-conclave-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> FinTech Conclave-2019,</strong></a> the Reserve Bank of India Governor termed Invoice trading as another nascent area of <g class="gr_ gr_60 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="60" data-gr-id="60">fintech</g> application in India.</li>
<li>The RBI has set up the <strong>Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs)</strong>, a financing arrangement where technology is leveraged for discounting bills and invoices which<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/support-and-outreach-initiative-for-msme-sector" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> assists Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)</strong></a> to deal with working capital and cash flow problems due to delayed payments.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDs)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is an institutional setup for facilitating the <strong>financing of trade receivables of MSMEs</strong> from corporate and other buyers, including Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), through multiple financiers.</li>
<li>It has been set up under the <strong>regulatory framework set up by RBI</strong> under <strong><g class="gr_ gr_45 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="45" data-gr-id="45">Payment</g> and Settlement Systems Act 2007.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>AUSINDEX- 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India and Australia will participate in the <strong>third edition of the biennial "AUSINDEX"</strong> exercise that will be held from April 2 to 16 off the coast of <strong>Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.</strong></li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_52 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="52" data-gr-id="52">Focus</g> of the AUSINDEX exercise will be<strong> &ldquo;anti-submarine warfare&rdquo;.</strong> This will be <strong>Australia&rsquo;s largest display of its <g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="56" data-gr-id="56">defence</g> assets</strong> since 1947.</li>
<li>Another interesting feature of the exercise will be the <strong>deployment of Australian personnel on Indian ships and vice versa.</strong></li>
<li>The AUSINDEX-2019 will be held as a part of<strong> Australia&rsquo;s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019</strong> which will see Australia conducting naval exercises with <strong>7 countries in south and southeast Asia</strong> apparently to increase its profile as a <strong>security provider in the Indian Ocean.</strong></li>
<li>The<strong> first edition of AUSINDEX was held in 2015 off the eastern coast of India</strong>, while the <strong>second edition was conducted off the Western coast of Australia in the year 2017.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>GRAPES-3</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>GRAPES-3 muon telescope</strong> has measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014.</li>
<li><strong>GRAPES-3</strong> (<strong>G</strong>amma<strong> R</strong>ay <strong>A</strong>stronomy <strong>P</strong>eV <strong>E</strong>nergieS phase-<strong>3</strong>) is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of <strong>air shower detectors and a large area muon detector.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong><g class="gr_ gr_63 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="63" data-gr-id="63">Muon</g></strong> is an elementary particle <strong>similar to the electron,</strong> with an <strong>electric charge of &minus;1 e</strong> and a <strong>spin of 1/2,</strong> but with a much greater mass.<strong></strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The GRAPES-3 experiment <strong>located at Ooty in India</strong> started as a collaboration of the <strong>Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India</strong> and the <strong>Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Chinook Helicopter</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Air Force <strong>formally inducted the CH 47 F(I)- Chinook <g class="gr_ gr_47 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="47" data-gr-id="47">heavy lift</g> helicopters into its inventory.</strong></li>
<li>IAF had signed a <strong>contract with M/s Boeing</strong> Ltd in September 2015 for<strong> 15 Chinook helicopters.</strong> These helicopters will be deployed in the Northern and Eastern regions of India.</li>
<li>The addition of heavy-lift CH 47 F(I) helicopter is a significant step towards modernization of Indian Air Force&rsquo;s helicopter fleet.</li>
<li>The helicopter has been customized to suit IAF&rsquo;s future requirements and capability roadmap. The helicopter has a fully integrated digital cockpit management system, advanced cargo handling capabilities and electronic warfare suite that complement the aircraft&rsquo;s performance.</li>
<li>The helicopter is capable of <strong>airlifting diverse military and nonmilitary loads into remote locations.</strong></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TTZZgLfF800" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-26th-march-2019'
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'title' => 'Italy Joins Belt & Road Initiative',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Italy has become the <strong>first G7 country to join China&rsquo;s Belt &amp; Road Initiative</strong> (previously known as One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative).</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>G7</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Group of Seven is a group consisting of <strong>Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.</strong></li>
<li>These countries, with the seven largest International Monetary Fund (<g class="gr_ gr_56 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="56" data-gr-id="56">IMF)</g>-described advanced economies in the world, represent 58% of the global net wealth.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Belt &amp; Road Initiative (BRI)</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Belt &amp; Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious project that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among multiple countries spread across the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe.</strong>&nbsp; BRI spans about 150 countries (China&rsquo;s Claim).</li>
<li>Initially announced in the year 2013, the project involves b<strong>uilding networks of roadways, railways, maritime ports, power grids, oil and gas pipelines,</strong> and associated infrastructure projects.</li>
<li>The project covers two parts.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Silk Road Economic Belt:</strong> It is land-based and is expected to connect China with Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe.</li>
<li><strong>21st Century Maritime Silk Road:</strong> It is sea-based and is expected to connect China&rsquo;s southern coast to the Mediterranean, Africa, South-East Asia, and Central Asia.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3><g class="gr_ gr_62 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="62" data-gr-id="62">Significance</g> of BRI For China</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the most emblematic of<strong> China&rsquo;s economic and industrial might, as of its ambitions for global, political and strategic influence.</strong></li>
<li>As infrastructure spending at home became less sustainable, <strong>China has shifted the emphasis to boost the global competitiveness of domestic businesses.</strong></li>
<li>The large infrastructure investments in the least developed and developing countries have <strong>enabled China to leverage its influence around the world,</strong> potentially altering the established rules of the global order and challenging western powers.</li>
<li>BRI will <strong>strengthen China&rsquo;s presence in the Eurasian region</strong> and puts it in a commanding position over Asia&rsquo;s heartland.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Criticism of BRI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Western critics have attacked the initiative as<strong> new colonialism, or Marshal Plan for the 21st century.&nbsp;</strong></li>
<li>BRI is also being seen as a part of <strong>China&rsquo;s debt trap policy,</strong> wherein China intentionally extends excessive credit to another country with the intention of extracting economic or political concessions from the debtor country.</li>
</ul>
<h3><g class="gr_ gr_65 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="65" data-gr-id="65">Significance</g> of Italy joining BRI</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Italy&rsquo;s <strong>endorsement of the BRI is a potential game changer</strong> as it is one of the major economies in the world.</li>
<li><strong>Other major economies may follow Italy&rsquo;s lead</strong> in joining BRI.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why India has not joined?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)</strong> is one of the flagship projects of BRI which is seen by <strong>India as infringing its sovereignty.</strong></li>
<li>China is building roads and infrastructure in the<strong> disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan,</strong> which is under Pakistan&rsquo;s control but which India claims as a part of Jammu and Kashmir.</li>
<li>If the CPEC project gets implemented successfully, this would<strong> hamper India&rsquo;s strategic interests in the South Asian region.</strong> It will serve Beijing's strategic ambition to encircle India.</li>
<li><strong>CPEC can aid Pakistan&rsquo;s legitimacy in the Kashmir dispute.</strong></li>
<li>China&rsquo;s increasing <strong>footprints in the South Asian region is detrimental to India&rsquo;s strategic hold e.g. construction of the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka</strong> provided China critical strategic location in the Indian Ocean.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/italy-joins-belt-road-initiative'
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'title' => 'No clinical trials in India for new drugs ',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has allowed waivers on conducting trials for new drugs in India in case the drug is approved and marketed in countries specified by &mdash; the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Regulation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>New drugs approved for use in select developed markets will be automatically allowed in India provided global trials included Indian patients.</li>
<li>This waiver would <strong>also extend to drugs</strong> that receive these marketing approvals even <strong>while a trial is underway in India</strong>.</li>
<li><strong>Data generated(clinical trial) outside the country will be acceptable</strong>.</li>
<li>Providing post-trial access of the drugs to the patients that require it have been defined for the first time.</li>
<li>It removed a clause in the clinical trials that mandated the sponsor (the entity initiating the trial) to pay 60% of compensation upfront in case of death or permanent disability of a patient.</li>
<li>Now companies will pay the total amount once it is proven that the injury occurred because of the trial.</li>
<li>Compensations in cases of death and permanent disability, or &ldquo;other&rdquo; injuries to a trial participant will be decided by Drug Controller General of India(DCGI).</li>
<li>It removed regulations on tests conducted on animals in case of drugs approved and marketed for more than two years in well-regulated overseas drug markets.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Significance of New Rules</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It will<strong> end the unnecessary repetition of trials</strong> and speed up the availability of new drugs in the country.</li>
<li>It will <strong>lower the cost of drugs</strong>.</li>
<li>It will improve the ease of doing business for drug makers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Criticism of new regulations</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is a country of <strong>vast ethnic diversity</strong> and most of the trials are done in the West. There is need of bridging trials for ethnically diverse populations to check drug suitability population.</li>
<li>Waiver should be only for drugs required<strong> urgently for national emergency</strong>.</li>
<li>Proving injury due to the trial is problematic and it is prone to manipulation.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The CDSCO is the Central Drug Authority for discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the <strong>Drugs and Cosmetics Act</strong>.</li>
<li>Major Functions:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Regulatory control over the import of drugs, <strong>approval of new drugs and clinical trials</strong>.</li>
<li>Approval of certain licences as Central Licence Approving Authority</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Drug Controller General of India(DCGI)</strong></li>
<li>DCGI is responsible for <strong>approval of licences of specified categories of drugs</strong> such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines and sera in India.</li>
<li>It comes under the Ministry of Health &amp; Family Welfare.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/no-clinical-trials-in-india-for-new-drugs'
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'title' => 'Another Look At Fiscal Transfers',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/another-look-at-fiscal-transfers/article26626986.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Another Look At Fiscal Transfers'</a> which appeared in &lsquo;The Hindu&rsquo; on 25th March, 2019. The article talks about the fiscal relationship shared by state and the centre and the challenges associated with it.)</p>
</div>
<p>Federalism is not an alien concept in political lexicon of nations and is relatively an old concept. It is a system of government in which entities such as states or provinces share power with a national government.</p>
<p>It is well known that the efficiency of a government depends on its structure; in large countries like ours federal structure can efficiently meet the requirements of people from different regions as preferences vary across regions and can best be addressed through local leadership.</p>
<p>However, after Independence several compulsions led to a scheme of federalism in which the Centre assumed greater importance. The process of centralisation in economic sphere has resulted in reduced fiscal autonomy for states.</p>
<p>Economic planning at a nation-wide level has resulted in the vertical fiscal imbalance between the federation and the provinces.</p>
<h3>Breaking The Term: Fiscal Federalism</h3>
<p>Fiscal federalism can best be understood as the economic counterpart to political federalism. It is concerned with assigning functions to different levels of government, and providing appropriate fiscal instruments for carrying out these functions.</p>
<p>It is generally believed that the Central government should provide national public goods that render services to the entire population while sub-national governments are expected to provide goods and services whose consumption is limited to their own jurisdictions.</p>
<p>Governments often find it difficult to determine the specific fiscal instruments that enable the different levels of government to carry out their functions.</p>
<p>However Indian Constitution lays down the functions as well as taxing powers of the Centre and States providing clarity in financial relations shared by state and the centre.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Centre State Financial Relations</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Constitution has made elaborate provisions, relating to the distribution of taxes as well as non-tax revenues and the power of borrowing, supplemented by provisions for grants-in-aid by the Union to the States.</li>
<li>Article 268 to 293 deals with the provisions of financial relations between Centre and States.</li>
</ul>
<p>The Constitution divides the taxing powers between the Centre and the States as follows:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Parliament has exclusive power to levy taxes on subjects enumerated in the Union List,</li>
<li>The state legislature has exclusive power to levy taxes on subjects enumerated in the State List,</li>
<li>Both can levy taxes on the subjects enumerated in Concurrent List whereas residuary power of taxation lies with Parliament only.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Evolution of Fiscal Relationship</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In India, substantial sources of revenue remains with the centre and major expenditure obligations lies with the states, creating vertical fiscal imbalance between the federation and the provinces.</strong></li>
<li>This economic relationship can best be attributed to colonial legacy of centralisation under the British. The imperial government had all the powers related to revenue and ordered discontinuation of the assignment of expenditure and revenue functions to the provinces. It was in this situation that the provinces had to give away a portion of their surplus to the imperial government to finance the deficits of the latter.</li>
<li>A clear delineation of powers between the centre and the provinces was attempted through the Government of India Act, 1935. It had a substantial centralising tilt with discretionary powers for the governor general and governors, and the retaining of major revenue sources with the imperial government.</li>
<li>Later, when the Constitution was framed under extraordinary circumstances after partition, most of the fiscal provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, found a place in it without any changes. This is the basic reason for the strong centralising trends in Indian polity, including in the fiscal division of powers and intergovernmental fiscal transfers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Tussle Between The State and The Centre</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Overtime, the non-shareable revenue of centre such as surcharges and cesses has increased which has made states demanding for more fiscal powers and share of all taxes collected by the centre from time to time.</strong></li>
<li>With respect to their own tax revenue, states have substantially lost the power to fix tax rates of items, de facto after value added tax (VAT) was implemented on intra-state trade of goods, and de jure when goods and services tax (GST) got introduced.</li>
<li>On the expenditure side, rise in the share of conditional and tied grants that essentially deal with items in the state list of the seventh schedule of the Constitution has restricted the freedom of the states in spending according to their priorities that takes into account the local specifications.</li>
<li>Challenges also arise from <strong>Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM)</strong> acts, which lay down uniform targets across states ignoring the different fiscal needs.</li>
<li>In short, the domain of the states, which should be given due autonomy in so far as their constitutional assignment is concerned; it is being restricted in more than one way.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recent Developments</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Central governments have tried to address these issues of vertical and horizontal imbalances through various Finance Commissions, taking into account the prevailing set of circumstances.</li>
<li>The Fourteenth Finance Commission has broken new ground in terms of allocation of resources. It has recommended increasing the share of tax devolution to 42% of the divisible pool.</li>
<li>It does not necessarily affect the overall transfers but only enhances the share of unconditional transfers as it looks to address the increasing central encroachment in states through conditional and centrally sponsored schemes.</li>
<li>Increased allocation in unconditional transfers however suffers from two challenges; firstly the total transfers that need to be made to the states, secondly who will be suggesting all the transfers.</li>
<li>Replacement of Planning Commission (entrusted to allocate resources to states) with NITI Aayog, which is simply a think-tank with no powers of resource allocation makes the process all the more difficult.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Harmonising The Relation</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The proportion of shareable taxes that go to the States should be fixed at the desired level. The shareable tax pool must also include cesses and surcharges as these have sharply increased in recent years.</li>
<li>Another possible route can be to follow the practice in the U.S. and Canada: of allowing the States to levy tax on personal income, with some limitations, which is as of now collected by Centre.</li>
<li>Any reform aimed at rationalising the sharing of taxes between state and centre should also address issues related to horizontal distribution and should take into consideration the question of equity amongst states as states often feel &lsquo;cheated&rsquo; because of the overuse of the equity criterion.</li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>It is time that the nation arrived at an appropriate solution giving effect to fiscal federalism so that the provincial aspirations are taken care of, meanwhile extending the provincial autonomy that our constitution talks about.</strong></em></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p>To correct the horizontal fiscal imbalance between the States and bring more equity, Finance Commission undertakes few steps while horizontally distributing revenue.</p>
<p>The criteria used by the Finance Commissions can be broadly grouped under:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Factors reflecting needs, such as population and income measured either as distance from the highest income or as inverse.</li>
<li>Cost disability indicators, such as area and infrastructure distance.</li>
<li>Fiscal efficiency indicators, such as tax effort and fiscal discipline.</li>
</ul>
<p>While the weightage assigned to population has declined considerably, weightage assigned to income distance and efficiency factors has increased considerably in recent years.</p>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/another-look-at-fiscal-transfers'
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'title' => 'Regionalism In India',
		'catname' => 'Paper 1',
		'desc' => '<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/324Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/324Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/mind-map/gs-paper1/regionalism-in-india-upsc-mindmap'
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'title' => 'Olive Ridley Turtles',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>Olive Ridley turtles have not yet arrived for mass nesting at Odisha&rsquo;s Rushikulya rookery and Devi river mouth.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The reasons are not fully understood yet. Although it is held that climatic parameters, as well as beach conditions, decide mass nesting at a coast.</li>
<li>However, Mass nesting has already occurred at the Gahirmatha coast (Bhitarkanika National Park) of the Odisha. Mass nesting of Olive Ridleys can occur up to any time till the end of April.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Rushikulya River</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district of Odisha.</li>
<li>The Rushikulya River is one of the major rivers in the state of Odisha and covers entire catchment area in the districts of Kandhamal and Ganjam district of Odisha</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Devi River</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Devi river is one of the principal distributaries of Mahanadhi. It flows through Jagatsinghpur district and Puri district across Odisha state in India and joins the Bay of Bengal.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Olive Ridley</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles</strong> found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.</li>
<li>They are best known for their unique mass nesting called <strong>Arribada</strong>, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.</li>
<li>The species is listed as<strong> Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List</strong>, <strong>Appendix 1 in CITES</strong>, and <strong>Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972</strong>.</li>
<li>Olive-ridleys<strong> face serious threats</strong> across their migratory route, habitat and nesting beaches, due to human activities such as<strong> unfriendly turtle fishing practices, development, and exploitation of nesting beaches for ports, and tourist centers.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Bhitarkanika National Park</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Bhitarkanika National Park is one of Odisha&rsquo;s finest biodiversity hotspots and is famous for its <strong>mangroves, migratory birds, turtles, estuarine crocodiles, and countless creeks.</strong></li>
<li>The wetland is represented by 3 Protected Areas, <strong>the Bhitarkanika National Park, the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary and the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.</strong></li>
<li>Bhitarkanika is located in the estuary of<strong> Brahmani, Baitarani, Dhamra, and Mahanadi river systems.</strong></li>
<li>It is said to house 70% of the country&rsquo;s estuarine or saltwater crocodiles, conservation of which was started way back in 1975.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/olive-ridley-turtles'
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'title' => 'FinTech Conclave 2019',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p><strong>FinTech Conclave-2019</strong> to be inaugurated by <strong>Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI)</strong> in New Delhi on <strong>25<sup>th</sup> March, 2019.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The conclave, whose objective is to <strong>shape India&rsquo;s continued ascendancy in Financial Technology (FinTech)</strong>, build the narrative for future strategy and policy efforts, and to deliberate steps for comprehensive financial inclusion is <strong>organised by the NITI Aayog.</strong></li>
<li>The Reserve Bank of India has categorised these <strong>financial technology (or fintech) companies as peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Peer to Peer lending, also known as <strong>P2P Lending</strong>, is a financial innovation which <strong>connects verified borrowers</strong> seeking unsecured personal loans <strong>with investors looking to earn higher returns</strong> on their investments.</li>
<li>P2P lending service providers have been in business in India since early 2014. However, it was in <strong>September 2017,</strong> RBI notified that these will be <strong>registered as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)</strong> and subsequently came out with <strong>guidelines for P2P lending.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India is one of the<strong> fastest growing FinTech markets globally</strong> and industry research has projected that USD 1 Trillion or 60% of retail and SME credit, will be digitally disbursed by 2029.</li>
<li>The Indian FinTech ecosystem is the <strong>third largest in the globe,</strong> attracting nearly USD 6 billion in investments since 2014.</li>
<li>The Indian FinTech industry is creating cutting edge intellectual property assets in advanced risk management and artificial intelligence that will propel India forward in the global digital economy while simultaneously enabling paperless access to finance for every Indian.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Fintech Sector</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Fintech (Financial technology) describes an emerging financial services sector.</li>
<li>Originally, the term referred to computer technology applied to the back office of banks or trading firms, and now the term has <strong>expanded to include any technological innovation in the financial sector</strong> including innovations in financial literacy and education, retail banking, investment and even crypto-currencies like bitcoin.</li>
<li><strong>Potential benefits of FinTech</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Efficiency</strong> improvements,</li>
<li><strong>Risk reduction</strong> and <strong>greater financial inclusion.</strong></li>
<li>They can <strong>address the unmet demand from Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),</strong> as well as consumers, for credit.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>E.g.: According to the <strong>India Fintech Report 2019,</strong> the traditional ways of banking approve only 25-40% of the loan applications.</li>
<li>However, with access to more data for credit scoring such as transaction behaviour, app-based data, location information, social data and others, these new lending models can increase this threshold by additional 10&ndash;15%.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>With tech-enabled underwriting, FinTechs can provide <strong>tailor-made loans</strong> to various merchants as per their industry segments ranging from food and beverage, apparel, salon, petrol pumps, automobile dealers etc. with quick turnaround times to meet their urgent funding needs</li>
<li>The rural population (which is new to credit) can benefit from this since the urban population is likely to leverage fintech lending services to avoid heavy documentation.</li>
<li><strong>Challenges</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Difficulty of <strong>regulating an evolving technology,</strong></li>
<li>Monitoring activity <strong>outside the regulated sector.</strong></li>
<li>Since, there is no connect with customer as the application is completely processed online there is <strong>higher risks of non-performing assets (NPAs).</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Few countries have taken a variety of regulatory and supervisory initiatives such as <strong>regulatory sandboxes, innovation hubs, innovation incubators or accelerators, etc.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Regulatory Sandbox</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A regulatory sandbox is an <strong>entity hosted by the regulators that enables temporary, limited-scale testing</strong> of a new product that may involve some regulatory ambiguity.</li>
<li>It allows businesses to <strong>test innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms</strong> in the real market, with real consumers.</li>
<li>Inside this <strong>controlled environment,</strong> regulators relax applicable laws or deploy new ones specific to the applications being tested and then observe how the software functions in the new framework.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The MSME lending landscape is evolving and is set to be disrupted by digital lenders, backed by <strong>continuous thrust by Government of India towards digitisation through demonetisation, Unified Payments Interface launch, and the introduction of GST.</strong></li>
<li>Moreover, it is estimated that by 2023, MSME digital lending has the <strong>potential to increase between 10 and 15 fold creating immense opportunity for both traditional lenders and digital start-ups.</strong> Therefore, the initiatives like FinTech conclave is in right direction which aims to evolve future strategy.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/fintech-conclave-2019'
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'title' => 'Regionalism In India',
		'catname' => 'Paper 1',
		'desc' => '<h3>About</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Regionalism is the expression of a common sense of identity and purpose by people within a specific geographical region, united by its unique language, culture, language, etc.</li>
<li>In a positive sense, it encourages people to develop a sense of brotherhood and oneness which seeks to protect the interests of a particular region and promotes the welfare and development of the state and its people.</li>
<li>In the negative sense, it implies excessive attachment to one&rsquo;s region which is a great threat to the unity and integrity of the country.</li>
<li>In the Indian context generally, the term 'regionalism' has been used in the negative sense.</li>
</ul>
<h3>History of Regional Movements in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The roots of regional consciousness in India can be found in the colonial policies.</li>
<li>Differential attitudes and treatment by the British towards princely states and those of the presidencies developed regionalist tendencies among them.</li>
<li>British exploitative economic policies completely neglected some regions, giving way to economic disparities and regional imbalances.</li>
<li>On the other side, the Indian national movement furthered a pluralistic idea of India.</li>
<li>The history of regional movements in India can be traced back to the 1940s Dravida Movement or the Non-Brahmin movement that started in the present day Tamil Nadu.</li>
<li>Later, the movement was resulted into the demand of a separate and independent Tamil state.</li>
<li>This, in turn, led to several other parties like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) springing up in the Andhra region, with the demands of separate statehood.</li>
<li>The decades of 1950s and 1960s witnessed intense mass mobilisation, often taking on a violent character for the demands of statehood.</li>
<li>In 1954, the revolt for the separate state of Andhra for Telugu - speaking people spearheaded by Potti Sri Ramulu and his eventual death triggered the wave of political regionalism in India with many princely states and other states making a demand for a separate state.</li>
<li>This resulted in formation of the States Reorganisation Committee (headed by Faisal Ali) which recommended re-organisation of Indian states on linguistic lines, thus reinforcing the regionalist tendencies.</li>
<li>With the enactment of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, linguistic states became a reality.</li>
<li>During 1970s and 1980s, owing to the intensification of tribal insurgency for separation and statehood, the Union government passed the North-eastern States Reorganisation Act, 1971.</li>
<li>It upgraded the Union Territories of Manipur and Tripura, and the Sub-State of Meghalaya to full statehood, and Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (then Tribal Districts) to Union Territories which became states in 1986.</li>
<li>The decade of 2000s, witnessed vigorous movements for the creation of separate states due to a rising sense of regional deprivation.</li>
<li>It resulted in the formation of the three new states &ndash; Chhattisgarh out of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand out of Bihar and Uttarakhand out of Uttar Pradesh.</li>
<li>The latest addition to this is the state of Telangana created by the division of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Types of Regional Movements</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong> Secessionism</strong> is a form of regionalism that involves militant and fundamentalist groups advocating a separation from India on the basis of ethnicity or any other factor.</li>
<li>Isac Muivah&rsquo;s National Socialist Council of Nagaland, the Islamic fundamentalist groups in J&amp;K, ULFA in Assam are examples of such an extreme dimension of regionalism.</li>
<li><strong>Separatism</strong> is a demand for separate statehood within the Indian Union.</li>
<li>Many times, linguistic or ethnic minorities within the states come together and unite against the majority community in that state.</li>
<li>This kind of sub-regionalism was validated by the State Reorganisation Act of 1956. The most recent examples include the formation of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, there have been many demands including the creation of Bodoland for the Bodo-speakers in Assam; Gorkhaland for ethnic Gorkha (Nepali) people in West Bengal; a Bundelkhand state (covering part of Madhya Pradesh and part of Uttar Pradesh) for promoting the development of the region.</li>
<li><strong>Demand for Full Statehood,</strong> the union territories have been forwarding such demands like the NCT of Delhi.</li>
<li>Most of such demands have already been accepted. In 1971, Himachal Pradesh got the status of a full state and thereafter Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh (former NEFA) and Sikkim got full statehoods</li>
<li><strong>The Demand for Autonomy,</strong> since 1960&rsquo;s, with the emergence of regional parties, the demand for state autonomy has been gaining more and more strength due to the central political interferences.</li>
<li>In Tamil Nadu the DMK, in Punjab the Akali Dal, in Andhra Pradesh the Telgu Desham, in Assam the Assam Gana Parishad, the National conference in J&amp;K and in West Bengal the Forward Bloc have been continuously demanding a larger share of powers for the states.</li>
<li><strong>Demand for Regional Autonomy within a State,</strong> in some of the states, people belonging to various regions have been demanding recognition of their regional identities.</li>
<li>The genesis of such demands lies in the regional imbalances resulting from inefficient planning for instance in J &amp; K, the Ladakhis are demanding a regional status.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Reasons behind Growth of Regionalism in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Historical and geographical isolation</li>
<li>Lop-sided development</li>
<li>Continuous neglect of a region</li>
<li>Insider-outsider complex that nurturers nativism and son-of-the-soil ideology</li>
<li>Internal colonialism, i.e., despite being rich in natural resources some regions remain economically underdeveloped.</li>
<li>The reasons being either ill-conceived top-down approach or survival of one region at the cost of the other region. Chhota Nagpur plateau is an example of this type of underdevelopment.</li>
<li>Political vested interests can accentuate and exploit regional loyalties.</li>
<li>Reaction to an imposed ideology that can make its appearance as a reaction against the perceived imposition of a particular ideology, language or cultural pattern on all people and groups.</li>
<li>Linguistic aspirations that have remained a formidable basis of regionalism.</li>
<li>Expression of ethnicity.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of Regionalism on Indian Polity</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Rise of regional parties.</li>
<li>Re-focus on regional issues.</li>
<li>Regionalist tendencies often stir inter-state hostility as its spillover effect.</li>
<li>Regional movements often result in violent agitations, disturbs not only the law and order situation but also have negative implications on the economy of the state as well as the nation.</li>
<li>Regionalism sometimes undercuts the national interest by being a hurdle in international diplomacy.</li>
<li>For instance- the opposition of regional/state parties of Tamil against the stand of the central government had a direct implication on the relation of India with Sri Lanka.</li>
<li>The disagreement of political leadership in West Bengal with the central government over the Land Boundary Agreement and Teesta River Water sharing treaty with Bangladesh resulted in increased tensions between the two nations.</li>
<li>Regionalism can become a shield for militancy, extremism to create an internal security threat. Kashmir militancy is an example of this type of regionalism.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Regionalism vs. Nationalism</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Nationalism is a sense of belonging to one nation, a feeling one shares with all the citizens of the country regardless of their caste, creed, culture, religion or region.</li>
<li>This association with a nation is the primary mode of identification for a person and every nation encourages its citizens to take pride in being its citizen.</li>
<li>However, when people begin identifying more strongly with their region than with their nation, it is alleged that nationalism is undercut by a sense of regionalism.</li>
<li>While a nation tries to establish harmony between all its citizens by uniting them through a constitution, national symbols, and songs, regionalism glorifies the heritage of only one particular region and of one culture.</li>
<li>This leads to the formation of multiple communities within one nation and restricts the efforts of national integration.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Is regionalism a threat to national unity and integrity?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Parochial regionalism poses a threat to the sovereignty of the nation.</li>
<li>The anti-migrant or anti-Bihari stance of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) which opposes the employment and residence of non-Maharashtrian people in the state of Maharashtra is a prime example of negative regionalism.</li>
<li>Regionalism beyond a point can lead to secessionism, such as strong regionalism in Punjab ultimately resulted in the growth of Khalistani terrorism.</li>
<li>Regionalism often promotes Vote- Bank politics, thereby weakens the national integration.</li>
<li>Regionalism can weaken the time tested fabric of 'Unity in Diversity', if promoted in an ultra manner.</li>
<li>Positive regionalism promotes a sense of pride in connecting to one&rsquo;s roots and culture.</li>
<li>It has been noticed that often regional movements have helped the art and culture of many neglected regions to flourish by increasing their exposure through local emphasis.</li>
<li>Therefore, in principle, regionalism need not be regarded as an unhealthy or anti-national phenomenon, unless it takes a militant, aggressive turn to encourage the growth of secessionist tendencies.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Constitutional Safeguards Against Separatist Tendencies</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Constitution provides various institutional arrangements to resolve such problem, including the threats posed by violent regionalism.</li>
<li>The provisions of the fifth and sixth schedules of the Indian constitution have been applied by the government with intended objectives of constraining ethnic separatism and tribal alienation in different regions, particularly in the North-east.</li>
<li>Also institutionally, the government has become more receptive to the creation of an autonomous regional council or district council for the people of ethnic enclaves.</li>
<li>The state language policy has been fine tuned to accommodate the claims of various dialect or language groups. This has been done by:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>By including the major languages in the eighth schedule, and</li>
<li>Granting official recognition to culturally significant languages of the state as the language of education and official transaction.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>All these policies have a significant impact on integrating the diverse regional communities within the mould and measures of Indian nationalism.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Unity in Diversity ethos needs to be preserved for the pluralistic character of the Indian nation state.</li>
<li>The accommodation of multiple aspirations of a diverse population is necessary.</li>
<li>Formation of the NITI Aayog has been a positive step to enhance co-operative federalism by fostering the involvement of the State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.</li>
<li>While a number of steps such as the launch of centrally sponsored schemes, incentives to private players for development in backward states have been taken by the government for inclusive development, there is a greater need for their effective implementation.</li>
<li>There is a need to increase the level of social expenditure by the states on education, health, and sanitation which are the core for human resource development.</li>
<li>Introducing a system of national education that would help people to overcome regional feelings and develop an attachment towards the nation can act as a long-term solution to the problem of sub-nationalism.</li>
<li>While the National Integration Council was set up in 1961, there is a need to utilise its potential more effectively.</li>
<li>Schemes like "Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat" have been launched by the GOI to celebrate unity in diversity culture of the nation and to strengthen sentiment for National Unity between the citizens of states, is a welcomed step.</li>
<li>National unity is not impaired if the people of a region have genuine pride in their language and culture.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/595Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/595Drishti_ias_Regionalism-in-India.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></a></p>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper1/regionalism-in-india-upsc'
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'title' => ' RBI Deferred Ind AS Implementation by Banks',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>RBI has again deferred the implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by banks as the requisite legislative amendments are still under consideration.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In 2006, <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/icai-nfra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ICAI</a> initiated the process of shifting towards the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The reason behind this step was to increase the acceptability and transparency of the financial statements of the Indian corporates on the global platform.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>For making the proper shift, Accounting Standards Board (ASB) of ICAI formulated <g class="gr_ gr_37 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="37" data-gr-id="37">the Ind</g> AS in line with the IFRS.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>In 2015, MCA notified Companies (Indian Accounting Standard) Rules 2015, which listed out the applicability and adoption of Ind AS.</strong></li>
<li>As per <g class="gr_ gr_42 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="42" data-gr-id="42">initial</g> plan, MCA was to implement Ind AS for banks, insurance companies and <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-what-ails-nbfcs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBFCs</a> from 1 April 2018 onwards but in April 2018,<a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/important-institutions-national-institution-reserve-bank-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> RBI</a> deferred the implementation of Indian Accounting Standards by one year for banks.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>On March 22, 2019, RBI again deferred the implementation of Ind AS by banks till further notice.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>The reason cited is that certain legislative amendments to the Third Schedule to the Banking Regulation Act 1949 are under consideration of the government.</strong></li>
<li>It is expected that these amendments will help in making the current format of financial statements compatible with the requirements under Ind AS.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Ind AS</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) <strong>are set of accounting standards that govern the accounting and recording of financial transactions as well as the presentation of statements such as profit and loss account and balance sheet of a company.</strong></li>
<li>The standards were formulated by the<strong> Accounting Standards Board (ASB), which was constituted as a body in the year 1977.</strong> ASB is a committee under ICAI which consists of representatives from <g class="gr_ gr_45 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="45" data-gr-id="45">government</g> department, academicians, other professional bodies viz. ICAI, representatives from ASSOCHAM, CII, FICCI, etc.</li>
<li>The Ind AS are named and numbered in the same way as the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>IFRS</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are accounting standards that have been <strong>issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) with the objective of providing a common accounting language to increase transparency in the presentation of financial information.</strong></li>
<li><strong>IASB is an independent body that was formed in 2001</strong> for establishing the IFRS. It succeeded the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), which was earlier given the responsibility of establishing the international accounting standards. It is based in London.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/rbi-deferred-ind-as-implementation-by-banks'
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'title' => 'Disinvestment Exceeds Target',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>For the <strong>second year in a row</strong>, the government has&nbsp;<strong>exceeded the disinvestment target of Rs 80,000</strong> crore set for the <strong>Financial Year 2019,</strong> which ends in March.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Against a goal of ₹80,000 crore in FY19,  divestments have touched ₹85,000 crore with <strong>completion of the acquisition of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) for Rs 14,500 crore.</strong></li>
<li>Apart from Power Finance Corporation acquiring government&rsquo;s stake in Rural Electrification Corporation, <strong>launch of several tranches of <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-13th-march-2019-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE)</a>,</strong> and <strong>PSUs buying back their own shares</strong> were among the measures deployed by the government to achieve its target of stake sales.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>largest chunk of disinvestment c</strong>ame from several tranches of <strong>ETFs launched by the government.</strong></li>
<li>The <strong>second biggest chunk</strong> of Rs 14,500 crore was raised through <strong>Power Finance Corporation</strong> acquiring government&rsquo;s 52.63% stake in REC.</li>
<li>In the last fiscal year, the government had <strong>used the same strategy</strong> to meet its disinvestment target as ONGC bought the entire stake of government in HPCL for a total of around Rs 37,000 crore.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Meeting the disinvestment target for the current fiscal year was crucial because of the <strong>uncertainty in revenue collection from direct taxes as well as from the goods and services tax (GST).</strong></li>
<li>This will enable the government to <strong>achieve the revised fiscal deficit target of 3.4%</strong> of gross domestic product (GDP).
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The budgeted fiscal deficit target was 3.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) at the beginning of 2018-19 and was later <strong>revised to 3.4% of gross domestic product in the interim budget,</strong> mainly because of an expectation of higher payout because of the direct income scheme for farmers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Disinvestment</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Disinvestment means <strong>selling of assets</strong>. In the case of Public Sector Undertakings, disinvestment means <strong>Government selling/ diluting its stake (share) in PSUs in which it has a majority holding.</strong></li>
<li>Disinvestment is carried out a<strong>s a budgetary exercise,</strong> under which the government announces yearly targets for disinvestment for selected PSUs.</li>
<li>Recently, in April 2016, the <strong>Department of Disinvestment (under Ministry of Finance)&nbsp;</strong>was renamed as<strong> Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).</strong></li>
<li>The mandate of the Department is as follows:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>All matters relating to the<strong> management of Central Government investments in equity</strong> including disinvestment of equity in Central Public Sector Undertakings.</li>
<li>All matters relating to the sale of Central Government equity through offer for sale or private placement or any other mode in the erstwhile Central Public Sector Undertakings.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/disinvestment-exceeds-target'
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'title' => 'US Recognition to Golan Heights as Israel’s Territory',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the <strong>US may recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>U.S. will be the first country</strong> to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan and marks a dramatic shift in U.S. policy.</li>
<li>The<strong> Golan Heights were captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967</strong> conflict and <strong>annexed in 1981 &mdash; a move not recognized internationally.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>US Stand &amp; Israel's Response</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The U.S. has said that <strong>Israel could not give up the Golan Heights as doing so would endanger Israel&rsquo;s very existence.</strong></li>
<li>Israel has welcomed the US stand.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other countries Response</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Syrian government said the Golan was an &ldquo;indivisible&rdquo; part of Syrian territory</strong> and recovering it &ldquo;via all means guaranteed by international law is still a priority&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>Russia, Iran, and Turkey have condemned the US statement as illegal and unacceptable</strong> and said that the decisions will lead to a crisis in the region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Impact of Withdrawal</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The formal recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan <strong>doesn't change anything on the ground.</strong> <strong>Israel already has a considerable military presence in the region.</strong></li>
<li>It is <strong>not immediately clear how the U.N. peacekeeping force in the Golan might be affected</strong> by the U.S. move.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Golan Heights</strong></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577338094_image43.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1577338094_image43.png" style="float: right;" width="340" caption="false" /></strong></a></h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Golan Heights is a<strong> rocky plateau with an area of 1,800km&sup2; on the border between Israel and Syria</strong> in south-western Syria.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Dispute</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>I<strong>srael occupied the Golan Heights, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War.</strong> An armistice line was established and the region came under Israeli military control.</li>
<li><strong>Syria tried to retake the Golan Heights during the 1973 Middle East war.</strong> Syria was defeated in its attempt.</li>
<li>Both countries <strong>signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force has been in place</strong> on the ceasefire line since 1974.</li>
<li><strong>In 1981, Israel permanently acquired the territory of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem</strong> in moves never recognized by most countries.</li>
<li>The international community regards as disputed territory occupied by Israel whose status should be determined by negotiations between Israel and Syria.</li>
<li>Attempts by the international community to bring Israel and Syria for negotiations have failed.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>International Recognition of Golan Heights</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>European Union</strong> said its position on the status of the Golan Heights was unchanged and it did not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area.</li>
<li>The <strong>Arab League</strong>, which suspended Syria in 2011 after the start of its civil war has said the move is &ldquo;completely beyond international law&rdquo;.</li>
<li><strong>Egypt</strong>, which made peace with Israel in 1979, said it still considers the Golan as occupied Syrian territory.</li>
<li><strong>India</strong> has also not recognized Golan heights as Israel territory and has called for the return of Golan Heights to Syria.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Importance of Golan Heights</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Golan Heights<strong> give Israel an excellent point for monitoring Syrian movements.</strong> The topography provides a natural buffer against any military adventure from Syria.</li>
<li>The area is also a <strong>key source of water for an arid region. Rainwater from the Golan's catchment feeds into the Jordan River.</strong> The area provides a third of Israel's water supply.</li>
<li>The<strong> land is fertile, and the volcanic soil is used to cultivate vineyards and orchards and raise cattle.</strong> The Golan is also home to Israel's only ski resort.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/us-recognition-to-golan-heights-as-israel-s-territory'
	],
	(int) 16 => [
		'title' => 'Important Facts For Prelims (23rd March 2019)',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<h3>LIMA 2019</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The<strong> Indian Air Force</strong> is going to participate in <strong>Langkawi International Maritime Aero Expo (LIMA) 2019.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Langkawi International Maritime Aero Expo (LIMA-2019)</strong> is planned in Langkawi, Malaysia from 26 March 2019 to 30 March 2019.</li>
<li>Indian Air Force is participating in the <strong>Maritime Aero Expo for the first time,</strong> during which it will showcase its<strong> indigenously developed LCA Tejas fighter aircraft.</strong></li>
<li>Participation of IAF in LIMA-2019 will provide an opportunity to air-warriors to interact with their Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) counterparts and foster a close relationship between the two services.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cyclone Trevor &amp; Veronica</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Two <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-daye" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>cyclonic storms</strong></a>, named <strong>Trevor and Veronica</strong>, are expected to make landfall into<strong> Australia&rsquo;s coasts.</strong></li>
<li>Trevor is expected to make landfall in northeast Australia while Veronica will hit northwest Australia.</li>
<li>Trevor and Veronica are no different from the<strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/cyclone-titli" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> hurricanes or cyclones </a>except</strong> that they <strong>spin clockwise instead of counterclockwise.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In the <strong>Northern Hemisphere</strong> the direction of the <strong>cyclone is counterclockwise</strong>, and in the <strong>Southern Hemisphere, it is clockwise.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</strong> is observed on <strong>21<sup>st</sup> March every year.</strong></li>
<li>The <strong>theme for 2019</strong> is<strong> Mitigating and countering rising nationalist populism and extreme supremacist ideologies.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>History of the Day</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>UN General Assembly on 26 October 1966</strong> proclaimed <strong>21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</strong> to be commemorated annually.</li>
<li>On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws".</li>
<li>Proclaiming the Day in 1966 which signifies the struggle to end the policy of apartheid in South Africa.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Navroz</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Navroz is<strong> New Year celebrations on March 21 every year for Parsis, followers of Zoroastrianism and various sects of Muslim, both Shias and Sunnis.</strong></li>
<li>In 1079 AD, a <strong>Persian (Iranian) king named Jalaluddin Malekshah introduced the Navroz (New Year)</strong> festival to generate revenue and collect taxes from people.</li>
<li>It was observed on <strong>March 21 to mark the beginning of spring and the day of equinox.</strong></li>
<li>It is inscribed in the list of <strong>UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of India</strong>. In India it is known as <strong>Jamshed Navroz.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Intangible Cultural Heritage of India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Kumbh Mela, Yoga, Traditional brass and copper craft of utensils among thatheras of Punjab, Sankirtana (ritual singing, dancing and drumming of Manipur), Buddhist chanting of Ladakh, Chhau Dance, Kalbelia (folk song and dance of Rajasthan), Kutiyattam (a Sanskrit theatre of Kerala), Tradition of Vedic Chanting, Ramlila, <strong>Novruz (Persian New Year)</strong>, Ramman(religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas), Mudiyettu (ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala).</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/important-facts-for-prelims-23rd-march-2019'
	],
	(int) 17 => [
		'title' => 'PILs: From Public Interest to 'Publicity Interest' Litigations',
		'catname' => 'News Editorials',
		'desc' => '<div class="border">
<p>(This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-gavel-on-the-duds/301330" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&lsquo;PILs: From Public Interest to 'Publicity Interest</a>' Litigations&rsquo; which appeared in &lsquo;The Outlook&rsquo; on 19th <g class="gr_ gr_91 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="91" data-gr-id="91">March,</g> 2019. The article talks about the nature of PILs and the change it has undergone over a period of time.)</p>
</div>
<p><em>Almost exactly 40 years ago, in <g class="gr_ gr_93 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="93" data-gr-id="93">March,</g> 1979, Kapila Hingorani made history by filing and securing the release of nearly 40,000 <g class="gr_ gr_92 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="92" data-gr-id="92">under trials</g> languishing in the jails of Bihar&rsquo;s Patna and Muzzafarpur, in the &lsquo;Hussainara Khatoon&rsquo; case.</em></p>
<p><em>The &lsquo;Hussainara Khatoon&rsquo; case established a new paradigm in the Indian justice system, which until 1979 was accessible to only those personally affected by the law or <g class="gr_ gr_88 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="88" data-gr-id="88">facing</g> penal action.</em></p>
<p><em>The court allowed Hingorani to pursue a case in which she had no personal locus <g class="gr_ gr_86 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="86" data-gr-id="86">standi</g> making Public Interest Litigations (PILs) a permanent fixture in Indian jurisprudence. Ever <g class="gr_ gr_85 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="85" data-gr-id="85">since,</g> PILs has become the champion of the underprivileged and those wronged by the system. </em></p>
<h3>Public Interest Litigation</h3>
<p>Public interest litigation uses the law to advance human rights and equality, or raise issues of broad public concern. It helps advance the cause of minority or disadvantaged groups or individuals.</p>
<p>Public interest cases can arise from both public and private law matters concerning various rules and regulations that govern the exercise of power by public bodies and even when a public body is not involved such as employment law or family law.</p>
<p>It has most ideally and commonly been used to challenge the decisions of public authorities by judicial review to review the lawfulness of a decision or action, or a failure to act, by a public body.</p>
<p>PILs have been responsible for landmark verdicts that have outlawed instant triple talaq, identified privacy as a fundamental right, opened the doors of the Sabarimala temple in Kerala and Mumbai&rsquo;s Haji Ali shrine to women, <g class="gr_ gr_71 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="71" data-gr-id="71">legalised</g> consensual homosexual relations and made passive euthanasia permissible etc.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<h3>Procedures to File A PIL In The Court</h3>
<p>Any citizen of India can approach the court for public case (upon the interest of public) by filing a petition:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under the Supreme Court, under Article 32 of the Constitution</li>
<li>Under the High Court, under Article 226 of the Constitution</li>
<li>Under Court of Magistrate under Section 133 of CrPC</li>
</ul>
<p>At present, a court can treat a letter as a writ petition and take action upon it. In such cases, the court has to be satisfied that the writ petition complies with the following;</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Where the letter is addressed by the aggrieved person</li>
<li>A public-spirited individual</li>
<li>A social action group for the enforcement of legal or constitutional rights to any person who, upon poverty or disability, are not able to approach the court for redress.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>From Public to Publicity</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>PIL was introduced in Indian jurisprudence to help raise the cause of social justice. Unfortunately, it has instead become a tool for people to use these as either to gain publicity or for political agenda.</li>
<li>PILs these days are being used as a means to further bigotry and communal hate in the name of public interest. Filling of flippant cases has resulted in the erosion of the sanctity of the PIL system, which has been responsible for some of the most progressive verdicts delivered by various courts.</li>
<li>In the absence of any robust mechanism to filter genuine pleas from frivolous pleas known as &ldquo;<g class="gr_ gr_75 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling" id="75" data-gr-id="75">publicity</g> interest&rdquo; or &ldquo;political interest&rdquo; litigations, irrational petitions have soared in great numbers. The courts place the onus of curbing the menace on litigants&rsquo; moral conscience.</li>
<li>Frivolous filing of PILs has not only resulted in <g class="gr_ gr_100 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="100" data-gr-id="100">added</g> burden on judiciary but has significantly led to trust erosion in the entire exercise, even if a frivolous plea is eventually dismissed, the judges have to spend a lot of time in going through the prayer and, on most occasions, hearing the petitioner.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Present System of Checks</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under the present system, only judges have the power to decide if a petition should be admitted or dismissed while the job of the Registry (of the SC or of any high court) is to ensure that technical requirements of filing a petition have been fulfilled by the litigant.</li>
<li>Petition gets listed for admission irrespective of its merit, eating away the court&rsquo;s time that could otherwise be <g class="gr_ gr_68 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="68" data-gr-id="68">utilised</g> to hear the massive backlog of cases.</li>
<li><g class="gr_ gr_70 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="70" data-gr-id="70">Total</g> number of cases pending before the SC, as on December 1 last year, stood at 56,994. The National Judicial Data Grid puts the total number of cases pending before various high courts, as on March 17, at a whopping 42.89 lakh.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Desired Steps</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There is a need for an effective deterrent to prevent such frivolous cases, especially those that blatantly violate the Constitution, from being filed. Judiciary needs to be more proactive in dealing with those who file cases purely to gain publicity.</li>
<li>A litigant who takes liberties with the truth or with the procedures of the court should be left in no doubt about the consequences to follow. All the courts should impose exemplary cost against petitioners who try to choke the judicial system with absurd PILs mocking both the basic law of justice as well as the secular fabric of the nation.</li>
<li>The court cannot abdicate its responsibility (of deciding whether a case deserves to be heard) in <g class="gr_ gr_87 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="87" data-gr-id="87">favour</g> of the Registry as it is within the powers of the court, and <g class="gr_ gr_84 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="84" data-gr-id="84">its</g> Chief Justice, to lay down broad guidelines for the Registry to follow while deciding what kind of cases deserve to be listed</li>
<li>The Registry should be empowered to at least check the credentials of the person filing a PIL and those who have a prior record of filing such cases should be warned of the consequences.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the 40 years since its inception as a course for judicial remedy, the PIL system has emerged as a potent tool for ensuring transparency in governance and enabler of social justice.</li>
<li>Litigations such as those demanding deportation of Indian Muslims to Pakistan strikes at the very core of the purpose that a PIL is supposed to serve&mdash;public interest, necessitating timely and stern actions against the &lsquo;Lousy Litigants&rsquo; to make evident the deterrent cost of publicity.</li>
<li>Public Interest Litigation is a weapon which should be used with great care and circumspection and the Judiciary needs to be extremely careful so that ugly private malice, vested interest is not seen lurking behind the beautiful veil of public interest.</li>
</ul>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/pils-from-public-interest-to-publicity-interest-litigations'
	],
	(int) 18 => [
		'title' => 'Lancet: Building a Tuberculosis Free World',
		'catname' => 'News Analysis',
		'desc' => '<p>The Lancet Commission on tuberculosis has published report &lsquo;building a tuberculosis-free world&rsquo;.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is <strong>based on modelling for three high-burden countries(India, Indonesia, &amp; China)</strong>.</li>
<li>It compared with 2015 data, and estimated 57% reduction in incidence and 72% reduction in mortality will been seen only by 2045.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to World Health Organisation (WHO) <strong>10 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported globally in 2017</strong>, out of which 2.74 million were from India.</li>
<li>It shows a marginal reduction from 2.79 million in 2016.</li>
<li>The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include ending the TB epidemic by 2030 under Goal 3.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Lancet&rsquo;s Findings on India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>India&rsquo;s goal to end the epidemic by 2025&nbsp;</strong>(five years ahead of the UN SDG) is<strong> too &ldquo;ambitious"</strong>, &ldquo;unrealistic", and, therefore, unattainable. As it requires high quality of care to every person from diagnosis to treatment.</li>
<li>TB incidence in the country being 204 cases per 1,00,000 in 2017.</li>
<li>10% of individuals with TB die or self-cure before presenting for care.</li>
<li>Patient delay before the first presentation for care is 4.1 months.</li>
<li>The proportion of people with TB completing treatment is 85%.</li>
<li>India has the <strong>highest number of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases</strong> in the world. the majority of cases due to direct transmission.</li>
<li>The early diagnosis and prompt initiation of effective treatment should be high priority to curb MDR-TB transmission.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Recommendations</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Integration of TB services with the primary health system</strong> will lead to early diagnosis and help cut the transmission cycle.</li>
<li>Strengthening the <strong>care cascade</strong>(visualising problems with the implementation of &lsquo;treatment as prevention&rsquo;) could reduce cumulative TB incidence by 38% in the case of India.</li>
<li>India has to adopt <strong>measures to prevent TB on a population level to eliminate</strong> the disease in the coming decades.</li>
<li>India needs improvement in diagnosis and treatment for drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB.</li>
<li>It suggests that lives of eight million (28%) people with TB can be saved over the next 30 years if tests are subsidised and patients are supported to complete the treatment.</li>
<li>This would <strong>cost an extra $290 million each year</strong>, which is significantly less than India&rsquo;s $32 billion losses associated with TB mortality each year.</li>
<li>India should scale up access to TB services for all those seeking them, optimise engagement of private sector providers and guarantee universal access to drug susceptibility testing and second line TB drugs.</li>
<li>National TB control programme is encouraging, there is political will and the programme mentions all the correct initiatives to bring the disease under control. Accountability is vital component.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India and Tuberculosis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India has the highest TB burden in the world.<strong> In 2018, 2.15 million TB case were reported</strong> , which is 16% more the 2017.</li>
<li>Private sector has reported 0.54 million cases, which is 35% increase compared with 2017.</li>
<li>National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination (2017&ndash;25) has called for increase in private TB reporting to two million patients per year by 2020.</li>
<li>Government of India has said that New tools resulting from greater tuberculosis research and development (R&amp;D) are essential to prevent those projected economic losses.</li>
<li>With at least 30 per cent of India&rsquo;s population infected with tuberculosis. Thus it needs accurate point-of-care diagnostics for detecting tuberculosis infection and effective person-centred treatment.</li>
<li>Government of India has said that close coordination between the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and research-oriented pharmaceutical companies, is necessary to reach targets against tuberculosis.</li>
<li>Instead of waiting for people with TB to reach diagnostic centres for testing, India has now<strong> undertaken case-ﬁnding campaigns</strong>.</li>
<li>It acknowledges that high out-of-pocket expenditure incurred during TB treatment keeps people in poverty for seven years after completing treatment.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The Lancet</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general <strong>British medical journal</strong>.</li>
<li>It is among the world's oldest, most prestigious, and best known general medical journals.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tuberculosis</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (<strong>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</strong>) that most often affect the lungs. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable.</li>
<li>TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air.</li>
<li>Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB <strong>caused by bacteria that do not respond to first-line anti-TB drugs</strong>. MDR-TB is treatable and curable by using second-line drugs.</li>
<li>Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a more serious form of MDR-TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to the most effective second-line anti-TB drugs, <strong>often leaving patients without any further treatment options</strong>.</li>
<li>In 2017, the 30 high TB burden countries accounted for 87% of new TB cases. Eight countries account for two thirds of the total, with India leading the count, followed by, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and South Africa.</li>
<li>WHO End TB Strategy, adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2014, is a blueprint for countries to end the TB epidemic by driving down TB deaths, incidence and eliminating catastrophic costs.</li>
<li><strong>World TB Day is observed on 24 March</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>',
		'postdate' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/lancet-building-a-tuberculosis-free-world'
	],
	(int) 19 => [
		'title' => 'Akula Class – Attack Submarine',
		'catname' => 'Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Discussions',
		'desc' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qELdZLk5dek" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>India has planned to lease out one more Akula Class nuclear powered submarine from Russia. According to reports, both the countries have signed a deal for this, worth almost 3 Billion US dollars. This new attack submarine will <strong>replace Indian Navy's INS Chakra 2</strong> whose lease is expiring in the year 2022.</p>
<p>Submarine is a warship with a streamlined hull designed to operate completely submerged in the sea for long periods, equipped with a periscope and typically armed with torpedoes or missiles.</p>
<h3>Types</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Conventional Submarines:</strong> These are the ones which are powered by electric motors and batteries.<br /><strong>E.g. Project-75 Class Submarines</strong></li>
<li><strong>Nuclear Powered Ballistic Submarines:</strong> These are powered by nuclear fuel, thereby capable of operating underwater for longer durations. Primary role of such submarines is to provide strategic deterrence.<br /><strong>E.g. INS Arihant</strong></li>
<li><strong>Nuclear Powered and Armed Submarines (SSN):</strong> These marines have unlimited endurance and high speeds and are armed with cruise missiles and heavyweight torpedoes, thus complementing carrier battle groups.<br /><strong>E.g. Akula Class Submarines.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Akula Class Submarines</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Akula Class Submarine uses a nuclear reactor for propulsion, allowing it to remain underwater for an extended period of time which makes its detection impossible.</li>
<li>This class of Submarine can be used for multiple tasks like hunting enemy submarines, intelligence surveillance etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Benefits</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It will help India in training Arihant and Arihant-class cruise on SSN submarines.</li>
<li>It can be deployed at important focal points in Indian Ocean and thus India will be able to enjoy strategic dynamic of the region. Also, the submarine will have a deterrent impact.</li>
<li>Induction of this SSN will make India an Indian Ocean Power with full spectrum of operational capabilities.</li>
<li>The submarine will act as a supreme board for India&rsquo;s indigenous SSN development program as it will provide clues on submarine designs, nuclear submarine operation and maintenance etc.</li>
<li>It is also the symbol of deep Indo-Russia relations as no two other countries in the world have exchanged any nuclear element in defence armament yet.</li>
</ul>
<h3>India-Russia Defence Trade</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Since the year 1988, Russia has been supplying India with nuclear powered submarines. INS Chakra 1 was inducted into Indian Navy in the year 1998.</li>
<li>INS Chakra 2 was inducted into Indian Navy in the year 2012.</li>
<li>Akula Class Submarine will get inducted by the year 2024.</li>
<li>India and Russia has also come into a joint venture for production of 200 Kamov lightweight multi-role military helicopters for India. The deal for the same was inked in 2015.</li>
<li>India has recently signed agreements with Russia on S-400 air defence missiles and AK 203 Rifles. This India has done, despite the risk of invoking sanctions under <strong>Countering America&rsquo;s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)</strong>.</li>
<li>These trade deals are important for Indo-Russian ties due to Russia&rsquo;s growing interest in the geo-politics of Indo-Pacific Region.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Choke points in Indian Ocean need to be controlled through submarines, for maintaining influence in the region.</li>
<li><strong>India needs a very rapid submarine building program</strong> to protect its interests in International Waters, especially between the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca.</li>
<li>More SSNs are required for the deployment at the Indian Ocean in the wake of Chinese ships patrolling the ocean. This is also necessary to deter competitors of India in the International Waters.</li>
<li>Besides building submarines, <strong>India needs to build surveillance capabilities</strong> so that it can exactly detect location of submarines of other countries in the Indian Ocean.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>The new Akula Submarine will definitely provide boost to Indian Navy operational capabilities but India needs to build its own such submarines, considering the cost of lease. Also, it needs to provide a push to its present submarine programmes, especially &lsquo;Project-75&rsquo;.</em></p>',
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		'url' => 'https://www.drishtiias.com/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/akula-class-attack-submarine'
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Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1157
Cake\View\View::_renderElement() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1554
Cake\View\View::element() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 668
include - ROOT/plugins/Drishti/src/Template/Element/articlebox.ctp, line 5
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1196
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1157
Cake\View\View::_renderElement() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1554
Cake\View\View::element() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 668
include - ROOT/plugins/Drishti/src/Template/Search/index.ctp, line 85
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1196
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1157
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 765
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 623
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 125
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 93

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